“I don’t like anything about it, but I particularly don’t like that you can ‘see’ anything in my mind. It’s an intrusion I won’t permit.”

“I can understand. We may come to an agreement later. But at the moment, I have to be close to you, know everything you’re seeing and feeling.”

“Not fair.”

“But efficient and necessary. You want off Kadmus’s mountain, and there’s no easy way. I have to make sure that I don’t have to step in too soon.”

“Too soon? Oh, yes, that’s right. Your job description doesn’t permit you risking your neck.”

“That’s right.” He grimaced. “And that’s been thrown at me a thousand times. Why does it bother me when you do it?”

“I have no idea.”

“Neither do I, but it makes me uneasy.” He added, “But we’ll drop it for the moment. It’s always a challenge talking to you, but I have to get on with extricating you from that cave. How strong is Erin?”

“I’d think you’d know. You’ve been such buddies.”

“I’m not leaving you to go to her and probe. It would be inefficient. Assess her for me.”

“I bound her dislocated shoulder and splinted her broken finger. She has other wounds that will give her pain but not impede her from normal activity.”

“What about abnormal activity?”

She tensed. “Is that the way it’s going to be?”

He nodded. “It will be a rough path out. Can she make it?”

She thought about it. “She can do it. Strength doesn’t always depend on the physical. She shouldn’t have been able to keep up with me when we were escaping the palace, but she did. I’ll help her, and she’ll do it. Tell me what we’re up against.”

“I’ve contacted Sadiki, an Egyptian monk who visited Tibet about thirty years ago. The palace was being used as a monastery at that time and he stayed with the monks for a year. He traveled the entire mountain when he was there, and in the end, he knew more about the mountain than the monks who lived here. The road that leads off the mountain runs along the edge where most of the habitats and village exist. There are three roads that branch off from the one you took, but they’ll be watched by Kadmus’s men.”

“You’re not being encouraging. What’s the alternative?”

“Go inland. From where you are, you can climb up to the top of the mountain. Kadmus wouldn’t expect you to take that route. Once you get to the top, you’ll find it strewn with huge boulders and crevices. Make your way north through them and in about a mile, you’ll see a path that winds around and down. It’s rough and narrow and slippery, and there are gaping crevasses that can send you hundreds of feet down.”

“Wonderful. And how far do we have to go?”

“All the way to the bottom, where it exits at a hot spring.”

“It goes clear to the bottom of the mountain? That far? But does it dead-end there at the spring? Or will it lead to a path that will connect to a road that will bypass any of Kadmus’s roadblocks?”

“It doesn’t exactly dead-end, but there isn’t any path to take you away from the hot springs.”

“That sounds like a dead end to me.”

“The hot springs are the way out. The primary pool flows down through several passages and eventually joins with another small hot spring in a valley in Milchang, the next mountain over. You could be picked up there and taken up to the hut.”

“What hut?”

“Just a place near where I can arrange to have a helicopter pick you up and flown out.” He smiled. “It’s icy cold up there and snows almost all the time, but you might welcome a little cold after the hot springs.”

“How hot are those springs?”

“They vary from being very hot to lukewarm. There’s an underground river that runs alongside the spring and occasionally feeds it. The river would be icy cold and would cool the springs at those points. But it could be scalding hot four feet away from where the river flows into the spring. You’ll have to stay close to the river side.”

“And hope that the river still feeds it the same way it did thirty years ago.”

“There is that. I did a geographic check, and the possibility is good that the conditions are the same.”

“That’s comforting. How deep is it?”

“Deep enough to swim in some areas. Wading depth in others.”

“It sounds like hell for Erin and bad for me. There’s no other way?”

“It’s the safest. Otherwise, you’ll run into Kadmus’s men.”

“And I won’t be stumbling over them around those springs? How do I know that Kadmus doesn’t use those springs for his private spa?”

“You wouldn’t stumble. And, according to reports, neither Kadmus nor any of the villagers ever go to the springs. I doubt if he even knows they exist. He just took over the mountain a couple years ago, and the villagers wouldn’t tell him about them. No one but the monks knew anything about the springs, and they were thrown out of their monastery by Kadmus.”

“It might be possible.” She thought about it. It was an unusual and probably dangerous solution to the dilemma. But possibly less than the one presented by hiding here or trying the mountain road. “Okay, it’s a go. We’ll be on our way as soon as it gets dark. Erin has had a sound sleep and she should be as good as she’ll ever be.”

“And what about you?”

“I slept a little. It’s all I’ll need. The adrenaline will carry me.” She paused. “Until I get to you on that other mountain. You may be able to judge how long it will take us, but I don’t have any idea. But when we make it, you’d better be there when we end this marathon swim.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll see that you’re met.”

“No, I want you there. You take the risk for once. After what Erin’s going to go through, she deserves to have a reward at the end. Though God knows I can’t see that you’re any prize.”

“But then you haven’t explored my many talents.”

“I’ve been exposed to one of them, and I can’t say that I appreciate it. Will you be there?”

“I’ll think about it. You’ll be met.” He added, “At any rate, I’ll be with you all the way. Sadiki has an excellent memory of that journey and was able to transfer that memory to me. I’ll try to guide you and save you a few falls.”

“You’re going to whisper in my ear?”

“That would be delightful, but I’ll stick to the present communication. Just don’t ignore me, Catherine. I’ll have the overview, and I’ll be right.”

She was silent. “I won’t ignore you.”

“What a concession.”

“It is a concession. I don’t like the idea of not having full control.” She gazed challengingly at him. “Like you, Cameron.” She waved her hand dismissingly. “So gather up your cozy fire and other paraphernalia and all that soothing mind crap and hit the road. I need to wake up Erin, check her over, and get her prepped for the trip.”

He chuckled. “I hear and obey. Anything else?”

“Yes, be there when we fight our way through this.”

“Possibly…”

The fire flared, then was gone.

The next moment, so was Cameron.

“Very theatrical,” she said sarcastically. “You can do better than that.”

“Definitely. I just didn’t want to dazzle you.”

“Out. I’ll accept your bullshit only when I’m on the road and at risk.”

“You would never have known I was still here if you hadn’t decided to insult me. Later…”

Was he gone?

She couldn’t worry about it. She had things to do. She sat up and wriggled out of the sleeping bag. The next moment, she was kneeling beside Erin. She shook her gently, “Hey, rise and shine.” She wrinkled her nose. “Though the shine part will be pretty difficult considering what I’m going to throw at you. But we’ll have to take what we get.”