Chapter Seven

Harper was sleeping in on Sunday when her text alert sounded. Groggy, she groped for the phone on her bedside table and squinted at the message. One man and dog fallen down mine shaft, Ida B Mine, off Stoney Gulch Jeep trail .

Fully awake now, she sat up and texted that she was on her way. Ten minutes later, she was dressed and headed out the door. She gathered with seven other volunteers at search and rescue headquarters. Ryan and Eldon were out of town on a climbing trip, Hannah and Jake were both working, and several other volunteers were unavailable for one reason or another. That left Danny, Tony, Caleb, Christine, Sheri, Carrie and Harper to load gear into the rescue vehicle and head into the mountains.

"I don't think I've ever been to the Ida B Mine," Harper said as Caleb guided the specially outfitted Jeep up a steep and rocky trail scarcely wide enough for the vehicle.

"There's not much up there," Christine said. "But it's near enough the trail into Crystal Basin that some people detour to poke around among the ruins."

"And apparently, fall down mine shafts," Danny said.

Half a mile farther on, a woman waved them down. She wore a red fleece top and gray hiking pants, her dark hair in a long braid down her back. "I'm the one who called in the emergency," she said. "My boyfriend and my dog are stuck down in this mine shaft."

"How much farther can we drive?" Caleb asked.

"Maybe another hundred yards? There's kind of a flat spot at the end of the road where you can park."

They proceeded slowly, the woman, Rachel, walking alongside them. From her they learned that the man and the dog—a golden retriever—were mostly unhurt, but the man might have sprained his ankle. Neither of them were able to climb out of the shaft, which was about a hundred feet deep. Caleb parked on a level gravel strip at the end of the road and Danny and Sheri hiked ahead with Rachel, while the others unloaded anything they thought they might need for the retrieval, including ropes, helmets, first aid gear and a special harness designed for dogs.

By the time they were finished, Danny and Sheri returned. "The guy's name is Scott," Danny said. "Twentysomething, in good physical shape, no medications or health conditions. His dog, Ginger, was chasing a pika in some rock rubble and suddenly disappeared. Scott could hear her barking and went in search of her. He found her at the bottom of the shaft and thought he could get to her and bring her back up, but it was a lot farther than he estimated and he ended up slipping and falling and hurting his ankle. He says he doesn't think it's broken, but it's swollen and he can't put much weight on it. The dog is fine, but they're both stuck down there. Luckily his girlfriend, Rachel, was able to get a phone signal and call for help. She even tossed a pack with some water and snacks down to him so he's been fine, just ready to get out of there."

"So this shaft opening was hidden by the rocks?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, you can't see it until you're right up on it," Danny said. "We flagged it with a stick and a red bandana so none of us accidentally fall in."

"I thought there was a law that open shafts had to be covered," Christina said.

"There's some concrete and iron strapping around this one, like it might have been covered at one time, but that's gone now," Sheri said. She picked up a coil of rope. "I'm going to go down in the shaft and get the dog in the harness to haul up, then I'll send the guy up and we'll see to his foot. It looks like there's only room for one person at a time down there."

She led the way back to the shaft. The others followed, each carrying gear. Harper carried the dog sling and a safety helmet. By the time she reached the group around the shaft, Tony and Caleb where already setting anchors and arranging ropes to allow them to haul Scott and Ginger to the surface. Rachel sat cross-legged beside the shaft, relaying instructions to Scott. Occasionally, the dog barked.

Harper listened to Tony's instructions about setting the ropes, then stood back while Sheri, wearing a safety helmet, harness, and a pack, climbed down into the shaft. The dog's barking increased, amplified by the rocky sides of the shaft.

Less than ten minutes later, Tony and Danny began hauling on the ropes. They had fashioned a pulley over the center of the shaft in order to raise the dog without scraping her against the shaft walls. She rose into the air, looking confused, but remaining still until she spotted Rachel, then she began wagging her tail wildly. She greeted her rescuers with enthusiastic whimpers and wet kisses as they unfastened the harness. "Let me get the leash on her before you let her go," Rachel said. "I don't want her falling back down there."

Raising Scott took longer, and required the strength of Tony, Danny and Caleb, but he also rode a sling to the top. He was able to sit on the side of the shaft and swing his legs over until he was clear of the opening. While he was still in the harness and wearing the helmet, Danny, a registered nurse, tended to his swollen ankle.

Sheri emerged shortly after, quickly scaling the shaft with little assistance. Scott insisted he could walk to the search and rescue vehicle with a little support, so with Caleb on one side and Tony on the other, he started down the trail, Rachel and Ginger right behind them.

The others began gathering the rope and other scattered equipment. One of the helmets rolled down an incline and Harper ran to retrieve it, almost tripping over a piece of rusty metal as she did so. She stopped to examine it. "Hey!" she called to the others. "Come look at this."

Christine was the first to respond to her cry, followed by Carrie and Sheri. "What is it?" Sheri asked.

"I think it's the cover that's supposed to be on top of that shaft." Harper bent and tugged at the metal strap fastened to the edge of a square iron grate.

Christine and Sheri helped her drag the heavy grate from the rocks that half-covered it. Harper studied the edges of the strapping. "This didn't rust away," she said. "Someone deliberately cut it."

"Why would they do that?" Christine asked.

"Maybe they thought there was gold in the mine and wanted to get down in it?" Carrie suggested.

"It hasn't been here that long," Sheri said. "There's not much dirt on it, and no plants growing up through it. It's almost like someone tried to hide it under the rocks."

"Let's drag it back over the opening so no one else falls in," Harper said.

The women managed to lift the heavy grate and walk it over to the shaft, where they positioned it over the opening. It fit perfectly. They piled rocks around the edges to further secure it.

Harper walked back over to where the grate had been hidden. "What are you looking for?" Christine called.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm just trying to figure out why someone would do that." A flash of bright pink in the rocks a few feet away drew her attention and she picked her way toward it. At first, she thought it was surveyor's tape, the kind used to mark property boundaries. Maybe it had originally been tied to the grate to make it more visible. But when she knelt and pulled the pink strip from the rocks, she was startled to find herself holding a length of satin ribbon.

"What have you got?" Christine asked, coming up behind her.

Harper stared at the ribbon, stomach churning. "It's a ribbon," she said. "A little girl's hair ribbon."

"T HAT ' S C HARLOTTE ' S HAIR RIBBON , I'm sure of it." Ryker stared at the once-bright pink ribbon, now dirty and frayed. Half an inch wide and about a foot long, the ribbon still bore the creases from where it had been tied into a bow. He remembered watching his mother make that bow one morning earlier that week. He looked up at Harper, who had walked into the sheriff's department three minutes before, ribbon in hand. "Where, exactly, did you find it?"

"At the Ida B Mine, off Stoney Gulch Road. Search and rescue were called up there this morning to retrieve a man and a dog from a mine shaft they had fallen into." She glanced over at Travis and Gage Walker, who stood to her left, both in identical postures, arms crossed over their chests. "Someone had removed the grating that was supposed to be covering the shaft and tried to hide it under some rocks. You could see where someone cut the strapping that held the grating to some concrete poured around the shaft. I was looking around in the rocks to see if I could spot any more strapping, or even what it had been cut with, when I saw this." She looked back at Ryker. "I thought at first it was surveyor's tape, but when I realized it was a ribbon, I remembered that Charlotte had a pink ribbon in her hair Tuesday night at Mo's."

"The description you gave us didn't say anything about a pink ribbon," Travis said. He picked up a flyer from the corner of the table that held the stacks of maps. "This says Charlotte was last seen wearing a pink-checked sundress and pink sneakers."

Ryker frowned. "Right. She was wearing the pink ribbon the day before." He rubbed the side of his face. He was so tired he could scarcely feel his skin. "We need to ask my mom. She helps Charlotte with her clothes, though mostly Charlotte dresses herself."

Gage straightened. "I'll call her." He left the room.

Travis turned to Harper. "Did you see anything else suspicious or out of place at the mine? Any vehicles, or campfires, or signs that anyone had been there?"

She shook her head. "No. But I didn't go much farther than the mine shaft. I didn't explore the other ruins on the site."

Gage returned. "I talked to your mom," he told Ryker. "She's on her way over."

Wanda, dressed for church in a skirt and blouse and low heels, raced into the office five minutes later, her face flushed. She stopped short when she saw Harper. "Hello, Harper," she said.

"Hello, Wanda." Harper moved farther back in the room, clearing the space between Ryker and his mother.

Wanda turned to Ryker, her expression pleading. "They said you have something of Charlotte's you need me to identify."

"We need you to tell us if this really belongs to Charlotte," Gage said. He nodded to the ribbon on the table. "That."

Wanda walked over to the ribbon and started to pick it up, but Travis put out a hand to stop her. "It would be better if you didn't touch it," he said.

She nodded, and stared at the ribbon. "Yes, that's Charlotte's," she said after a moment. "I'm sure."

"When did she wear it last?" Gage asked.

"She wore it Tuesday. She had on a pink outfit that day." Her eyes grew shiny with unshed tears. "She wanted to wear it Thursday, too, but I told her it was wrinkled. I wanted to iron it before she wore it again." Her voice broke and she covered her mouth with her hand.

Ryker wanted to go to her, to put his arm around her and try to comfort her. But he couldn't really comfort her, and she was strong enough to get through this. So he sat, his hands clenched into fists, and suffered along with her. "I'll need you to check and see if the ribbon you remember is at your house," Travis said.

"It isn't." Wanda straightened her shoulders. "Thursday, after...after Charlotte went missing, I decided to iron the ribbon. So it would be ready when...when she gets back to us." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she opened them again, her voice was steadier. "I thought I must have misplaced it. I've been so scattered. But now I wonder..." She stared at the ribbon. "Maybe Charlotte took it. She might have put it in her pocket, to show to a friend, or to wear later." She looked at Ryker. "You know how stubborn she can be about getting her way."

He nodded. "Yes. She's stubborn."

"Harper, why are you here?" Wanda had noticed Harper again.

"I found the ribbon," Harper said. "On a search and rescue call in the mountains."

"In the mountains? Where?"

"I'll explain later, Mom," Ryker said.

Gage stepped forward and placed the ribbon in a plastic evidence bag. "Did anyone besides you touch this at the scene?" he asked Harper.

She shook her head. "I put the ribbon in my jeans pocket to bring back down here. Do you think I destroyed evidence?"

"It's doubtful anything useful survived after being out in the elements for a few days, but we'll test it anyway," he said.

"We'll get a team up there to examine the area and see if we find anything else," Travis said.

Ryker stood. "Charlotte was up there," he said. "I'm right about Kim and Mick taking her into the mining district. They didn't go to Utah."

"If this ribbon really does belong to Charlotte, then yes, you could be right," Travis said.

Ryker knew the sheriff was being cautious. It didn't pay to jump to conclusions in criminal investigations. But he couldn't help feeling the sheriff was doubting him. "It's Charlotte's ribbon," he said again, proving his daughter wasn't the only one in the family who was stubborn.

Gage and the sheriff left the room. Wanda moved over to hug her son. "That ribbon is Charlotte's," she said. "We both know it."

He patted her back. "It is."

Then Wanda turned and embraced Harper. "Thank you for bringing that to us. Anything of Charlotte's is precious to us."

Harper awkwardly returned the embrace. "I hope it helps," she said.

Wanda backed away. "I'd better go home," she said, and turned and all but ran from the room. Ryker suspected she would go off and cry somewhere where no one would see her.

"Your mother is such a nice person," Harper said.

"Yeah, she is. Charlotte being gone is killing her."

"It's awful for all of you. And I'm sure Charlotte misses you terribly. I could see how much she adores you."

He looked away, jaw clenched. Sometimes the only way he knew to cope was to think about anything but his little girl—what she must be doing right now. What she must be feeling. When he felt more in control, he turned back to her. "Will you take me to the place where you found the ribbon?" he asked. "After the crime scene investigators have done their work. Don't tell anyone. I'm probably not supposed to be up there, but I have to go."

"Of course you do. I'll go with you any time you're ready." Her eyes met his, such tenderness there that he felt the protective wall he was building around his emotions threaten to crack. She had always had a knack for seeing past any screen he tried to hide behind.