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different things, which brings us back to Whispering Springs and your drilling into the mountain. After
reading about animal spirit guides, did that change your mind at all?"
Tyler pulled her back into his arms, and said, "I'm thinking about it."
"Thinking about what? Continuing to drill, or stopping?"
"I told you, I want to drill a couple more hours, then I'll quit."
"Will you at least do one thing before you start drilling again?" Rose said.
"If it's reasonable, maybe," Tyler replied. "What do you want me to do?"
"Sit in the pool long enough to hear the voices, and during that time block out everything in your
mind so it will be cleared of the jumble of thoughts that make it difficult to communicate."
"I guarantee, if I sit in that pool and try to block out my mind, I'll see you sitting in the pool too
and no way will my mind go blank," Tyler replied. "It would be impossible."
"Then light some incense and concentrate on the smoke swirling out of it and try it that way,"
Rose said. "If you'd just open your mind, you'd learn that spirits can be talked to and communicated
with, not like voices coming out of the cavern, but as profound and meaningful thoughts that come to
you that you never expected, thoughts that give you direction in life, but in order for that to happen you
first have to free your mind of outside distractions. The fewer distractions, the easier it is to make
contact with spirits and communicate with them."
Tyler cuddled her close, and said, "Okay, I'll give it a try, but I can tell you right off, it's not going
to work. Even now I imagine you sitting in the pool, and that scene has been playing over and over in
my head since the day I saw you, and it's not going to stop when I'm there because I'll be imagining
you sitting with me, and I won't be picturing the back of you when I do. Do you see the problem I'm
facing?"
When Rose didn't reply, because she honestly did understand his dilemma, Tyler said, "Honey,
I'm trying. I really am, and I'll do my best and see what comes of it."
His endearment had Rose rationalizing that maybe the divide between them wasn't so wide. She
could imagine expanding his quarters and living there with him, and she could look out the window
and see him working with his mares, and they could fix up a small studio where she could make her
baskets, and all around would be hazelnut trees, and maidenhair ferns, and bear grass. And in the
summer they'd sleep under the stars in one big sleeping bag, enfolded in each other's arms. And their
kids would grow up like little children of nature, who'd study the habits of birds and insects and
animals, and from Tyler they'd learn how to communicate with animals, and from her they'd learn
about Indian traditions and their ancient heritage.
But then the day would come when they'd start to ask deeper questions. What are spirits? Can we
see them? Where are they? Do they talk to us? Why doesn't Daddy believe in them?
And Rose knew that the divide was as wide as ever.
CHAPTER 13
Shortly after dawn, Tyler hefted the rock drill so it hung from his shoulder by a wide, canvas
strap and stepped out of the stable. As he started across the pasture toward the trail he'd made through
the woods to Whispering Springs, he felt something strike the back of his head. When he turned to see
what it was, he saw Diana flying off. Realizing he'd stepped into the flight path between her and her
prey, he dismissed the incident and continued walking toward the trail.
Fifteen minutes later, he stripped off his clothes and climbed into the pool and sat back and tried
his best to blank out his mind while waiting for the sounds to start, if only because he'd promised
Rose he would. But as he'd predicted, his mind was far from blank, and he knew that however long
he'd sit there, the streams of images of Rose in the pool with him, while his hands traced all the
contours of her naked body would not go away.
Eventually the sounds came, but by then he was too aroused to think of anything but the obvious,
so deciding it made more sense to get on with the real reason he was there, which wasn't to listen to
non-existent spirits, he dried off and dressed, then moved to the area where he'd been drilling before.
After stuffing in his ear plugs, he strapped on his head lantern, set the drill bit into the fissure that he'd
been opening, and started in.
He was in the process of widening the fissure when he began to feel lightheaded. Taking a deep
breath, he held it for a few seconds and let it out slowly and took another deep breath, and gradually
the lightness passed. He knew the hawk hadn't hit him hard enough to cause dizziness, so he chalked it
up to having not eaten before he left, then started up the drill and continued.
During the next hour he made good progress, and after a while he thought he felt air coming out of
the opening. Cutting the engine, he set the drill down and began moving rock fragments aside. Once
he'd cleared away the rubble, he put his face to the opening and there was definitely cool air against
his skin. Energized, he started again, this time more aggressively, and after a few minutes, to his
surprise, a section of the cave floor, about eighteen inches in diameter, tilted.
He cut the engine and set the drill aside and lifted the slab of rock out of the way and was stunned
to find what looked to be a narrow passageway, like a natural tunnel running beneath the floor of the
cavern. Lying flat on his stomach, he lowered his head into the hole, and with the beam of light from
his head lantern, saw that the passageway continued some distance into the mountain. The hole was
too small to crawl into, but if he widened the opening, he could at least see how far back into the
mountain the passageway went.
Feeling lightheaded again, which this time he attributed to having his head down the hole, he sat
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