Aquifer: A Novel (20 page)

“Thank you for including me in your family these past few weeks. The family I grew up with wasn’t exactly ideal,” he offered.

“Some things’r best left unspoken. I understand the pain of past mistakes better than most,” she commented.

Clayton took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as if releasing long-term, pent-up emotions. “Yeah. . . . There’s no need to dwell on such things . . . but spending time with your family has been quite therapeutic. . . . If only things could’ve been different.”

Opal was deep in thought as well, with a far-away expression, “Yup . . . if only,” she mused.

=/\=

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
HREE

Blair Creek

Ozark nights can be very peaceful, though the constant barrage from the frogs, crickets, cicadas, and incessant whistling of the whippoorwills may at first seem overwhelming to the unaccustomed. As night-fall deepens, even those unsettling noises fade into the smothering heaviness of silence, and then, even the slightest sound may be distinctly heard more than a mile away as it bounces off the bluffs and cliffs, reverberating through the valley floor.

Blair Creek, which was more of a small river, flowed past the south pasture at Hank Dobb’s ranch. The lapping of the ripples against the rocks and trees lining its banks accompanied by the gentle gurgling of water passing around branches protruding from submerged limbs produced a lulling effect upon anyone who happened to be nearby.

Hank had followed the Sheriff’s counsel about keeping his cattle closer to the barn for two weeks, but then he returned his cattle to their pasture. The herd had settled down for the night not far from the fence near the river. Cows, unlike horses, are very light sleepers and are easily disturbed. Typical of herd prey animals, they take only short naps at regular intervals throughout a twenty-four hour period; which means that at any given time, some members of the herd are awake and alert while others are sleeping. A cow’s field of vision is very wide, and they have an acute sense of both hearing and smell. It is very difficult to sneak up on a cow undetected. If startled, they quickly communicate to the rest of the herd that something is amiss. When imminent danger threatens, cattle herds are prone to stampeding. Thus, contrary to the claims of abundant urban legends, the alleged sport of cow-tipping is simply not possible – not to mention the insurmountability of the physics involved.

Several of the cows in Hank’s herd wore bells around their necks. As they chewed their cuds or clomped grass from the meadow, the clanking bells marked their position. The soft clanging mingled with the gurgling of the river to enhance the tranquility of the pastoral setting under the blanket of a dark moonless night.

Suddenly, the cow closest to the river stopped chewing its cud and stood motionless. Something had alerted its internal alarm system. There was no sound out of the ordinary, so the wary cow tested the air for hints of potential peril – but no scent indicated danger. The cow stood upwind from the river and studied the area in that direction, instinctively realizing that danger would probably come from there. After several minutes without further distraction, it slowly yet cautiously resumed chewing its cud.

Then came the faint sound of something hurtling through the air, followed by the splat of a thick liquid striking a solid object. Seconds later there was a resounding thud and a final clank of the bell. The cow lay on its side breathing in slow, shallow breaths.

During the next hour this process was repeated over and over. Yet nothing alarmed the herd. To them, there was no indication of danger, even though, one by one, their numbers were dropping.

*

The next afternoon Hank Dobbs burst through the door of Sheriff Aker’s office accompanied by both of his sons. Jane Chilton could see that he was clearly agitated about something, so before he could cross the room she buzzed the Sheriff on the intercom.

Hank strode up to the dispatcher’s desk then leaned over and placed a heavy hand on the edge. He stood there, leaning on the desk for a couple of seconds as if trying to decide what to say. Then he blurted out, “Jane, I need to see the Sheriff, now!”

At that moment Sheriff Akers came out of his office and began to approach the men. Hank straightened to his full 6' 3" height and glared at the Sheriff, flanked by his sons. “They’re back!” he gruffly said.

“Who’s back?” inquired the Sheriff.

“The rustlers.”

“What happened?”

“We rounded up our herd like you said and kept them in the holding area near the barn. Feeding four hundred head of cattle in close quarters is a big job.” He paused as he adjusted his hat. “After a couple of weeks we took ‘em back to the south pasture so they could graze. Well, this afternoon we went out with a load of alfalfa and found that the fence had been trampled again, after we’d fixed it. I took a head count and we’re missing thirty head.”

“Are you sure the herd didn’t just trample the fence and are grazing along the river somewhere?”

“Yeah, we checked that. We found the same drag marks on the ground near the river, just like the ones we found the last time. I tell ya someone’s stealin’ our cattle and ferryin’ ‘em downriver.”

“Okay, I’ll place a report and start checking all the slaughter houses. If I recall, your brand’s pretty distinctive and so it would be hard to alter, wouldn’t it?”

“The
Rocking Star Bar
. Yup, it’d be hard to alter, all right.”

“Well, give me a couple of days to see what I can come up with. Till then you might want to take turns with your boys monitoring your herd 24/7.”

=/\=

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
FOUR

Rocky Falls

The following Saturday afternoon, Tina picked Larry up at his campsite. She had promised to take him on a picnic to Rocky Falls. They headed out of town going east on Highway 106, which was just as twisty and winding as the highway north of town, but not nearly as hilly. The top was down on the yellow Jeep and Tina’s long blond hair blew about in the wind. After a few miles she turned off the state road onto county road “H.” Seven miles later she left the black-top, turning onto a back-country graveled road marked “NN.” Within just a few minutes the road dead-ended at the parking lot of Rock Falls State Park.

Exiting the Jeep, they walked down the short footpath to the edge of the lagoon at the base of the water fall. The lagoon was not very large - more of a pond - barely eighty feet across. The waterfall was more of a rocky mountainside. The water poured over the top of the hillside and then cascaded down a fifty-degree incline for about a hundred feet before free-falling five feet into the six-foot deep pool at its base.

It was early in the day, but already there were over fifty people at the swimming hole sliding down the rocky incline into the water, diving into the pool, or splashing about in the shallow edges. Rocky Falls was a particularly good place for families. There were no swift currents, no undertows, and lots of shallow water for young children – yet the rocky, but smooth, granite incline was challenging enough for teens and young adults to not be bored by a kiddy-type swimming hole.

At the shallow end of the small lagoon, a half dozen parents had waded out into knee-deep water where they planted aluminum-framed, nylon-webbed lawn chairs. They sat in the chairs, with their feet in the water, tending a floating ice chest filled with cold drinks anchored between them. Relaxed in their cool surroundings, they watched their young children splashing in the warm, clear, shallow water while chatting with friends and nursing their favorite chilled beverage.

Around the perimeter of the lagoon were several picnic tables and barbeque pits, many of them already claimed by other families who had piled their coolers and baskets atop the tables to reserve their favorite locations.

Tina and Larry carried their picnic basket and cooler to a table near the edge of the pool at the base of the falls.

“I never cease to be amazed at how much water there is in the Ozarks,” Larry commented.

“I suppose that water and rocks are our greatest natural resource.”

“Well, I think the water on these rocks needs to be tested. Where do we change?”

Tina pointed to a new dressing house at the far side of the parking lot. “When I was a kid we didn’t have a changing house. We just hid behind the bushes.”

“That was more information than I needed to know,” he laughed. “Come on, let’s get changed.”

Larry changed into his trunks more quickly than Tina. While he waited for her to come out of her side of the changing house he scanned the horizon. It appeared that a thunderstorm was brewing in the distance. He hoped that the wind would carry it away from them and not spoil their day. Within a few minutes Tina emerged with a towel draped over one shoulder.

“Well, it’s about time,” Larry chided playfully, as he placed his arm around her waist to escort her to the swimming hole.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she scolded, as she sportingly pushed him away. She took off running and raced to the edge of the lagoon near the falls. There she paused, waiting for him to catch up.

“Hey, that wasn’t very nice,” he jovially protested as he approached.

She laughed, “But isn’t it nice to be like a kid again? Too many people take themselves way too seriously.”

“I understand completely,” said Larry as he reached out and gently gave her a shove on the shoulder.

Tina awkwardly flailed her arms, trying to regain her balance, but only succeeded in accentuating her splash as she landed in the lagoon. She surfaced, spitting water and coughing. “I guess I had that one coming.”

“Come on,” said Larry. “I’ll race you to the other side.”

He dove into the water and began to gracefully swim toward the far side, effortlessly propelling himself through the water. Tina was a good swimmer in her own right, having lived around rivers and springs all her life, but she struggled to keep up with him.

Larry reached the far side of the lagoon first and pulled himself up onto the bank. Tina was only a few feet behind him. As she neared the shore Larry extended his arm and helped her out of the water. They took a few steps and then sat upon a large flat rock not far from the water’s edge.

A pair of reptilian-type eyes observed the couple from behind a bush sixty feet away, hidden by the dense underbrush. The unblinking eyes fixated on Tina, even though there were many other people splashing in the water nearby.

“How’d you ever learn to swim like that?” asked Tina.

“Like I told you before, I like whales. I spent a lot of time in the water back home.”

As Larry and Tina sat on the rock, chatting and sunning themselves, the predatory creature stealthily advanced closer, skillfully maneuvering into a position off to their left side. The thick foliage provided complete security. While taking the next step, a branch cracked beneath the creature’s foot and it froze from fear of discovery. But the rushing sound of the water falling into the lagoon from the rocky incline muffled the crunch. When convinced that its presence had not been detected, the predator continued inching forward.

Tina and Larry were deep into conversation, liberally sprinkled with laughter, unaware of the danger that loomed a short distance away.

When only twenty-five feet from the couple, and still totally concealed by the thick foliage, the predator prepared to attack. Slowly it opened its mouth. Tilting its head to take aim it suddenly spit a thick, sticky substance, hurling the liquid directly at Tina’s head.

At that moment Tina jerked her head as she erupted into a massive sneeze. The flying liquid whizzed past her head unnoticed, and landed harmlessly in the bushes beside her. Neither she nor Larry were aware of her attack, the sound being drowned out by the rushing of the water.

“I think my hay-fever is acting up again. I’ve got to get my stuff.”

“Yeah, and I could go for some of that lunch you brought.”

“Then we’d better eat it in the car,” she replied, pointing to the clouds behind Larry’s shoulder. “Those thunder-heads are getting a lot closer and look like they could be serious. We ought to head home.”

Just then a loud clap of thunder rolled through the valley from the distant clouds. Everyone in the lagoon raced from the water, grabbing their lawn chairs, coolers and kids, and dashed up the short footpath for their cars.

=/\=

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-F
IVE

Blue Spring

Over the next several weeks Tina spent a lot of time with Larry under the pretext of showing him many of the unique places the Ozarks had to offer. As the summer progressed, their friendship had deepen and the embers of true romance had begun to kindle.

To Larry the summer seemed to have whizzed by. He could not believe that they only had three weeks of research left before he had to return to his studies at the University. However, he was mollified by the knowledge that Tina too would be returning to school.

Clayton, however, seemed consumed by their summer project. He had thrust himself deep into his research, spending countless hours late into the night analyzing data and comparing results with team members in other states. The work had been grueling and now Clayton felt the need for a break.