Waiting for Dusk (30 page)

“No, I’m fine.”

That’s how the rest of day went. People
fussed over Katie and kept asking how she felt. She played with her
little cousins and hung out with the older ones. They all ate too
much turkey and hardly had room for dessert. Katie noticed the sun
had set although she knew it was still early. The sun set by five
in late November. She just had to be patient. The apple and pumpkin
pies were set out for anyone who wanted dessert. Katie hoped people
would then want to be headed home.

Another hour passed before the aunts and
uncles began to leave. Kids were getting cranky, some adults had to
work the next day and others had another Thanksgiving to attend. It
was all very typical of a holiday.

Katie felt like she just went through the
motions during the day. She was so glad to see everyone leave. Her
mother got a call from Beth and went to the bedroom to talk.

Katie decided to take advantage of the
opportunity to talk to her dad. “Well, we have time to continue our
discussion. In the hospital you told me you were Jack Woods and
said we would talk later.”

“I never said I was Jack Woods, honey, I said
I heard of him. A lot of people know who he is.”

This was not how the conversation was
supposed to go. Her father was not being truthful with her
again.

“Dad, you said we would talk. You know Andrew
and you are Jack Woods!”

“Think of what you are saying. That just
isn’t possible.”

The calmer he seemed, the more furious Katie
got. She wanted to do something to make him as mad as she was. She
stormed into the kitchen and opened the key cupboard. There,
dangling on its special keychain; was the key to the Mustang. Katie
grabbed it and her coat and was out the door in a flash. She
couldn’t believe she was doing this. She could hear her father’s
voice in the distance.

Katie entered the code to the garage and ran
and jumped in the car. It started quickly, and because it was
always backed into the garage, she could pull right out. She flew
passed her father as he approached the car.

She had no idea where she was going. She only
had her temporary license but didn’t care. She was just so mad she
needed to get out of the house. What better way to get to her
father, than to take his car?

Pushing harder on the gas pedal, Katie felt
the car gliding down the road. It felt good to be going this fast.
Let’s see how fast this car can go!

Everything was whirling past her in a blur
but not because of the speed; her eyes were filled with tears.

Katie thought she saw headlights in her rear
view mirror. It could be her dad. She wasn’t sure. She decided to
pull into the park with the walking trail. It was a good place to
calm down and think.

The car behind her pulled in, too. Jackson
jumped out of the car and into the passenger side of the Mustang.
“What were you thinking? You could have been hurt! You don’t even
have your license!”

“You only care about your precious mustang,
Dad,” Katie stared straight ahead wiping away a tear that rolled
down her cheek.

“No, you don’t understand. I care about you.
I care about you more than you know. I love you with all my heart
and soul. That’s why I stay here.”

“Then you admit you’re Jack Woods from
1927.”

“Yes, yes, alright, I’m Jack Woods. Now I am
Jackson Roberts who lives and works in the 21st century. I have the
most amazing wife and daughter that keep me grounded. I have to be
here; I have to live here...because I love you and your mother.
Love is what keeps you grounded, Katie.”

“Then you should understand why I want to go
back. I love Andrew.”

“We need you here more. We don’t completely
understand the power of these books. We only know the book always
takes us back to 1927 but we end up back here in the present time.
No one has stayed passed December 31st because we’re afraid we may
not be able to come back. We might have to live our lives out from
there.”

“Would that be so bad?” Katie was thinking
that going back in time to 1927 over and over again was like that
movie where the person had to live the same day over and over again
until he got it right. It might be nice to continue on into the
next year.

“For some of us, no,” Her father was now very
serious. “But for some others, it would be. So, Katie, please,
don’t go back again. End it now. This is the perfect time. You have
great memories, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Can we talk some more tomorrow?
I’m getting tired.” Katie was getting good at lying. “I want to
hear your story--yours and Mom’s.”

“Okay, it’s a deal. But I drive the Mustang
home,” Her dad handed over the keys to the other car.

When Katie got home, her mother was pacing
back and forth in the family room. “Oh my gosh, what happened?”

Jackson signaled to her that everything was
okay. Katie kissed her mom and went upstairs. She dug around her
bag for the Jack Woods journal and the other book. She got ready
for bed but was not really tired and decided to finish the journal.
When she came to the last chapter, it was just called, Andrew.
Katie couldn’t wait to get started reading.

Andrew Martin was a young man who came to the
Grand Canyon with his family at the age of fourteen. If he had his
way, he never would have left.

Andrew was part of the Martino family from
Italy. Many of his family members were famous seamstresses and
tailors in Italy. They started their own design house in Milan. The
House of Martino is a well-known fashion industry there.

Andrew’s grandfather decided to come to the
U.S. and expand the line. He started a small clothing store in New
York City and it has grown into the popular chain of Martin’s
Menswear. He runs it along with Andrew’s father, Nicolas. Andrew
was supposed to follow in the family footsteps of design and
tailoring. He was being groomed to run the family business and
attended a private boy’s prep school on the East Coast.

Once Andrew saw the canyon and all the nature
surrounding it, his destiny was sealed. He chose to use his
creative talents, which indeed he had, on photography instead of
design. He could not get enough of the canyon and begged his
parents to stay longer. His family could not deny the devotion he
had to it. That is when his father set up an endowment for the
park. It also enabled Andrew to come and go at will. His
grandfather built him a cabin on the park grounds for his use only.
I believe they did all of this to appease Andrew, hoping he’d come
to his senses one day. They wanted him to stay in New York with the
family and enjoy visits to the canyon; only they did not realize
this was not just a piece of Andrew, it was his whole life.

Each summer Andrew would return by himself
for longer and longer periods of time. I would take him with me and
help him take photographs with his state of the art 35mm camera.
Each year he brought a newer, better one with him. I am ashamed to
say I was jealous of his ability to purchase the newest and latest
models of cameras, but Andrew’s likeability and unpretentiousness
always won me over. He never asked for favors or expected anyone to
do things for him.

Eventually I felt like I had gone from mentor
to friend. He was almost like a younger brother to me.

Andrew had another good friend at the canyon,
Thomas Cook. Thomas was very interested in learning everything
about the canyon that he could. I believe he had aspirations to
become a ranger. We had a good laugh about that since Thomas would
first have to learn to get over his fear of heights. The two boys
would accompany me on many adventures trying to learn everything
they could about the park.

The summer of 1927 I decided I needed to
tackle one last challenge. I wanted to go down the Colorado River
and experience the river and its rapids. I knew this was something
that would not be easy. You had to respect the river and learn how
to live with it, not fight against it. My young friend, Andrew,
wanted to join me in this latest endeavor. I was not too keen on
the idea but could not dissuade him. We did many practice runs that
summer. There were camps set up along the way for us to stop and
stay overnight. My ultimate dream was to photograph and write about
my adventure.

Little did I know that my dear friend,
Andrew, was planning a trip down the river with his friend Thomas
all on his own. It was scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving
during Andrew’s extended holiday. I was a newlywed and would be
with my beloved wife and had scheduled my return for the weekend
after the holiday. When I arrived on Saturday, I heard of Andrew’s
departure. I was surprised he did not confide in me but I also knew
he was a proud young man and wanted to accomplish something on his
own. The only trouble I had with this trip was that his friend,
Thomas, was unable to go at the last minute. Still I had faith in
Andrew and knew he would be careful and use all safety precautions.
He was only to be gone overnight and return the next day.

Sunday was a long day for me. I stayed at the
bottom of the canyon, watching for Andrew’s return. Dusk was
setting in and no sign of him. I was hoping he was at one of the
camps and not able to return because of the shorter daylight hours.
Monday turned into Tuesday and finally almost a week had gone by.
There was no Andrew. I decided I would go looking for him. There
were many volunteers so I had much help. Poor Thomas blamed himself
for not going along and was beside himself with grief. We all knew
the outcome of this trip was not good.

We never found him...my friend, my brother. I
will never forgive myself for not being able to find him. He sleeps
now in his beloved canyon. He is a part of it now, part of the
nature of the canyon. Sleep well, my friend, God speed.

Katie was shocked. She couldn’t breathe or
think straight. Was this why her father didn’t want her going back
to the canyon? Drew is going to die? She decided she didn’t have
time to cry or panic; she had to stop him. From all the information
in the book, it sounded like she had time. He left on Friday and
she intended on being there.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Katie woke up as
dawn was breaking. There was not a minute to waste. She jumped up
and ran down the hallway.

Anna’s door flew open. “There you are! We
wondered what happened to you. You missed Thanksgiving. I said you
were probably celebrating with Andrew. Were you, Kathryn?”

“Anna, I don’t have time to talk. I had a
fight with Andrew and I have to go find him. Please help me.”

“Say no more. I will go saddle up Flicka and
you get dressed. I’ll meet you in the barn,” Anna went back in her
room and grabbed her coat.

Katie was ready so quickly Anna barely had
time to saddle on the horse.

“Anna, thank you. I’ll explain everything
later when I call you.”

“Call me? I’m right here. You just need to
come to my room.”

Katie nodded her head as if to agree and
wished she could explain what she really meant. She wanted to talk
to the older Anna, the one who knew everything. Before she mounted
the horse, Katie ran over and hugged Anna. “Thank you, again. I
love you so much. I hope you know that. I want to tell you
something that I don’t want you to ever tell anyone else. Don’t
even tell me until I ask.”

Anna nodded and Katie whispered something
into her ear, then jumped on Flicka and headed for the canyon.
There was no time to waste. She would stop Drew and tell him
everything. She was going to let him make the decision for them.
Should she stay or should he come with her? There was so much to
decide. They were young and had their whole lives ahead of them.
She was not going to let him die.

The first place she stopped was El Tovar. She
hoped Thomas was there for the breakfast shift. She tied up Flicka
in the barn and ran to the kitchen door.

“Thomas! Thomas? Are you in here?” Katie
yelled and cried all at the same time. It was still very early and
not too many people were there.

Miss Betsy came in from the dining room.
“Why, Miss Kathryn, are you doing all this yelling?” She did look
sympathetic as she said it.

“I’m looking for Thomas, Miss Betsy, is he
here yet?” Katie tried to calm down.

“He should be here shortly.”

Before Miss Betsy could even finish talking,
Katie was outside scouring the landscape for signs of Thomas. She
thought she saw him walking off in the distance and started running
toward him.

“Thomas!” Katie waved her arms
frantically.

Thomas ran toward her. “Kate, what is the
matter?”

“I have to find Andrew. Please help me,”
Katie was out of breath.

Thomas stopped and looked at her carefully.
“I don’t think that is a good idea.”

Katie decided she had to tell him something
that would make him help her. “His life could be in danger.”

“Follow me.” He turned around from the
direction he had been walking. This time he ran. Katie tried hard
to keep up with him.

All of a sudden, they were standing in front
of a wonderful looking cabin. “Is this where Andrew lives?” Katie
put her hands on the walls of the cabin.

“Yes.” Thomas felt around the top of the
door.

“How are we going to get in?” Katie pounded
on the door.

“I live here, too,” Thomas produced a key in
his hand.

The cabin was silent. It was just one level
with a large living space. There was a fireplace in the living area
and the kitchen and dining room were off to one side. There was a
small hallway that led to two bedrooms. Thomas came out from the
back rooms and shook his head.

“He’s already left. He’s probably halfway
down the trail by now.”

“Weren’t you supposed to go with him?”

“Yes, but they needed me at work. I will take
any extra shift I can. I’m saving up for a ring for Rachel.”