THIRTY-FOUR

 

 

May 29th, 1887

Central Idaho Mountains

 

JUST AS THE sun was filling the narrow canyon below the town site of Grapevine Springs, they reached the second problem area that Duster had warned them about.

The steep walls on their side of the valley pinched down to rock cliffs and there was no way for them to go forward without crossing to the other side of the valley, over Shannon Creek.

Duster had assured them that the creek wouldn’t be running as high in this area, and that he crossed about a hundred paces below the cliff.

But from what Wade could tell, the drop in elevation and tightness of the streambed and the volume of water made the creek even rougher here.

“That’s not possible,” Sophie said, standing beside him and staring at the raging water twenty feet below them, right about the point where Duster had said he crossed.

Wade laughed. “No wonder no one found this valley before now. It’s damn near impossible to get to.”

“Got that right,” Sophie said.

Wade couldn’t even begin to see any way they could get themselves and horses across. The other side of the valley from where they stood seemed almost shallow and would be easy riding if they could get over there.

“When do the history books say we found this valley?” Sophie asked. “I’ve lost track of the days.”

“Tomorrow,” Wade said. “But we might just have to camp and wait for the water to go down and change history.”

“I honestly don’t mind the sound of that,” she said.

Wade nodded. “I don’t either.”

The stood there for a moment together, watching the crashing water below them.

Finally Wade said, “Let’s back up and find a spot to camp, then explore along the creek to see if there is any place that might be possible to cross at this high-water level.”

He had just trusted Duster to be right about the flow being smaller the higher up they went. It might be, but nowhere near small enough. That water was a nasty death to them or any of their horses. He had no doubt about that.

The went back for about ten minutes until they found a flat area sheltered in some trees, took care of the horses, set up camp, got some lunch, and then went for a hike.

“So what are we looking for exactly?” Sophie asked.

“First off,” Wade said, “we look for any place that has calm flow, that water isn’t crashing over rocks like an out-of-control washing machine.”

She laughed. “Had one of those once. Not fun.”

They walked upstream, stopping and checking the creek below them just about every hundred paces.

Nothing.

Every time they looked, the water was churning and tumbling over rocks. But about five hundred paces upstream, Sophie pointed to the other side. “Look at the high water mark there. It’s still wet.”

“That means the water is dropping fast,” Wade said, feeling encouraged.

“So how about tomorrow we go back to the cliff area, climb up a little to see into the valley, and that way we won’t be lying about when we saw it for the first time.”

Wade liked that idea a lot. “Then we camp right where we are and wait.”

She nodded. “That seems like what true pioneers with only one life to spend would do.”

He laughed. She had that right. And he had no intention of spending another of either of their lives on this craziness. Patience was something he had to learn.

Being in a hurry in the Old West would get them killed. He had no doubt about that.