Ann Maxwell by The Secret Sisters

Author:The Secret Sisters
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-01T15:04:48+00:00

15

Cain ducked back underneath the lintel and into the alcove. Moving quickly, as though he no longer cared whether he damaged anything, he strode along the low wall at the front of the room block. He stopped at each doorway to stare into the dark recesses.

Only once did he step into the darkness. When he came out a moment later, there were potsherds in his hand. He showed them to Christy.

„They cherry-picked the entire site,“ Cain said flatly. „I guess they didn’t think this was worth taking out.“

The sherds joined perfectly, becoming the painted bowl of a ladle. Even with the handle missing, it was a handsome piece.

Cain tipped his palm and let the pieces fall to the ground. Christy started to object, but when she saw him wipe his palms on his jeans as though he had touched something unclean, she bit back her words. There could have been no clearer expression of his contempt for Jo-Jo and all she stood for.

Unhappily Christy watched Cain climb up a short, irregular stairway of rubble to the second story of the building. The rooms were even smaller on this level. Some of the walls were smoke-blackened. All the rooms were bare. Except for a broken clay mug and a few rough, tiny corncobs preserved perfectly in the dry air, the rooms had been looted to their floors.

Operating from instinct and experience honed by the exploration of a hundred ruins, Cain made his way to a block of rooms that formed a right angle to the line of the original building. There he stood staring down at the remnants of a small plaza in the crook of the L-shaped structure.

Christy paced him on the ground level. As she stepped over a low wall onto the floor of the plaza, there was a low, hollow groan, as though she had stepped on a ghost. She jumped back, more in surprise than fear.

„Watch it!“ Cain said. „There’s probably a kiva under that debris. Don’t trust the roof to hold your weight.“

Christy skirted the little plaza, peering into half-lighted corners. When a metallic glint caught her eye, she ventured a little closer.

Had Cain not already told Christy about the underworld myths, she might not have recognized the square black hole in the plaza floor as an entrance. A few inches of aluminum ladder stuck up out of the hole.

„There’s a ladder here,“ she said.

„Stay put,“ Cain called out.

Using one of the thick vigas, he swung down off the roof of the room and walked toward her, skirting the level area that was a kiva roof of uncertain strength.

Moki looked out from one of the upper windows of the building block. He was thoroughly filthy and quite pleased with himself. Resting his chin on the windowsill, he watched his master below.

Cain poked around in a pile of rubble until he found a piece of cedar bark. He pulled a pack of survival matches from the pocket of his shirt and struck one. The bark flared quickly into flame.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.