by Dana Mentink
“I...” Her words were lost in a loud rush of sound as part of the cornice gave way. A corner of the ice mound broke off and slid down the slope, a few yards in front of the snowmobiler who stopped abruptly.
In one swift movement, the driver jerked the machine around and headed back toward Luca and Ava’s position. Whether it was the movement of the snowmobile or the simple act of forces working on the unstable pile of snow, the mountainside began to tremble, signaling the onset of an avalanche.
In unison, Ava and Luca pointed their skis toward the grove of trees away from the steep slope. Poling hard, they leaned into the slope and shoved off. Cold wind slapped Ava’s face and the roar of the monster river of snow followed them.
The snowmobile plowed ahead of them, kicking icy bits in its wake.
The ground shook under their skis. Ava risked a look back. A plume of snow roiled into the air. The white wave was almost upon them.
Luca shouted something that Ava couldn’t make out. It seemed as though they were flying, like birds about to be enveloped by a white cloud. It was a beautiful image, but the reality was deadly.
Luca kept pace with her in spite of his bruises.
He’d risked everything, including his life to help her.
She knew she’d give it all up—the treasure, Whisper, even the chance to avenge her uncle’s death—if it would protect him.
She didn’t have time to ponder the strange and wondrous feeling as cascading snow rushed around her threatening to knock her over. Skiing for the farthest tree, she prayed the stout trunk would shield them from the onslaught. Instead she fell, her skis snapping off, her body crashing into the massive pine. Then Luca was there, his arms around her as the enormous strength of the avalanche pinned them together against the frozen bark.
Her cheek pressed into the rough surface. She felt Luca struggling to keep his body from crushing hers as the snow thundered down around them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the snowmobile tumbling over and over until it hurtled against another tree with a crunch of metal.
“Luca,” she wanted to cry out as she felt the breath pushed from her body. “Luca, I’m sorry.”
The angry torrent filled her ears, snow rushing by, banging and pummeling them, bits of ice stinging their hands and faces. They were likely going to die. And she had spent so long steeped in grief, hardened by loss, wasting all of the precious days God had given her.
“Luca,” she tried again, and again her words were swallowed up by the crush.
* * *
Luca kept his arms caged around Ava, the tree bark chewing into his palms. He was not strong enough to fend off the moving mountain.
He prayed for strength, for mercy, for Ava.
The snow piled up around his legs, immobilizing him, creeping toward his chest. A few more feet and their heads would be covered, suffocating them in a blanket of brilliant white. Shoulder on fire with pain, he tried desperately to protect her.
Arms trembling he knew they had only moments left. Snow continued to slam into his back with enough force that he found it hard to breathe.
Hang on, Ava.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on her silky hair, the softness of her small shoulder pressed against his chest. If that was the last thing he was going to feel on this earth, he could not have picked a better sensation.
As his strength failed, he gulped in one more breath of air.
The torrent suddenly stopped.
Snow continued to slide around them, but it was in lazy trickles now. The ringing in his ears subsided into quiet, broken only by the harsh sound of his own breathing. He blinked and sucked in a few more breaths.
“Ava?” he murmured in her ear.
She didn’t answer and his heart quivered.
He pressed his mouth to hair. “Please answer me.” He’d never wanted a reply more than he did at that moment. He’d never wanted anything in the world more than he craved the sound of her voice.
After a moment, she took a shuddering breath. “I’m okay.”
He could not speak, his heart was so full of joy. “Thank you, Lord,” he breathed. Wriggling back and forth, he was able to free his arms from their icy entrapment. It allowed him enough leverage to pull himself upward on a branch just above. Ava did the same and they yanked themselves free, crawling awkwardly to a higher island of snow.
Luca took Ava’s hand and guided her toward the road.
They moved slowly, their feet sinking into the newly settled snow, avoiding any unnecessary movements that might set more snow in motion. When they reached the road, they could see people running toward them, Stephanie and Tate and others.
From down the mountain came the sound of sirens.
Luca held fast to Ava’s hand, searching her face for a sign of what she was feeling.
Her eyes rounded in horror as she looked past him toward an irregular pile of snow.
“What is it?”
Her mouth opened but she didn’t speak. Instead, she pointed to a spot on the snow he’d missed.
The spot where a hand was protruding through the icy crust.
TWENTY-THREE
Luca made it to the victim in seconds, shoveling the snow away with his hands. Tate, Stephanie and Ava joined in, freeing the body from its snowy entrapment. First the head, still covered in a ski mask, then the body, legs, arms.
Luca reached for the mask and pulled it off.
Ava cried out at the sight of Sue Agnoti, eyes closed.
Harold jogged up and dropped to his knees at her side. “Is she alive?” he croaked.
Sue answered the question for them by opening her eyes. Her gaze immediately fastened on Ava. She groaned.
Ava stared. “Sue? You shot Goren? Why would you do that?”
Sue blinked the snow from her eyes. “I was going to fix everything. Bring Bruce home.”
Ava shook her head, her mouth open in shock, still staring at Sue. “You were Goren’s partner?”
“Not at first. I heard Paul talking to Goren. Later I snooped on Paul’s cell phone and saw his texts to you about a treasure. I wanted to know what Paul was up to, so I contacted Goren. We made a plan to get the treasure away from Paul.”
“Why?”
“Paul would waste it, squander whatever it was and besides—” she winced as she tried to move her leg “—Bruce would never accept help from Paul even if Paul had found the lost treasure of the Incas.”
Luca could see in Ava’s expression that she recognized that was the truth.
“So what were you going to do with the treasure, Sue?” Ava asked, voice nearly inaudible.
“I was going to save Whisper. Bring your father back home. We could all be together again, like it used to be.”
Harold’s mouth twisted in grief, but he held on to her hand.
Sue coughed and went on. “Goren was going to double-cross me and take the treasure for himself, so I had to stop him.”
Ava’s eyes filled. “All this, all these terrible choices. You made them to get my father to come back, but he doesn’t love you. He’s never loved you.”
She shook her head. “I kept Whisper going, held things together after your mother died, all these years,” Sue murmured. “He’ll see my devotion once he comes home. He’ll come to love me in time.”
Luca looked away from the naked sorrow on Harold’s face. Harold loved a woman who did not love him back. Just like Sue had wasted her life and squandered her future for a man who could not return her affection.
He felt an uncomfortable stirring in his gut as the truth bit at him.
You love Ava. You can’t lie to yourself anymore.
But there was no indication that she loved him in return.
An ambulance rolled up the slope and two paramedics leaped
out, carrying a rescue toboggan.
Ava and Luca moved back to allow the rescuers to do their job.
Ava walked away, back turned, gazing out on the slopes. He joined her, putting an arm around her shoulders.
“Whatever it was,” Ava whispered, “whatever this treasure was is buried under a ton of snow. My uncle died because of it and Sue turned into somebody I don’t recognize. I’ll never even know what it was.”
He squeezed her gently. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey,” one of the paramedics called. “Can you grab this?” They turned to find him holding the wrapped package, the one Ava had taken from the locker.
The medic held it out to them. “She had it zipped in her jacket.”
Luca snatched it. Harold followed the toboggan back to the ambulance, leaving them staring at the package.
Ava’s face was white. “You open it, Luca.”
He untied the string, stomach in knots as the paper slipped away.
They leaned forward to get a closer look.
Luca held up the contents.
Three books.
Romance novels.
Each bore the sticker from a long-ago garage sale.
Three for a dollar.
* * *
Ava felt like laughing. Romance novels. Three for a dollar. Another one of her uncle’s crazy tricks.
She watched them load Sue up into the ambulance, next to the wounded Charlie Goren. Harold was told he could not ride along with her, so he headed for the car. He stopped before he got there and turned to Ava. “She didn’t mean to hurt you or Paul. I know she loves you in her own way.”
Ava’s heart clenched. “Harold, I’m sorry about all this. My father never encouraged her.”
He nodded. “I know. I guess sometimes the heart just goes where it wants to regardless of the facts.”
And that’s what had no doubt happened to Harold. The love on his face was clear, along with the hurt.
“What will you do now?” she asked gently.
He shrugged. “Stand by her, even if she doesn’t want me there.” He got into the car and drove away, following the ambulance.
Her heart broke for him. She turned to find Luca talking quietly to Stephanie and Tate. She did not want to face Luca now, while her feelings felt like fragile flakes of snow. It was all over. Finally. There was no escaping that now the place would be sold. With the truth about Sue coming out, there was no friendly face here at Whisper. And Luca would go back to his treasure hunting. Back to San Francisco and another life waiting for him there.
Whatever she had felt or discovered in their mad treasure hunt would remain here, swirling in the winds of Whisper Mountain.
She heard them follow her, but she still did not turn.
“I’ll go get Mack Dog. He’s probably still asleep in that truck,” Tate said from behind her.
That old truck. It would probably be sold for scrap. How it would grieve Uncle Paul to lose the rusty B42.
She stopped dead for one moment and then took off at a run for the garage.
“What is it?” Luca called.
She didn’t answer, running as fast as she could in spite of her recent battering.
They finally caught up when she yanked open the door of the garage and barreled inside.
“What?” Luca said, taking hold of her arm.
She whirled on them. “The B42 in Mack’s collar. It was another one of my uncle’s little jokes. The locker number was just a diversion. It was all about this.” She gestured behind her.
Luca’s eyes widened as he figured it out. “The truck. It’s a...”
“B42,” Tate said. “My dad used to work with a guy who owned one. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”
Mack Dog woke from his nap and popped up from the back of the vehicle. Catching sight of Tate he leaped down and made a beeline for him. Tate obliged him with a thorough scratching. “Have you been guarding a treasure, boy?”
With shaking hands, Ava yanked open the door of the truck. The interior was cold and dark. She climbed up on the running board. She saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Luca crawled up and slid into the driver’s seat. Ava did the same on the passenger side. She took it all in, the worn interior, the glass with the tiny star chip in the corner, the seat that squeaked with every movement she made.
Her fingers found a cut in the rubber of the seat. Tracing along the edge she discovered a slit that ran the width of the cushion. Dropping to her knees on the cramped floor, she carefully removed the rubber which slid easily away where it had been cut. Heart hammering, she found a metal box that filled the entire cushion space.
Luca’s eyes shone. “Ava, you found it.”
She fingered the latch that held the box closed. Nerves tingling, she opened it. Inside was a layer of thick oilcloth and underneath she saw the sturdy cover of a book, a very large volume. The cover looked to be made of leather, blackened with age. Stephanie and Tate crammed in to see.
No one spoke.
Luca pulled his sleeve over his hand and gently lifted the cover. Each massive page was divided into two columns, the first letter enlarged and elaborately decorated. Ava squinted at the text. “I can’t understand it.”
“That’s because it’s in Latin,” Luca said, a slight tremble in his voice as he gingerly closed the cover. “This is a Gutenberg Bible.”
Stephanie gasped. “Less than two dozen of these still exist. That makes this volume...”
“Priceless,” Luca finished.
Stephanie leaned closer. “What’s that? In the oilcloth?”
Ava picked up the corner of a small photo. It was a grainy picture of Ava wrapped in her mother’s embrace, both of them grinning at the camera. Through a veil of tears she turned it over. On the back in Uncle Paul’s dismal handwriting she could make out a single phrase.
I count myself the richest of men.
She stared at the photo as waves of love and grief crashed through her.
“He was rich, Ava, even before he found the B42, and he finally realized it,” Luca said softly. He took her hand. She was numb, her mind a hopeless jumble. The only thing she could feel was the warmth of his fingers clasping hers.
The richest of men.
Ava carefully wrapped the priceless book back up in the oilcloth, but she clung tightly to the photo. Then she stepped out of the truck and closed the door behind her.
* * *
Two days went by in a blur. The lodge was quiet now, having hosted a series of scholars and museum curators in various stages of euphoria as they photographed and packaged the precious Bible before it was taken to a bank for safekeeping. It would be donated to a museum; she was not sure which one nor did she care. She’d asked Luca to see to the arrangements.
She’d heard whispered estimates. Five million dollars. Ten. She would not sell it, this extraordinary expression of God’s word, His promise that had become so real to her since that last precious time with Uncle Paul at Melody Lake.
I count myself the richest of men.
And Ava Stanton was the richest of women because she’d remembered the truth. She was not alone. God was with her and He had been all along. Through the quiet that nearly drowned her after her mother’s death, the months of self-imposed isolation, He hadn’t left her. And whatever her mother’s choice had been, Ava knew in those last moments, God had been right by her, too, whispering words of comfort into her soul.
That same comfort now eased her pain as she signed the papers to sell Whisper, as she’d watched Luca pack up and drive away, his green eyes sparkling in her memory.
“I’ll be back as soon as I get some things straightened out,” he’d promised.
They both knew it was well-meaning, a gentle way for them to escape an awkward sit
uation. She wandered around the empty kitchen, thinking of Sue and the devastating choices she’d made. But even those choices could not erase the joy and tenderness she’d felt here on Whisper Mountain.
Happy days with her mother and father.
Uncle Paul’s wild adventures.
And someone else.
Another vision of Luca rippled through her memory. Ava had come to realize she loved Luca, but they were from completely different worlds. His was a life of adventure in bustling cities and her heart yearned for mountains steeped in the quiet whisper of snow.
She said a prayer for him, for his family, and picked up the small bag she’d packed.
She opened the door and gasped to find Luca standing on the other side.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
She closed her mouth. “Of course.”
He wiped his feet and entered, eyes wandering around the lodge as she closed the door. Her stomach had suddenly twisted itself into knots at the sight of him.
“Thank you,” she said. “For figuring out what to do with the Bible.”
He laughed. “Most people I talked to were incredulous that you weren’t going to sell it and become the richer than Oprah.”
She smiled. “Isn’t mine to sell. It’s okay, though.” She swallowed hard. “The agent says he’s found a buyer for Whisper.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
He nodded, arms folded across his broad chest. “It’s my father.”
She started. “I guess that makes sense.” She tried for a laugh. “You’ll have plenty of good runs once he combines Gold Summit and Whisper.”
“I guess. There’s one little catch, though, a contingency to the sale.”
“What’s that?”
Luca moved closer and put his hands on her shoulders, his fingers sending shivers up her spine.
“He bought it because I asked him to.”
“You knew it would be a good investment?”
“The best.”
She felt a shiver run up her back. “What’s the contingency?”
