They took a day to sleep in the safety of the cliffs before moving on. Thankfully the rain held off while they rested. Unfortunately it started back up again the next morning with extreme prejudice as they moved toward the canyon. Grant was very quiet and his shoulders were tense. Nimma didn't want to push him into an unwanted talk so she stayed quiet too. Luckily the regular sounds of a wilderness had returned. Birds sang overhead and they heard wolves howl in the distance. This led them to believe they truly had passed beyond the ghost's domain where nothing but unnatural silence met the ear.

They moved slowly as Grant's ankle still hurt and Nimma was slightly dizzy from blood loss. It made the trek even more tedious as the distance to the canyon was only thirteen more miles. That was a distance they could have easily covered in a single day had they been in full health. Their medical kit had also sustained damage from the ghost attack and their pain pills were crushed or scattered along the forest floor. Luckily the infection fighting hydrogen peroxide was still intact or Nimma might have been in trouble but that did nothing for her pain or Grant's.

Their MRES had also been reduced to powder. The ghost of Regina had done far more damage than they originally thought and quickly too. Nimma prayed there were no more surprises like that one. While the MRES were still edible it made the already gross bars even grosser which didn't help the mood between them.    

To make matters worse Grant slipped and injured his ankle far more. The cliff path was so narrow that they couldn't walk side by side. The walls were too slippery and jagged for Grant to use them to support his weight. Nimma and Grant were forced to do a sort of sideways walk with Nimma supporting Grant's injured side. This slowed them down even more.

Eventually they decided that they were going to camp in one place with the tarp fastened over them until Grant was feeling up to travel. On the third night they were awakened by the scream they'd become familiar with.

"Oh God not again." Nimma jumped up and swiveled her head from side to side to see where the ghost would come from. The scream happened again but this time the shock had worn off.

"Are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Grant asked.  

"It's not coming closer. It sounds like it's far away."

"Something must have wandered into her territory."

"Its territory," Nimma corrected.   

"Fine. I don't think it's coming for us. You should get back under the tarp before you get soaked. Catching pneumonia wouldn't be fun up here." Another scream started and then was abruptly cut off and didn't repeat.

"I guess it caught it or the victim ran out of range. It was probably an animal we didn't hear anyone else scream." 

"I hope so," Grant said.

🌺

"How are we getting down? I can't repel down there without my ankle being a hundred percent." The poem map did spit them out at the edge of Shadow Cat Canyon. Nimma knew this was good. Despite being sullen she could tell Grant was also happy about this. The problem–there was no other obvious way down. It was a hundred and fifty feet to the bottom.

"Regina managed it while she was pregnant there must be another way." The fading light made Grant's face look hard. Nimma watched as the sun continued to sink lower on the horizon.

"Maybe she jumped and used magic to glide to the bottom." Grant sounded pretty snarky but there was also a bit of teasing in his tone that Nimma hadn't heard in a while. Besides for all Nimma knew that could have been exactly what Regina did so she let it go.

"How long before your ankle is fully healed?"

Grant tested out the injured joint and grimaced. "Not soon enough and we're already behind schedule and running low on food." He pointed up where the rain was still falling. "At least we're good on water."  

"You want to turn back."

"We might not have another choice, Nimma. If we alert the Rangers now I'm a little worried they might try to come up the same way we did."

"Right and we'd have to go back through before sending a distress signal. We'd be in its territory longer too if we go now." Grant and Nimma met the others eyes.    

"Talk about a rock and a hard place." Grant tossed a pebble off the edge.

"Let's set up camp and stay here for the night. We can think of a plan in the morning."  

🌺

Grant was snoring but Nimma couldn't sleep. The rain had stopped and Nimma took the opportunity to set on the edge with her legs dangling and think. Grant was right they would have to turn back. Even if they waited up here until his ankle was better and then repelled down there was a chance they would run out of food. Animals weren't often down in the canyon so the hunting prospects would be scant. If they went searching for the next clue there was no telling how long they'd be there and would likely starve.  

They couldn't go back right away because there was no chance they'd be able to escape the ghost while Grant was still injured. Either way it would be best to wait until Grant was well enough for more difficult travel. They were rationing the MRES which were so packed full of calories and nutrition that Nimma calculated they could get by eating one a day for now. If they did that they should have no problem making it back as long they got passed the ghost.   

They would have to make it passed the ghost and they had only one week to do so before they missed their scheduled pick up. Would Grant's ankle be back up to traveling condition in time? Nimma didn't want those Rangers walking into that trap and Grant seemed pretty sure they would try to come the same way. They would have to go in the morning regardless and hope that Nimma was able to fight the ghost.

Nimma carefully backed away from the edge and stood up to stretch. The moonlight was bright on the rock. Something orange and pink and small flashed on the rocks. Nimma jumped a little and almost convinced herself she was seeing things when it happened again.   

"What in the world?" Nimma got closer to examine it. It flashed again but was weaker. Nimma moved so the moonlight shone on the spot and the flash came back brighter. "Okay then."

Nimma positioned her body so she could watch it with the moonlight hitting the spot unobstructed. It was a Dragonlilly. Nimma slowly extended her hand to touch it. As soon as her skin made contact with the rock something sharp pricked her finger.

"Ouch." She pulled her hand back and the ground started to shake.

"Earthquake!" Grant shot up.

"No. Look!" Nimma pointed to where a large cavity had just opened in the rock.

"What did you do?" Grant asked in astonishment. Nimma told him what happened and shined a flashlight inside.

"Stairs."

"What?" Grant hobbled up beside her and peered in. 

"Whoa."

"Way to go Regina. We got an easy way down after all. I don't know how much more time we have up here. Tomorrow we'll go down these stairs and you can point us the fastest way out of the canyon. We'll signal the Rangers and they'll come get us from the easy route right?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't. Are you sure you want to do that though, Nimma? We can look around at least to see if we find the next clue."    

"Yes. It's like you said we're running out of food and I want them to avoid that trap. This seems like the best way to do that. I can always get another permit to come back. Since there's nothing special about the route we took, next time I'll take the easiest way into the canyon and make my way back to wherever we pop out at the bottom."

"Will...can...can I be the guide you come with?"

"Do you want to be?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I've been such a bastard the last few days."   

"It's fine. I would have reacted the same way."  

"No, you wouldn't have."   

"Let's get some sleep. We have a plan and going down those stairs will be a challenge with your ankle."

🌺

"Ready?"

"Ready," Grant assured her. Nimma put their packs on a stair at the end of the flashlight beam Grant was using to guide her way. She raced back up the stairs to help Grant down. As soon as they hit the second stair the opening behind them closed. Nimma pushed on the rock but nothing happened.

"Looks like the only way out is through."

"At least we're out of the rain," Grant said. Nimma grunted as she supported Grant's weight down the next step.