Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 42, Part 2: The old man fell

Road tripping north and an unexpected detour

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With gratitude, Bill

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Last week, in chapter 42, Part1, Arthur confronted Careen about Luke

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Chapter 42, Part 2: The old man fell

They drove North for an hour before pulling over into the dirt parking lot of a long, one-level store stretched by the side of the road called Mountain Momma. Takeda didn’t want to spend money on new clothes, but Holly insisted. “If you’re going into the woods with me, you’ve got to get some stuff; I’m serious as a heart attack.” Ultimately, he’d picked up new boots, a jacket, and a harness for Triscuit with a handle on the back. “We can carry her like luggage!” Holly beamed as Triscuit’s feet swam in the air, Takeda holding her aloft. 

On the way back to the car, Holly stopped. “I’ve got to use the ladies, and we forgot to pick up some water. Keep the car warm. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” he said.

Takeda took Triscuit for a walk into a small patch of grass skirting the edge of the lot. A beat-up, dirty brown van skidded to a stop before them, throwing a cloud of dust in the air mixed with herb billowing from the windows. The passenger door opened, and a man hopped out. “Oh, dude, I’m sorry. Didn’t see you and your pup there. Hope I didn’t scare him.”

“She’s okay, no harm, we cool.” The man was striking. Takeda would’ve guessed he was a movie star if not for the subpar transportation. He was about six-foot-four, tanned, with a dirty blond sweep of hair covering cobalt blue eyes. His jaw looked like it could’ve been used as a building foundation. He bent down to pat Triscuit with an arm that Takeda was sure was thicker than one of his legs.

“Aw, she’s a sweetheart!” the man said. Triscuit flopped onto her back, and the man patted her belly. Her legs kicked the air in approval.

The van’s sliding door opened, and someone from inside yelled,” Dude, hurry up! Snacks!”

The tall man grabbed the door before it closed and said, “Give me a minute, jerks!” As he turned back to Takeda, a book fell out and onto the ground. “Always bustin’ my balls,” he waved a thumb over his shoulder before walking away.

Takeda bent down to pick up a dog-eared copy of The Stranger by Camus. “Hey, you dropped this!”

The man turned and jogged back. “Shit, thanks! Would’ve sucked to lose that.” He knocked the dirt off the book and slid it into a cargo pocket.

“No prob, you’re welcome.” The man shot a finger gun at him and waved to Triscuit. They watched him disappear into the store. Takeda pursed his lips and looked at the dog. They walked back to the car.

He settled Triscuit into the backseat and got inside, taking a moment to look in the mirror, smooth his hair, and sneer at his reflection. He sat back and closed his eyes.

He was hiking, looking down at his new boots as they negotiated the medium-sized boulders. The smell of woods and earth mixed with the light chill in the air, and he felt sweat run down the middle of his back. Rocks gave way to damp soil as the trail turned to the right and up. There was a small set of footprints on the ground. He looked ahead and saw movement, but the sun’s glare through the trees obscured his view of the hiker before him.

Glancing behind, he said, “Holly? Tris?” When there was no answer, he jogged forward and emerged above the treeline. He found a blue trail marker on the rocks that pointed the way forward and saw a flash of red from his periphery. “Hello?” he said. Twenty yards in front, Chimera jumped up onto a boulder with her hands on her hips.

“Keep up, silly!” She dashed forward like a waterbug on the surface of a pond.

He meant to speak but was suddenly right behind her as they passed a sign that said Lake of the Clouds Hut. Ahead, the summit of Mount Washington, marked by an antenna, beckoned hikers forward. He watched several people head off in that direction, shouldering lumpy packs.

They both entered the one-floor wooden building past backpackers who milled around in cheerful conversation. No one seemed to notice him or the little girl in the bright red dress who wasn’t outfitted for mountain climbing. The two sat down at one of the empty picnic tables. The rest were packed with weary travelers recharging their spirits, filling their stomachs and water bottles.

She reached across the table, touched and squeezed his hand, smiling at him.

“What do you want from me?” Takeda asked.

She pointed to the bookcase on the wall, filled with log books, and said, “The Old Man fell.”

A low knocking gave way to rhythmic pounding. The hut’s walls shook, and he grabbed the table’s edge to keep from falling. Chimera smiled at him. The sound grew louder and louder…

He jerked forward, awake. Holly was banging on the driver’s side window with one hand, clutching a bag and a gallon of water with the other. “Wakey wakey, sleepy head!”

“Huh?” He shook and took a moment to remember where he was–then unlocked the door. “Sorry, I fell asleep.”

From behind her, a voice said, “Holly?”

She turned around and said cooly, “Oh, hey, Rain,” to the jaw with the dirty blonde hair.

“Haven’t seen you in a long time. You look great. How are you?” Rain said.

She opened the car door and put the bag and water inside. “I’m fine. This is Takeda. Tak, this is Rain,” Holly said over her shoulder.

“We sort of met earlier. Good to meet you again, Rain.” Takeda got out of the car and walked over to shake hands.

“Likewise, man.”

“You workin’, been on any jumps lately?” Rain said, turning to Holly.

“No. Taking time off. You?” She folded her arms and leaned against the car.

“About the same. You know how I always talked about going back to school? Well, I’m finally doing it!”

“Oh? Good for you,” she said in a monotone.

“Philosophy,” Rain said.

“What?”

“I’m studying philosophy.”

“Seems about right.” She nodded and relaxed, letting time pass.

Takeda shuffled his eyes from one of them to the other. Triscuit had her paws up on the back window and was licking the glass.

Rain took half a step forward, “Holly, I always felt bad about…”

“Don’t,” she said, which sent him back on his heels.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair.

Triscuit barked.

“I guess we should head out then?” Takeda said, breaking the silence.

“You guys going hiking?” Rain said, looking at Holly.

“Something like that.” She stared daggers.

“Be safe. Goodbye, Holly.”

“Bye, Rain.” She got into the car and closed the door with a thud.

Takeda waved. Rain returned the gesture before kicking a rock as he walked to the van.

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After they’d been driving for a few minutes in silence, Takeda said casually, “Sooo, that was Rain. You okay?”

She turned sideways to face him. “Yeah, that was fuckface himself. Sorry, he reminds me of shit I left behind, shit I’m glad I left behind. Seeing him took me back to a time when I… felt more vulnerable or something. I don’t like that feeling.”

Takeda nodded while changing lanes. “I wouldn’t want to feel that way either.” he paused for a moment and added quietly, “I hope I never make you feel that way, H.”

She ran a hand through the hair on the back of his head. “I’m not sure you could if you tried. Anyway, I’m different now, and I’d let you know. We’d talk about it.”

“Oh no, not the T word!”

“Jerkface.”

Holly reached into the shopping bag and opened a packet of beef jerky. She handed a piece to Triscuit.

“Why isn’t that guy an action movie star or a model?” He gave her a side glance.

She laughed, “Because he’s an asshole. Studying philosophy? I never saw him pick up a book. I mean never.”

Takeda looked in the rearview mirror at Triscuit devouring her treat.

Holly could see him thinking of something to say, then kissed him on the cheek. “Shut up, dum-dum.” He put an arm around her and smiled.

The GTO devoured the winding road skirted with trees, a hint of breeze whistling through a crack between rubber and window pane. The steady beat of the wide tires strummed the rutted highway like a long-forgotten ballad.

“You want me to drive so you can sleep some more? Or are you lost in thought?” Holly said.

“Oh, there is something…”

“What?”

“I had another vivid dream about her... Chimera. I was following her, trying to keep up while hiking a trail towards Mount Washington. We went into this kind of cabin thing; I remember a sign saying something like Lake of Clouds.”

“Lake of the Clouds Hut?”

“Yeah, that’s it! We go inside and sit down, and there are all these hikers. They don’t seem to notice us. I can understand not seeing me, but there’s a little girl in a red dress who looks obviously out of place. Anyway, Chimera points to this bookshelf where there are old hiker logbooks or something. She says, ‘The old man fell.’ I remember that part vividly. It was right before your knocking woke me up.”

Holly opened the passenger side window. She put her hand outside and used it to surf the air while watching the scenery rush past.

“Getting chilly out there,” Takeda said with a shiver.

She rolled the window back up. “When we set out, I thought we’d start driving North and end up following birds or something. Who knows, right? Or maybe we’d head up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the top and see what happens. But hell, you’re getting pretty straightforward instructions. I know what we’re going to do.”

“You do? That made sense?”

“Most of it. Next time you see Chimera, could you ask for some lottery numbers?”

“You said most of it. What don’t you get?”

“The first part is crystal clear. We hike to The Lake of the Clouds Hut. It’s a real place I’ve been to a bunch of times. We’ll stop at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center off Route 16, park there, and hike the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to where it cuts over to the hut. The way you described the inside of the building is familiar; it hasn’t changed in, like, forever. There are logbooks on the wall that people sometimes sign when they pass through. Many are so old they crumble when you open them. Someone should put them in a museum.”

“We really are going for a hike. How long do you think it will take to get up there?”

“Probably a few hours. That depends on you,” Holly patted his belly, “and Miss Triscuit.”

“Watch it–I’ve got new boots now. I’m gonna kill it on those trails!”

“Sure, take it easy in those. Breaking them in on a long climb isn’t the best idea.” She started tapping on her phone, then her mouth fell open. “Holy shit, I think that’s it.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“The Old Man fell. I couldn’t remember why that was familiar. It’s a reference to The Old Man of the Mountain, duh!”

“Old Man in the Mountain? There’s a guy who lives in the mountain?”

“No, silly. It’s the Old Man of the Mountain, not in. It’s not a real person. There were granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain that looked like the profile of an old man. It formed thousands of years ago, but according to what I’m reading here, its first recorded mention wasn’t until 1805. Tak, that’s the profile you see on old New Hampshire signs and stuff.”

“Oh, I thought that was some famous person. It never occurred to me to look it up. Do you think those books go back to 1805? That’s an awfully long time ago.”

“I doubt that they do. But we’re looking for a more recent date. Chimera said, ‘The Old Man fell,’ right? On the morning of May 3rd, 2003, the Old Man collapsed. The granite slabs that defined his face fell to the ground. I bet that’s what we’re looking for, a logbook entry from that day.”

“Interesting, let’s give that a shot. We have something specific to do–I like it. Nice job, H. I’d never have figured that out. Crap. What the hell is this?”

A makeshift checkpoint blocked the road ahead. Several New Hampshire Border guards clad in black body armor and face shields were speaking to motorists before waving them through. One motioned for Takeda to pull forward and stop. He rolled down the window.

“Good afternoon.” The voice crackled through the helmet speaker. “At this time, we are advising all travelers that Route 16 North is closed.”

“Closed? How can it be closed? What’s going on?” Holly said.

The guard leaned in to get a better look at her. “The road is closed, ma’am. That’s all the information that we have for you. Where are you headed?”

“The Mount Washington area,” Takeda said.

“Follow the detour marked ahead. It will send you to Route 302 West and lead you into Mount Washington country,” the guard said.

“Thanks,” Holly said, crossing her arms.

“Have a pleasant day,” the guard said. He stared Holly down, then examined Triscuit in the back before retreating from the window.

“How bad does this mess us up?” Takeda said.

Holly was looking at her phone. “Not too much, a little extra driving. We’ll park at the Cog Railway Base Station and hike up from there.”

They drove for a few minutes before coming to another blockade at the intersection of Route 302. A Border Guard stood in the road directing cars to the onramp. Behind him were several other armed sentries. Following that were military vehicles, barricades, and uncoiled barbed wire.

“What do you think that’s all about, H?”

“Beats me. I can’t find anything about it on the web. I don’t like it though.”

Next week in Chapter 42, Part 3 “The old man fell” A showdown on the Mount Washington hiking trail.