Waiting for Dusk (31 page)

Rachel. Thomas III told Katie the story of
his grandfather marrying someone named Rachel. She couldn’t blame
Thomas for wanting to do something out of love.

“Why did he still go?” Katie was beside
herself.

“I asked him to postpone. I really did. I
wanted to go with him.” Thomas sat down on one of the chairs.

Katie melted into another one and began to
cry.

“He’ll be alright, trust me.”

“No, no he won’t.” Katie tried to figure out
what to do next. She never walked the entire path to the bottom of
the canyon. If she did, would she even make it in time? There were
no phones at base camp or any way of contacting Drew. She had to
give up.

Thomas and Katie slowly walked back to El
Tovar in silence. When they got there, Thomas told her he would let
Drew know she was there and wanted to see him. Thomas expected
Andrew back on Sunday or Monday at the latest. Katie thanked him.
She knew there was nothing else he could do.

She walked to the barn and got on Flicka and
rode to the edge of the canyon. She sat on the horse and called out
into the open canyon, “Drew, come back to me!”

Tears slowly rolled down her face. Feeling
defeated, Katie turned the horse toward the boardinghouse and
slowly trotted back.

She slid off Flicka and into the hay next to
the stall and wept. She never cried like this in her life. She
couldn’t stop. She decided to stay there until all the tears were
gone. Her father, and now come to think of it, even Anna tried to
stop her from this hurt. Perhaps it was meant to be. Katie got up
from the hay and brushed herself off. She could never come back
here. It was too painful. Everything reminded her of Drew. She
would go back to the boardinghouse, sit in her room until dusk and
go back home.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Katie woke up
sobbing. She just couldn’t stop. She wished this really was a dream
because it has turned into a nightmare.

How did this happen? Why didn’t someone stop
Andrew from going down the river by himself? She already knew the
answer. No one stops Andrew. He is strong and determined. She
wished she had a picture of him right now. He never had his camera
with him when they were together. If she had known he was a
photographer she would have had him take pictures of them--too late
now for that, too late for anything. Katie buried her head in her
pillow and began crying again.

There was a knock at her door. It slowly
opened and her father popped his head through the opening. “Are you
alright? I thought I heard you crying.”

She didn’t answer.

“Katie? Your mom is going over to the college
to do some work at her office. We thought that would be a good idea
so you and I can have some time together.”

“Why didn’t you stop him?”

“Stop who, pumpkin?”

“Andrew, Dad, Andrew!” Katie could barely get
it out of her mouth.

“Stop him from doing what? Who is this
Andrew?”

“Come on! You know what I’m talking about!
Andrew died! You could’ve stopped him! You could have saved him!
Why did you wait so long to go looking for him?” Katie burst out
crying again.

Her father walked over to her bed and sat
down. “How did you know? How did you find out?”

Katie pulled the journal out from under the
blankets. She waved the book in front of him. “From this,” she
pushed the book in his face.

“How...what...” He stumbled over his
words.

“Anna gave me her books written by Jack
Woods. She thought I might like reading them,” Katie sniffled.

“So that’s how you know,” Her father had
tears in his eyes. “I loved him, too, you know. He was like a
brother to me.”

“Obviously you didn’t love him enough! You
let him die!” Katie was angry now. She knew she shouldn’t blame her
dad but he was there and Andrew wasn’t.

“I’ve blamed myself for his death since it
happened. You will never know how much.” He got up and walked over
to her window. “You know how every year I’m gone on the Friday
after Thanksgiving?”

“Mom always says you’re on a book tour or
giving a speech or something like that,” Katie was now surprised he
was still here.

“That’s not what I’m doing. Every year I go
back and try to stop him. I try to save him year after year. It’s
torture for me. And, yes, I try to talk him out of it before that
day but it never seems to work. I just hope to catch up to him on
that Friday to stop him,” Her father put his head in his hands.
“One year I could see him on the trail in front of me. I called his
name over and over. That was a very bad year for me.”

Katie got out of bed and walked over to her
father. Her heart was breaking, not only for Andrew but for her
father. “I never knew,” She said softly, feeling terrible for
accusing him.

“That’s why I was trying to stop you from
going back. I didn’t want you to feel like I do. I didn’t want you
to feel guilty about anything. I had mixed feelings about you
meeting Andrew. He was a great guy; I would be proud to have him as
your boyfriend. I knew how it was going to end; and I wanted to
spare you all of this. Please forgive me.”

Katie looked at her father. There was so much
pain in his eyes. She made this all about her, not thinking of his
feelings at all. “Dad, there’s nothing to forgive. I love you. I
can’t believe that every year you go back to look for him... I
went, too.”

His eyes flashed with a look of hope.

“No, no luck.”

They both sat down on the bed and didn’t say
a word. Then Katie jumped up. “Dad, we are not giving up. If anyone
can find him or stop him, it’s you. You’re going back there to try
again.”

“It’s too late, honey. Andrew has a day’s
jump on me. I always went back on Friday. I stayed here to talk to
you instead.”

“Don’t say it’s too late. You’re going to do
this. I have faith in you. Go find your book and we’ll make all the
arrangements. Dusk comes early in November.” Katie ran into her
bathroom to get ready for the day.

Joanna came home and was filled in on their
plan. “Jackson, you better get over to Maya’s, if you know what I
mean.”

“Mom, there are no more secrets. I know that
Maya has a set of books.” Katie was starting to feel better about
all of this.

Jackson went to the key cupboard and grabbed
the keychain with the apple on it. “I’ll be right back.”

“The cabinet is locked!” Katie called after
him.

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Jackson called back
as he went out the door.

Dusk could not come soon enough. Katie paced
back and forth in the kitchen. She kept looking at the clock,
willing it to move. Her father explained he could be gone for days
and she was not to worry. She had to promise she would go on with
life and attend school as if everything was normal. It was hard but
Katie promised.

Joanna told her that they would talk and she
would fill in all the blanks for her and finally answer any
questions Katie had.

As the sun started to set, Katie went out on
the deck. She saw the moon faintly in the sky. Andrew, if you can
hear me, we are coming for you. I know that you are looking down on
me now.

As she watched the moon grow brighter in the
sky, the first star appeared. “I will give you the moon and the
stars”, that’s what he had said to her.

Katie clutched her bracelet tightly. If only
wishes came true, she thought.

Again, one of those fairytales popped into
Katie’s head. You can wish upon a star and your dreams come true.
That was now a childhood fantasy. Things don’t always work out and
you can’t depend on a star to solve your problems. Katie knew who
she could depend on, her father. She was putting all her hopes and
dreams on him. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but that was all she had
left.

Her mom came out onto the deck. She put her
arms around her daughter and whispered in her ear, “He’s gone.”

Chapter Forty

Joanna told Katie
that she would be sleeping in Katie’s room or that Katie could
sleep in hers, it was Katie’s choice. Joanna said she didn’t want
her to be alone at a time like this but Katie knew the real reason;
Joanna wanted to make sure she didn’t use her book and join her
father.

They made plans to stay up late and talk.
They got drinks and snacks and took them up to Katie’s bedroom
pretending everything was normal.

“Start from the beginning. How did you meet
Dad? Are you from the past?” After Katie said that she realized it
didn’t make sense. Her mom had parents and brothers here in the
present.

“No, I’m not from the past. I’m right where
I’m supposed to be. Maybe that’s why you fit so easily into both
worlds. You have one parent from the past and one from the present.
We can’t figure it out--how you seem to have a life in 1927 and one
here. You are in that wedding picture; I know that’s you, but how?
I guess we will never know or understand it all.”

“So you really think it’s me? I guess I do,
too. Anna recognized me when Lindsey and I went to the ranch,”
Katie decided to tell all, too.

“Really? That’s unbelievable. But we’re
getting off track, if you want to hear my story.”

Yes, please go ahead,” Katie wanted to hear
this story more than any other one.

“Your father met Carl in the winter of 1927.
Well, it was one of many winters for Carl as you know. Carl was
married to Maya and Carl Jr. was a young boy by then. Maya stayed
in the present all the years Carl was growing up and Mr. Johnson
would travel back and forth because he needed to be in both worlds.
Maya always understood that.

I met Maya in the library when I was a
freshman at the college. She was always helpful, took me under her
wing and we became friends. I got a part-time job at the library
because, as we know, all college students need cash. One day, Carl
showed up at the library with a young man. He was extremely
handsome and very curious about everything. He spent hours looking
at the books and walking around the library and campus. We met
briefly but Maya seemed intent on keeping us apart. That made me
all the more interested.

I was heading down the library stairs at the
end of my shift when I ran into Jackson. We chatted and then he
offered to escort, yes, he used the word escort, me home. Wow,
handsome and a gentleman, I thought. We ended up making tea and
talking for a few hours but when the sun began to set, he got
nervous and said he had to be going. I asked if I’d see him again
and he was very vague. I liked him and I hate to admit falling in
love with him already.

The more I asked Maya about him, the more
agitated she got. I dropped it and just hoped I’d see him again.”
Her mom sighed and got a far away look in her eyes. Katie patted
her mom’s arm to say she understood.

“At the canyon, Jackson was staying at the
boardinghouse for free room and board. Carl finally decided he
needed help around the boardinghouse to get it up and running and
had placed an ad in the local paper. It took him many winters of
1927 to figure that out!” Joanna laughed and then continued. “Your
father answered the ad. Anyway, one night your father found Carl
reading the book and being an author himself asked a few questions
about it. Carl said it was an old book he discovered in the house
which made your dad all the more curious. Carl hoped Jackson would
leave well enough alone but your father was an avid reader, too,
and said he’d love to read it when Carl was done. Carl promised him
that he could have the book when he was finished with it.”

Katie giggled. “Dad didn’t give up, I take
it.”

“No, he didn’t. Of course, we know that Carl
was just trying to appease Dad and would never give him the book to
read. After that, they said goodnight. Your dad then remembered one
more thing he wanted to discuss, returned to Carl’s room and
discovered he was gone. Your father is a smart man. He stayed in
that room until Carl returned the next morning. That’s when he got
Carl to explain everything and made him promise to take him to the
future. Carl agreed to do it just once. He didn’t know your father
would meet me.

So that’s the story, boy from the past meets
girl from the present, they marry and live happily ever after!”

“Mom, there’s more to it than that.” Katie
knew there was always more to the fairytale now.

“Of course, there is. Jackson and I got
married after I graduated from college. It was a September wedding.
He stayed here with me in the present, going back to the canyon for
a day or two here and there. After Thanksgiving he wanted to stay
longer and asked my permission and I gave it willingly. I didn’t
want him to be homesick. When he got back from that trip, it took a
long time for him to recover from the tragedy of Andrew’s death.
That’s when I agreed to go back with him and have him show me his
world. We told the family we would be traveling because of
Jackson’s job and would visit as often as we could. We spent a lot
of time together in his past.

He took me to New York to meet his family.
His father’s name was Robert. That’s how we came up with his new
last name--Jackson Roberts. Mainly, we would stay at the canyon
because that’s where your father liked to do most of his writing.
It was an interesting time, almost dream-like.”

“Wow, you’ve been there. Don’t you love
it?”

“Not really, I haven’t been back since you
were born. That’s why your father always says I don’t take it
seriously. He thought I saw it as an extended vacation that I’m
done with now. It’s not really true. I just like living in the
present and being with my family, it’s my preference. Your father
is free to come and go as he chooses; I don’t stop him.

This summer he wanted to start a new book and
planned on being gone for awhile. That’s how he saw you, Katie—you
and Andrew at the canyon. He knew it was going to end tragically
and tried everything to keep you apart but you already know
that.”