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We get back out on the river.
Munro suggests I should move into the rear of the raft as we approach a class eight rapid, just to make sure Ashley doesn't get swept overboard. Apparently, the rapid ahead of us can be quite powerful at lower water levels. Though Munro assures us it doesn't look low right, he wants us to take every precaution. Ashley did almost fall out in a previous rapid. Even the lass herself doesn't object to Munro's plan.
As we enter the rapid, Ashley grins and holds on to the seat.
I love how excited she gets about these things, but I can't stop worrying about who might be following us and why. Only my family knows anything about our expedition. No MacTaggart would ever divulge private information, certainly not to a stranger. How did our unwanted guest learn about our plans? Or is that person simply trying to learn my tactics? Not that I have a set of tactics for anyone to puzzle out. I'm more of a "by the seat of my trousers" type of man.
Suddenly, I'm glad I brought my secret weapons on this expedition. Not sure Ashley will appreciate that. Then again, she seemed fine with it when I gave her my wee demonstration.
Munro veers our raft to the right, then swerves it back to the left to avoid a rock ledge.
A wave sideswipes the raft, making it bounce, and Ashley whoops. She is adorable when she does that.
The lass keeps searching the canyon for anything that matches our new map, but I can tell she's growing disappointed with our lack of discovering a definitive clue. Maybe I had misread the map, since I practically had to rub my nose against that mostly submerged boulder to see the carvings on it. The muddy water made my task more difficult. If I cocked this up, and we don't find the treasure because of that, I'll never forgive myself. Ashley needs to find the cavern. She'll be devastated if she cannae go home to her father with brilliant news.
While we float down a calm section of the river, I close my eyes and try to relax and let all my thoughts and worries blow away on a wisp of wind. I focus on one thing—the carvings on that boulder. But I don't force the images to come back to me. I stay relaxed and calm, letting my mind give me those clues when it's time. The carvings are blurry at first, but gradually, they resolve into sharp lines etched onto the stone.
"Oh, bollocks!" I open my eyes and wince. "It's my fault, Ashley."
"What is?" She climbs onto the backseat where I am. "What just happened?"
"I used a meditation technique my cousin Iain taught me, and I took my mind back to the moment when I saw the carvings on that boulder." I groan and drop my head into my hands. "I drew the last few symbols wrong. I'm sorry,gràidh."
She lays her hand on my thigh. "It's okay, Errol. Everybody makes mistakes, and you were deciphering that map in the river surrounded by muddy water."
Munro glances over his shoulder at us. "Care to share with the class, Errol?"
"I drew the bloody symbols wrong."
"So what? You'll figure it out. You and Ashley together are twice as clever, so donnae worry about anything. Just reconfigure your assumptions."
"Thanks for the suggestion, Munro." Not that I have one ruddy clue what he meant by reconfiguring my assumptions. Well, maybe I do. Sort of. "Ashley, can you get out the second map?"
We had hidden it inside her pack to protect it from getting wet. Unlike the Ellsworth map, this one is not laminated.
Ashley hands me the paper.
I spread it over my lap, and we both scrutinize it. Something catches my attention, but I need a moment to compare what I drew on this paper with what my mind suggested is the real version of the symbol on the boulder. Then I point at the symbol. "Here. That's not quite right. Can you get me another sheet of paper, please?"
The lass doesn't hesitate. She roots inside her pack until she finds her pad of paper.
I take it and ask her to keep the original illustration on her lap while I redraw it on the pad of paper, comparing the two so I don't cock things up any more than I already have. At least I can fix it. A good treasure hunter always knows when to give up—and when to keep going.
And it's nowhere near time to stop.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ashley
Errol makes several more adjustments to the boulder map—hey, I have to call it something—and draws them on the paper. By the time he's done, we have a new version that's about fifty percent based on the original boulder map, but the rest is different. I know Errol blames himself for screwing up his first drawing, but I don't. Jeez, he created that drawing from memory after observing it in muddy water that I couldn't see into at all. I'm amazed he got as much right as he did. Now we're pretty sure we have the correct landmarks that we can search for as we continue down the river.
"Pretty sure" is as close as anyone can get while searching for lost treasure.
When Errol hands me the corrected map, I kiss him. "You're amazing."
He gives me a baffled look. "I cocked it up and had to fix my mistakes. That's not amazing."
"You didn't get upset about it. You just saw what needed to be fixed, and you did it." I kiss him again, harder this time. "That's what makes you amazing."
