Southern Stars

by Melissa Good

  They all froze in place. Then Kerry went over to where Dar was standing and stared wide- eyed at the scene. Shock was obvious on every face, and for a long moment there was only stunned silence, and the buzzing of flies.

  “Okay,” Dar finally said. “Someone please go get one of the crew.” She very gently moved a bit of torn cloth with the tip of her climbing stick. “Because I think this was one of their shirts.” The tip rested on a colorful bit of fabric stained in blood.

  “Oh, my God.” Sally turned and raced back up the path, as Rich, and Dave and Amy slowly moved down toward them. They gathered together in a clump a few feet away from the remains. Only barely recognizable as a human figure, the flies were busy buzzing around what was left.

  A pair of tattered shorts. A half-chewed boot. The skull with scraps of hair still attached. A mostly chewed up leather wallet near the fall off.

  “Oh, Dar,” Kerry murmured. “So that pack... “

  “Probably,” Dar said somberly.

  Tracey came leaping over the boulder, with Sally and Don at her heels. She skidded to a halt in the gravel, staring at the remains. “Oh fuck, no.” She came around and dropped to her bare knees, uncaring. She picked up the piece of cloth, the company patch stained but visible. “Oh fuck.”

  Todd came over to Dar’s side and folded his arms across his chest, his usual attitude suppressed. “Damn,” he muttered. “You figure it was that cat?”

  “Figure it was something hungry,” Dar replied quietly. “Like they reminded us, it’s the wild out here.”

  Todd exhaled. “This just went down hard.” He put his arm around Amy, who had walked slowly over, her hand covering her mouth. “We got lucky last night.”

  “Yeah,” Dar said. “We need a better plan. No more making it up as we go along.”

  “Yeah,” Both Todd and Kerry answered in concert. “No more leaving it to someone else either,” Kerry added. “We need to get out of here.”

  THEY SAT IN a close huddle, Janet with her cut leg extended out awkwardly as she held the patch, and the half-shredded wallet in her hands.

  Dar stood at the edge of the circle. “So, I think it bears stating, though most everyone here realizes, that we need to shelter in some place that’s protected at the end of the day. We don’t know what attacked Josh. But if it attacked him, it could attack us.”

  “Yeah,” Janet said. “But I’ve never heard of that happening before.”

  “I have,” Tracey said. “We just don’t hear much about that on the river. I’ve heard about it from the canyon hikers.”

  “It’s true,” Rich said. He was seated on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees. “The hikes I’ve taken, we knew. About mountain lions, and coyotes, and all that. The guides usually had guns.” He looked at Janet.

  “We don’t do guns. The management is not a fan.” Janet said. “It’s a political thing.” She turned the patch over in her fingers. “But really, on the river there’s no point.”

  “So, what are we going to do with him?” Tracey asked. “What’s left of him?”

  There was an awkward silence. “We can’t bury him. They’ll just dig it back up and eat the rest,” Todd said. “Surprised we didn’t find any vultures here.”

  Kerry sat on a rock, leaning her forearms on her knees. “We can cremate what’s left.” She suggested. “With the pack and everything.”

  Don nodded. “That’s a good idea,” he said. “Not just leave him.”

  “Any wood we use for that, we could use to cook with,” Todd said. “Does it pay to waste it?”

  There was another minute of awkward silence. Dar was the one who finally answered. “Yes, it does. It’s worth it to me even, if I have to spend the whole night finding more wood, to know I paid respect to someone who died trying to save us.”

  Todd shrugged. Everyone else looked relieved and nodded in agreement. Kerry reached back to circle her arm around Dar’s leg and give it a squeeze.

  “So, let’s get moving on that,” Dar said. “Find some wood, get it done, move on to some place we can shelter safely.”

  More nods.

  Janet slowly struggled to her feet. “Let’s go. I think I saw a bristlecone in that last crevice. We can use that.”

  Everyone was glad to escape the horror that the overlook had become. But waiting for the path to clear Kerry walked over to the edge of the space and looked out over the dusty valley the other path descended into. There wasn’t much to be seen, just off gray walls and rocks. At the bottom, in the corner, she saw a small lake whose surface was faintly rippled by the wind.

  She imagined Josh standing there, looking out, possibly choosing this spot to rest in She took a breath and released it. Then turned and made her way back past the sad remains of the bright, friendly kid she’d talked with. She joined Dar at the top of the path. “This sucks.”

  “This sucks,” Dar said. “I’m damn sorry for him. Poor kid.”

  Kerry exhaled. “I hope it was fast. I hope he didn’t even realize it happened.” She stared back at the fly ridden pile. “I hope he was just looking at something pretty, and then it was over, and his soul went up to God.”

  Dar put her arms around her and rested her chin on Kerry’s head, giving her a silent hug.

  “That he wasn’t scared and looking into that animal’s eyes when it hit him. He was so young.”

  Dar hugged her again.

  Kerry remained silent for a moment, then she looked up. “Do you believe in God, Dar?” She studied the light crystal clarity of Dar’s eyes, as Dar considered the question somberly. “You said once, that you believed in something.”

  “I don’t know exactly what I believe in,” Dar finally answered. They heard the others returning with the wood. “But I hope he’s in a nice place, if there is a place. He was a good kid.” She met Kerry’s eyes. “And I hope he never knew what happened too.”

  Kerry studied her in pensive silence.

  “Does it matter, if I believe?” Dar asked, after a long moment.

  “It only matters that we go to heaven together.” Kerry smiled, briefly. “Whatever that takes.”

  Dar hugged her. “No problem,” she reassured Kerry. “Noooo problem.”

  THE AIR WAS damp, and a little cool, following them down the path as they moved in a silent straggle away from the small rock plateau.

  Kerry was convinced she still smelled the acridness of it, and hear the crack and slight pop as the remains were consumed by fire. She felt more than a little sick. She walked along at Dar’s heels, her eyes on the path, one hand tucked into the shoulder strap of the bags she was carrying.

  No one was talking. Just behind her they were carrying the stretcher that Pete was lying on, his intakes of breath audible when they jarred him. PJ and Janet helped each other along in grim silence.

  The sun started to head to the edge of the canyon, sliding out from behind the clouds briefly and then disappearing, sending faint and fitful spears of light down to splash across the rock.

  The path was narrow, but as they got a bit farther down into the canyon it spread out and Kerry moved up to walk next to Dar. She turned her head to look up at her partner’s somber profile as she came up next to her. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  Kerry adjusted her shoulder strap a little and remained silent, content to watch their hiking boots move in paired rhythm along the dusty ground. She wondered how much longer they would need to walk before they found a place to stop.

  Or would they?

  She looked ahead down the path, which wound downward and then bent to the left under an arched overhang between the two canyon walls. It was dusty and shade after shade of ochre and coral, only occasional wispy shrubs and grasses edging the path.

  At the bottom the ground changed from dusty to damp. She saw greenery as they reached the bottom of the canyon, and water, slowly seeping into the rocks, but still standing from the rain of the night before.

  Dar glanced behind them and then looked for
ward. “Hold up, folks!” She called ahead. “Let’s take a break.”

  The bearers put down their burdens and sat down, as the group all gathered along the path. Sally pushed the toe of her boot into a patch of mud and looked back the way they’d come. “Not much cover anywhere near here.”

  “No,” Janet said. “A few slot canyons ahead though. There’s one to the right hand side, maybe two hours up.”

  Dave nodded. “I saw that on the map.”

  Kerry walked over to where Marcia and Don were sitting on one of the big coolers. “How are you guys doing?” She took a seat on the edge of the box.

  “Not bad,” Marcia said. “Don and I do a lot of hiking at home, so this isn’t too hard on us. I can’t really concentrate though, after what happened to that poor boy.” She kept her voice low. “I just feel so bad.”

  “Mm.” Don said. “I just don’t understand, myself. If they knew about these animals, to let him go alone.”

  That question also occurred to Kerry. She studied the damp ground. “This is their first trip this year. Maybe they didn’t know. Maybe it’s new?”

  Don pursed his lips thoughtfully. He had a lined and craggy face, with deeply tanned skin. “Could be,” he said. “I thought it would be nice, you know? To be on the first trip, but I think I was wrong about that.” He dusted his hands off. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

  “Oh, c’mon, honey,” Marcia said. “You couldn’t have known this whole thing would go like it did. Let’s just keep our minds on what we’re doing and we’ll be fine.”

  Kerry smiled at her. Then she glanced to her left where Pete was lying on his side. “Hang in there.”

  He opened one eye and peered at her. “Jesus Christ this hurts. I feel like my whole body’s on fire.”

  Marcia got up and came over. “Do you want some water, hon?” She knelt by his side. “Let’s see if we can get you some.”

  Dar wandered to the front of the group, where Todd and Amy were seated on a rock, staring off into the distance with bored expressions. “You think we’ll find some place to hole up?” She asked, in a casual tone.

  Todd shrugged. “If not we can throw that derpy kid to the lion. Buy us some time.” He thumped his heels against the rock.

  Dar eyed him. “Really?”

  He shrugged again. “Survival. You want to have it eat you instead?”

  “I’d rather we all make it,” Dar said dryly. “I don’t want to end up as a footnote on a movie of the week.”

  Todd stared at her, then he laughed. “Hey, maybe we’ll get to be cannibals. He can be our long pig.”

  Dar moved past him and down the path, examining the rock wall and running her thumb over the surface as she slowly looked around at the narrow crevice they were moving through. Open to the sky, but enclosed. She missed the ability to see any distance.

  She imagined what it must look like from above, these narrow channels in the canyon like a maze. That would make them rats in one. She wished they were out of it, and out of this, and on their way home.

  She looked up as the sun emerged for a moment, and bathed her in light, a comforting touch of warmth on her shoulders and she relaxed into it.

  A scuff of boots against the rock made her look to her left. She wasn’t really surprised to find Kerry there.

  They looked at each other and Dar smiled a little, because she knew they were thinking the same thing, at the same time, for the same reason. The brief wrinkle of Kerry’s nose acknowledge that. She reached casually over and brushed Kerry’s hair from her eyes and felt her lips nibble gently at the skin on her palm as it passed.

  “Miss our waterbed,” Kerry said.

  “I’d take an air mattress at this point. Or the futon in that RV,” Dar said. “Or actually just some privacy,” she added, after a little pause.

  Dar heard the crew stirring behind them, starting to take up their burdens again. Sally and Rich traded off backpacks, and the rest stood up and got ready to move on. “Time to hike.”

  They both sighed, and Kerry glanced at the ground, a faint tinge of blood coloring her cheeks that deepened a little when Dar reached over and tickled her nose. “Long day.”

  “With no sleep.” Dar turned and leaned next to Kerry against the wall and they stood in the sunlight together until it faded out behind the clouds and a gust of wind replaced it.

  They started off along the path that dipped down and the rasp of their steps went from a dry scrape to a wet sounding thumping. As they came around the bend in the path, they heard a rumble far off. With a glance upward, Dar increased her pace a little, as she stepped over a crack in the path that had a trickle of water draining down into it.

  An hour of steady hiking later, it appeared they were going to keep walking the path until dark. Walls were rising on either side of them and presenting no real shelter to speak of. The wind was getting more fitful, and gustier, as the clouds kept gathering overhead.

  Dar looked around for any possible protection, with Don at her side, when they heard a yell from behind that brought them all to a halt.

  Tracey came trotting forward. “Todd saw something.”

  Don’s brows creased. “That can mean pretty much anything. Good or bad, usually bad.”

  They went back along the trail until they came to where the rest of the group was clustered, and Todd pointed over their heads to one of the walls. “What is it?” Dar said.

  “Waterfall, there,” Todd said. “Maybe a cave or something at the base. There’s a side canyon there, up this split.” He looked past the gap in the path leading off to the left. Just a space between two folds in the canyon, with discolored ground leading out and down where water had recently run.

  Dar studied the wall. “Let’s go find out,” she said. “Let these folks rest.” She turned and started up the new path and Todd, Rich and Dave hustled after her, with Kerry at their heels. Don rejoined Marcia back where the tired team was settling down and huddling close as the light began to fade.

  Janet sat down on a cooler, with PJ next to her, giving up all pretense of leadership with an expression of almost guilty relief.

  THE SLOT CANYON was narrow, and shadowed, the light only penetrating at the tops due to the depth. It was a little hot and stuffy, and the ground was bare of any sign of life.

  After three or four twists, though, Dar felt a puff of fresher air and then the path opened a bit into a larger gap where the sound of the water was suddenly vivid. They came out into yet another canyon, teardrop shaped, with a closed end where the waterfall was gushing out and running downward into the ground at the far end.

  There was no cave. But as Dar climbed up around the base of the wall where the water was still cascading, she saw some large rocks in a cluster and an overhang of stone that could be shelter. “We can put the supplies here, and then that only leaves that area open.”

  Todd looked at the meager, but present overhang of rock and nodded. “Sucks,” he said. “But we’re not going to find better.” He turned around. “I’ll go get the rest of them.”

  Rich and Dave started toward the base of the cliff. “Think I see some brush there,” Rich called over his shoulder. “Get a fire going.”

  Kerry joined Dar near the wall. “At least we’re up on a slope here,” she said. “If it rains it’ll drain downward and we won’t be sitting in water all night.” She unslung the bags on her back and set them down, stretching her body out and twisting from side to side.

  “True.” Dar examined the tumble of rocks. Then she looked up at the wall. “Guess this all came from up there.” She inspected the overhang and gave one of the stones an experimental shove, but it seemed solidly anchored in the debris and not inclined to move.

  Rich called out and they turned to see him and Dave coming back dragging what looked like an entire dead bristlecone pine tree behind them. “Look what we found.” He produced a brief smile. “There’s three of them at least, back in the corner there.”

  Which meant they would h
ave fuel to keep a fire going. “Good job,” Dar said. “Let’s put a fire ring together,” she said to Kerry. “Over there?” She pointed to a rough half circle on one side of the tumble of debris and they went over to it, booting the rocks center out to the edge.

  The ground was sandy rather than rocky, and Dar paused for a moment, and then she unstrapped the duffel she was carrying and set it to one side, near the back wall, before she rejoined Kerry in sorting out the fire pit.

  They gathered some head sized stones and put them into position, as the sound of the rest of the group arriving echoed behind them. Rich was just outside the shelter, breaking up the tree, and he called greetings to them, the words sounding over the cracking sound as he worked.

  Don ducked past the overhang. “Well, it’s no fancy cabin,” he said. “But it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing.” He backed out of the way and motioned behind him. “C’mon in, kids. It is what it is.”

  The stretcher bearers carefully maneuvered inside and set Pete down.

  “Better than last night,” Tracey said, as she shook her hands out, looking exhausted. “And at least, we’ve got something around us.”

  Pete eased himself up to one elbow and looked around. “Yeah,” he said. “Warmer too. I was so cold.” He licked his lips. “I hope there’s some tea left. I sure could use it.” He leaned forward a little. “Or even hot water really.”

  “We can manage something,” Kerry said. She looked at the cooler of fish. “I think I’m going to be ready for a cheeseburger when we get back to the RV, Dardar. Or maybe a pop tart.”

  “Moooo, me tooooo,” Dar predictably responded. She picked up one of the plastic buckets. “I’ll get some water.” She walked down the slight slope to the side canyon the waterfall was falling into.

  She could feel the mist as she got closer, and she licked her lips, tasting dust and minerals on the liquid as she stuck the bucket under it and let it collect, the spray randomly dampening her arms.