A green Volkswagen Beetle approached from the north. Alfred glanced at his watch. He had been here less than two hours. His excitement grew as he became more and more certain it was them. He started the engine of the camper. His excitement peaked when he saw Penny’s profile in the side window of the small car as it passed.
He pulled out onto the highway, keeping enough distance between them that they wouldn’t become suspicious. At least they had no reason to be looking for him in a VW camper. He hadn’t followed them very far when they slowed down and pulled into the entrance of a park containing redwood trees-the trees Alfred had told Mattie he wanted to see. Now he would get to see them.
Alfred pulled in behind them and was careful to park some distance away from their car. He saw them walk off along one of the paths that led through the groves of big trees. He couldn’t follow them on foot without risking being seen. In addition, there were a few other people in the park. Not many, but enough to scotch any plans he might have had.
Alfred sat in his car and pondered his next move. He obviously hadn’t thought through what he was going to do. He needed them to be in a more isolated area. In addition, he needed to separate Penny from Gary. How was he going to do that? He didn’t know.
While he was wondering what to do, he saw the honeymooners returning along the path. He would keep following them. Maybe his luck would change.
They continued south on 101, through the village of Klamath and across the Klamath River. The road went inland for a bit, but it still wound through forests of the magnificent redwood trees. After the village of Orick, the road came back to the coast again.
“Let’s stop here,” Penny said.
Gary obediently pulled the car off the road at a turnout with access to the beach.
“The guidebook says that we can find black jade and agates in this area,” Penny said. “Maybe we can collect some for our table.”
They got out of the car and walked toward the water. As they came to the top of the sand slope that led down to the beach, Gary stopped in amazement.
“Have we shrunk or are we in the land of the giants?” he asked.
“ Holy cow. That driftwood on the beach is…those are redwood trees.”
“How did they get there?”
“ Remember, there was an earthquake in Alaska last March. It was one of the biggest quakes ever recorded. It caused a tsunami. I remember hearing that several people in Crescent City were killed by the tsunami.”
“So the tsunami uprooted redwood trees, washed them out to sea, and then they were deposited on this beach. Holy cow, as you say. That was some powerful wave.”
“I want my picture taken with one of the tree trunks.”
Penny ran down the slope to the sandy beach and raced over to a gargantuan piece of driftwood. Gary ran after her, holding the camera. They took pictures of each other being dwarfed by the white trunks of what used to be redwood trees. They felt insubstantial, like a mouse would feel when encountering ordinary driftwood.
When they had their fill of photography, they walked down close to the water.
“Look,” Penny said. “This is black jade. And here are agates.”
“Aren’t the pieces of jade too big for our table?”
“ They’re so beautiful. Maybe we can use them for something else.”
Penny began picking up the rocks. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and Gary joined in. When she was happy, he was happy. They soon had an armload of the rocks.
“We’re going to have trouble getting these in the car,” Gary said. “Let me take a load back and see how many more we can fit in.”
Gary carried the rocks up the slope to the parking area. He placed the rocks on the ground, unlocked the door of the VW, and popped open the hood. He didn’t want to place the dirty rocks inside the car. He squeezed them into the storage space under the hood and returned to the beach. He saw that Penny had more rocks.
“I’ll take these up,” Penny said.
“Okay, but that’s the last load.”
“Promise.”
“I’m going to walk down the beach a little way and take pictures of some of those other trees.”
Gary ambled along the beach, stopping now and then to take a picture. After five minutes he turned around to see whether Penny was returning from the car. He didn’t see her. Oh well, it was time for them to hit the road again. They had to keep moving. The honeymoon was winding down, much as he didn’t want it to end.
Gary retraced his steps and went up the sandy slope to the parking area. As the car came into view, he noticed that the hood was open, but he didn’t see Penny. Maybe she was inside the car. He reached the top of the slope and looked through the car windows. No Penny.
Where was she? Maybe she had to go-she might be taking a nature hike as they called it in the boy scouts. Bushes grew alongside the road. Penny didn’t like to go in the bushes, but if she were desperate…
Gary went to the car to close the hood and noticed that a couple of the rocks she had brought up were lying on the ground in front of the car. He became mildly irritated. That was sloppy. He picked up the rocks and placed them inside the storage area. Then he saw a scratch on the car just below the opening that he was certain hadn’t been there before. A falling rock must have struck the car. He became more irritated.
He would chew her out for that. No he wouldn’t. What did it say in the Dale Carnegie book he had read, How to Win Friends and Influence People? Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. But she had to learn to be more careful.
Gary waited beside the car, glancing at the nearby bushes for a sign of movement. Another five minutes passed. He began to worry. Where could she be? At least he knew that she hadn’t been attacked by a bear. They had left the bears in Yellowstone. He walked for fifty feet along the highway, calling Penny’s name. Then he walked the other way, doing the same. The only answer was the sighing of the breeze.
After fifteen minutes he began to panic. His heartbeat accelerated and sweat soaked his underarms. Had she decided that marriage was a big mistake and run away? She couldn’t have picked a more remote location to do that if she had; she wouldn’t get far. Even if she wanted out, she wouldn’t run away here. Had she been hit by a car? No, because, gruesome as that sounded, her body would be on the road.
Had she been abducted? Who would do a thing like that? An awful thought came into Gary’s head.
CHAPTER 25
When Penny and Gary stopped at a turnout on the highway, Alfred had to keep going. If he pulled in after them, it might be enough to arouse their suspicions, even if he parked fifty yards away. In any case, they were bound to notice the camper, and it was conspicuous enough with its bubble top that they would recognize it if they saw it again.
Alfred drove around a curve until he was out of sight of the green VW. He stopped on the side of the road and waited five minutes. The waiting was nerve wracking because he wanted to time it just right. He had to keep focused on his watch to prevent himself from immediately going back to where they had stopped.
The tension stimulated his bladder, and he desperately had to pee. He got out of the camper and found a clump of bushes, pretty much out of sight of the highway, and picked a time when traffic was almost nonexistent to relieve himself.
Back in the camper, he watched the secondhand creep around the watch. He had spent a lot of the past few days waiting for something to happen or not happen. He was growing tired of it. This was the last time. Finally, the five minutes were up. He started the engine, made a U-turn, and went back to where their car was parked. Penny and Gary were out of sight, down on the beach. Good. He parked on the inland side of the highway, down the road from the Beetle, and got out of the camper.