Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (23 page)

She stopped for a few minutes to admire the
way the river plunged over an outcropping, becoming a thunderous
waterfall before continuing its journey to the lake.

Diana stared at the water and hoped her
concerns were merely disappointment that David wasn’t quite the
person she had believed him to be. She supposed it was possible she
had misinterpreted what he had said and took his comments to mean
what she wanted to believe instead of what was actually true. The
problem was that the situation was making her extremely
uncomfortable and she decided that when they returned to the
Cities, she would order the background check. Then she would know
for sure and would know how to proceed. If nothing else it would
give her a little peace of mind.

In the meantime, she decided she was going to
enjoy her honeymoon and if that meant going on easier hikes to
match her husband’s capabilities, then that was fine. This wasn’t a
competition and her main desire was to spend time with him away
from business and the grind of every day life. She would deal with
everything else later.

Feeling better now that she had decided what
to do, Diana finished the descent and went to find her husband.

The next morning, Fowler got up early and
joined Diana on her sunrise walk to Storm Point. Although it just
about killed him to roll out of bed at that hour, he knew it would
be a major mistake to beg off yet again. Especially after the hike
at the Temperance River yesterday. When Diana had finally appeared
at the Visitor Center, something about her was different. He knew
the change was not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. So he was
determined to be on his best behavior this morning. Especially
since he was planning on using his sore ankle to persuade her to
hike the Enchantment River today.

When he had made his plans, he had
anticipated no more than two days to have everything taken care of
before returning to civilization. When Diana told him how she
wanted to spend their honeymoon, he had gotten the impression that
she was hot to hike the Enchantment River. While she’d mentioned
the other parks, her desire to stay at Storm Point Lodge had made
him think the Enchantment River was first on her list. He had, in
fact, thought it was going to be easy.

Instead, it had been a daily slog of one
steep climb after another. And so far, none of them had been
anywhere near the Enchantment River. First it was Tettegouche. Then
the Temperance. All in all, he had seen way more of the North Shore
than he ever wanted to. Way more, in fact, than he’d ever expected.
More importantly, none of those hikes had been anywhere near the
Devil’s Cauldron.

It was almost as if she knew what he was
planning.

While he knew that was ridiculous, he had the
feeling that if she had her way, they would hike every single park
on the North Shore before they got to the Enchantment River. He, on
the other hand, was determined to make sure they got to the
Enchantment River today.

He didn’t mind the hot tub at the end of the
day. Or the dinners. Or the drinks during what was considered High
Tea, but which actually offered much more. But listening to Diana
yammer on and on about the hikes they had just finished or a
million and one other topics designed to send him into a coma, was
quickly eroding his temper and chipping away the urbane exterior he
had created for her. Worse, he still was no closer to the whole
reason for being here.

If he hadn't almost sprained his ankle
yesterday, he might never have come up with the perfect excuse to
move the Enchantment River hike up on the list. According to Diana,
it was one of the easiest hikes on the North Shore and he'd be very
surprised if he couldn't persuade her to make it easy on him
today.

His new plan in mind, he forced himself to
crawl out of bed and join Diana for the sunrise walk.

Right before they set off, Diana gave him a
look of concern mixed with something he hadn't been able to
decipher, but which made him extremely uncomfortable. "Now you're
sure your ankle is up to this?" she asked as they walked out of the
Lodge.

"I'm sure," he said. "I stepped wrong and
slid on the gravel, but it was just a little strain. I'm sure a
gentle stroll out to Storm Point isn't going to send me to the
hospital." He kissed her cheek so she would know he appreciated her
concern. "And if it kicks up for some reason, I'll go back."

"If you're sure."

"Absolutely," he said. "I'm not about to do
something that might ruin our time up here together. Besides, I've
been terribly lazy every morning since we got here and I'm dying to
see one of those gorgeous sunrises you've been talking about."

"I'm so glad you feel up to it," she said,
tucking her arm into his. "You'll just love it out there. It's
incredible."

"Elemental by any chance?" he teased.

She laughed. "That, too."

When they finally got out to the point,
Fowler had to admit that Storm Point lived up to its billing, even
if it was the crack of dawn. The waves were particularly fierce
here and the cliffs looked like they'd been set on fire when the
rising sun lit them up. Even better, it was an easy walk.

By the time they got to breakfast, he was
relaxed and enjoying himself. Diana had even been willing to talk
about something other than the North Shore.

But then, as he was buttering a nicely crisp
English muffin, she surprised him. He had taken an easy hike today
for granted, but that wasn't what she proposed as they began
eating.

"So I was thinking," she said as she picked
up her cup of coffee. She held the cup in both hands and gave him
one of her coy smiles that made him want to smack her. "Do you
think you're up to hiking Split Rock today?"

Fowler was grateful he wasn't in the middle
of taking a bite of the muffin. He might well have choked and that
would not have been good. Not good at all. But he could hardly
believe she had suggested one of the most rugged locations for a
hike today. If he had thought Tettegouche was bad, Split Rock was
brutal. She had to know he'd never be able to hike that with a bum
ankle.

He held back his initial reaction and instead
put down the muffin and, reaching across the table, touched the
back of her free hand.

"Diana," he said as lovingly and seriously as
he possibly could. "I love you dearly, but today I would like to
take it easy. I'm sure my ankle is fine, but I don't want to chance
a hike at Split Rock. Let's hike the Enchantment River today
instead, all right? It's a beautiful park and a nice hike. It's
close, so if there's a problem, we can get back here without
difficulty. Plus it'll give my ankle a chance to rest up."

He took his hand back and studiously
slathered more jam on the muffin. "We can do Split Rock tomorrow.
Besides, I haven't hiked the Enchantment in ages and there's a
formation I'd really like to see. Plus, if I remember correctly,
there's a very romantic spot there I'd like to take you to. All
right?"

She wrinkled her nose at him and then sighed.
"You're right," she said. "That is much easier. I just thought that
since your ankle seemed fine this morning, it might be up to a
little more today. But you're probably smart not to take chances.
Split Rock tomorrow and the Enchantment River today."

He took her hand again and kissed it gently.
"Thank you, darling," he said with a smile. "And I promise today
will be absolutely memorable."

She gave him a quizzical smile. "You have
something planned, don't you."

He grinned. "You'll just have to wait and
see."

"David. You always manage to surprise me. I
really love that about you."

Fowler simply smiled and took a bite of his
muffin.

Starr looked at the sky as she was going to
breakfast, hoping today was the day.

It had been a little foggy at the cabin, so
she hadn't been able to see much when she looked out the window.
But as she walked into the clearing around the Lodge, she knew that
it was going to be the perfect day to shoot the Devil's Cauldron.
Looking north, the sky was clear and she couldn't see any clouds on
the horizon. She'd know for sure by lunchtime, but after breakfast
she made sure her lenses were clean and everything was ready to
go.

She met Charlie down at Storm Point and they
spent the morning picking raspberries up near the Superior Hiking
Trail. Charlie told her that July was the Moon of the Raspberry in
the Ojibway culture. Fascinated, Starr wanted to hear more.

"I don't really know a lot," Charlie
admitted. "I listen to the stories and everything, but since we
don't live on the rez, there's a lot I don't know. But I can tell
you about the dreamcatcher. We put it over babies to keep the bad
dreams away."

"Does it work?" Starr asked.

"I think so," Charlie said. "My dad put a
dreamcatcher over my bed when I was born and I've never had bad
dreams."

"That's so neat," Starr said. "I never really
knew a real Indian before."

Charlie laughed and popped a handful of
raspberries into her mouth. "Up here you'll run into quite a few.
Some still live on the reservation, but there aren't a lot of
opportunities there, so a lot of us live somewhere else and then go
back for pow-wows and things like that."

"Do you think I could go with you some time?"
Starr asked.

"To take pictures?"

Starr shook her head. "No. But I'd love to
see what it's like. The pow-wows sound really neat."

Charlie relaxed a little. "I can ask my dad,"
she said. "He's pretty cool about a lot of stuff, so he might say
yes."

Starr wished her father was like Charlie's
dad, but didn't say anything. Instead, she got Charlie to tell her
more about the pow-wows and the give-aways. It was so different
from what she was used to. She couldn't see her grandparents
enjoying something like that, but she thought it would be really
cool.

After lunch, Starr was thrilled to see that
the weather was still perfect. She got her camera out of its
cubbyhole, slung the tripod over her shoulder by its strap and
walked up the coast to the Enchantment River State Park. She
planned on taking the shuttle back to the Lodge in order to get
home in time for dinner and double-checked the schedule to make
sure she wouldn't miss it.

She hoped that since it was a weekday, there
wouldn't be a lot of people hiking there today. A big sign at the
bottom warned people not to hike there in the late afternoon
because the shadows made it dangerous. Starr had already discovered
how difficult it was to see where you were going when the shadows
stretched across the rock and merged with the color of the
earth.

She hoped people would be off the trails by
the time she started shooting. She would only have a few minutes
before the sun shifted and the moment was lost.

That afternoon, David Fowler closed the door
of the honeymoon suite and finally led his wife on the last trip
she would ever take.

Storm Point Lodge had originally been built
in the early nineteenth century for what was euphemistically called
sportsmen and had survived the years by catering to hikers, skiers
and tourists who enjoyed the Minnesota North Shore. It was a
popular place to stay and had all the amenities. Pool, dining room,
beautiful grounds overlooking the lake, and a well-stocked bar. The
doors and paneling were made of real wood and the lighting was
suitably dim and romantic. Especially for the honeymoon set.

Fowler hated it.

No, he thought as they walked down the dark
paneled hallway. That wasn't quite accurate. He had hated it the
day they arrived. Loathing was much more accurate at this point. Of
course, he loathed just about everything on the North Shore. There
was no cell phone coverage, the nightlife was a joke and the place
didn't even have television. The only bar outside of the Lodge was
a shack miles away where everyone sounded like they had just come
from the set of
Fargo
.

While the Lodge had a good dining room and an
even better bar, it had gotten extremely old after several days.
Fowler couldn't wait to get back to the Cities where there were
sidewalks and street lights and places where you could party until
at least midnight.

He knew Diana had picked the place because
she had the misbegotten idea that it was the best slice of heaven
outside of the Glensheen Mansion. She liked it because it was old.
She liked feeling as if she was in the middle of nowhere. She
liked
feeling as if she was living in the fucking stone
age.

Fowler had had to exercise all his skill not
to let her know how he felt about
that
.

On the other hand, as they headed up the
trail towards the Enchantment River State Park, Fowler reflected
happily that if Diana hadn't wanted to stay here, he never would
have discovered the Devil's Cauldron. That was the only thing that
had made the trip worthwhile. In fact, he would be willing to say
it had made everything just about perfect. He smiled happily as
they walked along the lakeshore.

Just this last little side trip and he'd be
rid of her forever. Not to mention that in just a few days he could
enjoy the considerable fortune that had come from beer and flour.
Not terribly romantic, but extremely profitable.

"I need to make a pit stop," he told Diana as
they reached the park headquarters.