Far Country (13 page)

An
hour later when his shift ended, Steve hurriedly collected his gear and set off
across the campsites toward the loop trail.  He set a brisk pace as he
began to climb the steep path, and felt some of the tension begin to drain away
immediately.

There
had been a moment as he strode past the Graham’s trailer that could have been
unpleasant, but Steve had seen the rental car just in time.  Apparently
David was back in the park for a farewell visit.  He cut a wide berth
around the side of the trailer and quickly disappeared into the trees on the
far side of the road, just as he heard a painfully familiar voice calling out
“Good bye”, and the Graham’s replies.  For a moment Steve wondered if
Deborah was there to see him off too, but quickly thrust away the thought. It
really didn’t matter. He stepped  into the trees just as David cruised
past the trailhead by the amphitheatre.  Resolutely, Steve turned away and
focused on the trail ahead, ignoring the urge to look back through the trees to
watch David finally leave Hanging Rock for good.

As
always on the mountain, Steve’s spirits began to lift as he pushed his pace up
the steep trail.  His thoughts went back to the night only a few weeks
ago, when he and Chuck had jogged this same trail in the dark, searching for
the lost camper from site 42. 
Stupid inexperienced kid, coming up here
without a buddy,
Steve thought
. At least he had registered at the
trailhead
.

 It
had been a close thing. Shane Davis would probably not have survived until
morning.  They had heard recently that the boy would make a full recovery,
although Steve doubted that Shane would be free climbing on any cliff walls in
the future. His injuries had been severe – several broken bones, a punctured
lung and internal bleeding – it was amazing that he had even survived the fall.

Steve
was breathing hard by the time he reached the trail marker and turned off onto
the side path that led to the same cliff he and Pete had taken Deborah to last
month.  As the trees opened out, Steve paused and took in the magnificent
view of the valley and surrounding mountains.  Slowly, Steve sat down on a
fallen tree trunk and allowed the peace of the mountains to fill him. After
awhile he realized that he was smiling. He closed his eyes and listened to the
sounds around him. A faint breeze stirred the leaves, rattling them softly on
their branches.  A sparrow called a plaintive warning to some animal in
the trees behind him.  Steve could hear the occasional crackling of dry
twigs, as something moved stealthily in the trees beyond his sight. 
Maybe
a wild turkey, or possibly a fox,
he thought,
checking out the human for
a change
. 

Feeling
much more relaxed, Steve unpacked his gear and prepared to make his descent. He
tested the rope and anchored it carefully. At last, he stepped to the edge and
leaned back, allowing himself to arc out over the valley. He swung back to the
rock face and proceeded to bounce away from the wall in a series of small arcs,
dropping smoothly until he was nearly halfway down.  He rested against the
cliff face enjoying the panoramic view.

“Why
are you still alive?”

The
accusation rang out and echoed around him. Braced against the stone, and
preparing to push off again, Steve froze and peered up to the top of the cliff.
“Who’s there?” He called in confusion. Surely he had misunderstood the words…

The
voice came again, irritated and insistent. “You should be dead!”

 
This time he knew it.  David had somehow followed him.  “
You
should have died that night,” David yelled.  “Not my sister!”

Steve
squinted up toward the top of the cliff, trying to make out what David was
doing. “I wish it had been me, David!” He yelled back.  “You’re right, and
I would do anything to change what happened.” 

Silence
filled the air. Steve continued squinting up into the sun.  “David?” 
Was he still up there?  He tried again.  “I’ll climb back up,” he
called. “Wait for me, David. Can we at least talk about this now?”

David
would not reply, but Steve caught a movement, the silhouette of a figure
peering over the side. Pebbles showered down. Steve stared back uneasily,
suddenly wondering if David would push something bigger, and if he could dodge
a rock dropping at him from out of the sun.  Suddenly, Steve felt a faint
tugging on the rope. It gave slightly. He broke out in a sweat.  Surely David
wouldn’t cut the rope…but the tugging continued, and Steve was certain that
that was exactly what David was doing.

Desperately,
Steve kicked off, arcing out into space then back to the rock face. He glanced
down, gauging the distance to the ground. It was still a long drop, but one
more release and he would be down! He pushed off again, once more arcing far
away from the rock. Just as he reached the apex of the swing, Steve felt the
secure tautness of the rope disappear. David had managed to cut through the
heavy nylon, and Steve realized with a sick feeling that he was free falling.
For a long moment it seemed as if he hung there, as if he had a choice, but the
moment vanished and Steve plummeted straight to the ground below.

David
watched the rope fall loosely over the side, knowing Steve would now be lying
broken and crushed, just as Sarah had been in that ditch. He had dreamed of
doing something like this for years now. He smiled slightly at the image in his
mind, and then turned slowly away.  Somehow he had always thought he would
feel elation at this moment, but instead, all he felt was emptiness.

 
Emptiness,
but no
regret
.  He walked back up the path without looking
back. 

           
Deborah rapped on Steve’s door for a third time, waiting impatiently.  Was
he still avoiding her?  She stood on tiptoe and peered through the small
window in the door, but the room was dark. Nothing seemed to be moving. 
At 7:30 in the morning, it was unlikely that he would already have left for
work; besides, his old white truck was still sitting in the driveway.

           
Deborah sighed and brushed her hair back with her fingers. Not even eight
o’clock yet, and it was already uncomfortably warm. Reluctantly she turned away
and trudged back to the her own truck, where Laurie, one of the other three
female rangers who worked at the Lake, sat in the passenger seat, plaiting her
long brown hair in a neat French braid while she waited for Deborah. She glanced
sideways at Deborah as she slammed the truck door and turned the key in the
ignition.  The frown on her face pretty much said it all.

           
“He still won’t even answer the door, huh?”

           
Deborah ignored the obvious question, as she stepped heavily on the gas and
kicked up a rooster tail of gravel as she shot down the service road.
Unperturbed, Laurie completed her braid, wrapped a black elastic tie around the
end and began to pin it in up on the back of her head.  She smiled sympathetically
at her friend. “Be patient, Deb.  He’s always been a moody one. He’ll get
over it.”

           
Deborah grimaced. “It’s all my fault!  I should have told him about David
and me.  I should have known that it would matter to him.” 

           
Distracted by her thoughts, Deborah had to step hard on the break as they came
up to the intersection.  The truck to lurched to a halt rocking both of
the girls forward in their seatbelts. Laurie caught herself with a hand on the
dash, and gave Deborah a long silent look of reproof. Deborah ignored her
outwardly, but she proceeded more slowly as she pulled out onto the main
service road.

           
Laurie expertly slid another bobby pin into her to anchor her braid. “You’re
too hard on yourself,” she advised her friend.  How could you know that
all this would happen so suddenly? I mean, you two aren’t really even dating,
after all.”

           
“Well, there’s the rub,” Deborah sulked regretfully.  “We weren’t, but we
could have been. Now, when I want to be there for him, he won’t have anything
to do with me.”

           
They pulled into the parking lot above the lake, and Deborah guided the truck
into its usual parking spot. The two girls slid out and walked down the path
that led to the pavilion.  It was still fairly cool under the trees, and
Deborah stopped to inhale the pungent scent of the pine boughs before making
her way to the snack bar.  Laurie paused too and sighed.  “It’s so
peaceful! Hard to believe it will be crawling in campers in about an hour!”

           
“It’s going to be another scorcher, too,” Deborah agreed with a sigh.

           
Laurie gave her friend a withering look.  “Like you’re not going to be
working in air conditioning?”

           
Deborah grinned. “Yes, but it’s such hard work to keep the ice cream and water
bottles stocked!” She told Laurie with an exaggerated air of suffering. 
“The campers buy everything in sight! I tell you, it’s exhausting trying to
keep up with the demand.”

           
“Poor thing!” Laurie exclaimed in mock sympathy. “I’ll think of you while I’m
patrolling OUTSIDE on the nice, sunny beach. I’ll probably get sunstroke!”

           
“Want to trade?” Deborah offered.

           
Laurie grinned. “Not a chance! See you later!” She waved airily and sauntered
around the building to the beach.

           
The morning proved to be every bit as busy as Deborah had predicted.
Overwhelmed by the oppressive heat, many campers abandoned their hiking plans in
favor of the cold waters of the lake, slathering on gallons of suntan lotion
and downing bottle after bottle of soda and water, as well as several boxes of
ice cream bars.  To her chagrin, Deborah found her joke about keeping the
snack bar stocked was no joke after all.  The customers kept her busy all
morning.

           
Around 2:00 Pete stopped in to buy his customary ice cream before going off
duty. She had gotten in the habit of taking her break with Pete when he stopped
by, and after the busy day, she was especially glad to see him.  Deborah
smiled wearily. “How’s it going?”

           
Pete shrugged and wiped beads of sweat off of his forehead. “It’s going better
now that I’m off from work.” He scanned the depleted display case in
disappointment. “Got any strawberry éclairs left?” He asked without much hope.

           
“I saved you one,” Deborah replied.  She dug under a pile of orange
popsicles and pulled out his favorite ice cream bar. She handed it to him as
she walked around the counter to join him at a table.

           
Pete grinned in appreciation.  “That’s my girl!”

           
“Anything for you,” she said smiling back.

           
“Really?” He asked, sliding onto the bench across from her. “Then, how about a
movie and dinner this weekend?”

           
Deborah was caught off guard.  “Oh, Pete! I, ah….” She stuttered,
searching for a kind reply.

           
Pete broke in. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “It’s true that I like you. I
think you know that by now, but this is ‘just friends’. It’s been a rough week
and I just thought you deserved a break. No pressure, I promise.”

           
Deborah sighed and smiled at her friend.  “Why are you so nice to me?”

           
Pete smiled back and raised an eyebrow.  “You want the truth?  I know
you are interested in Steve, and if it works out for the two of you, fine, I’ll
be happy for you.”

           
Deborah blushed a little at his words. She supposed everyone knew how she felt
about Steve by now. “But..?” She prompted in a small voice.

           
Pete grew serious. “But to tell the truth, as much as I like Steve, he’s not
exactly ready for a relationship.  Not to mention, he is not a practicing
Christian.”  Pete leaned closer to her. “What I’m hoping is that one day,
you will wake up and realize that you want a relationship with a man of faith.
And I will be first in line if that day ever comes.”

He drew back and took a bite
of his ice cream and smiled at her. “However in the meantime, you’re pretty
good company and easy on the eyes. So I ask you again: “How about dinner and a
movie this weekend?”

           
This time her reply was genuine. “I’d really enjoy that, Pete.  Thanks.”

           
Static bursts of white noise from Pete’s radio interrupted them. Pete
acknowledged the dispatcher, and both he and Deborah listened with frowns of
concern to the report.  He clicked the button and replied, “On my way.”
And hooked the radio back onto his belt.

           
He looked at Deborah. “It’s not like Steve to skip work,” he said quietly. “Got
any ideas where he would be?”

           
Deborah shook her head. “He told me he was going to put in for a transfer
yesterday,” she confided to Pete. “But I can’t imagine he would simply walk off
the job.”

           
“I’m going to meet Chuck at his bungalow.”

“I tried
to talk to him this morning about 7:30, Pete,” Deborah told him, her concern
increasing.  “His truck was there but he didn’t answer the door, and the
place was dark.”