Between Will and Surrender by Margaret Duarte

Author:Margaret Duarte [Duarte, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Omie Press via Indie Author Project
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

THE AIR WAS CHILLY and the sky overcast, hinting at showers, but for me the morning promised to blossom into a day of remarkable beauty. I appreciated the warmth of the coffee in my insulated mug as I waited in my Jeep for Ben to arrive. I also appreciated the extra padding provided by the thermals underneath my clothes and the wool socks on my feet.

Ben drove up a few minutes past seven and greeted me with arms spread wide as I slid from my Jeep. “Want to start with a lecture or a hike?”

My heart ached in sweet anticipation as though I were joining a dear friend for an evening of intriguing mentalism and sleight-of-hand miracles. “A hike, I guess.”

“Okay. A hike it is, while you search for your personal marker stones.”

I glanced at the blue-gray, silver-tipped clouds and inhaled the sage and pine-scented air. You’d think I was about to climb Mount Everest, the way my heart pounded and my temples throbbed. As we walked through the trailhead gate and followed the unpaved dam road, Morgan’s words played in my head like unappreciated parental wisdom. “You’ve enjoyed the company of educated and sophisticated people but have missed the closeness of nature. Today you had the chance to look around.”

I had liked sharing the closeness of nature with Morgan. A lot. As I liked Morgan a lot. But my mission in Carmel Valley did not include getting involved in a romantic relationship, not so soon after Cliff. Open doors and wide-open spaces were what I needed, as Ben now offered in his generous, undemanding way. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to dance. This was crazy.

We passed stately, twisted oaks to a large open flat with forking side roads on our way to the reservoir above the dam. “Before you can construct your Medicine Wheel,” Ben said, “you’ll need five marker stones. Four about the same size, the fifth, larger.”

“Okey-dokey,” I said, straining like a puppy on a leash.

“But there’s a catch,” he said, holding back a smile. “You’ll need a yellow stone for the East, a red stone for the South, a black stone for the West, and a white stone for the North. Plus, the larger stone for the Center has to be green.”

Whoa. Hold it. I thought of the amount of time it would take to find five colored stones, considering the area through which we were walking alternated between shady forest and open chaparral. “That could take hours.”

“You’ll definitely need to do some hiking,” Ben said as we reached the intersection between the Carmel River and Big Pine trails. We took a right and headed up a narrow hillside path and side canyon. The trail leveled and split again—left this time—and zigzagged down a steep hillside to an attractive campsite in a creek side meadow. We’d traveled a good three miles and I was ready for a break. However, Ben walked on.

I studied my surroundings with the caution of a city girl accustomed to pavement and street signs.

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