Rick grabbed his wife's arm with his free hand, and the foursome lurched out of the mountain entrance into the crisp autumn air. As they moved away from the hillside, he glanced back at the cave, a sudden foreboding in his heart.
"Thank God you and Rob got out of there….I knew something was horrible, evil in there." Laurie shivered. Rick let go of Rob so Oscar could help him sit down on one of the boulders at the entrance to Lost Valley.
"I thought it was at the other end of the valley…" he began, leading his wife to one of the benches at the end of the parking area, where all the construction vehicles were stationed.
"No, Rick…I'll never forget the sight of that room, with all those weird drawings. That's where Nicholas Blair dragged me…where he disappeared when Cousin Barnabas threw that spike. It's evil, darling….I hope it stays sealed up for good this time!" Laurie said feverently, clinging to his hand as she sat down.
"Wait a minute…that's where Grandmother Kasey and Barnabas stopped some coven of devil worshipers, too, right?" Rick asked, sitting down next to her. Laurie nodded.
"Yes, Barnabas snuck back into town about five years after he first came, but he had changed.."
"Rick, I want Rob to go to the emergency room, help me take him over there.." Oscar interrupted them, supporting the tribal chief with one arm. Rick got up, saying, "Laurie, call Robbie and Robin, will you?"
"Yes, love, then we'll meet you in the waiting room…" she replied, focusing her gaze on their friend.
"Just let me alone a moment, ….I'm okay.." Rob argued, trying to jerk his arm away from Oscar. Rick put a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Look, pal, you can't even stand, now simmer down and let Doc look at you…"
A puzzled look crossed Rob's face, then it cleared as he sheepishly admitted, "I am a little dizzy, maybe Doc can give me something for it…."
Meekly Rob went with Rick and Oscar while Laurie went to his office to use the phone. When she finished her phone calls, she went to the hospital waiting room where her husband and father waited, now joined by Rudy Wells.
"Where's the boys?", she asked, hugging the old doctor, then sitting down on the sofa next to Rick.
"Mom ran them over to the ranch, they'll do our chores so we can wait here for Rob.." Rick explained. Laurie smiled.
"That's so nice of Ricky and Andy…and Jack will love having 2 playmates."
"Jack will?" Oscar snorted, making his daughter and son-in-law laugh. Just then Doc came into the waiting room, then beckoned his friends over.
"How is he, Doc?" Rick asked, concerned by the serious look on the physician's face.
"I'd like to keep Rob overnight for observation, but he's adamant that other then a headache, he's all right. What happened in there, Rick?"
"A wall collapsed on him when we got separated, Doc…when we heard him yell I sent Laurie out of the cave then followed his light. When I found him, he was really dazed, and I had trouble getting him up. Does Rob have a concussion?" he asked.
"He might..he has a nasty bruise on the side of his head. I think I'm going to err on the side of caution here…he's not going to be happy but he's staying put…" Doc began, then Laurie shook her head as she stood up.
"I think you might need to explain that to him.." she said, pointing at Rob, who was standing in the doorway. Before he set foot in the waiting area, Doc and Rudy went to meet him.
"Rob, I thought I told you to stay put…" Doc mock-scolded the tribal chief, who uncharacteristically scowled at him.
"And I said I'm all right…what part of.." he began, only to stop as Laurie stepped in front of him.
"And what part of you're hurt do you not understand, Rob? If you don't want to think of yourself, think of us who care..what if you have a concussion or worse?" she told him emotionally.
Instantly the defiant look disappeared as Rob blinked, then quietly said, "I'm sorry, Light, guys…I just ….I'll go back to bed, I don't like feeling this helpless."
"You're okay, Rob…but make your favorite doctor happy and humor me, okay?" Doc teased, taking the chief's arm and leading him back into the emergency area. The group followed him into a room where both doctors got him back into bed and made him comfortable. Once he was settled, Rob looked at their relieved faces and sighed.
"I'm sorry to make so much trouble….if I could just get rid of this headache…I want to go back into the cave and look at those markings…"
"Not going to happen, pal…the cave-in finished that." Rick declared, putting his arm around his wife. "You just need to be okay so we can start working on the Harvest Festival. I am not lugging all those hay bales by myself like last year."
"By yourself? Yeah, right…" Oscar shot back, then laughed as Rudy added, "I'll have you know Robbie and Ian pulled their weight on that…they had the blisters to prove it!"
"All right, all right, guys….give me a day and we'll get back to work on that…" Rob grinned, then lay back against his pillows.
"Okay, time to let him get some rest…" Doc took control and shooed everyone out of the hospital room. As Rick and Laurie headed out to the parking lot, Oscar excused himself to talk to the construction crew, leaving Rudy to follow them to the ranch.
"Missy, I'm going to stop at the clinic in town, then I'll meet you at the house…is Robin making tacos?" he asked hopefully. Laurie giggled as Rick quipped, "Does a fish swim?"
"Smart aleck…" Rudy shot back wryly, then dropped a kiss on Laurie's check before driving off.
As soon as the Simons climbed into Rick's truck, Laurie turned to her husband, her face pensive.
"Darling, something's wrong…I don't know what it is…but I feel like…"
"Like something bad's going to happen." Rick finished, putting his free arm around her. "I felt it too…and I think we'd better talk to your cousins about this."
"As soon as we get in, Rick.." Laurie promised.
Once the Simons got back to their ranch, they were distracted by the arrival of Robin and Ian Whitecloud, as well as their grandchildren Petey and Katie.
"Almost beat you guys here, Mom…" Robin smiled, giving her parents each a hug. Her face went somber as Rick filled her in on the events of the morning.
"That's awful, Pop…Poor Dad….he hates hospitals…we'll have to sneak some tacos in to him."
"Pop, what about this room that caved in…isn't that where that evil guy tried to burn you and Mom to death?" Ian asked, pulling cooking implements out of the cupboards as his wife heated a pan.
"Yes…one of the scariest things I've ever seen." He replied, grabbing a couple of beers out of the refrigerator then leading his son-in-law into the living room.
"Chief Joseph was with me when ….well…when I saw Nicholas Blair ready to kill Laurie…" Rick explained, sitting in his chair. Ian perched on the arm of the sofa as Rick shook his head. "I almost froze when I realized what he was doing…."
As Rick and the Chief rounded a corner, the older man held up a hand, then the sound of Blair's voice vibrated off the walls. Peering over a rock wall, Rick saw Nicholas Blair with a knife standing next to his wife's outstretched body. Bound hand and foot, she was struggling to get away from him as he chanted some kind of ritual.
Suddenly he raised the ornate dagger, "If any of you can hear me, I will kill your precious cousin if you do not show yourself."
Horrified, Rick was ready to reveal himself when Barnabas suddenly stepped forward, gun in hand.
"Drop the dagger on the ground, Blair and move away from her."
The warlock merely laughed. "You're getting a little old there, Barnabas. I'll take her life faster then you can shoot." As if to emphasis the point, he began to lower the weapon towards Laurie's chest. Rick was just about to level his gun at Blair when she jackknifed her legs and caught him below the belt. Taken by surprise, Blair fell backwards, then got to his feet with incredible speed and grabbing up the dagger, came flying toward Laurie, who managed to roll off the stone altar and landed hard on the ground.
"Now, Rick!" the Chief hissed in his ear and Rick instantly fired, striking the knife and shattering it into pieces.
As Blair turned, howling with rage, Barnabas fired at him, then hurled himself at the warlock, knocking him to the ground. Rick rushed to Laurie's side as she tried to sit up.
"Sweetheart. I've got you, don't move." He whispered, pulling the scarf off her mouth and gathering her into his arms.
"Rick, thank God." Laurie moaned, then put her head against his shoulder as he got to his feet and rushed her toward the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a wall of flame was in his path, and Rick immediately whirled in time to see Blair standing over a collapsed Barnabas, aiming his fingers at the two Simons and Chief Joseph. The fire advanced toward them, scorching in its intensity, and Rick tried to shield Laurie from the heat.
"You will all burn!" Blair yelled, then was driven to the ground by a right hook by Quentin, who slipped out of the shadows and half-carried Barnabas out of Blair's reach.
"Nooooooo! You have no power here!" the warlock screamed in anger. Rick looked around to see what he was reacting to, then heard Laurie murmur, "Grandmother", as the fire disappeared.
With Blair's attention away from him, the older Collins managed to get to his feet, staring at the appearance of Kasey Adams. "Kasey,….
The firm voice of the spirit reverberated in the still air. "Blair, you will not hurt my grandchild! Your evil is ended." she declared, then as Laurie glanced at her ancestor, Kasey looked at Barnabas, saying "Now!"
Holding on to Quentin, Barnabas flung the silver relic at Blair, catching him in the heart. A burst of flame erupted from his chest, and a monstrous howl came from the slowly disintergrating figure.
"Go, now!" Kasey's spirit started to waver, then Rick watched as she gave one more glance at Barnabas, who seemed to recover his strength, whispering "farewell". At once the cave began to vibrate and crumble, and Rick heeded Kasey's words and carried Laurie quickly out of the cavern, following the others back into the tunnels.
"Oh boy…" Ian shook his head as his father-in-law took a sip of his beer. "I'm afraid I would freeze, too. To see Robin in any kind of danger like that…."
"But you wouldn't, son…and you did rescue her and the children from harm…remember? You've got what it takes to protect your family." Rick told him firmly. Ian took a deep breath, then sat down opposite him.
"I hope so, Dad…because I need to discuss something with you…and Mom. I've been offered a promotion with the Knights. It would be in a brand-new arena…I get to hand-pick the riders and horses and really get it off the ground."
"That's great, Ian….isn't this what you've always worked for…to run things properly." Rick asked, then it hit him as Ian hung his head.
"Where is this new venue.."
"It's in Chicago, Dad… At first I said no…I didn't want to uproot the kids again, and Robin .. But the new CEO wants my experience…and he's willing to pay for it..enough of a relocation bonus to afford a really nice place with a stable and everything…"
"And that's more important then our family?"