Above the Bridge (19 page)

Paige looked at the map sideways and then turned it in varying directions.  Seeing it from different angles, she could see that Jake was right.  The zigzag line was almost certainly the Grand Tetons and, if so, the winding line was situated right where the Snake River would be.  But that still didn’t help.  The hiding place could be off in any direction, but pointing that out would serve no purpose other than to discourage Jake.  She gathered up as much positive attitude as she could before speaking up.

“So what we need to do is to find the gold first and then lead them to think it’s hidden in another area.  I think I can help you find it and help you sidetrack them, too.”

 Jake listened carefully to Paige and nodded slowly in agreement.  It was possible the plan could work.

“OK,” he said slowly.  “We’ll start tomorrow morning.  I’ll give you a ride to your cabin now and I’ll pick you up around seven a.m.”  Just thinking about the early morning start, he found himself stifling a yawn.

“You do know how to make coffee, don’t you?” he teased.

Paige laughed and nodded her head.  “I make excellent coffee.”

Jake looked at Paige, the glow of the fire’s embers resting warmly against her face.  Impulsively, he leaned over and kissed the side of her cheek.

“I’ll bet you do,” he said with a smile.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The sun was up long before seven the next morning, but Paige and Jake could hardly tell for all the gray clouds in the sky.  A dense layer of fog covered the valley floor, blocking their view of the mountain peaks.  The threat of rain weighed heavily in the air.  In spite of the less than ideal conditions for heading into the mountains, the situation was starting to feel urgent.  They needed to move quickly if they were going to stay a few steps ahead of Frank and Maddie.

 Paige was waiting with a full thermos of French Roast when Jake arrived.  She twisted the cap off and passed the container under Jake’s nose, watching his nod of approval.

“Don’t tell me you travel with a coffee grinder,” he said with mock surprise, inhaling the aroma of recently ground brew.

“Absolutely,” Paige responded, proud to have added a modern touch to the frontier.

Dressed in warm layers of outerwear and wearing sturdy hiking boots, they tossed two lightweight backpacks of supplies in the truck and headed towards Jenny Lake, working their way carefully through the fog.  Between them, they were equipped with enough maps, trail mix, flashlights and first aid supplies to cover them for a one day hike.  Jake also carried a copy of the map Frank had given him.

   “It’ll burn off soon,” Jake said, watching Paige look out the window and reading her thoughts.

  Having already ruled out the lower areas on his previous hike, Jake led Paige quickly along the two mile stretch around the lake and up beyond Hidden Falls.  Arriving a half mile later at Inspiration Point, they paused to admire the view.  Even misty and gray as it was, there was a dramatic beauty in the view across the valley.

At the Forks of Cascade Canyon, Jake turned left and headed up towards Hurricane Pass, having already covered the right fork on his recent hike to Lake Solitude.  By instinct, he led the way while Paige followed along, occasionally stopping to jot down observations.  One short section at a time, they climbed higher, noting landmarks along the way.

As they rounded one curve in the trail, a cluster of trees came into view.  The trio of tall, mature pines would undoubtedly have been there long before the gold would have been hidden.  Behind the trees a concave indentation marked the surface of a wide stretch of rock. From there a cliff shot up several hundred feet in a solid burst of sandstone.  Jake paced off the distance between the trail and the grouping of trees and then motioned to Paige to continue on.

Light drops of rain began to fall as they climbed higher and the path soon grew narrow and more difficult to navigate.  A steep slab of rock pressed in on them from the right.  To their left the ground dropped off abruptly, the roar of Cascade Creek echoing up from below.

This would not be a great place to slip, Paige thought as she took cautious steps forward.  Nor would it be a good place to get caught in a rock slide, either, she reasoned, quickening her pace to move ahead to a wider part of the trail.

The rain grew steadier as they continued to document sections of the trail.  Even the wildlife seemed to have backed away from the gloomy weather, choosing to stay in burrows or within thickets for protection.  Still, Page and Jake pushed on.  At one point, Paige stepped too quickly over a fallen rock, slipping sideways with her foot.  She barely caught her balance in time to keep from falling.

“Maybe we should turn around,” Jake offered, growing concerned.  “We could come back out tomorrow when the weather should be better.”

Paige motioned for him to push ahead, but within seconds the rain started to pound down with a fury.  Jake turned around and shook his head. A heavy gust of wind blew across the canyon, whipping falling leaves up against the side of his face.

“It’s too dangerous to keep going,” Jake shouted over the storm’s wailing. “We’re going to have to wait this out.”

Reaching out to Paige, he grabbed her hand tightly, pulling her along as he pushed his way through thick brush on the trail’s cliff-side edge.  Emerging on the other side of the tangled branches, he pulled her into a narrow hollow within the rocky surface of the cliff, where they hovered beneath an overhang.  Though the space was cold and isolated, most of the rain was blocked.

“Well, one thing is for sure,” Paige commented, wrapping her arms across her chest in an attempt to keep warm.  “Old Man Thompson would never be able to hike up this far, not anymore.”

“Exactly why he gave in and asked me to help,” Jake said, nodding his head in agreement.

 “I suspect he never intended to share anything with you,” Paige sighed, pulling the collar of her jacket closer to her chin. “If it’s even his to share, that is.  Which I seriously doubt at this point.”

“Or he may have intended to share it originally and just got greedy along the way,” Jake offered, watching the rain continue to pour down.

Paige cast a quick glance at Jake, fighting back a smile at his half-sweet, half-naïve stance.  “You’re a good guy, Jake.  You give him more credit than I would.”

Jake laughed, understanding the complimentary jab Paige had just delivered.

“I guess I just like to believe people are trustworthy,” he replied.  “You know, innocent until proven guilty.  Give people the benefit of the doubt.”

“You wouldn’t last long in New York City, I’m afraid,” Paige laughed.

“I’m not sure I’d want to,” Jake tossed back.  “I’ve never been there, but I have the impression that it’s a whole different planet.”

“That may be the understatement of the century,” Paige agreed, contemplating their current trailside predicament.  It was a far cry from that of rain-soaked Manhattan city-dwellers attempting to hail cabs from curbs.

“So, getting back to your situation with Frank,” Paige continued, “Who knows what his original plan was?  Or if it was even his plan at all, considering Maddie is somehow mixed up in all this.  Whatever the case may be, it’s a betrayal, whether he – or they – originally intended to include you or not.”

Unrelenting, the downpour continued full-force for another twenty minutes before it finally started to ease up.  Once it was feasible to tackle the trail again, they stepped cautiously away from the security of the overhang. Slowly, they descended the canyon, ultimately arriving back at the lake’s western edge.  Though exhausted and drenched, they nearly ran the last two miles around the lake to get back to the dry, warmth of the truck.

*   *   *   *

“There are three places along that trail that I think might be hiding the gold,” Jake said over the steam rising from his mug.  He and Paige sat in front of the fire at the ranch house, hot cocoa helping them recover from the stormy hike.

“One must be that tall cluster of trees that was off to the side near the indented rock formation,” Paige ventured, remembering how much time he had spent taking notes in that area.

Jake nodded his head in agreement.  “Yes, that’s one, though there’s another location that looks very similar on the Lake Solitude trail, which we didn’t take today.  A second possibility from today’s search was the area where the trail suddenly widened after that very narrow section.”

“But you barely stopped there,” Paige pointed out.

“I know,” Jake agreed, with a clear tone of frustration.  “The weather was too unpredictable.  I knew we couldn’t stop and take notes the entire way.”

She thought this over for a minute and then asked Jake where the third area was.

Jake pulled out the large map and placed the smaller, handmade map on top of it.  He pointed to the actual split of the Forks itself.  Paige peered up at him with a questioning look.  He pointed back to the map again.

“There’s another cluster of trees about here, up away from the trail about twelve paces or so.  I noticed it the last time I hiked up there.”  Jake spoke as if talking to himself, but Paige was following along and thinking of the pacing he had done at other points along the trail.

“Why that particular spot?” she asked, confused.

“Look here,” Jake said, pointing to the bottom of the map Frank had given him.  “The lines that look like a ladder or bridge, I think they may be tallies of paces.  The trio of arrows to the right could indicate a formation of three trees.  They would have to be tall ones to have been there since then.  And the semi-circle beyond that must indicate the shape of some sort of boulder or something.  I think we’re looking for a combination of all those factors.”

Paige looked over the markings at the bottom of the map again.  It was true that they could be interpreted the way Jake described, but it still seemed he was grasping.

“I don’t know, Jake,” Paige said, reluctant to dampen his enthusiasm.  “I don’t want to discourage you, but it still seems the clues are too general.  And those ladder markers, if that’s what they are, aren’t close enough to the trio marks.”

Jake shook his head with the determined look common when someone does not want to be dissuaded.

“Look, I not only have this map to go by, but also the descriptions I’ve heard since I was a boy – that the gold would be hidden high above the valley floor, that it was tucked away below some sort of rock formation and that it could be found by following water.  These are the descriptions that Jeremiah himself passed on, those given to him by his friend.  He explained them in detail to my grandfather, who told me the same details over and over…”  He stopped short, puzzled at the expression that had come over Paige.

“Did you say Jeremiah?” she asked, her eyes widening.

Jake looked at her with confusion.  “Yeah, Jeremiah Norris, my great grandfather.  Why?”

A strange look came over Paige’s face, one that he’d never seen on her before.  To Jake’s surprise, Paige put down her mug of cocoa suddenly, sending a small, chocolate wave splattering over the edge.  She jumped to her feet and grabbed her jacket.

“I need you to take me home,” she said quickly, already walking toward the door.  She motioned to Jake to hurry up.  “Just take me home to get my car and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“But, Paige…,” he started to respond, confused by her quick change in demeanor. 

“I think I can help you with this.” Paige opened the front door abruptly, causing it to slam inward.  She ignored the sharp sound of the door’s contact with the wall and started across the porch.

“Alright, I’ll help, too,” Jake offered, jumping up quickly.

“No, I’m afraid that won’t work,” Paige tossed over her shoulder while continuing to walk. “There’s somewhere I need to go.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Jake called after her, grabbing his keys and a jacket.

“You can’t,” Paige answered brusquely, whipping around quickly to face him.  “I mean…I mean, you have to trust me on this.”

Jake pushed for an explanation a few more times, but to no avail.  When he saw that she was determined to head out on her own, he reluctantly gave up.  Whatever arguing he might continue to do, it would be wasted energy.  He started up the truck and, at Paige’s insistence, drove as quickly as possible, dropping her off at her cabin.

“I haven’t the least idea what you’re doing, but be careful,” he called as she jumped into her car and started it up. 

Paige waved in a rushed manner, pulling out on the road and heading quickly towards town.  Please, she thought to herself, please let this work.

The roads were slick from the rain, which had started to fall in torrents again.  She flipped her windshield wipers on low, but immediately switched them to the highest setting.  Water-filled potholes sent deep-toned splashes against the underside of her vehicle.  Gripping the steering wheel tightly, she scanned the sides of the road for elk and bison, hoping to avoid a collision if one unexpectedly started to cross the roadway.

In spite of the weather-hindered roads, she made the drive in record time and grabbed the first parking space she saw, about a block from the center of town.  Walking quickly, but being cautious to avoid drawing attention to herself, she made her way to the town square.