Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (57 page)

After making sure there was enough rope,
Starr looped the rope around her waist. She left enough space so
she could move and then wound the rest of the rope around Charlie's
waist, securing it with several knots. By the time she was done,
Charlie's midsection was practically covered with rope. Between the
two of them, there was very little slack left in the rope. Even if
Charlie fell, she wouldn't go very far.

"I broke my arm."

Starr looked at it and nodded. She saw a
smaller section of rope on the side of the cave where it had caught
on a branch. Looping it into a sling, she put it over Charlie's
head onto the opposite shoulder and then gently guided Charlie's
arm through the loop at the bottom. By the time she finished, the
water had risen above Starr's knees and swirled fiercely around
them. It was getting hard to stay on her feet.

"That should work," she said.

Hoping the others were at the bridge by now,
Starr inched out into the open, feeling her way with her feet. The
river tugged at her hungrily as she looked up at the bridge. She
thought she saw someone and flapped her bright yellow poncho so
they could see her.

Another lightning strike and thunderclap went
off right over her head, making Starr jump. Then she saw someone
leaning over the bridge railing and waving.

"They're here," Starr yelled.

The swirling water tugged, hard.

Starr felt her feet slide and grabbed the
rope where it hung over the cliff. It took a couple of tries, but
she was finally able to get her feet back under her. As soon as she
got her footing, she ducked back into the cave, keeping a tight
grip on the slack in the rope with one hand while keeping her arm
around Charlie in case she went down.

Suddenly another rope came snaking down
followed by a big man in protective gear. He leaned down and peered
at the girls.

"Charlie's arm is broken," Starr told him. "I
put a sling on, but you have to be careful."

He nodded and then bent over to protect his
walkie-talkie. "I need that basket," he said. He tucked the
walkie-talkie back under his poncho, then looked at Starr. "They're
sending down something for your friend. Let's get you out of
here."

Starr shook her head. "Get her up first."

"We'll have more room to work if you're not
here," he told her. "Besides, the river's getting pretty rough
here, so you could go over real easy."

Starr looked at him and then at Charlie. She
didn't want to leave until she knew Charlie was safe.

"Go," Charlie urged. "I don't want you to end
up in the Devil's Cauldron because of me."

"Don't worry," the man said. "I'll make sure
she's okay. I'm pretty big and I'm anchored, so it'll take a lot to
take me down-river. All right?"

Starr didn't know what else to do. She just
hoped he was right. Finally she nodded.

Charlie moved closer to create some slack in
the rope and Starr wriggled clear.

The man brought out a harness and helped
Starr put it on. Then she was hooked up to a rope and hauled up the
cliff.

When she got to the top, Starr tried to get
to the bridge to make sure Charlie was safe, but the men who had
hauled her up hung on to her.

"Not just yet, kid," one of them said. "We
have to unhook you and we need to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," Starr insisted. "But Charlie has
a broken arm."

"You did a great job, but that's enough for
now. It's our turn to make sure both of you are all right, so let
us do our job, okay?"

Afraid he didn't believe her, Starr got ready
to argue. But when she looked up at him, all she saw was a very
kind smile and then she knew it would be all right. She nodded.

"Good." He finished removing the harness so
she could move again.

"Can I watch?" she asked.

He turned sideways so she could see a big
wire basket coming up the hill with Charlie lying in it. "See?" he
pointed. "Already up and safe. So now let's get the two of you down
the hill."

She turned towards the bridge to hike back
down. Charlie, still strapped in her basket, was being covered up
with a tarp to keep the worst of the rain off her.

"Is Charlie going to be okay?" she asked the
man who had pulled them out.

"Of course," he said matter-of-factly. "Just
a broken arm. Nothing that can't be fixed. What do you say we get
in out of this rain?"

Starr nodded. When they started across the
bridge, she looked over the railing. The little cove they had been
was now completely under water as the river swirled and pounded
down the chute.

She shuddered as she thought of getting
caught up in that and ending up in the Devil's Cauldron.

Fowler drove slowly through the storm, the
windshield wipers fighting a losing battle against the downpour. He
had planned on driving inland before heading south to the Cities,
figuring they would be less noticeable. But in this storm, he knew
they were practically invisible. Plus, he and Viv had both slipped
into the disguises that would make it unlikely they'd be
stopped.

He checked the speedometer for the umpteenth
time. It was going to take forever to get back to St. Paul at this
rate. At least he could stay on the interstate this time. With any
luck, they'd clear the storm by the time they got to Duluth and
could then make up the time.

Fowler glanced over at Viv who was staring
out at the storm. "Why don't you get some sleep," he suggested.
"It's going to be a long drive and you need to be fresh for
tomorrow."

"Maybe later," she said. "Right now I'm too
nervous. I'll feel better once we get to Duluth."

"We'll get a bite when we get there. That'll
help."

She nodded.

Fae paced nervously as she waited for the
rescuers to return. She cursed her back and the accident that had
made it impossible for her to help get Charlie. She had wanted to
go up with them, but knew she'd hold them back. Still…

"Why don't we look at those slides while
we're waiting," Bailey suggested. He took a seat near one of the
windows and looked at her expectantly.

A crack of thunder made Fae glance at the
windows of the Visitor Center. From inside it looked as if the lake
had swallowed them up.

She heard a loud crash and looked over at the
door as someone in a bright yellow slicker wrestled the door
closed..

"The river's five feet over normal," he
announced. "It's a real mess out there."

Fae shuddered and sat next to Bailey. "Not
even a good day for ducks," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
She glanced at the window again and then looked away quickly and
pulled the box of slides out of her purse.

The hike back down felt like it went on
forever. The wind was so fierce that Starr had to hang on to one of
the rescuers so she could walk. By the time they reached the
Visitor Center, she was so exhausted she could barely put one foot
in front of the other.

Fae came running out and hugged Starr as they
reached the door to the center. "I'm so glad you're all right. Is
Charlie okay?"

Starr nodded, too tired to speak.

Fae walked Starr over to the ambulance. As
Charlie was getting loaded inside, Fae patted her hand. Starr was
relieved to see Charlie smile now that the cover could be
removed.

Then the man who had helped Starr down the
hill lifted her inside where she was enfolded in a big warm
blanket.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Fae called
as the doors were closing.

Starr hung on as the ambulance pulled onto
the highway. The trip up the highway was a blur of wailing sirens,
water pouring over the tiny back windows, and strobes of lightning
that reached inside of the ambulance, reminding Starr of one of her
school dances back in the Cities.

At the hospital, Charlie was whisked inside
and Starr ended up on a table with curtains pulled around her. A
nurse checked her over to make sure she really was all right and
then vanished around the curtain. Starr kept waiting for someone to
tell her what to do, but no one came in.

Despite the blanket, she was still so cold
she couldn't stop shaking. Worried about Charlie, Starr wanted to
ask someone how she was, but wasn't sure what to do. She was pretty
sure Charlie was on the other side of the curtain, but so many
people were talking that all the voices were garbled and she
couldn't tell what was going on.

She wanted to get off the table and find out,
but was so cold she couldn't move. Worse, she was soaked and her
clothes felt as if boulders from the river had been attached
somehow. Starr kept expecting someone to show up with a towel and
maybe something that was dry and didn't stick to her like a dead
fish.

A round green clock with a faded picture of a
Ladyslipper hung crookedly on the wall near the end of the table.
If Starr turned, she could watch the second hand sweep slowly
around the dial. The minute hand made a soft click each time it
reached the next marker. Starr had never seen anything move so
slowly before. She wondered if the batteries were dying.

As she watched, she wondered if she had been
forgotten. With all the excitement and taking care of Charlie,
maybe no one remembered that she had come in. Especially since she
hadn't broken anything. But she still wished they had at least
given her a towel so she could dry off.

There wasn't anything in the cubicle she
could use, and she wondered if she could find something on her own.
Starr was shaking so hard, she wasn't sure she could make it off
the table without falling, but she also didn't want to freeze to
death now that they were finally safe. Worse, the water that had
saturated her hair kept dripping down her back like a slowly
thawing icicle.

Just as Starr thought she was going to shake
herself right off the table, Fae poked her head around the curtain.
Relief at seeing someone she knew washed over Starr.

"Is Charlie all right?" Starr asked
anxiously.

"She's fine," Fae reassured her. "She's
getting a cast, but once that's done she can go home." Then she
frowned. "Oh, for pete's sake." To Starr's dismay, she vanished
again.

"Wait," she called. But Fae had gone.

Before Starr knew it, though, Fae was back
with a mountain of towels, blankets and something with blue and
yellow teddy bears.

"Sorry about that," Fae said. "It's all they
had. But at least it's dry and when your mother gets here with some
clothes, you can change into something real."

Starr stared at her. "My mother's
coming?"

"Of course," Fae said. "The sheriff went to
pick her up. He'll bring Zach, too."

Starr moved mechanically as she got out of
her wet clothes, got toweled off and then put on the hospital gown.
Fae showed her how to put her hair in a towel and then twist it so
it would stay on top of her head. Then she wrapped Starr in a
couple more blankets to keep her warm and gave her some thick socks
for her feet.

"You don't need to stay in here any more.
What do you say we go to the cafeteria for some cocoa."

"Yes, please," Starr said. The idea sounded
heavenly.

As they came out of the emergency room, a man
stood up to greet them.

"You remember Bailey Johnson from the ride to
the park?" Fae asked. "He's my boss at the BCA. Would it be all
right if he joined us and asked you a few questions?"

"I guess so," Starr said. It felt as if years
had gone by since she had been at the diner and she had nearly
forgotten about the murder. "Can I have some hot chocolate
first?"

Mr. Johnson laughed. "Absolutely. Why don't
we go to the cafeteria."

"Wait. What about Charlie?" Starr asked.

"She can have some, too," Mr. Johnson said,
as if trying to reassure her.

"No," Starr said firmly. "What if she comes
out and we're not here?" She looked around, then pointed at the
empty seats in the far corner. "Can we sit there, instead?"

"What about your hot chocolate?" Mr. Johnson
asked.

"We could get it when Charlie is done," Starr
said, surprised he hadn't figured that out. "That way, she can have
some, too."

Fae's lips twitched and Starr thought for a
second she was going to sneeze. But she didn't. Instead, she
nodded. "That sounds like a great idea, Starr, honey."

Karen wandered out to the lobby of the Lodge,
stared at the pouring rain and then returned to her office for the
umpteenth time. She knew there were things she probably could be
doing, but decided to try the sheriff's office again. So far, every
time she had called, it was to hear once again that they hadn't
been able to reach the deputy who had walked Zach's daughter home
last night. What the hell kind of way was that to run the sheriff's
office, she wondered as she dialed, hardly needing to consult the
number any longer. This time, though, instead of being told once
again that they still hadn't reached the deputy, she was told he
was on his way in and would call her as soon as he got in.

Not much of an improvement, she thought
sourly as she hung up. But at least it was better than being told
they couldn't reach him. At least now she knew
he
had
managed to get home just fine. Which meant that she was probably
right in thinking her daughter and Charlie were up to
something.

She felt like throwing something or even just
letting out a good, loud scream. But it would just be her luck that
the one time she let her temper get the best of her, that would be
the moment the owners would choose to show up. She curled her
fingers into tight balls until her nails bit sharply into her skin
until the urge to scream had faded.