IN WHICH I RECEIVE TWO KISSES, MAKE A VERY
STRANGE PLEDGE, AND BEGIN A PROCESS THAT
MAY OVERTURN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE
The next two years were busy ones. Abbie and I both graduated from high school, and Abbie was already in her Freshman year at the University of Massachusetts. I was all signed up to begin there at the next fall semester.
In the meantime, I had been hired as one of the hut boys at Galehead, one of the most remote of the huts. I liked it, both the work and the being out in the forest the entire summer. I was aware of it being the third year, when serendipitous things were likely to happen, but I thought maybe I had it beat this time. Nobody (meaning Gracie's family) could possibly know where I was,
Therefore, it came as a considerable shock to me when, one day in August, the guest register for that night showed "Alcott, party of five, three males, two females." Gracie's family! It couldn't be, but there couldn't be another Alcott family staying in the huts, could there? Oddly, I found that the "three males" was bothering me considerably. Gracie was old enough now to have a boyfriend. Was the third male...? I was on pins and needles all day.
It looked like they were coming from Greenleaf Hut, a long and fairly rough day. They wouldn't get to Galehead very early., Still, every half-hour or so, I found myself going out to the height of land to see if they were arriving yet.
The trail from Greenleaf has a surprise at the end, a surprise that no hiker finds is a happy one. As I said, the trail is fairly rough, with lots of ups and downs, but when you finally reach Mt. Garfield, it looks like the toughest is behind you. From Garfield, you drop down, down, down - until, suddenly, you find yourself climbing back up what seems to be the hill you just came down! The last mile isn't that hard, but it's so unexpectedly discouraging that - no matter how their day has gone, overall - there are not many smiling faces among those who reach the hut from the west.
The Alcotts were like that, when they appeared. Grace seemed to see me immediately, walked my way, and I suddenly found her lips, briefly but precisely, planted on mine. She backed away, said "sorry, I must have slipped," and went off to the hut. In expected Gracie style, nothing was said about the incident. In fact, she pretty much ignored me all evening.
After things were settling down, I took a break and went outside. Grace's dad was there by himself, and he motioned for me to join him. I did. After a bit, he started to talk.
"Dan, I've been doing some calculating. You must realize that, in any given three-year period, it is virtually impossible for you and my family to be at the same location at the same time on the same date. That is, it's impossible without some prior knowledge of the others' plans, which we never have. What does that suggest to you?"
"You mean, beyond the fact that something impossible is happening, and we don't have any idea what it's about?"
"Something like that. "
I had been thinking about it. "Ignoring for a moment the impossibility of it all, I've been trying to home in on why it's happening. I mean, don't the individual meetings need something to connect them? Random meaningless acts seem like a waste of all the impossibility. Meaningful acts seem more likely, even in the unlikely circumstances."
'Okay, I see where you're going. Well, all the meetings involve the Alcott family and you. Well, if we count your first meeting at Lakes with Gracie, the family wasn't directly involved, but we were there. But that gives us a second possibility, because every meeting includes you and Gracie."
"I've thought of those two. Under most circumstances, I'd say that the second was the most likely, but Gracie mostly ignores me. She says what she wants to say, and then seems to forget I'm there. The relationship isn't improving; sometimes, I think it's getting cooler."
"Okay, Dan, I agree with you. But what if we add one other ingredient to the pot: you, Gracie, and the four thousand footers? They're involved in every one, including your first meeting with Gracie, the meeting that apparently started all this."
"Agreed, that's the strongest connection we know of, but so what? We still just do our own thing. You might say that my talking about the Gulfside got her particularly interested, but she would have got there, eventually. No, I like the four thousand footers as the connection, but I still don't see what the connection does."
We both pondered our own thoughts in silence for a minute or two. When he started talking again, it was to a considerable change of subject. "Was that your first kiss?"
I had to think a minute. "Kiss? No, she just stumbled."
He smiled. "No, she didn't."
I smiled back. "No, she didn't, and the kiss couldn't have been more of a shock to me. Your daughter doesn't have a romantic bone in her body - at least, not where I'm concerned. One time, she greeted me by laying her arm across my shoulder. I was thrilled - for about ten seconds, until she realized what she was doing, and casually withdrew her arm, and became her usual self. Until now, I'm sure that's the only affection she ever showed me."
"Would you like more?" I must have looked a little shocked, because he hurried on. "I'm only asking because, if either of you wanted this to develop into more of a boy-girl relationship, you're probably running out of time."
I was confused (not an unusual state for me, it seemed). "I don't think I see where you're going."
"Okay, let's look at it. The only connection you have with Gracie is in the mountains. You're starting college, and she's starting into her last years of high school, when a lot of changes will take place. If you think it's hard to get you together once every three years, think ahead. There may be years when you don't get to the mountains, at all. Will the crazy schedule continue to work - and even if it does, what kind of relationship could you build on one uncertain meeting every three years?"
I thought about that. "Obviously, you're right. But even if there is more that could happen between us, we don't have any other choices, do we?"
"Not if 'serendipity' is all you have. You need to meet at a different location, under different circumstances. Do you know where we live?"
"No, I don't think so."
"We live in Brattleboro, Vermont. It's a town you pass through if you drive one very logical route between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. If you should casually drop in to say hello on your route to or from home, I'm sure you would find a welcome reception. With no mountains, no four thousand footers, no 'serendipity; who knows, you might see each other in an entirely different way."
I was feeling a little scared, and I said so. "What you're suggesting might work but, honestly, I don't know that I want there to be anything more between us. I really have a lot of different feelings. I think about how many years I've known her, and yet neither of us really knows anything about the other. Even when she's at her worst toward me, I have little visions of her being my girlfriend. But why? I doesn't make any sense.
"Also, I worry about what stepping out of the pattern might do to the whole three-year thing. What if it completely messes that up, and I still don't end up with Gracie? It's kind of crazy, I know, but I get an odd comfort - some sense of pleasant anticipation - that I will run into your family again on some mountaintop, somewhere."
He was quiet for a few minutes. "I find myself in a very odd situation. Fathers are supposed to protect their young daughters from older boys. I think that's right, and I'm not trying to push you and Gracie together, if you don't fit. But I like her, and I like you, and I think I see little things happening between you that you're not seeing yet. I have an intuitive feeling that you could be very good, together. I don't want you to miss any chances."
We didn't talk any more after that, but I had a lot of new things to think about.
***
The next morning, the Alcotts started up South Twin, on their way to Zealand. I had an hour or so without any specific duties, so I climbed along with them. Nobody objected, and after a while I found that Gracie and I were lagging a little behind. She was more talkative than usual (that doesn't mean we said much), and volunteered that they were having to leave several nearby four thousand footers unclimbed. "I'd love to get North Twin and the Bonds this trip - they're so close, and it would only take a couple of extra hours - but my father has to be at work tomorrow morning, so we'll settle on South Twin, and a long, quick walk out to the car beyond Zealand."
"You know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I already know what mountain I want to save for the last four thousand footer - Carrigain. It's such a lovely big hulk of a mountain - you can see if from just about everywhere, and the views from the top are supposed to be fabulous."
"I've only seen it from a distance, but it does look like a worthy candidate," I agreed.
"And this is where you come in," she said. "I want to really lock it in as the choice, so I'd like you to take a little pledge."
"A pledge?"
"Yes, like a promise. Just repeat after me: I, Daniel... oh, I guess I don't know your last name."
"It's Alden, Daniel Alden. But I'm not sure II want to be promising anything."
"Oh, come on, I'm not asking much. I, Daniel Alden, promise never to climb Mt. Carrigan, until I can do it with my one true love, Gracie Alcott."
"Grace! What are you talking about? 'My own true love.' I'm not sure we even like each other!"
"Well, not now, but we're not going to be climbing it tomorrow. And I'm not asking you to do it for free. If you make the pledge, I will give you a kiss that you will probably still remember when we do climb it."
"Why do you think I'd want you to kiss me?" I asked, but my mind was already on the professed duration of the kiss.
"What do I know about why boys like to be kissed by girls. I just know that you would like it. Will you say the pledge, please?"
I felt really stupid, but the kiss that followed really did seem like it would be long remembered. It was perhaps made more memorable because we were standing on a very narrow trail on a very steep slope, and we weren't hanging on to anything, not even each other. I had a vision of still being kissed as we plummeted a thousand feet to our death, but we didn't.
I told her I needed to head back to the hut. In true Gracie style, she just walked away, without a 'goodbye' or any look back. My confusion wasn't getting any less.
***
That summer, I thought a lot about the climb up South Twin. Before it began, I had already decided that I wasn't going to Brattleboro. There didn't seem to be anything tangible to be gained, and I was sort of afraid of upsetting our 'serendipity' meetings by doing something out of the pattern, so to speak. As odd as they were, I found I really looked forward to those strange get-togethers every three years. I had it all settled - well, until a kiss and a goofy promise re-opened my "conversation" with myself. On my last day at Galehead, as I was loading my few belongings in my car, I was sure I was headed straight home to Andover. However, the car seemed dead-set on heading for Vermont. I let it go.
I didn't have any trouble finding the Alcott home in Brattleboro, and when I rang the bell, Gracie's mother came to the door. She acted like she couldn't quite place me, probably (I thought) because she'd never seen me away from a mountain. "Your husband gave me your address," I started to explain. "I just stopped to say hello on my way home to Massachusetts." She turned away from me. "Tom, you have a visitor," she called.
Mr. Alcott came immediately, and welcomed me heartily. The family were all home, and all acknowledged me, but I thought rather tepidly. Any hopes I had of Gracie greeting me with a kiss and a big hug were quickly dispelled when she didn't say a word to me all afternoon - just looked on, kind of curiously, I thought. Actually, everybody except Mr. Alcott acted the same way, like they were waiting for something. It was a little disconcerting, and I began to wonder if I'd landed in the middle of some family crisis, but Mrs. Alcott invited me to stay for dinner, and eventually to spend the night on their couch. By then, I had some misgivings about staying around, but it really was too late to drive all the way home.
People started heading for bed fairly early. Tom and I talked a little longer, then I was alone for the night. I had a nice fantasy of Gracie sneaking out, after her parents were asleep, to give me a goodnight kiss - like the kiss on South Twin - but that remained my fantasy.
Breakfast time continued with the polite, quietly disconnected attention of the night before. It was actually getting a little creepy, and I was rather hastily preparing to leave, when Gracie pulled me aside.
"Can I talk to you a minute?" she asked. Could she? Hadn't I been impatiently waiting for something from her for about 14 hours? She led me out to the yard, and we settled together on a bench. She made no move toward me, and when she finally spoke, it came out very formally.
"I've been working on a plan that I'd really like to discuss with someone, but it's complicated, and is about a subject that most people probably wouldn't understand. You seem to be good friends with my father, and I heard you talking to him about hiking in the mountains."
She paused, as if expecting some acknowledgment from me. I couldn't think of anything that needed saying, so I just smiled encouragingly.
"Are you familiar with the 'four thousand footers'?"
I don't know what kind of look I gave her. I started to respond flippantly - like reminding her of a 7-year old girl who had harassed me on that very subject - but suddenly I thought I could explain the oddity of the last day. Gracie didn't know me! In fact, nobody in the family knew me as anybody but a friend of Tom's. I hadn't existed to them prior to showing up at their door the previous afternoon.
I must have paused a rather long time, and the look on my face must have been interesting. Gracie didn't seem to notice either. The only thing I could think of to do was to carry the conversation forward, and see where it went.
"I do know about the four thousand footers. In fact, I've climbed a few of them."
"Oh, good, that makes what I want to say much easier. I've climbed ten of the fifty, so far, and I want to climb them all. I know I'm young, and theoretically have a lot of years left to do them in, but I've been thinking that the next two years - while I'm still in high school - may be the most dependable. I think I can pretty confidently devote two summers to this project now, but who knows what will be happening in future years?"
"Wow," I said, that being the most intelligently thing I could think to say at the moment. "That would be pretty tough, wouldn't it? I mean, they're spread out, some take quite a bit of time to get to, you couldn't count on good weather every weekend... well, it couldn't be a sure thing. You'd have to get pretty lucky."
"You're right, of course, but I've mapped out all the peaks. I've figured out what ones I could do on the same trips, and which would be solo climbs. I've figured out how long each trip would take, and I've taken into account that we might have some weather problems. I still think it's quite possible. I would probably be a little disappointed if I didn't complete them all in the two summers, but I will have come pretty darn close."
"Wow," I repeated, lamely.
"And that's where you come in."
I must have really stared at her. Those were the exact words she said to me the morning on South Twin that got me into this... Well, whatever it is that I am in. Of course, she didn't know anything about that, so I just continued on into whatever the trap was. "How does this affect me?"
So far, we had been sitting side-by-side, but she wasn't talking directly to me. Now, she turned a very eager face directly toward me, and began her explanation. I don't know what my heart was doing as I looked in her eyes at such close quarters, but I'm sure it wasn't acting normally.
"Okay, I've talked to my father about my idea. Like you, he has his doubts that I could really get it done, but he isn't really opposed. He knows that I'm a good and careful climber. I think he has two main problems, one being transportation. I can drive, but not legally yet, and I don't have a car. I would need someone to get me to each location.
"The other part of his concern is that he doesn't want me to be climbing by myself. He doesn't think it's safe for anybody, and I agree. I would love to have a good steady climbing partner, one I could climb with all the time. I think my dad's idea is someone who'll look out for me, and take care of me as needed. I don't need that kind of support, but I don't see whY I can't get someone who satisfies both of our wishes."
Here, she reached a hand over, and impulsively took hold of my sleeve. (She did that one other time, in our other life together.) "I've been watching my dad with you last night and this morning. I don't know how you two got so friendly, without the rest of the family being involved, but it's pretty clear to me that he really likes you. I have a feeling if I suggested you as my chauffeur and climbing partner, he would agree in a minute."
She was watching me with eager anticipation, wondering what I was considering. Oh, if she only knew how many things I had to consider, all at one time! "I'm interested," I heard myself say. (I didn't, really, did I?) "There's a lot to consider, of course. It's a brand new idea, and I'd have to do a lot of planning and shuffling of schedules, before I could really say yes."
Her smile almost did me in. "Oh, I understand that. I'm just giving you my first thoughts. We wouldn't actually be doing anything until next summer."
My mind was whirling. This living in two worlds was not easy! I tried to slow myself down. "One thing I need to consider right away, and make sure is okay, is my sister Abbie. Abbie and I have always been hiking partners - well, partners in just about everything, I guess. We've climbed eleven of the four thousand footers, and it's always been us together. She's older than me, and has already been in college for a year and, as you might expect, things are beginning to change between us. We're both starting on new, separate lives, and we're already finding it hard to get together as much as we'd like. I suspect she will readily agree that it's time to be planning for ourselves. Still, I would never give up my first climbing partner for another, unless I was absolutely certain she was okay with it."
I would never have accused Gracie of being sentimental, but she was kind of looking at me that way. "I think Abbie is very lucky to have you as a brother. I like my brother, and we have climbed all our mountains together - but as a family, not as partners. I withdraw my idea immediately if it can't be absolutely right with you two."
I didn't cry, but I felt like it. "Well, as I was trying to say, the changes are coming, whether we want them to, or not. I don't think it will be that much of an issue with Abbie, but it will be with me until I'm sure."
I stood up. "I better get started for home. I will give this a lot of thought, and I won't keep you waiting any longer than is absolutely necessary." I held out my hand, and we shook. "It's nice to finally meet you. Your dad and I talk about your family a lot; he's very proud of you, all. Now, I better go chat with him for a bit, then thank your mom for her service to this poor stranger off the road. Goodbye, Grace."
I found Tom alone in what must have been his usual retreat, a small room in the back of the house. "Hi, Dan. I wanted to talk a little sooner than this, but my daughter grabbed you too fast."
"Did what you want to talk to me about have anything to do with the fact that nobody in your family but you knows who I am? Probably, none of them can even remember seeing me, before. Certainly, none of them can remember visiting with me in the mountains every three years. I'm guessing that those trips never even existed."
"Well, you're right about none of them knowing you. You're wrong about the mountain trips not existing. They all occurred, the only difference being that I'm the only one who remembers you were there. Think about it. They had to occur, or how would you and I become friends? Also, it may be a mistake to think they didn't know you were there at the time. Maybe something has made them forget.'
"Are you suggesting that when the fairy dust blows off, Grace will remember our discussion at Lakes, that she'll remember putting her arm around me on Jefferson, and she'll remember the kiss on South Twin... "
"Hold up a minute; a kiss of South Twin? This is a second kiss that I didn't know about?"
"You were ahead of us. But what doesn't matter? She doesn't remember it, and probably never will. Why do you think the memories might come back?"
"I don't think that. I'm just saying that we know so little about what's been going on that we shouldn't dismiss anything as a possibility. Speaking of why the meetings might be going on, I had another idea this morning. We've been trying to make you and Gracie the connection, or you and Gracie and the four thousand footers. Doesn't the fact that you and I are the only ones who know our meetings have occurred maybe suggest that us meeting has been the real reason. I mean, we've developed a pretty nice friendship from our brief and intermittent get-togethers."
"I agree that's the best and most tangible result, but to what end?"
"To what end? Maybe, this."
"'This,' meaning what?"
"You escaping from our fantasy adventure, and meeting my family in the real world. More specifically, you and Gracie meeting in real life, where you might be able to do something about a future together."
"Tom, Gracie doesn't even like me."
"Dan, you're forgetting that Gracie doesn't even know you. Today is the first day you've ever talked to one another. You have a completely blank slate to work with from here on out."
I thought about that. "You think that she and I...?"
"Well, I think that's entirely between the two of you. I will say that I had picked you out as my future son-in-law the first time we met, at Zealand Hut, quite a few years ago."
I couldn't completely ignore that comment, but I tried to set it aside. I sat down. "Okay, joking aside... You were joking, weren't you? Well, anyway, I assume you know what Gracie wanted to talk to me about?"
"The four thousand footer marathon? Yes, but I am surprised that she approached you so quickly."
"She was very straightforward about that. She said she needed a driver to get her places, and that you would insist she had a reliable hiking partner. She said she'd been watching the two of us, and decided that I would pass both tests with you."
"She's right, of course. So, what do you think of her plan?"
I only hesitated a second. "Despite how confusing everything is - how confused I am! - I couldn't help getting excited just as soon as she started describing what she wants to do. It sounds like an amazing challenge. You know I love the mountains, and devoting every weekend for two summers to them wouldn't be hard duty for me. Of course, I've got a few things to figure out, before I can really commit."
"What kinds of things?"
"A big one for me is making sure my sister is okay with this. I was up front with Gracie about how important my partnership with Abbie has been. Every hike we've made, we've made together. I can't trade one partner for another without Abbie's clear blessing.
"Beyond that, the big issues are about making money. I need to have money coming in those two summers to help pay for my schooling. Dad and Mom always help, but I can't ask them to pay my way while I go off and play in the mountains."
"What if I put you on my payroll?"
That stopped me for a moment. "Tom, I can't take money from you. We're friends."
"So what it we're friends. Friends often enter into business transactions together." He let that sink in a minute. "This is business, isn't it? You wouldn't be doing this just to be with Gracie, would you?"
I didn't have to think about that. "I imagine that everything I do has a little bit to do with Gracie, either the real one or my fantasy one. But, as you pointed out, in this real world, Gracie and I don't even know each other. I can't help wondering how it would be to do this with her, but it's the challenge that excites me. So far, Gracie's interest in me is completely mercenary and calculating. She's betting that choosing me as her hiking partner will guarantee your support. For now, each of us is in this for our own desires.
"Practically speaking, we have no idea if we'll be able to work together. I mean, it's just going to be her and me, for a long, intense time. What if we just can't get along? That seems like a real possibility, considering that we're both starting - as you put it - with a blank slate. As soon as we have things to write on the slate... Well, who knows?"
"You're right, we can't know if this will work, but I think you answered my question. This is not personal with you; this is business, at least to start. Therefore, there isn't any reason that I can't hire you to work with my daughter, right?"
I couldn't disagree with his logic, and it took care of one big issue that I didn't need to worry about.
***
I talked to Abbie soon after I got home. I said that I had a potential job, going with a friend's daughter while she climbed the four thousand footers. But, since I already had a climbing partner (her), I wouldn't take the job if she had any concerns.
Abbie gave me a sister-look, one of those that can mean just about anything. (If you've had a sister, you know what I'm talking about.) "It's funny you should bring that up, now. I've already started my search for a new partner. Hopefully, he will like to climb mountains with me, but I'm really more interested in a partner for some of the boy-girl activities that sisters and brothers don't do."
"You're embarrassing me, Sis," I said, but I knew we were okay.
Then, I talked things out with Dad and Mom. They were intrigued by the possibilities, but a little worried about me taking so much time off, when I should be making some money for school. When I explained that this was a real job, with a real salary (probably as good as I could do with any summer job), they gave their full support.
As soon as I could arrange it, I returned to Brattleboro, worked out the details with Tom and Gracie, and sealed the deal. I looked forward to the next two summers being very interesting.
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