Blind Descent

Lest she betray her weaknesses, A

"I spent the day on the phone," Rhonda said. "No mean feat with Andrew around. I'll send you my phone bill when we get it. All calls during prime time. Yikes. Most of the stuff was just gossip, but I did come up with a few interesting items."

They'd turned off the National Parks Highway and onto the park lands. In the headlights a jagged line of road flanked by low stone walls was sliced from the night. Play in the backseat became one-sided. A

"Whether these bits and pieces will help, you'll have to tell me," Rhonda continued. "Brent's last job was in West Virginia. He worked as a geologist for a coal company there for a couple of years. Holden and I met the president of their local grotto at a cavers' convention in Albuquerque. I called him because he'd seemed down on Brent the one time his name came up. I figured he'd be a good candidate for dirt. According to him, Brent had a dishonorable discharge from the army in 1972. That's what this guy had against him. He's a Vietnam vet and proud of it. His guess was Brent was discharged for desertion or maybe cowardice, so he's never liked him. Does that help?"

She sounded so hopeful that A

"Hah!" Rhonda snorted. "Too bad. That was some of my best stuff. Want to hear the rest?"

A

"This is more sad than pertinent, but it's what I got."

"Shoot," A

"Careful what you wish for," Holden said from the backseat.

"Careful what you wish for," Andrew echoed in a sweet piping voice.

"Who's telling this story?" Rhonda asked with mock severity.

"You are, baby," said Holden.

"You are, Momma," said Andrew.

"More sad than pertinent," A

"Yes. Thank you. This is from the Mi

"Unrequited!" came from the backseat.

"A healthy choice," Rhonda told her husband. "The secretary, Sarah or Susie or somebody-"

"Sally," Holden interjected. A tactical error. "Or maybe it was Silly…"

"Nice save," Rhonda said, and laughed. "Sally told me Zeddie had an older sister who was killed in a climbing accident when Zeddie was in high school. Her sister was a lot older, close to thirty at the time."

"Sondra's age," A

"You think it means anything?" Rhonda asked.

"I wouldn't know what," A

"No. I thought of that. Like maybe Frieda was there and screwed up, got Zeddie's sister killed or something?"

"Frieda would have been twenty-five or so. She was already working for the Park Service. I suppose she could have gone home. Her mom said she was friends with Zeddie's sister. And the accident didn't have to take place in Mi

"I'll find out," Rhonda promised.

Holden made squirmy uncomfortable noises from the rear seat. "Daddy, you're squishing my bat," came a complaining note.

"Sorry, son. Rhonda, I don't know if that's such a good idea," Holden began. "What with guns going off and avalanches and whatnot. I don't want you and Andrew-"

"What?" Rhonda cut him off. "Talking long distance on the phone? This from Mr. Crawl-Down-Holes-and-Break-an-Ankle? Mr. Spit-in the-Face-of-Danger?"

"Aww, that's not how it is," Holden said, but Rhonda had won her point.

"Is that all?" A

"Gee, thanks a heap," Rhonda said, and, "Ringtail!" She put on the brakes, her high beams spotlighting a graceful little brandy-colored cat with a black-and-white tail as long as its body crouched atop the stone wall beside the road.

Enraptured, the four of them watched as the cat studied them, gauged the personal danger, opted for the better part of valor, and disappeared over the far side of the stones.

"Pretty neat, eh, Andrew?" Holden asked.

"Pretty neat," the little boy agreed. "Can I have one?"

"They're wild animals, sweetie," Rhonda told him. "They only like to be seen once in a while like this. They wouldn't be happy in a cage."

"I wouldn't keep him in a cage," Andrew said stubbornly. "I'd keep him in my room."

The adults laughed. Offended, Andrew returned to his stuffed bat, carrying on a whispered conversation they clearly were not meant to be privy to.

Rhonda started the truck moving again. "And, since you asked," she said picking up the thread of conversation, "no, that is not all. I saved the best for last. I mean the best if any of this is of any use. Sally was a veritable fount of information. Dr. McCarty may not be Marcus Welby material after all. Twelve years ago he was brought up on charges. She seemed to think pretty serious ones-lose-your-medical-license serious. But he settled out of court, and the charges were dropped. And no," she said before A

There was a party going on at Zeddie's house. A

You have your NPS family, a saccharine voice in her head chanted as she hung her scabrous leather coat on a peg by the door. Looking as sour as she felt, she limped into the front room. The festivities weren't as vile as her tired mind had painted them. Oscar was there, Peter and Zeddie, Curt, and a young couple A

Zeddie was on the sofa with a guitar. Calcite curled up in a ball at her hip, apparently a devotee of stringed instruments. The young woman's hair was loose and clean. A