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RORY DROVE DOWN the hillside with caution, riding over or around small logs and boulders and avoiding any depression that looked too deep, conscious that the least slip-up could hang them up and leave them vulnerable to the pursuing riders. Finally reaching level ground, Rory accelerated, heading towards the edge of the river. The area to the left of the old wooden dam was littered with traces of gravel and the decayed remnants of timbers and planks. The low remains of a wooden foundation were the only evidence of a long-gone and forgotten building.
Corry sat forward and pointed at the foundation, "That's where the old sawmill was, I bet."
"I think you're right," Chet agreed. "Boy, I wish we would have made it up this far when I was a kid. Would have been great to explore up here."
Rory turned left, moving them closer to the bank of the river and the dam. A moment later he stopped and put the Range Rover in park. The upper platform of the dam was thirty feet wide and it was very apparent there were a large number of boards missing in spots as the dam spanned across the river. In addition, a large number of the old boards were twisted and several of them looked rotten. The square timber beams that braced the upper platform were cracked and warped as well. Water flowed freely under the upper platform and down over the angled flat planks of the water chute, plunging far below to a series of rapids. The roar of the water was steady, loud and ominous.
"I thought a dam stopped the water?" Emma said. "How come this one doesn't?"
"I'm not positive," Rory said, "but I think they had boards attached to those square beams that formed the wall under the upper part at one time. That would hold the water back. And it looks like the wall was angled so the water would be pushed this way through an opening to run a waterwheel for the sawmill."
Emma nodded as she leaned over the back of Rory's seat. "So where are all those boards now?"
"Long gone," Rory answered.
"And long gone is exactly what will happen to anyone trying to drive across that rickety thing," Donna-Lou said.
No one contradicted her.
Chet looked over the seat at her, "But what else can we do? Those riders are bound to catch up before long–"
"Why don't we just follow the river north?" Or head south into town?" Donna-Lou asked. "Wouldn't that make more sense than this?"
"I'm sure those riders chasing us will be thinking the same thing," Chet said.
Donna-Lou blew out a hard, frustrated breath. She knew he was right.
Rory nodded as he looked at the situation, "I know how you feel. But we have no choice. And we're going to have to act fast. They can't be far behind us." He contemplated the river and the dam for a few moments and then he said, "Tell you what, Chet. Why don't you and Donna-Lou take the kids and walk across? That should be safer. I'll drive across after–"
"Why don't we all just walk across?" Donna-Lou said in alarm. "Why risk your life for a stupid truck–"
"Because we need it to keep ahead of the KGC," Rory said. "They're on horseback and may even have vehicles of their own. They tried to put their bullets into the tires back there to stop us. They want the treasure and we have the information. Or should I say...we have someone they might feel might still have the information they need...."
Donna-Lou glanced at her son.
"They won't just give up because we're on the other side of the river," Rory added.
Donna-Lou grimaced with worry as she looked at the kids. She was torn between staying and having to confront members of an organization that had already kidnapped her son and having to take two kids across a rickety dam.
"But how do we find the treasure signs if we cross the river?" Corry asked. "They're all on this side."
"We can worry about that later," Rory said. "We need to stay alive and out of their hands so we can find it."
Corry looked disappointed, "I guess so..."
"Don't worry, we'll find them," Emma said to Corry.
Nodded reluctantly, Corry hung his head.
"Why don't we grab all the treasure stuff and get going?" Chet said as he looked back over his seat.
"Yeah. I guess we should go, mom," Corry said. He turned and reached into the back storage area for the items.
Donna-Lou's nodded her head with little enthusiasm. But within moments they were all standing in the warm sun at the edge of the dam's upper platform. The sound of the roaring water was louder and even more ominous.
Chet and Donna-Lou each placed their Glock19 handguns in the back of their jeans, ready to pull them and fight if necessary.
As they were preparing, and without a second thought, Corry was the first one to set step onto the upper platform, where he began bouncing on his feet to test it.
Donna-Lou reached for her son, "Careful–!"
"It's okay, mom," Corry said and he was beyond her grasp in a heartbeat. But twenty feet across the old upper platform he came to an abrupt stop.
Donna-Lou recognized the tension in her son's body language and knew something was wrong. Ignoring her own safety now, she bounded up onto the old wooden dam and headed for her son, "Corry? What's wrong?"
"M-my foot...went through," Corry said. He stood there frozen, with his foot sunk through a rotten board to his ankle.
Chet hitched up his pants, jumped onto the old boards and got there just as Donna-Lou grabbed her son's arm. "You hold on to him tight," he said, "and I'll see what I can do." He bent down slowly, examining the situation. Then he put his hands around Corry's ankle, "You just hit a rotten spot. Just pull it up carefully, so you don't get any splinters."
"O-okay, "Corry said.
Emma was right there as well, "Can I help–?"
Donna-Lou grabbed her arm quickly, "Be careful you don't go through, sweetie."
"S-sorry," Emma said as she stepped back.
With Chet's guidance, Corry pulled his foot up slowly, freeing it from the jagged edges of the old board. He let his breath out once he set foot on solid wood again.
Chet stood up and pointed out spots ahead, "Okay, everyone. Just avoid those wet looking spots as you go across and we should be okay."
Corry nodded.
Emma moved up to Corry and took his hand, "We can do it together. Okay?"
Corry nodded his okay and they began picking their way across the old dam.
Donna-Lou started walking behind them, whispering harshly to Chet as she passed him, "Just avoid the wet spots and we should be okay? And how exactly is Rory going to drive across if we can fall through just walking on it?"
Chet opened his mouth to reply and then grimaced. He glanced back at Rory, standing beside the Range Rover and wondered the same thing himself. Then he took a deep breath and turned back to the task at hand, getting Donna-Lou and the kids safely across first. He moved fast, avoiding those wet spots and soon caught up with the others, keeping an eye on everyone. There was no doubt the slightest misstep could plunge someone into the deep, fast-moving river and then tumbling them over the rapids to their death.
Back on the bank, Rory kept one anxious eye on their progress and one constantly looking behind him for any sight of the KGC riders. His Baby Eagle lay on top of the Range Rover, ready for battle if danger presented itself.
Two hundred yards across the old dam, Donna-Lou yelped as her foot went through a board. Sections of it fell away, tumbling into the river below and creating a larger opening.
Chet caught her arm just before she went down through the large gap created in the platform. She swung around and gratefully wrapped her arms around Chet's neck, "Thank you. I thought...."
"It's okay, I've got you," Chet whispered.
Corry turned and looked back, "Mom...?"
Donna-Lou released Chet and cleared her throat, nodding, "I'm...I'm fine, Corry." She turned, "Just keep going." But she was shaking and kept Chet close to her the rest of the way across.
As soon as they stepped onto the far shore, Chet turned and waved at Rory.
Opening the door to the Range Rover, Rory pulled his gun off the roof and slid in behind the steering wheel. He lowered all four windows for a quick escape, in case he went into the river, and slowly drove to the edge of the wooden dam, where he stopped. Taking a deep breath, Rory had arrived at the moment of truth. Could he really make it across? Putting the Range Rover in gear, he gently applied gas and put the front wheels onto the old wood. So far so good. He kept going. But once all four wheels were on, the dam swayed, the creaking and groaning very evident above the roar of the water.
Rory stopped. He waited. The swaying and the ominous sounds of imminent collapse stopped. The only noise remaining was the call of the roaring water.
Rory pressed down on the accelerator gently and began the journey across the upper platform of the 1880 wooden dam. There were creaks and groans of protest from the old wood as the immense weight of the vehicle passed over them. A gap in the planks appeared ahead and Rory steered to the left. The platform swayed and tilted slightly.
Rory stopped. The sway stayed but the platform didn't fall over. That was good. And despite the gap, he had all thirty feet of platform width to work with.
Applying the gas again softly, Rory leaned his head against the window frame, watching intently as he steered slowly around the gap, then steered back towards the center. The platform leveled out, then began tilting the other way. Rory quickly steered to the left to compensate. The platform again leveled out but began to sag. Rory gave it some gas and moved faster away from the sag and the platform came back to level.
But one hundred yards across, the swaying and tilting to the left returned. Rory swung gently to the right and almost went too far as the tilt the other way was more pronounced. The wood groaned heavily. Gripping the steering wheel like his life depended on it, and it did, Rory rolled the big vehicle back the other way, far enough to offset the right tilt. The boards moaned as the platform began tilting to the left and Rory took the vehicle to the right again. From that point on, he just kept weaving back and forth enough to keep the platform level.
But with just under one hundred yards to go, the upper dam platform not only tilted but began to vibrate. Rory's felt his heart leap into his throat as he compensated for the tilt by swinging the vehicle to the left, to try and bring the platform back level. It worked. But the dam's old boards continually moaned and groaned, cracked and rattled as Rory advanced over the river.
After another fifty feet, the dam suddenly tilted to the left and the vehicle suddenly began sliding to the edge. Rory gunned the engine and steered right. The bridge leveled out but shuddered violently. Rory heard a loud snap of wood and then felt the right front wheel drop through a plank with a bang. He hit the brakes and stopped. The shuddering continued for a few seconds and Rory could hear the clatter of boards falling away to the river below. Then the shuddering stopped.
Rory realized he had been holding his breath in and he let it out. He flexed his hands, sore from gripping the steering wheel tightly, and then put the vehicle in reverse. Applying the gas gently, he slowly drove back to pull the wheel out of the hole in the dam and back onto a solid plank. Then he put the vehicle in park and got out to take a look. The supporting timbers under this section had fallen away, taking every board with it to leave a twenty-foot gap. The only structure left was the heavy framework on the front and back edges of the dam and three boards side-by-side, just off to the left. He could see the loud, water rushing below. If those three boards held, Rory could walk across, but the vehicle wasn't going anywhere.