Fatal Descent by Beth Groundwater

okay, he waved her off and started walking again. Watching his bowed shoulders, she thought maybe his grief was weighing on him. She hoped that was it. But she feared otherwise.
    Once they all reached a large ancient granary built under an overhang , they took turns peering into it. Gonzo explained it was constructed out of stones cemented together with a mud made of sand and clay mixed with urine, blood, feces, or other organic matter.
    Tina wrinkled her nose and said, “Yuck.”
    Turning from the nearby handprint and bighorn sheep pictographs that she was photographing, Elsa asked, “Why’d they store their food in such a remote place?”
    “Actually, they didn’t store food in the granaries.” Gonzo swept an arm toward the wide sandy flatland between them and the river. “Down there is what we call ‘Big Bottom.’ These bottoms are where the ancestral Puebloans, or what used to be called the Anasazi, grew their squash, beans, and corn in the summers. After the harvest, they’d hide their seed stocks and tools from other tribes in these grana ries before heading to the highlands in the cool months to hunt for deer and other meat.”
    “Ah, so these are hiding places,” Elsa said with dawning understanding. “That’s why they’re so remote and high up.”
    Gonzo pointed out a design on the rock wall that archaeologists thought was a solstice calendar and took them to another smaller granary and some more rock art. By then, it was approaching noon, so Mandy signaled for them all to head back to the rafts and paddle across the river to the Lathrop Canyon campsite. The whole time they had been on the cliffside, she and Kendra had scanned the river for other boats but neither of them had seen any.
    They were totally alone.
    _____
    After they beached at Lathrop Canyon, tying off their rafts next to Rob’s containing Alex’s body, Mandy led the group to the campsite. She saw Cool and Les sitting at one of the picnic tables in the shade. “Where’s Rob?”
    “Not back yet,” Cool said.
    Worry started to nibble on Mandy’s psyche. “How long has he been gone?”
    Cool checked his watch. “Over an hour.”
    Mandy looked toward the back of the campsite, where the trail took off, with hands on her hips. “Maybe I should send someone after him.” She hoped he wasn’t injured. They had agreed he wouldn’t take more than an hour to look for hikers on the trail.
    Just then Rob appeared around the bend, his steps plodding and dejected.
    “Any luck?” Mandy yelled.
    Rob shook his head. Once he was near, he said, “The trail was deserted, and there’s no evidence that anyone’s been at the campsite here in days. The latrine doesn’t even smell. This isn’t a very popular hiking trail even in season.”
    “Kendra and I didn’t see anyone on the river from the ruins either.” Mandy chewed on her lip. “I guess our only choice is to keep moving.”
    She scanned the campsite. The women clients had already spied the latrine, the last they would find on the river before the Hite Marina, and they were making good use of it. Kendra was setting up the handwashing station for them to use afterward. Cool and Gonzo were carrying lunch supplies to the picnic tables.
    The next thing she saw made her heart lurch. She grabbed Rob’s arm. “Look.” Diana and Hal had walked to the river bank. They stood there silently hugging each other in front of the body bag in Rob’s raft.
    When Amy made a move to join them, Alice stopped her and said, “Let them be.” She put her arms around her sister and held her stoically while Amy cried into her shoulder. Les joined them and put his arms around both of them.
    “I wish we could do something for them,” Mandy said.
    Rob gave Mandy’s hand a squeeze. “So do I, but I think all we can do now is feed everyone and get back on the river.” He walked toward the picnic tables and Mandy followed.
    The rest of the clients took seats at one of the picnic tables where Gonzo had put