Chapter 17
I went back inside the library, apologizing to Allison for my disturbance earlier. She smiled tightly, and I felt a chill run down my spine at her icy stare. I sensed in that glare a warning. Strike two. The first was the mess I made of her newspapers. Strike one. This was the second. At the rate I was going, strike three was probably not far in the future. I couldn’t afford strike three. Finding a replacement Internet connection in Willow Run was not going to be easy. And I felt my hoped-for connection to Allison Wells slipping away. I needed to work on repairing the damage done.
At least I was in luck in regard to the computer. The workstation was still unoccupied, so I sat back down. I turned my attention to recent missing persons. Over the past month, there were scattered reports of missing hikers, campers, off-road vehicles, and kids who turned out to be runaways. Most were eventually found. Two were not. One was a white male Army Corporal on leave who had over-indulged at a local bar, boasting about going to protect our southern border from illegal immigrants. His car, with gas tank empty, was found on the side of Interstate Highway 15 in Idaho. His whereabouts were unknown. The other was an African-American female who had headed north on that same highway going toward Great Falls to visit relatives. She never showed up, and neither she nor her vehicle was seen again. Neither of these stories was relevant to what I was looking for.
One of the missing-then-found reports was a brief article in the local paper from July 23, 2009. Pair Saved by Good Samaritans, by Joseph Custer.
Two local teenagers, lost in the Lewis and Clark National Forest for nearly two days, were found early yesterday, according to Willow Run police. Two unidentified good Samaritans are credited with the find.
Benjamin Moore, 19, left Willow Run on Monday morning for a job interview in Missoula on Tuesday. Rachael Sterling, 18, accompanied him. On the way, they stopped for a short hike in the National Forest. They veered off the marked trail and quickly became disoriented, losing their way. They wandered for the remainder of Monday and all day Tuesday trying to relocate the trail, but were unsuccessful. Neither of them had taken a cell phone, so they were unable to call for help.
Fortunately, help found them. Benjamin and Rachael reported that two men in camouflage outfits, possibly hunters, found the pair Wednesday morning and led them to the marked trail to within sight of where they had parked their car. Then the two men quietly went back into the forest. These good Samaritans did not identify themselves and said very little throughout the rescue.
Rachael’s parents reported their daughter missing early Wednesday morning when she did not return from what they thought was a two-day campout on the Gaines’ farm just outside of town. So they called the Willow Run Police Department to report the disappearance. While on patrol Tuesday afternoon, Deputy Powell had recalled seeing Benjamin’s vehicle parked near the south end of the forest. Since Rachael’s parents reported that Rachael and Benjamin had been dating, Deputy Powell and Sheriff Tyler went to investigate. They had just arrived where the car was parked when the pair of lost hikers came walking out of the woods.
While the daytimes were warm, the nighttime temperatures dropped into the lower 50s. So the pair of lost hikers spent two uncomfortable nights sleeping on the forest floor. Since they intended to only take a short hike, they also did not have any food or water with them. When found, they were dehydrated and hungry. But other than scrapes and bruises from their ordeal, they were in good health. Both were treated and released from the clinic in Willow Run.
Rachael’s parents declined comment except to say they were overjoyed to have their daughter home. Benjamin’s family had no comment. Amanda Gaines, 18, and her parents also declined comment.
I chuckled softly at this report. I figured that Rachael arranged to secretly go with Benjamin on his interview trip, using a fake camp out with her friend Amanda as a cover story. But Rachael and Ben couldn’t wait until they got to Missoula, so they ducked into the forest for a quickie, leaving their cell phones in the car so they wouldn’t be disturbed. When they got lost, their scheme came unraveled. No comment from the parents. I wondered how long each of these kids was grounded. This did not seem relevant to my interest in a runaway from a tree-planting crew, though I wondered who the shy good Samaritans were. Could they be in some way connected to my guy with the rifle? Probably not.
“Mr. Parker”. It was Allison. The iciness was not completely gone. She leaned over slightly and spoke very softly, but firmly. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there are others waiting to use the work station.” Her index finger rested lightly on a sign to my left that read Thirty-minute time limit when others are waiting to use the workstation. I had been so intent on reading that I hadn’t noticed the several kids who had entered and now stood behind me waiting.
There was another search I wanted to do, but it would now have to wait. “Oh, sure,” I responded.
“Thank you. You’re welcome to use it again later.” Later was encouraging. Maybe I wasn’t as deep into the strike count as I thought.
Allison added, “You can collect your print outs at the desk when you are ready.” While searching, I had clicked on the print command for several of the documents I read. There would likely be a charge per page, but there weren’t that many total pages.
“I’ll get them now, if that’s OK,” I said.
“Sure.”
“And again, I’m sorry about the disturbance from my cell phone call.”
She smiled less tightly. “That’s OK,” she said, trying to be more kindly toward me than she probably felt and that I deserved.
I paid and thanked her for my print outs, then wandered over to the table with today’s newspapers, hoping there might be news about the body in the forest. There was a report of an 8-year old girl missing in California and a college student on vacation not seen since being picked up outside her hotel on a Caribbean island. But there was nothing about any local missing persons or bodies found. Before standing up from the table, I made certain to neatly refold each paper I had read. Then I rearranged the lot of them into the circular fan pattern that had been here before my reading began. A small gesture perhaps, but it might serve to let Allison Wells know that I was trainable.
I wanted to do more on-line searching for older events, back around the time of the fire in the fall. But now a second young girl occupied the computer. And if her other friends then each got their thirty minutes worth, I would be waiting a long time.
I walked the few paces to the desk. “Allison?”
“Yes, Mr. Parker.”
I grinned. “Since I’m a repeat customer, could it be just Nathan?” I asked hopefully. “The mister sounds so formal.” Perhaps if we were on a first-name basis, I could more easily overcome my two-strike count.
“I think that can be arranged,” she said flashing a warmer smile. “How can I help?” I noticed she didn’t use my first name at this opportunity. Maybe next time. At least the ice in her voice was melting. Perhaps she had seen me refold the newspapers today. That had to count for something.
“I was just curious who runs the Teton County Observer. I thought I might stop in.”
“There’s only one person who works there. He owns it. Joseph Custer.” Allison continued. “At the paper, he’s a one-man show. You might catch him in there, but he’s often out recruiting advertisers and digging for the news.”
“News from the small town grape vine?” I asked.
“Some might call it that, but it is a good way for him to get leads on local stories. He’s pretty persistent in tracking them down.” I touched my pocket that already held two of his business cards. I was familiar with that persistence.
“Thanks. I’ll stop back another time when the computer is less busy.”
“The best time is in the early morning,” she said helpfully. Now the iciness was completely gone. I was grateful for that.
“Thanks.”