The Butterfly Conspiracy (9 page)

“Hey Al, it’s me, Paulie.
 
I’m gonna give you my first report on the butterfly conspiracy.”

“The what?”

“You know.
 
I’m gonna tell you about that butterfly I’m after.”

“Dammit, Paulie.
 
Are you drunk?”

“No, Al.
 
This is my code word.
 
You know, like in them spy movies.”

“Jesus, Paulie.
 
Forget about the movies.
 
Just tell me what the hell is going on, will you?”

“Okay.
 
You ain’t gonna believe this shit.
 
I’m sitting in the middle of the woods about a thousand miles from no where.
 
I’m so far out in the boonies, even the food these people eat is nothing I ever heard about.
 
What do you say I come back?”

“What about the kid?” Al asked.

“No problem.
 
I been following him.
 
He’s with some rich guy named Kahle.
 
What do you want me to do?”

There was a silence on the phone. Al said, “Listen, the kid’s old man ain’t paying up.
 
You need to go to plan B and get the hell out of there.
 
But don’t screw up and don’t let anyone see you.
 
Got that?”
 

“Not a problem. Believe me Al, you’ve never seen nothing like this place, they don’t even got a deli, can you believe that?”
 

Al replied, “Ain’t that something.
 
Look, Paulie, I gotta run.”
 

Paulie slammed the phone down.
 
Now that he got the go ahead, Paulie opened his “tool kit” to make sure everything was there: rope, blindfold, tape, and revolver.
 
Satisfied his supplies were ready, Paulie stretched out on the bed and soon fell asleep.

Chapter 10

Stephen and Jeanette were headed for a hike.
 
They walked through the conservatory and stepped outside.
 

“Stephen, the trail I want to show you starts here.
 
It winds around the big pond you can see from your window and then turns left and goes about half a mile along the cliff above
Lake Superior
.
 
From there the trail goes straight, or you can take a short side trail to the right that leads to a spectacular overlook called The Log Slide’.
 

“Why is it called The Log Slide?”

“Just what it sounds like.
 
Loggers used to roll logs down this 300 foot sand dune into
Lake Superior
, where they would be rafted together and loaded onto lumber boats.
 
The slope is so steep that sometimes the logs actually caught on fire from the friction.”

“That must be some incline,” Stephen marveled.

“It is.
 
By the way, it’s a great experience to slide down the huge sand dune.
 
It only takes about twenty minutes to get to the bottom, but it takes a couple of hours to climb back up to the top. You should try it sometime.”

“Sounds like fun.”
 

“From the log slide trail, you can continue walking along the cliff, or you can take a shortcut, which leads to the back of Britt’s cottage.
 
The complete trail is a little over one mile, but it’s less than half a mile if you take the shortcut.”

Stephen gazed at the expanse of trees.
 
“How much land does Uncle Phillip own?”

“He owns 120 acres with sixty acres along the
Lake Superior
shoreline.
 
He bought at the right time.
 
Now it would be impossible to buy that much property on
Lake Superior
.”
 

She pointed to a break in the woods.
 
“This trail continues past your uncle’s property.
 
His land backs up to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
 
The lakeshore runs forty miles all the way to Munising.”
 

As they continued along the walk, Stephen could not help but think how lucky he was to be escorted through this stunning scenery by such a pretty girl.

“Jeanette, you mentioned you’re from this area, right?”

“Yes, my family’s lived here for several generations.
 
I’m half Indian and half French Canadian.
 
I guess those trappers from long ago had more on their minds than animal skins.” Jeanette said with a grin.

Your Uncle tells me you’re going to study art in the fall.”
 

“Yes, I’m very excited.
 
I’m going to the Rhode Island School of Design, it’s got a great reputation.”

They spent an hour leisurely walking along the trail.
 
Stephen noticed that the trail was starting to get a little damp and spongy.
 

“What’s that?” Stephen asked, pointing to a huge mound rising from the middle of a large pond.

“It’s a beaver dam. See the trees that have been chewed down all around here? Beavers used these trees to make the damn.”
 
Jeanette stopped to point.
 
“Look, there’s one swimming out in the water.”

Stephen watched as the beaver maneuvered to a pile of sticks and tree limbs and disappeared.

“That’s quite a complicated structure.” He stated.

As they continued, the trail started climbing higher.
 
At the top of a hill they intersected with a larger, more traveled path and Jeanette pointed to a sign.

“See Stephen, the path we were on isn’t named because it’s mostly on your uncle’s private land.
 
It intersects with this path, which is part of the Pictured Rocks Trail system.
 
You should take some time and hike this section.
 
It starts at Grand View and goes 42 miles along the lake to Munising.”

“Forty two miles?
 
I better start getting in shape.
 
How long would it take to hike it?”

“A couple of days, depends on how much you wanted to walk each day.
 
There are some interesting spots along the trail.
 
One place is called “Hell’s
Kitchen
Cave
”.
 
It’s a cave where Indian legend has it that evil spirits roasted people.”

“Now that’s something I’d want to see!”
 
Stephen said enthusiastically.

“I bet you do.” Jeanette replied.
 
“You can even see places where the cave is blackened with soot from fires!. Kind of grisly if it’s true.
 
Personally, I think it’s just a legend but if you stay on the trail you get to a
 
beautiful rock formation called ‘Miner’s Castle’”.

“Would you hike it with me?” Stephen asked.

“I’d love to.
 
We can do it in three or four stages.”

The trail continued to climb.
 
Finally, the trail broke out onto an overlook high above
Lake Superior
.
 
Looking to the right, Stephen could see an island positioned just off the coast.
 

“I guess that’s where Grand View gets its name,” Stephen said.
 

“That’s right, that’s Grand Island.”

To the left was a view of a pristine shoreline with an unbroken forest as far as the eye could see.
 

“This is spectacular!” Stephen exclaimed.
 
“All this natural beauty and not a person in sight.”

“Not exactly like
New York City
, is it?” Jeanette asked. “Hey, it’s going to get dark soon, we better head back.”

Jeanette led the way back down the trail.
 
Stephen continued to admire the view, and it wasn’t all trees that he was admiring.
 
Halfway back, Jeanette said, “See that tree with the scratches on it?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Bears.
 
Bears mark trees like that for some reason.
 
Maybe it’s to mark their territory or just to sharpen their claws.
 
You can see bear markings all through these woods.”
 

They continued another ten minutes down the trail. After the bear comment, Stephen was looking behind every few minutes.
 
After twenty minutes, Stephen stopped and said, “Let’s take a break.”
 

Jeanette pointed, “We can sit here.”

They sat on a fallen log.

 
“Your uncle tells me you rode the train all the way from
New York City
.
 
How long did that take?”

“Over 24 hours.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Well, yes and no.
 
I enjoyed seeing a lot of country, but, don’t think I’m crazy, but I think someone may have been following me during my trip up here.”
 

“What, someone followed you?”

“I know, it sounds nuts.
 
I mentioned it to Uncle Phil, but I don’t think he believed me.”

“What makes you think someone followed you?”

Stephen related all his suspicions, from his traveling companion’s fears, his Art Institute encounter, and the sighting in Escanaba.

“It does sound pretty coincidental, I must admit. Is there a reason someone would be following you?
 
Are you running away from something that nobody knows about?”

“No, nothing like that.
 
That’s the problem.
 
I can’t think of any reason someone would be following me.”

“Just like a mystery novel, eh?
 
Or maybe you’re a secret agent?”
 
She smiled at him.
 
Stephen colored slightly.