Canyons of Night

Chapter 17

“I DON’T BELIEVE IT.” DEVIN CAME TO A HALT IN THE trees and looked down the steep granite cliff at the rocky beach below. A small boat powered by an outboard engine had been drawn ashore. “Some jerks found Hidden Beach.”

Nate stopped beside him. “I don’t recognize the boat. They didn’t rent it from Dad.”

Nate Murphy had just turned thirteen. He was Devin’s best friend on the island. Nate had grown up on Rainshadow and knew all the hidden coves and secret inlets along the forbidding shoreline. Devin envied his knowledge of boats and all things connected to the water. Nate had worked around his dad’s marina his whole life and was really good when it came to that kind of stuff. He even had his own kayak and he was teaching Devin how to handle one.

Devin wanted very badly to tell Nate about his developing psychic senses but he was pretty sure the chief was right. Nate would probably think he was weird.

“How did they find this place?” Devin asked. “You said boaters hardly ever come to this side of the island because of the rip currents and the tides. You said there wasn’t any place to come ashore.”

“Except Hidden Beach,” Nate pointed out. “They probably found it by accident.” He lowered his day pack to the ground and sat down on it. “So much for hunting for Captain Sebastian’s treasure today.”

“Maybe those guys will leave soon.” Devin looked around. “Wonder where they are?”

“Probably trying to see how far they can get inside the Preserve. Every so often someone tries it on a dare or just to see what will happen. They’ll find out soon that they can’t get through the fence.”

“If they’re trespassing, Chief Attridge can arrest them.”

“He won’t do that,” Nate said with cool certainty.

“Why not? The chief used to work for the FBPI. Those guys are tough. They arrest serial killers and drug lords and really dangerous dudes.”

“I’m not saying he couldn’t arrest ’em, just that he won’t. Why bother? Everyone knows that the fence stops most folks from getting more than a couple of feet inside the Preserve. People who do manage to get inside don’t come out alive. Why put folks in jail for trying to get themselves killed?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What do you want to do? Find another place to look for treasure or wait and see if those guys with the boat leave soon?”

Devin hesitated. The logical decision was to move on up the shoreline. There were plenty of other interesting locations to explore on the perimeter of the Preserve. But Hidden Beach was the one that intrigued him the most. He wanted another look at the cavern.

“We’ve been planning this trip for days,” he said. “Those guys will probably leave soon. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

“Okay.”

They took a couple of energy bars out of their packs and hunkered down to wait.

“Do you really think we’ll find Captain Sebastian’s treasure inside the cave?” Nate asked after a while.

“Maybe.” Devin wasn’t sure how much more to say so he decided to keep quiet.

The entrance to the cave down below on the beach was almost invisible, a narrow crevasse in the rocks that widened unexpectedly once you got inside. Devin had sensed something intriguing inside the cavern the last time they had explored it, something that needed to be found, but he had no idea what it was. Some part of him was certain that the secrets hidden inside the cavern were valuable. He could not explain how he knew that to Nate, though, without explaining his new senses.

“I wonder if the guys who came here in that boat found the cave and went inside to look for the treasure,” Nate said. “Maybe that’s where they are now.”

“I hope not. That cave is ours.”

They munched the energy bars and drank the bottled water. Time passed. Devin was about to suggest that they dig out another round of energy bars when he heard the low rumble of voices. The sound did not come from the nearby woods where the Preserve fence began. It emanated from the hidden entrance to the treasure cave down on the beach.

“I don’t believe it,” he said softly. “They did find it.”

“Yeah,” Nate said. “But they’re leaving now. We’ve still got plenty of time to look for the treasure.”

Down below two men squeezed out of the slit in the rock face and emerged into the open. A jolt of fear flashed through Devin when he saw the mag-rez pistols on their hips. Beside him, Nate froze, too.

“Oh, shit,” Nate whispered. “They must be smugglers or drug runners.”

Real-life pirates, Devin thought. He felt a terrible prickling sensation on the back of his neck.

“Come on, we’d better get out of here,” he said.

“If we move they might see us,” Nate said.

“Okay, okay.”

Devin stilled. Beside him, Nate seemed hardly to breathe.

As if sensing that they were being observed, one of the men glanced up. His eyes locked with Devin’s. He reached for his gun.

“Company,” he snarled to his companion.

The other man looked up. “Couple of kids.”

“Doesn’t matter. They’ve seen us.”

Both men bounded up the trail that would take them to the top of the cliff. They moved very fast, faster than Devin had seen anyone move in his entire life.

He jumped to his feet. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Nate watched the men coming up the cliff trail. It was as if he were paralyzed with fear.

“Come on.” Devin reached down and grabbed his friend’s arm. “Run.”

Nate scrambled to his feet. “We’ll never make it. They’ve got guns.”

“They can’t follow us into the Preserve.”

“We can’t get inside, either.”

“I think maybe I can get us in,” Devin said.

He did not know where the knowledge came from. Some voice inside his head was screaming at him that the Preserve was their only hope. He ran for the trees, hauling Nate with him.

“What about the fence?” Nate gasped.

“I think I can get you through it. Just don’t let go of my hand, okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not like we have any choice.”

He sensed the first jarring sparks that told him they were entering the strange energy field that marked the outer boundary of the invisible fence. Beside him Nate sucked in a sharp, startled breath.

“You okay?” Devin asked.

“Yeah. I think so. I’ve never been this far inside. It hurts.”

Devin risked a glance back over his shoulder.

The men were at the top of the cliff now.

“They’re heading into the Preserve,” one of the smugglers shouted. “We can’t let them get away.”

Devin heard gunshots but neither he nor Nate went down so he figured the shooters had missed. He ran as fast as he could. Nate pounded along beside him. The freaky energy was pulsing all around them now. It was like running through a lightning storm, Devin thought. Jolt after jolt shot through him but he pushed his new senses as hard as he could and the pain of the shocks seemed to diminish. Nate gripped his hand harder.

“I can’t see them anymore,” one of the gunmen shouted. “I can feel the fence. This is as far as we can go.”

Both men slammed to a halt.

“Forget ’em,” the second man said. “The Preserve will take care of them for us.”