• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

"Return to the Book of Days?"

"Yes." Taylor massaged the back of his neck. "And take you with me. But I should warn you. You might not like what you see."

CHAPTER 43

I'm taking him to see it." Taylor sat in front of his workbench and stared at a map of the Three Peak wilderness as he spoke into his cell phone.

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Do you feel at peace with that choice?"

"Yes." Taylor paused. "Your counsel helped."

"I'm glad. Is there anything else I can do?"

"I need you to be ready for Jason if he tries to follow us." Taylor ran his finger along the route Cameron and he would take.

"You believe he'll try?"

"I'd be surprised if he didn't. His skills with knives and guns are far greater than mine. And I have little doubt he would kill to possess the book."

"I agree. Do not worry. I will look out for you and Cameron."

"Thanks, Grange."

"Yes, my friend. Yes."

Cameron didn't speak as Taylor drove up the rutted logging road, only a hint of gray dawn painted across the sky toward what he said was the genuine Book of Days.

Cameron hadn't set his alarm the night before. He'd never gone to sleep. He'd considered telling Ann about his conversation with Taylor and his claim that the book was genuine, but what if it wasn't? What if it was another one of Taylor's games? Or nothing more than a beautiful spot in the mountains where Taylor felt God gave him impressions that seemed real?

Sure, Taylor's story of saving his dad seemed like proof, but what if it was nothing more than a hunch he'd acted on?

But then again, Cameron had his dad's story to go on as well as Jessie's to bolster his belief. It didn't seem as if both of them could have hallucinated about the same thing. And then there was Grange and the stone.

He sighed. His brain was exhausted from trying to analyze everything he'd gone through over the past two and a half weeks.

Something Taylor believed to be God's book was up there, but what would a book be doing in the middle of the mountains? Sure God's book would be rainproof—it could be anything proof—but it didn't make sense. Was it in a cave? Was it two thousand feet thick? Logic wasn't helping and Taylor stayed mute about the book's description.

At least he hadn't let his emotions leapfrog on him. He'd shut down any hope of seeing anything more than a stunning setting hidden in the mountains.

"How could my dad have seen this thing when he was a kid?"

Taylor shrugged. "It's a long hike, not a hard one. He probably was up in the mountains with his dad or a friend, who knows?"

"And how did Jessie find it?"

"Think about her childhood if you can. Did she ever mention Girl Scouts or—"

"She was a Girl Scout. She talked about them doing a lot of things outdoors, taking trips—maybe she even told me she came down here . . ."

"There you go."

Cameron stared at the ponderosa pine trees rushing past and thought about the last time he saw his dad. "You must find the book. Everything will make sense to you then."

I'm ready, Dad.

"Is the book real?"

"I've told you it's real. You don't need to hear me say it again. You need to choose to believe or not."

"How much longer?"

"Probably an hour before we reach the trailhead and a good three hours of hiking before we get there."

"Will you tell me anything about the book?"

"You'd like a preview?" Taylor grinned.

"Yeah."

"It's possible that some people have seen the book and not known it."

"How can you see the book and not know it's a book?"

"You'll see." Taylor paused and grinned again. "I hope you'll see."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see."

Cameron frowned. "Stop saying that."

"You will."

Ten minutes later they turned onto a dirt road that wasn't even one car wide. Branches scraped the sides of Taylor's truck as they inched along the narrow road, but he didn't seem to notice.

When the trail ended, Taylor threw the gearshift into Park. "Let's go."

He led Cameron up what looked like a game trail. After an hour and a half of steady climbing, Taylor