Three Make a Ménage Read online

  The bird was still standing there, staring at her. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what you like to eat,” she apologized.

  The vulture continued to stare at her, unmoving.

  “Look, I don’t know what you want, Mr. Patterson. Is Grace okay? Are the men with her? Do you need some help?”

  The bird made no response but his black eyes continued to gleam with bright intelligence.

  “Fuck. Is this some kind of a test? Can’t you give me a clue? I’m worried about Grace and the men, don’t you understand that? They went looking for you. I’m glad you’re okay, but if you expect me to do something, you have to remember I’m human and you’re the first vulture I’ve ever met. Give me a hint here.”

  The bird ruffled his feathers, dipped his beak into the water, and then flew off over the canyon.

  “Fucking hell, now what am I supposed to do?”

  Chapter Seven

  “So damn cold.” Zane had pulled his thick sweater on over the clothes he was already wearing and had added a second pair of socks on his feet as well. He and Ty had ended the night wrapped together in the blanket but they’d only slept intermittently. It seemed fall nights down on the river were a tad chilly. By dawn he was stomping up and down the sand and gradually feeling warmer.

  “So here’s the million dollar question. Do we keep going this way or split up and one of us heads back in the other direction?” asked Ty.

  Zane frowned. “I wish I knew. Either one could be wrong. If only we knew if they were the old man’s feathers or not.”

  “Likely we should have split up right from the very beginning instead of staying together.”

  Zane shook his head. “No. If the old man is hurt it’ll take both of us to carry him. He and Grace are going to be really hungry now. She mightn’t even have enough strength to climb back out of the canyon. She doesn’t live here, remember? That’s odd. I don’t think she even said where she does live or what work she does.” Yet she seemed fairly fit to Zane. There was plenty of water in the river, she’d be okay, but her food would be all gone by now so they did need to find her fast.

  They repacked their backpacks, taking out just an apple each to eat as they walked, and continued the same way.

  “We’ll go this way until noon. If we don’t find them then or a sign, we’ll turn back,” said Ty.

  “I’m good with that. But I hope to hell we find her. Thea’s all alone in the RV. Maybe she’ll go back for help. Get a search party or something.” Zane hurried down to the sand. In big letters he wrote, Heading west. T + Z.

  “That’s a good idea. I should have thought of it,” said Ty.

  Zane punched him on the arm. “That’s why we’re a team. We do things together.” He brushed his sandy hand on the seat of his jeans and took a bite of his apple. The sun was up, Maybe Grace and Mr. Patterson would be just around the next bend in the river.

  It was really quite nice walking as the sun stretched deeper into the canyon brightening the day, making the water in the river sparkle and the rocks show more color. Zane found himself hoping that when they weren’t on the trail walking up to the rim by midmorning, Thea would decide to drive the RV back to Vulture Valley and get help. Or maybe she could call someone. Dr. Thorne would know who she could contact in the town and that way she could wait for them on the rim. He found he was more and more focusing on the idea of returning to her, hiking up the trail and seeing her sitting there waiting for them. But first he had an ornery old buzzard to find and a young woman to help.

  When he did walk around a bend and find Grace kneeling beside the river, her hands in the water, it was almost an anticlimax.

  “Grace,” he called.

  She startled backward, landing on her ass. “Couldn’t you have walked quietly? I’d almost caught a fish.”

  Zane’s jaw dropped open and he hurriedly apologized. “I’m sorry. I was just surprised to see you. Is Mr. Patterson—”

  “Yes, he’s in the cave. But I don’t have any more soup to give him and I was trying to catch us some lunch.” She stood up and glared at him before stomping off toward the rock wall. Ty was right behind her. Zane was still in shock. She’d never been grumpy before. She must be really worried about the old man. He rushed after them both.

  This time it really was a cave. Quite shallow and with a large opening, but with sides as well as a roof. The old man was sitting on the sand, fully dressed, close to a small fire. He looked up as soon as they reached the cave opening. “So you did come. She said you would.”

  “We’ve brought food and the medicine for your hip as well,” said Ty.

  “Thank you. I need some fresh bandages,” said Grace.

  Zane squatted on his heels and opened his backpack. The first aid kit was in his bag. He found it and handed it to her, along with half a dozen potatoes. “You could bake them in your fire. Unfortunately I don’t have sour cream to go on them, but it might replace the missing fish,” he apologized.

  She smiled and rolled the potatoes into the hot coals.

  Ty took off his backpack as well. “We’ll get you some more wood for the fire while you dress Mr. Patterson’s wound.”

  Zane took the hint and followed Ty out of the cave. “More walking. Great.”

  It didn’t take them long to gather an armload each of deadwood and other plant debris that lay among the rocks. They dragged it back to the mouth of the cave and then sat on the sand by the water stretching their legs out. For the first time in two days Zane felt the tension draining out of his body and he relaxed. This would have been the perfect vacation if only Thea was with them. Oh, yes, and they didn’t have to hike all the way back, carrying the old man.

  He was almost asleep, lying in the sun, when a great big black vulture landed on the sand nearby.

  “Fucking hell! Mr. Patterson?”

  Ty apparently had been asleep because he sat up and bounded to his feet staring all around him.

  Grace emerged from the cave. “He’s resting. Oh, hello. Grandpa is fine. Tybalt and Zane will help me get him back to the RV. He insisted on flying and it exhausted him, that’s why we’re still here.”

  The vulture made a harsh, clicking sound and flew up to the rim of the canyon, and then back toward the RV. Zane thought the town was south from here, but maybe he’d gotten confused as the roads had twisted and turned.

  “Who was that?” asked Ty. That’s what Zane wanted to know as well. The first thing he’d done was step back so he could look into the cave and check the old man really was still in there and hadn’t run away again.

  “I don’t know. I can’t tell them apart because I don’t live here and haven’t spent enough time among them. But I expect he saw the RV and came looking for us. He knows Grandpa is fine now, so he’ll tell the others. The potatoes are cooked. Let’s eat.”

  Zane felt guilty. He’d been resting and she was still starving. He’d offered her his orange but he didn’t know whether she’d eaten it or not. Maybe she’d given it to her grandfather but still, that wasn’t much of a meal. At least potatoes were filling.

  * * * *

  Thea paced to the rim of the canyon, looked down the trail, then walked back to the RV, turning her head in every direction and checking the sky, before marching back to the canyon rim again. Mr. Patterson had flown away an hour ago and there was no sign of the others yet. She was starting to wonder if he’d come to tell her one of them was hurt and they wouldn’t be back for another day. She checked her cell phone for the ten millionth time but there were no messages. She knew there wouldn’t be. She’d set the ringtone to maximum loudness. In the silence here she’d likely hear it ring a mile away.

  Once again she marched to the edge of the canyon and looked down. It was so pretty. She couldn’t fault the beauty of this land. It truly filled the senses with myriad wonders. But right now she wanted Ty and Zane back here with her, in her arms, safe and sound. And Grace as well. The woman deserved some peace and happiness. What was ruffling the old man’s f
eathers? Had he been trying to give her a message? Well why the fuck didn’t he just change and tell her?

  “Because it takes too much energy,” she reminded herself. That was an interesting difference between vultures and wolves. Wolves could change back and forth as much as they wanted to. It didn’t seem to tire them at all.

  Thea turned slowly looking in every direction and then frowned. Far away to the south was a dust cloud. “Fucking hell. I hope that’s a dust devil, not a fucking tornado.”

  Would the RV be safe in a tornado? Surely she’d be safer there than out on the land. At least the others would be protected in the canyon. Likely they wouldn’t even notice it down there.

  Thea climbed into the vehicle and checked the windows were closed all except for one which she left open the merest fraction of an inch to equalize the air pressure once she closed the door. When she stood on the step looking south, the cloud was much closer and still very small so it was only a dust devil after all, thank god.

  She measured the distance to the rim with her gaze, and raced over to look down once again. She’d really like to go down to the ledge, but she didn’t want to leave the RV. Not just for safety from a tornado, but in case Mr. Patterson came back. That reminded her to grab the water and food dishes off the roof and put them in the sink.

  The sound of a car horn sent her racing outside, heart pounding. A battered old truck was approaching fast across the dirt. Thea laughed. Not a tornado, not even a dust devil. Just a truck trying to attract her attention. Likely the local people wondered why there were still here instead of halfway to Ohio by now.

  “Can you drive that thing?” a young man with shoulder-length black curls asked her, sticking his head out of the open window.

  “Of course. Why?”

  “Follow us. We can drive much closer to where they are.”

  “To where who are? Who are you and why are you here?”

  “We’re from Vulture Creek, come to help bring Glen back home. Come on.”

  “This isn’t an off-road vehicle. It hasn’t got four-wheel drive,” she told them.

  “It’s not sandy. It’ll be fine,” the man said, his curls flying in the breeze as the truck whipped around in a one-eighty turn.

  Thea climbed in the RV, slamming the door behind her and automatically locking it, before climbing into the cab and sitting in the driver’s seat. Actually Ty and Zane had done most of the driving, but she had driven a few shifts and was familiar with all the controls. The engine purred to life and she followed the truck as it drove parallel to the edge of the canyon for several miles. The driver took it much more slowly than when they’d arrived, which she was grateful for as they bumped over rocks and tussocks of grass.

  She watched as the two men unloaded a couple of bamboo poles and a bundle of netting. They both tucked bottles of water into the back pockets of their jeans, and then the one with curls said, “It might be three hours, or even four. We’ll bring them all back for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Thea sank back into her seat. It was a rescue mission. They’d come to help Ty and Zane. Or more accurately, to help Grace and Mr. Patterson. But nonetheless they were here. The poles and netting had to be some kind of stretcher. She hoped it was for Mr. Patterson not that one of the others was hurt. And how did they even know?

  The bird. It couldn’t have been the old man. It must have been one of the local people. Another vulture. Thea’s brain was swirling with all the additional information. One thing was clear. No matter what had happened that cheeky young man, curls and all, had it under control.

  * * * *

  “I think we should leave the canyon as soon as we’ve eaten. We can make good time walking along the beach. Maybe Mr. Patterson can even walk some on the sand as well. Since the dusk comes first to the lowest levels of the canyon as long as we stay ahead of it we should be able to make it up to the rim before dark,” said Ty.

  “There’s another trail up to the rim closer to where we are here. Some of it requires actual climbing. I mean, you need handholds and footholds, but it’d still be quicker to go that way than walk all the way back. We’ve come a couple of miles from where the RV is,” said Grace.

  “In that case, when we get to the top I could walk back to the RV and leave the rest of you to wait for the truck,” said Ty.

  “That should work,” agreed Zane.

  “It’s too late. They’re already on their way. You’ll see some of the vultures coming down the wall quite soon now,” said Mr. Patterson.

  “What? How do you know that? Oh, hang on a minute. Is that what the other bird said?”

  “More or less,” replied the old man.

  Ty stared at him. “Will they come down this closer trail or the way we came?” he asked.

  “The nearer one. I’m not sorry I flew. It was worth it,” he added, his tone cranky.

  This time Ty smiled. He could understand the old man’s need to shift, to experience the freedom of flight. Not that he’d ever flown, not even in an airplane. But he knew the freedom of running fast on four legs, with enhanced senses of sight, sound, and scent, and he imagined it would be similar to be a bird of prey high in the sky.

  He emptied everything out of his backpack, repacking it with his sweater and the flashlight at the top in case it was almost dark by the time they scaled the canyon wall. Zane watched him, and then did the same thing. He noticed Grace’s backpack held mostly empty water bottles plus the small cooking pot. The wrappings for the medicines and food had been burned in the fire.

  There was the rattle of stones and then two large men stood at the entrance to the cave.

  “Ready to leave, old man?” asked one with long black curls.

  “I should paddle your ass, Jarin,” he grumbled.

  “Not if you want to get home tonight.” The young man laughed, his teeth startlingly white against his tanned skin and black hair.

  Ty understood the old man’s crankiness might be caused by chronic pain, but it was also a façade, as was the young man’s cheekiness.

  For the next hour they climbed the canyon wall, sometimes walking on a narrow trail that even a goat would hesitate to use. At other times he needed his hands as well as his feet, and he worried that Grace would be exhausted by the demands of the terrain.

  Unlike her grandfather, slung in a hammock between the two vulture men, she uttered not a single word of complaint. He knew her pack was almost empty and likely not heavy, but even so he felt sure the vast majority of women would have taken one look at the trail and demanded a helicopter lift out of there. Yet she knew all about it so must have climbed it at least once before.

  By the time they reached a wider area where they could rest, Ty’s body was coated with sweat, his clothes wringing wet and he was ready for a nap. Since he knew the other men had to be even more tired than he was, he said, “Jarin, Zane and I will take a turn carrying Mr. Patterson now.”

  Jarin’s black eyes seemed to look inside him but he held his gaze steady. He was a werewolf after all with just as fierce a heritage as these vultures.

  “Very well. But I will lead to make sure you stay on the path.”

  Ty nodded. That was fair. It wasn’t like it was a path. More a few hints of where to go over unmapped rock.

  For a moment he wondered if all vultures had black eyes, but then realized that the other man, Mark, had brown eyes. Dark brown but not black, so that killed that theory.

  He tied the blanket through the loops of his backpack, shouldered the backpack, and hoisted the bamboo pole over one shoulder. Jarin led the way, Zane took up the other end of the hammock, and off they went again. The old man wasn’t all that heavy and he was very good about lying still, not moving around to make the hammock sway. However, Ty still found he needed to change the pole from one shoulder to the other every fifteen minutes or so. Also, he was almost certain they were moving slower than when the vultures had carried the old man.

  When they reached the second resting point
he put down his burden with relief. Instead of drinking his water, he poured it over his face and head. It was lukewarm but it washed the sweat off for a few minutes.

  This time, when they were ready to start climbing again, Grace moved to the head of the trail. “I’ll lead,” she said and started walking. She was so quiet and unobtrusive Ty found himself blinking in shock. Not only had she asserted herself in front of all the men, she’d moved very confidently. She must be even more familiar with the track than he’d assumed. That meant she was damn fit, especially for a human. His feet and shin muscles were complaining and he was a wolf, for fuck’s sake.

  Ty was damn glad to reach the rim. He felt like he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a month, and that he’d just done the workout from hell at the gym. Apart from that, he longed desperately to take Thea in his arms and fuck her brains out. Of course none of that was happening any time soon. He wasn’t even sure if the community would have enough water that he and Zane could take a proper shower. The needs of Mr. Patterson and Grace had to come first.

  Fortunately Thea was waiting at the top of the canyon, and gave everyone a cold can of juice as soon as they put down their burdens. Then he grabbed her and hugged her, possessing her mouth fiercely to tell her he loved her, he’d missed her, and he was worried about her. But he had to be quick. Zane had an equal need to greet Thea, and they were surrounded by interested bystanders as well.

  “Thank you very much for your help,” he said formally, shaking Mark’s hand and then Jarin’s.

  “Just get Glen to the shape-shifter clinic and get him patched up. He’s an ornery old buzzard but he’s one of us,” said Jarin.

  “Cheeky little brat. Gonna wallop your ass right soon,” replied the old man. But Ty could tell he was in severe pain and exhausted as well. Being jolted and shaken all the way up the cliff had likely been every bit as trying for him as walking had been for the rest of them.