Page 132 of Into the Mist

“I’d forgotten how beautiful it is,” said Ford. “The first time I hiked out here I imagined that I’d been beamed to a different planet.”

“I can totally understand that,” said Stella.

“Thisisour place! It’s like being surrounded by earth magick!” Mercury’s voice was filled with excitement. “Stella, are you seeing all of this?”

“When I can look away from the road I am, but these sinkholes are frightening. Gotta keep my eyes on where we’re going.” As Stella spoke, she braked and then steered the truck off the road to avoid a clay-lined hole that had opened in the broken asphalt.

“I’d like to have a little chat with all of those seismologists who wrote the textbooks my geology professors swore by in college.” Mercury’s gaze was riveted by the landscape. “Over and over they said earthquakes can’t tear open the earth. We’ve definitely seen that they were wrong about that. Also, I’m surprised that these are the first sinkholes I’ve seen.”

“I thought earthquakes didn’t cause sinkholes,” said Ford.

“Scientists would say they aren’t caused by quakes. Quakes only allow underground pockets already hidden in the earth to become visible—or something like that.” Mercury shrugged. “Honestly, I think we’re going to observe a bunch of geological features that weren’t predicted.”

“But these hills have always been this beautiful?” Stella asked.

Ford grinned. “For hundreds of thousands of years, yes.”

“Ooh! That’s something else I remember from the article.” Mercury said. “This used to be the floor of the ocean. Then it was a tropical forest. You can see that in the green and purple striations. Apparently, the fossils they’ve discovered here are amazing.”

“I love it when you talk all science-y,” said Stella.

“As do I.” Ford grinned at Mercury.

The narrow road took a northern turn, and shortly after that Mercury pointed off to their right. “Look!”

“It’s Bridge Creek!” Ford said.

“I’m leaving the road,” Stella said. “We don’t want to settle anywhere near a traditional highway, or even a road as remote as this one.”

“Makes sense,” said Ford. “Go to the left so that we’re sure we remain inside the preserve. That way we know we won’t be running into any houses or little towns.”

“Didn’t you say there’s one town not far from here?” Mercury asked.

“Yeah, I’ll need to check out that map in the glove box, but Mitchell shouldn’t be too far southeast of here. And by too far I mean we could drive there to see if we can find some supplies, but it’s distant enough that we don’t have to worry about people stumbling on our camp.”

Stella guided the truck with white-knuckle concentration along the creek. After they’d driven for about another hour, to their left the gentle mounds of the colorful Painted Hills changed to taller, jagged peaks that had a predominately greenish-gray tint. Suddenly Stella braked.

“Holy fucking shit! That’s it. That’s where we settle.” Stella put the truck into neutral, engaged the emergency brake, and then left the cab without even shutting the door behind her.

“Let’s go!” Mercury slid past the steering wheel and hurried to catch Stella as Ford quickly exited the passenger side. Mercury heard the tailgate open and knew the rest of their group—theirfamily—was piling out of the bed to join them.

“There.” Stella lifted her arm and pointed.

At first the shadows cast by the setting sun were distracting, and Mercury couldn’t see what Stella meant. And then she gasped in happy surprise. The slope of the craggy hill in front of them—the one whose base gently kissed the bank of Bridge Creek—was split open to expose the mouth of a huge cave. Glimmers of light could be seen within the cave, which meant it provided shelter but would also allow the smoke of much-needed campfires to escape.

“It’s incredible,” Imani said. “So, so beautiful.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this land.” Karen spoke reverently as she touched her crucifix, closed her eyes, and mouthed a silent prayer of thanks.

“It’s so pretty!” Georgie stood between her brothers with her arms draped over their shoulders.

“I hiked the Painted Hills with my parents,” Gemma said. “But this wasn’t here before. I’m sure of it.”

“So am I,” said Ford. “I’ve backpacked through here many times. This cave, or at least the exposure of it, is new.”

“And new means no one knows about it,” said Mercury. She met Stella’s gaze. “It’s our place. I can feel it, too.”

“This is it?” Imani’s voice was bright with excitement. “Are we done traveling? Have we found it?”