Far Country (56 page)

           
“Hey Alyssa? Would you want to keep Fiona with you? She’ll enjoy being here
with you better than being stuck in my truck for another few hours.”

           
Alyssa smiled slightly and nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”  Alyssa reached for the
leash. Fiona leapt out beside Alyssa, her plumed red tail waving in pleasure.

           
Kelly looked up from building the fire at the sound of the truck door, and
waved at Steve.  He waved back and drove off around the circle, looking
for any new sites that needed to be registered before going back to
headquarters to complete the accident report on Roger Leland.

           
Alyssa stood watching the truck until it disappeared and then looked glumly at
the dog. Was Mr. Steve right? Should she go ahead and tell Aunt Kelly the
truth? She had to admit that it would be a relief to finally tell her. Alyssa
had regretted the act almost as soon as she did it, and the knowledge of it had
kept her angry and a little frightened all winter, anticipating the moment when
Aunt Kelly would discover the missing money…

           
Fiona whined and tugged at the leash. Still undecided, Alyssa followed the dog
to the campsite, acknowledging Aunt Kelly’s cheerful greeting with a half
smile. She walked over to the work table and, taking up a knife, began chopping
green peppers beside her surprised sister.

           
“Steve!..slow down!” Pete huffed, as he stalked along the trail behind Steve.
“When are you going to tell me what's going on and why do we have to go
soooo
early?”

           
“I wanted to get up here and back before most of the hikers get stirring,”
Steve explained tersely, glancing back over his shoulder at Pete, but not
slowing his pace any.

           
“
That’s obvious enough
,” Pete grumbled under his breath.  “Six a.m.
isn’t exactly my most favorite hour of the day for a hike, either – in case you
were wondering,” he grumbled loudly, still waiting for Steve to explain what
they were doing on the Hanging Rock trail at such a ridiculous hour of the
morning.

           
Steve paused in his long legged stride. He gave Pete a troubled frown.  “I
need your help,” he said at last.  “I want to make a descent and I need
you to help me remember where the spot is.”  He turned back to the trail.

           
“Steve, that’s still telling me nothing!”  Pete complained in
exasperation, as he was forced to double his own steps to catch up with Steve.
“Does it have something to do with the wedding next weekend?”

           
Steve shook his head. “No, but after this weekend, you’ll be getting ready for
the wedding, then getting married, and then leaving on your honeymoon, and I
don’t know when we’d get the chance to look again.” 

           
So far, Pete reflected, Steve's 'explanation' was clear as mud!  Pete
looked long and hard at his friend, and then shook his head.  He folded
his legs under him and sat down on a
rockwall
that
lined the path. “No further,” he declared stubbornly.

           
“Pete!”

           
But Pete shook his head mutinously.  “Tell me what we’re doing, or I’m
heading back down,” he threatened Steve.

           
Steve ran his fingers through his hair, eyeing Pete doubtfully. They were still
a long way from the ravine
.  Would Pete still accompany him if he knew
what he hoped to do?
Even he felt as if it was a shot in a million, and all
for what?

           
“Fine,” Steve agreed at last.  “I’m doing this for Alyssa.”

           
Pete raised an eyebrow. “Alyssa?”

           
“Yeah, when Kelly was up here with the girls last weekend, I had to drive up
the trail to help this guy with a sprained ankle off the top.  Alyssa was
riding with me when I got the call. While I was helping this guy down to the
truck, she took off in the other direction. She went behind the barrier fence
to the ravine.”

           
Pete’s eyes blinked in surprise.  “Is she crazy? Didn’t she get it through
her head last time how unstable that area is?  She could have slipped again
and not been so lucky this time!”

           
Steve smiled grimly. “Don’t think that I didn’t cover those points with her!
But she finally confessed the real reason – that backpack she was wearing when
she fell had three hundred dollars zipped inside.”

           
Pete whistled, impressed.  “That’s a lot of cash for a kid her age to
carry on a hiking trip,” he commented.

           
  “She stole the money from Kelly!” Steve told Pete.  “She was
planning to buy a bus ticket home to her boyfriend. That’s why she disappeared
last year in the first place.  Then she got nervous about leaving, and
tried to climb up the gully wash.”

           
“Stupid kid,” Pete muttered.  “How did Kelly react when she found out?”

           
Steve sighed. “That’s the thing.  According to Alyssa, it’s part of
Kelly’s emergency stash. She keeps it in an envelope in a safe, and Alyssa
believes she still doesn’t know that it’s missing.”

           
“So,” Pete said slowly, taking all this new information in, “Alyssa asked you
to climb down and bring back the money so she can give it back to Kelly?”

           
Steve flushed.  “Not exactly. She didn’t ask me to do anything. She had a
half baked notion she might be able to reach down and get it herself, that it
was still hanging in that little scrub bush . That’s why I thought I would try.
She doesn’t need to be slipping off the trail every time she comes back up
here!”

           
“But she told you that if she had the money, she’d ‘fess up and give it back to
her aunt?” Pete prodded.

           
Again Steve flushed.  “Well, it’s what I advised her to do, even if she
didn’t find the money. She does need to tell Kelly, regardless.  I just
thought that if I could find the money, she would have an easier time making
the confession. She did seem pretty sorry for taking it.”

           
“Anyway,” Steve hurried on, choosing to ignore Pete’s cynical laugh. “She and
Kelly have had a really difficult year, and I’m wondering if this has been part
of the reason Alyssa’s seemed so angry. It hit me that the anger might just be
her guilty conscious making her be so hateful to Kelly. Kelly’s really been
hurt by it, and if I could fix part of the problem by finding the money, I
figured it was worth it!” He stared defiantly at Pete, daring him to make another
comment.

           
Pete shook his head, thinking back to the rescue.  “She never would have
been able to get the pack anyway, Steve. Even if she could reach that far over
the side, which she couldn’t, the pack had already fallen out of the tree by the
time we got there.  I think I  remember seeing it, though. It was
still tangled in that broken branch. The whole mess was wedged in some rocks on
that ledge she was on.”

           
They were both silent, Steve waiting for Pete to finish his thoughts. Pete’s
lips thinned to a narrow line on his face and he frowned at his feet for a
moment. Finally, he

looked up and spoke
hesitantly.  “Steve, I’ve met Alyssa too, you know. She’s a pretty
irresponsible and manipulative young lady…are you sure she wanted to give the
money back to Kelly?  Or are you just hoping that she would?

           
Steve hunched his shoulders and shrugged. “I want to give her the chance to do
the right thing.”

           
Pete cocked his head to one side and smiled cynically up at Steve. “And what if
we retrieve the money for Alyssa, and she suddenly goes out and buys a new
summer wardrobe, and never tells Kelly a thing. You’d be the only one who knew
about it, and it would be your word against hers. What then?”

           
Steve looked at Pete as if he had gone a little mad. “That would be crazy!” He
said with a little laugh. “She knows that I would tell Kelly the truth!”

           
Pete snorted. “Look, Steve.  You might be partially right about her
attitude, but I think you are being way too optimistic that this will be an
instant happy ending!  She’s just too self-centered. If we do find it, you
should give the money straight to Kelly, and let her deal with Alyssa however
she sees fit. Somehow, I just don’t see Alyssa letting go of that much cash
once she gets it in her hot little hands!” 

           
Steve stared at Pete in disbelief. “That’s not a very Christian
attitude!”  He retorted in surprise.

           
Pete returned his look calmly.  “And Alyssa’s no angel, Steve.  Just
thought you should consider everything before you play the hero for her and
wind up getting burned. How much do you think it would matter to her if she
causes problems between you and Kelly?”

           
Steve’s face was wooden with resentment at Pete’s words, and the uncomfortable
knowledge that Pete might be right in his assessment of Alyssa’s ability to
resist the temptation of so much ready cash. And if he did give the money back
to Kelly and tell her what Alyssa had done, would Alyssa feel that her
confidence had been betrayed?  He kicked at the gravel path angrily,
unsure if he should continue with the plan or just forget his impulse to get
the money for Alyssa.

           
Finally, Pete stood up and stretched.  “Well, I suppose that we’ll never
know what she would do if we don’t give her the chance. You’re a good man for
going to these lengths just to give her the opportunity to make good.”  He
grinned at Steve.  “I just can’t believe that you are asking me to risk my
life to rescue a back pack just one week before my wedding!”

           
Steve rolled his eyes. “Please! I’ll be the one going over the side. You can
stand
wayyyyyy
back from the edge. I just want you to
verify the spot, and …” Steve flushed slightly.  “Just in case I freeze
again, I wanted some backup,” he mumbled.

           
Slightly embarrassed, Pete slapped Steve on the shoulder. “You know I’ve got
your back, even if I don’t think you’re entirely sane. Let’s get this over
with, though. I didn’t even get breakfast yet this morning,” he grumbled.

           
They set off at a quick pace, Pete still shaking his head at the ludicrous idea
of giving three hundred dollars back to a rebellious teenager.  “I wish you’d
told me up front where we were going,” he grumbled to Steve.  “We probably
should have brought a life jacket and a snorkel after last week.”

           
“What are you talking about?” Steve asked in bewilderment.

           
“Steve, it’s rained all week and that ravine didn’t just carve itself.  It
could be a regular waterfall by now!”

           
Steve paused, his face serious.  “I didn’t even think about that
possibility.”

           
“Well, we’re almost there now,” Pete pointed out. ‘Let’s go check it out.”

           
They heard it almost as soon as they had skirted the barrier fence. Pete had
been right. Water gushed and tumbled over the rocks of the gully wash that
Alyssa had wanted to try and climb last fall. It plummeted out of sight over
the ravine where the edge had crumbled from under Alyssa’s feet, causing her to
drop twenty feet down to the tiny ledge that had saved her life.

           
Pete studied the fractious little cascade and looked sideways at Steve. 
“Are you sure that you’re up to this?” He asked in real concern.

           
“I guess I’ll find out,” Steve replied, fighting the all too familiar bubble of
fear that liked to sit on his chest every time he faced a cliff now. 
“Just find me a really solid rock to anchor to, okay?”

           
“Sure, give me a sec.” Pete glanced around at their position and kicked at the
leaves covering the forest floor a couple of feet from where they had been
standing. “Yeah, here are the ones that we put in last year,” he said. “They
should be solid enough for you.”

           
Steve whistled, impressed.  “You didn’t even have to hunt for it.”

           
Pete pointed to an oak tree stump about 20 feet back from the cliff and a
twisted scrub pine that dangled on the edge with half of its roots
exposed.  “I remembered that it was about halfway between those two
points,” he told Steve. “Not so amazing, really.”

           
“Still, good memory.” Steve opened his bag and lifted out a coil of rope. 
“Will you tie me off while I get into the harness?”

           
“Sure,” Pete agreed, taking the ropes.

           
In a few minutes Steve was ready.  He tested his weight against the knot
and clipped onto the line. He gave Pete a condescending grin. “Are you
sure
you’re at a safe distance from the edge?  I don’t want Deborah
coming after me for putting her groom in harm’s way this close to the wedding!”

           
Pete snorted in derision. “Don’t you worry about me, just watch what you’re
doing!” Pete admonished him, picking up their bags.  “As for me, while
you’re diving for dollars, I’m
gonna
just take a
little nap over there next to that stump. Wake me when you get back!”