Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker

Author:Ann Parker [Parker, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Western, Mystery & Detective, Mystery, cookie429
ISBN: 9781590589618
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-eight

Inez felt caught, trapped as surely as if the huge monoliths of the Gateway were grinding together, mashing her between tons of sandstone. She felt as if she was startling at shadows, but that these shadows had substance and were reaching out with poisoned fingers to touch those she loved.

Licking her lips, she tried to calm the sudden upwelling of fear. “We mustn’t panic,” she said. “After all, how many people have actually been stricken by taking medicine that originates from the Mountain Springs House and its clinic? Only Mr. Pace, that we know for certain.”

William had returned and grabbed a fistful of Harmony’s skirt. He was tugging her toward the picnic blanket, where Lily sat slicing yellow cheese to go with the bread.

“However, we must be circumspect,” Inez added. “I will talk further with Mrs. Pace, as soon as possible. Please, Harmony, don’t do or say anything that will draw attention to you in any way.”

They had no sooner finished their meal and were still lazing on the blanket when they heard the rattle of an approaching wagon and a cheery “halloo.” Susan waved from the passenger seat. The woman at the reins, however, was a stranger to Inez. Trotting along beside them on a magnificent roan was Robert Calder. The wagon clanked and rattled like a tinker’s caravan.

“I’m so glad we caught up with you before you left,” said Susan as they drew up and stopped by the horse and buggy. Inez rose and walked over to them. In the back of the wagon, Inez glimpsed stacked metal boxes, some of which she recognized as holding Susan’s photographic equipment and cases of photographic plates. “I wasn’t certain you’d still be here,” Susan continued, “and I wanted to introduce Mrs. Galbreaith.”

Calder slid out of the saddle and helped both women down from the wagon.

Mrs. Galbreaith turned out to be a pleasantly no-nonsense woman with a firm handshake. “Please, call me Anna,” she insisted.

“Anna and I have been roaming about the Garden since early morning,” said Susan. “Sunrise here is magnificent. The colors in the rock and the sky, you cannot imagine. If only one could capture those colors on the plates. Black and white is such a pale imitation of reality. Anna has photographed the entire Garden at one time or another, and has done a marvelous job of showing me around. As has Robert…Mr. Calder.”

“I was explaining to Miss Carothers how the Garden changes with weather and time of day,” said Calder. “Right after a rain, its hues are deeper, and it becomes so vividly red that if I were to paint it true to life, none would believe my vision real. In the soft light of evening, a sagy green suffuses the vegetation. At sunset, the last rays of the sun cause the enormous tablets of stone to flash out with surpassing grandeur.”

Inez glanced around at the strange rock shapes, silent as monuments to forgotten deities. “The Garden brings out the poet in you.”

He grinned. “I

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