by Lee Gregg
“I don’t think we’ll need that.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. You can balloon them into submission with your new backpack.”
Ben smiled. “No, I mean for the Challenge. Do you think we’re going to have to do anything extreme?”
“You never know, brother. Better to be safe than sorry, right?”
“I don’t know. Don’t need the extra bulk and weight. Think I’ll pass. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
* * *
The front door of the BEE swung open violently and smashed against the stopper. Wade Pratt charged in. Four heads turned to look at him, but he stormed past them all. A muscle in his jaw felt sore and he knew he was gritting his teeth as he searched the BEE. He could feel his pulse pounding in his temples, his chest heaving and his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. He had tried to chill, to take deep breaths, to count to ten. He was trying to wait for a good time to have a discreet chat, but the rage inside him had started bubbling and he couldn’t stop it from bursting out.
“What the hell were you doing?” Wade grabbed Cara’s arm, jolting her around to face him and startling her coworker, Roya Kossari. “Why were you down in his crotch, putting your hands all over him?”
“Hey,” Roya said, stepping between Wade and Cara.
“Get out of my face! I’m talking to my girl,” Wade said, positioning his nose inches away from Roya’s. His face was burning with heat. He still had a firm hold of Cara, his fingertips white where they gripped her arm.
Wade’s eyes shifted down to Roya’s nametag. “Mind your own business, Roya. Wouldn’t want you getting hurt by accident, now would we, Roya. Nice name. Super easy to remember and Google.”
Roya’s eyes widened and she ran away.
“I’m just doing my job, Wade,” Cara protested. Her voice was weak and barely audible.
“Let go of her, right now,” a calm, deep voice said. Roya had returned with Jim, who stepped in front of Cara. “We’re going to have to ask you to leave. We will call the police if you refuse.”
Wade let go of Cara to focus on Jim. “Don’t get involved. You don’t want to mess with me,” he said in a low grumble.
Now free of Wade’s grip, Cara backed away, rubbing her arm.
“I don’t think you want to mess with me,” Jim said.
“HEY! Don’t you walk away! I’m not done with you yet,” Wade shouted at Cara.
Cara froze in place and looked around to see other employees and customers gathering and watching the confrontation. She burst into tears and ran into the employee-only area. Wade took a step after her, but Jim blocked his path. “Right now, sir.”
His heart hammering against his chest, Wade’s head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure building inside. He glanced around him, noticing the stares from the small crowd that had gathered. He focused on the large, dark brown eyes at the front of the group. “See you again soon, Roya,” he said with a smile, like he was talking to his best friend.
Wade left the BEE without looking at anyone else. Outside, he peered back inside through the display window and saw Ben and Drew laughing as Ben tugged on his backpack. Wade opened the bag of chocolates and popped one in his mouth. Still eyeing the boys, he took out his phone and texted, “Wanna make some easy cash?”
8
“Oh my goodness, girl! That was so close! A rabid dog? With a girl? How is that even possible? Like some chick is casually walking around town with a rabid dog on a leash. For goodness’ sake, people.” Penelope walked towards William and Harry, whose heads turned in unison, their eyes still focused on her pocketed hand. She pulled out two treats and gave them to her dogs before lifting them out of the wagon.
“I was this close to pooping my pants,” Sam said, smiling and squeezing her thumb and forefinger together. She pulled the blanket off her dog’s head and rubbed his neck. “You were a very good boy too.”
“Good thing there’s a hole in your ski suit, girl.”
Sam gave Penelope a playful shove.
As they walked home, the girls rehashed their encounter with the officers, each excitedly retelling the same event from her own perspective.
“Here, take this,” Penelope said, removing the dog bed from the sled after they had arrived at Sam’s home and carried the huge dog inside.
“Let’s put him over here.” Sam pushed the bed closer to the fireplace in the living room.
“I’ve got to get going. I haven’t got much time to give William and Harry a bath. They so need one now, thanks to your smelly dog,” Penelope said with a smile. She stopped in the doorway and turned. “Hey…be careful, okay? And I don’t just mean about your dog, Sam. Watch out for yourself. Wesley Black is…well, you know about him, right?”
“Thanks. And I mean, really, thanks.” Sam couldn’t muster the right words to tell Penelope how much she appreciated her help. So much had just happened.
She watched Penelope close the door behind her and her gaze fell to her ski jacket and pants, torn and dirty, crumpled on the floor. I just bought those, she thought. She started to feel upset over ruining her new clothes, but then her eyes wandered to her dog, who was sleeping peacefully, and the cloud of disappointment lifted. He wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t even be alive, and I can always save up and buy new clothes. Her dog’s eyelids opened drowsily and his big, brown eyes stared at her. Sam smiled back. For the first time in a long time, she was content.
* * *
Dan Shepherd picked up his phone and read his daughter’s message. Good, he thought, he wouldn’t have to lie to Sam again for a few days, at least.
“Have fun. Be safe,” he texted back.
“Detective Shepherd! You coming out to play tonight? Or are you still too scared of losing all your loonies?” Constable Carl Monahan poked his head around the corner. Some of the members of the Glacier Village Police Department met monthly to play a friendly game of cards. With the exception of the last few months, Dan had been a regular attendee. He knew it was a great way to build rapport with other members of the force and stay on top of everything happening in town.
“I’ll never lose with you around, Carl. Your bluffing is borderline pathological,” Dan joked, but it was true. Dan could always tell when Carl was overplaying his hand because of the little vein in his temple that would enlarge ever so slightly and pulsate violently.
“I’m springing for pizza and drinks tonight. You should come.”
“Sheila got another bonus?”
“Yep! I tell you, I have no idea what that woman does on her computer all day, but her bosses love it. I keep telling my boys, go for the math nerds.” Carl laughed.
“Good for her, Carl. But no, I can’t make it tonight. Promised Sam I’d have movie night with her.”
“Ah, yeah, okay then. Have a good one and we’ll see you Monday.”
“Good luck, tonight,” Dan said, watching Carl leave and knowing that he would not be seeing him on Monday. Should I call in sick? No, he’d have to fake flu symptoms or blame food poisoning, again. He had used that excuse too many times already. Personal time. That was it. He would request some personal time and take Monday off. That would give him two days away from work and free of Sam.
He checked behind him to see if anyone else was around. The station looked empty.
“Hello? Anyone still here?” he called out loudly. Silence.
He pushed the files on his desk to the side and hunched over, ensuring that if anyone happened to peek over at him, they wouldn’t be able to see what he was doing. Peeling off the tape securing a tiny SIM card to an inner corner of his desk pad, he replaced the card in his phone.
Dan arched his back, stretched his neck and glanced around the room again. Nothing. He slouched over his desk and with one hand cupped over his mouth, he spoke in a hushed voice into his cell phone.
* * *
Sam opened the door to her mom’s home office and looked in. Along with all of her mom’s other belongings, the office
had remained completely untouched. Stacks of files and books littered her desk. Photos of Sam and her dad on various family excursions lined the walls — her mom was only in a few of them as she was the one always taking the pictures. Sam picked up a picture of her mom and her dad in Whistler, where they had lived for a time before marrying and moving north to Glacier Village. She brushed off a layer of dust from the glass. This room needed to be cleaned, Sam thought. The whole house needed it. And not just to get rid of dust. Cleaning the home of Mom’s stuff would start in here. It would be less painful than, say, Mom’s closet, where her clothes still smelled of her and Sam could still picture her wearing them. Almost everything in the office could probably just get thrown in the garbage. What did it matter what story Mom had been working on now? It would never get published anyway.
Sam had successfully avoided entering the room for months, but now she had no choice. She needed to replace the gear she had lost and broken earlier. Packed away neatly inside the closet, her mom’s gear waited patiently for the next adventure. Sam pulled out the items slowly. A satellite phone, trekking poles, ropes, her jacket and ski pants. She brought the jacket up to her nose and inhaled deeply. Her mom’s scent was unmistakable. She felt a lump form in her throat and she hugged her mom’s jacket against her chest as she sat on the floor, letting her tears spill down her face and splash off the jacket.
A little nudge on the back of her shoulder told Sam that she was not alone. Before she could turn, her dog lay down, placed his head in her lap and licked the tears from her hand. She stroked his neck as they sat together in silence. Her phone beeped from the living room, but she ignored it, opting instead to enjoy the quiet moment she was sharing with her dog.
“Now you can walk, hmm? Glad you’re feeling better,” Sam whispered. “You stay here, buddy, I’d better go check my phone and let Dad know about you.”
The dog groaned as she moved to get up. She held his head, gently lowering it onto the floor.
Sam picked up her phone and texted back, “Pls call.”
“Message not delivered,” the phone responded. Sam retried. The message failed again.
She dialed her dad’s number, but he didn’t answer.
That’s so strange, she thought. Hadn’t he just texted her ten minutes ago? Where was he? What was going on with him lately? Of course, he was mourning the loss of his wife just as much as she was missing Mom, but there was something off. Something wrong. She would have to find time to talk to him. But when? He was always so busy. After the Challenge, she decided. That's when she would make him just come out and say it, make him confirm what she already knew. That he hated her because she killed Mom. But she couldn’t blame him. How could she? She felt the same way.
Sam felt a light touch on her hip and looked down. Loving eyes stared up at her. She patted Penelope’s dog bed and her dog crawled on top. “Go to sleep,” she said, softly petting him until his eyes closed and tiny snores filled the room. She was surprised at how comforted and relieved she felt, listening to her dog’s relaxed sounds and seeing his chest move with every breath.
Sam’s stomach complained loudly, reminding her that it was finally time for pizza. Her phone beeped just as she picked it up. She expected to see a message from her dad. Instead, it was Lorne from Glacier Rescue.
“Orientation: 15:00 hours. Challenge Start: 16:00. Your group: Cara Walker, Wade Pratt, Penelope Farmer, Drew McConnell, Benjamin Black, Wesley Black.”
Sam stared at her phone until the screen went black and she saw her own face reflected back at her. Of all the people participating in the Challenge, this was the group she would lead? This wasn’t just any group. It was one that included the boy who had threatened her and her dog. Would Wesley actually act on his threat? Would his brother Ben be a threat too?
She looked over the names on her list again and shook her head. Turning off her phone, she headed to the shower to get ready. Sam had lost her appetite.
9
“This really your first time leading a group, Sam?” Lorne asked as he greeted participants streaming into the Glacier Village Community Centre. “Oh hey there, Ralph! Good to see you coming out to make sure your team comes in last place this year! Heh, heh, heh!”
“Well, I’ve helped with the families for the past few years,” Sam replied, smiling at Granny Givens, who walked over and handed her a homemade cookie.
“Yes, that’s right. I remember watching Sammy help the Fujikawa’s and Keiko on the climbing wall part of the mini-course last year, though that little girl hardly needed any help. Only five years old and she made it up and over faster than Daddy. Quite the sight!” Granny Givens chuckled as two fingers on her right hand tickled up an imaginary wall while her left hand plodded up slowly and flopped over to the starting point repeatedly. She looked Sam over with a dissatisfied squint and stuffed a second cookie into her pocket. “You’re too skinny, Sammy. I’m saving an extra muffin for you for after the Challenge. You come find me.” Before Sam could respond, she walked away, spotting another participant’s pocket to home a cookie.
“Yeah, no, that doesn’t count. Who’s on your team again, Sam?” Lorne flipped through his tablet. “Let’s see, nineteen to forty-five are in here, family division in there, forty-six to sixty-five down the hall and to the left, old-timers in there…who’d I miss? Ah, figures. Thirteen to eighteen. You’re in that room over there,” he said, gesturing in front of him. “Jose is leading the other group in your age category.” His eyes darted away quickly, distracted by the incoming participants.
Sam wandered into the room Lorne had pointed to and sat in the corner at the front beside Jose Gomez.
“So I figured I’d take the group with the newbies,” Jose said in a hushed voice, nodding to a nervous-looking group sitting at the other side of the room. “First time even camping for a few of them. And I’ve got a couple of older, more seasoned ones to help. Your group should be easier to manage, I think. They’ve all had a bit of backpacking experience. There were supposed to be three groups, but that crazy flu that’s going around got ’em.”
Too bad the Black boys had such strong immune systems, Sam thought. She spotted them together now. Wesley gave her a dirty look out of the corner of his eye and said something to Ben, who then glanced over at her. Sam felt her shoulders tense. Clearly they were talking about her, but what were they saying? What were they plotting?
The lights dimmed and an image of Lorne was projected onto a large screen at the front of the room. He stared stiffly into the lens without smiling. After a minute of owl-eyed blinking, he realized the feed was live and started with his usual welcome message, followed by a test to ensure that all participants had read the basic safety materials and rules of the Challenge.
“Okay, anyone here need a smartphone for the quiz?” Jose asked the group.
Cara Walker raised her hand and approached Jose, her eyes glued to the floor. “Just broke mine,” she said in a tiny voice.
“Anyone else? I only grabbed one extra, but there are plenty more in the old-timers division, just let me know and I can run over. Anyone? No? Well, then, please check that the app is working on your phone.” Jose looked around the room for a response but only found silence and a sea of floating lights. He poked his head out of the room and joined a chorus of shouts from other groups confirming their readiness to move forward.
“Looks like everyone’s ready,” Lorne’s big head on the screen said with a smile. “Okay then, question number one—”
“WAIT,” a voice yelled out in front of Sam. “My phone’s dead, where’s the outlet in this room?”
Sam turned on the lights and saw Wesley holding up a phone with a black screen. What was he doing when Jose asked everyone to check their phones? Without a word, she handed her phone to Wesley, who grabbed it without acknowledging her, like it was her failure that had caused the delay. She turned the lights back off and sighed. What else could she expect from him during the Challenge?
“Well, as usual, lo
oks like everyone has passed the test,” Lorne announced on screen a few minutes later. “Though good ol’ Ralph fat-fingered his way to a sixty-seven percent, heh, heh, heh.”
“I know all the answers, Lorne! Freakin’ smartphone keyboards are too darn small,” a man’s voice echoed from down the hall.
“Well, anyway, heh, heh, it’s time to hand out the maps and let you all get on your way. Now, y’know, we had some questions about this last year, but I can assure you all that these maps have been double and triple-checked and they are all equal in terms of total distance and elevation gain. But as you know, each map is unique to make sure that every team is isolated and runs their own race. That means some of you will be higher on the mountains earlier while other teams will have to tackle the steep climbs later on in the Challenge. First leg for everyone is short though, eh. So tonight, the goal is to set up camp, complete the first tasks set out at the checkpoint and prepare for the rest of the Challenge. Good luck, everyone!”
Sam gathered her group and opened her map. “So, Checkpoint 1 is close — just outside of the village. It’s on the other side of a steep hill, but we could also just walk on this flat trail around it. The marked trail is probably the best way to go since the distance is so short and we wouldn’t save that much time hiking there directly.”
Wesley shook his head in disgust. “Listen, I’m not doing this to end up in second place. Last year’s winners got the photo of their victory pose plastered on the Ice Bridge noticeboard. The faster we get to the checkpoint, the faster we can finish whatever challenges they’ve set up for us there. That means we can get to sleep earlier and get an earlier start tomorrow.” He paused to look around at the group, giving Sam an eyeful of daggers before adding, “There’s a lot of stuff that’s gonna happen and the sooner, the better.”