Chapter 10: Sunday (1)

Blacker made them stop for a quick breakfast, but after that Hitch drove up Main Street until hitting 72nd, and from then headed directly into the mountains, moving from Mountain Road and parking at the end of Lake Road, where it trailed off into an empty dirt parking lot. It wasn't too far from the Wichitino Camp, looking to be only an hour's walk from where they were to Great Bear Mountain's base.

"Here we are," he said, parking with a spray of gravel. "We need to walk from here, there's no way I'm taking this car up the mountain."

"Should've brought my motorbike," Blacker grumbled good-naturedly, climbing out. He brushed the crumbs of the pastry he had been eating off his jacket, and surveyed the mountain that loomed vaguely in the distance. "We'd better get walking, then."

Fortunately, they had both brought footwear appropriate for hiking, and it actually only ended up taking about half the time that they had expected to reach the base of the mountain. It was also a fairly mild day, which was definitely a bonus – not too much sun, and no rain at all.

Climbing the mountain itself was a different matter. It wasn't so hard for Hitch, who was used to that sort of thing, being a field agent and all. Blacker, who worked primarily from his desk most of the time, was putting up a good fight but was clearly struggling, especially when they reached the off-path area of the mountain.

"Need a break?" Hitch said after debating whether to say anything aloud or not.

"If you don't mind," Blacker said, looking relieved, and the two of them sat down on some conveniently placed logs for a few minutes. "Have you seen anything with those glasses?"

"I haven't checked," Hitch said, pulling out the sunglasses, and scanning around for a few seconds. "–no, nothing. Although that's probably not surprising." He tapped his foot against the log he was sitting on. "We're nearly there, I think."

"Well, let's keep going."

Five minutes later, they arrived at the top of Great Bear Mountain. It wasn't the largest of the mountains that towered over Twinford – that dubious honor going to Wolf Paw Mountain, on top of which Ruby had, only a few months ago, almost died. The view from the top of the mountain provided them with a lovely aerial perspective of the forests below, and in the distance they could make out the streets of Twinford.

However, there was no hidden entrance in obvious sight.

"Okay," said Hitch after donning the sunglasses, looking around, and finding no hidden messages, "so let's get looking."

Blacker, predictably, was the one to find the first sort of hint to the entrance's whereabouts, and he did so by almost literally falling onto it.

"Heck!" he yelped, rolling away from the rock that he had fallen over. "Oh no-"

"You okay?" Hitch asked, mildly concerned but also secure in the knowledge that Blacker wasn't making quite as much noise as he would if he had broken something.

"I'm fine – that's not the point," Blacker said, catching his breath and moving to an upright, kneeling position. "But, I think I've found Ruby's glasses."

Hitch hurried over, and joined Blacker in staring down at the dirt where the mangled remains of what looked very much like the glasses that Ruby usually wore. They looked like somebody had stepped on them – the arms were twisted and bent, and both glass lenses were shattered, the glittering shards crushed into the ground and scattered over the dirt.

"Jesus," Hitch muttered unhappily after a moment. "Sometimes I really hate being right."

"She was up here, in the rain, without her glasses?" Blacker said, looking horrified.

"She has contact lenses with her, usually," Hitch said. "And besides- they were probably the least of her problems, if she was out looking for the Count."

Blacker sighed. "Yeah, I was trying to forget that, actually." He plucked the battered wire frame from the ground, and tucked it into his pocket, but there was nothing to be done about the actual glass – it was simply too broken to consider cleaning up. "If her glasses are here, then the entrance should be nearby." He scanned the area, and then his eyes lit up. "Hey, there's a cave right there. Do you think–?"

Hitch was already moving. "I think it'd be stupid not to check it out."

The cave was more of a natural shelter – a place where the rock of the mountain curved into an overhang, creating a sort of rocky umbrella that you could stand under. It was unlikely that anybody would go into it unless they were looking specifically for it, though; quite apart from that fact that Great Bear Mountain was hardly ever scaled by hikers and mountain climbers, the overhang was positioned rather awkwardly and out of the way. Hitch had to duck his head to get underneath, but the uncomfortable placing was well worth it.

There, set firmly into the rock, was a smooth, unmarked metal disc with a handle spanning its centre.

Hitch, on a whim, scanned the disc with the infrared sunglasses, and was rewarded with another small, glowing doodle of a fly that had been sketched on the rock nearby.

"Found it!" he called out to Blacker, who joined him in the overhang a few seconds later. The two of them peered at the metal disc, and Blacker pulled out a flashlight so he could examine it in more detail.

"Looks like the diagram," he said. "Do you think we can–?" He reached up, almost experimentally, and attempted first pulling the metal disc down, and then twisting it. Neither way worked, and he shrugged almost fatalistically before letting Hitch try.

Hitch didn't have much more luck – it seemed like the metal was actually welded into its setting somehow, or maybe it had expanded so tightly that it was impossible to budge. It was also hot to the touch, but not uncomfortably so – almost like it had been sitting out in the sun for hours.

"No good," he said, stepping back and sighing. "Looks like it's too hot already. When does the temperature drop?"

Blacker's eyes darted sideways, and he bit his lip, recalling information. "Tonight, unless there's a dramatic weather shift. I'd say about six, six-thirty?"

Hitch stared unhappily at the entrance. It was almost ironic that they were the closest they had ever been to actually finding Ruby, and yet the one thing stopping them from doing so was a single piece of circular metal. "There's no other options?"

"Well, we could always break out the liquid nitrogen," Blacker said speculatively. "Although there's no guarantee that that would even work, and it might even lock us out permanently."

"Sledgehammer," Hitch suggested.

"You want to drag one up here, I'm not stopping you," said Blacker, and shook his head. "Seriously, though, I think our best bet is waiting until it's colder. That way we can get backup – we can get a helicopter, maybe, it'll make getting up here in the first place a lot easier."

"LB," Hitch countered.

Blacker ducked out from under the overhang so he could stand up properly. He stared at Hitch as he did the same, and eventually crossed his arms, looking mildly annoyed. "You know, there's a lot of people in Spectrum who are fond of Ruby. Kekoa, Sam, SJ – just to name a few."

"I know that," Hitch said. "What about it?"

"So," said Blacker, "I'm sure quite a few of them would be willing to go behind LB's back for Ruby's sake – for one night, anyway."

Hitch maintained eye contact with Blacker for a full ten seconds before looking away. "You're right," he said.

Blacker looked surprised and slightly pleased. "I am? Oh, good."

Hitch passed a hand over his eyes, sighing. "Sorry, I'm pretty tired at the moment, I'm not thinking too clearly. Okay, here's what we'll do. When we get back down to Twinford, you can start gathering up people to come with us. Try to avoid LB."

"That's a given," Blacker agreed. "But what about you?"

"Well, I'm gonna try to get Zuko onboard, so we'll have a helicopter," Hitch said. "But first – I have an errand to run."

There were five kids sitting in the Donut Diner, and all but one were drinking hot chocolate.

"Cheer up, Clancy," Elliot said, "I'm sure she'll show up at some point."

"She'd better," muttered Del Lasco, sounding ever so slightly homicidal. She took a pointed sip of her hot chocolate and winced as the burning liquid scalded her throat. "She's missed two games in the last month – any more and I'm tempted to just kick her off the team for good."

"You wouldn't do that," Red said, laughing and knocking over her own cup. Fortunately, none of it spilled on her, but it did end up covering most of the table and causing the other kids to yelp and scoot backwards to avoid getting covered in cocoa.

Clancy absentmindedly pushed the napkins over to Red, who started spouting apologies as she began to mop up the mess.

"Yeah," he muttered at regular intervals to make it sound as if he was actually contributing as the conversation wound on without him, staring out the window.

He froze as he saw a familiar car pull up across the street outside, and saw an even more familiar person climbing out.

"Uh, guys?" he said, standing up very suddenly. "I've just remembered, I've gotta go do a thing, I'll be right back – promise!"

"You just got here," Elliot complained, but Clancy was already abandoning his hot chocolate in order to get outside as quickly as he could. He jogged across the street and practically sprinted towards the car.

"Well?" he said, skidding to a halt in front of Hitch, who looked faintly surprised that Clancy had arrived there so fast.

"Have you found her," Clancy demanded, after Hitch didn't respond for half a minute. "Have you got her back?"

"Not yet," Hitch said reluctantly. "Sorry, kid."

Clancy's face crumpled, then went impressively blank almost instantly. "Okay. Fine. Why are you here, then?"

"We haven't found her, per se," Hitch corrected himself, "but we've made progress, lots of it. We're close, kid, real close – we're going in tonight. Hopefully Ruby will be back tomorrow. I thought you'd want to know."

This was probably meant to be comforting, or even helpful, but Clancy looked even more terrified than before. "Going in? Going in where- what do you mean hopefully?"

"Ruby found the Count's main base of operations," Hitch said, attempting to explain, "and we tracked it down too, but it's taking a little while to get inside. We can't do it until tonight, but we think-"

"I have no idea of anything that's going on right now," Clancy said, face tight with emotion. "For days I've been constantly worrying – I don't even know if my best friend is alive or not right now, and nobody's told me anything. How do you think I feel?"

"I'm really sorry," Hitch said quietly. "I'm doing the best I can."

"Let me come," Clancy said. "Wherever you're 'going in' tonight, let me come along with you, and – and, I don't know, help. I can be useful and I won't get in the way, I promise."

Hitch looked at Clancy, whose face was open and desperate, and felt a pang of sympathy for the kid. But nonetheless –

"Getting one kid involved in this was a mistake," he said. "It's not gonna be safe, Clancy. Do you think Ruby would want you to get yourself killed?"

"I think we've already proven that Ruby has terrible judgement," Clancy snapped. "Unless you suddenly think that going off to confront the Count on her own was a good idea?"

"Nobody's saying that," Hitch said, regretting this already. "But Ruby had agent training- has agent training, and you don't. She's more equipped for this situation, you know that. Besides," he added, a thought occurring to him, "there'll be agents everywhere. How am I supposed to explain the fact that you're there to twenty-plus Spectrum agents."

Clancy glared at him then – a full-fledged, angry glare that would be terrifying coming from anybody older and more intimidating. "Fine," he said.

"I'll let you know what happens," Hitch said. "You'll be the first to know."

"Yeah," Clancy said, and sighed, uncoiling a bit. "Sorry. It's just – well, you know."

"I get it," Hitch said, and he did.

"Hey!" called a voice from across the street, and both Clancy and Hitch turned to see Del Lasco standing in front of the Double Donut Diner, waving furiously. "Hey, you're the Redfort butler, aren't you?"

"House manager!" Hitch called back automatically.

Del crossed the empty street at a brisk walk. "So it is you!" she said, getting closer. "Listen, I don't know what's been going on with Redfort, but tell her that if she doesn't get her butt down to the basketball court this Saturday, she's off the team for good. Gone. Bam. Done. Finished." She made a motion with her hands reminiscent of an explosion.

"She's been sick," said Hitch before Clancy could say anything. "It's definitely not her fault, but I'll let her know."

Del glared, clearly suspicious, but nodded grudgingly just as Elliot, Red and Mouse approached as well. "Good."

"Ruby's sick?" Elliot asked. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Yeah. Gotta go," said Hitch, glancing at Clancy. "I'll tell Ruby you all said hi."

"Great, thanks!" Elliot said over Del's vague mumble of 'tell her I said to stop getting sick', and with that, Hitch got back into his car and drove off, leaving the kids standing on the pavement.

"What a weird guy," Red commented, and Del nodded in wholehearted agreement. Clancy felt no inclination to defend him at that point in time.

"Maybe we should go over to her place, say hi," Mouse suggested, and when everybody else started to make noises of agreement, Clancy felt obliged to step in.

"I don't think so," he said, and everybody turned to look at him. "Well, if she's too sick to call us and tell us that herself, do you really think she'd want visitors?" he justified. "Sounds pretty bad to me."

Elliot and Del exchanged unsure glances.

"Well, I guess…" Red said. "But her parents aren't home, are they? And neither is her housekeeper."

"Yeah, imagine being in that huge house with nobody except that weird butler dude for company," Elliot said.

"He's not that bad," Clancy said, meaning it.

"Really." Del seemed unconvinced.

"Yeah, really – he and Ruby are thick as thieves, he'd never hurt her."

Red looked like she was going to say something for a moment, but then she sighed. "Well, you are her best friend. I guess you know best."

"Yeah," Clancy sighed. "I really hope so." He bundled his scarf tighter around his face, so only his nose and above were showing.

It really was an inordinately cold day.