him, on the ground, was a blue Samsonite suitcase containing his clothes, toothbrush, and personal effects. On top of the suitcase rested a photo album and a parcel filled with religious tracts. In his hand was a copy of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
A Dodge pickup truck, the first in nearly an hour, pulled off the highway and the hitchhiker dutifully stuck out his thumb. The driver passed him by without a glance.
Another truck, following close upon the heels of the first, passed him by as well, then pulled to a stop a few yards ahead. He looked at the truck and the driver honked, waving him on. The hitchhiker picked up his parcel and suitcase and jogged up to the dirty dented vehicle, pulling open the passenger door. He smiled at the driver, a burly bearded man wearing a red tank top and a yellow Cat hat. 'Thank you, sir.'
The driver nodded and flicked a newspaper from the seat to the floor of the truck to make room for the hitchhiker's suitcase. 'What's your name?'
'Call me Brother Elias.'
'Brother Elias?' The driver snorted. 'What the hell kind of name is that?'
'I am a preacher of the Lord's living gospel, a testament to his glory, and this is the name by which I am known to his followers.' He got into the truck and slammed shut the door.
The driver put the truck into gear and pulled back onto the road. 'A preacher, huh? I knew you weren't no ordinary hitcher. I could tell by the way you're dressed. To be honest with you, that's the only reason I picked you up. I don't usually stop for anybody unless I know them or I see their car's broken down. Can't tell what kind of people are out there these days. Never can tell who you're picking up. Some of theseguys'd just as soon kill you as look at you.' He offered Brother Elias a thick calloused hand. 'Name's Tim McDowell. I work over at the sawmill in Randall. Just got through collecting orders fromHargreve .' He looked at the preacher. 'You ever been to Hargreve? Little town out in the Coconino . Hardlymore'n fifty people in it and you can't get there except on this little one-lane dirt road that curves down the side of a cliff to the valley. It's a real bitch.' He looked immediately embarrassed, and he smiled sheepishly at Brother Elias. 'Sorry.' He drove for a few miles in silence, but when the preacher didn't say anything he cleared his throat. 'So, what brings you out this way?'
Brother Elias stared straight ahead, his eyes fastened on the road.
'The Lord's work.'
Tim nodded, smiling, and lapsed back into silence. He should've known better than to pick up a hitcher. Any hitcher. Even the ones who looked normal and respectable were weird these days. He snuck a glance out of the corner of his eye at Brother Elias. The preacher was staring straight out the windshield, his hands folded over the Bible in his lap, his face a complete blank. Tim shook his head. It was his own fault; he had picked this clown up. But it was his duty to be friendly. He drove silently for a few miles then turned to the preacher. 'So you just travel around? Hitching? Seems like it'd be easier to have your own church and stay in one place to me.'
'I go where I am needed,' said Brother Elias.
'And where're you headed now? You going to Randall?'
Brother Elias nodded.
'You think Randall needs saving?'
Brother Elias nodded again.
'Seems like there're a lot of worse places than Randall to me. Los Angeles, for one. Damn place is full of hippies, punks, queers, you name it.' He cleared his throat, embarrassed. 'Sorry again. So how do you pick where you're going? How come you decided Randall was the next place needed to be saved?'
'I have seen the coming evil,' said Brother Elias. 'I have seen it in a vision. The Lord has shown me the foulness of Satan's corruption and the face of his evil. He has shown me the means by which the adversary will triumph in this new Babylon. 'And he called out with a mighty voice, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit.'' Revelation 18:2.
'The Lord has sent me to combat this evil with his holy word and the teachings of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.'
Tim did not respond to the preacher. He said nothing. Instead, he looked ahead to where the two-lane road curved through a wooded canyon and inwardly cursed himself for picking up the man. Brother Elias was crazy. Not playing with a full deck, deuce high, as his daddy used to say. This should teach him not to pick up hitchers. No matter how they looked. He hazarded another glance at the preacher and saw that he was again staring straight out the window, his face a blank. Tim shivered and gave the truck more gas, pushing it up to sixty-five.
They passed through the canyon and sped past the small dirt road that led to the ranger station. There was nothing but flat forest the rest of the way into Randall, and Tim turned on the radio to make the drive a little more pleasant and to ease the strain of silence that he felt.
He looked toward the preacher as he tuned in the clearest station, but Brother Elias' face remained impassive.
Since he did not seem to object to the noise, Tim left the radio on.
A few minutes later, the preacher closed his eyes.
They were almost on the outskirts of town when Brother Elias jerked wide awake. He looked at Tim. 'You have a son,' he said. It was not a question but a statement of fact.
'Yes,' Tim admitted.
'Drop me off at the police station,' Brother Elias said.
'We don't have a police station. We have a sheriff's office.'
'Drop me off at the sheriff's office.'
Tim drove through the main part of town and pulled in at the sheriff's office. He watched as the preacher picked up his suitcase and small brown parcel from the seat between them. 'Why did you say I had a son?' he asked.
The preacher opened the passenger door and stepped out.
Vivcame running out of the sheriff's office, her face red and wet with tears.
Tim stared at his wife as she dashed across the small parking lot. He jumped out of the truck and hurried toward her, leaving the keys in the ignition. 'What is it?' he demanded. 'What happened?'
She threw her arms around him and held tight, burying her face in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. Her face was hot and wet against his skin. He hugged her, his hands pressing against the soft flesh of her back. Above her head, he could see Carl Chmura striding slowly but purposefully out of the sheriff's office. The deputy was staring at the ground as he crossed the parking lot, avoiding Tim's eyes. Tim felt a sudden rush of panic--Matt!-and looked quickly from Carl Chmura's averted face to his own white knuckled hands grasping iv's back.
No, he thought, please God don't let it be Matt.
'Tim--' the deputy began.
'Is it Matt? Tell me, Carl.'
The deputy nodded. 'He never came home this morning. Neither did Jack or Wayne. Your wife reported Matt missing around ten o'clock this morning. I tried to getahold of you, but you'd already left. I called the store up inHargreve , but I guess they didn't find you in time.'
'What happened to Matt?' He was starting to feel numb, disconnected, as though his brain was preparing itself for the inevitable shock.
'We don't know,' the deputy admitted. 'We have a search team out there looking for the boys right now. Your wife said they went camping at Aspen Lake--'
'That's right.'
'--so we sent a posse.' He looked at Tim. 'There was quite a big storm on the Rim last night.'
'What the hell's that supposed to mean?'
The deputy shrugged. 'Can't tell. There was a lot of lightning, lot of rain, lot of wind. If we're lucky, they just got lost; they were out hiking when the storm hit and somehow got turned around in their directions. If we're not lucky ...' The deputy left the sentence unfinished.
'Maybe their car just broke down--'
'We found the car. And all their gear. They started to make a camp down by the lake itself.'
'We should never have let him go!'Viv screamed, looking up at him. 'I
told you he shouldn't have gone!' Her face was contorted with shock and pain and fear.
'Maybe you'd best take her home,' the deputy said quietly. 'We'll call you if anything turns up.'
