Free The Graves of Plague Canyon (The Downwinders Book 3) by Michael Richan Page A

inches square. “Ah!” he
said, holding the box out to Winn. “Tell me what this is, and how to work it.
Then I’ll get you in to see my father.”
    Winn slid open a wooden slat at the top of the box and looked
inside, then he showed it to Deem. Inside was a thin, flat stone, with eight
edges that had been cut into it, not much larger than a quarter.
    “It’s a rock,” Deem said.
    “I know it’s a rock,” John said. “But it’s more than that. My
sister believes it’s something my dad kept in that box for a reason. She thinks
it can do things.”
    “Like what?” Winn asked.
    “That’s what I want you to tell me!” John said. “If you’re
here about one of my father’s signs, then you’re like him. Like he used to be.
He doesn’t remember what this is anymore. Half the time he can barely remember
his name. My sister thinks it might be something special, that it might be
worth something.”
    Deem saw Winn looking down into the box, staring at the stone
inside. She knew he had entered the River, so she joined him. The surface of
the rock transformed from a dull grey to a shiny glass, reflecting the light of
the room out of the box.
    Do you have any idea what it is? she thought to Winn.
    No idea, he replied.
    What do we tell him? she asked.
    We make up some bullshit.
    We gotta do it in a way where he’ll get us in to see Aldus, Deem replied. I’ve got an idea.
    Go for it, Winn said. I’ll back you up.
    They dropped out of the River, and John looked expectantly at
the two of them.
    “You just zapped it with your skills, didn’t you?” John
asked. “Just now. You both used your abilities to zap it and see what it could
do.”
    “I think it might be very valuable,” Deem said. “What do you
think, Winn?”
    “There’s a chance it’s incredibly valuable,” Winn replied.
    John punched the air with his fist in a sort of victory
salute, and made a whoop. “Yes! I knew it!”
    “I know a place that can appraise it,” Deem said. “They might
even want to buy it off you.”
    “Where?” John asked excitedly.
    “It’s a secret establishment up in Cedar City,” Deem said.
“They’d never allow you in, but they’d let us in. I’ll get it appraised for you
if you let us see your father.”
    “You get it appraised first, then you can see him,” John
replied.
    Winn had reached into the box and was holding the rock
between his fingers, examining it. “Yeah, might be worth a ton. It’s got a
special aura around it.”
    “Really?” John asked.
    “It’ll take a week to get an appointment with the appraiser,”
Deem said, “but we’re on a tighter timetable than that. We need to talk to your
father by tomorrow, or it’ll be too late, and it won’t matter anymore. You get
us in to see him tomorrow, and we’ll get this appraised by next week.”
    John seemed to be mulling the offer over. “How do I know
you’ll keep your promise?”
    “You want some collateral?” Winn asked. “How about fifty
bucks?”
    “Hell no,” John replied. “That thing might be worth
thousands!”
    “Or it might be worth nothing,” Deem said. “We won’t know
until the appraisal is done.”
    “Nah, fifty bucks ain’t gonna cut it,” John said. “I want
something that’ll convince me you two are gonna follow through.”
    “Like what?” Deem asked.
    “Ten thousand,” John replied.
    Winn scoffed out loud and dropped the stone back into the
box.
    “Neither of us has that kind of money!” Deem said. “Be
reasonable!”
    “Give me something of value I can hold onto,” John said. “A
car title, or some jewelry. Something important so I know you’ll come back.”
    “My title is in Moapa,” Winn said.
    Deem looked sick as she removed a necklace from around her
neck. She carefully dropped it into one hand.
    “We bring back the stone with the appraisal, you give me this
back,” Deem said, handing the necklace over to John. “My father gave it to me
before he died, so it has huge sentimental value