Stormer’s Pass

by Benjamin Laskin

  Max stood and looked in the direction of the voices. He waited. Two minutes later, Steve and Regina appeared around the stream’s bend. Steve had a large rucksack on his back. They waved and jogged towards him.

  Max and Steve clasped hands. Regina greeted him with a big hug and a kiss.

  Steve said, “Sorry I couldn’t make it last night, but they were watching my house.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I knew you’d come if you could. Do you think you were followed?”

  “No. Even if they tried I’m sure we’d have lost them. No one knows these woods like we do.”

  “What’s the news?” Max asked.

  “Bad,” Regina said. “You really did it this time.”

  “Did I?”

  “Max,” Steve said gravely, “they’re gonna lock you up.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Max, this is serious,” Regina said. “What are you going to do? You can’t stay here forever.”

  “I don’t know. What am I accused of anyway?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Wait a minute,” Steve said. “Are you saying you didn’t assault that night watchman?”

  Max laughed. “He was long passed out before I got there. Mr. Jack Daniels saw to that. I tried waking him up, thought maybe I could find some philosophy in the old man, but he was in a double-clutching snore and wouldn’t be bothered.”

  “But the sabotage, that was you, right?”

  “Nah,” Max said. “Wanted to, but didn’t.”

  “Max, that’s great!” Regina said, elated. “You’re innocent! You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Hey,” Max said, “don’t rub it in.”

  “What about the survey stakes?” Steve asked.

  “Well, you see, I was investigating the premises there, self-appointed inspector of public safety that I am, and I felt that they posed a real hazard. I nearly tripped over one myself. I saw it as my duty to remove them.”

  Regina smiled. “That was very considerate of you, Max.”

  “I thought so.”

  “So if you didn’t sabotage the equipment, who did?”

  “I know, but I’m not telling.”

  “But Max,” Regina said, “that’ll get you off the hook. They’ll never believe you otherwise.”

  Steve said, “You saw him?”

  “Yeah. It was beautiful. A couple of weeks ago someone came to me asking for advice on a certain theoretical situation.” Max smiled. “I enjoy seeing theory put into practice.”

  “You can tell us, though, can’t you?” Regina said.

  “Better not.”

  “Camerado,” Steve said, “you can trust us.”

  “Of course, but it’s better if you don’t know.”

  Regina said, “Are you going to turn yourself in?”

  “Not yet, no. Besides, I kind of like it out here.”

  “It’s cold,” Regina said.

  “You get used to it. I have the cave fixed up nice ‘n cozy.” He turned to Steve and greedily rubbed his hands together. “So, what did you bring me?”

  Steve grabbed the rucksack off the ground and was about to open it when Max held up his hand signaling silence. “A chopper. The cave, hurry!”

  Max snatched up the empty can and spoon, grabbed Regina’s hand, and the three of them dashed towards the cave, scrambling and slipping on the snow-covered, rocky hillside. The chop of the helicopter grew louder. They dove for cover under a grouping of small juniper trees. A moment later a helicopter swung into view. The three youths laid motionless, squeezed tightly together. The copter slowed to a hover directly above them. The noise of the whacking blades was terrific, and their gust stirred up a blizzard from the fresh powder below. The chopper seemed to hover for an eternity. Finally, it sped off further up the creek.

  “Get off of me!” Regina squealed.

  “Steve, you’re crushing us,” Max said.

  Steve rolled away and dragged Regina from under the tree.

  “Come on,” Max said. “Inside before they return.”

  They squeezed behind a large boulder that blocked the entrance of the cave and entered. Max lit a lantern and held it up over his head. “Home sweet home,” he announced.

  The cave began as a narrow tunnel that descended into a cavern the size of a small amphitheater. Aidos had dubbed her lair, Plato’s Cave, after the famous allegory of the cave in Plato’s book, The Republic. She had even led a number of the kids there to stage a reenactment of the allegory. Also, as was her squirrel-like way, she had stocked it with numerous survival essentials, as if she knew that one day someone might seek refuge there.

  Max set down the lantern. “What’s in that pack of yours?”

  Steve hoisted the pack onto a large flat rock and withdrew its contents—canned food, packages of crackers and pasta, a Bunson burner, candles, a blanket, extra oil for the lantern, books…

  “What’s this?” Max said, holding up a large manila envelope.

  “I thought maybe…” Steve blushed. “They’re poems.”

  Max unclasped the envelope and pulled out the printed poems. He flipped through the pages and slid them back in. He smiled. “Thanks, man.”

  “I got something for you too,” Regina said, reaching into the zippered lining of her coat. She pulled out a letter.

  “Katie?”

  “Yep.”

  Max took the letter and weighed it in his hand. “Heavy… Is that good or bad?”

  “Hasn’t she been emailing you?”

  He shook his head no.

  “Have you written her?”

  “Every week since she left.”

  “That’s not like Katie,” she said, puzzled.

  “Tea anybody?” Max said, changing the subject.

  “Sure,” Steve said, “but we can’t stay long or we’ll be late for school.”

  “Oh, Steve,” Regina groaned. “Let’s not go today.”

  “He’s right,” Max said, stoking the burner. “Someone is sure to come snooping around there. You don’t want to draw attention to yourselves. Everybody knows we’re friends. Careful of Kohl. He’s sure to try to weasel something out of you. He’d kill me if he thought he could get away with it. Don’t let him intimidate you. And you had better keep my whereabouts a secret from the other kids. Just in case. They’re no match for Kohl.”

  “You don’t think any of them would tell on you, do you, Max?” Regina said, appalled at the thought of a traitor in their midst.

  “Not if they could help it, I don’t.”

  Steve said, “Fitch is offering five hundred dollars for information leading to your arrest.”

  “All the more reason, then,” Max said.

  “None of our friends would turn you in for money!” Regina declared.

  Steve said, “He’d be spending it on a wheelchair if he did.”

  “Do me a favor,” Max said. “Stop by my house and see how my mom and the kids are doing, would you?”

  “Sure,” Regina said, “I’ll take them out for awhile. They like it at my house.”

  “I know,” Max said. “They rave about you. They said you’ve been teaching them piano.”

  “They catch on fast too,” she said. “You know you’re their hero, don’t you? Everything is Max this or Max that. The other day Samantha even said that she thought you were ‘as swell as Batman.’”

  “What?” Max blurted, incredulous.

  “Yeah. She said that she can always count on you to protect her and Ricki. Isn’t that sweet?”

  “Sweet,” Max muttered dryly.

  47

  Monsters And Miracles

  Four days passed without any friends visiting him. Solitude was not the effortless bliss he imagined it to be. Solitude turned foe, and Max wrestled with himself like Jacob and the angel.

  He slept little. His thoughts kept him awake. They peeled off one after another, skidding across the cave floor and ricocheting about the walls. Spooks and hobgoblins—the specters of futili
ty and self-doubt—were his constant companions. They rose up from the cellar of his mind and taunted him. They tried to make him feel puny and insignificant. They called him a liar and a fake. For long hours his thoughts waged war on one another, vying for the final word on who he was—monster or miracle.

  On the fourth night, he built a roaring fire. The flames licked wildly upwards and cast ghastly shadows on the walls. The flames took on the characters of his worst fears and doubts. At moments he thought he was going mad, and it took all his willpower not to succumb to a flailing panic.

  When the cave became too hot he removed his jacket. Still too warm, he peeled off his under clothing too, and sat naked before the crackling fire. He took the ring that Aidos had given him from around his neck and held it in his clenched fist. He stared into the fire and puzzled over the amazing girl who had changed his life so profoundly. He closed his eyes and tried to actively imagine where she was and what she was doing. For an hour he sat straining to see her, tunneling through the opaqueness of space for some wavering image that he could latch onto. Nothing.

  For the first time since she had left, Max allowed the possibility to enter his mind that Aidos might be dead. Five months was a long time. Again the demons of fear and doubt and self-loathing rose up, and again he struggled to slay them.

  Exhausted by his concentration and mesmerized by the fire, he loosened his grip around the ring and unclenched his thoughts. He felt as if he had pulled the plug in a sink, and that the brackish waters of his mind had begun to drain. A calm fell upon his nerves. Fresh waters, pure like those from a glacial spring welled up to replace the old. A new vitality seeped into his being. The battle was over, and he knew that he had won. The pessimism and dread that had enveloped him evaporated. He breathed with a new deepness and serenity.

  Aidos’ ring grew increasingly warm. It seemed to pulsate in his hand. Max was uncertain what to make of it, but he felt that he had established a supernatural connection to the will of the girl who had given it to him. He closed his eyes and sank into a deep meditation. When he opened them again, he saw that the fire had diminished to the radiation of its glowing embers. Shivering, Max rose and added more wood. He fanned it to a new blaze.

  For the first time since he received Katie’s letter, Max felt he could read it. He retrieved the envelope from his coat pocket and opened it:

  Dear Max,

  I’m sorry it has taken me so long to write you. I don’t blame you if you’re mad.

  It’s so hard to explain what it has been like for me here. It’s very different from anything I knew back in Pinecrest. I’ve met many new people, though few I can call friends. Boys ask me out, but I’ve only accepted a couple of their invitations. Nothing came of them. I also have to confess that Gary Webber (remember him?) has driven up to see me three times. My father and Gary have grown quite close, and I’m afraid dad has been putting ideas into his head about me. I like Gary, but I could never love him. He told me about you not playing ball and the scandal it has caused. Please be careful, Max. The next thing you know you’ll have the police after you, then where will you be?

  I didn’t come home over Christmas because I decided to take another class instead. I plan on doing summer school too. My goal is to graduate in three years. If I keep my grades up my father promised me I could do a year abroad. I’m thinking about Italy or France. Wouldn’t that be exciting?

  But that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t come home. I was afraid to see you, Max. When you told me in your letter that you wanted to marry me, I just didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad or angry or what. I cried.

  I think of you every day. I really do. Last summer was the happiest summer of my life. When I tell people here about some of the things we did on the mountain they look at me like I’m nuts. They don’t understand at all. People here can be very snobby. They don’t believe anything I tell them about Aidos. One night a bunch of us girls were sitting around my dorm room and I told them about Aidos’ amazing memory, her skill with the bow and arrow, the way she could commune with the animals, and some of the other fantastic things we saw her do. They all accused me of making it up!

  Everyone, that was, but my best friend, Gretchin. She believed every word. She says that there is a reason that we all know each other, and that it’s no accident that our paths have crossed. She’s very intelligent and well read, but she doesn’t flaunt it like most of the people here. Gretchin is modest and shy, and I like her all the more for it. She is fascinated by Aidos and is always asking me questions about her. I made her an honorary Olympian. She liked that.

  Whenever I talk about last summer I get homesick and lonely and confused. It’s times like that when the other guys and gals I meet cease to interest me. They seem so shallow and silly; yet they go about their shallowness and silliness so seriously. I don’t know. Maybe I’m the one who is shallow and silly.

  How are Ricki and Samantha? I miss them. Did you know Sammy wrote me a letter? It was so cute. One page was all drawings of you. “Max reading. Max climbing a tree. Max fixing a car. Max tucking me and Ricki into bed. Max and Katie kissing.”

  My dad says that when I come back to Pinecrest I’ll hardly recognize the place, what with all the construction and changes going on. I don’t know when that will be.

  I miss you, Max. I’m not playing games. I just don’t know how I feel. I don’t know what will become of the two of us, but the one thing that will never change is that I care for you. I want to know you the rest of my life, Maxwell Stormer.

  Please be happy.

  Love, Katie

  Max put the letter down and walked outside. The raw cold on his naked body stung of life at its elemental, disinterested best. It was very dark. The moon, a sliver of light, sailed like an ancient Egyptian solar boat through the sky. He wrapped his arms around his shivering torso and thought about girls.

  48

  Dawn’s Gospel

  The voices of men and the yapping of dogs woke Max. He scrambled out of his sleeping bag, threw on some clothes, grabbed a heavy stick, and hurried to the entrance of the cave. Dawn was breaking.

  “…Someone’s been here,” someone said. “There are footprints all over the place and the dogs are goin’ nuts.”

  “I don’t see anywhere he could be,” said a second voice. He snorted up a thick loogey, and spat.

  “Let the dogs go,” said the first. “If he’s around here, they’ll find him.”

  Max backed himself flat against the cave wall and raised his stick like a baseball bat.

  A terrific commotion broke out just beyond the cave entrance. The dogs snarled and barked furiously as the men shouted curses.

  “Dammit! Where’d he come from? Get out of here!”

  Max listened intently. A violent struggle ensued. Then, moments later, the sound of whimpering, painful cries.

  “Shoot him, Hank!”

  “No!” The voice was shrill and unmistakably female.

  “The hell!”

  “Don’t! Stop it!” the voice cried again, much closer now.

  “Damn, girl. He yours?”

  “Yes.”

  “What ‘chu doin’ ’round here? He about killed my dogs.”

  “He was just protecting me.”

  “Hell, girl, that thing’s dangerous!”

  “No, he’s not. Come here, Beowulf… Good doggie. You’re a good boy…”

  “Let’s git outta here, Hank. This was a wild goose chase. It’s only a dumb girl and her crazy dog.”

  “What ‘chu doin’ out here anyway, girly?”

  “It’s a free country.”

  “Yer folks know yer out here? Ain’t one dead girl in the woods enough? You git home now. This town’s tired of lookin’ fer crazy kids.”

  Max heard the sound of retreating footsteps in the snow, but could think of only the word he had just heard: ‘dead.’ It rang in his ear—dull, hollow, clipped in its monosyllabic certainty. He slid to the floor.

&
nbsp; “Max?” a voice whispered.

  “Here…”

  Beowulf charged into the cave. He nudged up into Max’s embrace and licked at his face.

  “Hi, fella…”

  “Max?”

  “Dawn, are you okay? Did you come by yourself?”

  “Oh, Max…” She was afraid she might start bawling if she said another word. She sank down dismally at his side.

  Max put his arm around Dawn’s tiny shoulders. “Steve and Regina send you?”

  She nodded.

  Max said, “Is it true what the man said? Is Aidos…”

  Dawn nodded again and began to sob. Her body quivered like a little bird. Max cupped her head in his hand and gently pressed it against his chest. He let her cry until she was through. She pulled away and looked up into his eyes.

  “You okay?” Max asked.

  She sniffled. “Yeah.”

  “It was brave of you to come out here on your own like this.”

  “You would have done it for me.”

  He smiled and rubbed the top of her head. “Did you stop at the professor’s before coming here?”

  “No. Beowulf found me. I think he was on his way by himself.”

  Max gave the dog a hug. “Wanted to keep me company, eh, Beowulf?”

  “Good thing too,” Dawn said. “Those dogs were just about to give you away. You should have seen Beowulf tear after them. I was hiding behind some rocks. I didn’t know if those men had seen me or not and didn’t want to chance giving you away. Beowulf was crouched on top of the cave. It was like he knew exactly what was going on. As soon as those dogs got within five feet of that big boulder out front, he flew down on top of them. He looked vicious too. Boy were those dogs surprised.”