Southern Stars

by Melissa Good

  Tracey came over to them and pulled her hood up around her face. “I don’t smell anything now,” she said. “Holy shit that was scary. Good job throwing that rock, sir.”

  Todd glanced at her. “It’s still out there,” he said. “What if it comes back?” He picked up another rock and went out into the rain, heading for the spot Dar had seen the cat.

  Rich folded his arms. “Guy has balls,” he said. “Wouldn’t catch me going out after something like that.” He looked over at Dave. “But he’s got a point, should we do something? Put up some...” He looked around. “Well, there isn’t much we can do I guess.”

  Dar also looked around. “Not much,” she said. “We’ve already piled up the supplies best we can. I guess we can... “She paused. “I guess we can hope the sun comes up sooner rather than later.”

  “Mm.” Rich went back to where Sally was crouching next to Janet, the rest of the group now on their feet and moving around. “Least it’s warmer now that I’m up,” he remarked back over his shoulder.

  “Point.” Dar retreated to where Kerry was still studiously piling rocks and looked around in their gear. She picked up the folded hiking sticks and assembled them, propping them against the wall as Kerry straightened up next to her. “Probably more useful than my pocketknife.”

  Kerry leaned against her. “Hon, the fact that you got out there with that thing and would have done your best with it is truly a definition of your macha. Kind of like you going after that ghost in the buff.”

  Dar had to laugh, a low chortling noise that was almost obscured by the rain.

  “Oh, my God are we going to get ribbed by the staff when we get back,” Kerry said, folding her arms and leaning next to Dar against the rock wall. “Almost as bad as our last vacation.”

  “Yeah.” Dar draped one arm over her shoulders. She looked down the wall as the rest of the group repositioned, moving closer to each other. The crew shifted the heavy coolers that had their supplies, making sure they were closed tightly.

  She checked her watch. “Three a.m..” She ran her fingers through her damp hair as Kerry put both arms around her and give her a hug. She returned it, and they stood together in silence as Todd came back under the tarp, dripping rain from every surface.

  “Nothin,” he said. “I checked both ways.” He paused. “Found this up the path.” He held up a sodden piece of fabric and handed it to Janet. “Guess the cat was chewing at it.”

  Janet examined the item. “Bring the lantern over, will you Tracey?”

  Everyone drifted over and watched as Tracey unhooked the light and brought it over, kneeling next to Janet. “What is it?”

  “Backpack,” Janet said, briefly. The item was torn and tattered and covered in mud, and she carefully inspected it. “Could have been one of ours,” she said, in quiet tone.

  “Let me see it.” Tracey took the item and leaned close, squinting at it. Then she shrugged and handed it back.” It could be, but half the whoohah out here uses these.”

  “It’s true,” Janet said. She checked all the compartments, but they were empty. “Nothing there.” She put the ragged pack down. “We’re about three hours from dawn. We better keep a watch.”

  “I’ll light the other lantern,” Dave said and went to the pile of supplies. “Too bad it’s raining. Fire’d be better.”

  The crew went to the line of supplies and picked up whatever they could in the way of sticks and poles. Todd went back to where Amy was seated and took a seat himself, smirking a little when she squeezed his bicep and patted it.

  Everyone slid to the center a little, closing ranks.

  Dar and Kerry slowly took a seat again, the damp and soggy bedroll at least giving them some padding on the hard rock ground. After a moment, Dar took hold of their hiking sticks and handed one over, then put hers on her lap, putting one hand around it’s handle and the other arm around Kerry.

  “Everyone get some rest if you can. We need to move tomorrow.” Janet said, with as much authority as she could muster.

  “If we don’t get eaten tonight,” Todd said mockingly.

  “Got a better plan?” Janet shot back. “Since you’ve got an answer for everything?”

  The rain pattered down in a sudden silence. Kerry turned her head to watch Dar, since she felt the faint shift in the body next to hers.

  Dar cleared her throat. “C’mon people. We don’t have enough crap flying you need to upchuck into the wind?”

  “Yeah,” Rich said immediately. “Just shut up.”

  Silence fell again and Dar waited a moment, then she settled back against the wall with a sigh, as Kerry gave her a little pat on the side. “Peh.”

  “We’re in a tough place, hon.” Kerry nestled closer. “Usually when you and I are in tough places we just let our brains do the heavy lifting.” She looked out into the rain. “It’s really annoying not having all the skill sets, you know?”

  “But we do,” Dar responded in almost a whisper. “At least as much as the rest of these people do.”

  Kerry thought about that in silence for a few minutes. “You got those fish,” she said.

  “You found that salt,” Dar said. “You cooked the fish. You herded that sheep.”

  “Oh, Dar, I shoved the sheep. C’mon.” Kerry chuckled.

  “You put your knee into its ribcage and made it move. How did you know that?”

  Kerry frowned, her eyes narrowing a little as she remembered that moment when she’d reached for that animal in a total confidence whose genesis she really couldn’t understand. “I have no darn clue,” she admitted. “Maybe I was Little Bo Peep in a former life?”

  Dar chuckled faintly.

  “Dar?” Kerry lifted her head a little. “You think maybe the reason those sheep were running was because they knew that cat was here?”

  “Maybe,” Dar said. “I just wish it was morning.”

  In the distance, they suddenly heard a scattering of rocks come down the path, and everyone surged upright who could, but there was nothing else behind them.

  Chapter Eight

  “I FEEL LIKE a cold old toad,” Kerry said. She rubbed her hands together as she cautiously eased her head out from under the edge of the tarp and studied the sky. It was still overcast.

  She peeled out of her rain slicker, but everything she had on was damp and she felt waterlogged and uncomfortable, glad at least she’d gotten an hour or two of sleep out of it.

  Nearby, Sally and Tracey started a fire with what wood they’d scrounged and saved. With it they could warm up some water at least for the teabags they’d brought along. Todd, Rich and Dave had taken a walk up the path to check it for storm brought obstacles, and the rest of the gang was working on packing up things so they could move on.

  The biggest problem was going to be their now three injured members. PJ had resumed her hastily made crutches, and Janet was gamely limping around on her cut leg, but Pete was unable to stand, much less walk. Even rolling over was painful for him.

  Marcia knelt next to him, examining his back. Don and Dar were lashing together the tarp poles to make a litter. At least they hadn’t been eaten by a mountain lion during the rest of the very long night.

  Kerry went over to the longest of the coolers and pried the lid up, revealing some of their salted fish. She removed one of them and closed the top, placing the fish on it and retrieving the metal plate they’d used as a frying pan.

  There was rain in a bucket nearby, and she used it to dunk the fish, cleaning off the salt coating as best she could. She used a piece of wood with a flat edge to manipulate it before lifting it up to let it drain then putting it back on the metal.

  She then took out her small folding knife and cut the fish into pieces to make it easier to cook. She heard them striking sparks for the fire nearby, and was glad that she’d had one of her protein bars to start with.

  Amy came over to her and put down a big double handful of dried berries. “I had these,” she said. “Thought we should share.”
r />   “Sure, why not?” Kerry said. “they’ll give some flavor to this stuff.”

  Sally detoured over and plunked down an open can of mushrooms. “And I found this.”

  “Mushrooms, berries and fish,” Kerry said. “I think I’m starting to feel like a bear, which is better than an old cold toad, anyway.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. Just talking to myself.” Kerry finished her cutting and moved the piece of metal over to where they’d lit a fire. She balanced the metal on top and retrieved a bit of metal tent prop and started moving it around.

  Sally shoved a metal water pot between two of the stones. “We’re earning our camping badges today, huh?”

  Kerry eyed her in somewhat puzzled silence.

  “C’mon, Kerry. Don’t tell me you weren’t a Girl Scout.” Sally stood up and dusted her hands off.

  “I wasn’t a Girl Scout,” Kerry said. “I don’t think Dar was either.”

  Dar put her pocketknife away as she came closer to investigate what was going on. “Was what?”

  “A Girl Scout.”

  Both of Dar’s dark eyebrows shot up. “No,” she said, with a brief laugh. “I got my camping skills the hard way.”

  She went over and felt the bedroll they’d crouched on all night, finding it unpleasantly cold and clammy to the touch. “Yuk.” She picked it up and started wringing it out bit by bit with powerful twists of her hands.

  Kerry continued her stirring. “Dar grew up on a couple of Navy bases,” she explained to Sally. “Probably weren’t many troops in the area.”

  “Ah.” Sally nodded. “And you?”

  “I grew up between backwoods Michigan and Washington DC.” Kerry smiled a little. “I’m sure there were Girl Scouts in the area, but they weren’t on my parents radar for me.”

  “Oh. So, you had family in the government?”

  “My father, and now my mother, in fact, were and are Senators,” Kerry said. “When my father passed on, my mother took his seat, and now I think she’s going to run for reelection.”

  “Huh.” Sally removed the tea bags from the plastic casing they’d put them in. “Was that weird?”

  Kerry stirred and considered. “Didn’t seem weird at the time, but probably it was. It’s like anything else I guess, it’s what you get used to.”

  “True. My folks were serious hippies,” Sally said. “That’s how I ended up from Colorado. My dad’s a health store manager and mom’s an astrologer.” She chuckled at Kerry’s slightly wide-eyed reaction. “All I got from that was the vegetarian deal, and like you said, it’s just what you get used to. I never ate anything but vegan until I went to school.”

  Kerry chuckled in response. “Dar’s folks are, respectively, retired Navy special forces and an artist,” she said. “A pagan artist who’s vegetarian, matter of fact.”

  “That must be a story.”

  “It is.” Kerry poured the drained mushrooms into the fish and listened to it sizzle. “But they’re awesome people. I guess they were so used to being different, that my and Dar’s relationship didn’t even faze them a bit. They were all in.”

  “Lucky.”

  “I know it.” Kerry judged if the canned mushrooms were warmed through, then she went back and got the berries to add to the pan. She turned the pieces of fish a few more times, then moved the piece of metal off the stone. “Come and get it.”

  Dar sidled over and inspected the impromptu fish hash. She eyed Kerry dubiously.

  “C’mon.” Kerry scooped some up onto one of the cracked plates and moved aside, as the rest of the gang came over to take some. She took a forkful, then offered one to Dar. “it’s not bad.”

  Dar gingerly accepted the taste, and chewed it, then made a low grunting noise and picked up her own fork. “it’s not.” She swallowed the mouthful. “I like the berries.”

  “This is good,” Amy said. “It’s just like what we like to eat out in the wild. No fake stuff.” She had her pack already at her feet and her hair tied up in a bun at the top of her head. She was wearing the odd-looking footgear again and she idly kicked a small rock with one of her toes.

  Sally took a seat on a cooler and stolidly chewed on her fish. “Those for climbing?” she asked.

  “They are. They have really grippy soles.” Amy turned one over for inspection. “And they conform to your foot. Only downside is they’re better for climbing than hiking.”

  Marcia came over to them. “Hey,” she lowered her voice. “That kid’s got a real problem with his back. There’s a lump there the size of a baseball.”

  Sally grimaced. “Ow. Probably cracked something in there.”

  “Probably,” Marcia said. But he’s in a lot of pain. I did that to my elbow once.” She held up one arm, and pointed to her joint. “They had to operate to relieve the pressure. Was no fun at all.” She looked at her husband, who had wandered over. “How are you doing, honey?”

  “Doing all right.” Don touched the side of his head where a lump had been, and where now he had scabs. “Got a tough skull.” He picked up a plate and took some of the fish. “Hope we can make some good time today. Not looking forward to another night like that.”

  “Nobody is,” Sally said. “Hey, Rich! Get some chow!”

  IT WAS SLOW getting started. Between the waterlogged material, and sorting out carrying things, it was almost noon before they got moving along the path. The pace was slow because of the injured, and the need to carry supplies. Rich and Dar were in the lead, with Todd and Kerry right behind them. Don and Marcia were just a few steps back.

  So far the clouds remained dormant, but the winds blew fitfully against them as they walked past the cave they’d found the night before.

  They were quiet, and their steps scraped softly against the sandy ground. Dar shifted the duffel on her back, feeling the dampness still in it. She looked up at the walls. They were pretty,

  but there was too much worry and discomfort to really enjoy them. Even Kerry had left her camera in its bag, and walked along, eyes on the ground.

  Dar reached up to touch a bit of the wall she was going past, and felt a moment of somewhat irrational loss. “Bummer.”

  “Yeah,” Kerry said, in a mournful tone. “I’d rather be back on the river where the worst thing I had to worry about was you being bored.”

  The path curved between two rock formations and then bent around to the right. The rock-strewn path started to trend a little downward. Dar saw markings up on the left hand wall and pointed her walking stick at them. “Native?”

  Rich looked up. “Hard to say,” he said. “Some of the stuff is real, and some of the stuff...I think they put some stuff up for the tourists, you know?”

  Dar grimaced.

  “This is one of the trails they use in the summer a lot.” Rich evaded the implicit criticism. “So, they start with a climb down the canyon wall and then they end up on the river, there, where we came out, and they pick up a raft there.”

  “Huh.” Dar gently booted a stone out of the path. “I guess by the time you get down here you’re looking forward to riding a while.”

  “Exactly,” Rich said. “Mostly they camp one night up by the shack, have a nice barbecue, then get on a paddle style raft to go the last few days. It’s a fun hike. I’ve done something like it.”

  Dar imagined doing it, and had to suppress a smile. “To be honest, I’d rather stick to boats and underwater gigs. I won’t lie. I’d rather be diving right now.”

  She imagined being on their boat, coming up from a dive and throwing her fins onto the deck, feeling the warmth of the sun as she sat down and unfastened the gear strapped to her back. She sighed and glanced around, wistfully wanting the smell of salt water around her.

  “Guess it’s what you’re used to,” Rich said, with an amiable shrug. “That always seemed so...I don’t know. Technical I guess. For this you just need your feet, and maybe a stick.” He cleared his throat a little. “Okay, we go down to the left hand side now. See the
marker?”

  Dar did, in fact see the curved arrow scratched into the rock ahead at a crossroads of the path. “Where does the other side go?”

  Dave caught up to them and was now peering past. “Oh...that’s where we are?” He nodded. “Yeah, that other branch goes to a dead end in the path, I think, and a nice overlook.”

  Calls from behind them made them all pause, and look back. “What’s up?” Dar called over to Sally, who was just at the curve in the path.

  “They’re changing bearers,” Sally yelled forward. “Ten minute break.”

  “Hey, then let’s go see the overlook,” Dave suggested. “Might as well.” He gestured to the other path. “It’s not far.”

  “Good idea,” Sally said. “Maybe Kerry can get some pictures.” She waved forward Amy and Todd, who came striding forward to join them. “We’re going to see the overlook down there.”

  “Why not?” Todd said. “Let them figure it out back there. That kid’s crying like a baby.” He shouldered past Dave and started toward the right hand side.

  The group of them proceeded on down the trail, as Kerry caught up. “Making lemonade?”

  “Might as well,” Dar said. “They said this path leads to a nice view.”

  Kerry got her camera out and hung it around her neck. She looked down at the rain-washed ground and paused to pick up a small stone and put it in her pocket. “Hey I’ll take a view if I can get it.”

  The right hand path was rocky, and a little steep, but they made it up to a boulder at the peak of the slope and then Todd stopped abruptly. “Whoa.”

  Dar was right behind him and looked past his muscular frame. She jerked a little as a puff of wind blew against her face, bringing the smell of death with it. “What... “She eased past Todd and stepped over some fallen rocks as the rest of the group scrambled after her.

  There was a bundle of debris near the edge of the drop off. As Dar reached it a cloud of flies dispersed, and she dodged in reflex. She poked at the bundle and it spread a little, exposing a bone.

  “Oh shit.” Todd knelt near a rock nearby and now he stood up and pointed. Rolled up against the stone was a roundish object cracked in two. “That’s a fucking head.” Todd backed away from the skull and uncertainly stood nearby.