Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
Bishop
“How long does she think this will take?” Levi looks at me as he peers out, shielding his glasses from the glare of the sun as his sister paces back and forth with the machine we pulled off the truck for her this morning.
“It depends on how fast she finds something, but she said it’ll take a few hours to map this whole area. Just a lot of methodical walking back and forth.” I answer him with the same explanation she gave me.
Aspen’s using GPR, ground-penetrating radar, to map the area on my family’s ranch at my best guess for the location of the sword. It’s been so many years that I can’t say for certain, and the wildfire tore through this exact area a few years back, erasing many of the distinguishing landmarks.
“Did they clear enough space for her to get a good look?”
“Yeah, she said this is about what she can handle in a day on her own. She’s used to having help, I guess. I said I could run it, but she prefers someone who can read the output on the screen.”
“I guess we need to talk to Charlotte and Zephyrine about hiring some archaeologists for their team.” Levi smirks.
“Wouldn’t hurt.”
“You think Aspen would take it if they opened it up for her?” Levi asks me.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I know she hates the commute up to Denver on class days and has said she’d like to find something closer. But there’s not much out here for her. Unless she wanted to give up archaeology, and I’m not about to suggest that.”
“No. You shouldn’t. I suppose if she works with Charlotte, the commutes will be even longer, but then, they’d also be less frequent.”
“Maybe…” I watch as she crosses the field ahead again, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her as she slowly paces over the next spot of the grid she’s laid out.
I want more time with Aspen, any and all that I can get, and I know she’s frustrated with the step back she’s taken in her career at the university, but I want to be out of the way of her choices.
“I’ve already made a big ask of her, so if you and Charlotte want to bring that up, it’s up to you. ”
“We all made a big ask of her. She doesn’t seem to be hating it entirely.” Levi gives me a sideways glance. “How’s that going anyway?”
“As well as it can so far.” I shrug. Levi doesn’t want details about his sister and me, obviously, but I know he wants reassurances that we’re not making each other miserable.
“She seems to be taking it all in stride, and Fallon is warming up. Very slowly. But again, it’s better than I imagined it might go. ”
“She’ll warm up to you. She’s like Aspen in a lot of ways though.
Slow to trust and lots of quiet observation before she makes a decision on anything.
” Levi smirks. “Unless it’s horses. She loves them.
Have you tried going on a ride with her?
I know Hazel used to take her whenever she visited us.
Even when Ramsey and Hazel were separated, she’d invite Fallon over because she loved them so much. ”
“We talked about horses, but that was before the wedding.”
“It’s just a thought.” Levi shrugs.
“How are things with Zephyrine? She doing okay?”
“She’s worried about what her brothers are up to. Hoping we make quick work of things out here. She’s coming by later. We talked about maybe camping out here if you all wanted company.”
“Camping? She doesn’t seem like the camping type.” I’m surprised.
“She liked the cabin just fine.” Levi smirks.
“I don’t think I want to ask.”
“Probably not.” His grin spreads.
“It’s good to see you smile. How’s the shoulder holding up?”
“Healing. Still not a hundred percent, but the doctor said that’s normal with this kind of injury. Could take some time.”
“So no more shoot-outs then?” I joke, but Levi’s face clouds.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Rowan’s coming out, and Grant’s given us some extra guys.
I already have a couple of drones patrolling from a lookout on the mountain.
Then, with Anson’s construction crew in and out on the road regularly while they work on the homestead, I’ve got him making reports back to us if they see anything unusual.
It should give us a nice perimeter to keep prying eyes out of here.
” Levi shifts on his feet, folding his arms over his chest as he surveys the area beyond where Aspen’s working.
“A lot of acres to monitor out here.”
“If you want your old team out here, you just say the word. We’ll foot the bill for the extra security.”
“I think we’re good for now, but if you’re seeing anything or getting any reports back, I say we don’t hesitate. I think keeping an around-the-clock presence is a good idea. Aspen’s honestly excited about camping out. If you’d have told me that…” I shake my head, chuckling again.
“Yeah, she likes being out in the field. Every summer, she’d travel to this far-flung place or that one. Taking Fallon with her a lot of the time.” Levi fills in some more of the past I’ve missed.
“Wish I could have been around.”
“I know you do. But you’ve got now. Which is a hell of a lot better than never.” He gives me a pointed look.
“True enough,” I agree.
“You’re sure you want to stay out here all night?
” I ask when Aspen sits down in the camping chair with her dinner.
I prepped it while she finished a quick shower in the fifth wheeler Levi has set up on the road.
With the spring thaw, the ground’s muddy as hell, and there’s too much of a risk of it getting stuck down here by the site, so we traded off taking hot showers.
“This isn’t half bad,” she mumbles around a bite of her food, tearing her eyes away from the data in front of her to stare down at the bowl of chicken and mashed potato casserole.
“Thanks. Worked hard on the boiling water.” I tap my spoon on the now-empty pot I used to rehydrate our camping meals.
We’re up on the ridge here with a clear view of the valley below from our makeshift dining table, and one of Grant’s longest-serving security teams sits at the work site to keep a closer eye on it in the dark.
She flashes a smile and stuffs another bite into her mouth. She barely stopped to eat a snack all day, and I can tell she’s starving now, seeing as she’s complimenting a tear-and-pour camping meal.
“And yes,” she says when she swallows the next bite. “I want to stay out here. It means we can get started right away in the morning. We’ve got two more sites to test. Clear those, and we can plan to start a new grid the day after if need be.”
“You’ve definitely changed since I knew you.”
“Meaning?” She shoots me a look over the bowl as she devours another bite.
“I just mean I never saw you as much of a camper when you were younger. Voluntarily being out here, I’m impressed, is all.”
“I’ve spent plenty of time in the field in less bougie conditions than this.” She rolls her eyes, flicking the screen to scroll to a new page on her tablet.
“So Levi said.”
“Talking about me to my brother again?” Her tone is sharp, but the flash of a smile tells me she’s mostly teasing.
“Hard not to since he wanted a report this afternoon, and you were too busy to give it.”
“Well, if you all want this done quickly, we have to stay focused.”
“Not so focused you run yourself into the ground.”
“I’m fine. I just want to get this done sooner rather than later. I know Levi and Grant will rest easier once we’ve got this sword back in their hands. Then we can all move on and close this chapter. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Unless it’s not out there.”
“Why wouldn’t it be out there?”
“What if they found it first?”
“We’d see evidence of ground disturbance. That’s why I scanned the area with the drones first. With the fire having come through, it’s harder to see evidence of it from when you originally buried it, but if it was something in the last few months, we’d know.”
“Or if your dad came back for it.”
“Did you tell him where you buried it?”
“No. He didn’t want to know. Claimed the fewer people who knew, the better. Said it had already caused enough trouble for one lifetime.”
“Can you imagine if you’d died? We’d never have known.”
“That was the plan, I think. For me to take it to the grave. Whatever your uncle was doing with it, Kip was upset about it.”
“Well, I’m not sure we’ll ever know the answer to that, unfortunately. But if we can at least get it back to Zephyrine to take to the abbey, hopefully, it’ll give this family some peace at last.”
“And once we’re done?”
“Once we’re done?”
“What does the day-to-day look like for you after this? Workwise, are you planning to keep up with the university and commuting?” Levi’s put the question in my mind and while I don’t intend to push her, I am curious.
“I’m hoping something more substantial opens up there.
If it does, I’m not sure what that’ll mean for us.
More commuting, I suppose. I may have to get an apartment up there, but I’m hoping that I could have a class schedule which wouldn’t make that necessary.
Obviously, I’d rather be home with Fallon, but I don’t want her to move schools again. ”
“How’s she adjusting where she is?”
Aspen shrugs. “Well enough, I suppose. It’s not easy for her.
She had a huge friend group back in Boston.
She was a big fish in a big pond there. Here she’s a little fish in a little pond.
It’s an adjustment not to have all those friends all the time, but I know she’s working on making new ones.
She’s gotten involved in some extracurriculars.
Hazel’s been letting her help out with the horses, too, which has kept her spirits up. ”
“Would you be all right with me giving her riding lessons?”
“Of course, but I know where that’s going to lead.”
“Wanting a horse?”