Cinderella in Overalls (23 page)

“Great view,” she said with all the enthusiasm she could muster. She tried to ignore the twinge of vertigo that hit her when she looked down at the white ribbon of road they’d just taken. “We’ve come a long way,” she remarked.

“But we’ve still got a long way to go,” he said with a worried frown.

Impulsively she wrapped her arms around him as if she could somehow ease his worries that way. “Maybe not that long,” she murmured, her cheek against his soft flannel shirt. “Tomorrow, when it’s light, things will look different. More familiar.”

She felt the muscles in his chest relax as he leaned over and buried his face in her hair. “Did I tell you I’m glad you came with me?” he asked in a deep, muffled voice.

She looked up at him, her arms linked around his waist. “I’m glad, too. This is the adventure of a lifetime. Your adventure. Thanks for sharing it with me.”

He gave her a quick, fierce kiss. He wanted to share everything with her. Adventures, disasters, whatever came. But she’d made it clear that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to share her adventures with farmers in South America, helping them have better yields and better lives. As for him, he had to put his dream to rest, once and for all, so he could get on with his life. A life that didn’t include Catherine Logan. Suddenly that prospect seemed so bleak that he kissed her again, harder and with more intensity as if he could change things that way.

Catherine stood very still, absorbing the pressure of his kiss, wanting it to go on forever. But she straightened and turned so that her back was to the steep drop-off. “Looks like a good campsite,” she said, still breathless from the kiss.

“As long as no one else decides to camp here, too,” he remarked with a smile. Her relentless good humor cheered him up, gave him hope.

“We haven’t passed a single car for miles. I think we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

He looked around. “No place to attach a tarpaulin.”

She shrugged. “We’ll sleep under the stars.”

Josh nodded. He opened the door to the Jeep and folded the front seats down so that Pedro could sleep inside. Catherine lifted her wicker basket from the rear, glad she’d brought plenty of food and wine, glad that the worry lines between Josh’s eyebrows had disappeared.

They all sat cross-legged around the tablecloth. This time there were no trees, no birds, only the stars overhead and, if one looked, the lights of the houses in the valley twinkling below. Catherine didn’t look. Instead she looked at Josh eating a sandwich of bread and cheese by starlight. He leaned back on one elbow and looked at her.

“Do you remember the Fourth of July?” he asked.

“We had hot dogs and champagne.” She looked up at the stars.

“You wore a short skirt and a T-shirt,” he recalled. “It was the first time I saw your legs.”

She smiled in the dark. “You wore a blue shirt. It was the first time I saw you without a suit.’’ It was the first time she’d thought of him as anything but a banker. Maybe it was the first time he’d thought of her as anything but a farmer. There was a long silence. With a friendly good-night Pedro retired to the Jeep.

“You missed the fireworks,” he said. “I owe you a sparkler and some rockets. I owe you a whole night of fireworks.”

Her hands shook as she folded the tablecloth and put it in the basket. In the stillness of the night his words hung in the air. He went to the Jeep, took out their sleeping bags and placed them on the ground next to each other. She pictured their bodies locked together under a starry sky, making fireworks together, but she knew she couldn’t let that happen. Not tonight. Not any night.

She brushed her teeth behind the Jeep with mineral water. Then she removed her shoes and slid into her down bag. He was lying next to her with his arms crossed under his head. A shooting star sped across the sky.

“There you are. Natural fireworks,” she said.

“That’s not what I meant,” he growled.

She sighed and turned her back to him. If she looked into his eyes, she’d be lost. She didn’t want to hear him breathe or imagine his arms around her. This was a discovery trip, an expedition with no room for runaway emotions. No time for indulging in passions they’d later regret.

Despite the hard ground, despite the nearness of Josh, she slept. She slept so well that only the sun shining in her eyes and the smell of coffee woke her up. Surprised, she blinked her eyes and sat up, the sleeping bag at her waist. Josh smiled down at her from behind a cup of steaming coffee.

“Wait a minute. Where did you get that? I thought you couldn’t cook.”

He tilted his head in the direction of Pedro bent over the camp stove, stirring fried potatoes. “I can’t, but Pedro can. Good thing. If we’d waited for you, we’d starve.”

She got up and tied her sleeping bag into a tight roll. After breakfast they stood next to the Jeep. The deep crease was back between Josh’s eyebrows.

“Would you ask Pedro,” he said, “if anything looks familiar today.” Pedro shook his head. Josh nodded curtly. “We’ll go on a little farther.’’

Back in the Jeep Catherine closed her eyes so that she couldn’t see the sharp drop-off to the right. Around the next bend Pedro leaned forward and squinted into the distant hills that undulated under a bright blue sky.

“The sleeping maiden,” he said slowly in Spanish.

Josh met Pedro’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Is that where it is?” He’d never heard of the sleeping maiden. Still, it was possible.

“The mine is to the east.” Pedro pointed to a barren, rocky mountain. “That’s Tochabamba.”

Josh slowed to a crawl as Catherine translated for him. “Fine. We know where it is. We just don’t know how to get there.”

Pedro put his hand on Josh’s shoulder and spoke.

“He says you can get burros from the ranch ahead, then follow the trail to the mine.”

Josh’s eyes widened. “Is it possible that the ranch is still here after all these years?”

Another twenty miles up the road was an arrow pointing west. The sign had fallen onto its side, but the letters were still legible: Rancho del Cielo. They drove down a rutted road and followed tracks made by the wheels of a cart until a ramshackle house came into view. It looked deserted, but when they cut the engine, the silence of the mountain air was broken by the braying of burros and the clucking of chickens. Catherine gave Josh a look of surprise.

An old man came around the corner of the house more astonished to see them than they were to see him. Pedro tipped his hat. Catherine didn’t know if they were acquainted or not, but Pedro was able to borrow three burros and buy more food for the journey. They filled their saddlebags and tied their sleeping bags onto the burros. Catherine rubbed her hands against her pants and looked inquiringly at Josh.

His eyes were on the distant mountains. “Are you sure you’re up to this? It must be a long walk. With Pedro on a burro we’ll need the other two to carry the equipment.”

She laced up her boots. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” It was true. She was willing to go farther than the Tochabamba Mines to share Josh’s dream.

Pedro showed no emotion as he mounted his burro and led the way down the trail. Josh wished he could control his emotions, as well. He was afraid there would be nothing at the end of the trail. But he wanted desperately to find something, anything. He tried to empty his mind and enjoy the walk through the long valley, knowing there would be a steep climb ahead.

The sun shone down, warming his head and shoulders, easing the tension. Ahead of him he heard the clip-clop of the burros and he watched Catherine, admiring her hips swaying slightly in her loose-fitting pants. She wore a soft canvas hat that protected her head from the sun. She’d braided her hair that morning while he’d drunk his coffee, but soft tendrils had escaped and curled at the nape of her neck.

He imagined how soft her hair would feel wrapped around his fingers. He knew how her skin would taste if he kissed the back of her neck, like sage and sunshine, like all outdoors. He caught up with her where the trail widened and he fell into step.

“Are you getting tired?” he asked.

She shook her head. Tiny flecks of hazel lightened her eyes. “This is the best trip I’ve ever had. I feel as if we’ve come to another world. Everything’s different here, the sun, the earth, everything.” She gazed off at the wide alkali flats and the eroded mountains streaked with red in the distance, then turned back to him. “Even us,” she said softly. “We’re different, too.”

He stopped and drew her to him, running his hand up her neck to caress the soft curls that escaped from her braid. “You’re the same,” he protested, “still beautiful, still desirable. I wouldn’t be here without you. I wouldn’t want to be here without you. I don’t want to be anywhere without you,” he said with a quick kiss before they continued along the trail.

This time he took the lead. Catherine ran her finger across her lips, feeling the warmth of his kiss still lingering. Later they stopped for lunch at the entrance to a steep canyon. Above them were names carved in the stone wall. Josh read the names and the dates, but his father’s name wasn’t there.

Catherine removed her boots slowly and stretched out her legs. Josh sat opposite her and took her feet into his lap. Starting a massage at her heel and working his way under the arch, he made her bones turn to liquid. She arched her back and let her head fell back.

“That feels so good,” she moaned softly. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“I make it up as I go along,” he confessed, his fingers unleashing a fire that would be out of control if she didn’t stop it. Reluctantly she pulled away.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get up again,” she said in a shaky voice.

But when Pedro cooked an omelet on the stove, she managed to get to her feet and take her plate. She and Josh ate next to each other with their backs against the wall, feeling the sun-warmed stone through their shirts.

Pedro stood and scanned the canyon while Josh followed his eyes. Finally he spoke. “He says we’ll be there by tonight,” Catherine said, standing and tying her jacket around her waist. Her eyes glowed, and Josh worried that she was counting on finding silver. He could handle his own disappointment, but not hers, too.

Pedro tied the three burros together with a rope and they began to climb. On every slope they saw telltale signs of old workings, piles of stones marking a strike or a rusted tobacco tin. Narrow trails led off to remote areas, to God knew where.

Pedro stopped for a long moment and looked around. Josh’s heart sank. It was clear to him they were lost. It was too late to go back. They’d have to find a place to stay along the trail and go back tomorrow. But Pedro kept going. And they followed. Followed him down a salt-encrusted draw and turned around. They watched him look up at the sky, either to get his bearings or to ask God for help. They weren’t sure which. Josh’s spirits dropped and his feet felt heavy.

He noticed that even Catherine’s step had lost its spring. She wiped the perspiration off her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. “Does he know where he’s going?” Josh asked from behind her.

“It’s been forty years,” she explained in a tired voice. “Things change. Landslides. Earthquakes.” She reached for his hand. “Don’t worry. If he says we’ll be there tonight, we’ll be there.”

At dusk they were crisscrossing the side of a barren mountain, the burros’ hooves sending loose stones down hundreds of feet. Catherine stopped and clung to a boulder. She kept her eyes fastened on Pedro. Her feet were numb, her breath short and her hands clammy. She couldn’t move.

Josh came up behind her. “Are you all right?” he asked anxiously.

She didn’t turn around. “As long as I don’t look down.” Her voice was taut with tension.

Carefully he stepped in front of her, took her hand and pulled her forward across the loose stones. “Just keep your eyes on me and don’t let go. This is a hell of a place for a person with vertigo.”