“I understand. I am ashamed I have brought this curse upon you. If I had the power to do so I would have turned back the clock. I would have made things different. But Charlie Maynard tricked me from the very beginning. He knew he could take advantage of a desperate man. That’s how he came up with a plan to have me killed and yet still possess my family. He was a liar and a thief, even after he was killed. There are some men you can never change and he was one of them.”
“And now that he’s gone...”
“He’s done with me. I’ve served his purpose and now I’m free to leave this lifetime of purgatory forever.”
“So what’s keeping you from going?”
“I wanted to be sure that you survived. To make certain you were aware of the powers you now possess.
“Powers?” This had to be the greatest joke of all, Robert thought. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t feel any different. I’m so tired now I could lie down and let myself freeze to death in this hellish place.”
Horn reached out and set his hand on Robert’s shoulder. Robert could feel the coldness of the ghost’s touch through his jacket. It reminded him of the night up in the woods near his grandfather’s cabin. Except this time he was pretty sure the ghost wasn’t going to kill him.
“Don’t be fooled Robert. What you’re now capable of is beyond your comprehension as yet. Just promise me you won’t take the same poisoned path Charlie Maynard chose. The man had no heart left in him. It was already eaten up by revenge long before he took advantage of me. And once I was under his spell there was no escaping it. I did terrible things. I might have lived had I only walked away from him in the first place.”
“I’m going to do what it takes to save those close to me,” Robert said. “It’s all I want. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
The ghost’s eyes softened. Robert saw for the first time the great sadness in them.
“I have some good news. Your family has come to look for you. They are above us now. But there’s a wretch of a man named Marsh who will kill them if given the chance.”
“I know who Marsh is.”
Horn nodded, removed his hand from Robert’s shoulder. A frosted print remained glittering on his jacket.
“Then you better leave this place now. Get above ground before it’s too late.”
Robert didn’t stop to think about it. He ran from the shrine and followed the trail of glow sticks up to the top. For awhile he felt as if Horn was following him, but when he took a moment to catch his breath he turned and saw nothing. A few minutes later, when he came near the remains of Billy and the research crew, Horn’s shadow reappeared, beckoning him to take another route leading out of the glacier to the mountain’s red surface…
CHAPTER 63
Peggy and the others watched as a man emerged from the crevasse. At first they thought it might be Robert, until they recognized Marsh’s stiff movements and blockish frame. They hid behind a boulder and watched him pull-start the gas-powered winch positioned near the edge of the gaping hole. His back faced them, and jammed into the hardened snow nearby his rifle stood sentry. The ebony cable attached to the treasure-sled far below began to slowly wrap around the metal spool as the winch belched smoke and growled.
“Wait here.” Will whispered. “If it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it I want you to leave right away. Do you understand?”
Peggy and Connor nodded and Will pressed his face next to theirs before leaving. They watched him run silently across the snow, keeping as close as he could next to the shadows of rock outcroppings. He eventually stopped and crouched down, waited to be sure Marsh hadn’t heard him before sprinting for his back and tackling him to the ground.
The advantage of a surprise attack did not last long.
Marsh slipped rapidly out of Will’s hold from behind and pulled his rifle up one-handed from the ice. When he attempted to swing the weapon around at Will’s head, Will rose briefly to his feet and kicked it from Marsh’s hand. The rifle skittered across the ice and disappeared over the edge of the crevasse.
The two men dove into each other, rolled as one tangled mass in the same path the rifle had slid. Occasionally their bodies separated enough so they could throw punches at each other’s faces. Will finally managed to perch himself on top of Marsh’s chest, and pounded the man’s flesh until his knuckles swelled to twice their size.
Marsh, however, appeared unfazed. After all that Will had done he still clung to consciousness.
And he was laughing…
Jesus. What’s the fucker on, anyway? Will couldn’t understand were Marsh was getting his energy. For someone so badly burned he’d expected him to wear down much sooner.
Marsh couldn’t sense a whole lot anymore. Will’s punches to his blistered face felt like they were just bouncing off rubber, as if someone was throwing chunks of soft meat at him. He waited patiently for an opening, when Will would have to catch his breath. Then the moment came, and Marsh piston-shot his arm upwards. Will didn’t see it coming. After Marsh’s fist connected with Will’s windpipe he crashed onto his back, clawing for air.
****
Robert emerged from a narrower opening in the ice not far away, and as soon as Nugget recognized him, she broke from Peggy’s grip and ran.
“Nugget!”
But Nugget was already a dog-blur.
Peggy grabbed Connor by the hand and they chased after her.
****
Will coughed, tasted blood at the back of his throat. The blow had paralyzed him. He couldn’t do anything but stare up helplessly at Marsh’s grinning mouth. The man’s face he’d recently showered with his fists appeared to be sliding off. The flesh of his forehead now bunched up into a thick angry lump that nearly hooded his eyes.
“Didn’t think I had the fighter in me, did you?” Marsh said, poking Will in the chest with a stubby finger. His eyes were lit up now like two dancing flames.
Will didn’t even want to try to speak. What could he possibly say that would stop this man from killing him? Or was the damage already done? Did he only have a little time left? Something moving several yards behind Marsh caught his attention. He rubbed his eyes, worried that the black dots he saw now would become fatter and fatter, until he could no longer see anything at all.
Marsh stood up and grabbed Will by his calves. Farther away he could hear Robert shouting at Marsh to stop. Marsh turned to chuckle at him as Will slid his hand beneath his jacket and grasped his revolver. When Marsh turned back to what he was doing there was no time for him to react.
Will lifted the revolver and fired.
Two bullets struck their target, while a third hissed off into the dark. The gun was empty now and he tossed it away.
Marsh grunted. The bullet holes in his chest squirted small streams of blood and then stopped. He gripped Will tighter and continued pulling him across the ground.
Will made feeble kicks with his legs to free himself. His fingers became raw and bloody as he tried to keep the man from sweeping him across the ice like a human mop. Marsh was possessed by a kind of power Will never imagined possible. And yet he’d seen it once before, back when he and Robert were in Mexico. As badly hurt and outnumbered as Robert was, Will had witnessed his friend tear men apart with his bare hands, had even been forced to turn away as Robert pulverized the man in white’s skull against a dirty concrete wall…
“Here comes the fun part,” Marsh said.
He positioned Will as close to the edge of the glacier as he could without falling in himself, then kicked him with the heel of his boot. Will slid into the dark maw in the ice…