Mountain Moonlight - By Jane Toombs Page 0,42

they remounted, a slow drizzle began which soon made the trail difficult for the horses. The rain made the humans equally miserable.

"Maybe the spirits don't want us to get there," Davis said.

"Reality check," Vala put in. "Legends that are a part of another culture aren't to be taken as absolutely true."

"Aw, Mom, it's fun to imagine they might be watching us right now."

Bram kept his mouth shut. No gain in jumping in when they both had made points he could live with. After a time he spotted what looked like a good place to camp and made a decision.

"We'll stop, set up the tent and the extension and get in out of this rain," he said. "It'll also give the pack horse a chance to rest his leg."

Davis looked unhappy but he didn't protest.

When the necessary chores were taken care of, including setting up the tent and attaching the extension, the three of them ducked inside and dried off as best they could.

"Bummer," Davis said gloomily. "We're so close to the treasure."

Vala put her arm around him and he leaned against her for a few minutes before putting away. "Hey," he said, "I just remembered it's Mom's turn to tell a story."

"My turn? How come?" Vala protested.

"'Cause I told one about Coyote at Pauline's and after we saw the rattler Bram told about Mokesh being the Guardian of the Ndee. So you're next."

"But I don't know any Native American stories," she said.

"Didn't Grandpa or Grandma ever tell you any stories when you were little?" Davis asked.

Vala shook her head. "My father read stories to me and so did my mother."

"I don't mean stories out of books. I guess you'll just have to make up one, then."

"I'm not good at making up stories. It'd have to be a real one. Wait, something's coming to me my grandmother once told me. It's about when she was a little girl. Will that do?"

"Sure!"

"It's sort of sad."

"That's okay, 'cause this is sort of a sad day."

Bram thought Davis was more right than he knew. The day was sad. Not because of the rain or the lame horse or the fact they'd had to stop short of their goal. Time would take care of those things.

He felt sad because he'd faced the fact that this trip wasn't going to last forever. All too soon they'd be back in Phoenix. Then only he would be left in Phoenix. Vala and Davis would be gone.

He supposed he'd forget them eventually, as the memories faded and disappeared. But that might well be a long and painful process, one he didn't care to contemplate. His own fault for letting it happen, for identifying with the kid because of his own childhood. As for Vala....Bram sighed. There was no accounting for Vala.

Chapter 10

Inside the tent, Vala eased into a more comfortable sitting position on her sleeping bag. The gear in the extension smelled not unpleasantly of wet leather and horse, while outside the rain drizzled down.

She let her gaze drift from Davis to Bram, and back.

The coziness of them being close together like this gave her a warm feeling.

"My mother's mother's name was Ella," she began her story. "Davis, she'd be your great-grandmother. When she was a little girl of six her parents took her with them on a trip from Iowa where they lived to visit her mother's parents in Southern California."

"My great-great grandparents?" Davis asked.

Vala nodded. "In the olden days, Ella said, Los Angeles wasn't the huge metropolis it is now. The parks had carousels and ponds with boats and swans. Eastlake Park was near where Ella was visiting and every day her grandfather would walk down the hill with her to that park. He'd give her some change and tell her she could ride the merry-go- round until the money ran out. Of course, if she caught the gold ring, she'd get a free ride.

"Ella loved riding the carousel horses and every time she went by the ring dispenser, she grabbed one. But it was never the gold one. As she went round, she could see her grandfather sitting on a bench attached to a picnic table where he was playing cribbage with a friend. She knew it was cribbage because her parents played the game at home. Every once in a while he'd look at her and wave."

Vala went on to tell how Ella finally found out her grandfather's friend had to bring the cards and cribbage board to the park because her grandmother thought cards