For what seemed like a long time, they fought the rough terrain, climbing over fallen trees and rocky stretches, losing and catching their footing several times. At one point Paige slipped, sliding a good two feet off the side of the trail. Standing back up, she brushed the dirt off and moved forward, ignoring another offer from Jake to turn back.
Paige felt confident she was proceeding forward on track, but as they reached the ledge she became disoriented. The view to the valley matched what she remembered, but the ledge itself barely resembled the one she had stood on before. Not nearly as wide, it was covered with piles of fallen rocks, leaving little flat area on which to stand. The surface was covered with thick brush and the edge seemed to drop off more sharply than before. It was also much shorter, ending in a massive stack of rock and brush only a few feet from where they stood.
“This has to keep going,” Paige said, pointing in the direction of the tall stack of rocks. She walked over to the pile and attempted to look over the top. Taking a step up, her foot just slid back down, bringing a few rocks tumbling down.
“Paige, this is too dangerous,” Jake said, looking over the ledge at the sharp drop. “Those rocks are not secure. It’s too risky to continue.” He paused before adding, “And we’re not even sure there’s anything here.”
Paige turned sharply to face Jake. Before she even spoke, he knew his arguments weren’t going to convince her to turn back.
“This is where it is, Jake! This is what you’ve been looking for all these years! How can you turn away from it now?”
Paige pivoted around to face the rocks again and began brushing some away, leaving only the largest, sturdiest ones in place. Eventually, a clearing opened up and she climbed forward, where she looked over the remaining pile of rocks to find a narrow section of the ledge that continued on. Jake steadied her as she crossed over the rock pile and dropped down on the other side. He was just seconds behind her.
The ledge grew increasingly narrow, its edge dropping off sharply and showing signs of heavy erosion. Turning sideways to continue, Paige and Jake inched their way along the rock wall, feeling relief when they reached a wider section just before it ended abruptly. Paige turned to face the steep rock wall, searching the surface for any cracks or crevices.
“What is it?” Jake asked, watching her confused expression.
“I don’t understand,” Paige said. “There should be a cave here, but there’s nothing.” She continued to inspect the area, but found no trace of any opening. Discouraged, she sat down against the wall and looked out over the valley. It seemed impossible that she could remember the way here and yet be wrong about the end of the trail.
Deep in thought, she didn’t hear Jake start to speak, but as the sound of his voice registered, she turned towards him.
“What did you say?” she asked quickly, “Just a minute ago?”
“Earthquakes,” Jake repeated. “There’ve been plenty of earthquakes in this area over the years. I don’t know where you got the idea there was a cave here, but if it’s something you found in your research of the area’s history, it may have gotten covered by shifting rocks during earthquake activity.”
“That could explain changes in the cliff,” Paige thought out loud, looking around her. With a sinking feeling, she realized the cave might not exist at all anymore. There would be no way to reach the gold if nothing but solid rock surrounded it now.
She stood quickly and turned toward the rocky surface, kneeling down to inspect the area where the cliff met the ledge. Brushing aside dirt with her hands, she began digging faster. Jake, following her lead, started digging a few feet away.
The ground was packed solidly against the rock, but slowly began to break off into small clods of dirt. Using loose rocks as picks, Paige and Jake smashed the sharp edges against the wall, breaking off more of the dirt and releasing larger rocks from the packed terrain. Hours passed and the muscles in their arms ached from repetitive use. Yet only small sections of the wall fell forward.
“It’s no use, Paige,” Jake said, setting the sharp rock he’d been using down on the ledge and urging her to do the same.
Paige, exhausted and discouraged, didn’t respond, though she was starting to fear that Jake might be right.
She lifted her arm high yet again and let the rock crash sharply against the wall with full force. One last time she repeated the motion, at which point the rocky surface suddenly budged inward, rather than tumbling forward onto the ledge like before. Paige stared at the wall and then shouted over her shoulder to Jake.
“It’s here!” she yelled, repeatedly striking the area that had given in. With a few more blows, the dirt against the rock also crumbled inward, leaving a small hole in its place. Jake moved over by Paige and wedged the rock he was holding into the hole. With a little force, additional rock also dislodged and fell inward. One section at a time, they worked furiously together as more pieces of the wall fell away, leaving a growing opening into a dark space within the rocky cliff. Finally, they determined the opening was wide enough for them to fit through, one at a time.
With Jake adamant about leading, Paige followed behind until they were both crouched down inside the darkness. As opposed to the changes on the outside, the interior of the cave looked much the same. Heading quickly to the back of the cave and then into the side extension, Paige located the small inner cavern, kicked a clutter of rocks out of the way and threw herself flat against the ground. Sliding her arm into the opening and easing her body up against the wall, she reached in as far as she could, but felt nothing with her fingers. Trying to push herself closer to the wall, she stretched until it seemed her shoulder would pop out of its socket. Still she felt nothing. Even the back wall was out of reach.
“My arm’s not long enough,” Paige said. “You’re going to have to do this.” She backed away from the wall, sitting up and moving aside to allow Jake room to approach the opening.
Sliding down on the floor, Jake repeated the same motions Paige had made, pushing his shoulder up against the wall and feeling the interior of the cavern with his hand.
“Do you feel the back wall?” Paige asked anxiously.
Jake grunted a little as he moved around on the ground. “I feel the back wall with my fingers, but there’s nothing there.”
“Keep trying,” Paige urged. “Search the sides.”
“Nothing,” Jake said, stopping for a minute to catch his breath.
“Try again,” Paige insisted, closing her eyes and praying they hadn’t gone to such extreme effort in vain. She watched as Jake resumed the stretch with his arm, feeling around for another thirty seconds or so until he let out a sharp gasp.
“I’ve got something,” he shouted, pushing his body even flatter against the wall and struggling to dislodge the rough item his fingers had grasped. It took numerous attempts before he finally eased away from the wall, pulling a dusty sack out, clods of embedded dirt falling away from it as he dragged it to the middle of the cave’s floor.
Together they stared at the crusty object in silence, Paige out of gratitude that she had not been mistaken in dragging Jake up the cliff and Jake out of sheer disbelief. Finally Paige looked up and spoke.
“You open it, Jake,” she said quietly. “It’s yours. You should be the one to open it.”
Jake glanced up at Paige briefly, a look of nervous anticipation in his eyes.
Slowly, he reached for the sack and tugged on the lumpy knot tying it closed. Decay on the rope’s fibers made it impossible to untie them, so he pulled out a Swiss army knife from his pocket and sliced his way through the stubborn strands until they fell away. Pausing only to take a deep breath, he held the sack up at an angle and let the contents spill out on the cave’s floor.
There was only the slightest light flowing in through the small opening of the cave, but it was enough to see the sparkle of the nuggets that fell on the ground. Jake stared at the pile of gold, unable to speak. Paige watched him silently, wondering what it must fe
el like for him to reach the goal he had dreamed of most of his life.
“Now what,” Jake finally said, sounding lost in the echo of the cave.
“That’s up to you, Jake,” Paige said quietly. “This is your family’s legend and history. Only you can decide what to do with it.” Leaving Jake to think, she returned to the cave’s entrance and climbed through the opening. She brushed aside some of the rocks they had dislodged earlier and sat down on the ledge, looking out over the valley.
Jake remained in the cave for some time and then emerged to sit beside Paige.
“Look at this valley,” Jake sighed. “It’s a treasure in itself, gold or no gold.”
“I can’t disagree,” Paige responded, looking across the rolling buttes and over to the Tetons before bringing her eyes to the closer section of valley below.
“That’s Kelly, isn’t it?” Paige asked, looking at the small buildings from above. “And the Gros Ventre River, running next to it?”
“You’re getting to know the area,” Jake said in agreement, reaching out with his arm to point towards the town. “Just think, Great-Grandpa Norris and his back-stabbing partner both lived within view of this mountain.”
“And now so do you,” Paige added.
Jake nodded his head. “You know, I bought that old ranch because it would put me in the same area they lived in, thinking that would help me find the gold. But all this time, I was looking in the wrong direction, west to the Tetons.”
Jake leaned back on his arms and sighed. In all the time he had invested, searching for the gold, he’d never once considered the east side of the valley.
“You know, that area was called the ‘Bridge’ by settlers back in the early 1900’s,” Paige pointed out, remembering information she’d found through the National Park Service.
“Really,” Jake responded, clearly surprised.
“Yes, really,” Paige answered. “Early homesteaders built a timber bridge across the river. There was quite a town there before that flood wiped it out. Mercantile, hotel, dance hall, sawmill, feed supply and livery barn, etc.”
“So, then…” Jake said, tumbling images around in his head, “those marks at the bottom of Frank’s map… the ones I thought might be a ladder…”
“…were a bridge,” Paige finished the sentence for him.
“And the round smudge that I thought covered something else…” Jake continued.
“…was a cave,” Paige filled in again.
Silence settled in, replacing conversation. Paige felt exhaustion creeping into her bones and Jake’s thoughts tumbled wildly within the realization that the long-awaited dream had become reality. Finally Jake spoke up.
“We have to leave it,” he said quietly, so quietly that Paige was almost sure she had misunderstood him.
Seeing the stunned expression on Paige’s face, he spoke up again, this time loud enough that there was no question what he was saying.
“I can’t take it, Paige,” Jake said. “This is the legend that has been passed down to me through my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father. It’s meant to be passed down again. I have to leave it.”
Paige sat still, trying to take in Jake’s words and reasoning. It seemed crazy to have gone to such lengths to find the gold he had dreamed about his whole life, only to leave it behind. But it was the legend that had kept him going, not the gold itself. Maybe it was the legend that would keep others going in the future. As crazy as it seemed, she could half-way understand his twisted reasoning. Besides, it wasn’t her decision to make.
Jake climbed back into the cave, while Paige remained outside, her back resting against the cliff wall. This was something he needed to do on his own.
She looked across the valley at the Grand Tetons, feeling the strong sense of area history and the relativity of time as she had come to know it. She compared her own journey to the history Jackson Hole’s towering peaks had seen long before. It all amounted to a split second, the passage of time. Even the century of change she had witnessed was nothing compared to the open expanse of the future.
Jake returned to the ledge and Paige stood to help him. Slowly, they worked to rebuild the surface of the cliff, stuffing dirt and twigs between rocks to hold them firmly in place. Layer upon layer, they built multiple barriers to separate the cave from the outer ledge. Gathering dirt clods and brush, they scattered these against the outside section that hid the cave’s entrance until the surface blended with the rock wall itself.
Moving back along the ledge, they reached the tall rock pile that they had broken down before, crossed to the other side and built that up, as well. With the surrounding rocks and brush stacked high, the ledge behind was well hidden.
Carefully, they retraced their steps down the mountainside, finally reaching Jake’s truck and heading back to town in silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Paige stepped through the front door of The Blue Sky Café and took her place in line. The wait had grown shorter, even in just the few days that she and Jake had avoided the place. The tourist season continued to slip further into the past.
She eyed the baked goods with approval. All her favorites were there: raspberry-orange muffins, maple-pecan scones and zucchini-cinnamon bread. The chalkboard announced lunch specials for the day: Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup, Greek Salad with Kalamata Olives and Feta Cheese and a Grilled Chicken Panini, served with sliced avocado and fresh cantaloupe.
“Well, look who’s here,” Maddie said - a little too cheerfully, it seemed - as Paige approached the counter. “I thought you must’ve gone back to New York. Haven’t seen you in here the last few days.” Turning away briefly, Maddie waved to a local who was heading out the door after adding cream and sugar to his coffee.
Not crediting herself with the same acting ability as Maddie obviously had, Paige kept things simple.
“You’re pretty much right on both counts,” Paige said lightly. “I’m headed back to New York in just a few days. And I haven’t been in because I had to finish up an article and get it sent back there by today.” Paige pointed to one of the raspberry-orange muffins in the case, which Maddie grabbed with a square of wax paper.
“Coffee? Latte?” Maddie offered, holding up an empty mug as a question mark.
“Why not,” Paige said, slipping into the conspicuously empty counter seat where Old Man Thompson usually sat. “Coffee will be fine.”
“So how did that go?” Maddie asked lightly. “Your article, I mean.”
Paige shook her head and let out what she hoped sounded like a sufficiently discouraged sigh.
“Not as well as I hoped it would,” Paige said as she reached for the coffee mug. “I thought I was onto something really interesting, but it turned out to be a false lead.” She blew a puff of air across the top of the mug to cool the surface of the coffee. Without looking up, she knew she had Maddie’s full attention.
“What I mean is,” Paige continued casually, “Jackson Hole is such an amazing area. There’re all sorts of things to write about - outdoor activities, the tourism industry, the wildlife and conservation efforts, etc. But I was convinced I’d stumbled into a whole realm of hidden history. It would have made for an outstanding exclusive, the sort of thing that could really help my career.”
“And instead?” Maddie prodded, wiping down a countertop near Paige’s seat.
“Instead, I just ended up with a basic article about the area.” Paige repeated her earlier sigh for good measure. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added quickly, feigning an apologetic tone. “You have a beautiful valley here and a rich history. Our readers will be interested. It’s just personally…” She let her voice trail off. “Well, I guess I was just hoping there was more. I thought…”
“You thought...?” Maddie pushed her for more information, exactly as Paige hoped she would.
Paige set her coffee mug down and leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“OK, I know this will sound crazy, but I thought…”
she paused and glanced around, as if checking to make sure the café was empty, before turning back to Maddie. “I thought I had found out about some gold that was hidden in the hills a long time ago.”
“Well!” Maddie exclaimed, causing Paige to jump, in spite of having anticipated the reaction. “Well,” Maddie repeated more calmly, obviously pulling herself together. “That would have made quite a good story, I’m sure.”
Paige shook her head, appearing exasperated with herself.
“It sure would have. Imagine if I’d pulled a story like that together.” Paige was actually starting to feel self-pity, she sounded so convincing. She wisely stifled a sudden impulse to laugh.
Maddie walked around the end of the counter and picked up two empty mugs that customers had left on a table. Setting them in a bus tray, she casually asked, “What even gave you the idea of this crazy story? It sounds pretty far-fetched.” Paige had to admit she admired Maddie’s determination to pry more information out of her.
“Sheesh, this will sound even more clueless on my part, but I kind of got swept up in this by a guy I met here.”
“Really!” Maddie rolled her eyes in girl-to-girl sympathy.
“Yes, really,” Paige confessed. “And it turns out the guy was just gullible, believing some story he’d heard from his uncle…no, wait, maybe his grandfather. I don’t know - someone in his family. Anyway, even he realizes now it was just some sort of tall tale.”
Paige stood up, fumbled around in her purse and pulled out several dollars, causing crumpled receipts, lip gloss and numerous other items to fall out of the over-stuffed handbag.
“Always the same problem,” Paige laughed as she bent over to retrieve the wayward contents. “I never seem to learn that a purse can’t hold a suitcase worth of stuff.”
“You’re not the only one,” Maddie agreed. “Doesn’t matter what size the purse is, either. It’s never big enough for everything.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Paige replied lightly. She gathered up her belongings quickly, tossed the purse strap over her shoulder and left the money next to her empty mug. Dropping the untouched muffin in a small bag, she shrugged her shoulders as a final statement.
Paige MacKenzie Mysteries Box Set Page 19
