Gravity Rises (S3)

LC: Part Seven

AUTUMN 1976

"Whatcha got there, Ralph?"

Peter Bowers leaned forward in the boat as his friend Ralph tugged on his fishing pole. Looked like he had something big on the end.

Ralph pulled. "I dunno, it won't budge!"

"Ain't it a fish?"

"It ain't pullin' like a fish. I think it's somethin' else."

"Aw, then it's jus' litter or somethin'. Leave it."

Ralph gave one last pull. The fishing hook came free and splashed to the surface.

A broken piece of jewelry dangled from the barb.

The two fishermen looked at each other with wide eyes. Fantasies of buried treasure passed between them in a silent conversation.

Pete broke the silence by jumping out of the boat. The river was about shoulder deep here, and Pete shivered in the shock of the cold water. But he recovered quickly, diving under the water to get a look at whatever was below the water.

Water flew into the air as Pete came up almost immediately after. "Ralph! There's someone down there!"

Ralph's eyes widened. "Is they alive?"

"I don't think so, but we better get them out jus' in case, right?"

That seemed the chivalrous thing to do. Ralph jumped out of the boat, waded over to the nearby bank to tie it up, and went back to help Pete. Together, they pulled the poor soul out of the water and onto the shore.

"Is they alive?" Ralph repeated.

Pete grimaced down at the mangled body. "Ain't no way," he said. He crouched down to feel for a breath on his cheek, but got what he was expecting: nothing. "I think she been dead a long time."

Ralph shuddered. He glanced up at the cliff that towered above them. "What'd she do, dive off?"

"Somethin' like that," Pete agreed. He tore his eyes away from the horrifying corpse. "C'mon," he said, standing. "We better get back to town and tell the police."

"Think they'll know who she is?"

"Maybe," Pete said.

Ralph glanced down at the fragments of jewelry that twined around the body. "Think that's worth somethin'?"

Pete slapped him on the arm. "No, it ain't worth nothin'! That's a black lady!"

"Maybe she stole it and died trying to escape."

"Then we woulda heard about it. And even if it was worth somethin', I don't wanna rob no dead body!" Pete went back to the river, washed his hands off in the water, and jumped back in the boat. "C'mon."

Ralph stared at the jewelry.

"C'mon!"

Once Ralph was back on the boat, Pete untied it, and they started down the river to the town.

When the police arrived on scene, they found the body of an unrecognizable black woman, smashed up from some kind of impact. The body was far too waterlogged for fingerprints, and far too mangled for anyone but the closest of kin to recognize her. No missing persons reports had recently been filed in the area for a black woman; the police asked around if anyone knew her, but no one did.

Only one person in the world could have possibly recognized the body.

And that person was in Gravity Rises, Oregon.

END OF MINISODE TWO