Book Of Days_ A Novel Part 41

"Then two years ago I started noticing my memory wasn't as sharp as it had been. Little things like reading notes I'd just written and reading them as if for the first time. Not remembering if I'd brushed my teeth or not. Telling my partner the same thing three times in one morning.

"Then I started losing memories of Jessie. What we'd done, where we'd gone, important conversations we'd had."

"I'm sorry." Taylor looked at the sky. "Okay, G.o.d, I get it."

He turned and stared at Cameron for a long time before nodding twice. "I am going to do something I swore I would never do for the rest of my life."

"Return to the Book of Days?"

"Yes." Taylor ma.s.saged the back of his neck. "And take you with me. But I should warn you. You might not like what you see."

CHAPTER 43.

I'm taking him to see it." Taylor sat in front of his workbench and stared at a map of the Three Peak wilderness as he spoke into his cell phone.

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Do you feel at peace with that choice?"

"Yes." Taylor paused. "Your counsel helped."

"I'm glad. Is there anything else I can do?"

"I need you to be ready for Jason if he tries to follow us." Taylor ran his finger along the route Cameron and he would take.

"You believe he'll try?"

"I'd be surprised if he didn't. His skills with knives and guns are far greater than mine. And I have little doubt he would kill to possess the book."

"I agree. Do not worry. I will look out for you and Cameron."

"Thanks, Grange."

"Yes, my friend. Yes."

Cameron didn't speak as Taylor drove up the rutted logging road, only a hint of gray dawn painted across the sky toward what he said was the genuine Book of Days.

Cameron hadn't set his alarm the night before. He'd never gone to sleep. He'd considered telling Ann about his conversation with Taylor and his claim that the book was genuine, but what if it wasn't? What if it was another one of Taylor's games? Or nothing more than a beautiful spot in the mountains where Taylor felt G.o.d gave him impressions that seemed real?

Sure, Taylor's story of saving his dad seemed like proof, but what if it was nothing more than a hunch he'd acted on?

But then again, Cameron had his dad's story to go on as well as Jessie's to bolster his belief. It didn't seem as if both of them could have hallucinated about the same thing. And then there was Grange and the stone.

He sighed. His brain was exhausted from trying to a.n.a.lyze everything he'd gone through over the past two and a half weeks.

Something Taylor believed to be G.o.d's book was up there, but what would a book be doing in the middle of the mountains? Sure G.o.d's book would be rainproof-it could be anything proof-but it didn't make sense. Was it in a cave? Was it two thousand feet thick? Logic wasn't helping and Taylor stayed mute about the book's description.

At least he hadn't let his emotions leapfrog on him. He'd shut down any hope of seeing anything more than a stunning setting hidden in the mountains.

"How could my dad have seen this thing when he was a kid?"

Taylor shrugged. "It's a long hike, not a hard one. He probably was up in the mountains with his dad or a friend, who knows?"

"And how did Jessie find it?"

"Think about her childhood if you can. Did she ever mention Girl Scouts or-"

"She was a Girl Scout. She talked about them doing a lot of things outdoors, taking trips-maybe she even told me she came down here..."

"There you go."

Cameron stared at the ponderosa pine trees rus.h.i.+ng past and thought about the last time he saw his dad. "You must find the book. Everything will make sense to you then." "You must find the book. Everything will make sense to you then."

I'm ready, Dad.

"Is the book real?"

"I've told you it's real. You don't need to hear me say it again. You need to choose to believe or not."

"How much longer?"

"Probably an hour before we reach the trailhead and a good three hours of hiking before we get there."

"Will you tell me anything about the book?"

"You'd like a preview?" Taylor grinned.

"Yeah."

"It's possible that some people have seen the book and not known it."

"How can you see the book and not know it's a book?"

"You'll see." Taylor paused and grinned again. "I hope you'll see."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see."

Cameron frowned. "Stop saying that."

"You will."

Ten minutes later they turned onto a dirt road that wasn't even one car wide. Branches sc.r.a.ped the sides of Taylor's truck as they inched along the narrow road, but he didn't seem to notice.

When the trail ended, Taylor threw the gears.h.i.+ft into Park. "Let's go."

He led Cameron up what looked like a game trail. After an hour and a half of steady climbing, Taylor heaved himself up onto a large slab of granite.

Cameron joined him and looked out over the forest below them. The only sound was the pounding of blood rus.h.i.+ng back and forth through his veins, the air as still as it had ever been since coming to Three Peaks and the scent of dry pine needles filled his nose.

A hawk screeched high above and behind them.

"How did you find the book?"

"I was praying." Taylor s.h.i.+fted on the rock and stretched out his legs.

"Praying?"

"Like I told you on the river, I wanted to go someplace I hadn't been before and chose this trail. I came up for some reflection, some alone time with G.o.d. I wanted to figure out where my life should go. Where Annie's and my life should go."

Taylor stood and took a long draw from his water bottle. "As I hiked along pouring my heart out to G.o.d, I reached a spot where I got an impression to stop. So I stood in the silence for a few minutes. I looked around and suddenly got this feeling I should walk toward what looked like solid rock. It wasn't a voice in my head, just the thought that I should walk right up to it. So I did, my nose inches away from the wall. That close I saw it wasn't rock. It was an optical illusion. Nature's way of hiding an entrance that was there the whole time.

"I'll let you discover the rest of the experience for yourself when we get there. Let's get moving. We're burning daylight."

CHAPTER 44.

His eyes darted back and forth, back and forth, searching for the little clues telling him exactly where Taylor and young Cameron had gone. As he slogged along he ma.s.saged the handle of his knife with one hand, the handle of his gun with the other.

It was always good to check to see that his two friends were still with him, even though he knew they were. They were loyal, they could be trusted to follow directions, and they never talked back or tried to force him to listen to a dissenting opinion. And when they were called on to persuade people to his way of thinking they always performed well.

He nicked his pinky finger on the tip of the knife and watched the small bead of blood pop to the surface of his skin. After licking it, he wiped the finger on the back of his neck and slowed his pace.

Stone wasn't trying to be discreet; tracking him and Cameron was almost as easy as following a dirt bike up the mountain. And there was little point in getting close enough to be seen should one of them look back and have the right line of sight to see him.

He fell back to what he estimated was a fifteen-minute gap and tried to quell the adrenaline pumping through his body.

But this was the day he would fulfill his destiny. Finally. How much longer? An hour? Two at most?

He wouldn't enjoy killing them. There would be no joy in it. But once he knew where the book lay, it would be the right decision.

CHAPTER 45.

After hiking another ninety minutes, Taylor stopped at the base of two intersecting hills "We're almost there."

A thick grove of pine trees framed Stone, who stood with his hands on his hips. A slight smile bounced over his face.

Cameron glanced at their surroundings. "I don't see any pages."

"Not yet." Taylor laughed.

"For a guy about to revisit a place that rocked his world to its foundation, you seem to be in an okay mood."

"You're perceptive, Mr. Vaux. And you're right. I am feeling good. I made a decision about something last night."

"What's that?"

"You'll see when we get to the book."

They trudged on through the trees, Taylor's stride growing wider and lighter. Whatever he'd decided must have taken a huge weight off.

Two minutes later Taylor stopped and grinned. "This is it."

"The book's location?"

"Yes."

Heat coursed through Cameron's body and he sucked in a quick breath. Stone was serious. Cameron glanced from tree to forest floor in a slow 360. Nothing. "Where?"

"I need to explain something before we take the final steps to get there." Taylor closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "When Adam and Eve chose to disobey G.o.d in the garden, it wasn't just man's immortality that was destroyed. The earth itself fell from its original design."

"What does that mean?"

"As stunning as the earth can be, its current beauty is a shadow of its original splendor. G.o.d says the earth itself groans, longing to be restored to its original design. And one day it will be. There will be a new earth restored to its former glory. Far more beautiful than what man sees now."

"What does that have to do with the book?"

"Maybe it's my imagination, but I believe this place we're about to step into has retained much of that original design. At the very least, the presence of G.o.d is here in a way I've never sensed anywhere else."

Cameron gave a wry grin. "Should I expect a bush to start burning?"

Stone's eyes narrowed. "The ice has grown thin under your feet, Cameron. Be careful. G.o.d will not be mocked."

Cameron's face flushed. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Let it go."

"I'm sorry-"