Dangerous Attachments (Dr. Sylvia Strange Book 1) by Sarah Lovett Page B

and shoulder strap, he looked like a tiny man.
    They drove past the new subdivision projects with their signs advertising affordable country living. Jaspar stared at the giant yellow Caterpillars and steamrollers pushing earth. The growl of machinery and diesel fumes filled the car's interior. Even a four-day weekend didn't slow the developers down. Sylvia opened her mouth and then closed it again. She couldn't think of anything to say. When they bounced over the railroad tracks, Jaspar turned in his seat to gaze out the rear window.
    "Do you see a train coming?"
    Jaspar shook his head. "They don't go as fast as cars."
    They were silent as the car rolled past the Lamy overpass and the turnoff to the village of Galisteo. Sylvia had been considering the best approach to open up communication with Jaspar. Although he'd been told his father was dying, Malcolm's cancer was already acute when diagnosed; death had come soon after. Often children Jaspar's age believed their own thoughts or actions had caused the death of a parent. She gazed at the boy, saw Malcolm's style reflected in his son, and decided not to push—let him take his time. She opened the window and breathed in icy air. The sky was cloudless and cobalt blue. Hard, brown earth slid up to the distant horizon and rose suddenly to form jagged ridgebacks and the blunt nose of the Ortiz Mountains.
    "Did you know that people hunt for gold in those mountains?" Sylvia asked.
    Silence.
    "Is it too cold for you, Jaspar?"
    This time he responded with a shake of his head. He picked up the small pack at his feet and held it in his lap. "There were Indians here?"
    "Un huh. Anasazi, I think. Anasazi Indians."
    Jaspar considered this.
    "They were ancient people, anyway. I know that for sure," Sylvia said.
    "Who told you?" Jaspar's tone was polite, but now there was a note of curiosity.
    "My father."
    "Oh."
    Sylvia searched for the off-road clearing, slack barbed-wire fence, and NO TRESPASSING signs that marked the Lamy swimming hole. They came to a stop in a swirl of tire tracks in the dried earth.
    Jaspar looked around with a quizzical expression. "This is it?"
    "Lock your door, and don't forget your fanny pack." Sylvia put the key in the back pocket of her jeans and buttoned her jacket. Wind intensified the cold outside the car. "Ready?"
    "I need my hat on," Jaspar said.
    "Where is it?"
    Jaspar peered carefully in the pockets of his green mackintosh. "Don't know." After some searching, they discovered the wool hat stuck to a strip of Velcro on Jaspar's sleeve. It was the first time Sylvia had heard Jaspar laugh since his father's death. It was a soft, quick sound that touched her. She joined in with her big laugh then pulled the hat over his ears and buttoned his collar.
    "There."
    The highway was deserted, no sign of traffic from north or south, and it stretched out to infinity over flat earth. Overhead, a twin-engine plane sketched a lopsided figure eight in the air; it appeared to be exactly the same size as a crow coasting below.
    They hiked across the road, slipped through the barbed wire, and negotiated a trail around rocks and trees. Jaspar trekked silently, eyes to the ground. He found some cicada shells and a raven's feather and put these items carefully into his fanny pack. He pointed to three tiny holes in the ground. Sylvia explained that they were left by the cicadas when the insects came out of the ground at the end of their dormant cycle. Jaspar absorbed the information without comment.
    As they walked, Sylvia felt the muscles in her legs contract and release. It was a good sensation, freeing, asif she'd been static for months. She waited while Jaspar added pebbles and some withered purple juniper berries to his collection.
    "Keep your head up now."
    "Why?" Jaspar looked up at the sky and then at Sylvia.
    "We're getting close."
    "What is it?"
    "You'll see." Sylvia held out her hand. After a moment's hesitation, Jaspar put his fingers inside hers. They walked side by