Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(93)
Since she may have just destroyed his hopes for the future as well as her own, she understood.
Instead of taking the door they entered, Mariah opened a panel in the office wall, exposing what appeared to be the bluff. “This way. I’ll show you a shortcut. Amber said you need to lie low, and this might be a good time to listen. Dinah needs to do without you until all lawyers have checked in. Half the town could be out there waiting anxiously for good news.”
“They saw you come in,” Monty grumbled. “You ought to go out and face them.”
“I’ll tell them we held a sit-in protest all night but you crawled out a rat hole,” Mariah retorted.
“Then I’ll go out the front and let them believe I killed you, give them something to meddle in,” he snapped. “You can’t keep hiding who you are.”
Sam waited for that enigmatic argument to be explained, but Monty merely waited as Mariah led Sam out to a narrow protected area where a Tesla concealed a set of steps carved into the bluff face. Skirting the car’s hood, Mariah started up the stairs, saying, “You might as well know how to get to your farm from every direction.”
Her farm. Sam actually thrilled a little, for the first time, at the possibility that she might own land here, but she forced herself to stay practical. “Walker will be coming up after he gets off duty. How much time will this shortcut take?”
“Not much,” Mariah assured her. “Fifty years ago, the Ingerssons—and their tenants in the commune days—didn’t have a lot of vehicles. They walked to town for their groceries and supplies. This is pretty direct, just really steep. Daisy can’t walk it, but Val can. She grew up here. She knows all the nooks and crannies. It’s how she gets around with no one seeing her.”
Western sun lit the way up the first set of steps, but then the path turned behind a wall of rock, and they walked in the shadows of the bluff. It was easy to see why people talked of ghosts. The wind whistled through this narrow canyon, and the light shifted uncertainly. Above, Sam could see the tall pines she guessed were the ones she’d seen from the farmhouse foundation. They probably provided a windbreak.
“If Daisy is up here, we should have brought her food.” Sam started to turn around.
“Oh, shoot, yeah. I’ll run down and procure provisions and explain to Dinah why she’s on her own for a while. You assure Daisy food is coming. She’ll point you to the path that leads to Cass’s so you don’t have to come back this way. The farm really is the key to this town. I can’t believe you own it!” Mariah pressed past Sam to go back down, but squeezed her arm with excitement as she did so. “Bless you for finding us! I haven’t felt this positive in ages.”
“You have a way of getting into town without walking through the town hall again?” Sam asked in amusement.
“I drop over the wall and onto Monty’s car most times. Haven’t heard him leave. But if he has, the drive will be clear. I can go around the building.”
That sounded like a precarious path. She’d have to study it better later. But now, curious to see where the stairs came out, Sam kept climbing. Maybe she could persuade Daisy to show her the art she protected with her stone statues.
The stairs at the top were more crumbling sandstone than solid granite. She had to watch where she put her feet. She was grateful she’d taken Harvey’s staff with her. She pounded the rocks, although she didn’t see any crevasses where snakes might slither.
At the top, she reached the wooded area that served as windbreak. She could see now that someone had planted redwoods among the pines, and she ran her fingers over the peeling bark, trying to guess the age. The area had obviously been logged of old growth, but the new trees were doing well in the shadow of the Douglas firs. One day, they would tower over the mountain again.
She even found a few California rhododendrons surviving in the damp fog that rolled in off the ocean. What a wondrous place this must have been! And it might be hers? Did she dare let excitement build? Probably not, given the land’s history.
Once out of the wooded area, she was back on unhospitable rock and the burned remains from the recent fire. She knew the dirt between the rocks would grow habitation, but it needed water. Without the pines and redwoods to catch the moisture in the air and provide shade, the rocks dried out.
She studied the open landscape in the light of the setting sun. The light was probably fabulous for artists. And if she climbed up high enough, she might even see the ocean. She hadn’t gone up on Bald Rock with Val, but that was probably a good perch. She could see it looming over the plateau, well above the hedges surrounding the farmhouse.
She called Daisy’s name to let her know she was coming. A staff raised above the manzanita, indicating she’d heard.
The line of protective statues had nearly doubled to surround the old stone foundation. Daisy had been busy.
“I’ve brought water but Mariah had to go back for food. I didn’t know we were coming up here.” Sam pulled an unopened bottle of water from her cargo shorts and stepped over the guardian border.
Daisy looked up with a frown as Sam pushed through the hedge. “You shouldn’t be here. The mountain will tumble in your presence.”
“Uh, well, sorry.” At that warning, Sam glanced nervously at the tall bluff and evidence of previous rock falls, but there wasn’t any good reason for them to fall after the winter rains had stopped. Sam handed her the water. “I’ll leave when Mariah returns. Can I help?”