Murder in the Devil's Cauldron by Kate Ryan

the
sun. The light would be much better later in the afternoon, she
decided. It would give the rocks better definition and the color
would show in the water. But she still wouldn't get a great shot
from right in front of it. Standing further downstream wouldn't
work either. There wasn't a safe place to stand or put a tripod.
Plus, shooting from that low wouldn't show the Devil's Cauldron at
all.
    Starr looked at the cliff on the other side
of the river. It was a lot higher than the rocks she was on and
just might work. After scouting around a little more near the
trail, she figured that the cliff might be her best bet. Now it was
just a matter of figuring out how to get there.
    Returning to the trail, she sat on one of the
overlook benches and pulled out the map. It didn't show a trail on
the other side, but she noticed it didn't show any of the side
paths she had seen either. She considered going all the way down
and then trying to find a way up on the other side, but noticed
that the map showed a bridge further up. Maybe if she crossed the
river there, she'd find a path leading back down. Besides, her
stomach was beginning to remind her that she hadn't eaten in hours
and the map showed a picnic area near the bridge.
    The trail on this part of the trail was a lot
steeper, so by the time Starr reached the bridge, she was not only
hungry, but hot and panting from the exertion. She had long since
tied her jacket around her waist, but her t-shirt was sticking to
her and all she really wanted to do by that time was sit down, put
her feet in the water and have some lunch. She noticed a bench near
the bridge, but it was in the sun and she looked around, hoping for
some shade.
    As she looked upstream, she saw that the
river widened into what looked like a small lake. It looked
appealing and she climbed the rest of the way to what turned out to
be a small valley. Instead of a torrent, the river here was wide,
slow moving and, best of all, shallow. On top of that, there were
several picnic tables in the shade and Starr quickly commandeered
one.
    The backpack went on the table, followed by
her shoes and socks. Then she was paddling about, letting the ice
cold water squish between her toes. The water meandered slowly
towards the gorge and Starr realized she could barely hear the roar
of the river from here. Instead of sand, though, the riverbed was
covered with smooth pebbles which hurt her feet, so she didn't stay
in the water long. Cooled off, she returned to the picnic table and
made quick work of the food she had packed this morning.
    Her stomach finally full and feeling much
better, Starr packed up, filled her canteen from the river and
returned to the bridge. She stopped in the middle and looked down
at the winding gorge beneath her. The roar of the water as it
gushed through shut out the sound of everything else even though
right now the water was at the bottom of the rocky slit beneath
her. She could just imagine, though, what it was like after a storm
and the gorge was full. If anyone fell off the bridge, they'd never
be able to get out. She shivered slightly and hurried across the
bridge.
    On the other side, she looked carefully for
some kind of path heading back down. At first she didn't see
anything, but she walked slowly and pretty soon she found a narrow
path heading into the woods. It was faint, but not too far from the
river. She tightened the straps on her backpack and started
down.
    Instead of going across broad rocks like the
trail coming up, this path was simply packed dirt and wound around
and under the trees. There wasn't as much of a breeze, but it was
cooler in the shade. As she made her way down, every once in awhile
she came across a faint track that went towards the river. Each
time she saw one, she followed it, hoping to see the Devil's
Cauldron, but it wasn't until she tried the eighth track that she
finally found the right one.
    It was hard to see, so she went slowly until
she came to the edge of the cliff