They were talking and pointing as a herd of elk snorted and plowed their way through the thin ice, trying to get away from the intruding lights. Something had disturbed them. The animals ran noisily up the hill. The men initially followed the elk with their guns, but then they started talking, one of them laughed, and they all climbed back into the jeep. The engine roared to life, and they moved the jeep forward.
Cameron knew they had to have seen him running down the road or at least diving into the stream. Thank God for the near-blizzard conditions and the elk. No matter what the soldiers thought they’d seen, the elk’s presence must have satisfied their investigation. The jeep drove all the way to the corner of Old Fall River Road and then turned onto the highway towards Estes Park. Danny and Cameron rose from the water and trudged upstream, ascending as quickly as possible back to the cave.
Blake and I had watched as Danny and Cameron raced frantically down the road below us and launched themselves off the road into the stream. The fourth jeep closed quickly on them, then slowed and pulled to a stop above their location. We counted four soldiers get out with flashlights and thought for sure that was going to be a problem. One of the soldiers seemed to be no more than a few feet from where the boys were hiding. He had his gun out and was looking around below him. Then Blake tapped me and said, “There’s elk sleeping down there by the river.”
“Seriously?” I asked, scanning for them. Sure enough. About twenty yards from the boys.
“Ryan, do I do something?”
“Like?” I was unsure what he was asking.
He didn’t answer. He tightened the silencer on the front of the rifle, made sure there was a bullet in the chamber, and cocked it. He squeezed off a shot that whispered off the ledge and hit one of the elk in the rear end. The elk roared and started thrashing about in the water. His sudden lurch and ensuing cry caused the others to start snorting and stampeding up the hill. I watched the startled soldiers through my scope as they gathered on the bridge and aimed their guns and lights at the elk. Then they started talking to each other, one of them laughed, and they climbed back into the jeep. They started it up and drove off, following the others towards Estes Park. Man, that was close.
“Good work.” I clapped Blake on the shoulder. I would have never thought of that. I was certain Danny and Cameron could hear my heart beating from below us.
We watched them climb through the stream and up around the falls before disappearing around the corner. Blake and I slid back into the cave and had the lights off and front panel removed, waiting for them when they arrived. They changed out of their soaking clothes, and we covered them with blankets. They were freezing but otherwise fine.
“What in the world happened?” Dad asked, coming out into the main room with us. Tara and Hayley were right behind him.
“No clue,” Danny replied through chattering teeth. “We were going to ask you the same thing. Were any of you watching?”
Blake and I nodded. “Something happened at the camp,” Blake said. “You guys couldn’t have been gone a half hour when it all went crazy down there.”
Cameron nodded. “Tell me about it.”
“Any idea?” I asked. I could tell Tara and Hayley wanted to know about the little girl, but none of us had seen anything to help with that.
Danny shook his head. “Didn’t see the girl. We didn’t even make it halfway there. Sorry,” he added apologetically. Tara nodded. “I thought for sure we were dead,” Danny continued.
“Thank God for those elk,” Cameron agreed. “Did you guys know they were there?” He looked at me, and I looked at Blake.
“That was pretty lucky,” Blake replied, looking back at me, refusing to acknowledge how he’d helped them and clearly not wanting me to either. Classy move. I could tell Tara was disappointed. But I could also tell she was glad they’d made it back.
She gave Danny a hug. “Thanks, Danny.” Then she hugged Cameron.
“Don’t say anything to the girl,” Danny urged Tara and Hayley, thumbing towards where she was sleeping. “We don’t know anything more about Abbey than we did before.”
“Got it,” Tara responded.
“We’ll see what we can find out later today,” he added. “There’s nothing else we can do right now.”
Tara asked me to sleep beside her that night, for the first time. I had figured that’d be the last thing she’d want. But as I lay down next to her, she pulled my arm around her chest and backed her warm body into mine. She just wanted to be held. I certainly wasn’t going to object.
FORTY-NINE: “Vail, Colorado”
We didn’t see a single sign of the jeeps all day. About midmorning a helicopter flew down to Estes Park from the summit of Trail Ridge Road, and we saw it fly back that evening. We received about two feet of snow throughout the day, and the roads were completely shut. Since nothing was going on outside, we let Danny and Cameron sleep as long as they could. Blake and I even stole a few extra hours.
Tara came in to check on me around 5 p.m. and she whispered in my ear, “You doing all right?” Her long hair tickled my neck.
I smiled and nodded. “Just thinking.”
“About?” she asked.
“A certain kiss,” I offered.
“You mean…this one?” She leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.
Yeah, that one. “I’m not sure,” I whispered back, and she elbowed me.
“Ha ha.” She shook her head. “Even half asleep you’re hysterical.”
“Come on. How could I possibly forget that? It was amazing. You’re amazing!”
“Thank you,” she replied in her soft almost shy voice.
“Of course.” I smiled.
“For last night too,” she added. “Thanks for holding me.”
Are you kidding? Thank you! “Uhh—”
She interrupted my acknowledgement. “Hey, we know what the girl’s name is.”
“Really?” I sat up.
“It’s Vail,” Tara said before I could ask.
Of course it was. “Vail from—”
“Michigan,” she answered before I could say “Colorado.” “She’s actually shared quite a bit today. She’s scared and obviously traumatized but seems to remember everything—good and bad.”
“Okay,” was pretty much all I could come up with.
“She and her sister were with their parents when the chemical bomb went off downtown,” Tara began.
“There was one here too?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes. Her dad was a state trooper in Michigan. They were on their way to Vail and had stopped in Estes Park to see her grandparents, who had a home up behind the chapel at Saint Malo, near Twin Sisters. Kate said you’d know where that is.” I did. “Anyway, somehow her dad found out about the chemical bombs from his radio and sealed off their cabin as best he could. Her mom had been in Estes Park shopping with her grandmother when the bomb, or bombs, went off. They both died. But Vail, Abbey, her dad and grandfather survived and were fortunate there was no second wave of bombs here. They were fine until the soldiers came through and burnt the church below her grandparents’ cabin. Her dad moved them way up into the forest, but the soldiers followed the road up to the cabin and burnt it down too. So there was nowhere for them to go back to.”