Part 4 (1/2)

1.56.I followed him, and both Caleb and Gail Cullen came after me. On the second floor Gail moved ahead of us. The hall above was dark, but she moved with a sure step toward the back. As she opened a door, light cut through the gloom and I was aware of a second flight of stairs, equally narrow and forbidding, mounting into more darkness above. The upper floor seemed utterly still, as though someone up there held her breath, listening. I shook off the notion. I mustn't be influenced by Gail's words about the house being spooky.

Jon set my bags down just inside the open door and turned to me, ignoring the other two.

”Red will be fine down at my place,” he said. ”Dogs usually like me.”

Which meant that he liked dogs. I thanked him, and he gave me a strange, long look before he turned away and ran lightly down the stairs to where Red awaited him eagerly at the foot. It was a look I had no way to read, though I felt that it asked something of me.

”I thought you might like a view,” Gail said, crossing the room to pull up a plain green shade. The view she offered drew me at once, and I went to the window.

This time recognition struck me like a blow that I had no chance to avoid. The vista was of an open valley in which the buildings and fences of my grandmother's ranch formed a nearby cl.u.s.ter on the right.

Ahead a high mountain meadow stretched away, with elevations rising on either side-gentle slopes thickly wooded with aspen and pine that might do very well for skiing. But it was the peak at the far end of the valley that arrested and held my attention.

It was like nothing else nearby, but stood alone, a single cone rising high enough so that its top caught the last full sunlight, though its lower slopes were lost in shadow. A perfect cone with a bare, rocky head that pierced the bluest sky I had ever 57.seen. I knew about Colorado skies. Somehow I knew. And I knew they could cloud over in the afternoon, though now this peak stood clear at its top, with the sky that pure, deep cornflower above and behind it.

”I know that mountain,” I said softly. ”It means something to me, but I'm not sure I remember what.”

Behind me Gail was laughing as though I'd said something funny, but Caleb came to stand beside me at the window.

”That's where Malcolm Tremayne and Tyler Morgan struck silver,” he told me. ”It's up there that the mine was located. That's Old Desolate.”

The name was part of my childhood, but not entirely a hurtful part. One of those strange flashes went through me and was instantly gone: a child with her hand in that of a tall, kindly man as they climbed the trail up Old Desolate. Not the boy I sometimes dreamed of-this memory was of a grown man.

”I've been there,” I said. ”I know I've climbed that mountain.”

”More likely you went up on your pony.” Gail spoke behind me. ”Your grandmother says you had one when you visited here. Suppose we leave you to get settled now. The bath is two doors down the hall.”

Caleb had remained at the door. ”I'll come for you in half an hour, Miss Morgan. Then I can take you to your grandmother.”

I nodded, aware that the two of them still hesitated, watching me. Perhaps they could see that something had left me faintly dazed.

”Are you all right, Miss Morgan?” Caleb asked again.

”I'm fine,” I said quickly. ”Thank you for meeting us in Denver.”

59.Gail Cullen, poised to leave, turned back, her attention caught. ”Us?”

”A friend has come with me,” I explained. ”An actor from New York-Hillary Lange. He's staying at the Timberline for now.”

”The Timberline-well!” Gail said. ”That may upset your grandmother. Why didn't you bring him here?”

Again I wondered how she dared to be so forward.

”I suggested that we tell Mrs. Morgan about him first,” Caleb said, still cool, and I sensed the antagonism between these two. ”However, I doubt that Mrs. Morgan will want Mr. Lange to stay permanently in the enemy camp. Not that I feel Mark Ingram is an enemy. He's being a benefactor to Jasper, G.o.d knows.”

I thrust back a growing feeling of irritation with them both and looked out toward the mountain. ”Was there a town over there-a town named Domino?”

”It's hardly a town anymore,” Caleb said. ”It was never much more than a small mining camp on the far side of Old Desolate, below the mine. There's not much left of it now.”

Both the mountain and the thought of a town almost gone drew me. ”I'd like to visit Domino,” I said.

”That's not a good idea.” Caleb spoke firmly. ”The whole place is rotting and dangerous. The mine especially.”

”Except that house in Domino where Malcolm Tremayne took Sissy as his bride,” Gail countered. ”If I have to listen to that story one more time, I'll go up the wall. But Caleb, I don't see why I can't take Miss Morgan over there if she can ride a horse. I can keep her out of trouble. The place fascinates me too.”

Behind the cold s.h.i.+eld of reserve Caleb Hawes wore, there seemed to burn a suppressed anger.

”I'll be back for you in half an hour,” he told me, and went away.

6o Gail laughed softly. ”Oh dear, I do get under his skin. He wants so much to take charge, and no one ever lets him. I'll see you later. Let me know if you need anything.”

When I was alone, I stood by the window for a moment longer, wondering about these two. Caleb Hawes, I was beginning to feel, was a conserver of secrets, while Gail appeared to be stepping far beyond her duties as a nurse. There was something altogether wrong here, though I probably wouldn't stay long enough to find out what it was.

Now I must get ready for the meeting with Persis Morgan. First, however, I moved about, examining the room. It was s.p.a.cious and informal, with rag rugs on the floor, a patchwork quilt covering the walnut four-poster bed, a small dressing table with a ruffled flounce, and several comfortable chairs, one of them a rocker. A round marble-topped table offered a few worn and shabby books, and there was a huge mahogany armoire for my clothes, in lieu of a closet.

I had stepped into a world that was closer to the past than to the New York I had flown out of this morning. The sharp change left me feeling a little disoriented, as though I couldn't be quite sure of who I was in this mountain setting.

Quickly I began to unpack. I hadn't brought much with me. Just a.s.sorted slacks and jeans, blouses and sweaters, with one short dress and one long, in case I needed to dress up, which seemed unlikely.

When my clothes were on hangers in the armoire, I went down the hall for a shower in an old-fas.h.i.+oned bathroom with cracked linoleum on the floor and fixtures that were wearing down to the bra.s.s. Back in my room J put on navy slacks, a pink blouse with a dark blue vest over it, and brushed out my hair, repinning it on top of my head with blond tortoisesh.e.l.l combs. At least I looked familiar in the mirror.

Nevertheless, I still felt uncertain about what might await me upstairs. The brief, almost psychical encounter I had experi- 6i enced outside had shaken me. I wasn't ready to think of her as my grandmother, yet she was my father's mother, and she v, as the one who must tell me what I had come here to learn. I might turn away from letting anyone else speak the words, and tell myself that I need take only one step at a time. But nov, I had taken all the steps, and the time for the truth was almost upon me.

When Caleb tapped on my door, I was outwardly ready. Inwardly my heart had begun to thump and my palms were damp. It did no good to tell myself that whatever had occurred when I was a child had no real power to affect me now, and that once the amnesia cleared I would have the strength to face whatever must be faced. I knew better.

Drawing a deep breath, I opened the door for Caleb.

Had I noticed before how thoroughly forbidding he could seem? Those creases down his cheeks gave him a harsh, unrelenting look, and I wondered if he ever smiled. Certainly he was not a man who was happy with his world, and I wondered why. Gail's flip words about his wanting to take charge didn't seem to be a full answer.

”Mrs. Morgan wants to see you at once,” he told me.

”I'm ready,” I said. ”I think I'm ready.” He started away from me and I added, ”Wait, please,” and he turned back.

I had surprised myself a little with my sudden appeal, and knew I was trying to mark time.

”Is there anything I should know before I see her?” I asked. ”I feel so-so unprepared.”

”You shouldn't have come. But since you are here, you must see her and then take your leave as quickly as ou can. I mean you must leave Jasper. Your presence can do nothing but disturb her. You aren't needed here.”

Strangely, his open opposition braced me a little, and I went ahead of him toward the stairs, walking briskly.

On the top floor a narrowness of hallways again prevailed.

62.Sissy and Malcolm had bothered little with such furbelows as gracious hall and stair s.p.a.ce, but they had built generous rooms. A single light burned above the stairwell, and the rest of the hall stretched into shadow, with closed doors on either hand.

”Does she stay up here all the time?” I asked, pausing at the top of the stairs. *

”These have become her royal chambers.” He seemed openly sardonic. ”Of course that wasn't the case in the past. Her rooms were below,, and those long legs of hers took her all over the house-and the ranch. She used to ride the mountains as well as anyone I ever knew. I can remember her when she was strong and active, and believe me, she ruled Jasper when there was something here to rule.” The sardonic note was gone as he remembered the woman Persis Morgan had been.

When I still hesitated, he spoke impatiently, as though I, too, had turned into someone he remembered-a child.