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RORY HELD ONTO the steering wheel tightly, focusing intently on the terrain ahead as he drove down the hill. He considered what Chet had said and pulled himself upright, "Are you sure there's no way across this Money River?"
"Positive," Chet said. "There's no ford, no low spot, no shallows. And it's probably too wide for me to swim across, let alone the kids."
Rory gave it some thought. Okay. So how about a bridge? There has to be one close by?"
Shaking his head Chet said, "No. You got to drive north to take the bridge. And that's maybe...I don't know...maybe 25 miles away? And once we head that way, we'll be in the open."
Cursing, Rory banged his fist on the steering wheel.
Donna-Lou sat up in the back seat, "But we have to do something. We can't just wait for them to catch up."
Chet went to say something and instead ran his hand through his hair. He had no answer.
Rory slowed to go around a line of low bushes, then accelerated up over another rise, half expecting another rifle shot. It didn't come and he skirted several large trees and then drove down into another low gully. He turned to the left and rode the bottom of the gully, using it as a shelter from the riders for ten minutes before it became too rough. He turned right and over the brow again and along another ridge, keeping a dense line of trees on their right between them and where the horsemen should be. An idea came to him, "Corry, you mentioned some of the treasure signs were removed during construction of a dam in 1880 or so?"
Corry was still holding Emma and he nodded, "Uh, huh. It was for a sawmill, I think."
"Do you know if the dam is still there?"
Corry shrugged, "I never got up that far. I was going to but they took me before I did."
Chet looked across at Rory, "What are you thinking?"
Rory was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he asked Chet, "Do you think you and Corry could use the topographical map and the GPS to figure out the approximate spot where they put the dam on the river. And then get us there from here?"
Chet held up the rolled up map and looked over the seat at Corry, "I guess we can try, right?"
Corry nodded, "Yep." He Leaned over the front seat as Chet unrolled the map again and went to work. Ten minutes later, Chet looked at Rory, "Okay. We can't be 100% sure but...."
"Well, I'm 100% sure I don't have a plan, so give it to me," Rory said.
Chet nodded and pointed off to his side, "We got turned around a bit with that chase and we'll have to angle back that way. It will put us closer to where I think those horsemen are, but we'll hit the river in the area where it should be...emphasis on should."
Rory gave it some thought. Finally, he nodded, "Okay, good enough for me. I want everyone to hang on tight and stay low. I'm going to drive as fast as I can, but we'll probably be a nice target for their rifles before we can get far enough away."
"Hopefully, they don't have a vehicle to chase us," Chet said.
The silence from the others said they were hoping the same thing.
Rory took a deep breath to prepare himself and then said, "Okay. Hold onto your false teeth Emma."
Emma laughed, "I don't have false teeth, silly."
Rory slowly pressed down on the gas pedal. The Range Rover picked up speed. Rory watched for a break in the tree line on the right that they could pass through. It took several minutes before he spotted a break coming up. Applying more gas, he steered in a half circle to the left, then floored it as he aimed the hood up the slight incline towards the trees. The Range Rover's 510 horsepower supercharged engine growled as they shot into the gap, the trees becoming a green blur on both sides of the big vehicle as their speed increased. Minutes later, they emerged from the trees and bounced into the open.
"Rider on the right," Chet yelled as he bounced up and down in his seat.
Rory steered hard left and the big vehicle fish-tailed. Rory didn't let up on the gas though. Slowing or stopping would make them an easy target. Instead, he wrestled with the steering wheel, bringing the 7000 lbs. back under control.
Crack!
"I don't think he hit us," Chet yelled. He lowered his window and turned in his seat, firing a left-handed shot. Bouncing up and down, Chet fired another shot. He nodded to himself, yelling, "That one made him pull up."
The Range Rover began vibrating as Rory kept his speed up over the uneven ground littered with rocks, roots, and twigs. There were a few screams of surprise as they slid sideways for a moment as Rory steered around a large boulder. He straightened the bug vehicle out and accelerated again.
Crack!
Chet looked over at Rory, "That shot sounded further away."
Rory nodded as he concentrated on the terrain ahead. The shaking lessened as he drove across a grassy field. He looked up in the rear-view mirror and noticed Corry's head looking at the side window. "Keep your head down, Corry, we're still in the open," he warned.
Emma's arms reached up and pulled Corry back.
A boggy area appeared ahead and Rory had to steer to the left to go around. He slowed to make sure he didn't make a mistake and put the tires on soft ground where they could get stuck. He held his breath, expecting a rifle shot. But nothing came. Finally skirting the area, Rory floored the gas again and shot across the undulating field on the other side. One hour later, the Range Rover crested a hill and Rory slid to a stop.
Donna-Lou was up quickly in the back seat, looking around, "What's wrong?" The kids were up and beside her, looking around as well.
Rory's voice was quiet as he looked ahead, "Well, Chet and Corry got us to the right spot...."
Through the front windshield, everyone could see the Money River, stretching across the horizon in a wide ribbon of blue below the hill. And straddling 300 yards across the river was a weather-beaten structure.
"Is that thing made of wood?" Donna-Lou asked in a low voice.
"It is," Rory said. "It's what's called a flat plank dam. That 45-degree slope on the left side, where the water is flowing over, that's made from flat boards."
Chet sat up straighter, "It's wide...but...it's full of holes...."
"It's a freakin' 1880 wooden dam! With a whole bunch of boards broken away? That's where you want us to cross?" Donna-Lou shook her head forcefully, "No. No way. We can't go across that."
Corry looked at her, "What do we do then, mom? If those men with the rifles catch up to us...."