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hear a car, but the fog seemed capable of muffling every sound. Still, he didn t want to wait. He felt a
terrible sense of urgency, of his brother in acute danger. He cursed as he ran, nearly blind in the fog. It
was only his training that kept him from being completely disoriented. He moved more from instinct than
from sight, making his way toward the town square. Most of the committee meetings were held at the
chamber of commerce building near the grocery store. The players were supposed to be rehearsing,
though, and he doubted whether Inez would let a heavy fog and some entity she couldn t see change her
plans.
He heard a shrill scream, the sounds of panic, and his heart stuttered. Danny! He called his brother s
name, using the sheer volume of his voice to penetrate the cries coming out of the fog. He followed the
sound of the voices, not toward the square, but away from it, back toward the park on the edge of town,
where the river roared down through a canyon to meet the sea. The wall along the river was only about
three feet high, made of stone and mortar. He nearly ran into it in his haste to reach Danny. At the last
moment he sensed the obstruction and veered away, running parallel with it toward the cries.
He was getting closer to the sounds of the screams and calls. He heard Inez trying to calm everyone. He
heard someone shout for a rope. The river, rushing over the rocks, added to the chaos in the heavy fog.
Danny! Matt called again, trying to beat down his fear for his brother. Danny would have heard him,
would have answered.
Right in front of him, Donna, the owner of the local gift shop, suddenly appeared. Her face was white
and strained. He caught her shoulders. What happened, Donna? Tell me!
She grabbed both of his arms to steady herself. The wall gave way. A group of the men were sitting on
it. Your brother, the young Granger boy, Jeff s son, I don t know, more maybe. They just disappeared
down the embankment, and all the rocks followed like a miniavalanche. We can t see to help them.
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There were some groans, and we heard cries for help, but we can t see them at all. We tried to form a
human chain, but the bank is too steep. Jackson went over the side by himself. He was crawling. I heard
a terrible crack, now he s silent. I was going to try to find a telephone to call for help. The cell phones
just won t work here.
What was Jackson doing here? He knew the deputy never participated in the town pageant. Is Jonas
here? As he talked he was moving along the wall, feeling with his hands for breaks, taking Donna with
him.
Jackson happened to be driving by when the fog thickened. He was worried about us, I think, so he
stayed. I haven t seen Jonas.
Don t wander around in this fog. Hopefully, Kate and her sisters will move it out of here for us. He
patted her arm in reassurance and left her, continuing the search for the break in the wall with an
outstretched hand. When he found it, he swore softly. He knew the section of wall was over a steep drop
and the river below had a fast-moving current running over several submerged boulders. The bank was
littered with rocks of every size, with little to hold them in place should something start them rolling.
Danny! Jackson! His call was met with eerie silence. He began to crawl down the bank, distributing
his weight, on his belly, searching with his hands before sliding forward. It was painstakingly slow. He
didn t want to displace any more of the rocks in case his brother or any of the others were still alive and
in the path of an avalanche.
Matt s fingertips encountered a leg. He forced himself to remain calm and used his hands to identify the
man. Jackson was unconscious, and there was blood seeping from his head. In the near-blind conditions,
it was impossible to assess how badly he was injured, but his breathing seemed shallow to Matt.
Something moved an arm s length below Jackson. Matt followed the outstretched arm and found
another body. The Granger boy. Matt knew him to be sixteen or seventeen. A good kid. The boy moved
again, and Matt cautioned him to stay still, afraid he would disturb the rocks.
You okay, kid? he asked.
My arm s broken, and I feel like I ve been run over by a truck, but I m all right. The deputy told me
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