CHAPTER 1

In Which Next StepsAre Contemplated

Kit stood gazing at the burnt-out ley lamp still sizzling at hisfeet. The heat from the metal carapace had singed the drygrass, sending tiny tendrils of white smoke drifting up to assaulthis nostrils with a harsh metallic scent. Overpowered by the energycoursing around and through the enormous tree before them, thedevices had expired in a burst of heat and blue light.

"I guess that's that," he concluded.

Brother Lazarus bent over Mina's hand, inspecting the burn.

"We know the ley is here—no doubt about it," said Kit, taking inthe yew's gargantuan trunk, hard as iron and big as a house, growingright in the middle of the ley. "Now all we have to do is figure outwhat to do about this whacking great tree."

"I think that will have to be a problem for another day," saidWilhelmina, withdrawing her hand and shaking it gently. Raising hereyes, she indicated the circle of sky above the clearing; the clouds nowheld a dusky tint. "We're starting to lose the light. What do you wantto do now?"

"We could stay here and make camp," suggested Kit, "and thentry to establish contact with River City Clan in the morning." He sawthe glint of dissention in Wilhelmina's dark eyes and quickly added,"Or we could think of something else."

"How about this?" she said. "We could see if the Valley Ley isactive and use it to get back to Prague."

"What about Burleigh? I thought we were trying to stay out ofhis way."

"I doubt he's still hanging around. He's probably long gone bynow."

"But if he's there waiting for us?"

"There's an element of risk, I admit," she said. "But standingaround gawping at the problem"—she gestured towards the colossalyew tree before them—"isn't going to help. Anyway, it isn't as if thattree is going anywhere."

Brother Lazarus, who had been pacing the circle formed by theneedle-drop of the yew's spreading branches, stepped into view andannounced something in German. He spoke in a quaint, Italian-inflectedDeutsche all his own; Kit could follow nothing of what hesaid, but sensed a note of excitement in his tone. Having delivered hismessage, he marched off around the tree once more.

"Well?" Kit asked, watching the priest count off the paces.

"He says that you were right—judging from the size of the treeand the diameter of the trunk, it has been at least a thousand yearssince you were here last—give or take a century or three. Your StoneAge pals are ancient history, I'm afraid." She gave Kit a sympatheticpat on the shoulder. "Sorry." Turning again to the rapidly fading sky,she said, "There really is no use in staying here now. Let's go back toPrague and I'll buy us all a nice dinner—schnitzel and beer, the bestyou've ever had. What do you say? We can sleep between clean sheetstonight, and tomorrow we'll put our heads together and figure outour next steps."

"Right." Kit took a last look around the clearing, then agreedwith some reluctance. He stooped and gingerly tested the heat of theley lamp case. It had cooled enough to touch without burning, so hepicked it up and then retrieved Mina's. "We best not leave these lyingaround. You never know who might trip over them."

Shrugging off his pack, Kit stuffed the broken devices into it,nestling them down beside his furry tunic retrieved from the cavemouth. The shirt—cut from skins and stitched by hand using a crudebone needle and strands of dried gut—was no treasure; he wouldhave ditched it long ago but for the priceless object sewn into a pouchinside: Sir Henry's green book. How he had managed to hold on tothat through his ordeal was a minor miracle, and Kit was not about tolose it now. Shouldering the pack once more, he smoothed the frontof his borrowed cassock, gave the voluminous sleeves a tug, and said,"Okay. Let's see if we can navigate our way back to Prague beforeanother thousand years have passed. Think you can find the ley?"

Mina glanced around at the white limestone bluffs barely visiblethrough the trees to the south. "Shouldn't be a problem," she said."Anyway, if we stay here we'll probably get eaten by something bigand hairy."

"It's this way then." Kit led them back to the rim of the gorgeand the long downward trail that contained the ley. They descendedinto the valley and into deepening shadows. The chiselled rock facerose sheer on the left-hand side of the track, and the right-hand sideangled off sharply into heavy brush and the tops of trees growingfarther down the slope.

"I could never catch it when it was open, you know," he toldMina as they started down. "I tried as often as I could, but withoutsuccess, until I finally gave up. I had your lamp and figured if I everstumbled across another ley, the lamp would tell me."

"Like it told you about the Spirit Well?"

"That was a total surprise," Kit allowed. "Last thing I was expecting,really. Something very strange and"—he gave a shrug—"maybeprofound was going on in the Bone House. I'd give a lot to know whatit was that En-Ul was really doing."

"What do you think he was doing? Any ideas?"

"I got the impression ... The clansmen don't use language aswe do, remember, it's more a mental thing—you get impressions andimages, so you have to picture what you mean and hold it in your head.It's weird, but it works." Kit stopped walking. "Anyway, the closest Iwas able to get to it was that he was in some way dreaming time."

"You mean creating time?"

"Maybe, or maybe the Old One was seeing what time wouldbring and somehow interacting with what he saw. Like I say, the finerpoints escaped me. All I got was an impression of sleep and dreamingall mixed up somehow with time and creation and ... I don'tknow ... being."

Wilhelmina saw that Kit had halted and pulled up. "Why havewe stopped?"

Kit put out a hand and pointed to a bench-like rock jutting fromthe cliff face. "This is where I landed when I first arrived."

Mina nodded. "I recognise the place—from my experimentaltravels." She pointed down the narrow trackway. "But I always landedfarther down the path. So maybe this is where it starts."

"Whatever," said Kit. He glanced at the sky and the shadowsdeepening across the canyon. "It should be active any moment now—ifit is going to operate at all."

"Don't say that," Wilhelmina chided. "You might jinx it."

Brother Lazarus said something to which Wilhelmina gave ananswer. The priest stepped forward and held out his hand, spreadinghis fingers wide. He paced off three more steps and then turned witha grin and spoke again.

"He says the ley is active now—not full strength, but enough,"she explained.

"He can tell by feel?"

"It's something he's developed over the years—experience, Iguess." She moved to join the priest on the path. "Don't you ever feelanything when you make contact with a ley?"

"There's the throwing up," Kit replied, falling into step with her."Violent motion sickness, dry heaves, dizziness, disorientation—thatsort of thing. Sure."

"Besides that, dummy. Before you jump—don't you feel it?"

"A little, I guess," Kit conceded. "A kind of tingle that makesthe hair on my arms and neck stand up sometimes. Not always, butoften enough."

"Same here."

They continued down the track. In a moment, Kit did feel thatunmistakable swirl of energy around him; static electricity seemedto dance across his skin with the faint tingling sensation. BrotherLazarus stopped and held out his hand to Wilhelmina, who reachedout to Kit. "Shall we go?"

Kit took a last look around, as if fixing the place in his memory.Wilhelmina took his hand, saying, "Auf Schritt zählt sieben." To Kit sherepeated, "On step number seven. Ready?"

"Wait!" said Kit, pulling his hand away. "I can't. Not yet."

"What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, but what if we're wrong about the tree and all? Whatif the clan is still around?" He glanced back down the path as if hopingto catch a glimpse of them. "Look, thing is—I can't leave withoutseeing for myself if they're here or not."

"But that could take some time," Mina pointed out. "The leywon't be active all that long and—"

Kit cut her off. "Then we'll come back tomorrow. Look, we'vecome all this way, and it's important to me to find out."

Wilhelmina could see there was no arguing him out of it, so shegave in gracefully. She explained Kit's reluctance to Brother Lazarus,then said, "Okay, sure—why not? Let's go see your friends."

Kit thanked them both for understanding and started off.

They proceeded down the ramp-like trail, taking care to breakstride every third or fourth step until the trail curved around a bendand passed beyond the ley line's zone of activity. Once they reachedthe valley floor, Kit led them along the bank of the slowly flowingriver.

"River City camp is about six miles or so from here," he toldthem. "It's still early enough in the year, so that's where they'll be. Ifthey are still around, you're in for a treat. Being with them is like nothingyou've ever experienced. It's like ..." Words failed him just then,and he realised living with the primitive clan was simply beyond anycomparison he could make or think of; he could describe it, after afashion, but not capture it. "You'll just have to see for yourself."

Brother Lazarus, who had been listening to this exchange, cast aquick glance around and asked something in German. Mina listened,then looked around too. Kit saw the apprehensive expression on herface. "What?" he asked.

"He was wondering if it is entirely safe. It is safe, right?"

Kit gave her a lopsided smile. "Safe as it ever is," he said. "Stickwith me, Toots, and you should be okay."

"It's just that we're not exactly equipped for being out here amongprimitive creatures, defenceless and all."

"Defenceless?" Kit laughed. "We're not defenceless."

"No?"

Kit shook his head. "We've got me!"

"Oh, that's reassuring." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously."

"Seriously." Kit nodded. "There are bears and lions and such,true. But they tend to stay clear of humans unless challenged in someway, or sick, or desperately hungry."

"So as long as we don't run into a sick and starving lion, we'll beright as rain—is that what you're saying? Well, thank you, Tarzan,you've been a big help."

"You can count on me." Kit laughed again, and it occurred toWilhelmina that it had been a very long time since she had heardhim do that. Perhaps, in some odd way, the boy really was in his elementin the Stone Age. She smiled at the thought. Who could haveguessed?

The suggestion of stalking lions and ravenous bears did cast apall across the mood, however, and they proceeded with a bit morecaution and quiet. The afternoon sun sank below the rock rim above,casting the gorge in shade. After a while, they paused and drank froma clear pool at the river's edge and rested a moment before walkingon. The shadows deepened around them and soon stars were appearingin the sky directly overhead. The valley echoed with the calls offlocks returning to their roosts in the higher branches of surroundingtrees, and the lower thickets shivered with the furtive rustlings ofsmall creatures making their nests for the night. Aside from that, theonly sound to be heard was the liquid lap and splash of water slippingover and around the stones that lined the river's course.

"Is it much farther?" asked Mina at one point. "I can hardly seemy hand in front of my face. Maybe we should stop."

"We're almost there," Kit assured her. "It's just up around thenext bend."

A few dozen paces later they reached a place where the river madea wide sweep around a sharply angled bend, forming a small peninsulaof land. Surrounded on three sides by water, this bend in theriver was the place Kit had dubbed River City. He stopped and, scryinginto the gloom, surveyed the place for any sign of habitation. Hesniffed the air, but scented only the river smells of stone and mudand water plants.

"It's pretty quiet," Mina whispered; she glanced at BrotherLazarus next to her. He shrugged. "I don't think there's anyone here."

"You wouldn't see them unless they wanted to be seen," Kitreplied. "Come on, let's check it out."

He led them farther into the river bend and to the heart of theprimitive settlement site. Thrashing through brush and stands ofbirch saplings, they came at last to the farthest tip of the peninsula,where Kit stopped. "This was where we spent the warm months,"he said, gazing around the little clearing. "If the clan was still intact,they'd be here."

Mina caught the note of melancholy in his tone. "I'm sorry,Kit. I am." She put a hand on his arm. "But we knew it was a longshot."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Still, I hoped ... we'd find something, youknow?"

"You can always come back later. You might have better lucklocating them next time."

"I guess."

"What now?"

"We'll stay the night," he told her. "There's no better placearound here to make camp. We can get some sleep and head back tothe ley line in the morning."

"And back to Prague? Schnitzel and beer?"

"Back to schnitzel and beer—and Engelbert's extraordinarystrudel."

Kit showed them how the clansmen made their crude huts frombent branches, and in the dark did his best to construct a shelter forthem. Brother Lazarus found some blackberries and gathered a fewhandfuls for each of them, and they passed a comfortable night—ascomfortable as a night without food, fire, or even much sleep wouldallow—and roused themselves again well before daybreak so theycould reach the ley line in time.

As they approached the trail leading up and out of the gorge, Kitpaused. "Thanks for going along with me," he said. "Both of you. Itmeant a lot to me."

"We didn't do anything," Wilhelmina countered and translatedfor Brother Lazarus, who agreed.

"You were willing," he said. "That was enough."

As the sun touched the high ledges of the ravine's rim, setting thewhite limestone ablaze, Kit turned his face to the trail. "Shall we?"

"Onward and upward," answered Mina, stepping between themand holding out her hands. "Step lively, gents. Breakfast at the GrandImperial awaits and I don't know about you, but I could use a strongcup of coffee right now."

CHAPTER 2

In Which ConcernQuickens to Action

Look here," said Tony Clarke, his voice rising, "my daughter hasbeen missing three days! No one has turned up a single traceof her. You were the last person to see her—"

"Not the last person," Friday corrected. "Her friends saw her."

"True," allowed Tony, trying to keep his temper in check and histone even. "I'll give you that—her friends saw her at the Red RocksCafé. I spoke to her on the phone later that same evening, and shesaid she had been out in the desert with you."

"That is true."

"She told me something extraordinary happened." Tony watchedthe tall, lanky Arizonan for any telltale sign of emotion, recognition,or even interest. "She told me you took her with you on somethingshe called the Ghost Road—that you and she visited another world,or at least another location in this one."

"Your daughter talks a lot."

"She does, yes—when she is excited. I could tell on the phone thatshe was terribly excited—unnerved, frightened even—which is rarefor her. She said you had shown her a phenomenon beyond ordinaryhuman experience, scientifically speaking. She asked me to come andhelp her learn more about it." This last part was not strictly true. Itwas he himself who had insisted on coming to Sedona to check outCassandra's story—but he felt the summons was implied in his daughter'sact of phoning him in the first place. "That is why I am here."

"You said you were here to find your daughter."

Ignoring the man's pigheadedness, the physicist tried to keephimself focused on the main task. "Cass said she had discoveredsomething incredible and life changing."

"She didn't."

Tony stared at the obdurate Indian. Was Friday trying to provokehim?

"Come again?" said Tony. "Then what did she mean? Whathappened out there in the desert that made her think she had seensomething that overwhelmed her powers of description?"

"The Yavapai have always known about the Ghost Road. Yourdaughter did not discover it."

"Right. Point taken. Cassandra found this Ghost Road and shedidn't know what it was—it was new to her, she had never seen onebefore—so then what happened? Where did you take her?"

"I did not take her," countered Friday. "She followed me."

Tony was slowly getting the measure of this fellow. He mightwear a feather in his long braid of black hair and sport the faded denimsand chambray of a modern cowboy of the Southwest, but thisrecalcitrant Native American was a match for every lab-coat-wearing,literalist pedant Tony had ever encountered in his years as a researchphysicist. Like his academic counterparts, Friday stubbornly insistedon the precise meaning of his words, making not the slightest effortto grease the wheels of communication.

"Okay. She followed you," said Tony. "Cass told me of a placecalled Secret Canyon. I've located it on the map. Is that where theGhost Road can be found?"