Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series)

by Martin Cogburn

  “I don’t know,” the doctor voiced his doubt. “It takes a lot of brains to pull off something like this and from what you have told me about Denton, he doesn’t sound all that bright.”

  “That’s for sure, but you’re wrong about Tyler,” Jason said in a matter of fact way.

  “Well, suit yourself,” Tomas said. “Just remember one thing. Sometimes what we want to believe blinds us to the obvious truth.”

  Jason turned around. “I’m heading back,” he spoke evenly before changing directions. The doctor fell in step beside him, and as they neared the porch to the restaurant, a fairly large group of people with cameras and microphones trotted towards them.

  “Jason! Jason Hathaway!” the man in the lead called out as he jogged towards Jason. “You got a moment? I’ve have a few questions.”

  After recovering a bit from the shock of having a mob surround him, Jason spoke. “First I’ve got a couple questions for y’all.” He looked around and asked, “Why are all of y’all looking for me, and how’d y’all know where to look?”

  “Anonymous tip on the last question,” the reporter who had been in the lead replied. “On the first question – a lot, and I mean a lot, of people will be watching you climb the Tombstone on TV, and we’d like to help them get to know you.”

  “Alright,” Jason said with an uneasy chuckle. “What do they want to know about me?”

  “First – how do you feel about next week’s climb?” the reporter asked.

  “Good,” Jason said honestly.

  “So you’re okay with the fact that you could, well frankly, die?”

  “No,” Jason replied flatly. “I don’t want to die.” He looked away from the reporter towards the back and smiled before pointing to a familiar face. “You’re the lady from the first interview, right?”

  “Yes,” she responded, her face brightening a bit.

  “Do you have a question?”

  “Yes,” she replied, and all eyes turned to her as she pushed her way forward through the crowd towards Jason. “Mr. Hathaway, your fans are wondering…”

  “Fans?” Jason asked cutting her off short. “I have fans?”

  “Yes,” she laughed. “You have fans… fans who would like to know what it is that prompts you forward. In other words, what keeps you going even though you know you may very well be headed to your death?”

  “That’s simple,” Jason replied. “The only thing stronger than the fear of death is love.”

  “Wow,” she said. “That was, wow, um, that’s really special.”

  “Yes, he is special,” Tomas cut in. “Whenever this whole thing started, I knew one thing from the get-go… Jason Hathaway is not a quitter. You should’ve seen him when...”

  “Yes, that’s very nice,” the reporter cut in with an edge to her tone. “If you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to ask Mr. Hathaway a few more questions… just him.”

  “Oh yeah – sure, sure,” Dr. Throckmorton said, trying to make it sound like he didn’t care one way or the other.

  “Can I ask a favor of you?” Jason asked the reporter after the doctor had taken a few steps back.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “I need to get a message out to the men who kidnapped my wife,” he said.

  “No problem,” she assured him. “What’s the message?”

  Jason looked away from the reporter, straight into the camera that rested on the shoulder of the man next to her, and said, “I want evidence that my wife is alive before I climb.”

  There was a brief silence before the reporter spoke. “Don’t worry,” she assured Jason with a smile, “your message will be sent.” She paused for a second before she spoke again. “I said I had a few more questions for you, but I’ve heard you hired a rock climbing coach. Is that correct?”

  “Almost,” Jason said with a smile. “I didn’t hire him. I’m swapping work for the training but, honestly, I think I’m getting the better end of the deal.”

  The reporter smiled. “Instead of just you, what’s the chance of getting an interview with the two of you together?”

  “I’m not sure,” Jason replied. “Let me ask him.” With that, he turned and shouted up towards the porch where the others were. “Hey Tyler!” After a moment, the tall cowboy turned his head around. “You wanna do an interview with me?” Jason asked.

  “No,” came the honest reply.

  “Sir,” the lady reporter spoke to Tyler, “the more light we shed on this kidnapping, the more the word will get out, and the chances of getting Jason’s wife back alive will get better and better.”

  The tall cowboy flung his hands in the air before rising to his feet. After a few moments, he came trotting down the steps and over to Jason’s side. “Here I am,” he spoke grudgingly.

  “What is your name, sir?” the lady reporter asked.

  “Tyler.”

  “Well Tyler, how good do you feel about Jason’s odds of getting to the top of the Tombstone?”

  “He’s got a shot at it,” the tall horseman replied.

  “Have you ever trained someone for such a dangerous climb before?” the reporter asked.

  Tyler turned and looked at Jason before he replied, “No I haven’t… but everyone else had a choice. My friend here has none.”

  “But no one is forcing him to climb, right?” one of the other reporters questioned. “They wouldn’t set his wife free, but he still has a choice, right?”

  “What kind of choice is that?” Tyler demanded. “None at all,” he said, answering his own question.

  “Jason,” the lady reporter from the first interview spoke, “how do you feel about Tyler as a rock climbing coach? Do you think he’s done everything possible to get you ready in such a short amount of time?”

  “Everything possible and more,” Jason replied with a chuckle.

  “What do you mean by that?” the reporter asked with a curious smile.

  “I mean, I’ve learned that a lot of the things I thought of as impossible actually are not.”

  “Pretty intense training, huh?”

  “Oh yeah,” Jason assured her. “Definitely.”

  The reporter, who had taken the lead when they had all first thronged Jason, spoke up again. “We’ve learned that the Royal Gorge is actually closed to climbing at this time,” he said, directing his attention to Tyler. “How do you to plan to overcome that?”

  “I cross one bridge at a time,” Tyler replied calmly. “I’ll do the same with that one when we get to it.”

  “Fair enough,” the reporter said. “One more thing…”

  “No, that’s enough for me,” Tyler said. “Y’all ask Jason some more questions if you want, but I’m done.”

  “Naw, no more questions for me either,” Jason said as he followed the tall cowboy through the crowd of reporters and a few spectators that had gathered.

  “Well, I guess we’ll see them next week at the Tombstone,” Jason over heard the lady reporter from his first interview closing out her report.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Tyler said, casting a nervous look around at all the people staring.

  As they ascended the steps up to the tall porch where Susan, Rye, and Ken waited; Jason turned around and spotted Tomas on the other side of the crowd. Jason lifted his hand and gave the doctor a big wave. It was returned much less energetically.

  On their ride back to the ranch, Susan, Ken, and Rye sat in the backseat, leaving Jason and Tyler alone in the front. They rode along in silence for a while before Jason spoke something that had been weighing on his mind. “It may be none of my business,” he said then turned to the tall cowboy, “but for a reconverted Christian, you sure don’t forgive easy.”

  “What makes you say that?” Tyler asked, taking his eyes off the road long enough to give Jason a confused glance.

  “The way you treated Tomas,” Jason stated. “You don’t seem to have forgiven him for spooking that heifer.”

  “It’s not about forgiveness,” Tyler said calmly.
“The way I treated him has nothing to do with his stupidity. I just don’t trust him.”

  “You only met him once before today,” Jason pointed out.

  “That was more than enough,” Tyler said without a doubt. “He’s proud and arrogant, and a wannabe leader.”

  Unsure of how to respond to the accusations thrown at the doctor, Jason just remained silent and pondered over Tyler’s words during the rest of the ride home. He had a point. The doctor did seem to be proud and arrogant, always making a pathetic attempt at control. Jason thought back to the day when he’d first met Tomas. The doctor had spoken of control like it was everything. After today, Jason knew better. Control was nothing. It was only an illusion that caused men like Tomas to strive their entire lives in hopes of obtaining it… and still, they could do nothing but come up empty.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The old horse stood calmly, gently swishing its tail at the occasional pesky fly buzzing around. Tyler sat on its back without saddle or bridle, coiling up his rope after successfully looping it around the heels of the roping dummy placed several feet in front of his horse.

  Jason walked up beside the horse, giving it a pat on the rump. “Hey,” he spoke, coming to a stop at the horseman’s side, “what that reporter said about the Royal Gorge being closed to climbing… that true?”

  “Yep,” Tyler responded.

  “How long have you known?” Jason inquired, going a bit on the offensive.

  “Long time,” the tall cowboy responded. “I guess about the time they closed it – years ago. It’s a shame, you know. Got a lot of good routes. I have to admit though… the Tombstone was my favorite.”

  “If they won’t allow climbing, how am I going to?” Jason questioned… a lot of things, including Tyler’s sanity.

  “God will provide a way,” the tall cowboy assured him as he began to build a loop in his rope. “Plus, I’ve put in an application with Cañon City. They seem like a good bunch. Considering the cause, they should give us the sign off.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning?” Jason asked bluntly.

  Tyler paused from his task for a moment and looked down at Jason. “When you came to me, your wife had been kidnapped, and you showed that you were willing to give your own life to save hers. In light of that fact, I didn’t figure you’d need anybody’s permission,” the tall cowboy added, returning to his task of building a loop. “If you want it bad enough, you’ll do it.”

  “You sure seem certain,” Jason observed.

  Tyler shrugged. “Jesus said if you got enough faith, you can move a mountain. Some will spend their entire lives telling the mountain to move… others get a shovel.” With that, the tall cowboy began twirling the rope around his head. He let the loop fly, and it settled around the roping dummy’s head. Without pulling the slack, Tyler let it sit there for a moment as he spoke. “I guess what you need to decide is which you are – a teller or a doer?”

  “You got a shovel?” Jason asked with a smile.

  Tyler chuckled as he flipped the loop off the roping dummy’s head and began coiling up his rope once more.

  - - - - - -

  “You see that ninety degree angle?” Tyler asked, pointing towards one of the corners in the climbing pit. A small joint separated the cliffs in the corner, forming a crack big enough for a man to wedge his hand into. “That’s called a dihedral,” Tyler said. “And you climb it like this.”

  With that, Tyler approached the corner rock and began to climb. “You grab the crack with your hands, like so,” he instructed, “then place your feet on the other cliff and make your way up it a little at a time, pushing with your feet and pulling with your hands.” The tall cowboy worked his way to the top of the crack using that method then came back down doing the same thing in reverse.

  “Your turn,” he said, turning to Jason.

  “Okay,” Jason replied. “Give me a minute to drag the mattresses over.”

  “We’re through with them,” Tyler said bluntly. “If you fall and hurt yourself on this little cliff, it’ll be doing you a favor. It’ll mean you weren’t ready for the Tombstone.” Seeing the look of surprise come over Jason’s face, Tyler added, “At least you won’t be dead.”

  Jason’s heart began to race as he approached the dihedral. “Deep breaths,” the tall horseman instructed. “You get scared and hold your breath, you’ll run your body out of oxygen much faster.” Up until it was pointed out, Jason hadn’t realized he wasn’t breathing. He inhaled and exhaled deeply. “Good,” Tyler said. “Focus on your breathing. Always keep it in mind.”

  Jason felt the cold rock beneath his hands and the pressure beneath his feet as he began working his way up. “Good,” Tyler coached. “Keep it up.” Jason finally reached the summit and pulled himself up over the edge to safety, giving out a relieved sigh. “Good,” Tyler called out once more. “Do it again.”

  Jason popped his head back over the edge. “Again?” he asked in surprise.

  “Yes, again,” the tall horseman repeated like doing so caused him much displeasure. “I want you climbing all over these rocks before this is over.” And that is exactly what Jason did… climbed the cliffs – then climbed them again, over and over and over.

  - - - - - -

  The following day, as Jason was helping Tyler work horses in the round pen, a shiny new car turned down the driveway and headed towards the ranch.

  “Who you reckon that is?” Tyler asked thoughtfully, seemingly more to himself than to Jason.

  “Not sure,” Jason replied anyways.

  The vehicle came to a stop, and a man not much shorter that Tyler stepped from it and placed a cowboy hat on his head.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Tyler mumbled in an astonished tone before pushing open the little gate that led from the round pen, trotting his horse through. Jason followed on his mount, closing the gate behind him.

  “Dodd?” Tyler asked as he brought his horse to a stop beside the man. “What on earth brings you up to this part of the world?” With that, he stepped down and gave the man’s hand a hearty shake.

  “Not business,” the man assured him. “Just paying a friendly visit.”

  Jason came to a stop beside Tyler who turned to him and said, “This is Dodd. He’s a bona fide Texas Ranger… a captain – and a real good friend.”

  “Ain’t ‘cha supposed to have a badge or something?” a young voice asked before Jason and the ranger had a chance to exchange greetings. The three men turned to the boy who stood staring up at the intruder.

  “Well, young man,” the ranger said with a smile, “I’m a little out of my jurisdiction here, so I figured I should leave my badge in the car. I can show it to you though if you need it for verification purposes,” he added with a laugh.

  Ken’s eyes brightened. “I sure do, sir,” he exclaimed.

  “All right,” Ranger Dodd said, reaching into his car. He opened the glove box and fished something out. “Here it is,” he said, handing the badge to Ken.

  “Wow!” the boy exclaimed. “Wait until I tell Rebecca! I met a real Texas Ranger!”

  The three men chuckled as the boy handed the badge back before rushing off. “Well Tyler,” the old ranger said, “I’ve been hearing a lot about this guy, Jason Hathaway,” he said, pointing a friendly finger up in Jason’s direction. “Saw you two on TV, and when I realized you were his climbing coach, I had to come see if there was anything I could do to help.”

  “Much appreciated,” Tyler replied then thought for a moment. “Actually, there is,” he said with a nod. “I need one of those little ear things.” He paused for a moment, seeming to fully expect the ranger to know what he meant. “You know,” he went on, “when you have a secret mission, and you don’t want any of the bad guys to know you’re listening to an agent or somebody… you know, all that spy stuff.”

  “You mean an earpiece?” the ranger asked.

  Tyler tipped his hat back and stood perplexed for a moment. “I really have no idea
,” he confessed. “Sounds right.”

  “Yeah,” the ranger said with a laugh, “I can probably get you one of those.”

  “Can you make it two-way?” Tyler asked.

  “Sure,” Ranger Dodd replied. “It’ll require an induction neck loop, which can be concealed under a shirt but, yeah, it can be done. You can use it with either a two-way radio or cell phone.”

  “If I got Jason here hooked up with something like that, what would I need on my end to talk with him?” Tyler asked.

  “Well, it depends on what you rigged his end up to; if it was a two-way radio, all you’d need is another two-way radio, same with a cell phone,” the ranger answered. “Why all the covert operations questions, anyways?”

  “Part of the kidnappers’ demands was that Jason could make no practice runs. Plus, currently, there is no climbing allowed in the gorge. That being the case, I figured I could at least talk him up that big piece of rock. The secrecy is because I don’t know how the kidnappers would feel about that.”

  “Makes sense,” Ranger Dodd said. “One question though – if they’re not allowing climbing, how do you intend for your guy here to climb?” Yeah. Jason was still wondering the same thing.

  “I think they’ll change their minds,” Tyler assured the ranger. “If not, I may have to revert back to my old and less desirable methods.”

  “You might not get off so easy again,” the ranger warned.

  “Yeah, I still can’t believe they let me walk,” Tyler said somberly, “twice.”

  “Well,” Ranger Dodd responded, “sometimes, even in the eyes of the law, the end justifies the means.”

  “I thought you said we’d do it by faith,” Jason stated.

  “Oh, believe me,” the ranger said with a smile. “Tyler here isn’t lacking in the faith department. He believed when no one else did – saved that boy’s life, too. Where is Ryeson, anyways?”

  “He just goes by Rye now,” Tyler said. “He’s around here somewhere.”

  “So I assume the whole making you his legal guardian thing went through?” Ranger Dodd asked.