Chapter 33
33
Ruth knew she was hanging onto Gunnar’s hand as if it was her last tether to safety. Not just his hand; his whole arm was bearing the brunt of her anxiety. As for any chance of hiding her feelings for him, she could forget about that.
But right now, none of that mattered. The only thing she cared about was finding Sarah. Could she trust in Lila’s quirky “blip” that Sarah wasn’t in danger? Not easily. “You have to tell me more. What exactly did you see?”
“She’s with a man. An older man.”
“Luke?”
“No, not Luke. It’s not someone I know. What I saw was that he was giving her a bowl of rice. You know that lightweight aluminum camping gear that people take on backpacking trips? It was that kind of pot. She was really angry at him, but she wasn’t scared. I usually am able to pick up emotional energy more than words. He was the one who was scared, not her. He wanted to protect her.”
“Protect her from what? Someone else? Were there other people nearby?” Luckily, Gunnar had his wits about him enough to ask questions, because all Ruth could think of was poor Sarah being held captive and forced to eat rice. She hated rice.
In other words, whoever took her didn’t know her very well.
“I didn’t see anyone else, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t other people. It just means that I saw what I saw. I got the sense that he was protecting her from something he feared would be catastrophic. He worried that a lot of people were going to get hurt, and he didn’t want her to be one of them. I think he…likes her. Even though he’s quite a bit older.”
Ruth’s heart sank as one possibility occurred to her. “Before we left, Luke was talking about a husband for Sarah. He didn’t mention anyone in particular, but maybe he’d gone further than we knew already. Maybe this is someone who thinks of Sarah as his future wife.” It made her sick to even say those words.
“Can Luke do that?” Maura made a little face. “Just decide on a husband for Sarah? She’s only sixteen. And I know her pretty well as her teacher. She has a mind of her own.”
Ruth swallowed, her mouth dry with worry. “I protected Sarah a lot, because I wanted her to be more free than I was. That’s why she seems more independent-minded. But yes, if she had stayed with the Chilkoots, Luke could have picked a husband for her. That was pretty normal.”
“You can’t marry until you’re eighteen in Alaska,” Maura pointed out.
Ruth shook her head. “He doesn’t care about things like that. He doesn’t answer to any other type of authority.”
“He had to answer to the federal government,” Bear growled. “They put him in fucking prison.”
“For a while, but look at him now. It’s like he’s untouchable.” Ruth closed her eyes, remembering the look on Luke’s face when she’d first seen him after his time in prison. It had been almost…gloating, as if he’d known all along that he wouldn’t be behind bars for long. How had he known that? Maybe there was more to the story of how he’d gotten released. “He’s working with someone very high-powered. I bet that’s who got him out of prison.”
Lila had gone behind the bar to help Bear, but now she hopped up and down. “Charlie can find out about that. Her father was in prison too, and she’s an expert at hacking into systems. Want me to ask her?”
Ruth nodded, and Lila took out her phone and hurried to the back door, where there was a stronger signal.
“Let’s get back to Sarah’s situation,” Gunnar said. “It’s good to know she’s not in immediate danger, if Lila’s right.”
Ruth stamped her foot on the floor, startling everyone. “Even if she isn’t in danger, we have to rescue her! She doesn’t want to be holed up with some strange older man eating rice off a camp stove!”
“Well, there you go, that’s our first clue,” said Bear. “She’s somewhere in the wilderness.”
“That’s no help!” Ruth cried. “There’s wilderness all around us! That could be anywhere!” She realized how rude she sounded, and buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re upset. And you’re right.” Bear’s gruff voice held an apology. “We need more than that.”
Just then, Lila stepped back into the room. “That was weird. I barely had a chance to get my question to Charlie out before the signal dropped completely. Hopefully it’ll come back.”
“It’s okay,” Ruth said quickly. “None of that matters right now. We’re trying to figure out where Sarah might be. Was there anything else in your vision?”
“My blip? Let me try to remember.” Lila closed her eyes as she tried to summon more information. “She’s in a small space, but I think it’s more of a cave instead of a human-made structure. It’s not a cabin or anything like that. It feels earthy.”
“What’s the earth like?” Everyone turned to look at Lachlan, who hadn’t said anything up to now, instead choosing to listen intently. Maura often talked about what a great observer Lachlan was, as a scientist.
“Dark.” Lila shrugged. “That’s about all I can see.”
“Is it wet? Any groundwater?”
“No. Quite dry.”
“How about any colors embedded in the walls? Anything sparkling?”
“Actually, yes,” Lila said slowly, opening her eyes with a smile. “I see little bits of sparkle in the dirt, like glitter.”
“Does it have a color, this glitter?”
“It’s…sort of light, translucent. Like pearls.”
“That’s extremely helpful.” Lachlan looked around in triumph, but apparently he’d forgotten that no one else in the group was a geological expert. “That sounds like muscovite, also known as white mica. The only white mica in the stone in this area is to the north.”
“So she’s somewhere to the north.” Bear shook his head. “Narrows it down a little, but not much.”
Gunnar straightened suddenly. “Lachlan, do you know if there’s white mica in Thunder Pass?”
“Most likely. It’s in the right general area, though I haven’t looked myself.”
Gunnar slapped his hands together. “Then I’ll bet you my brand-new four-by that she’s in Thunder Pass.”
Ruth had come to the same conclusion at almost the same moment. “Does white mica have anything to do with gold?”
“Oh, those old stories?” Lachlan laughed. “As a matter of fact, the chemical composition of white mica can be a tool to help locate a gold deposit. If there was any. Of course there’s gold around here, but nothing significant.”
Ruth felt Gunnar’s curious glance, but she didn’t want to take the time to explain right now. “How do we get to Thunder Pass? I’ve never been out that way.”
“You don’t,” Bear said bluntly. “They’re blocking that road.”
“So we’ll hike.” Ruth glanced around at the worried faces. “No one else has to go. She’s my responsibility.”
“I’m going where you’re going,” Gunnar growled. “But I was just in the general store and Kathy warned me to stay away from Thunder Pass. You know her, it must be really serious for her to speak up.”
“Then it’s serious for Sarah, too. I can’t just leave her out there. We’ll do the same as we did at the compound. We’ll lay low, keep out of sight. We’re trying to find Sarah, that’s all.”
“No chickens this time.”
That made her smile. “No chickens. And if we get caught, we always have our plan B cover story.”
He nodded, his blue eyes holding hers, and she felt a sense of calm descend over her. She had no idea if they’d find Sarah, but if she could trust anyone, it was Gunnar. But they were going to need some backup. Someone would have to watch the kids—and it would probably take several someones.
She turned to the others, who were talking quietly amongst themselves at the bar, and held up her right hand, the one with Gunnar’s mother’s engagement ring. “We have an announcement to make. Gunnar and I are going to Thunder Pass. If we get caught, the story is we want to ask Luke’s permission to marry.”
Her words set off a small uproar.
“You can’t go out there by yourselves,” cried Maura. “But congratulations,” she added quickly.
“We’ll draw less attention if it’s just us,” Ruth said firmly. “And we have our cover story all set.”
“Absolutely not,” Bear growled. Then he softened. “But we’re more than happy to cater the wedding.”
“No, no, it’s a cover?—”
But no one heard Ruth through the din of voices. Martha slid off her stool and hugged Gunnar with one arm and Ruth with the other. “A perfect match. I know ’em when I see ’em. But you should stay the hell away from the pass.”
Lachlan got to his feet with a frown. “I’m with everyone else. You shouldn’t be anywhere near that place.” Then a smile took over his face. “But I’m glad you two finally saw what was obvious to the rest of us.”
Ruth gave up on correcting the record. There were more important things to worry about, namely, finding Sarah.
After everyone had spoken except for Lila, Ruth turned to her. If going to Thunder Pass really was the wrong thing to do, maybe Lila would sense something. At this point, that was the only warning that would stop Ruth from doing what she felt had to be done.
But Lila was nothing but smiles as she blinked a tear from her eye. “We’ll take care of the kids while you’re gone. Don’t worry about a thing, between all of us, we’ve got this. I do love a fairy tale romance. The two of you together look like you stepped off the cover of a paperback. Viking hero, redheaded heroine, I promise you I’d devour that story.”
Gunnar and Ruth’s eyes met, and despite her fear and all the swirling uncertainty of mysterious forces at work around them, they both burst into laughter. Even though the others begged to know what was so funny, they didn’t explain. Some things were meant to stay a secret just between the two of them.