Free Old Bones by Gwen Molnar

Horsethief Canyon.”
    â€œOh.” Casey looked around. He pointed toward a far hill. “Then let’s go across to that narrow valley between those hills.”
    â€œWhere?” Mandy asked him. Casey pointed again. “Yeah, I see it. I never even noticed it when I was here before; let’s go.”
    After walking for half an hour they didn’t seem to be getting any closer to the far hill, but they were deep in the valley. The evening air began to have a hint of chill. As Mandy started to walk more quickly, her boot hit a rock and she fell forward. Casey knelt beside her. Realizing what such a jar could do to her fragile throat, he said with concern, “You okay, Mandy?”
    â€œI don’t feel great.” Her voice sounded raspy. “My throat is starting to sting. The doctors said if that happened, I was to stay still and take my pain pills.”
    â€œYou have them with you?” asked Casey.
    â€œYeah,” said Mandy, taking a small packet from the back pocket of her shorts.
    â€œSo lie down,” Casey said, his brain racing. “Here, put my jacket under you and huddle into yours. I’ll climb up and wait for your dad. He can call for help on his cellphone.”
    â€œBut it’ll be totally dark down here by then.” Mandy’s faint whisper could hardly be heard. She spread Casey’s jacket onto the cold clay and eased herself down. “How’ll they find me? These pills are very strong and make me so sleepy I’ll probably be out of it. I won’t hear people calling, and I’m not supposed to shout.”
    â€œRight,” Casey said. “You don’t have any matches, do you?” he asked hopefully.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œOkay, so we can’t make a fire even if there was any wood,” Casey said. “Here’s what we’ll do. Your dad’s bound to have some sort of light in the Jeep. I’ll take it, find you again — I’m sure I can, then I’ll signal with the light when he comes with help. You get as comfortable as you can. I’ll be back.”
    It was twilight in the valley now, and the air was definitely cool. Casey looked toward the summit of Horsethief Canyon. The sky beyond the summit still looked light and almost without colour.
    Casey figured he could get up there before the valley got totally dark, and started the climb. The rough, red-clay canyon walls were almost black now and the deep slashes in their surface made climbing difficult. He turned to check on Mandy’s location and could barely see the humped outline of his friend.
    How will I find her once it’s really dark ? Casey wondered. I’ll need some sort of marker. Casey looked round. A jet-black area far to his right told him he was level with the mouth of the cave all the visitors went to. He felt around for a rock, then took off his T-shirt, spread it fully out, and put the rock on it.
    That’ll hold it down , he thought.
    Now he was really chilly and scrambled up as fast as the uneven canyon sides would allow.
    From the summit, he could see the sun setting in the west, but the valley was in deep shadow. Casey could see the white blur of his T-shirt. He took off one of his shoes and set its toe pointing toward the shirt. Of Mandy, there wasn’t a sign.
    Well , he thought. I’ll use the flashlight to get to the shirt and head straight down. Mandy’ll be in a line from there. I hope.
    Rubbing his hand along his arms, Casey thought of the day he’d got the sunburn and wished he could feel even a little of that heat now.
    Where was Dr. Norman? It had to be two hours since he’d dropped them off. Casey sat on one of the folding chairs and put up his feet on the other. He wished Mandy were sitting beside him. Not a sound. No voices. No birds. Nothing.
    The sky at his back was darkening now, and the valley, black. Casey could see no sign of his white shirt.
    Why, he wondered, hadn’t he and