Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (36 page)

But
watching her on the screen now, something was different. Her eyes still seemed
to say “put me first” but once where a look of desperate pleading had cried
those words, now trust filled her eyes. She knew he was putting her first
because he was putting her life before his own.

The
sun was coming up just like it had done thousands of times before in Jason’s
life, but as it peeked over the eastern horizon and reflected in his eyes, he
knew that this was unlike any other day. On any other day, he would’ve taken
the sunrise for granted – but, then again, on any other day, he would’ve
expected to be around to see it set. Today he knew the possibility for that was
much slimmer.

As he
leaned against a split-rail wooden fence, which held several colts inside, he
looked around at the world and drank in its beauty. He’d never thought of the
earth and sky, the grass and trees – life – he’d never thought of life as such a
precious and beautiful thing.

“You
ready?” Tyler asked solemnly, approaching Jason from behind.

“Yes,”
Jason replied quietly without turning to face Tyler. He didn’t want the tall
horseman to see that his eyes were filled with fear.

Tyler
turned and began to walk away, but Jason didn’t move, so the tall cowboy halted
after a few steps and turned back around. “You coming?” he asked. No answer.
Tyler walked over to the fence and leaned against it beside Jason.

The
two men stood in silence for a few moments before Jason spoke. “Have you ever
known that you were going to die?” he asked without turning his head towards
Tyler.

Tyler
was silent for a moment before responding. “Yes, I actually have.”

“But
you’re still alive,” Jason said in surprise, his eyes moist as he turned to
look at the tall horseman.

“Yep,
I’m still alive,” Tyler said with a small, thoughtful smile.

“How?”
Jason asked, a bewildered look on his face.

“God,
fate…
somethin
’,” the tall horseman replied as he
tipped his hat back a little. “Guess one of those things or all of the above
weren’t finished with me.”

“How’d
you know you were
gonna
die?” Jason questioned.

Tyler
didn’t answer. He just looked down at the ground. “Now isn’t about me,” he
finally replied. “It’s about you. You can learn more on the subject of me some
other time.”

With
that, the tall horseman stepped back from the fence and said, “Load up your
stuff. We’ll leave in a bit. You won’t climb until this afternoon, but I want
you to spend the day at the gorge. It’ll give you a chance to prepare mentally.”

Jason
walked up the hill to his shack, and as if he was preparing to pay a visit to
the grim reaper, he began packing a few things he’d need for the day. As he was
placing them in his truck, Susan came walking up the hill.

“Happy
birthday,” she said, giving him a supportive smile.

Jason
ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Hadn’t even thought of that yet,”
he admitted.

“Well,
we don’t have any candles for you to blow out, but you can still make a wish,”
she said in a semi-teasing tone, trying to cheer him up a bit.

“I
think you know what that is,” Jason replied soberly. “I wish for me and Misty
to both come back alive.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I guess I’m
not supposed to tell my wish though, am I?”

“I
don’t know,” Susan said, cocking one eyebrow. “At Ken’s birthday party he
blurted out ‘I wish I were a cowboy’ for everybody to hear.” She turned away
from Jason, looking down towards the barn. “Seems like it worked out pretty
good for him.”

Jason
followed her gaze down the hill to where Ken tagged along beside Tyler,
sporting a brand new cowboy hat. “So when you scoop a horse’s poop out of his
stall does he ‘
preciate
it?” Jason overheard his
nephew asking.

Tyler
stopped with a thoughtful look on his face. “You know,” he said, turning to the
boy, “in all my years of scooping poop, not one of them ever voiced a single
word of gratitude.”

Ken
shook his head. “Shame on them,” he said, gaining a whole-hearted laugh from
the tall cowboy.

“See,”
Susan said turning back to Jason, “wishes sometimes do come true.”

“Sometimes,”
Jason acknowledged solemnly, “sometimes not.”

Susan
reached up and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t stop believing,” she
encouraged. “Set your sights on things above. God will lift you up.”

After
Susan left and Jason had finished packing, he drove down to the barn and picked
up Tyler. They headed down an old dirt road that followed what was once a
railroad used to haul gold down from the Cripple Creek area. They passed
through several dark tunnels that had been cut straight through the mountain. A
while later, they parked, paid the entrance admission, and walked out onto the
expansion bridge that spanned the Royal Gorge. Jason followed Tyler over to the
railing and looked down on the north side of the gorge, almost directly beneath
them.

“And
there it is,” Tyler said gravely.

“Yep,”
Jason responded, that old familiar nauseous feeling growing more intense than
ever, “there it is.”

There
was a brief moment of silence before the tall horseman turned to him. “What
time is it?” he asked.

Jason
looked at his phone. “Almost eleven,” he replied.

Tyler
nodded his head as he looked around. He appeared to be waiting on someone… but
honestly Jason didn’t care. With a feeling that he was about to die, nothing
else really mattered.

“Are
you Tyler?” a voice behind them asked.

“Yes,”
the tall cowboy responded as he and Jason turned.

“I’m
Nicholas, representing the Royal Gorge and
Cañon
City,” the approaching man spoke, shifting his clipboard to his left hand and
extending the other to Tyler. As they shook, the man began speaking again. “On
behalf of the Royal Gorge Company, I’d like to say welcome and we are happy to
assist you and your climber in any way possible.” He paused briefly before
going on, “Of course, there are a few technicalities to be worked out first.”
He extended the clipboard out towards Tyler as he added, “I need both of you to
sign an affidavit releasing the Royal Gorge and its affiliates from any legal
ramifications that might come about as a consequence of your climber’s injury
or possible death.”

“Sure,”
Tyler said, taking the clipboard. “
Gotta
pen?” The
man pulled a pen from his pocket, and the tall horseman scribbled his signature.

When
the clip board and pen were handed over to Jason, his hand trembled as he
scrawled a terrible representation of his signature. Obtaining permission to
die didn’t really make him feel any better about it. He handed the clip board
back to the man who gave it a quick glance.

“That
will work,” he said then gave Jason a nod as he sincerely added, “Good luck.”

Jason
returned the nod without a word, and after the man left, he turned back to the
railing, gazing down at the Arkansas River flowing nearly a thousand feet
below. For a moment, he let his mind drift along with the current towards home,
miles downstream.

An
old black crow flew around the bridge several times before coming to rest a
short distance from Jason. It cocked its head sideways, looked at him for a
moment then gave out a squawk as it spread its wings, leapt off the bridge and
soared away. As Jason watched the bird’s graceful departure, he envied its lack
of concern over the law of gravity.

Tyler
stepped to his side and began explaining which way the original route went up
the face of the cliff that lay beneath them. After going over it thoroughly,
the tall horseman headed off to eat at the café inside the visitor’s center.
Not the least bit hungry, Jason went a different direction.

Finding
a small bolder, he took a seat on the ground, leaning back against the bolder for
support. Several hours passed by as Jason sat fighting with the fear down deep
in the pit of his stomach. Rising to his knees, he turned and leaned against
the bolder, whispering over and over again, “Lord if there is any other way to
save Misty show it. Please let there be another way.” Sweat dripped from his
forehead, creating dark circles on the rock where they fell. No answer came.
Finally, he rose on trembling legs and made his way to his pickup, grabbed his
two-way radio off its charger, clipping it to his belt at his lower back.
Reaching into the glove box, he pulled out the induction loop, flipped it over
his neck and concealed it beneath his shirt before plugging it into the two-way
radio. Lastly, he put the earpiece in his pocket then headed over towards the
gorge.

Once
on the bridge, he spotted Susan and Ken standing on one side, looking down at
the Tombstone; they listened as Tyler gave what sounded to be a description of
Jason’s route up. Unfortunately, they were not the only familiar faces to be
seen. Susan’s mother and father stood close by. In no mood to undergo their
condescending attitudes, Jason turned and walked on past the group.

“Uncle
Jason!” Ken exclaimed before Jason had a chance to slip away unnoticed.

He
turned back and saw the boy come racing towards him. “Don’t run on the bridge!”
he cried out anxiously. His nephew stopped with a confused look on his face.
“You could fall,” Jason lectured, feeling the inquiring stares of those around
him. Honestly, he didn’t really care what they thought. “And stay away from the
edges,” he added.

Susan
placed a caring arm around her son who wore a puzzled expression on his face.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she said calmly. “Uncle Jason’s just worried.”

Ken
walked forward and wrapped his arms around Jason’s midsection. “Don’t worry,
Uncle Jason,” the boy said, looking up at him. “When I’m scared, I pray to God.
He makes it better.”

Jason
forced a smile to his lips. “Thanks Ken,” he said. What the boy didn’t know was
that he had tried that repeatedly. The fear was still there.

Jason’s
father-in-law, Kurt, approached with his wife, Grace, following behind. They
stopped and stood beside Susan.

“Are
you really going to do this?” Kurt asked after a moment, a look of reserved
admiration in his eyes.

“That
is the plan, sir,” Jason replied solemnly.

“I don’t believe it,” his
mother-in-law injected arrogantly, speaking to her husband. “You know how he
is.” She flung her hands in the air and added, “If he’s our daughter’s only
hope then all hope is lost.”

Kurt, quiet and reserved as
always, stepped forward. “Good luck, son,” he said, extending his hand.

“Thank you, sir,” Jason said as
they shook firmly.

“Apparently, I’m the only one he
hasn’t deceived,” Grace spoke hotly. Without saying a word, Jason walked passed
her towards another familiar face.

“Jason,” a voice filled with
emotion spoke.

“Hey Jenny,” he said, moments
before he was wrapped in a big hug.

“You come back now,” she said,
like she was being forced to scold some careless child, “you hear?” Afraid
words would betray the fear in his heart and lump in his throat, Jason simply
nodded.

“Jason, how do you feel about the
climb today?” a reporter asked, sticking a microphone in his face as he turned.

“We better get moving,” a voice beside
Jason spoke. He turned. It was Tyler. “It takes a little while to get down to
the base of the Tombstone.”

Without a word to the reporter,
they turned away and walked back over to Susan. She gave Jason a big hug as she
said, “May God be with you, Jason.”

“I can take Ken with me,” Kurt
said. “He shouldn’t see if, um, you know…” He let his voice trail off. In his
mind, Jason filled in what was left unsaid. The reason his father-in-law was
offering to take Ken elsewhere wasn’t because the boy shouldn’t see his uncle
rise victorious over the Tombstone. The other thing that could happen was
Kurt’s obvious concern.

“I don’t know why all the fuss,”
Grace sighed. “He’s not going to climb.”

“Yes,” Kurt said, looking deep
into Jason’s eyes. “Yes, he is.”

Tears rolled down Jason’s cheeks
and his voice shook as he turned to Susan and said, “Tell Misty I love her,
okay?”

“How about we both tell her?”
Susan asked.

Jason nodded then said, “If not,
you’ll tell her, right?”

“Yes, Jason,” she reassured him.
“I’ll tell her.”

“Tell her about Jesus, too,” he
added. “Okay?”

“I couldn’t keep from it if I
tried,” Susan replied with a gentle smile.

As they walked away from the
bridge, Jason saw another familiar face. “Tomas,” he spoke, greeting the
doctor.

“Jason,”
the doctor returned the greeting. “How are you holding up?” he asked, giving
Jason a big, awkward hug.

“Holding,”
Jason replied simply, once he squirmed away.

“Just
remember everything I’ve taught you,” Dr. Throckmorton advised.

“Everything
you
taught him?” Tyler asked. “What exactly have
you
taught him?”

“How
to control a situation,” the doctor replied with a confident air. “If you learn
to control yourself, you can control the outcome of any situation.”

Tyler
huffed in disgust before Jason spoke. “Not long ago, I bought into that,” he
admitted, “but now I realize that God is the only one who can have complete
control. Whatever control we think we have is just an illusion.”