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I’m not taking any chances. Mort’s on his way.”
    I made my way up the hill a few yards and began walking in the same northerly direction, keeping the river to my right but making sure I was under the cover of bushes and trees at least. A road ran to my left way up on top of the ridge. Sometimes the road was a quarter of a mile away from the ridge, and other times it edged right up to where the cliff dropped off. A small picnic area at a scenic overlook was just above us now, and I thought about just climbing the hill straight up, but I doubted that Eleanore would make it. Not only that, I wasn’t exactly sure how steep the incline was at the top, nor was I sure how secure those rocks were. All I’d need would be to grab hold of a loose rock and go tumbling down. Besides, Mort expected us to be on the tracks. No, I’d keep following the river until it leveled out with New Kassel or Mort intercepted us, whichever came first.
    Eleanore’s breathing came in ragged puffs now, and so I decided to stop. She was right about one thing: Whoever it was hadn’t followed us. Maybe it was a bunch of hunters who had mistaken Eleanore for a deer. Darkness was just about completely on us now, and I didn’t want to surprise any more hunters. I wanted to get back to civilization as quickly as I could, but Eleanore needed to catch her breath. Not that I wouldn’t benefit from resting, too. My legs burned and my heart was still thumping harder than it ever had in my whole life.
    â€œLet’s stop for a moment,” I said.
    She stopped and sat down on a rock. I heard something rustle in the bushes, and both of us screeched. It was a skunk. I could tell because the white stripe down its back was the only thing illuminated in the purple-gray of dusk. “Be very still,” I said. All we’d need would be to scare the skunk.
    About that time, I saw headlights at the top of the ridge. Somebody had just pulled into the overlook. Maybe it was the sheriff, although I would have thought he’d just head to the train depot in New Kassel and then follow the tracks to meet with us, rather than descend down a two- or three-hundred-foot cliff.
    â€œYou think they can help us?” Eleanore said.
    I glanced at the skunk and back to the ridge. “It can’t be more than a mile to New Kassel, and Mort’s on his way,” I said. “And I’m not going to scream for help with that skunk sitting right there.”
    Just then, we heard a crash. I glanced up at the ridge in time to see something big come flying over the edge of the cliff. It crashed on the rocks above, scaring the hell out of the skunk, which sprayed Eleanore and me with all its might. But that was the least of our worries: Whatever had just been tossed over the edge was still coming down the hill—straight at us.
    â€œOh crap,” I said.
    â€œMother of God!” Eleanore cried. I pulled on her arm and she came right up off the rock. The thing was still crashing and clanking all the way down the hill, breaking tree limbs and sending rocks flying in all different directions. Finally, whatever it was hit the tree right above us and stopped.
    Stinky as we were, Eleanore and I clutched each other, crying and gasping for air. Above us, precariously nestled in the tree, was a big chest or trunk of some sort. The car at the top of the ridge left. Eleanore and I looked at each other and back at the trunk.
    â€œTorie,” she said, shaking. “I think I peed my pants.”
    Then the lid on the trunk flew open and out popped a body, which landed at our feet. After my heart started beating again and I was finished screaming, yet again, I grabbed the flashlight that was clipped to Eleanore’s belt and focused it on the body. Whoever he was, he was covered in blood.

Five
    â€œJesus, what stinks?” Mort said as he made his way toward us.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, Sheriff, you never smell a skunk