"I've seen enough to last me a lifetime."
He put his arms on hers. "Tell you what," he smiled, "up ahead is a nice quiet place for our picnic. We'll stop there. How's that?"
Catherine nodded reluctantly. "All right."
"That's my girl."
Larry gave her a brief smile, then turned and started up the path again, Catherine following behind him. Catherine had to admit that the view of the village and the valley far below was breathtaking, a peaceful idyllic scene out of a Currier & Ives postcard. She was really glad that she had come. It had been a long time since she had seen Larry so exuberant. He seemed to be possessed by a sense of excitement that kept growing as they climbed higher. His face was flushed, and he chattered on about trivia as though he had to keep talking to release some of his nervous energy. Everything seemed to excite him: the climb, the view, the flowers along the path. Each thing seemed to take on an extraordinary importance as though his senses had somehow been stimulated beyond normal. He was climbing effortlessly, not even out of breath, while the increasingly rarefied air was making Catherine pant.
Her legs were beginning to feel like lead. Her breath was coming in labored gasps now. She had no idea how long they had been climbing, but when she looked down, the village was a tiny miniature far below. It seemed to Catherine that the path was getting steeper and narrower. It wound along the edge of a precipice and Catherine hugged the side of the mountain as closely as she could. Larry had said that it was an easy climb. For a mountain goat, Catherine thought. The trail was almost nonexistent, and there was no sign that anyone else had used it. The flowers had thinned out and the only vegetation was moss and a strange-looking, brownish weed that seemed to be growing out of the stones. Catherine was not sure how much longer she could keep climbing. As they rounded a sharp turn, the path suddenly dropped away and a dizzying abyss appeared below her feet.
"Larry!" It was a scream.
He was at Catherine's side instantly. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, guiding her over the rocks to where the path resumed. Catherine's heart was pounding wildly. I must be crazy, she thought. I'm too old to go on safari. The altitude and the exertion had made her dizzy and her head was swimming. She turned to speak to Larry, and above him around the next turn, she saw the top of the mountain. They had arrived.
Catherine lay there on the flat ground getting her strength back, feeling the cool breeze teasing at her hair. The terror had subsided. There was nothing more to fear now. Larry had said the way down was easy. Larry sat down beside her.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes." Her heart had stopped pounding and she was beginning to breathe normally again. She took a deep breath and smiled up at him.
"The hard part's finished, isn't it?" Catherine asked.
Larry looked at her a long moment. Then he said, "Yes. It's finished, Cathy."
Catherine raised herself up on one elbow. A wooden observation platform had been set up on the small plateau. There was an old railing around the edge, from which there was a spectacular view of the dizzying panorama below. A dozen feet away Catherine could see the path leading down the other side of the mountain.
"Oh, Larry, it is beautiful," Catherine said. "I feel like Magellan." She smiled at him, but Larry was looking away and Catherine realized that he wasn't listening to her. He seemed preoccupied--tense, as though he were worried about something. Catherine glanced up and said, "Look!" A fluffy white cloud was drifting toward them, pushed along by the brisk mountain breezes. "It's coming this way. I've never stood in the clouds before. It must be like being in Heaven."
Larry watched as Catherine scrambled to her feet and moved toward the edge of the cliff to the rickety wooden railing. Larry leaned forward on his elbows, suddenly thoughtful, watching the cloud as it moved toward Catherine. It had almost reached her, was starting to envelop her.
"I'm going to stand in it," she called, "and let it go right through me!"
An instant later Catherine was lost in the swirling gray mist.
Quietly, Larry rose to his feet. He stood there a moment, stock still, then began to move silently toward her. In seconds he was immersed in the fog. He stopped, not sure exactly where she was. Then ahead of him he heard her voice calling, "Oh, Larry, this is wonderful! Come and join me." He started moving slowly forward toward the sound of her voice, muffled by the cloud. "It's like a soft rain," she cried. "C
an you feel it?" Her voice was closer now, only a few feet ahead of him. He took another step forward, his hands outstretched, groping for her.
"Larry! Where are you?"
He could make out her figure now, wraithlike in the mist, just in front of him at the very edge of the cliff. His hands reached out toward her and at that moment the cloud blew past them, and she turned and they were facing each other, no more than three feet apart.
She took a step back in surprise, so that her right foot was at the very edge of the cliff. "Oh! You startled me," she exclaimed.
Larry took another step toward her, smiling reassuringly, and he reached out for her with his two hands, and at that moment a loud voice said, "For Chrissakes, we got bigger mountains than this in Denver!"
Larry swung around in shock, his face white. A group of tourists led by a Greek guide emerged from the far path around the other face of the mountain. The guide stopped as he saw Catherine and Larry.
"Good morning," he said in surprise. "You must have climbed the east slope."
"Yes," Larry said tightly.
The guide shook his head. "They're crazy. They should have told you that that is the dangerous way. The other slope is much easier."
"I'll remember that next time," Larry said. His voice was hoarse.
The excitement that Catherine had noticed seemed to have gone out of him, as though a switch had been suddenly turned off.