Hunter did. She increased the magnification as well. Visible in the small beam of sunlight at the mouth of the cave was the wingtip of a drone as large as a man. She said, “How’d you know to do that?”
“Just because I’m over sixty doesn’t mean I’m not keeping up with the times.” He winked at her. “I also have an iPhone and use Twitter, oh yes I do.”
She said, “I’m going to forward this to Art and see if he can ID the drone. There’s only the partial of the wing, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Art called Hunter fifteen minutes later. “You’ve got a drone in the photo with an eight-foot wingspan and probably a seventy-five-miles-each-way range.”
“Shouldn’t be hard to see that if we get close.”
Art said, “Go do it. Wish I was coming along.”
“Later.”
When they reached the Rio Bravo and crossed in the small, flat-bottomed boat, Buck said, “I think your best bet is to cross the mountain range here, then work your way to the cave area.”
Hunter and Raymond nodded as they left the boat. Hunter took the lead and found a small game trail going up through the rocks, which they followed almost all the way to the crest. Hunter turned to Raymond, “You doing okay?”
He nodded, “Yep, no problems. I’m feeling pretty good, in fact.”
“All this fresh mountain air.”
“Hah. Keep moving.”
They edged over the crest, making sure not to skyline themselves in case anyone was watching. The game trail continued on the south side of the mountain and they used it to go toward their goal. When they spotted the ridge of rocks and boulders below the mountain peak, they knew they were there.
Raymond said, “We need to go extra careful from here on out. Keep your head on a swivel.”
Hunter pointed, “If we can work our way to that area over there, I think we can see the cave mouth.”
“Let’s do it.”
Working their way lower on the shoulder of the mountain put them in more concealment, with both brush and boulders abundant. They made good progress because the game trails were wider and more abundant from the javelinas, deer, and other large animals.
They wove through a small forest of tall yuccas and Spanish daggers and were almost out when Hunter heard Raymond hiss. She turned and saw him vigorously rubbing his forearm as a bayonet-shaped green leaf vibrated like a tuning fork. He said, “Wasn’t paying enough attention. It got me.”
“Those suckers burn like fire.”
“Heck yes they do.” He rubbed his arm a few seconds more, “Okay, let’s go.”
Hunter pointed ahead, “That draw about two hundred yards ahead? It looks like we might be able to take it up, get close enough to the cave to take a look.” Raymond nodded and indicated with his hand for her to get going.
Hunter reached the lip of the draw first and waited for Raymond, whose breathing sounded slightly labored. Hunter raised an eyebrow at him and he waved her off, saying, “It’s too thorny in the bottom, too many ankle-breakers with the deadwood and rocks, too. I think we can stay on this side and get up there without too much trouble.”
Hunter studied him, not saying anything, but worried about her best friend. Raymond looked at her, “What?”
“Just letting you catch your breath.”
“I’m fine. Quit worrying.”
“I’m not worrying.”
“You’re hovering around me like a nervous hen. You’re making me mad doing it. Treat me like you used to.” His eyes welled, and he said, “Shit.”
Hunter almost hugged him when she saw it, but she held back and said, “Okay, we’ll just go at old geezer pace, you know, like we used to. How’s that.”
“Geez
ers aren’t fast, but we’ll still get there.”