Page 77 of Thunder Pass

She absorbed his words, then nodded. “Good. That’s what I thought. Thank you. Now let’s go find Sarah. And you know something else? It’s better that we don’t have weapons because we’d be outgunned anyway. This way we have to get more creative.”

Marveling at her courage, he followed her back to the trail. Knowing the truth hadn’t scared her. It had just made her more determined.

About an hour or so into the hike, they decided to leave the trail, which showed clear signs of recent ATV activity. Instead they followed moose trails that went in the general direction of the eastern slope overlooking Thunder Pass. That way they’d be able to get an overall view of the pass—at least that was Gunnar’s hope.

It took another hour or so of hiking to reach the start of Thunder Pass, which stretched for several miles between two ridges. Its most visible feature was a soaring wall of granite that drew avid rock climbers. In the summer, a succession of wildflower blooms filled the meadows between the steep slopes—deep blue lupine, then cheerful wild geranium, then vivid fuchsia fireweed. The fireweed had already finished blooming, and the meadow was tinted with the rust red color of its dying leaves.

“Look how dry it is,” Ruth said. “I don’t think there’s been any rain here for weeks.”

“Sure is gorgeous, though. No wonder my father supposedly had a cabin here.”

“Sarah’s in a cave, not a cabin,” Ruth reminded him.

“I know. But other people might have commandeered the cabin. We should keep an eye out for it.”

Ruth shaded her eyes and peered toward the opposite slope of the meadow, where low alders marked the beginning of a rise. “I actually think I see it!” she whispered excitedly. “At about three o’clock, right under those birches.”

“You’re right,” he said slowly as he stared in the direction she was pointing. A low-profile structure was cleverly hidden on the lower flank of the neighboring ridge. “And by the way, you have incredible eyesight.”

“I always have.” She stared intently at the cabin. “I don’t think anyone’s there. Should we go check it out?”

Just as they were stepping forward, the drone of a helicopter had them dropping back down to the ground. Gunnar put his arm over Ruth to protect her from the intense down current produced by the chopper. As they peered up at it, the helicopter passed about a hundred feet over their heads, on its way to setting down at the other end of the pass.

“Do you think they saw us?” Ruth whispered.

“Doubt it. They aren’t looking for people, they’re just delivering something.” He dug through his pack for his binoculars.

“Let me look.” Ruth scrambled to her knees and braced a hand on his back for balance as she peered intently after the helicopter. “I see ATVs, tents…it looks like a whole settlement down there at the other end of the pass.”

“Militia headquarters?”

“I can’t really see details, but that’s what it seems like.”

“Maybe that’s where they found gold.” He visualized the plat maps again. That was definitely the right area. “So the militia is there to defend the gold deposit?”

“Maybe.” Ruth sat back down, blinking away the strain in her eyes. “But why involve the town? That’s what I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know. But we’re just here for Sarah. Can you put that amazing eyesight to use looking for cave entrances?”

After a short break to rest her eyes, Ruth scanned the rocky side of the pass, taking her time, looking at each crack and crevice in the famous rock wall and the other nearby formations. “I think I see a place that could be the entrance to a cave.” She pointed at a spot that looked like a dark crescent moon. He scanned it with his binoculars, and agreed that it could be an opening in the rock. But they’d have to take a chance on getting spotted to reach it.

“We’ll need to stay low and slow. We don’t know what kind of surveillance they have going on up there. Let’s stay below the tops of the fireweed.”

It was slow going, purposely so, as they painstakingly made their way across the pass toward the looming rock face. At one point, the helicopter flew overhead again, and they flattened themselves on the ground and didn’t move until it had droned its way out of Thunder Pass.

Not once did Ruth complain, even though Gunnar knew she was just as sore and tired as he was, and even though she kept collecting scrapes and bruises. Did Ruth even know the meaning of complaining? He didn’t think so. She either did things without complaint, or she stopped doing them. Yet another quality of hers that he appreciated.

When they reached the crescent-shaped slit in the rock, they saw that it yawned much wider than could be seen from a distance. Gunnar scanned the ground for signs of a human presence, and spotted a boot-shaped mark in the mud. He silently pointed it out to Ruth, and she nodded excitedly.

“Let’s monitor it for a few minutes,” he whispered in her ear. “See if we can hear anything.”

As they waited behind a thick alder bush, Gunnar held his breath so he could hear more clearly. There was a sound inside the cave—something bumping around, footfalls—then suddenly a man emerged from the slender opening. He had to exit sideways to squeeze his belly past the rock.

Gunnar braced himself to attack if the man spotted them. But all he did was pause, brush dirt off his clothes, then stride down a moose trail that meandered back toward the pass. Gunnar didn’t recognize him, but he seemed to know his way around the wilderness. He wore a baseball cap from a lower 48 team and a wool hunting jacket.

And he had a rifle strap slung across his shoulder. Good to know.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Ruth jumped to her feet. “Come on,” she whispered.

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