Honeymoon for Three (12 page)

Just when Penny started thinking that time
had stopped altogether, a man who was sitting at a table near the
door got up from his chair and walked over to the prone figure. He
put a hand on the figure’s shoulder and said, “Are you okay?” Penny
didn’t hear a response. The man lifted the hood of the figure,
revealing a head with short hair. It belonged to a male.

The man on the floor groaned and slowly
lifted himself to his hands and knees. He groaned again and lifted
one knee off the floor. Penny saw that his pants were ripped, and
the knee poking through the hole had blood on it.

“That’s your friend from high school,” Gary
said.

Penny recognized Alfred at the same time.
What in the world was he doing here? And in this condition? She
instinctively got up and ran over to him. She knelt beside him and
helped him get to a sitting position.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He stared at her, and she wondered whether
he recognized her. “I broke my water bottle. It smashed when I
fell.”

“Is that when you hurt your knee?”

He looked at his bloody knee, as if seeing
it for the first time. He nodded.

***

Gary was extremely dissatisfied with what
appeared to be the only solution to the situation. He walked back
toward their table where Alfred was now sitting with Penny, showing
a voracious appetite, eating everything in sight. The scrape on his
knee had been cleaned and bandaged, using the first aid kit
belonging to the chalet. Gary helped him take off his wet shoes and
socks. The socks, especially, stuck to his feet and had to be
peeled off. Gary lent him a pair of socks, which he now wore. He
still wore his jacket to help him warm up, but at least he wasn’t
wearing the hood.

Gary caught Penny’s eye and motioned to her.
She got up and followed him to the corner of the dining room,
underneath one of the gas lights, hanging from the ceiling, that
was now lit. Tom Edison’s electric lights hadn’t found their way
here yet.

“They don’t have any rooms available,” Gary
said. “They’re full. They’re willing to put a cot in our room and
let him sleep there.” The tone of his voice betrayed how much he
liked that idea.

Penny put an arm on his shoulder and said,
“It’s a terrible imposition, honey, but it’s only for one night. If
it’s any consolation, I got my period today.”

That was slight consolation. “Did you find
out what he’s doing here?”

“He said that we made it sound like so much
fun when we told him about the chalet that he decided he wanted to
stay here.”

“So he drove all the way from Seattle with
no equipment and no hiking experience, just to hike up here. It’s a
wonder he didn’t kill himself. And of course he didn’t have a
reservation either.”

“I agree, it wasn’t the smartest thing in
the world to do. But then, as I recall, he was never very swift
upstairs in high school, either.” She tapped her head.

Gary didn’t want to be the bad guy. He knew
that showing compassion for Alfred would reflect favorably in
Penny’s eyes. It was only for one night. He felt a little better,
knowing the number of points he would make with her.

***

The cot wasn’t that uncomfortable. It was
definitely more comfortable than the front seat of his car. Alfred
lay on his back with the blankets pulled up to his chin and grinned
into the dark. He could see the stars shining brightly through the
uncovered window. Stars were fine, just as long as they were
outside and he was inside.

In spite of the primitiveness of this
place—no electricity, no hot water, no indoor toilets—things had
turned out a lot better than he could have anticipated when he was
halfway up the trail, wondering whether he would make it to the
chalet before dark, or perhaps get lost and eaten by bears.

He was finally warm, under five blankets,
after having wet feet for most of the hike. His knee didn’t hurt.
He had devoured a good dinner. He was feeling better than he had
felt for a long time, even though he was exhausted. There were no
lights in the bedroom. Since the only light was provided by a small
flashlight that Penny and Gary had brought, they had all gone to
bed as soon as they had come from the other building.

After dinner, Penny and Gary had played
dominoes in the dining room. Alfred claimed he was too tired to
play, but he watched them. Gary was merciless, beating Penny in
every game. This was another reason she would be glad to get rid of
him. He was dominating her. Alfred knew that Gary would probably
beat him, too. He didn’t know whether this would be good or bad in
Penny’s eyes, so he made the wise decision to stay out of it.

He listened for sounds of movement from the
double bed. Aside from a few whispers when they first turned off
the flashlight, there hadn’t been much noise forthcoming from that
direction. They certainly weren’t doing anything of a sexual
nature. That was one thing he was happy about.

He would never attempt a hike like this
again. Why any sane person would engage in such misery on purpose,
he didn’t know. He did have to hike down in the morning, but going
down should be a lot easier than coming up.

During the few minutes he had been alone
with Penny, he considered trying to win her over. There wasn’t time
to do it, and he was too tired and too hungry. His brain wasn’t
working. He didn’t want to negotiate from a position of weakness.
Tomorrow he would have a much better opportunity. He had spent the
last few minutes making a plan that he was sure would succeed. Now
it was time to get some sleep.

CHAPTER 13

Getting them down the trail wasn’t as
difficult as Gary had been afraid it might be. He had Penny go
first, then Alfred. He stayed close behind Alfred, hoping to be
able to catch him if his slippery shoes betrayed him on the damp
rocks. That was probably wishful thinking, and he certainly
couldn’t prevent the klutz from getting wet feet. His shoes weren’t
waterproof, and they had to wade through shallow streams.

Last night had been a pain, but it could
have been worse. Gary and Penny had slept in most of their clothes
under many blankets. Their sex life would have been restricted even
if Alfred hadn’t been in the room, and they were all so tired they
had gone to sleep rather quickly. In a little while they would see
the last of him.

They went slowly, which required a lot of
patience on Gary’s part. Their muscles were all sore from the
ascent, but it was clear that Alfred had the biggest problems. He
walked stiff-legged and had trouble stepping down, which is what
they had to do for almost seven miles. His calves must be
screaming. In addition, it was obvious that his knee bothered him
at first, but it appeared to loosen up, and after a while, he
stopped limping. But he had to rest frequently.

They arrived at the parking lot about noon
and decided to eat their trail lunches in the meadow, ignoring the
bees. Because they were concentrating on their steps on the way
down, they hadn’t talked about anything else. Now Penny asked
Alfred what his plans were.

Alfred swallowed a bite of his sandwich.
“This place is so beautiful. Since I’ve come this far, I’d like to
see a little more of it. Perhaps drive through the park today.”

“That’s what we’re going to do,” Penny
said.

“You two have done so much for me, already.
I hate to impose any more, but, uh, I don’t think I can drive
today.”

Gary stared at him. Not drive? If he could
walk, he could drive.

“The backs of my legs are so sore.” Alfred
touched one of his calves and winced in pain. “And my knee is too.
I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to put the brake on hard, and
this road has so many hills and curves. If I can’t use the brakes…”
His voice trailed off.

“What you should do is drive slowly back to
the Kalispell area,” Penny said. “The road is easier going in that
direction. Then rest for a day or so until you’re not so sore.”

The corners of Alfred’s mouth turned up. “If
I had all the time in the world, I could do that. I have to get
back to work in a few days. What I was thinking—and I know it’s a
terrible imposition—well, since we’re going in the same direction,
perhaps Penny could drive my car and follow Gary.”

Gary couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He had to tread carefully because Penny appeared to be sympathetic
to Alfred’s problems. “What kind of a car do you have?”

“It’s that Ford over there.”

Gary followed Alfred’s pointing finger and
with a shock recognized the car. Where had he seen it? “Did you
stop at Grand Coulee Dam two days ago?”

“Why yes.”

“We were there at the same time,” Penny
said. “We saw your car. I remember it because it looks just like my
car. I didn’t know it was yours.”

“Really? Where’s your car?” Alfred looked
around the parking area.

“We didn’t bring it,” Penny said. “We
brought Gary’s car.”

“What kind of a car do you have?” Alfred
asked Gary.

“The green Beetle.” Gary indicated his car,
parked thirty feet from Alfred’s.

“I remember your car,” Alfred said, beaming.
“VW’s are so…cozy. As I recall, it was raining hard at the
dam.”

“Speaking of the car, I need to get
something from it.” Gary nodded to Penny to accompany him.

When they were out of earshot of Alfred,
Gary said, “How much longer are we going to have to put up with
this guy?” He was scowling, but he couldn’t help himself.

“He is becoming a pain. I tell you what.
We’ll help him out today, and that’s it. Tomorrow he’s on his own.
I’ll drive his car because I’m used to driving an automatic. You’re
better with the VW in the mountains. This road is really
tricky.”

“Where is Alfred going to ride?”

“I can tell by your tone of voice that you
don’t want him riding with you. He can ride with me. It’s okay.
He’s harmless.”

“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried
about being separated from you. After all, this is only the seventh
day we’ve been married.”

“You’re so sweet.” Penny gave him a hug.
“We’ll be together at all the viewpoints. I’ll make it up to you. I
promise.”

When Penny talked like that, he would do
anything for her. One day shouldn’t make that much difference out
of a lifetime.

***

Penny drove the Ford from the parking lot
onto the road behind Gary. He had promised to drive slowly in the
mountains, so that she wouldn’t have any trouble keeping up with
him. They would be stopping often.

The jagged peaks were gray on top, except
for pockets of white snow. Lower down, blankets of green covered
the hillsides where the evergreen trees ruled. Everything looked so
sharp and fresh and clean. You could eat off the landscape. They
headed uphill and would be going over the continental divide.

Penny glanced at Alfred sitting in the seat
beside her. He had changed from the pants with the torn knee into
another pair. He looked very much the same as he had in high
school, with his hair short and his head a little too large for his
body. Ears and nose to match. He had unzipped his jacket, and Penny
could see the bulge in his stomach. That hadn’t changed either.

“Fantastic scenery.” Penny tried to make
light conversation.

“We don’t have much time,” Alfred said.

Time for what? They had plenty of time.

“Look.” Penny braked as a mother grizzly
bear and two cubs loped across the road in front of them. The
mother ran on three legs, holding the fourth aloft. They
disappeared over the cliff at the side of the road.

“We don’t have much time,” Alfred repeated,
“so I’ll make this quick. I want you to come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“Leave Gary and come home with me.”

She must not have heard him correctly. “What
did you say?”

“I want you to leave Gary and come home with
me. Now. Today.”

He couldn’t be serious. He wasn’t smiling,
but she decided to treat it as a joke. She laughed and said,
“Alfred. I never knew you had such a sense of humor.”

“I mean it. Gary’s no good for you. I’ll
take care of you.”

“All right, joke’s over. I don’t want to
hear any more talk like that.”

Penny glanced at Alfred. He was looking at
her with his mouth slightly open. After a pause he said, “I’ll
protect you from Gary. You don’t have to be afraid of him.”

“I’m not afraid of Gary. Now will you get
off this subject?” She was getting mad.

“We had an understanding.”

“What?”

“At the Space Needle. And dinner afterward.
Gary is controlling you. With his so-called morals and his
domineering nature. I saw it in your eyes. You were appealing to me
to help you get away from him.”

“Alfred, you have completely lost what
little mind you had. If you say one more word, I’m going to stop
this car and dump you out.”

“It’s my car. But before you do anything
rash, listen to this.” His voice had suddenly developed a hard edge
that Penny had never heard before. “What do you think Gary will do
when he finds out that I know you have a mole on your left
breast?”

Penny turned to look at him and almost drove
off the cliff. She jerked the wheel to turn the car away from the
cliff and then had to slam on the brakes to prevent them from
driving into the mountain on the other side of the road. She
brought the car to a stop and sat there trembling.

“How do you know that?” She immediately
realized that it was the wrong thing to say. She was admitting that
he was right. How could he know? It must have been a wild guess.
She could tell from his wolfish grin that he knew he had
scored.

“Remember the party at Joan’s house when we
were seniors in high school?”

She shook her head.

“Let me refresh your memory. Halloween
night. Everybody went in costume. As I recall, your boyfriend of
the moment was off somewhere. You put on quite a show.”