by Jon Cohen
I know, I know, thought Oriana frantically. The magic won’t happen if the gold is stolen. The gold has to be given. That’s the only way Harry will find his Amanda. The gold, given away in heaps and hurls.
“Heaps and hurls,” she cried. “Heaps and hurls.”
As she neared the quarry, the air turned putrid as dragon breath. Stu Giptner’s cigarette smoke. It lingered in the bushes and clung to the leaves. There they were, on the ground, cigarette butts, one after another, leading up to the lip of the quarry.
She pushed through the laurel and rhododendron at the edge of the quarry, lowered herself onto the precipice and hopped over to the big mound of broken stone. The curtain of vines had been yanked aside, the bees still hovering angrily.
Expecting to find the cave empty, Oriana burst into tears when she saw that the boxes were still there. He had found them, yes, and torn open a box, but he had not taken them! But he was coming back. That’s what the cigarette butts meant. He’d left a trail for himself. He would come back and take it all. That’s the way the story always went.
She had to move the gold. But there was so much of it she couldn’t possibly do it by herself.
“Harry, where are you?” she called out. “Mom. Mom!” She took out her phone, her hands shaking so terribly she could barely hold it.
In the forest behind her, a sound. Stu Giptner? He’d seen her. She thought he hadn’t, but he had. On the road, back at the bus, he didn’t turn and look at her, but when he drove away, did he glance in his rearview mirror and see her? As she ran into the forest, he must have pulled over. Followed her.
Oriana slowly turned and peered into the deep forest. He wasn’t there.
You know this forest, she reassured herself. You can hear things no one else can hear. Any disruption in the stillness. Any breeze, tremble of leaves, faint snap of a distant twig. No one is there.
When her phone suddenly throbbed, she jumped. Mom appeared on the screen. Oriana hit Answer. The phone went silent, call dropped. The bars were low, the signal terrible. The phone rang again.
“Oriana?” The crackling sound of her mother’s voice, faint and far away, as if from the North Pole.
“Mom, hurry!” Oriana said. “He found it! He’s found the gold!”
Gesturing wildly as she spoke, Oriana dropped her phone. Reaching for it, she lost her balance, tipped forward and began to fall into the quarry.
A pair of hands caught her from behind, snatched her out of the air and pulled her into a terrifying embrace.
34
She’d kept him in the ER as long as she possibly could. She was so focused on Harry, constantly assessing him for possible changes in his neuro status—slurred speech, distal tremors, sudden headache—she forgot the rest of the world existed. She didn’t tell him that Dr. Kroner had written his discharge orders an hour ago, or that her shift was over. All Amanda could think about was Harry, and all Harry could think about was Wolf.
Distracted, they’d forgotten something important.
Harry got a sudden look and sat bolt upright on the stretcher. Amanda had a moment of alarm.
“Oriana,” he said.
“Oh shit. Oriana,” Amanda said. The plan had been for Harry to pick her up at school. Amanda whipped the curtain aside and went to get her phone. During a shift, all ER staff were required to keep their phones in their lockers. She came back into Harry’s room, phone to her ear.
“She left two texts. She caught the bus home.”
Amanda felt terrible. When things go wrong, she thought, they go very wrong. No. Amanda clicked back into calm nurse mode. No, they don’t. There’s no pattern to anything, and panic gets you nowhere. Oriana is self-reliant. If she walks up the road from the bus stop and sees a bunch of people in front of the house, she’ll go into the woods.
“It’s time to go,” Harry said. “We need to go now.” He sat up on the side of the stretcher, winced and gingerly touched the bandage beneath his black-and-blue left eye. He looked like a prizefighter on the losing end of a fight.
Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder. “Wait, hold on. She’ll be fine.”
Amanda did her best to ignore her pounding heart. Cell reception in the mountains was a total crapshoot. Come on, Oriana, pick up, she thought. An eternity of twenty seconds. The call went through. “Oriana?” Amanda said into the phone.
Harry watched Amanda straining to hear her, pressing the phone hard against her ear, closing her eyes in concentration. And now it was Harry who was scared by the sudden expression on Amanda’s face.
“What. What is it?” he said.
Amanda tried to call her back, but Oriana’s phone wasn’t picking up.
Harry took hold of Amanda. She tried to speak, but her voice came out in a gulped whisper. “She said, ‘Hurry. He found it. He’s found the gold.’”
Five minutes later, they were in Amanda’s pickup truck. A reporter and a few others tried to follow her. She left them in the dust.
“It could mean a lot of things,” Harry said. Playing down his fear, working to give Amanda something. She veered onto Route 11. “She said he found the gold. Found. Past tense. Which means it’s already happened. He has it.”
Deep into her dread, Amanda barely heard Harry’s voice. She was doing eighty-five in a fifty-mile-per-hour zone. The road curved like a snake.
She shook her head violently at Harry’s words. “No. She said, ‘Hurry.’ It’s not over. It’s happening right now. Wolf is there, stealing the gold.”
Harry tried to wrap his head around this version of Wolf. The old Wolf would’ve come to find me, Harry thought. To manipulate and bully me, to get his share—whatever that meant in Wolf’s head. Wolf’s primary pleasure was also his primary need: control. Wolf, the screwed-up father figure. I give to you, I take from you, I own you.
“If he hurts—” Amanda said.
“Never,” Harry said. Wolf would never hurt her. The problem was Oriana.
Amanda was thinking the same thing. Oriana, the bold. Oriana, the fierce. She would try to stop Wolf, Amanda knew. Oriana, raised to be courageous. To go into the forest.
Amanda felt the dots connecting, the story unfolding. From the day Oriana first stood on her own two toddler feet, Amanda had set this terrible outcome into motion. You are invincible, child. Fear nothing. You are the bravest girl in all the Endless Mountains. Amanda saw her mistake so clearly. She was the foolish mother who had planted dangerous thoughts in a child’s head.
Tremble not. Cry not. Persevere against all obstacles. Climb the trees, walk the stone walls, play in the creek, go into the forest.
Stupidly, she had taught Oriana bravery.
Oriana would never allow Wolf to steal the grum’s gold. Harry’s gold. Dean’s gold. Amanda saw it all so clearly. Oriana leaping onto Wolf’s back. Wolf shrugging her off. Oriana falling to the bottom of the quarry.
“Harry,” she said. Terrified.
“I know,” he said.
Sitting beside Amanda, Harry saw it, too. Oriana falling, and he was to blame. With the lottery ticket, he had set everything into motion. The terrible symmetry. Beth in her red coat, Oriana in her red jacket. Accident and tragedy about to unfold yet again. Those he most wanted to protect, he harmed.
Harry could barely get the words out. “I did this. This is my fault.”
Amanda stared straight ahead. Shook her head. “No. I never taught her fear. She thinks she can do anything. And now she will.”
For a long time, neither spoke.
“Drive faster,” Harry said.
* * *
“Drive faster,” Wolf said.
Stu was behind the wheel of the Dodge Durango. It was only fifteen minutes from the office to the old quarry road. No need to get crazy with the speed. Especially since this was Mr. Bromler’s car.
Wolf lit a cigarette. “If you don’t drive faster,
I’m going to shoot you,” he said.
Stu barked out a terrified laugh. An eruption of sweat made his bee stings burn and his poison ivy boil.
“Jesus, pal, just kidding,” Wolf said. “So, what are you going to do with your share?”
My share. He said, my share. Stu smiled through his sweat. He’s my partner. My first partner.
“Maybe I’ll buy a Dodge Durango,” Stu blurted, as he turned onto the old quarry road. The SUV bouncing so hard on the rocky ruts Stu’s teeth rattled in his head. But God, could this AWD baby handle it.
“Why would you buy another one?” Wolf said.
“What?”
“You just stole this one.”
“No, I—”
“Borrowed?” Wolf stubbed his cigarette out on the dashboard.
Stu’s eyes bugged as a wisp of black smoke curled up from the burn hole in the faux leather.
“I’m not a car thief.”
“No, you’re a gold thief.”
“Yes. No! Santa’s handing it out.”
“To you? To me? I don’t think so.”
Stu thought, Everything’s happening so fast. I was just here at the quarry finding the gold. And it felt so good. Then I was just in Mr. Bromler’s office sitting in his big chair. And that felt good. Then this terrible gorilla appears and I don’t feel good.
“It doesn’t need to be fifty-fifty,” Stu said. Or thought he said. Was he speaking out loud? So close to the gold. And it didn’t feel wonderful. It felt horribly dangerous. I’m out of my element, he thought. How do I get back in my element?
They came to the end of the quarry road. Stu cut the engine. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath.
“Stop panting and get out of the car, Stu,” came Wolf’s voice. Stu obeyed.
Wolf stood beside the SUV. The forest, he thought. All the fucking trees. Harry’s trees.
You tricked me, Harry. You tried to cut me out. You’re just like Dad. All quiet, then suddenly you make your move.
Wolf had a sudden urge to smash something. He turned and looked at Stu.
Stu stepped back from him.
“I want to apologize in advance,” Wolf said. “In case something untoward happens.”
“Untoward?”
“Unpleasant. Unfriendly. Unkind. I have rage and abandonment issues,” Wolf said. “But mostly rage.”
Stu went white.
“Lucky for you, I also have money issues,” Wolf said.
On the way up from Virginia, Wolf had bought two very large duffel bags. Stu carried them. When they were stuffed with gold, Wolf would carry them. Stu would not be joining him.
“We’re close,” Stu said. “See how I left a trail?”
Wolf looked at the cigarette butts in the leaves. “Aren’t you clever,” he said.
They stood on the quarry perimeter. Stu stood to Wolf’s side because he sure as heck wasn’t going to let Wolf stand behind him.
“Where is it?” Wolf said.
Stu pointed down. “There’s a little opening. Hard to see.”
Wolf looked. There were giant mounds of broken bluestone all over the quarry. The cave was just below them, tucked into the largest mound, which was shouldered up against the quarry wall.
Stu went first, guiding them onto a ledge. From there, they hopped over to the mound.
Stu stared. “Where...are the bees?”
“What?”
“There should be bees. In the log. Above the entrance.”
But there was no log above the entrance. Stu looked down and saw it smashed on the quarry floor, fifty feet below, the bees in a black swarm of agitation.
“No, no,” Stu said.
“Stu?” Wolf said. So close, he breathed in Stu’s ear.
“No. No, no,” Stu said again, his voice a quavering whisper. They shouldn’t be able to see into the cave. The curtain of poison ivy and Virginia creeper vines had been pinned back and held in place by a large rock. A beam of late-afternoon sun lit up the cave. The empty cave. And stuck on a branch dangling at the entrance was a note.
“It’s all gone,” Stu whimpered. “It all...went away.”
Wolf pushed Stu aside and reached for the note. Read it aloud. “‘The last of the gold has been delivered. Ho, ho, ho, Susquehanna Santa.’”
Wolf glared at the note. Glared at the cave. Sounds growled up from his throat. And then slowly, tooth by bared tooth, he grinned.
Stu squirmed past Wolf, leaped to the rim of the quarry and ran for his life. It’s what he’d wanted to do from the moment Wolf had showed up in the office. Run. Forget the gold. Forget his job. Forget the Endless Mountains. He would run and run and never stop.
But Stu’s legs were no longer moving him forward.
Suddenly he was upside down and swinging back and forth like a pendulum.
Wolf had caught him. He held Stu by the ankles and walked him to the edge of the quarry.
Stu watched his sweat drop through the afternoon light. Like diamonds falling.
“Stu, can you hear me?”
Very clearly. But he didn’t answer. He was watching the diamonds fall.
“Stu?”
In the distance, the sound of car doors slamming. Feet running through the forest. Harry, thought Wolf. Good, let it be Harry. Because this is for him.
“He doesn’t have the gold,” said a voice from above. “So you should put him down.”
Wolf turned his head and looked up. A young girl was sitting on a low branch of a sycamore.
“Who the hell are you?” Wolf said.
“Oriana!” a woman’s voice called. Now Wolf looked in the direction of the pine grove. Amanda came tearing into view, followed by Harry.
They saw Wolf at the quarry’s edge, dangling Stu over the void.
Harry gripped Amanda, who had stumbled to her knees in fear. She didn’t see Oriana. Had Wolf—?
“Mom! Up here.” Oriana waved from the sycamore tree.
Amanda’s hand went to her mouth. Harry helped her up. They advanced slowly, Harry out in front now.
Wolf taking it in. Harry with his patched up cheek. The woman at his side. The girl climbing down from the tree.
“Wolf. Put him down,” Harry said.
Wolf looked at his little brother. “Okay.” He dropped his arms a few sudden inches, as if he was going to let Stu fall into the quarry.
Stu cried out.
Wolf looked his brother over. Harry had...changed. It was radiating off him. “Congratulations, Harry, you finally grew a pair. I don’t know how you pulled this off, but you did it.”
Did what? Harry thought.
Oriana ran to his side and took his hand. Squeezed it hard. “You should’ve seen them when the gold was gone and they found the note!”
Harry looked at her. Note? Gold is gone?
She looked at him, squeezing his hand hard enough to break bones. Trust me.
“Thought my head would explode.” Wolf laughed. “Love the ‘Ho, ho, ho.’ Perfect. When you nail somebody, you really nail them. You learned that from your big brother. Finally.”
“Hello up there,” Stu called weakly, from upside down. “So, I didn’t take it.”
“Nah,” Wolf looked down at Stu, giving him a shake. “You did something much worse.” Wolf swung Stu hard, as if to send him flying into the quarry, then twirled him like a baton and stood him upright.
Stu so frightened, he didn’t make a sound. Wolf held him from behind, so they were both facing Harry. “Much, much worse. You hit my little brother.”
Harry looked at Stu, and saw every terrified high school kid Wolf had ever tormented.
“Harry and I. We’re a team,” Wolf said, tightening his grip on Stu.
Harry stepped forward.
Wolf smiled. “Here he comes, Stu. My new
Harry. All bulked up from living in the forest. He’s a wild man, Stu. I sure wouldn’t want to be you.”
Harry stopped in front of Stu, who was mouth breathing as he stared at the bandage on Harry’s cheek, his black eye. He had no idea he’d hit Harry so hard. Wolf twisted his arms so tightly, Stu could feel them starting to come out of their sockets.
Stu braced himself for the imminent blow. He knew it was going to be bad. After all, Harry was Wolf’s brother. Fatally, Stu had provoked not just one wolf, but two.
Harry sized up Stu, leaning in close to look at his face.
“Wolf, you don’t need to hold him,” Harry said. “I got this.”
Wolf, loving it, released Stu.
Stu watched as Harry raised his hand. Oh no, Stu thought.
“You have a lot of bee stings,” Harry said.
And the hand Stu thought was going to harm him, came to rest on Stu’s shoulder. Gently.
Wolf’s smile became uncertain.
“I bet they really hurt,” Harry said.
Stu raised his bleary eyes to meet Harry’s. “What?”
“I bet those bee stings hurt.”
Harry turned and looked back at Amanda. “Do you have calamine lotion back at the house?” he called to her.
Amanda nodded. “And Benadryl. We’ll get him fixed up.”
“Harry,” Wolf said.
Harry ignored him. Began to draw Stu forward. “Amanda will take care of you.”
Amanda will take care of you. Stu looked at Amanda, right there before him, in her scrubs, in the forest, a vision. He wasn’t going to be eaten by wolves? And Amanda Jeffers, nurse angel, was going to tend to his wounds?
Stu said, pausing to raise a pant leg, “I also have poison ivy.”
“That looks painful,” Amanda said. She took Stu’s arm.
“And gross,” Oriana said. But she took Stu’s other arm. Harry, Oriana and Amanda, propping up Stu, began to walk away.
“Harry, what are you doing?” Wolf called.
Harry didn’t reply.
Wolf’s voice louder now. “You were in over your head. I came here to protect you.”
Harry strode back to him. “You came here to steal the gold.”
Wolf pointed toward Stu. “Wrong—your little friend was going to steal it. He didn’t expect old Wolfy to show up. I was going to hand that gold to you, Harry.”
