of his food, and Kendra did likewise. When they were done, she followed him to her room. He closed the door.
"How did you really hear we couldn't find a pathway up Painted Mesa?" Warren asked.
"A fairy told me last night," Kendra said.
"I'm sure the others didn't believe your comment was based solely on intuition, but I doubt they'll openly pry.
Remember to be careful about hinting at your powers. Dougan knows you can recharge magical items. That's it. The others don't even know that much."
"Sorry," Kendra said. "I'll be careful."
"We have to be cautious. I think we can trust Dougan and Gavin, but I don't want to take anything for granted. I'm positive the Society has people in place to make sure the artifact ends up in their hands. Remember, at Fablehaven, the original plan was for Vanessa and Errol to steal the artifact themselves. The traitor here might be somebody who has lived on the preserve a while. Or it could be Tammy or Javier."
"Hopefully it was Zack," Kendra said.
Warren grinned. "Wouldn't that be nice? I've done some digging. Tammy is along because she has a talent for finding and disabling traps. Javier is a seasoned ingredient collector, used to work for a couple of the top dealers. He has a lot of experience getting out of dodgy situations. Their reputations are solid, but so was Vanessa's."
"Are you worried about Neil or Mara?" Kendra asked.
"If the Sphinx is a suspect, anyone is a suspect," he said. "Trust no one. Try to stay inside the hacienda unless I'm with you."
"Think I'll be able to find a trail?" Kendra asked.
Warren shrugged. "You can see through distracter spells. You've got a better shot of finding a secret path than I have."
"We should probably get going."
Neil and Mara were outside in a dirty Jeep with the engine running. Warren and Kendra climbed in back. They did not keep to roads for long. Out the front window, Painted Mesa loomed ever larger. During one stretch, Neil forced the Jeep up such a steep grade that Kendra worried it would rear up and tip over backwards. The bumpy, jarring drive ended in a flat area strewn with jagged boulders.
A few hundred yards of rugged terrain separated them from where a sheer stone face of the mesa rose into the sky.
"It's so high," Kendra said, using her hand as a visor as she stared up at the colorful plateau. There was hardly a cloud in the bright blue sky.
Neil came up beside her. "You'll be looking for hand holds, a rope, a cave, a stairway, a path-anything that might grant access. To most eyes, most of the time, there appears to be no possible route to the top, even for an experienced climber. The pathways become available only at certain moments. For example, until lately, the Twilight Way appeared at sunset. We'll circle the mesa multiple times."
"Do you know of other paths besides the Twilight Way?" Warren asked.
"We know of others, but not where to look," Neil said. "The only other reliable route is the Festival Road. It opens on festival nights. The next opportunity would be the autumnal equinox."
"Scaling the mesa on a festival night would be madness," Mara said, her voice a resonant alto. "Suicide."
"Sounds like my kind of party," Warren joked. Mara did not acknowledge that he had spoken.
"What if you get up there and can't find a way down?" Kendra asked.
"There are normally many ways down," Neil said. "The mesa is happy to see visitors leave. I've never had trouble, nor have I heard stories of others facing difficulties descending."
"Those people might not be around to tell the stories," Warren pointed out.
Neil shrugged.
"Could the Twilight Way open up again?" Kendra asked. Neil tossed up his hands. "Hard to say. My guess would be not for many seasons. But we'll check this evening maybe your sharp eyes will catch sight of something I missed."
Kendra noticed beige rabbit feet dangling from Neil's pierced earlobes. "Are those lucky?" Kendra asked, indicating the earrings.
"Jackalope," Neil said. "If we're going to find a pathway, we'll need all the luck we can get."
She refrained from telling Neil the obvious-that the feet had clearly not been very lucky for the jackalope.
They hiked around the mesa. Little was said. Neil mostly studied the sheer rock faces from several paces away. Mara got up close, caressing the stone, sometimes leaning her cheek against the unyielding surface. Kendra scrutinized the mesa as best she could, from near and far, but noticed no evidence