Читать книгу The Magic Aquifer: Treating the Political Stress Syndrome A Novel - John R. Krismer - Страница 10

Chapter 2

The three of them found the hike along the river a torturous ordeal as they cut and chopped their way through the dense underbrush that no human had ever before disturbed. Several times they crossed the stream, to see if there was any kind of trail they could follow, but as they hiked deeper into the woods the underbrush only became thicker. At times, they even had to use an ax to cut through thick brush as black flies swarmed out of every clump, biting their bare arms and necks relentlessly.

“Holly shit,” Dave shouted. “I walked this damned stream from the other direction last year, and I never saw anything like this!” Finally he stretched his arms up toward the sky and drew in a deep breath as he shook his head in disgust,

“I just can’t believe this!”

Both Bill and Ed looked at Dave, doubting him for the first time. “Let’s just sit down and talk a minute,” Bill said, equally frustrated by what they were finding.

“Dave, do you think you made a mistake?” Ed asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his forearm and swirling his red-checkered handkerchief at a huge black fly that was determined to take another piece of flesh from his already swollen neck.

“This is not the same stream I walked last year,” Dave snarled, totally upset.

“Well, what are we going to do?” Bill scowled.

“I don’t know.” Dave whispered, tightening his jaw and shaking his head hopelessly. “And besides that, this stream seems to be drying up the further we go, which is really beginning to bother me.” As he rubbed his hand over his unshaved chin, he once again reached into his vest for his map. Carefully he unfolded it, spreading it out on the ground as his finger slowly traced and retraced the line that was supposed to be the Split Rock River. Finally he looked up as his eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. “According to this, there’s not another stream within ten miles,” he growled, pointing as he held out the map so they could see what he was talking about. “We must have hiked at least five miles by now, so we should be getting close to where I found the gold, yet it looks like this stream’s about to disappear.” Standing up, he groaned. “Things just aren’t right,” he muttered, starring at the dense underbrush that lay ahead. Then reaching out to help his equally exhausted companions to their feet, he took another deep breath. “Let’s go a little further, before we give up,” he mumbled.

After following the small stream for another excruciating mile of dense underbrush, they finally came to an open area that looked more like a marsh than a stream.

“I just can’t believe this,” Dave mumbled defiantly, biting at his upper lip in disgust and confusion. “I’m absolutely sure that this is not the stream I walked last year! There was more water in that stream than we’ve seen all morning.”

Pausing to check the directions on his compass, he stood utterly bewildered, obviously trying to figure out what to do next.

“I never thought you’d get lost in these woods,” Bill laughed. “Perhaps your mind is playing tricks on you. Haven’t you seen anything that even looks slightly familiar?”

“Hell no,” Dave grimaced, utterly puzzled by this strange turn of events. “I know what I saw, and there’s got to be another answer to this,” he whispered. “I’d have to be an idiot to be fooled into believing this is the same stream I saw last year.”

With that, Ed stared at his watch. “Well, it’s taken us almost four hours to get this far, and if we start back now, it’ll probably be dusk by the time we get back to camp.”

“Yes, I guess we should start back,” Dave finally admitted. “We’re not prepared to stay out here all night,” he said as he turned and began to walk toward camp. “But I’m going to have to somehow figure this thing out,” he grimaced. “Tomorrow, we should maybe branch out from here and try to find that lost stream that I know exists, cause this sure as hell isn’t it,” he painfully admitted, pinching his lips tightly together as he turned and headed toward camp in defeat. “Damn it, this may well be the Split Rock River, but it certainly isn’t the stream I found gold in last year.”

With that Ed looked at Bill, rolling his eyes. “I’ve been duped many times in my life, but this would be the biggest dupe ever if you’ve been pulling our leg all along,” Ed unsympathetically snarled, undoubtedly questioning Dave for the first time.

“Hey, you gotta believe me!” Dave growled back rebelliously, realizing the seriousness of the situation they were in. “Just bear with me. I’m gonna figure this thing out.”

With that, both Bill and Ed turned without saying a word and continued walking back toward camp, as Dave followed, muttering and cussing under his breath almost every step of the way.

The trail home was much easier as they traced their way back over the beaten path they’d forged earlier. This time it took only two hours, and they all decided to skip dinner as they fell exhausted into their sleeping bags, still sweaty and fully dressed.

The next morning they seriously discussed things again, while ravenously eating their breakfast and stretching out some of their aching muscles, finally agreeing to spend the day recovering from yesterday’s grueling ordeal. Ed even suggested it might be best if they forget the whole thing and return home, but Dave persisted, convincing them to stay and at least try to search for his magic river that he was sure was there somewhere and was filled with gold nuggets. He even suggested they might go back to Caliper Lake, and take the very same trail he’d taken last year, but that was only as a last resort and would almost certainly attract the Indians again.

“Maybe we should go back to where we were yesterday and each take a compass and walk five miles in different directions,” Bill suggested. “That’s if you think we were anywhere near the trail you walked last year.”

“I swear there’s another stream out there, and I know we had to be pretty darn close to it,” Dave frowned boldly, while placing a large log on the fire. “And you know what? It wouldn’t be the first time that I found a map to be wrong,” sensing that both Bill and Ed had become much more skeptical of what he’d been telling them all along.

“All right, I’ll go along with you one more time,” Ed shouted. “But if we don’t find something tomorrow I’m heading home, with or without you guys.” he said, demanding Dave’s agreement.

After several moments of silence, Dave looked up and stared back. “All right, but I’m going to prove to you I know what I’m talking about,” he replied, slowly forcing his aching body up and walking to his sleeping bag where he could lay down and think things over.

The following morning they packed food and water and their rolled up sleeping bags, intending to stay no more than one night away from their base camp. Dave had laid awake much of the night studying his maps over and over, tracing and retracing his markings on the very same map he’d used the previous year.

“Worst case is, we had to be within three to five miles of where I hiked last year, and we’re bound to find something if we all branch out from that spot we were at,” Dave explained, slowly lifting his backpack to his shoulders. “My gut feeling is that river has to be to the west. We could head southwest from here, but we’d be blazing a new trail, so my suggestion is we retrace our old trail and each separately head out from where we were the other day, just like Bill suggested.”

This time Dave took the lead, reaching the spring fed marsh in less than two hours, while stopping to rest only once.

“It looks like the underbrush thins out toward the west, so hopefully you won’t need to chop your way any longer, but I recommend you each mark your trail frequently,” Dave explained, as he tied a red marker to a tall branch that was clearly visible from the west end of this rather large clearing. “Remember it’s an overcast day, so you’ll really have to rely on your compass.”

Dave planned to head in a southwest direction and Bill to the northwest, while Ed would walk between them, directly toward the west, and they all agreed to return to Dave’s marker in two hours. If any one of them did not return by then, the others were to wait one hour before giving any type of gun signal, since Dave felt it important they keep their presence in the area a secret.

“And for God sake, if you feel you’re lost, don’t keep walking,” Dave explained. “Just stop and wait for us to come and find you.”

Bill had been walking at a good pace for almost an hour before he heard what sounded like rushing water off in the distance. Although he knew better, he began to run in the direction of the noise, something you should never do in the wilderness. And then suddenly, right in front of him stood a huge black bear that seemed just as startled as he was. Standing motionless, Bill tried to look as tall as he could while slowly reaching for his magnum. Once his hand contacted the handle, it was out of his holster in less time than it would take to blink your eye, and as he slowly raised both arms with no eye contact, the bear stood up on his hind legs and snarled with his hair raised on his back, poised to attack at the slightest provocation.

“Get out of here,” Bill shouted loudly, while realizing that if the bear did decide to attack he’d have time for only one shot. To Bill, the bear’s challenge seemed to last for an eternity, while he intentionally tried to avoid eye contact, which would surely cause this monster to attack, a characteristic of most wild animals when challenged in a sudden confrontation like this. While Bill held his arms up high to look as big as possible, he realized he needed to carefully lower one arm and level his gun at the bear’s head, just in case. And as he did that, the bear’s stare down finally came to an end as the animal slowly lowered his towering frame to the ground. Turning and walking away, the bear only stopping to look back as if to once more evaluate this unusual animal that’d suddenly interrupted his search for food and wild berries. Only after the bear disappeared into the forest, did Bill gradually wipe his forehead and take a deep breath, muttering to himself softly, that was way to close.

Bill’s first thought was to turn around and head back, but he felt certain that Dave’s stream was just over the next rise, so he proceeded, but far more cautiously this time.

Finally he found himself staring at Dave’s stream right before his eyes. “There it is,” he chocked, suppressing a yell for joy as he tightly clenching both fists. “I’ll be darned, Dave was right,” he whispered.

The stream looked just like Dave had described it, filled with swirling rapids and backwater currents. And as he crouched by the edge of the bank the sun suddenly broke through the clouds for only a moment, as if to celebrate his good fortune.

Meanwhile, Ed had also been hearing a peculiar noise that he couldn’t quite identify, but he trudged on rather discouraged by not having found anything during the first hour. But continuing further, he noticed the noise was becoming louder with each step.

What is that noise? Could it be the wind or maybe a train off in the distance? He thought to himself. Then as he roughly pushed aside a clump of brush, he spotted a huge granite cliff several hundred yards away. Increasing his pace, he suddenly felt both fear and excitement at what might lie ahead.

I hope that noise isn’t some Indian tribe, he thought to himself. This had been in the back of his mind much of the morning, and he’d been thinking of what he might do if any Indians confronted him, mainly now while he was all alone.

Then suddenly he found himself standing and looking up at a solid granite cliff that towered over him.

“That’s gotta be a waterfall I’m hearing.” he whispered, his excitement growing with every minute. Hurriedly he worked his way along the base of the cliff to a steep crevice he thought he might be able to climb without falling, but as he looked at his watch he realized he’d already seriously exceeded the halfway point in time, and he paused to evaluate the situation before starting any dangerous climb.

I better return for help, he thought. In fact I could fall getting up there and that would be a disaster. Pausing only to once again confirm the sound of running water, he quickly turned and started back. This time his pace was filled with renewed energy, while stopping frequently to check for the marks he’d carved in the trees.

Boy, am glad I brought my compass, he thought, as he kept missing marker after marker. At times he felt completely lost, but then after what seemed like an eternity he’d finally find another mark.

It was now well past their deadline they’d set, and Dave and Bill were getting very concerned by Ed’s absence. Dave was just about to start tracking Ed’s markers, when he saw him suddenly appear from a patch of birch trees far to the south of where he’d originally started out.

“Thank God,” Dave whispered to Bill. “Hey Ed, we were getting worried about you,” he shouted.

As Ed approached them, they could see the relief on his face, along with a smile that suggested he’d also found something.

“Just wait until you hear what I have to tell you,” he joyfully smiled, clearly relieved by finally finding his way back to where he’d started from earlier that day. For the next half hour they ate lunch and talked about the cliff, the hidden waterfall, and laughed over Bill’s frightening confrontation with that huge black bear.

“I told you guys we’d figure this thing out!” Dave slyly chuckled, grinning from ear to ear. “Now I’m more determined than ever. And Damn it, we’re now gonna find some gold nuggets,” he laughed, once again marking his map where he’d suspected the mysterious lost river was located. “It all makes sense,” he said. “I bet those map makers just assumed it was the Split Rock River.” Then he paused to think a moment. “Let’s try to make it to Ed’s wall, and we can camp there tonight.”

As they gathered their packs, they continued to jabber, and during the silent moments it was obvious they were hopefully thinking about the gold they were surely going to find, once they found this hidden stream. During their brisk hike, they also joked about chopping their way along that dried up river as their obvious enthusiasm was rekindled with every step they took.

“It looks like we might have to move our campsite and the boat.” Dave explained.

“Yes,” Bill agreed, “but first we’ll need to determine where this new river empties into the lake.”

Suddenly Ed pointed straight ahead. “There it is,” he grinned, stopping just long enough to stare at the jagged cliff he’d been describing over and over.

“It doesn’t look so big from here,” Dave laughed. Then with a little more concern, he whispered, “But I don’t recall seeing anything like that last year!”

Once again, it took only a short time before they were standing at the foot of the cliff.

“That surely sounds like a waterfall to me,” Dave whispered, “there’s no mistake about that. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get up there so we can see it.”

After much searching, they finally found a crevice that looked climbable, and they quickly started the difficult task of slowly working their way to the top. After more than a few scrapes and bruises, the three tired climbers cautiously peeked over the edge of the cliff, where they stared in awe at a large bowl of cascading rapids that seemed to be bubbling right out of the earth itself.

“Oh my God,” Dave shouted. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life.”

As Ed and Bill pulled them self up to where they could see better, they both mumbled, “Oh my God - I can’t believe this.”

“That has to be an aquifer,” Bill shouted. “That water’s coming right up out of the ground. I remember seeing one of these in Austin, Texas - it was called The Edward’s Aquifer,” he explained over the noise of the rushing water. “And look at that mist it’s making over the pond - it looks like it’s bubbling right out of the bowls of the earth.”

“I’ve heard that rivers can travel hundreds of miles underground, but this is unreal,” Dave explained, pausing to take a deep breath. “So that’s where the lava silt and gold must be coming from. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this waters coming from as far away as the Canadian Rockies. That’s the only way lava silt could be found in this part of the country.”

Finally all three of them just sat completely silent, absorbing every detail of the remarkable phenomenon that was unfolding right in front of them under an equally spectacular sunset, and it soon became obvious that words were unable to describe any of their feelings.

After several minutes had passed, the spell of the moment was shattered by the repeated clicking of Ed’s camera, as they finally decided to climb down into this huge bowl, where the water was wildly dumping into Dave’s magic stream.

“All these cliffs must have been pushed up through the crust of the earth years ago,” Bill whispered, still out of breath, as all three of them awkwardly slid their way down to the edge of the churning water that was slowly swirling in a large circle. As they stood entranced by the power surrounding them, the cooling mist washed the sweat from their faces, and in a strange but magical way it seemed to offer strength to their tired bodies. The entire pool was at least twenty yards across, and as they cautiously walked along the edge of the pond, they felt as if they were in some strange hypnotic trance. The whole experience had left them with a euphoric feeling, but also an ominous respect and fear of the magical things that were noticeably overwhelming each of them.

Those Indians must have known about this? Dave thought, as they worked their way around to the cascading stream rushing out the mouth of this most unusual pond that sat in what looked like a bombed out crater. Finally they walked to a more peaceful location down stream, where they could camp for the night, just as the sun was falling below the horizon and they all hurriedly collected wood for a fire that would provide their security for the night.