Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (53 page)

"Yah, but that takes time and things aren't
so flush right now, you know what I mean."

"I sure do," Fae said. "You be ready with a
key and I'll make sure Mike Thompson won't bust the door."

"'Preciate that, then."

Fae hung up and called the sheriff and let
him know what she found.

"I'm on my way to your office," she told him.
"How soon can you be ready."

"We'll be set when you get here," Thompson
told her.

"All right, then," Fae said. "On my way."

She grabbed her BCA windbreaker and a
sweatshirt and drove back up to Ruby Cove.

A few minutes later, she was hanging on to
the chicken bar in Thompson's patrol car as he roared up the
highway towards Hjalmar Falls.

Starr was going through her slides when her
mother came in the room. She looked up and knew immediately that
the news was not good.

Her mother stood in the door and stared at
her for a long time, then rubbed her temples as if she had a really
bad headache.

"I'm at the end of my rope and I can't do
this any more. I've arranged for you to be on the first bus
tomorrow. You're going to stay with your grandparents." She lifted
her hand as Starr began to protest. " I don't want to hear another
word from you about it. I've made up my mind. I told them that it's
about time your father remembered his responsibilities, so if they
don't want you for the next six years, they should talk to him.
Pack one suitcase to take with you. I'll ship everything else."

"You can't!" Starr felt tears welling in her
eyes. "It's not fair."

"Life's not fair, missy. It's about time you
learned that." Her mother turned away and then stopped without
looking back. "Start packing. We'll be leaving right after
breakfast. Oh, and don't even think about sneaking out again
tonight. I know darn well you did, so I'll be keeping an eye on
you."

Then she walked back down the hallway to the
kitchen.

Starr stared at her slides, wondering if
she'd ever have a chance to shoot the Devil's Cauldron again or if
she'd ever see Charlie again.

She put her head down on her arms and
cried.

Fowler reached into the back seat of the SUV
and brought out his makeup kit from the theatre and quickly
attached the false beard and mustache. He slicked his hair back and
put on a ball cap decorated with camouflage and fishing lures. He
pulled a camouflage vest over his flannel shirt and tucked the
makeup kit back under the rear passenger seat.

Then he got back in the SUV and drove
carefully up the highway through Ruby Cove before turning onto the
side highway heading inland.

He snorted when he saw the sign for Hjalmar
Falls. The sign boasted a population of 83 people. He figured it
was more likely three people and 80 broken down pickup trucks from
what he'd seen.

The crappy roadhouse he'd had coffee in
earlier was now blinking "Live Music Live!!!" in garish red and
blue neon. He pulled over next to the parking area, blinked the
lights and waited. If the coffee he'd had at the roadhouse earlier
was any indication of anything, he shuddered to think what their
idea of live music was.

A few minutes later, Viv slid into the
passenger seat. She gave him a startled look, then giggled.
"Cute."

"Very funny."

Fowler drove slowly back down the road past
the motel they had taken earlier. "Any problems?"

"Nope. We're all set."

"Great."

"Everything go all right?"

"For once," he said.

He slowed further when he saw pulsing red
lights reflected on the trees up ahead and flipped off his brights.
Just in time, as the lights became a line of howling patrol cars
zooming up the road past him towards Hjalmar Falls.

He looked over at Viv. "Guess we timed that
just about right, wouldn't you say?"

"A little close, if you ask me."

He grinned. "That should buy us some
time."

Fae stared at the empty room with disgust.
"Damn. I
knew
that bastard had another vehicle."

Thompson just shook his head. "Well, it was a
good try, anyway. Do you think they knew we were coming?"

Fae shook her head. "Who knows. They might
have set this up as a dummy just in case. Maybe they just went to
dinner and are coming back later. It's not likely they'd be eating
there," she said, pointing to the roadhouse with it's honky tonk
look.

"I'll leave someone to watch just in case,"
Thompson said. Then he spat in the dirt. "Dammit."

Fae nodded. Bailey had been right. Fowler
really did have the luck of the devil.

When Charlie woke up, she couldn't figure out
why everything hurt. Her head hurt, her arms hurt and she felt as
if she was sleeping on rocks.

Then she realized her arms were tied and she
wasn't at home in her bed. She turned her head and saw the river
running past her head.

Charlie rolled over to her side and managed
to sit up. Looking around, she realized she was in the Enchantment
River under the bridge. No one would see her down here and it was
unlikely anyone would be hiking up here at night.

She thought about the thunderstorm that was
on the way and knew that if she was still here when it hit, she'd
be washed away when the river rose. When it rained hard enough,
there were flash floods. If that happened, she'd be swept right
into the Devil's Cauldron.

Charlie ignored the damp as she worked on the
ropes around her wrists. Fortunately he hadn't tied them real tight
and she finally managed to slip one hand out and then that part of
the rope fell to the ground.

Then she went to work on the ropes around her
body. That was much harder, even with her hands free. The moon was
on the other side of the sky by the time she struggled free of the
rope.

Charlie was weary down to the bone and felt
like curling up and getting a little sleep before trying to climb
out. She knelt as close to the water as she could and put her hands
in. It was ice cold. She splashed a some on her face and the shock
helped wake her up.

The moon wasn't going to be up for very much
longer. It was already close to the tree tops and she hoped it
would last long enough to help her see a way out. It was going to
be tricky getting out of here and a lot harder once it got to be
pitch dark.

Charlie started by looking at the rope. There
were two pieces and neither was very long. Even the one that had
been wrapped around her body wouldn’t reach the bridge. She tried
tossing it up, but it clearly wasn't long enough to be of much
use.

The opposite side of the river was no escape
route. The granite rose in a sheer cliff straight up from the
river. She was going to have to find a way on this side. The cove
she was sitting in had a small overhang and she was pretty sure she
wasn't strong enough to pull herself up with just her arms.

Charlie looked next at where the river curved
and plunged down to the next level. The side next to her looked as
if there were a couple of places where she could brace her feet. If
she could reach high enough, she'd be able to grab the branch of
the pine tree. The difficulty was that if she slipped, she'd go
right down the river.

Charlie grimaced and put that route
aside.

Next she looked at the wall of rock on the
upriver side of her cove. It wouldn't be easy getting up that way,
but at least if she fell, she wouldn't go down the river. It was
almost straight up, but Charlie could see a few places she could
put her feet. And if she could get high enough, there were a couple
of trees.

Charlie shivered. It wasn't a cold night, but
this close to the river it was damp and chilly.

She looked at the moon. Already the bottom
was touching the tops of the pine trees on the Sawtooth
Mountains.

She didn't have a lot of time.

Charlie studied the cliff again, then
carefully stepped up into a small outcropping of rock, then reached
for another one and brought herself up a foot.

"That wasn't so hard," she said. Hearing her
voice made her feel glad no one was around to hear her talking to
herself, but it also made her feel better.

She looked up and finally found the next
place to step.

It was small, but there was just enough room
for the toe of her shoe to fit.

Charlie put her weight on her left foot as
she reached for the next outcropping.

She felt her foot slip and grabbed wildly at
the cliff and then was falling. She put her hand out and felt
something snap as she landed.

Charlie knew immediately she had broken
something. She rolled over cautiously and stuck her hand in the
water to ease the pain. When it became numb, she scooted back as
far away from the river as she could and cushioned her hand in her
lap. She didn't know if she had broken the wrist or her arm. But
whichever it was made no difference. She wouldn't be climbing out
of here tonight.

Charlie watched as the moon set behind the
trees and the night got completely dark.

The first time Charlie woke up, it was pitch
black. Branches were snapping on the cliff above her. Her legs had
fallen asleep and when she tried to stand up, they refused to
support her. She was about to shout for help, then closed her mouth
before anything could get out. It was pitch black and she didn't
see the bobbing of a flashlight beam, so it couldn't be anyone
looking for her.

She listened for another few minutes, trying
to hear over the splash of river. Another branch cracked and then
she heard something shuffling next to the bridge above her head.
She relaxed as she realized it was just a black bear looking for
berries.

Charlie sighed to herself and walked in a
tight circle, allowing the feeling to creep back into her legs. Her
right arm throbbed unmercifully and she ran her fingers over it
gingerly feeling how swollen it had become. She knelt carefully,
feeling for the edge of the cove, then pulled up the sleeve of her
sweatshirt carefully and plunged her arm into the cold river again
until the throbbing eased.

She pulled the sleeve of her sweatshirt back
over the arm, wincing at the pain. Finally in place, she held the
cuff with her left hand to get her hand back in her lap, then she
slid to the back of the cove once again as she waited for the
morning.

It wasn't raining yet, but she could tell the
storm was close. Except for the sound of the river, everything was
hushed as if the animals had been told to whisper. Charlie was glad
it had been so hot the last few days. The rocks had soaked in the
heat so it wasn't as cold here in the chute as it would have
been.

She had already figured out that Fishy Fowler
had grabbed her because he thought he could get the film from
Starr. Charlie wondered what would happen when he found out that
Starr didn't have the pictures any more. And how was Starr going to
figure out where she was and get her out of here before the storm
hit?

Charlie scrunched up her face as she tried to
think what else she could do, but she was it was tired and it was
dark and, although she tried, she couldn't keep her eyes open.

When Starr opened her eyes on Sunday morning,
the first thought that came to her mind was that today was the big
day. Everything would finally be over. She could finally go back to
taking pictures and exploring the North Shore and not have to worry
about a killer chasing her and Charlie any more.

The light filtering in through her window was
dim and she turned her head to peer at the clock. It was much too
early to expect Charlie, but Starr was too excited to sleep, let
alone stay in bed any longer. She tossed back the covers and sat
up, all in one fluid motion. The room hadn't cooled off much in the
night and she didn't bother with her bathrobe, but padded over to
the window to peer out.

There were no drops hanging from the trees
outside her window, so it hadn't started to rain yet. When she
looked up, Starr couldn't tell if the bit of sky she could see
above the cabin was grey because of the storm clouds, or because it
was still so early. It was going to be her first big storm up here
and Starr couldn't wait. She just hoped it happened while they were
having breakfast so that she and Charlie would have an excuse to
hang out in the big room with the fireplace and watch through the
picture windows. She was willing to bet the lake would be all
whipped up. She knew there'd be lightning and thunder like the
storms in the Cities, but here on the North Shore, she thought it
might be even more exciting because of the lake. Starr wondered if
there were any ships on the lake. She didn't exactly want to see a
shipwreck, but it would be exciting to see a sailing ship battling
the winds around Storm Point.

Then she remembered she was leaving right
after breakfast and her heart thudded back into the dull ache she
had fallen asleep to last night.

When Charlie opened her eyes again, it was
getting light. Which was little comfort when she saw that the
portion of her cove not protected by the overhang was wet.

She inched her way forward, careful to
cushion her arm. She looked up and felt the drizzle from the rain
clouds on her face. She couldn't see much, but the little she could
see was not encouraging. Thunderclouds piled high above her across
the part of the sky she could see. They were black, which told
Charlie that they now stretched across the lake, blocking out the
sun.