Chapter 15

A beautiful spring day dawned, and Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy had plans. Josh and Jeremy were going fishing with Big Swede and a couple of others. Jason had convinced Maggie that it would be a good day for a picnic.

"I d-d-don't c-c-care what you s-s-say, I am go-go-going to -ca-ca-catch the big-biggest f-f-f-fish!" Jeremy said to Joshua. Joshua just laughed and said:

"I don't know about that; the last time we went you caught the tiniest one in the whole lake!" Joshua laughed at Jeremy and Jeremy threw a pillow at him, which started a pillow fight in which Jason, joined in until Big Swede knocked on the door. When he came in, he saw the pillows flying and was almost hit by one. Then he threw a pillow as well! Finally, Jason stopped the fun and said:

"Okay boys, either you can clean this mess up before you leave or you can do it after you get back, just remember, if you catch fish you have to clean them as well!" Both boys looked at their brother smiled and went about cleaning up the mess as fast as they could.

"Okay, Jason, we will see you later today!" Both boys said at the same time and almost made it out of the door when Jasson reached out and pulled them back at the same time.

"You two forgot something!" said Jason as he pointed to some feathers peeking out from under their beds. He looked at them and they looked at him. Then they quickly went and took the feathers and put them back in the pillows until Jason was satisfied with their effort.

"Okay, you two go ahead and go, Big Swede don't drown them!" Jason said as he waved goodbye to his brothers. He looked around and gathered the picnic blanket and the bottle of wine that he was going to share with Maggie. He and Maggie had been getting rather close and both wanted to talk more about their relationship. Jason, especially since Earl was his lawyer and he had asked if he could court Maggie and Earl said yes. She was staying at Lottie's this week. She lived now with her brother and often worked as his secretary. Jason left the cabin and went over to the saloon to get Maggie who had had the rest of their picnic lunch.

Up in a deserted part of the forest, a man was setting his traps. He was not a trapper by trade he was someone who held different jobs at one time or another, this job, trapper was one of many that he had done and was doing. He lived near Seattle and would come down once a month for company and supplies. They got to know him as Jim Stringer. He usually kept his hair short and his mustache long. He would whistle a tune when he was upset, and stories told that he was as sneaky as a rattlesnake and as cunning as a fox. No one knew where he was from, he did not say anything about his past or who he was. This was the day that his trap would be set, and he would catch her and take her away with him. He smiled to himself and thought about what she would do.

"I suppose she will want to scream, but she won't be able to!" He thought the trap he had set would keep her from making any kind of noise. He finished his work and began to place the trap somewhere it would be most effective. And then he waited.

"Oh, Jason this is beautiful, how did you know of this place?" Maggie said as she strolled up to the top of the hill. Jason watched her and said:
"This is my mountain, remember! I know every inch of this mountain!" He said proudly.

"Does this look like a good spot?" He asked. She gazed at the view, the trees were tall and gorgeous, and the gentle slope of the hill was just right. She nodded yes and waited for him to spread the blanket on the grass. Then she proceeded to set out the picnic. The homemade bread and butter, the apple pie, and then the boiled eggs and fried chicken. She set all this out in a wonderful display on the blanket, she had also procured some quite juicy oranges.

Jason sat down when all was ready, and they had their lunch. They talked about many things, his brothers, her brother, what plans were being made to keep the Bolt company afloat, and finally Jason asked the question:

"Maggie, will you marry me?" He was on his knees she was standing; the breeze was gentle and cool for the spring day. She looked down at him, she saw the ring, she gasped, putting her hands to her mouth, she said:

"Yes! Yes, I do want to marry you!" He put the ring on her finger and stood up and kissed her she kissed him back. All of a sudden, they heard the sound of:
"EWE! They kissed!" Both Jeremy and Joshua had been walking back and did not realize that their brother was in that same spot. Even Swede joined in with:

'EWE' and then they all laughed. His brothers hugged Maggie and then their brother, Swede stood back a little and waited and then shook hands with both Maggie and Jason. Jeremy and Joshua then picked up their catch and Jeremy had the biggest fish.

"Okay, boys, go home and start cleaning your fish, Maggie and I will be there soon!" Jason said as he kissed Maggie one more time and then started to help pick up the dishes and other picnic things. He was ready to go and so was Maggie when she dropped something and went back to get it. Jason had his back to her and was starting to head back down the hill when he turned back to see if she was behind him. But she wasn't there. He called her name, but she did not answer. He dropped the blanket and other picnic stuff he was carrying and walked quickly back up the hill. He stood at the top of the hill but did not see anything. He looked straight out to the view, there was no sight of her, She had worn a bright yellow dress, he could not miss her! He looked down the hill, if she fell, he would surely have seen some yellow from her dress. But he saw nothing, it is as if she had vanished.

Jeremy and Joshua had taken a different way back to the cabin, they thought that maybe Jason and Maggie might want to be alone.

"Ohhhhh!"

"What was that?" asked Jeremy.

"I don't know, let's find out!" said Joshua. They put their fishing gear and their fish down and ran towards where they had heard the sound. They saw something yellow, under a bush. When they went to see what it was, it was just a piece of cloth. Joshua was quick to figure out what it was.

"Jeremy, go get Jason, make sure he and Maggie are all right, I am going to follow this trail down a ways to see if she fell from the hill!" Joshua said as he left Jeremy to go down a small insignificant trail. Jeremy ran back the way they had come and found Jason.

"J-j-j-Jason, Josh, j-j-j…" Before Jeremy could finish, Jason said: "What happened?"

"We-we we found some cl-c-loth, cloth on a bush on the other trail!" Jeremy said,

"Show me!" Jason said and he followed Jeremy to the other trail, they went down the hill and he saw the bush with the yellow cloth.

"Help! Help Jason!" Jason heard Joshua calling out, he went to the voice and saw Joshua had fallen into a lion trap. Someone had made a deep hole, and he was in there.

"I will get you out Joshua, let me get a rope. Jeremy, stay with your brother until I get back!" Jason said as he went back up to where the picnic stuff was, all he had was the blanket, well, he could make it something to get Joshua out of the hole. He got back and was able to help pull Josua out of the hole. Once Joshua was out of the hole, he held onto Jason a little more tightly than usual, which for Joshua at 14 was unusual.

"What happened Joshua?" Jason said as he held Josh close to him.

"Jason, Maggie fell in the hole, and He was there, he was waiting for Maggie. I tried to help her, but he wouldn't let me, then I fell in, and he laughed!"

"Who was it? Did you recognize him?" Jason asked. Joshua was still shaking and said quietly it was Burt! Jason silently said a curse word and then checked Joshua out to be sure he wasn't hurt; Joshua was still quite scared and did not want Jeremy or Jason to leave him.

"Jason, he said to give you these." Joshua handed him the Brooch, the gold watch, and a few of their mother's trinkets. Jason was surprised then Joshua said:

"He told me to tell you that it was payment for, for…"

"For what?" Jason asked. Joshua looked down and quietly said:
"For Maggie!" Joshua wasn't sure what it meant but he kind of thought it was something bad.

"Did, did I say something wrong?" Joshua asked because he saw Jason's face turn all kinds of red. He could tell that Jason was angry, angrier than he was when he or Jeremy got into trouble. Joshua was a little scared. Jason turned away from Joshua, so he could not see his face, he had sensed that Joshua was getting scared, he glanced at Jeremy and knew that Jeremy was frightened as he moved closer to Joshua.

Once Jason was able to calm down, he told his brothers that they needed to get home. To gather their fishing gear and head back to the cabin. He would be alone in a little while since he had to gather the picnic stuff. Jeremy and Joshua went scrambling up to where their gear and their fish lay. They picked everything up and went home. They cleaned their fish and gear and waited for Jason to get home. It was getting dark. Swede came to the door with Lottie. When Joshua opened it, they knew that Jason would not be home that night.