It Was 2052, High Haven (9 page)

Taylor looked at the map,
he had no idea where Cissy's supposed lost mine was. She probably
wouldn't lie to her father about the route she intended to take. If
they found themselves in a situation of hoping someone was looking
for them, truth about their proposed path would be wise. Somewhere in
that wilderness was their destination. “Then we'll be heading
Northwest?”

“
Yes. I think we'll
travel across the meadows and pick up that old road, go around the
nearest mountain instead of trying to go over.” She once again
traced a path, her finger gliding along the yellowed map. “Do
you have your gear ready? I would like to get away shortly after
dawn.”

“
I'm packed up.”

And that was the extent
of their talk. She folded up the map and not unusual for her,
abruptly said her good-nights. Jeff said, “You'll watch out for
her?”

“
The best I can,
friend,” he answered.

Emily just remained
silent, placed her hand on his cheek for a moment.

Before he went to his bed
in the library, he stood at the window and studied the unknown that
was shadowed on the night horizon. Now that he knew where to look he
easily located the very faint glow. As was often his habit, he spoke
his thoughts out loud to Peaches, “Guess, we're back on the
road, boy. Sure has been nice around here, hasn't it?”

The dog leaned in against
him, “Have to admit, I'm damn curious myself about what's out
there.” He gave the head a pat, “Okay, lets get some
sleep. Sun will be up early and I'm guessing that woman will be
knocking on our door.”

***

The tan and white
muscular antelope stood perfectly still and observed as the figures
moved through the waves of meadow grass. Threatened by the proximity
of the human smell, in a blink they sped away, the younger of the
small herd lept along, appeared to be nearly in flight. The last
words exchanged between the traveling pair had been in the early
dawn, hours before when the goodbyes were said to the family. The
tall canine, not aggressive or bothered by the wildlife, loped along
and kept his proper place, held tight to his two companions. The trio
just moved, steady and silent.

The mountain was growing
taller in front of them, the flat fields rolled gradually into the
forest at the foot of the craggy peak. Cissy stopped her forward
motion, adjusted the heavy load on her back. “I think we should
probably make camp pretty soon. The light will go fast when it
starts to fade. I'd rather wait until good daylight to move into the
heavier trees.”

Peaches sniffed around.
In an indention partly surrounded by yellow and red marbled rocks, a
tiny pool of water had accumulated, the dog slurped loudly. Taylor
unhooked his pack and looked around, “This looks pretty good.
Let's gather some firewood and get settled while we still have
light.”

It hadn't taken long to
get a small fire crackling. The daylight dimmed much quicker than
Cissy anticipated. Smokey purple clouds hovered on the peaks and
rolled high above them. The dog sat on his haunches, back from the
fire and sniffed at the moist smell in the air. She had to smile at
the big snout tilted upward. Her eyes followed the nose's direction
to the bruised sky.

“
Monsoon,”
she said.

“
Yeah, it's that
time of the summer.”

It wasn't unusual in
their elevations and location, afternoon or evening rains were very
frequent. Sometimes the rain filled clouds tumbled over the
mountains and skirted around their community, sometimes they got a
few sprinkles and sometimes a hard fast downpour would wash across
the dry scrubby landscape. Tiny pepper pods of hail could even
accompany the storms that were never long lasting. The degree of
weather on any given day was very unpredictable.

Taylor stood next to
Peaches, his hand on the wide head. He looked off toward the
mountains, “Nearly dark but I don't see the glow beyond the
mountain.”

“
We're up pretty
close now, at the foot of the closest mountain. Probably wouldn't be
able to see the light. I think it will take us at least a couple of
days to move around this one and reach the bottom of the peak that
seems to run between the two taller ones.”

His eyes dropped and
found her face, “Better around than over, huh? I'm not really
interested in trying to go up and over.”

She returned his smile.
At that moment, the wind accelerated from a soft breeze to a hard
gust. The smoke puffed into her eyes and she stood up from where she
had squatted to stir the small blaze. The hat that shaded her all day
strained at it's tie and slid to her back. Peaches begin to pace
around as a far away rumble of thunder reached them.

Kicking dirt at the fire
that had just got burning good, she said, “We better kill this
and look for some protection.”

“
Yeah, doesn't look
like it's going to blow on by, does it?” He went to his pack
and dug out a windbreaker with a hood and she was already zipping
hers up. A couple of big drops sizzled against the remains of the
fire and his voice raised above the blow, “See that outcropping
over there---let's move to the downwind side---Peaches! Come on.”
Taylor grabbed his pack and moved toward the cluster of rocks.

Leaned up against the
rocks, the storm still swirled around them but there was a wind
break. The rain came down heavy and the hail plinked off the rocks
and turned the ground white. Cissy thought
thank goodness Emily
insisted on us packing some of the breakfast biscuits and other
provisions that don't have to be cooked. This is no shower, could
hang in here for a while.
She looked down at her pack, startled
to see a stream of water gurgling against it and under her feet.

“
Oh crap!
Taylor...” she pointed down.

He had lived on the flats
at the base of the mountains for nearly his whole life. More than a
few times, he had seen a dry desert landscape change nearly instantly
into a raging river. Looking across rolling fields, what appeared to
be nearly flat land actually was striped with gulleys and arroyos.
Cissy already stood, her soggy pack slung to her back and he pushed
to his feet. The stream was up to their ankles. Through the rain
that now blew in sideways stinging layers, they moved toward the
trees that populated the base of the mountain. Taylor stopped, peered
from the drawn up hood of his jacket, “Peaches!...Peaches, here
boy,” he whistled. Cissy slogged on toward the tree line,
quickly faded into the torrent. “Peaches!”

Finally, there was a
sharp and broken bark. Taylor walked back a few steps and could see
his big loyal companion faintly outlined on the opposite side of what
was now a rolling rushing river, crashing down from the high peak and
roiling across the flats. The dog ran up and down, jumped into the
edge and out. He cupped his hands and shouted, “You stay
boy...just stay...stay Peaches.” A blinding bright flash of
lightening illuminated the whole scene and thunder that felt as if it
shook the very mountain boomed. The dog took off at a dead run and
vanished into the wall of deluge.

The voice right in his
ear made Taylor jump, “Come on, you have to get out of the
open...hurry! He will find us...Taylor...now.” Cissy tugged
at his sleeve.

Damn stupid dog!
He
looked down at the hand on his
arm
,
her father was trusting him to watch out for her. His hand took a
firm hold on hers and he started moving them through the storm to the
shelter of the woods. It wasn't dry but the scrubby cedars and pines
made a canopy and gave some protection. They found a cleared area,
hopefully the lay of a mule deer and not something more threatening.
Even though the roof of trees
swayed and the cold drops still filtered down, it was so much better.
Both knew not to lean against the sticky sap
draped
tree trunks, they plopped down cross legged on the wet matted ground.

Their ragged breath
finally slowed and it seemed the onslaught quieted some, the
lightening and thunder more distant again. Cissy pushed back her
hood, dripping threads of hair clung to her face, “God, what a
way to start our journey. Are you hungry?” She started to dig
around in the soaked pack.

Taylor was silent.

She
well knew the dog was important to him,
“
We'll
find him. Hey, you know dogs---he'll find us.” She handed him
a biscuit.

The cold bread just sat
in his hand, his eyes met hers, “He's been a friend. The only
family I have left.” The deep voice was low.

Cissy
allowed herself to really look at the man. She hated to admit it,
how he was so interesting to her, how much he appealed to her senses.
The dark hair
was
plastered to his face and head,
behind th
e
eyes that now looked pained
was
a softness.
A small thorn of
sympathy pricked her heart. This was a man who suffered loss after
loss, who moved on time after time, alone. She always had
been
aware
that she was very lucky
to have been rescued by her parents and Kevin, but since they arrived
at their high haven her life had been more sheltered than she
realized. She had family and friends and security. It was true that
she often wished for a partner, someone to love her like her dad
loved her mother, but she had
n'
t
been alone.

It
was calm now and it was deep dark here under the trees. She looked
up and actually saw
a hazy
star or two
flicker through
the canopy. It was debatable whether the trees were the best place
to be but exhaustion made the decision for them. She wasn't sure if
Taylor ever ate the biscuit, the last thing she actually remembered
was laying her head on her pack, her hand on her pistol. Daylight
woke her.
When her eyes
opened she saw her traveling companion next to her, his knees bent,
head on his pack, rifle across his middle. He still slept.

Getting
her bearings, she eased away from the trees into the open again. She
wasn't surprised to see a bright clear morning, the monsoonal rain
storm swept away. At the rocks, the flood was back to merely a
trickle. She looked for tracks,
longed
to see
big
paw prints
and found only a
few hoof trails of deer. The sandy
loam
was still damp, a campfire would not be likely. She dug around in
her supplies and took out an old large metal can. The can had a hole
cut near the bottom, a smaller can with a hole was inside. Twigs
could be stuffed in and a small hot fire built, a make do stove.
She
managed to find enough dry sticks, leaves and grass to get the stove
going and
heat
some
water for tea.

The booted feet emerged
from the woods and approached the small wisp of smoke. Cissy handed
him a cup of warm tea with a dollop of honey.

“
Thanks.” His
hair had dried all tangled and pushed up in the back and he seemed to
be shaking out the night of sleep on the hard ground, pacing around
and walking out the kinks.

“
I looked for
footprints,” she said. “Nothing but a few deer tracks.”

He looked out across
their surroundings, smoothed down the wild hair with one hand and
sipped the tea. “Got any more of those biscuits?”

Cissy
unfolded a cloth, took out another cold biscuit and a piece of bacon
and handed it to him.
Funny, he seems to have resigned
himself to losing the dog.
“Do
you think Peaches would head back to the community? He was pretty
frightened, I imagine. We could hang in here for today, do some
searching. Actually, everything in my pack is wet. I wouldn't mind
spreading out some things and letting them dry before we move on.”

“
That's probably a
good idea, we can do that. You're right though, maybe Peaches will
find us. I'll do some looking today but we'll not backtrack or stay
more than a day. I hope he didn't head back to the community, that
would really concern your parents.”

“
I
hadn't thought of that.”
As
determined as she was to make this journey, she hated the idea of
causing worry to her parents.
She began to pull things from her pack and find places to spread them
out in the sun that
ascended
quick and warm.

It
seemed that it was
short
time until she was re-packing the dried out items in her pack
and
they
once again prepared for
the night. No amount of searching,
calling
and whistling had brought the
gangly
dog
back to the travelers
this day.