Chapter 7

William looked up at the stars overhead. The sight of the summer sky was always special to him, particularly on nights without a moon. The stars seemed so low that you could reach out and touch them. Turning to the dark shape seated next to him, he said, "I love looking at the stars out here."

"I do too," Eddie said with a smile. In the dark, his white teeth seemed to stand out.

William pulled out his pack of cigarettes and took one out. He handed the pack to his brother and said, "Have one."

"Thanks," Eddie said taking a cigarette from the pack. Daddy Ed was aware that he occasionally smoked when around members of the tribe, but none of the mothers knew that. He was pretty sure that Momma Ling would tan his hide when she learned that he smoked on occasion. He handed the pack back to his brother.

William accepted the pack and put it back in his pocket. He lit his cigarette using a match; the flare of striking it killing what little night vision he had. He held out the match, cupping it in his hands to protect it from the wind, for his brother to light his cigarette. Eddie leaned over and lit his cigarette. The two brothers took long drags off their cigarettes and exhaled to the sky. William said, "This is the first time we've smoked together."

"Yes," Eddie said feeling a little dizzy from the tobacco. He looked over at the dark outline of William and said, "I'm glad to see you out of the house."

"I can't live in there forever," William said looking around. The quiet of the night was disturbed by some noises coming from the ranch house. It wasn't anything worrisome, just the normal noises of men and women going about the business of ending the day. He cocked his head to listen.

Eddie smiled on seeing William's posture and said, "Daddy Ed and I stand on the roof at home and listen to the town close up at night. The door closing as Shirley shuts down the bar officially ends the business day. Her car leaving for home is our sign that all is well. Even after everyone has reached home from the bar, it is never really quiet though. Dogs bark, animals come in from the desert and rummage through trash cans, and the coyotes howl in the distance. People are up and about all night long."

"You sound like Daddy Ed when you talk about home," William said. The end of his cigarette glowed brighter when he took another drag off of it. The smoke of the cigarette was barely visible in the dark; a mere blur of darkness in the darkness.

"Why not? It's my home too," Eddie said feeling protective of his little home town.

"Yes, it is. This is my home and I guess I should learn the normal sounds of people going about their business," William said. A screen door, with a spring to strong for the weight of the door, slammed shut making a crack that split the night. He couldn't help but jump a little at the sound.

"Where there are people, there's noise," Ed said smiling at William's reaction to the sound of the door closing. He took another drag off his cigarette.

"So you're leaving tomorrow."

"Yes. Daddy Ed has a survey up in Nevada. Some fool thinks that he can find silver that was missed in the late 1800s and wants us to tell him the best place to dig," Eddie said. They had turned down the job a dozen times, but the man who wanted it done was persistent.

"You don't think they'll have any luck?" William asked.

Eddie shook his head and said, "The Comstock mines are all played out. There are traces here and there, but only fit for tourists to dig up."

"What is it that they think they'll find?" William asked.

Eddie shrugged his shoulders and said, "I imagine that they think there are veins of silver, but the area around Carson City is the wrong place to look for that. There hasn't been a significant find in a hundred years. A lot of very greedy people have spent a lot of time searching. I doubt they missed anything."

"So why did Ed take the job?"

"The guy is very insistent. Dad and I discussed it. We decided that it would be a good exercise for me to take part in a geological survey," Eddie answered. Even though he didn't think they were going to find something of much significance, it was his first survey. He would be doing most of the work with Ed supervising.

"What would you like to find?"

"Well, there is a chance that there are opals in the area we are going to be working. I don't have an outstanding sample of an opal that I've collected myself," Eddie said.

"Well, I wish you luck out there," William said.

Eddie put out his cigarette by grinding it against the bottom of his shoe and slipped the butt into his back pocket. He rubbed the side of his nose and then asked, "Are you going to be okay, William?"

"I think so," William answered.

"I'm glad."

Lucy stopped her horse and turned to look back at William. He had stopped and was looking back over his shoulder. Curious, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone is coming," William answered pointing to some dust rising on the other side of the hill. There was no reason for anyone to come out that way since the cattle were down by the river. Of course, there were fences to mend and other activities that went along with running a cattle ranch, but no one had said anything about working in that area.

"I don't hear a pickup or a motorcycle," Lucy said thinking that only a pickup truck or motorcycle could raise dust like that.

The tension he was feeling immediately lifted when he saw what was creating the dust plume. He laughed and said, "I'll be."

"Is that... ," Lucy started to ask unable to believe what her eyes were telling her.

"Betsy," William said watching his little sister running towards them. Her legs were churning so fast that they were a blur. She was kicking up dust just like a motorcycle.

The young woman came to a sliding stop in front of William and Lucy. Without even breathing heavily, she looked up at the two on their horses, smiled, and then, in a sweet voice, said, "Hello."

"Hello, Betsy," Lucy said amazed at the bright eyes looking up at her.

"Did you have a nice little run?" William asked. They were five or six miles from the house.

"Yes," Betsy said starting to fidget. Her movements were starting to make the horses nervous.

Lucy looked down at Betsy and said, "You looked like Speedy Gonzales running here."

"I'm not a mouse," Betsy said with a grin. The smile turned feral before she added, "I'm a shark."

A shiver went through Lucy as she remembered the sight of Betsy swimming with the sharks at the wedding reception. Pursing her lips, she said, "Of course you are. Did you have a good run?"

Despite the repetition of the question, Betsy answered, "It wasn't too bad. I promised Momma Ling that I'd be back in an hour. I guess I better head back now. I'll race you to the house."

"Okay," William said knowing that standing around this long was almost too much for his sister.

"One, two, three," Betsy said just before she spun around and raced off.

Chuckling, William watched his little sister streak across the landscape. The route she was taking was probably closer to ten miles than the direct distance of five miles. Considering the distance from the house and the kind of terrain on which she was running, he wondered if she was going to make the one hour limit.

Leaning forward to pet the neck of her horse, Lucy asked, "Aren't we going to go after her?"

Nudging his horse forward to a leisurely walk, William said, "She'll beat us there anyway. There's no sense in risking the horses by running them on this terrain."

Lucy quickly caught up to him and said, "I wonder why she came here for a visit."

"She's supposed to be in California working at the Shark Institute for the summer. I can't think of any reason that would cause her to return," William said. He wondered if the institute had a problem that required them to close. He couldn't imagine Betsy willingly giving up a minute of her time with the sharks. He added, "She wouldn't leave the sharks unless it was really important."

"There aren't many sharks around here," Lucy said smiling at William.

After searching the house for twenty minutes, William found Betsy and Ling in the swimming pool. Betsy was doing her normal impersonation of a shark. William looked at the figure of his sister moving through the water. It was almost unnatural the way she moved. When she didn't come up for air, he examined her a little more carefully and noticed something in her mouth and what looked like a vest. He asked, "What's she wearing?"

"A rebreather. She can stay down there forever with one of those," Ling answered making her way to the edge of the pool. She paused to watch her daughter cut through the water. Her movements appeared effortless. It never ceased to amaze her when Betsy swam with sharks.

"I've never seen one that small," William said. From where he was standing, it looked like a hose that went to a very small vest.

"It is an experimental version. Unlike most rebreathers that are based on a scrubbing technology, hers uses a fusion battery to power a CO2 extraction process. She can stay underwater almost indefinitely with it," Ling said. When Ling had questioned her about the details, Betsy had answered that with sufficient energy anything was possible.

"Interesting. There are lots of applications for something like that," William said wondering about the physics involved. Of course, if the answer was obvious then it would have been invented a long time ago. If it worked outside of the water, then such a device could also be used by firemen and others exposed to harmful gases. There were great benefits associated with a small rebreather that would allow individuals to stay separate from the atmosphere for long periods of time.

"Yes there are," Ling said wondering why they were discussing Betsy's rebreather when there were matters of greater importance at hand.

"It is not that I want to sound inhospitable, but what are you doing here?" William asked.

"We were on our way to Florida to pick up a shark from an aquarium there and decided to stop here," Ling answered looking at William. She had expected to find him waiting for them when they arrived. The fact that he hadn't been expecting them had been a shock.