It was halfway up a large mountain. A number of cars had parked in the small rocky outcropping at the side of the road, in the typical Italian fashion with no discernible method, yet their arrangement was a perfectly harmonized disorganization. It was as though they had been strewn there, like the toss of a several pairs of dice. Sam noticed three men who were organizing their climbing equipment on the hood of their red Fiat.
In the distance, the mountains seemed to stretch high up into the sky, with just a hint of white snow cover at their peaks.
“We’re here,” she said.
Sam looked at the mountain peaks around them and then turned his eyes back to her.
“That’s great, where’s here?” he asked.
She opened the small trunk and took out two large back packs. She handed him the first one, and took the second one for herself and then said, “The Dolomites, of course.” With a grin, she carelessly added, “Somewhere…”
Sam drew the backpack over his shoulders, tightening its straps until the weight was comfortably distributed over his hips, chest and shoulders.
It was quite heavy.
He wondered how much heavier his backpack was compared to hers.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Sam said. “Now where?”
“Follow me.”
He watched as Aliana didn’t quite skip down the dangerous path that hugged the side of the mountain precariously, but neither did she walk carefully either. Her stride was more of a halfhearted tramp than anything else.
She wore Merrel Perimeter, Gore-Tex hiking boots.
Watching as she casually placed her feet along the narrow path without any hesitation, Sam could tell that she was no novice, and had spent many hours in these mountains during her lifetime.
Ahead there was a little wooden arrow bearing the words, “Best Coffee above 5000 Feet.”
They followed the signs until the path reached a sudden end. There were no more paths to follow, nor was there any notice posted that the path ended in a 5000-odd, foot drop.
He looked at Aliana and asked, “Now where?”
“Now, we go up.”
Sam leaned carefully over the edge.
There was a sheer drop off that certainly appeared to be in the vicinity of the suggested 5000 feet, and apparently, it was a similar distance going uphill.
He noticed that alongside the cliff there was an old, metal ladder which had been bolted into the side of the mountain. It’s slightly rusty, weathered appearance made it look as though the years of dilapidation was still trying to remove it from the rock wall.
“We’re climbing up that?” Sam asked, incredulously.
“Yes, why, don’t you like heights?”
Sam didn’t fear heights, however he wasn’t keen on taking needless risks with his life either.
“Ladies first.”
Aliana opened her backpack and withdrew a climbing harness, a “Y” shaped lanyard with two carabiners, marked with the letter “K,” indicating the German spelling.
“You have a climbing kit too,” she told Sam, as she opened the top of his bag, if you care to use it.
She fitted her safety equipment, and then made sure that Sam was okay with his. He had gone through a small mountaineering phase in his younger days, trying to challenge himself, but he’d never developed any great love of heights. He possessed a good understanding of his equipment and how to use it, but he wasn’t going to let her know that.
Besides, it was nice to watch her take care of him.
He could see her concern as she checked over him and his climbing gear.
“Now, we climb,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Don’t take too long,” she told him, as she reached the first rung of the ladder and started to make her way up.
Sam shook his head at her and then, just like all men when they are around a beautiful woman, he followed her up, despite his reservations.
The ladder appeared to be about forty feet long, and just before the top rung, he was relieved to see that Aliana climbed into a small opening in the side of the shale mountain.
Inside it, was a café.
They placed their orders and she took a seat on the counterweight iron ledge.
Sipping his perfectly prepared Italian macchiato, he stared in wonderment at the brilliant vista ahead. He’d flown over these mountains more than a dozen times over the past two weeks, but had never really taken the time to fully appreciate its magnificence.
It was beautiful.
Only in Europe, could you possibly find a professional barista willing to work inside a manmade cave located on the inside of a sheer cliff face!
He took a sip of the strong drink, looked at the face of the angel — or possibly devil, in front of him, and decided that he was in for a fantastic weekend.
Blake answered his cell.
He was still driving through the Alps, but like every other place on earth, he still couldn’t escape from the ubiquitous phone coverage. “Yes?”
“Have you arrived?” The voice on the line was cold.
“Not yet, but one of my men has already made contact with them.”
“Them? Who else is with him?” The voice became even colder and harder.
“He didn’t say,” Blake replied, as he drove around the corner and started up the enormous hill, pushing his right foot to the floor of his BMW M5. “Some girl. She’s probably some European backpacker he picked up since he’s been over here.”
“You should have gone there sooner,” the man remonstrated.
“Yes, well, we were waiting to see how far he got, weren’t we?” It was a weak excuse, Blake realized, even as he gave it.
“And, now you know…” the voice remained cold.
“Yes, well, we really didn’t have any reason to suspect that he knew any more than what he told me to begin with.”
“Just make certain that he never gets there, all right?”
“Of course, I’ll fix it. I said I would.”
Chapter Sixteen
Aliana watched as Sam looked out upon it all.
The steel cable ran from off the cafe’s metal decking. The 220 foot cable spanned the distance from the café, to where it was attached to the wall of Mount Oztal, across the valley. The Tyrol River could be seen, lazily making its way along the valley floor.
About five thousand feet below.
The wire bridge allowed climbers easy access to the entrance of the Dolomite National Park. Like a giant game of snakes and ladders, it was the common starting point to a myriad of different climbs, all of which were part of the famous Via Ferrata.
Sam’s blue eyes were full of wonder and Aliana sensed that there was something else there too, something which she couldn’t quite make out — was it fear and uncertainty, or was it something else entirely?
“What do you think, Sam?” she asked.
“You’re taking me along the Via Ferrata?”
“Yes, the Iron Road, but the Germans call it the Klettersteig.” Again, her mischievous smile captivated him. “The guidebook says it takes two days, but we have three, just in case you’re slow.”
“It’s an amazing piece of engineering, “Sam said, as his hand pulled on the steel cable for reassurance.
“It’s a monument to the human initiative for adventure, but did you know that the first Via Ferrata was built in the early nineteenth century as a means of crossing these giant mountains?” She waited for Sam to acknowledge his wonderment that someone would have built such a marvel all those years ago, and then she continued, “At the start of the First World War, Austria secretly built a Via Ferrata in order to move 40,000 soldiers across the border in record-breaking time, to seize the initiative. It became the front line of the war.”