Mountain Secrets Elizabeth Goddard (life changing books to read .txt) 📖

got all day to explore the glacier, ice caves and waterfalls. I hope that won’t be too uncomfortable for you, Jewel.”

“No, of course not. It’s a cruise to explore Alaska. I expected as much.”

Colin gauged Jewel’s reaction to the news. She didn’t appear troubled at thoughts of viewing a waterfall so recently after her fall, but he wondered if maybe she was quaking on the inside. She didn’t look at him, avoiding making eye contact. Maybe he had his answer.

Was this all part of Buck’s plan?

To lure them out into the wilderness and then act? What kind of policeman, what kind of person, was Colin to let him do it? Except Jewel had the right to make her own decisions, and Colin had no evidence to go on. Nothing he could use to accuse Buck and separate Jewel from her sister. All he could do was try to protect her, watch and wait.

He joined Jewel, Meral and Buck in gearing up to hike on the ice, though they’d wait to don crampons, if necessary, when they met with the official tour guide at the US Forest Service’s Bledsoe Glacier Visitor Center.

Taking on his own tour guide role again, Gary explained about the region and the glacier before delivering them. Scratching his chin, he eyed them all, his gaze lingering on Jewel. “Glaciers and ice caves are part of the Alaska tour package, but you need to know up front the dangers. Glaciers are moving sheets of ice. They create the ice caves, and the very nature of that creation also makes them unstable. Translated—they’re dangerous. Stay alert and follow the safety guidelines.”

Gary prepared to take them to shore. Buck and Meral climbed down the short ladder to the skiff. Jewel positioned herself to follow Meral down.

Colin grabbed her arm, stopping her, and pulled her close. “Jewel, are you sure about this? This will be a strenuous activity. You still have stitches. Bruises. And the waterfall. Are you ready to see another one?”

She pressed her hand over his on her arm. “I’ll be fine. Really. If I get tired I can stop and rest. Worst case, I’ll whine about it and you can escort me back. But I don’t want to let Meral down if I don’t have to. I know you don’t understand.”

“How can I? You haven’t told me much.”

Jewel frowned and started down again, but Colin didn’t let go. “Did you bring your Glock?”

“Why would I? I have you to protect me.”

Colin released her to go to the boat and followed after her, his own weapon tucked within reach.

They met Preston Jenkins, the professional tour guide, at the center and geared up to hike across the glacier, wearing helmets, backpacks, crampons and carrying ice axes. Colin had lived in southeast Alaska for fifteen years, and he’d never actually hiked a glacier. His experience in this region usually involved getting in and out quickly in a helicopter when there was a need with search and rescue or recovery.

To his way of thinking, hiking a glacier was like walking on a different planet in a faraway galaxy. And he had absolutely no doubt that without Jenkins’s skills, they would never have found the ice cave—there was no path that Colin could see.

But after four hours of the most difficult hiking he’d ever experienced, he knew he wouldn’t have agreed to this if he’d realized the exertion required. Uneven steps, some places muddy and slippery, scrambling over rock and ice. Meral and Buck’s tirelessness surprised him. He was more worried about Jewel with her injuries.

They approached the edge of the glacier on the far side and climbed down to dirt and boulders and pebbles. Jenkins announced that they’d reached the entrance to the cave and allowed them to catch their breaths. The glacier ice was gray and dirty and folded over into the ground, disappearing into an opening, a swirling hole that called them. Finding the cave had been like searching for hidden treasure, and even from the entrance, Colin could see on the inside it shimmered like a gem.

Jenkins led them on, and they followed single file into a whole new world—stunning and strange with cerulean and blue-green ice that had the appearance of glass-like transparent obsidian blooming above them. Colin stood in awe as he stared up at what looked like waves that billowed and rolled—the underside of a river that had been flash frozen.

He couldn’t believe he’d lived near such beauty and had never before taken the time to see it. Rocks protruded from patches of ice where they walked. Colin stumbled but caught himself, which pulled his thoughts from the mesmerizing cave of ice and back to the dangers they faced—both from the environment and from the potential killer in their midst. Water trickled and dripped. The cave formed as the glacier melted. For the moment at least, Colin wasn’t worried about Buck’s intentions—he, too, stumbled around in the cave, head up, neck twisted, humbled by the sight if his reaction was anything like Colin’s.

“Looks like chunks are splitting up there, ready to fall down on us. With all this water dripping, I’m going to be soaking wet.” Buck hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular, then he glanced at Colin. “Kind of creepy, isn’t it?”

Colin nodded, but he wasn’t thinking about the ice. The way Buck stared at him, grinning; he had a strange feeling the guy knew as much. What was his game? What was he up to?

“How much farther?” Buck called to Jenkins.

“It’s a ways. Nothing you can’t handle. We can go back at any time.”

“What do you think, Meral?”

She glanced at Jewel, who nodded. “I’m good if you are. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’m not ready to leave yet.”

Jenkins led them deeper into the bowels of the cave. The ice swirled over and around. The group was silent, taking it all in, and Colin admitted it was just a little terrifying. Ice caves had been known to collapse without warning—they were constantly