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The weather grew worse. Dark gray clouds rode the mountains to the north, driven closer by howling winds. Maria steadied the wheel of the three-quarter ton Ford pickup as a gust strove to drive her sideways to the rail. A low whistling caused by poor caulking of the vents filled the interior. Maria brushed back her dark hair, her hand striking a drink container. Ice and stale Coke splashed onto the vinyl flooring. Maria swore softly under her breath.
There was a pause in the wind, the snow began to fall in unhurried patterns. The unplowed snow crunched under the big wheels. Maria relaxed a fraction. This is the worst part, she thought to herself. In a moment, the protection of the rock protrusion would end, and the wind would batter up against her again. Almost there, she thought, trying hard to divert her thoughts from the sheer drop-off just feet from the wheels of the truck. She was very, very close.
Had it only been last night? Maria thought carefully, her eyes never leaving the road. Yes, it had been last night. She had been sifting through a pile of her grandfather�s old plane tickets. Silly old man. Who else would have kept every single plane ticket? And Grandda had been a businessman at that. But she had always enjoyed sorting through the piles, and seeing where he had been, thinking about what he had seen and done. Since he had died�. A slow tear rolled down Maria�s face. Her mittened hands did not shift from the wheel to whip it away.
Amongst the tattered, folded, sometimes incomprehensible plane tickets had been a stub, nearly the same size and shape as those hundreds of plane tickets, but subtly different. Maria called it to her thoughts, tracing around the yellowed edges with her mind.
Headlights illuminated a minor rock fall. Maria�s attention raced back to reality, and she slammed on the brakes. The truck didn�t respond at all. The speedometer remained at 15 mph. Maria carefully took her foot off the brake, and conscientiously watched the rocks approach. A slight bump and she was by. She let out her breath slowly. A slight incline reduced the truck�s speed to 5 mph. She did not use the accelerator to return to her previous rate.
After finding the stub, she had been very excited. It meant everything could be different. She ran around her house, picking up shoes, coat, and purse. Grabbing her keys off the table she had jumped into her husband�s Toyota Corolla and driven to her brother Donnie�s house.
Although it was still midday, the snow was increasing, and the wind was whipping it to a frenzy. Visibility was way down. Maria turned on her headlights. That didn�t help. She turned them back off again.
Donnie�s boy had been preparing to enter chemotherapy, so she was surprised to find Leopold home alone. Donnie was a great dad, and Leo was his pride and joy. Since Leo had been sick, Donnie had lost a lot of weight, and was obviously very worried about the boy. Donnie was a good man, but not very wealthy. He worried how he would pay for Leo�s treatment all the time. Only recently had he stopped talking about it. Maria had assumed he had found a long-term loan company. Or something. She had hoped. She really didn�t know much about it.
Finally! The snow had given way to a green road sign. �North Cascades Highway,� it read. �Elevation 5477.� Maria sighed, relaxing for a brief moment. She was amazed she had gotten so far, really, but it had taken her 4 hours to get to this point. She turned her mind from those four hours, knowing her exhaustion would overwhelm her if she didn�t keep going. She didn�t know how much further she would have to go.
Leo had told her, last night, that his dad had gone to the office. He had some extra work to do. Maria had snorted at that, internally. Donnie worked at a pet store. He was in charge of making sure the fish were fed in a timely manner and managing a few other employees from time to time. It was not a terribly taxing job, nor did it often require after hours commitment. Hell, he didn�t even have an office. He had a station. But she thanked Leo, and gave him a hug. Back out in her car, she had sat and thought a moment before starting the engine.
She realized now that that had been when she caught on to the oddity Donnie�s recent behavior. He had found a way to pay for Leo�s treatment! She turned the key, and the engine came to life. Pulling out of Donnie�s driveway, she turned onto Mt. Baker Highway and headed into town.
Donnie hadn�t been at work. Sandra, his boss, said he wasn�t even scheduled to work until Thursday. It was Tuesday. Maria frowned, remembering how confused she felt. Was Donnie out on a date, is that why he�d lied to Leo? Since Leo�s mom had died, Donnie hadn�t dated at all. Maria hadn�t been sure if it was due to his own grief, or in respect to Leo�s. She had been worried, though, worried enough to snoop around his old haunts.
She had found him at Bob�s Burgers, in Old Fairhaven. Looking into windows, she had caught a glimpse of him sitting with a tall, stocky man. They sat near the entrance. Maria had considered, and then decided to enter. Donnie had never minded her occasional interest in his affairs. She entered the restaurant. Just as she moved into the foyer, she heard Donnie�s voice say�
�I can�t get it to you tonight, Bruno.�
Maria had paused, still hidden from the sight of her brother.
�I want it soon, Donnie, or the deal is off,� the other man, Bruno, said. �If you get it to me tonight, when can you? Better make it fast.�
Maria heard someone snap his fingers in impatience. She assumed it was Bruno. As far as she knew, Donnie had never learned to snap his fingers.
�Tomorrow, then.� Donnie said. He lowered his voice. Maria could just barely hear him. �One o�clock, North Cascades. You know where.�
�Yeah, I know,� Bruno said, suddenly loud. He laughed, like Donnie had made a joke.
Maria backed up, suddenly scared by what she had heard. Donnie, her brother, was a good man, if a little na�ve. At least�.A waiter noticed Maria, and came towards her.
�One?� she asked.
�Uh, no.� Maria�s voice, thankfully, was masked by her surprise. She turned and quickly left the building.
It had been a sleepless night. Maria went over the possibilities of what she had heard a million times. Was Donnie selling drugs to that man? Had he stolen something? Was he in trouble gambling? There were so many possibilities. She thought about turning him in, but she didn�t know what he�d done if anything. And he was her brother. She tried to make the conversation innocent; maybe Donnie was pawning something to the man. But she knew that he had nothing valuable, at least not after the last few months. He�d even sold his TV, recently.
She got up at 5 AM and made a pot of coffee. She sat by herself, staring at the coffee until it was nearly 7, and she had to get ready for class. By 7:34 she was at the Texaco on Sehome Drive, filling up her car. A trucker stood nearby, and was talking to a woman who was washing her Neon�s windshield, obviously enjoying the attention. The trucker�s plates read California. Maria tried not to listen to them, but it was unavoidable. They were standing not six feet away, and perfectly oblivious to Maria�s presence. The woman was laughing as the trucker related his adventures trying to get to Omak. Apparently, he had tried to cross over the North Cascades Highway, not knowing it was closed for the season�
Maria gasped. The pair looked at her, but she ignored them. Forcing herself to finish filling the second of her two gas tanks, she was thinking a million miles a minute. North Cascades Highway�of course! She should have thought of it before!
A flash of red caught Maria�s attention. A snowmobile. A man in a yellow coat was standing next to it, facing away from her. She applied her brakes, and the truck did a slow spin, stopping ten feet behind the snowmobile. The man in the yellow coat turned around, as Maria jumped out of her truck and into the fury of the winter.
Even as she jumped out, she recognized Donnie, with his dark curly hair slipped out of the hood of the yellow parka. She grinned, realizing she had made it in time.
Donnie wasn�t smiling. He was close enough, he should recognize her. She stopped in confusion. The low thudding of a helicopter was noticeable. Maria stood frozen in indecision for a lingering moment, until the helicopter�s shape was discernable through the low cloud cover.
Maria thawed. She ran to Donnie, grabbing his sleeve and looking up into his guileless blue eyes.
�Donnie, we need to talk!� she yelled through the wind and rotor noise.
Donnie shook his head, and looked towards where the helicopter was landing in the middle of the highway.
�Donnie, I have the money! Don�t do it!�
Donnie looked at her, this time in bewildered interest. She continued.
�Grandda left us an account in a Swiss bank!�
He jerked his arm away from her, turning his head as he spoke contemptuously.
�Grandda didn�t save money, Maria, Grandda spent it. Get lost. You�ll get into trouble here.�
Maria rushed back to her truck and reached into the glove compartment. The stub, a little worse for wear, slid into her hand. Holding onto it tightly, she sprinted across to Donnie. Facing him, she held the stub up to his face. It made a low chattering noise as the wind crossed over its edge, barely audible over the sound of the helicopter�s slowing rotors.
Donnie looked at the stub, and he looked Maria. Slowly, carefully, his mittened hand took it from her. He read the numbers, and the caption.
�Dear Maria, and Donnie; I am leaving this here in hopes that it will be found by my dear granddaughter Maria. This is the number for a Swiss account, which holds some two million dollars. Greatest love, your Grandda.�
The tall, stocky man was emerging from the helicopter. He looked like he was in a hurry, and irritated. Before he had reached them, Donnie stepped forward.
�Bruno,� he said. �I�ve changed my mind. The deal�s off,� he shouted.
Bruno stopped.
�You�ll never get another offer like this,� the big man yelled. �You�re not helping your son any.�
�Yes, I am,� Donnie said.
The tall man turned around, and made his way back to the helicopter. It laboriously lifted itself from the road, and spun off into the heavy gray sky. Donnie watched it until it was gone.
�You gotta watch it with those Samoan nationals,� he said to Maria, after the last of the rotor noise died away. Only a hint of a smile betrayed his humor. Maria grinned, and hugged him.
�So what did you steal, anyway, little brother?� she asked, looking up at him with a huge smile on her face.
Donnie smiled back, and opened up his coat. From within he took a brown paper package. Carefully unwrapping the brown paper, he revealed a huge blue gem.
�The Hope Diamond,� he said.
�In a little town by the name of Concrete, an amazing discovery was made this morning by local school children,� the newscaster announced. �The Hope Diamond, missing this last week from Smithsonian Museum of Natural History was found resting in a bus shelter along the North Cascades Highway. Though sources had believed this crime to be linked to the mob, it now appears that the valuable gem will be returning to its home for many future generations to enjoy.�
�What a heartwarming story. Now on to weather�.�
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