“I didn’t know I’d be put at the end of the rope.”
“Tell me the whole story. Everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
“It’s not a long story. They lowered me down to the guy. He was on a ledge. I got him tied in. The ledge cut loose. I managed to kick off the rock and get us out of the way. It missed us. We were hurt more by swinging into the wall than we were from the rock falling into the canyon.”
Kelly’s mouth slowly gaped open, speechless.
“They raised us to safety. That’s pretty much it.”
“I’d a been cleanin’ out my underwear,” Johnny said.
“Shut up, Johnny,” Kelly said, tears welling up. “I can’t believe you’d put yourself in that kind of danger. Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No, I . . .”
“That’s the second near miss I know about. You and ropes. A year ago at Caveras Creek, and now this! How many more are there?”
Johnny leaned toward her. “Kelly, I’m sure I made it sound worse than it was. That rock falling in the canyon. I’m sure it was no big deal.”
She ignored him. “Why didn’t you let someone else rescue that person?”
“I had no choice. I had the experience and training, even though it was dated.”
“Dated!”
“It was either me or Luiz. There was no one else to do it.”
She clenched her jaw. “So, you pulled rank!”
“No, Luiz did. He was in charge. He knew more about another job. It was more complicated.”
She looked confused. “What could be more complicated?”
“The raising system. Getting us back to the top.”
She wiped tears from her cheeks.
“Kelly, I’m sorry,” Johnny said. “Didn’t mean to scare you. I was trying to give Jack a hard time. Let you know you should be proud.”
She patted his hand, avoiding his eyes. “I know, Johnny. It’s just . . .”
Jack put his finger under her chin, and forced her eyes up to his. “Kelly, I would never do anything I wasn’t trained to do. And I did try to resist, but that’s where Luiz needed me.”
“But you . . .” She noticed others watching. She held her tongue and waited as they turned back to conversations. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We’ll talk later, when we’re alone.”
“Now the silent treatment,” Johnny said. He took a sip of beer and smiled. “You’re not doing too well in sustaining conversation. First that Indian guy, now Kelly.”
“You’re not helping.”
Kelly eyed them both. “Native American?”
“Some guy named Thomas,” Jack said.
“His last name—what was it?”
“Didn’t say. Said it was complicated.”
“Where was this?”
“Near Sipapu Falls. On a ledge I never ever noticed before yesterday.”
“Mother!” she cried. Frantically, she stood. “Mother! The rescue. It was Thomas. At the falls.”
Juanita ran to her.
“What?” Jack asked.
“Thomas had a sister,” Kelly said. “She died at Sipapu Falls.”
“You’ve said enough,” Juanita whispered, wiping away Kelly’s tears.
“Why was Thomas there?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, slipping a hand over her mouth.
“But you do, don’t you?”
She said nothing.
Chapter 7
The firefighters drove off, some to return to the fire, some to rest before the next shift. Jack said his good-byes and stayed behind. He would have Kelly drive him home.
She seemed to expect a round of questioning and stuck to her mother, helping clean up. When done, she found new things to do, until busy work started getting hard to find.
“I’ll be in your studio. I want to see what you’re working on,” he said, in code she undoubtedly understood to mean he would be waiting to talk.
Muscles growing stiff and pains showing themselves, he hobbled down the hall and slipped into the room. In the moment before switching on the light, he noticed the lights of Las Piedras in the distance. Dark, wild ground occupied the space between. He left the light off and stepped over to the window.
The door swung open. “You in here?” Kelly asked.
“At the window.”
She slipped in and closed the door. Darkness settled back over the room.
“I take it you’re not studying my latest masterpiece.”
“No, but I want to see it.”
“It’s not coming together. Maybe another time. What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“About Thomas?”
“Yeah, and the stars.”
“But we’re not going to talk about stars, are we?”
“We can, but that’s not all.”
“I don’t have much to tell.”
“But more than you’re saying.”
“I haven’t seen him in years. He’s an old friend, but we both moved away for so long.”
“Just tell me.”
She sighed. “He was born and raised in the pueblo. Great guy. He can be quite funny or quite serious. He’s very bright. His mother encouraged him to get an education, which he did. He’s married, has a son. I heard he recently moved home.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but I suspect he wants his son to grow up in that culture.”
“Tell me about his sister.”
Kelly stepped back from the window, and picked up a brush. She
