Lindsey tapped her can against mine. “To good times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about you and Connor?” Okay, I was a little bummed. I’d told her plenty about me since we’d met last summer, including my nightmares. And she was holding back on some critical stuff here.
“Like I said, I don’t know where it’s going. And who wants to be set up by their parents?”
“It seems like Brittany is really into Connor.”
“I think she might be. She’s dealing with some stuff she’s not talking about. You see all the exercising and toning she does, like she wants to be supersherpa or something. And okay, yeah, she did—does—like Connor, but he agrees with our parents, that we’re supposed to be together. We were always friends when we were growing up. I don’t want to hurt him, but I just don’t know if he’s the one, so right now I don’t want to deal with it.” She sipped her beer.
“How does Connor feel?”
“Disappointed that I’m not returning the enthusiasm. Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“I’m here anytime you want to talk.”
She looked over at me and grinned. “Thanks.” She again tapped her can against mine. “Think I’m going to go mingle with some hot students.”
As she walked away, as much as I hated to admit it, it was a little reassuring and comforting to know I wasn’t the only one who was screwed up.
“What’s up?”
Peering over at Mason, who had suddenly appeared, I smiled. “Not much.” I lifted my can. “Crazy for you guys to be hauling beer.”
“No kidding. Ethan and Tyler were losing their enthusiasm for the idea.” He looked up. “You know what I love about camping? How vast the sky looks at night. Want to go stargazing? I found a spot away from the trees where we could lie on the grass….” He tipped his head to the side in a questioning gesture.
I glanced over to where Lucas was talking with Monique. I’d definitely misread last night. Maybe since he was the one in charge, he thought he needed to steer clear of any emotional attachments. Or maybe I was nothing more than someone to look after—the newbie, someone he wasn’t quite sure had what it took to be a sherpa.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
Mason and I each grabbed another beer. By the time we reached the spot he was talking about, I had a pleasant buzz going. The grass was cool and slightly damp with dew as I lay down on it.
“There’s the Big Dipper,” Mason said, pointing upward.
I pointed as well. “And there’s Cassiopeia.”
Mason groaned. “You know the constellations.”
“Well, duh, yeah. It was the first thing my dad taught me when he took me camping.”
“I was hoping to impress you, but now I have a confession to make. The Big Dipper is the only constellation I’m ever able to pick out. I never can connect the stars to form anything else.”
I had a feeling that wasn’t a problem Lucas had, that he’d be able to identify more than I could. Why was I even thinking about Lucas now?
I rolled slightly toward Mason. “Okay, Cassie might be hard, but if you can find the Big Dipper, you ought to be able to make out Draco the Dragon. His tail curves down between the dippers.”
“Nope.”
“Follow the line of my finger. Right there.”
“Nope. Sorry. I’ve never been good at seeing patterns inside pictures.”
I rolled away from him. “Not important. The best part is the shooting stars anyway.”
“Somehow I always miss them, too.”
I laughed. “Mason! That’s insane. We’ll just have to stay out here until you see one.”
“That could take all night,” he said quietly.
I rolled my head toward him. I could see that he was watching me. “It definitely will if you’re not looking at the sky.”
“But you’re more interesting.” He paused. “What made you want to be a sherpa?”
“I like being in the woods, and this way I’m paid for being in the woods. It’s a win-win.”
“Since you’re from Dallas, you probably don’t know these other guys very well.”
Was he trying to set up an us-versus-them tone? It seemed counterproductive to our goal of getting Mason and his group safely to the area they’d identified as where they wanted to camp. On the other hand, maybe he was having doubts about the park employees. Or maybe he was just looking for conversation.
“I met them last summer,” I assured him. “Lindsey and I have been emailing and calling each other ever since. We’ve become friends. I think because we have so much in common.”
“Like what?”
“Our love of the outdoors, mostly. Plus we’re both going to be seniors this year. And no matter where you go to high school, it’s always the same. Cliques. Teachers. Homework. Guys.” I thought again about Lindsey’s situation. We’d talked about guys in general terms, but she’d never mentioned what was going on with her and Connor. I had to admit, I was slightly hurt that she hadn’t confided in me.
“So you met all the guides last summer?” Mason asked.
“Yeah.”
“I guess we’re lucky to have them around,” he said. “I never really considered how dangerous it is to be in the woods. Considering what happened to your parents, aren’t you scared?”
“No. As strange as it seems, I’ve always felt safe here. As long as you stay alert, you’ll be okay. And the sherpas are paid to be alert. Besides, I’d trust Lucas with my life.” I surprised myself by saying that out loud.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. He’s always so aware of things.”
“He seemed pretty aware of Monique back there.”
Not until she parked herself in front of him, I thought unkindly.
“You like Lucas?” he asked, maybe in response to my silence.
“I don’t dislike him.”
“You like me?”
I had a feeling he was asking something more.
Before I could answer, the hairs on the back of my neck and my arms prickled. I shot up to a sitting position.
“What is it?” Mason asked.
“We’re being watched.”
He scoffed. “Oh. Probably Lucas. That guy—”
“No, not Lucas.” I wasn’t sure how I knew it wasn’t him—or perhaps a better way to say it was that I would know if it were him. The way he watched me felt very different. It felt protective. This seemed…threatening.
“We should probably go.” I got to my feet.
“Thought we were going to wait until I spotted a shooting star.”
“We haven’t even been watching the sky. And seriously. I’ve got a bad feeling. We need to get back.”
“It’s just because we started talking about danger.”
I started rubbing my arms. “That’s not it. Come on, Mason. Lucas is going to push us again tomorrow. I need to get some sleep.”
He reluctantly scrambled to his feet. “Okay.”
I grabbed the beer cans and shoved them into his arms. “They might be lighter, but you guys are still going to have to carry them. We can’t trash the forest.”
“Guess bringing beer wasn’t such a smart idea after all.” I could see his grin. “Except it gave me some time alone with you.”
As we headed back to camp I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something watching us, something dangerous. Then I saw it, lost in the shadows of the trees a little ways away. Only its shining gray eyes were visible. A wolf. It poked its head out only a fraction, but it was enough for me to see that it was black. Solid black.
It was watching us.
Lucas had said that wolves didn’t attack humans, but I wasn’t so sure.
“Hey, I saw a wolf like that the night I followed you to the birthday party,” Mason said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I nearly had a heart attack, right on the spot. It just stepped out of the shadows as I was heading back to the cabin.”
What I was feeling t
onight was a lot like what I’d felt that night. Why would a wolf be following me?
“You think it’s dangerous?” Mason asked.
Yes! my mind screamed.
“I don’t know,” I replied. I did know that I didn’t trust this wolf. Something about it sent off a signal that it was looking for trouble. Either that or I’d had one beer too many.
SIX
It was late the next afternoon when we reached the roaring river. The water flowed rapidly, creating cresting, white-capped waves. Even though it wasn’t terribly deep, it appeared incredibly dangerous.
I watched with my heart in my throat as Lucas waded across it. A knotted rope secured to a tree on the bank was tied around his waist. If he slipped, it would stop him from being carried downstream. Once he arrived at the other bank, he’d secure it to another tree, forming a line across the river the rest of us could hold on to. He was almost midstream and the water was crashing wildly around his hips, which meant it would be at my waist, maybe even higher.
The element of danger sent adrenaline and a measure of excitement pumping through me. This was going to be fun, not to mention challenging. I loved the water almost as much as I loved hiking. I was anticipating testing my skills against the raging river.
“Hey, Kayla, want to help us over here?” Brittany asked.
I glanced over. They’d inflated a yellow raft and were loading the supplies onto it. Mason and his group were loading another raft with the crate they were hauling, a crate that was a little lighter today.
I knelt beside our raft and began lashing things down.
“You and Mason seemed pretty tight last night,” Lindsey said.
“Just stargazing.” I didn’t know why I suddenly felt self-conscious about spending time with him. “He’s never seen a shooting star.”
“Yeah, right,” Brittany said. “Campers are always using that excuse to get time alone with a sherpa.”
“No, seriously,” I insisted.
Brittany laughed lightly. “It’s not a problem. He’s cute.”
She was right about that.
“Lucas will probably leave one of us behind to keep an eye on them,” Lindsey said.
“Is that normal?” I asked. Lindsey had stayed with us last summer, but we’d only been in the park for about a week.
“Yeah, especially if they go far into the wilderness like this group is doing. The last thing the park wants is a reputation for campers getting into trouble.”
“Who’ll stay behind?”
“Don’t know yet. Whoever draws the short straw, probably,” Brittany said. “Since you like Mason, maybe it’ll be you.”
A victorious yell echoed around us. It came from Connor and Rafe, who’d been standing at the bank, serving as spotters. I guessed if Lucas had lost his balance or went under, one of them planned to dive in after him. Not sure what good that would have done….
But it was all moot. He’d made it safely to the other side. I wasn’t sure why I felt so proud of him, as though his victory was mine. He tied off the rope before stripping off his T-shirt and hanging it over a bush to dry. Even from this distance, I could appreciate the beauty of his bare torso. It was early June and he was already sporting a perfect tan. He didn’t strike me as a tanning booth kind of guy. He loved the outdoors as much as I did, so that tan was all natural.
As he turned, I also noticed something on his left back shoulder. A birthmark? A tattoo? It looked too perfect. It had to be ink. Isn’t that interesting? I wondered what he thought was important enough that he wanted it to be a permanent part of his body. I also couldn’t deny that I found the idea of tattoos sexy—when they were well done. His, even from this distance, was definitely sexy.
“We’re done over here,” Mason said.
I startled at his sudden announcement and his nearness—as though I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing. Thank goodness he wasn’t a mind reader. He wouldn’t have appreciated my thoughts about Lucas. But then, how much loyalty did I owe Mason? We’d only watched the stars together.
“Kayla, have you got a second?” he asked.
I looked at Lindsey and Brittany. They both shrugged.
“We’re almost done,” Lindsey hesitantly offered, as though she wasn’t sure if I was looking for an excuse not to leave.
I got up from my crouch and followed Mason a short distance until we were away from the others. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Haven’t really had much time to talk with you today. Wish Lucas would set you free.”
I smiled. “He’s not my prison guard.”
“Then maybe when we get to the other side of the river, you can tell him you want to walk with me. Or maybe I should tell him.”
“I don’t know if he’s open to suggestions like that, but I’ll talk to him.”
“Great. You know the problem with camping for a month is that it totally destroys your dating life. I mean, what if I wanted to ask you out on a date? It’s not like we could go to the movies.”
I grinned, thinking I might know where this was going—and feeling incredibly flattered. “That’s true.”
“But a candlelit dinner—”
“A can of beans over candlelight?”
“Hey, it’s not the food, it’s the company, and I did bring a candle. So maybe tonight…”
He let the words trail off, forming a safe question. If I was interested…
Was I? I shifted my gaze toward the water. Lucas was on his way back. I couldn’t see him being romantic. Although he had been sweet that first night when I’d needed to wander.
Sweet? Not exactly a word I’d ever thought to associate with Lucas. Why was it that no matter what I was doing, I was thinking about him? It was insane, especially when I had a guy practically asking me out on a date—here in the wilderness.
“Dinner by candlelight tonight. Absolutely.”
“Cool. We’ll sneak away.”
My inner adventure girl was feeling wicked. “Great. I’ll catch you later.”
I walked back over to where Lindsey and Brittany were tucking a few more things into the raft. The thought was that the less we all had to carry, the easier it would be for us to get across. Our backpacks, boots, and anything that would weigh us down went into the raft.
Once three rafts were fully loaded, the guys hauled them into the water. Lucas, Connor, and Rafe struggled to get the supply raft across the river. Behind them, Dr. Keane, Mason, and Ethan waged their own battle against the river as they guided their raft of secret equipment. David, Jon, and Tyler were pushing the last raft, which carried the grad students’ backpacks and miscellaneous items.
The rest of us waited on the bank of the river.
“Talk about sexist—like we’re not strong enough to get the rafts across,” Monique said.
“Works for me,” Lindsey said. “Let them do all the hard work.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to impress Dr. Keane. I can’t wait until we reach our destination and can really get down to business.”
“And what is that exactly?” I asked. I was still a little confused about what they planned to achieve.
“Discovering the source of the werewolf legend in this wilderness. It’s part of Dr. Keane’s academic focus.”
“You think you’re going to find a book lying around somewhere?”
She gave me an indulgent smile. “Something like that. They know we’re coming. The wolves. Don’t you hear them at night?”
I thought about the one I’d seen last night. I wondered if I should mention it to Lucas. Something about the wolf seemed ominous. If it was rabid, it probably would have attacked. I was probably just getting more wary as we got farther away from civilization, out of my comfort zone.
“Wolves howl,” Brittany said. “It’s what they do.”
“Whatever.” Monique nodded toward the river. “Lucas is so hot. I can’t believe he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
“I think he’s one of those
guys who believes in waiting for the right girl,” Lindsey said.
“Yeah, right. The strong, silent type? Always a player. Take it from me. I’ve seen enough of them on campus to know.”
“You go to the same university?” I asked, surprised by her words.
“No, we’re from Virginia. Lucas said he’s going to school in Michigan.”
“Yep,” Lindsey said. “Track scholarship.”
“Guess I could always transfer,” Monique said, never taking her eyes off him as he and the others hauled the rafts onto the bank.
“Okay, looks like it’s our turn to head across,” Brittany said.
Lindsey and I stepped into the river. The cold water was powerful as it streamed around my calves. Lindsey and I reached back to give Brittany and Monique a hand-hold and helped steady them against the rushing water. When they were on their way across, Lindsey saluted me and began to make her way toward the distant shore.
Lucas had designated that I go last. I didn’t fool myself into thinking that he thought I was special. He’d probably read my sherpa application and knew I was a strong swimmer. I’d been on the high school swim team and had tried out for the Olympic team. I missed making it by a few hundredths of a second. So although no one was watching my back, I wasn’t worried.
Since we were leaving Dr. Keane’s group and would return to the ranger village using this route, we were just going to keep the rope secured here so it would be ready when we got back to this spot. Most of our supplies would remain with Dr. Keane, so we could move more swiftly heading back.
I waited until Lindsey was almost three fourths of the way across before I started making my way. I gripped the rope hard and fought against the powerful rushing water. Without the rope, I knew I couldn’t have kept my balance, couldn’t have stayed upright. The currents were wild and turbulent. The water had risen to my waist when I felt a quick tug on the rope. The strange vibration reminded me of the way the fishing line grew taut when I went fishing with my adoptive dad and we had a nibble.
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