“Do you miss it?” Hannah asked.
“The Army?”
Of course she means the Army, his cougar told him.
“I did to start with. But I built myself a life outside of it. I had a focus. I had the bar.” O’Malley checked if the water bottles were secure, he didn’t want the water to leak all over their gear.
“My dad never really settled. I think if my mom hadn’t passed away, he would have stayed in the Army his whole life. He left for us. For his kids, but really he was such a mess, he was never there for us.” Hannah took one last look at the waterfall. “We should move on.”
“Okay.” O’Malley turned back toward the trail, but he soon realized Hannah wasn’t following. “What is it?”
“There’s something here.” She went back toward the waterfall only this time she went to the side of the pool where the water fell into the pool. As she leaned down, her hand closed around something small. “It’s Karl’s.”
“What is it?” O’Malley asked, a sense of dread filling him as he went to his mate. Is this where Karl had met his death? Had he slipped and fallen into the pool and drowned? Or maybe he had decided to take a swim in the water and gotten into difficulty.
“It’s a poker chip. He had a set of them. Do you recognize it from when you beat him at poker?” Hannah held it in the palm of her hand and showed it to O’Malley.
“Yes. It has the same logo design.” O’Malley glanced at the water.
“You think he fell in there?” Hannah asked nervously, looking at the deep pool.
“I don’t know but it is a possibility.” He pressed his lips together, unsure what to say to his mate or what to do. If Karl had met a watery end, there was nothing they could do to help him. But if he’d simply dropped the poker chip then there was a chance they might find out the truth farther along the trail.
“We should go on.” Hannah dried the chip and put it in the side pocket of her pack. “There’s nothing we can do here. If we don’t find any trace of him on the pilgrim’s trail, then we can alert the authorities and ask them to search the pool.”
“Good idea.” O’Malley had come to the same conclusion but if Hannah had wanted to alert the authorities now, he’d have gone along with her decision. “Come on, we need to put some miles behind us before nightfall.”
Hannah nodded and followed him away from the waterfall. She took one last look at it before the trail bent around to the left and it disappeared from view.
You should have let me take a look, his cougar told him.
There was no point, O’Malley said. Any scent would have been washed away with that much spray from the water. And there were no footprints that I could see.
At least you filled the water bottles from the falling water and not the pool. His cougar sat alert with his tail twitching from side to side. He desperately wanted to be a part of this. He desperately wanted to help Hannah find her brother.
O’Malley dipped his hand in his pack and grabbed a candy bar. He waited for Hannah to catch up as they headed up a steep section of the trail that led up the side of the waterfall. “I thought you might need an energy boost.”
“I do.” She accepted it with a smile. “Don’t you have a sweet tooth?”
“That’s more of a bear thing.” He looked down over the side of the trail. From here, he could see right into the waterfall pool.
“What is it?” She stopped walking as she unwrapped the bar, her gaze following his. “Can you see anything?”
“No.” The pool was so clear he was certain if there was a dead body in there, they would see it. Or at least see Karl’s clothing. There was nothing to see.
“He could have been swept farther down the mountain, though.” She tore her eyes from the pool and carried on along the trail, the candy bar uneaten in her hand.
“Or he could be up ahead.” O’Malley had no answers. Only the mountain and the watchful sky above knew what had happened to Karl and they kept their secrets.
“Not knowing is the worst.” Hannah took a bite of her candy bar and sighed resolutely as they continued on their way, passing through deep canyons and climbing over high cliffs.
“If Karl did come this way, I suspect he would have camped here for the night.” O’Malley stood in the middle of a flat grassy plateau. “It’s sheltered and safe. And there’s a clear view of the stars.”
It was late afternoon. They could walk on for a couple more hours, but he was certain this was the best place to camp. He was also certain this was where Karl would have camped. Looking at the map, the terrain got more inhospitable after this plain. His training would have kicked in and told him to stop here. After all, the man was in no rush. He was trying to find himself, which took time.
“I like it here.” Hannah inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. “How far are we away from the point where Karl might have been forced to deviate from the trail?”
“We should reach there sometime tomorrow. Around lunchtime perhaps, depending on our pace.” He dumped his pack on the ground and took out the tent.
“Do you want a hand?” Hannah asked as she wearily dropped her pack to the ground.
“I can manage since it’s not windy. Why don’t you grab some rocks and place them in a ring so we can light a nice warm fire?” O’Malley already had the tent half erected.
“Sure.” She put her hands on the small of her back and stretched before she scoured the area for stones. One by one she brought them back to their campsite and placed
