Page 32 of On the Mountain

“Let me try. Can you put the phone close to him?” I had no idea if it would work, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“Sure,” he said, then to someone else, “Disperse the crowd for me. All except for Melody, please.” There was a rustling noise, and then, “Crow? I’ve got Cyrus on the phone for you. I’m gonna hold it close to you so you can hear him, but you’ve gotta settle down. I’m trying to help you here, but you’re not making it easy.”

A recognizable growl broke through the night. Feral Crow had come out to play.

“Here he is,” Paulson told me. More swishing sounds, more snarling, and then Crow’s heavy breathing.

“Crow…it’s me. You have to settle down, okay? Paulson wants to let you go. He told me he would, but they have to know you’re not going to get violent and hurt them or yourself.”

He didn’t answer, just made a snarling noise that should have been scary, but really, it just broke my heart.

“Please, Crow. I need you. I’m locked up here,” I said, hoping like hell Paulson couldn’t hear me. “If you get arrested, what’s going to happen to me? You have to settle down so they’ll let you come back to me.”

His breathing slowed some and the noises stopped.

“This mountain needs you up here. You belong here, and the only way to get back to your mountain is to calm down. Please, Crow. Come home.”

I could hear the change in him, hear how different he sounded, which made the tension in me relax, my body slumping.

Paulson was saying, “I’m going to walk you to your truck, Crow, and then I’ll unlock your cuffs, give you the stuff you had, and let you go. I want you to head straight home, okay?”

I didn’t hear a response from Crow. Paulson must have pulled the cell back to his ear because he said, “Cyrus, we’re letting him go, and if we have any questions, we’ll give you a call.”

“Yeah, of course. Absolutely. Whatever you need.”

“You know this isn’t how tonight was supposed to be handled, right?”

“I do. Thank you.” Paulson was a good man, an ally Crow hadn’t been aware he had. “Can you stay on the phone with me until he’s in his truck?”

There was a pause, which I assumed had Paulson wondering what was going on, but then he just offered a soft, “Sure,” in response, and then I heard him say, “I’m going to help you to your feet, Crow.”

I held my breath, afraid Crow would react badly, but he didn’t.

“We’re walking to the truck now,” Paulson said. He was incredible, and I was so glad it had been him there tonight rather than Officer Dirk. They were the only two I’d had any experience with. “I’m unlocking him—here’s your stuff,” Paulson said before the door slammed, the truck rumbled to life, and Crow drove away.

“He’s on his way now. One of your neighbors called the police. I was just going to talk to him, but…well, that didn’t go as planned.”

Relief flooded me. “Thank you. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“No problem. I know he doesn’t get a fair rep.” He paused, seemed to think, then asked, “Are you sure you’re okay up there? Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m fine. This is where I want to be.”

“I’m going to have Melody take a photo of my card and text it to you. If you need anything, I want you to call me, okay?”

“He won’t hurt me,” I defended.

“I didn’t say he would, but I have no idea why you’re up there, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

I agreed. He must have handed the phone back to Melody because just before I hung up, she said, “What’s going on, Cyrus?”

Rather than answering, I said, “Thank you. I didn’t…I didn’t give you a chance before, and that’s my issue, not yours. But you were a good friend today. That means more than you’ll ever know.”

“No problem. I’m not going to see you for a while, am I?”

“I can’t say, but if you don’t, just know that I’m where I want to be and I’m okay.”

There was a short pause before Melody said, “I can do that, but will you do me a favor and keep in touch?”

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