because they’re too dumb to know better. David Fast and his hired pit bull eat kids like them for breakfast.”
“Listen, Kim, I’m not a dumb kid and I’d like to help you.” I talk quickly, hoping to keep her from walking off again. “The thing is, my brother is coming up here and he’s more than a little messed up right now. My first priority has to be dealing with him. I’ve got to keep him and my father from killing each other.” And Roberto from killing himself.
But Kim isn’t paying attention to me anymore. She’s facing the nearly dead fire again, listening to the smoldering logs crackle and pop. After a few seconds her rigid posture seems to slacken a little, as if the anger’s draining away. I step up beside her and suppress an urge to put my hand on her shoulder.
Go away, rum.
Then she starts speaking to the embers.
“The thing that makes me sick is that Cal might be right. If this rally tomorrow doesn’t work out, and if the judge won’t go for an injunction, then Cal and his cigarette lighter and this ‘secret’ of his may be the only way to stop David Fast.” She looks over at me quickly and adds, “It might be the only way to save the valley.”
I wonder what’s more important to her—saving the valley or ruining Fast.
After a minute I ask, “What’s Cal’s secret?”
“Oh, he claims to have found some important cave but he won’t tell anyone where it is. He says there’s an Indian ruin in it, Anasazi maybe.” I recall that the Anasazi were an ancient tribe in the Four Corners region. They were famous both for the hidden cliff dwellings they inhabited and their sudden and mysterious disappearance many centuries ago. She pauses to look at me. “Do you know any cavers?”
I shake my head.
“There are a few in town I know. They’re all obsessive about keeping the places they explore secret. Anyway, Cal believes he’s found some undiscovered ruin full of artifacts. He says no one’s found it before because it’s hard to get to and because it was partially buried by an old rockfall. It’s supposed to be part of an enormous cave system that is so valuable it will keep the Forest Service from approving the swap. He says it’s bigger than Carlsbad or Kartchner, and valuable enough as a unique resource to throw off the land appraisals. He actually wants to call it ‘Cal’s Bad Caverns’—a play on words.”
I nod and smile with understanding. “Is it for real?”
She shrugs. “A few days ago he showed up at the campfire looking kind of scared and sick, and all covered with red mud. He said he’d gotten lost in it. Only he won’t tell anyone where it is because he’s afraid the government won’t let him be the one to explore it. He says they’ll put a lock over the entrance and only let government geologists and archaeologists go inside. And then they’ll turn it into a tourist attraction and destroy it. I think he’s probably full of shit, but he’s adamant that he won’t tell anyone where the entrance is until the Forest Service agrees to his terms. They’re supposed to be considering it, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve talked to some people there. They don’t believe him—they think he’s a crank who’s found some worthless little mud hole. And even if he were telling the truth about the size and importance of the cave, federal regulations wouldn’t allow them to agree to his conditions anyway. The rally tomorrow and the legal challenges are still the best hope we’ve got.”
Reading her better now, I know not to try a joke or even a comforting word. “Tell me about Fast,” I ask. I recall the venom I’d heard in her voice each time she’d spoken his name.
She answers slowly, still looking into the dying fire, choosing her words carefully. “David Fast is an arrogant prick. He more or less runs this county. He thinks he can do what he wants without consequence.” Then she smiles. “I think I’ve got him worried,
“Listen, Kim, I’m not a dumb kid and I’d like to help you.” I talk quickly, hoping to keep her from walking off again. “The thing is, my brother is coming up here and he’s more than a little messed up right now. My first priority has to be dealing with him. I’ve got to keep him and my father from killing each other.” And Roberto from killing himself.
But Kim isn’t paying attention to me anymore. She’s facing the nearly dead fire again, listening to the smoldering logs crackle and pop. After a few seconds her rigid posture seems to slacken a little, as if the anger’s draining away. I step up beside her and suppress an urge to put my hand on her shoulder.
Go away, rum.
Then she starts speaking to the embers.
“The thing that makes me sick is that Cal might be right. If this rally tomorrow doesn’t work out, and if the judge won’t go for an injunction, then Cal and his cigarette lighter and this ‘secret’ of his may be the only way to stop David Fast.” She looks over at me quickly and adds, “It might be the only way to save the valley.”
I wonder what’s more important to her—saving the valley or ruining Fast.
After a minute I ask, “What’s Cal’s secret?”
“Oh, he claims to have found some important cave but he won’t tell anyone where it is. He says there’s an Indian ruin in it, Anasazi maybe.” I recall that the Anasazi were an ancient tribe in the Four Corners region. They were famous both for the hidden cliff dwellings they inhabited and their sudden and mysterious disappearance many centuries ago. She pauses to look at me. “Do you know any cavers?”
I shake my head.
“There are a few in town I know. They’re all obsessive about keeping the places they explore secret. Anyway, Cal believes he’s found some undiscovered ruin full of artifacts. He says no one’s found it before because it’s hard to get to and because it was partially buried by an old rockfall. It’s supposed to be part of an enormous cave system that is so valuable it will keep the Forest Service from approving the swap. He says it’s bigger than Carlsbad or Kartchner, and valuable enough as a unique resource to throw off the land appraisals. He actually wants to call it ‘Cal’s Bad Caverns’—a play on words.”
I nod and smile with understanding. “Is it for real?”
She shrugs. “A few days ago he showed up at the campfire looking kind of scared and sick, and all covered with red mud. He said he’d gotten lost in it. Only he won’t tell anyone where it is because he’s afraid the government won’t let him be the one to explore it. He says they’ll put a lock over the entrance and only let government geologists and archaeologists go inside. And then they’ll turn it into a tourist attraction and destroy it. I think he’s probably full of shit, but he’s adamant that he won’t tell anyone where the entrance is until the Forest Service agrees to his terms. They’re supposed to be considering it, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve talked to some people there. They don’t believe him—they think he’s a crank who’s found some worthless little mud hole. And even if he were telling the truth about the size and importance of the cave, federal regulations wouldn’t allow them to agree to his conditions anyway. The rally tomorrow and the legal challenges are still the best hope we’ve got.”
Reading her better now, I know not to try a joke or even a comforting word. “Tell me about Fast,” I ask. I recall the venom I’d heard in her voice each time she’d spoken his name.
She answers slowly, still looking into the dying fire, choosing her words carefully. “David Fast is an arrogant prick. He more or less runs this county. He thinks he can do what he wants without consequence.” Then she smiles. “I think I’ve got him worried,
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