“Give me your hand.” He thrust his hand toward her as she lost her grip on a large slab of rock that the animals who used this trail had leaped over.
“Thanks.” She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up toward him. Hannah scrambled to find a foothold as she reached him. “This is not an easy trail.”
“It’s not.” O’Malley turned around and flopped down onto the ground. “Let’s take a rest.”
“I’m okay to go on.” Hannah’s cheeks were flushed red from exertion.
“I need a drink.” He took out his water bottle and took a long drink before he passed it to Hannah. “So do you.”
She took the bottle and drank before handing it back to him. As she looked farther up the trail, she groaned. “Do you think Karl might have turned back when he got this far?”
“No.” O’Malley was certain that if Karl had taken this trail, he’d have seen it through to the end. Or his end. “Karl was not a quitter.”
Hannah nodded. “No, he was not.” She put her hand out and pushed herself to her knees before carefully bringing her legs under her.
“Wait.” O’Malley stuck out his hand.
“What is it?” Hannah asked as she slumped back down to the ground.
“I’m not sure.” He pointed to a small pile of rocks. “It could be nothing.”
“Or it could be another chip.” She scooted over the ground, careful not to fall back down the slab of rock as she began picking up the rocks one by one and placing them to one side.
O’Malley held his breath. If they found another poker chip here, it meant they had made the right decision and Karl had come this way. Of course, they would have no way of knowing if he’d then doubled back and taken the original route, but it was a new piece of evidence.
Hannah closed her hand around something and then turned to him with a look of triumph on her face. Opening her hand, she showed him a chip.
“Great.” He let out his breath and then helped Hannah to her feet. “We go on?”
“We go on.” As they turned their attention to the difficult trail ahead, O’Malley sensed they were nearing the end of their search.
Whether the outcome would be happy or sad remained to be seen.
Chapter Sixteen – Hannah
The trail was not easy. For Hannah at least. O’Malley, on the other hand, was fitter and he climbed the difficult terrain as nimbly as his alter ego could. There were times when O’Malley looked as if he was trying to contain his other side who would probably love to leap from rock to rock, clearing the worst of the trail in a single leap.
However, the cougar would not be able to half drag Hannah over the same difficult terrain, even if she hung onto his tail.
Then there was the other question that circled around and around inside Hannah’s head. How would Karl have fared on this trail? Would he have turned around and gone back down? Perhaps she had misread the poker chips. Instead of a sign he had gone on, they were a sign that he’d given up and gone back down the trail and climbed the landslide instead.
O’Malley moved slowly and methodically, not hurrying despite the time constraint she had put on their search. Hannah was determined he would be at the bar for the grand opening. It was only fair.
“We can go faster if you want.” Hannah caught her breath as O’Malley offered her a drink of water and an energy bar.
He shook his head as he passed the water bottle to her. “I don’t want to miss a clue.”
“Oh.” She glanced around then took a drink of water before asking, “A poker chip clue?”
He sighed and then came to her and sat down on the ground. She slid to a sitting position beside him, her tired, aching leg muscles grateful for the rest. “We know Karl was here. We know he didn’t make it to the village at the end of the main trail. Something disrupted his pilgrimage.”
“So, we’re looking for signs of that disruption.” She nodded and closed her eyes briefly. “We’re looking for a sign that Karl might have fallen or hurt himself in some other way.”
O’Malley didn’t answer as his jaw tightened. He took a bite of his energy bar and chewed thoughtfully before he took another drink. Screwing on the bottle cap, he stowed the water bottle in his pack and clasped his hands together as he waited for her to finish.
His silence bothered her.
“Would your cougar be able to pick up his trail?” Hannah stuck her hand into her pack and pulled out one of Karl’s T-shirts. “This carries his scent.”
“I can try but the weather would more than likely have washed any scent away long ago.” He looked at her and sighed at her pleading look. “Okay. I’ll try.”
“Oh, that look actually worked.” She grinned as she held out the shirt.
“I can’t refuse you. I am a lost cause.” He shook his head and stood up. “Okay, I’ll do it, but farther up the trail. This section is too difficult for you to climb without my help.”
“Oh, is it?” she asked.
“Yes, it is.” He inclined his head in the direction of the path ahead. “That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”
“You drive a hard bargain, O’Malley. No wonder you have been so successful with your bar.” She stood up, not wanting to admit how shaky her legs felt. He was right, there was no way she could climb this trail without him. The human him.
O’Malley led them higher up the trail. They both looked out for any sign that Karl had been here. They saw none. Disappointment set in, but Hannah told herself how unreasonable that was. He’d left the poker chips at particular places along the way. If there were none here, it simply meant he hadn’t seen the need
