In the Shadow of Death by Gwendolyn Southin Page A

cold water.
    â€œAngel?” she called out but heard nothing. She got shakily to her feet, whimpering as her bruised back protested. She took a deep breath and willed herself to lurch forward. The trail was difficult, and Maggie could see the broken branches that the panic-stricken animal had left in her wake. She just prayed Angel had stopped running before she hurt herself seriously.
    The sun never penetrated through the trees here, and the stones in the shallow river were green and slimy, the mosquitoes and blackflies numerous. As she stumbled along, batting at the insects that were making a bid for her blood, she realized what a precarious position she was in. Her head and back were throbbing, no one knew where she was, and she wouldn’t know what to do for Angel if she found the horse badly hurt. She had to steel herself not to give in to self-pity. “Pull yourself together,” she said out loud. “You’ve got yourself in this mess, now get yourself out of it.” She followed in Angel’s wake for almost half an hour before she saw sunlight ahead, and with renewed effort, she slogged toward it and out into the open.
    Angel, covered in sweat and pulling at the reins that had become tangled in a thorn bush, was only about fifty feet ahead, but as Maggie approached, the horse whinnied and reared back in fright. “Easy, girl, easy.” Maggie put out a tentative hand. “You’re okay,” she continued in a soothing voice. “Just let me untangle you and we’ll go back.”
    The horse whinnied again, the sound sending a flock of birds wheeling into the air. As Maggie watched their flight toward the steep cliffs, she realized where she was. Black Adder Ravine ! Quickly, she untangled Angel’s reins, then tethered her to a tree near the stream’s edge, where she could crop the grass. Then she climbed up on a boulder to survey the area ahead. It was a lonely, quiet place, covered in huge rocks, scrub trees, bushes and a few stunted firs. She couldn’t help thinking that the place could live up to its name, and that there might really be snakes hiding among the sun-warmed rocks. So where’s the Jeep? She would have to clamber up the side of the ravine if she wanted to locate it. Gritting her teeth against the increasing pain in her back, she forced her reluctant legs to climb, sending sand and pebbles skittering to the bottom. There it is! It was only another hundred yards ahead.
    â€œI’ll be back, Angel,” she called.
    Approaching the vehicle, Maggie realized that it was not completely upside down, but was tilted slightly off the ground by a huge slab of stone. Her mind returned to the previous day, when she had looked through the binoculars and seen the man spread-eagled on the rock beside it. The weather having remained dry, the bloodstains were still visible on its surface. Climbing around the Jeep, she spotted a flap of rubber on the front left tire. I wonder. Of course it could have been cut on a rock on the way down, but I bet there’s a bullet in there. Unless the cops have already found it. She pushed her fingers down until she could feel the slack inner tube, but there was no sign of a bullet.
    She returned to the driver’s side, and kneeling on the ground, she managed to wriggle herself up into the interior to run her hands over the leather seats. By the look of the ragged hole in the driver’s seat back, she realized that the bullet that killed the man must have gone right through him and into the upholstery. She reached a hand around the seat and felt along the back of it until she found a corresponding hole, then scanned the area behind the seat. There were pry marks around a hole in the frame. The police definitely found that one.
    Before backing out, she noticed a short length of leather thong dangling from the space beneath the driver’s seat, and reaching up, she tugged on it. When it wouldn’t come free, she