Sacred Stone (Oregon Files 2)

“So you worked for the Company, too?”

“Indirectly,” Campbell admitted, “but they turned their back on me. They trained me, brained me, and cast me away. I came home with nothing but a heroin problem I managed to kick on my own and a host of bad memories.”

“I hear you,” Cabrillo said. “Now where is the snowcat?”

“Out back,” Campbell said, pointing to a door leading out the rear of the house.

“I’m going to check it out,” Cabrillo said, starting for the door. “You sit here and figure out if you really want to quit. If you do, and the snowcat checks out, then I have an idea we can discuss. If not, then we can discuss me paying you enough money to keep you in Jack until your liver fails. Fair enough?”

Campbell nodded as Cabrillo walked out.

Surprisingly enough, the snowcat was in perfect shape. A 1970 Thiokol model 1202B-4 wide-track Spryte. Powered by a Ford 200-cubic-inch six-cylinder with a four-speed transmission, it was bodied like a pickup truck with a flatbed on the rear. A light bar was mounted on the roof, an extra fuel tank on the rear bed, and the treads looked almost new. Cabrillo opened the door. Inside was a metal hump between the seats where the strangely angled gearshift resided, as well as a pair of levers in front of the driver’s seat that controlled the tanklike steering. Cabrillo knew that with a flick of the levers the Thiokol could spin on its treads in a circle. The dashboard was metal, with a cluster of gauges in front of the driver and heater vents down lower. Mounted behind the seat, hung on racks on each side of the rear window, was a large-caliber rifle. There were emergency flares, a tool kit with spares, and detailed waterproof maps.

Everything was freshly painted, oiled and maintained.

Cabrillo finished his inspection and walked back inside. He stopped just inside the door and knocked the snow off his boots, then walked back into the living room.

“What’s the range?” he asked Campbell.

“With the extra fuel tank and some jerry cans, it’ll get you to Mount Forel and back, with an extra hundred miles or so in case of trouble or snow slides,” Campbell said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to make a trip anywhere in her—she’s never let me down.”

Cabrillo walked over near a fuel-oil stove. “Ball’s in your court.”

Campbell was silent. He stared at the bottle, looked up at the ceiling, then looked down at the floor and thought for a moment. At this pace, he had maybe one more summer. Then his body would start shutting down—or he’d make a drunken mistake in a land where mistakes are not forgiven. He was fifty-seven years old and he felt like he was a hundred. He had reached his end.

“I’m done,” Campbell said.

“It’s not that easy,” Cabrillo said. “You have a tough battle ahead.”

“I’m ready to try,” Campbell said.

“We’ll get you out of here and into detox in return for the snowcat. Do you have any living family?”

“Two brothers and a sister in Colorado,” Campbell admitted, “but I haven’t spoken to them in years.”

“You have a choice,” Cabrillo said, “either go home for treatment—or die here.”

For the first time in years, Campbell smiled. “I think I’ll try home.”

“You’ve got to hold it together for the next few days,” Cabrillo said. “First I need you to show me the route through the mountains here on the maps and help me prepare. Then I’m going to leave you with my spare satellite telephone so I can call you if I run into trouble. Do you think you’ll be able to handle that?”

“I won’t be able to stop cold turkey,” Campbell said honestly. “I’d shake myself to death or go into convulsions.”

“I don’t want or expect you to,” Cabrillo said. “You need medical care. I just want you sober enough to be able to answer the telephone and give me advice if any problems arise I can’t handle.”

“That I can do.”

“Then hold on,” Cabrillo said as he removed his satellite phone and dialed the Oregon, “and let me set it up.”

CAMPBELL SNIFFED AT the wind and stared to the north. The Thiokol was idling smoothly a few feet away. The flatbed was loaded with extra jerry cans of fuel and the boxes of supplies Cabrillo had retrieved from the airport. Cabrillo was placing other boxes with food and items he didn’t want to freeze on top of and below the passenger seat. The door was open and the hot air from the heater was creating clouds of steam.

“There’s a storm coming,” Campbell noted, “but I’d guess it won’t be here until tomorrow afternoon or night at the earliest.”

“Good,” Cabrillo said, finished now and standing upright. “You remember how to use the satellite telephone?”

“I’m a drunk,” Campbell said, “not an idiot.”

Cabrillo stared into the darkness. “How long did you figure the trip will take?”