Within twenty minutes, her trust paid off as the trees lining the trail thinned out before falling away entirely to reveal a sandstone canyon stretching in front of them. Trees and mossy patches clung to the smooth light-brown sides made of layers of stone that were so round in places that they almost looked like pancakes stacked on top of one another and rising fifty feet into the air. As they moved closer, Faith became aware of a rushing sound.
“Is that…?” She walked a few more steps into the canyon and gasped.
Water flowed in a broad line down the curved lip of one side of the smooth walls, tossing spray into the air and creating a rainbow mist that hung over the canyon. She blindly reached for Leo’s hand, gripping it as she sucked in air.
“This has been here the whole time?” she asked in wonder.
He laughed softly, his fingers tightening around hers. “The whole time, Dutch.”
She wasn’t sure how long they stood in that place, watching the endless spill of water, but it was long enough for her to feel inconsequentially small in terms of the space she occupied on the planet while at the same time the churn of the water over the weather-worn stone soothed some of the restlessness in her blood and made her feel like she was standing with the only other person in the universe.
“Is hiking always like this?”
He glanced down at her before answering. “Not always.” He looked back to the waterfall. “But yeah, lots of times it is.”
And that’s when the heavens opened up. A torrent of rain drenched them immediately, and although Faith’s first instinct was to shriek and curl into a ball, Leo pulled her into motion to run toward the nearest canyon wall where a stone overhang provided a bit of protection from the downpour.
“Rain jacket!” he shouted over the racket.
Teeth chattering, she fumbled to unstrap her pack and opened the outermost compartment to fish out her new coat. She pulled it on and zipped it to her chin. “It got c-cold so fast!”
“I know!” He’d pulled his jacket on too, and they huddled together under the narrow ledge, watching the water fall in sheets inches away. “This wasn’t in the forecast.”
She shivered. “Do you think William and the kids are out in this too?”
“Hope not.” He groped in his pocket to pull out his phone and tapped a saved number. “Hey, how’s it going there?”
He had to shout over the pounding of the rain, then listened to a mostly one-sided conversation that ended with his terse “Good plan” before he hung up.
“He and the boys are sitting in a car in the parking lot, but he’s going to drive them back home once this lets up. We’ll try again another weekend.”
Lightning cracked across the canyon. “Smart,” she said. “But won’t they be disappointed?”
“Nah. He’s going to pull through McDonald’s on the way.”
Just like that, her stomach rumbled. It was almost Pavlovian. “Lucky kids,” she muttered.
He smiled down at her. “Once we hike out of here, I’ll take you to the Dairy Bar.”
“Okay.” Another bolt of lightning flashed overhead, followed closely by a thunderclap that had her shrinking back against the sandstone wall. “Not liking this part of nature,” she announced, which made Leo toss his head back with a laugh.
“You have to take the good with the bad.”
He pulled her down to sit, and once they were arranged with their backs against the stone, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her against his side. It didn’t really warm her up, but it did ignite a spark in her chest that had nothing to do with the temperature.
“There are eighteen of these canyons in the park.” His voice tickled her ear over the clatter of the rain all around them. “They were formed when the glaciers covering the area started to retreat.”
“How recently?” She rested her head against his shoulder, relieved to stretch out her tired legs.
“Thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago.” He ran a hand down one of her wet braids. “Retreatsounds dramatic, but that actually means they all melted. This is what they left behind.”
“Good job, glaciers.”
She felt his chest quake with a small laugh, and then he talked on, telling her about the history of the park, the wildlife in it, the nonnative plants that had invaded over the years and how the rangers had tried to battle them back. Her eyes drooped as his low voice mixed with the sound of the rain.
When she opened them again, everything was quiet. She was stiff and disoriented, the rain had stopped, and she was alone. Both packs were on the ground next to her, but there was no sign of Leo.
She scrambled to her feet, fear clutching her by the throat. What animals had he been talking about as she drifted off? Were there bears around? Or mountain lions? Oh God, what if he’d been eaten by a wild boar or fallen off a cliff? Or finally decided she wasn’t worth the trouble and just vanished into the trees?
