“I don’t know. She won’t tell me her name.”
“What’s your name?” I demanded.
The woman’s eyes turned wild, and she reached for a gun and aimed it at me.
Putnam shoved the barrel up seconds before the shot rang out up into the sky.
My heart raced with my finger on the trigger, my hands cupped around the butt, holding my aim steady.
“Don’t shoot her. She’s skittish.” Putnam wretched the gun free from her hands and tossed it at their feet. “He’s a friendly. He can help us,” he said, trying to reassure the woman.
I lowered my weapon but kept it out.
“I got lost and fell. She found me and saved my life,” Putnam said.
I checked the safety on my gun, then shoved it into my pocket, close at hand. “I’m coming in.”
Putnam eased the woman back, and I retrieved her gun before I stepped into the cave. Blankets I recognized as my ancestors were laid out on the floor in two nests. Canned food lined the wall. A cast-iron skillet hung over the makeshift campfire.
“I’m glad to see it wasn’t bears that stole my family’s property,” I said.
“I asked her where she was getting it, but she wouldn’t tell me. I’m not even sure she can talk.”
“I know where she was getting it,” I answered and glanced at Putnam’s wrapped ankle. “Let’s get you both back to the ranger station so we can get you treated and sort everything out.”
“Thank God,” Putnam said, grabbing a stout walking stick.
The girl didn’t make any attempt to move at all.
“Come on. It’s okay,” Putnam said.
The woman took a step back.
I stepped out of the cave and lifted my hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Putnam did the same, and the girl remained hesitant. “Let’s walk and see if she follows,” Putnam said.
I helped Putnam through the snow and glanced back to find the woman was following us. She was wrapped in a Bennett coat and carrying the blankets as if she wasn’t ready to give up all her stolen treasures.
“How did you know my name?” Putnam asked again.
“Destiny was worried since she lost contact with you.”
“Lost contact?” Putnam sounded confused. “How in the hell did she even know I was researching the mountain?”
“Didn’t you tell her? Isn’t that why you sent her the picture of the ghost?”
Putnam jolted to a halt. “What picture?”
