Fatal Descent (5 page)

When her turn came, Amy shyly looked in her lap. “I think Meander Canyon is beautiful, but I can’t wait to see the rapids in Cataract Canyon.”

That was Mandy’s first surprise. She wondered if Amy was just trying to please her husband and choose the same as him.

When it was Paul Norton’s turn, he shifted in his seat. “Well, you all know Elsa has a doctorate in geology and teaches it at U of W. But, I also have a Master’s Degree in geology. Elsa and I met while we were graduate assistants together.”

He put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “When Tina here came
along, I decided I needed a steady job with health insurance to support my family, so I became a letter carrier with the postal ser
vice. I still collect mineralogy specimens for a hobby, though, and I’m
finding the rock layers we’re passing through to be fascinating.”

Paul held up the page on Rock Sequences of the Canyonlands in the copy of the waterproof
Canyonlands River Guide
he had brought along. “If anyone still thinks the Earth is only six thousand years old after traveling through these hundreds of millions of old layers of rock, they’ve got their heads in the sand. So, I think I’ll choose Meander Canyon, because the slow pace makes for easier rock study.”

Mandy cringed at his slap at those who took the Bible literally and looked around the group to see if anyone had taken offense. Thankfully, no one was frowning. She tended to feel out river clients about their beliefs on the age of the Earth before going into much detail about the rock layers they were seeing. There didn’t seem to be any creationists in this group. In fact there hadn’t been any mention of religion at all. Mandy hoped they could avoid the troublesome topics of religion and politics for the rest of the trip.

Coming last, Tina Norton glanced back and forth between her two parents, who had made different choices, as if conflicted about which one she should align herself with.

“C’mon, Tina,” Elsa urged. “You always liked water slides when you were a kid.”

Paul set his jaw. “This isn’t a competition, Elsa.”

“No?” Elsa spat back. “Haven’t you always competed against
me for Tina’s affection? Isn’t that why you secretly arranged to come along on this trip?”

“That’s not true,” Paul said. “I didn’t know about the trip before Tina asked me to come.”

When Elsa glanced at her, Tina nodded. “I just wanted to be a family again, even if just for a few days,” she said mournfully.

Most of the others seemed uncomfortable and avoided looking at the Nortons, except for Alex Anderson, whose serious gaze went back and forth between his professor, Elsa, and her ex-husband.
Realizing the argument was putting a damper on the evening,
Mandy
nudged Gonzo, who was sitting beside her.

He took the hint and leapt to his feet. “Well, now that we know everyone’s opinion on that and the light from the fire has died down, it’s time to move on to some stargazing.” He pointed to the
sky. “Has anyone ever seen the Milky Way as clearly as you can
tonight?”

All of the clients’ heads tilted back so they could gaze at the star-
studded sky.

“Man, it’s hard to pick out any constellations with all those stars!”
Viv said.

“The only one I know is the Big Dipper, and that’s not too hard,”
Mo added.

Cool O’Day turned out to be quite a stargazer, plus he pulled out a well-worn book on the Navajo interpretations of the constellations. He and Gonzo started a little competition between them and got everyone involved in identifying Greek constellations as well as some of the Navajo ones.

Finally, Hal let out a big yawn and stretched his arms wide. “Well, I’m ready to hit the sack.”

Looking grateful, Diana said, “Me, too.” She got out of her seat and held out a hand for Hal. While the two of them walked to their tent, the three gal-pals said they, too, were going to call it a night, and left.

When Kendra rose to go with them, Mandy put a hand on her arm. “Kendra, could you come with me to check on the rafts?”

Kendra gave her a quizzical look, but she said, “Okay.”

Mandy strapped on her LED headlamp and turned it on, and Kendra did the same. The two of them walked to where the rafts were beached on the sand.

Once they were out of earshot of the others, Mandy turned to Kendra. “I don’t like the moves I’ve seen Cool putting on the female
clients. Could you feel out Betsy, Viv, and Mo? See if he’s bugging them, if they’re okay with it or not?”

“Sure. But what’ll you do if they’re not?”

Mandy pursed her lips. “Rob or I will have to tell him to cut it out. The last thing we want is some client complaining about sexual harassment.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s as serious as that.” Kendra raised an eyebrow. “He’s just flirting, making the trip a little more exciting for them.”

“Maybe so, but he’s laying it on a little too thick. Let me know tomorrow what they say. Sometime when we’re away from the others.”

Kendra nodded and headed for the 4-man tent she would share
with the gal-pals. Mandy made sure all of the rafts were still secure before she returned to the tables. By then, everyone but the
guides
had left. Gonzo and Cool were washing pots and pans by the
light of a camping lantern and dropping them into the dishnet hanging off one side of the kitchen prep table to dry. Rob, wearing his headlamp, was scouring the campsite for food droppings and trash. They had already tied down the locked food coolers on the rafts, and the trash bags would be joining them.

Mandy asked Rob, “Did the ranger briefing have any black bear sightings?”

“No, but better safe than sorry,” he said as he knotted the trash
bag. “The rangers said the bears don’t usually come down to the main
river channel, but they’ll often follow stream corridors in the fall looking for prickly pear cactus and hackberry tree fruits to fatten up for hibernation. We don’t want to entice them into camp with any easy pickings here.”

Raised voices from the 4-man tent being shared by Hal, Diana, Alex, and Alice made both of them turn. Mandy couldn’t make out what the argument was about, because they all seemed to be talking at once and the tent was far enough away that the words were indistinct.

Finally, the tent flap was thrown back, and Alex stormed out. He wore his headlamp and was lugging his sleeping bag.

“Fine! I’ll sleep outside,” he shouted and stomped away from the campsite.

Mandy hurried to catch up. “Anything I can help with?”

“Crap, no,” he said. “Alice is just being difficult, and I’m not in the mood to put up with it. It’s a nice night, so I don’t mind sleeping outside. No rain’s predicted, right?”

“Not for a couple of days, at least. You want to bed down near the guide tents?”

“I’d rather be alone, if that’s okay.” He shifted the sleeping bag. “Commune with nature and watch the stars, you know? Pretend I’m roughing it on my own, if you get my drift.”

“Sure.” She wondered if he had deliberately picked the fight to get out of the family tent.

“I’ll bed down somewhere back in the canyon.”

“Did Cool or Gonzo brief your group on cryptobiotic soils?”

Looking puzzled, Alex shook his head. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Mandy explained about the fragile soil layer, then said, “We
guides
have been asked by the Park Service to keep clients off soils that haven’t already been damaged.” She pointed to a ten-foot-tall jumble
of huge boulders behind the campsite. “The ground around that rock formation has been trampled already, and the trail goes past them. I suggest you lay your bag just on the other side of the rocks. I remember a cleared area there, and you’ll be close enough to hear the coffee call for breakfast.”

“Sure thing.” He grinned, his white teeth glowing in the light from their headlamps. “I don’t miss many meals. I’ll be as hungry as a bear come morning.”

Mandy laughed with him then watched as he disappeared around the rock formation into the black night.
He should be all right. Right?

Shaking her head, she said out loud, “Of course he will.”

While she helped Gonzo pack the cooking utensils, pots, and pans, Mandy wondered if the spat between Alex and his sister was real, and if so, if it would linger into the next days—or even the rest of the trip. She hoped not. It could cast a pall over the whole group, spoiling the experience. She was beginning to think that dealing with all of the personalities on this trip might be worse than dealing with Rob’s mom.

Nah.

When everything was shipshape, Mandy and Rob said goodnight to Gonzo. Cool had already retired. Mandy brushed her teeth then headed for Rob’s and her tent. While he went to stow the trash on the rafts and brush his teeth by the river, she changed into a sleep T-shirt and flannel pants and sat there wondering about Alex. She finally crawled out of the tent, slipped on her Tevas, and turned on her headlamp.

She found Rob relieving himself in the river, the arching stream
glittering in his headlamp. He was obviously seeing how far out over the wa
ter he could reach. She giggled and surprised him.

He turned only his head, and when he saw it was her, he leered. “Like what you see?”

Putting a hand on her hip, Mandy cocked her head and flapped her shirt front as if she were overheated. “Always.”

Rob tucked himself in and rinsed his hands in the river. “Went at least thirty feet. Think I’ll invite the rest of the guys to a pissing contest tomorrow night.”

“Don’t you dare!”

He picked up his toothbrush and water bottle from a rock and squirted some toothpaste onto the brush. “Miss me already? I’ll just be a few more minutes.”

“I came to tell you I want to check on Alex.”

“He’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

“Probably, but I also want to make sure he’s not destroying any cryptobiotic soil. I explained it to him, but I didn’t show him exactly what it looked like.”

“Worrywart!” He stuck his toothbrush in his mouth and waved her away.

Smiling to herself, Mandy walked quickly through the camp
site,
rubbing her arms. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees, and the T-shirt wasn’t enough to keep her warm. She let out a big yawn. She would just take a peek around the boulder pile to check on Alex, then hurry back to her warm tent, snuggle up to Rob and go straight to sleep.

As she rounded the formation, she heard the sound of a zipper unzipping, then someone whispering “Sssh.” Why would Alex be shushing himself ?

She was about to clear her throat and announce her presence when she saw Alex’s bare back gleaming in the moonlight—and his bare butt. He was on his knees facing away from her and was rhythmically thrusting his hips forward.

Mandy gulped, thinking she had witnessed him in a very private sex act, but then she heard a moan—a female moan. A naked female form was on her hands and knees in front of Alex, back turned to him, with his hands cupping her breasts. Her head was down, bobbing with Alex’s thrusts as her soft moans quickened in pace.

Who’s with him?
Mandy couldn’t see the woman’s face. She stood frozen, worried that the amorous couple would hear her if she moved, but she couldn’t stay. Their rapid panting signaled they wouldn’t be preoccupied much longer.

Mandy decided that they were so engrossed with each other, she didn’t need to worry about making noise. Her face burning now, she slipped around to the other side of the rock formation. Now she knew the reason Alex had picked a fight with his sister—so he could have a rendezvous with some woman on the trip.

She stood in the shadows, her mind racing through the female clients. Mandy had seen no signs of an attraction developing between Alex and Tina that day. Could it be one of the girlfriends, looking for a little extra excitement on this trip away from the hubbies? Could the relationship explode in their faces, ruining the trip?

Mandy was about to sneak quietly back to her tent when soft footsteps came trotting around the side of the rock formation. She stood stock still in the shadows and held her breath. The woman passed about eight feet in front of her but didn’t notice Mandy because her attention was focused on buttoning her shirt. The moonlight gleamed on the woman’s short dark curls.

Elsa!

five

Mother Nature may be forgiving this year,
or next year, but eventually she’s going to come
around and whack you. You’ve got to be prepared.

—
geraldo rivera

Morning came early after
a disturbed night, and Mandy groane
d when Rob lifted the tent flap, letting in the cool morning air and exposing a lightening sky. The sun wouldn’t be over the canyon rim for another hou
r or so, but it was time to get the coffee brewing and breakfast started for the clients.

After she had told Rob about discovering Alex and Elsa
in flagrante delicto,
he had reached for her with his own ideas for love-making. Then the two of them had stayed awake for another half hour discussing the possible complications. Rob finally convinced her they could do nothing about Alex’s and Elsa’s affair, and the best thing was to ignore it and hope the two continued to keep their relationship secret.

She pulled on some warm clothes, stumbled into the willow and tamarisk thicket upstream to relieve herself, then washed her hands and face at the handwashing station after refilling the water
can with cold river water. Fully awake after that, she scooped coffee
grounds into a metal campfire coffeepot and poured in water from the purified water jug. She turned on the gas stove and put the pot
on a burner. While Rob woke Gonzo and Cool in their tent, she went
to the rafts to unload breakfast fixings from the coolers.

When she reached the rafts, she pulled up short. Muddy streaks covered the tops of the coolers, and they were twisted in their lashings as if someone—or something—had been tugging on them. The dry food metal boxes had also been disturbed and moved, but their locks had held. Muddy streaks smeared the sides of the rafts, too. The streaks looked like they had come from the paws of a hungry animal, a large one.

What happened here? A bear?

Mandy had never heard of bears getting into anchored rafts, which were the recommended place to store food away from animals and were frankly the safest place to store anything vital to a float trip. She scanned the nearby river bank, but saw no prints or damaged vegetation—or a bear hulking in the underbrush.

Next, she did a quick mental check to see if anything was missing. They had brought ashore all of the clothing dry bags, tents, and sleeping bags the night before, and the PFDs were still tied together to the front of each raft. The water jugs were all accounted for, as were the oars, first aid kit, and other gear—except for a waterproof metal ammo box containing their permits and the radio. It was gone.

Shit!

Remembering that the ammo box had been sitting loose next to one of the dry food boxes versus clipped to one of the raft fittings with a carabiner, Mandy’s heart sank. She scanned the river bank, hoping the ammo box hadn’t been knocked into deep water. She spied a metal corner sticking out of the water next to the first step that had been carved in the sand bank.

Yes!

She clambered over the rafts until she reached the one next to the box, which was stuck bottom-up. She tugged and tugged at it until the mud released it with a wet sucking sound. But the damn thing was open. The plastic bag with the permits inside came loose and floated out into the water. Mandy snatched it up with a surge of relief. When she looked inside the ammo box, though, she blew out a breath. The radio transceiver was coated with mud, and the external antenna was broken.

No way in hell is that going to work.

Rob appeared on the bank. “What happened here?”

Mandy held up the muddied ammo box. “I don’t know. Bear maybe. Everything else seems to be okay, but our radio is toast.”

“What?” Rob stepped into one of the rafts and took the radio from Mandy. He rinsed the mud off of it in the river then tried keying it on, but nothing happened. “Crap. These things are supposed to be water-resistant.”

Then he looked around at the raft. He pointed to the lid of one of the coolers that showed four closely spaced long mud streaks, as if left by four claws. “It does look like a bear left that, but it’s sure big for a black bear.”

“I wonder why we didn’t hear anything,” Mandy said. “Our tent was closest to the water.”

Rob shrugged. “The bear was sneaky, I guess, or we were dead to the world after getting to sleep so late. I hope it wasn’t in camp.”

“I don’t see any prints on the river bank here. Go check for paw prints in camp while I clean this mess up,” Mandy said.

After Rob left, she splashed river water on the mud stains to rinse
them off. Then she gathered eggs, bread, strawberries, and other break
fast ingredients.

Rob returned and took some of the supplies. “No bear prints in camp, and nothing’s been messed with there. I’m still amazed a bear attacked the rafts. There’s never been a sighting of one along the river. But we’re running behind. C’mon, let’s get some food cooking.”

As she left the rafts, Mandy scanned the river bank again. “It’s odd that there aren’t any prints in the sand here, either. Maybe it swam over to the rafts from upstream.”

“I’m just glad it didn’t do more damage.” Rob hefted the radio. “I’ll crack this open and let the parts dry in the sun for a day. Maybe I can get it working after it dries.”

Mandy worried her lip. “In the meantime, we have no way to call for help if we need it.”

Of course, there were very few spots along the river where they could call anyway. Radio repeaters had been installed only where outfitters would most likely need to call in, like at the confluence or at the end of Cataract Canyon to request a pick up or to rendezvous with others. But the lack of a radio still made her nervous.

Back at the camp kitchen, she saw Kendra had quietly exited the women’s tent and was ready to help. The five staff quickly divvied up the work of preparing breakfast while Rob and Mandy filled in the others on the bear’s thwarted attack on the rafts.

“Good thing its claws didn’t puncture any of the raft tubes,” Gonzo said while toasting bread on the griddle.

Kendra paused in chopping onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes for omelets. “That would have set us back at least an hour while we patched and reinflated the tubes.”

“Usually bears don’t come down to the main river,” Cool said while setting up a buffet line with plates and utensils. He placed a bowl of strawberries and jam and butter at the end for toast. “I’m surprised none of us heard anything.”

As soon as the coffee was hot, Rob bellowed “Coffee!”

Some folks had already started stirring in their tents and making forays to the screened portable toilet. While the omelets bubbled on the griddle, the clients queued up for coffee, which Cool poured into mugs through a strainer to catch the grounds. Within minutes, most of the group had settled into camp chairs around the folding tables to eat. The only one missing was Alex.

“I guess Alex didn’t hear your call,” Mandy said to Rob with a raised eyebrow.
Probably worn out after last night’s gymnastics.

Being one of the last out of the tents, his sister Amy hadn’t filled her plate yet. “I’ll get him,” she said. “Where’d he bed down?”

“Behind those rocks.” Mandy pointed toward the rock formation at the back of camp, and Amy trotted in that direction.

Mandy had filled her plate and taken one delicious bite of hot, cheesy omelet when a piercing scream rent the air.

Mandy leapt to her feet. “The bear?”

“Crap!” Rob dropped his plate on the prep table, grabbed the camp shovel and ran for the rocks.

Mandy snatched a couple of pots to clang together that she hoped would scare away the bear and followed Rob.

Gonzo came running with a metal marshmallow fork and the largest of their camp knives. “Stay here!” he yelled to the clients, some of whom had stood and were moving toward the formation.

After the three of them rounded the rock formation with makeshift weapons raised, they stopped dead in their tracks.

Amy was on her knees by Alex’s sleeping bag, sobbing hysterically.

No bear was in sight.

“Amy? What is it?” Mandy asked.

Amy said nothing, only shook her head, her eyes wide and distressed.

Mandy stepped closer and looked over Amy’s shoulder. She
gasped.

Alex’s face was raked with claw marks. Where his head lay, a dark maroon stain spread out in the sand. One of the claws had ripped into his neck, opening the jugular vein. His body had been pulled partway out of the sleeping bag, but as far as Mandy could see, the head wound seemed to be the only damage. As the coppery scent of dried blood filled her nostrils, gorge rose in her throat.

Murmuring “
madre de dios
,” Rob dropped to his knees by Alex’s head and felt his neck for a pulse. He looked at Gonzo and Mandy and shook his head. “His body is cold. This happened hours ago.”

That brought another agonized wail from Amy.

Mandy knelt beside Amy and put her arms around her, offering what comfort she could. She tried to pull Amy away from Alex’s body, but the woman wouldn’t budge. She looked at Gonzo. “Bring something to cover him with. And keep the others away from here.”

Too late.

Diana stepped around the rock formation, pushing her husband’s
hand off her shoulder. “—and something could have happened to Alex,” she was saying to him over her shoulder.

She turned to the scene in front of her and stopped. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. A keening wail escaped her lips a
s she stumbled forward and sank to the ground next to Amy. Mandy released Amy and let mother and daughter grasp each other. Tears streamed down their
faces.

Hal came up behind them and put a hand on each. His wrenchingly sorrowful gaze at Mandy was pleading,
please don’t let this be true
. “Is he—” He couldn’t finish the question.

All Mandy could do was nod in horror. She could barely believe it herself and felt frozen and powerless, unable to think of what to do.

Amy’s husband, Les, and her sister Alice appeared next and took
in the scene with shocked expressions and “Ohmigods.” Alice grabbed
her father’s
arm, and he turned and took her in his arms. Les rested his hand on his wife’s shudderi
ng shoulder.

Before long, everyone in the group had piled up behind the grieving Anderson clan. They stood quietly, clutching each other. Silent tears dripped down Elsa Norton’s cheeks, as she held a hand over her mouth. But she wasn’t the only person outside of the Anderson family who was crying. Mandy realized with a shock that she, too, had wet cheeks.

Finally Hal asked, “What happened here?”

Rob got to his feet and looked around on the ground. He pointed
to a bear print in the soft sand near Alex’s head. “We think it was a bear. But I don’t understand why one was here and why it attacked him.”

“You didn’t tell us there were bears around here,” Les said.

“They usually stay way up in the remote stream canyons,” Rob replied, “and don’t come down to the river. There’s never been a bear attack reported anywhere near the river.”

“Why’d you let him sleep by himself ?” Alice asked angrily.

Mandy was already wishing she hadn’t.

“It was his decision. And we had no reason to think he’d be in danger,” Rob said.

As the guide with the most experience in the area, Cool jumped in to defend the decision. “I’ve done it many times myself,” he said. “Yeah, we follow the park guidelines about storing food on the rafts, but no guide has ever seen a black bear anywhere near the river. We’ve only seen them while hiking in the high country.”

“Did the bear go anywhere else in camp?” Les asked, his jaw set. “Were the rest of us in danger?” He looked around. “Are we in danger now?”

Mandy’s chest constricted. Les didn’t seem to be worried just about his own or his family’s safety. She could see lawsuit written all over his face as his eyes narrowed in a calculating way. Sure, the liability waivers that all of the participants signed protected RM Outdoor Adventures legally, but that didn’t mean Les couldn’t get nasty about it.

“We saw signs this morning that a bear tried to get at the food on the rafts,” she said quietly, trying to set a calm tone and keep others from raising their voices. “But it didn’t succeed. And we checked everywhere in camp. We didn’t find any prints.”

Betsy Saunders inched her way toward the bear print. She examined it and a couple more on the surrounding ground with a frown on her face.

“How are you going to protect us?” Les asked, his face turning red. “You don’t have any guns, do you?”

Rob raised his hands, palms out. “I’m sure the bear’s long gone by now. It didn’t eat—”

Mandy cleared her throat loudly.

Rob looked at her, then back at Les. “It didn’t do anything else to Alex. Something made it run off. And we’ll be leaving here, too.”

“But what about Alex?” Diana wailed.

Silence.

Time to act.
Mandy turned to Gonzo. “Gonzo, could you take everyone except the Andersons back to camp and pack up?” Then she faced Cool. “Cool, please get the first-aid kit and a jug of river water.”

Cool, Gonzo, the Nortons, and the three female friends turned and silently walked away.

Alice gave Mandy a quizzical look, “First aid?”

Mandy wasn’t going to drop the bombshell that the large first-aid kit also contained a body bag. “We’ll clean him up as best as we can. You all can stay or leave while we do it, or take care of him yourselves, if you want.”

She took a deep breath and faced the Anderson family. Her arms hung at her sides. She had never felt so helpless. She had no freaking idea what to say next, but from some reserve of strength the words came.

“We’re deeply, deeply sorry that this happened to Alex. We’ll do whatever we can to help you, to respect your grief, to—” Here the words failed her.

She glanced at Rob, who gave her a nod of support and added, “This has never happened to us on a trip, so we’re feeling our way here.”