He nodded.
I hopped up on my toes and kissed him. We continued our climb. The compound shrank in size as we hiked over layer upon layer of rock. The sagebrush and drought hardy shrubs were vanishing and being steadily replaced by fresh smelling evergreens.
“Is that rushing water I hear?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. When we get to the ridge you’ll be able to see it better. It’s from the snow melt. It travels along the inside edge of the mountain for several miles and drops off into a decent sized waterfall.”
“It’s hard to think of all that water when your grandfather’s compound is sitting in the center of a dust bowl.”
“That’s the result of being in the rain shadow of the mountains. But the well he had dug for the compound has never run dry. The ridge is this way. Follow me.” I’d climbed up to Angel’s Ridge only three times since the day my mom had jumped. I walked over to the depression in the rock where we’d sat and ate lunch on that horrible day. The sky was a crystal blue. Only the front edge of the compound was visible. I lowered the backpack to the ground. Luke walked up behind me and pulled me against him.
“Awesome view,” he said. “It’s so quiet up here. Even the animals don’t seem to like to make the hike.”
“Well, I sure couldn’t talk any of those lazy buttheads down in the compound into making the trek. It’s not really all that bad, and I think it’s worth the effort.”
“I’m glad no one else came. I prefer to have you all to myself.” Luke lowered his arms and walked closer to the edge.
My stomach lurched up and down like a yoyo. “Don’t get too close. It always makes me dizzy to look down to the valley below. I get the same feeling when someone else gets near the edge.”
“I can see the river you were talking about. It looks as if it winds all the way down and ends near the road.”
“The road is still a good distance away.” He was constantly searching for possible escape routes, and it broke my heart. “It’s about twenty miles of river and then another five to the road. The next town is miles away.”
He stared longingly down at the water.
I pulled the urn with Gracie’s ashes out of my backpack, unwrapped the cloth and walked over to him. “I’ve been thinking, maybe we just need to sit down with my grandfather, preferably when he isn’t completely wasted, and talk to him. After the night at Mickey’s, he seems to trust you when it comes to protecting me.”
“Yeah, not sure about that. And if it doesn’t work then we’ll have put the notion of us leaving in his head. It’ll be even harder to get out.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m crazy for even considering it.” I opened the lid on the urn. I licked my finger and held it up in the air. “Just making sure it’s blowing in the right direction.” I stared into the soft mound of ashes. “Aunt Gracie, I’ll miss you so much.” Tears welled up as they had so often these last few days. “I hope you find that heaven is filled with apple pies, sugar cubes and everything that makes you laugh. Give mom a kiss for me.” I tossed the ashes, and they floated over the edge of the ridge and fell away from view.
It was amazing to think how drastically my life had changed in less than a month. I’d spent the years after my mom’s death just surviving. With the exception of Aunt Gracie, Jericho and my pets, no one had paid much attention to me. Friendships were rare, but now I had someone who had become an integral part of my life. And I would risk anything to keep it that way.
I turned to Luke. His gray eyes always looked metallic in bright sunlight. “Everything is changing.” I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my face to his chest. “And as sorry as I am that I pulled you into my grandfather’s creepy world, I’m so glad I found you.”
“Angel, I’d follow you into any creepy world you could offer.”
I peered up at him and laughed.
“You’re right,” he said, “this one is already pretty fucking creepy. But you get my meaning.”
Chapter 14
Luke
It was that sinking feeling you get when you’re not sure why but you know something shitty is about to happen. Or it could have just been because we were back in the compound. After several hours away, hiking through the mountains with Angel, that small taste of freedom had made me even more anxious to leave. Walking thirty or forty miles didn’t seem nearly as impossible now. But I wasn’t sure about Angel. She sensed my urgency to leave but didn’t understand just how volatile the situation had become. I needed to tell her everything, and I planned to do just that once we got back to the cabins.