by Annie Bryant
“Before we go back to the airport, why don’t we check to see when the van will be ready?” Lissie recommended. “No point being stuck at the airport with nothing to do as long as there’s a town to explore.”
Mr. Ramsey called the car rental place and found out it would be another hour before they could pick up the van.
“Okay, you girls can have a few minutes to shop,” Mr. Ramsey said as he snapped his phone shut. “Do you all have watches?” he asked. “Everyone be back here in fifteen minutes, and stay on this block,” he admonished the girls.
The BSG headed down the street, determined to make the most of their fifteen minute speed shopping expedition.
Maeve, of course, had some very important things on her mind: clothes, boots, purses, and accessories. In one word, FASHION! She disappeared into the first trendy clothing shop she found, on the hunt for something totally fabulous.
Charlotte wanted to find the perfect postcard of the Wild Wild West to send to Sophie, her friend in Paris. “I’m heading in here!” Charlotte called as she hurried past Avery and into a drugstore.
Outside the store, Avery discovered a mechanical bucking bronco. “Jackpot!” she shouted. A bucking bronco was much more entertaining than shopping could ever be. Avery jumped on and put two quarters in the slot. “Yee haaaaaawwww! Charlotte!” she called. “You have to get this on camera.”
Charlotte popped back out of the store and grabbed Avery’s camera to take a few priceless snapshots. As Avery hooted and hollered and held on for dear life, some people paused to point or chuckle before continuing down the street. Avery didn’t mind, though. She was used to people watching her athletic performance.
Charlotte spotted a bookstore across the street and ran over to check their postcard selection. Not only were there some beautiful landscape postcards, but she also found a whole section of cowboy poetry. She was deep into a poem called “Stampede” when her father came through the door.
“Hi, Charlotte. I thought I might find you here,” he said. “I just got a call from the rental place, and they have a vehicle for us now. Where are the others?”
Charlotte bought the book of cowboy poetry, and met her father outside to look for Avery and Maeve.
“There’s Avery,” Charlotte said, pointing across the street. Avery was still hooting and hollering on the bucking bronco. Just as the Ramseys were trying to get her attention, she jumped off and disappeared into a western-wear shop.
Charlotte noticed her dad’s exasperated expression. “I think Maeve might be in the shoe shop on this side of the street. Let’s get her first and then we’ll get Avery.”
They found Maeve sitting on a bench inside the shoe shop with boxes and boxes of cowboy boots surrounding her. “So many boots! So little time!” Maeve moaned.
“You’ve got that right, Maeve. Our van is ready and Big Sky Resort is waiting. Please go pay for your boots and meet us outside.” Mr. Ramsey said, pointing at his watch. “Checkout counter . . . now!”
Maeve grabbed a pair of rose-colored cowboy boots, threw them back into the box, and hurried to make her first western purchase.
By the time they made it across the street to the other western shop, Avery was barreling out the door.
Mr. Ramsey caught Avery by the backpack before she could take off again. “Great,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “I finally have you all together. Line up against the wall.”
“What?” Maeve asked incredulously.
“You heard me! Line up.” Mr. Ramsey looked pretty serious, so the three girls quickly scurried into a line and stood at attention.
“Okay. Left face. That means turn to your left. Your OTHER left, Charlotte. Now, MARCH!”
Mr. Ramsey marched the girls, giggling all the way, back to the front of the restaurant where Lissie was waiting with their luggage. And just in time, too. As Mr. Ramsey shouted “Halt!” to stop the marchers, a cab pulled up in front of the restaurant and they all piled in.
CHAPTER
7
Mountain Rovers
Well, it’s certainly not a limo,” Maeve observed.
The group stood in the parking lot of the car rental place, staring curiously at the strange vehicle that had been assigned to them.
“What is it?” Avery asked. She’d never seen a car like this one!
“It’s a Mountain Rover,” Charlotte said. “A version of the Land Rover. We used them all the time when we were in Africa. They’re rugged, but they’re not all that reliable, are they, Dad?”
Mr. Ramsey shook his head. “You’re right, Charlotte, but the Rover should be just fine for our trip. We don’t have too far to go.”
“I’ve never heard of a Mountain Rover.” Maeve shook her head, walking around the vehicle and examining it like an exhibit in a museum. “But whatever it is, it’s the most disgusting shade of orange I’ve ever seen.”
“What’s the matter, Maeve?” Avery asked. “Were you expecting a pink jeep to match your outfit?”
Maeve ignored Avery’s joke. “So, it looks a little beat up. Does it run?”
“That’s not a bad question.” Mr. Ramsey motioned one of the attendants over.
“We’re concerned about the condition of our vehicle here,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Is it going to make it all the way to Big Sky Resort?”
“Ole Nelly here is an excellent vehicle and she has four-wheel drive, a must in these parts,” the attendant assured him. “Besides, this is the only vehicle big enough for five people and that mound of luggage. Nelly’s been all fired up, and she’s ready to go.” The man grinned a little too brightly. He looked like he was wishing with all his might that the group would just take off and leave him alone.
“Good thing your bags went in the limo,” Avery quipped, tapping Maeve on the shoulder. “We wouldn’t have been able to fit your bazillion suitcases in Ole Nelly.”
“Well, my bags are riding in style,” Maeve said. “And that’s all that matters.” They packed their luggage and piled into Ole Nelly. Mr. Ramsey turned the key in the ignition and the bright orange Rover roared to life.
“Go, Ole Nelly,” Charlotte cheered as they pulled away from the rental lot and toward the airport exit. “It’s fun having a car with a bit of personality!”
As they headed to the highway, the girls stared out the window and let the two adults in the front seat be their navigators.
“Uh, Richard? You missed the entrance to the interstate,” Lissie said. “It was right back there.”
Charlotte giggled and then tried to cover it up with a cough. That comment wouldn’t get Lissie anywhere. Richard Ramsey was not an interstate driver—at least whenever he could help it. “Dad’s more of a back roads type of guy,” Charlotte explained.
“Back roads,” Maeve grumbled. “That sounds like we’re taking the long way. By the time we get there and check in, Nik and Sam will be there hours before we will!”
“This view will be worth it, Maeve,” Mr. Ramsey counseled her, glancing back in the rearview mirror. “For a while this road follows the Gallatin River, which is supposed to be very scenic. Then when we get to the resort, you’ll see a single, huge mountain towering above the rest of the range, right over the resort. They call that Lone Mountain. It’s pretty spectacular. And,” Mr. Ramsey added, “there’s always the chance we could see wildlife on this drive too.”
“Wildlife?” Avery repeated, instantly perking up. “Now you’re talking.”
“All sorts,” Mr. Ramsey told her. “Mountain goats, moose, black bears, marmots, mule deer . . . it’s all out here.”
Maeve shook her head unhappily. “Mountains? Moose? Alpine tundra? And what’s a marmot? How do these compare with real life music stars and a luxury resort?” she muttered to herself.
CHAPTER
8
Big Sky or Bust
The road rolled out in front of the dude ranch–bound travelers like an endless ribbon of cement, heading west toward the majestic mountains. Occasionally a pickup truck rattle
d by in the other direction on its way to Bozeman. Charlotte dug her journal out of her backpack and began to write, just words at first, but words that might be later fashioned into a poem: “Hanging clouds looming white, rolling mountains all in sight . . .”
The beautiful scenery even coaxed Maeve out of her dejected mood. “No wonder they call this Big Sky Country,” she said, gawking at the scene before her eyes.
“The official nickname is actually the Treasure State,” Avery reported.
“Really? What kind of treasure?” Maeve asked.
“Gold and silver. They were discovered here in the eighteen hundreds,” Avery told her. “I know lots of stuff about Montana. I read one of my dad’s old guide books before we left. Like did you know Montana has the smallest river in the world? It’s called the Roe River and it’s only like two hundred feet long,” Avery rattled off.
“Really? There’s actually a river that’s only two hundred feet long?” Lissie asked. “That’s so tiny.”
“Yeah. It’s even in the Guinness Book of World Records,” Avery said.
“Wow, Ave. You’re chock-full of Montana trivia. What else have you got?” Charlotte challenged.
“Let’s see, the capital of Montana is Helena. And Billings is the largest city in the state, and Yellowstone County is the most populated area in the state.”
“Hey, what’s Massachusetts’ nickname?” Maeve wondered aloud.
“The Bay State,” Charlotte piped in. “And Indiana is the Hoosier State.”
“Hey! I know a bunch of nicknames too,” Avery announced, not wanting to be outdone. “Illinois is the Land of Lincoln.”
“Missouri is the Show Me State,” Charlotte said.
“Show me what?” Maeve asked.
“Show me how many nicknames you know,” Avery responded, cracking up.
“New York City is the Big Apple,” Maeve said triumphantly, with a toss of her hair.
“Tanzania is the Cradle of Humankind,” Lissie noted.
Charlotte caught her father’s eye in the rearview mirror. One of his travel books was about Tanzania. Did Lissie already know this? Most people, unless they lived there or were geography buffs, didn’t even know where Tanzania was.
“Well, technically that’s the nickname for the Olduvai Gorge,” Charlotte clarified.
“The what?” Maeve asked.
Lissie turned around to face Maeve. “The Olduvai Gorge, a deep ravine located in the eastern Serengeti Plains of northern Tanzania,” she explained.
Huh, Charlotte thought. I guess Lissie must be a geography guru.
“The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that you can see from space,” Avery threw out.
“Actually, that’s just a myth,” Charlotte informed her.
“The Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing that can be seen from space,” Lissie added.
Charlotte’s eyes met her father’s again in the rearview mirror. This was getting kind of bizarre.
“The water in and around the Great Barrier Reef covers an area just slightly smaller than the state of Minnesota,” Charlotte reported.
Lissie whipped around to look at Charlotte. “I can’t believe it! You must have read Serengeti Summer and Life on a Coral Reef.”
“Hasn’t everybody?” Charlotte joked, and everyone but Lissie laughed.
Lissie turned around in her seat to face the BSG. “You girls read those books?” she asked. “They’re quite advanced for seventh graders.”
They all nodded, grins widening on their faces.
“I love those books. They’re amazing,” Lissie gushed.
Charlotte looked at her father’s face in the mirror. His cheeks were turning bright, fire-engine red.
“Reading travel books is a hobby of mine,” Lissie continued. “But so many of them today are just the same old facts over and over again. But those books—those books make you feel like you’re actually there.”
The interior of the Mountain Rover was momentarily quiet. All that could be heard was the squeak of the seat springs as the old vehicle bounced down the road.
“Do you know what I mean?” Lissie asked.
“Yes, I do,” Mr. Ramsey said, smiling a little and looking back at Charlotte through the rearview mirror.
“It’s actually one of the reasons I’m here right now,” Lissie went on. “Because of the author of those books. Weird, huh, that I would quit my job and start my life over because of some random author?”
“You can say that again,” Maeve snickered.
“You quit your job and moved to Montana because of a book on Tanzania?” Avery asked.
“It wasn’t because of Tanzania or Australia; it was the spirit of adventure that Richard Ramsey wrote about so eloquently,” Lissie explained. “He’s really a terrific writer.”
“Richard Ramsey, as in my dad, as in the man sitting next to you,” Charlotte informed her. Lissie’s mouth fell open and she looked like every last breath of air had been sucked from her lungs.
“You’re the Richard Ramsey?” Lissie looked astounded. “I can’t believe it! I never imagined I was talking to THE Richard Ramsey!”
Mr. Ramsey nodded and blushed, obviously flattered by the attention.
“I LOVE your books,” Lissie gushed.
Charlotte cringed. She couldn’t stand the way Lissie made it seem like she was the only one in the universe who loved her dad’s books. Charlotte not only loved those books, but she had lived them. They weren’t just descriptions of places the Ramseys had visited; they were like huge pieces of Charlotte’s life.
Mr. Ramsey didn’t say anything. By now even the tops of his ears were bright red.
“What inspired you to start writing?” Lissie asked.
That question prompted a long and deep conversation between Lissie and Mr. Ramsey. The two chatted on and on as the car bumped along the road.
“We could have fallen out of the car miles ago and those two wouldn’t have noticed,” Maeve observed, causing Avery to crack up.
Charlotte didn’t think it was so funny. After all, her father had picked this highway for its incredible scenery and views, but he was missing all of its glory because he was too wrapped up in talking to Lissie McMillan.
“Those skies are pretty cloudy,” Avery noticed, pointing across the mountain tops.
In just a few minutes the clouds had knitted together and formed a huge, dark cluster.
“Looks like a storm is brewing,” Charlotte commented. “Hey, Dad, check out those clouds.”
The dark blue-black mass hung so low over the mountain range that some of the white peaks had vanished.
The Mountain Rover hit an extra big bump and everyone was launched airborne for a second, only held back by their seat belts.
“Cool! This is kind of like a ride at an amusement park,” Avery said. “Do that again, Mr. R!”
“I’m going to be black and blue by the time we get to the ranch,” Maeve said, rubbing her elbow, which she’d banged against the seat-belt clip.
“Dad, those clouds look pretty ominous to me,” Charlotte observed, staring out the window.
“You’re right, Charlotte. There’s definitely a storm brewing. Looks like snow to me. My grandmother used to talk about the sudden storms that whipped up here in the mountains,” Lissie responded.
“Hey, what’s that ahead?” Avery asked. Everyone followed her gaze through the front windshield.
The Mountain Rover had reached the crest of the hill where the road dipped into a canyonlike valley. As the car rounded the bend, a quaint western town came into view.
“I bet it’s an old mining town!” Charlotte declared.
“This is so cool! A real live ghost town!” Avery exclaimed, staring out the window.
“Like in the movies?” Maeve wondered. “I didn’t know ghost towns really existed. I thought they were made up.”
“No, they’re very real, and you can still find a few in Montana. People flocked here when gold and silver wer
e discovered. Towns sprang up near the mines, but once the gold was gone the people left too. Nothing is left here but the buildings,” Lissie explained.
She’s obviously been reading up on the West, Charlotte thought. She had to admit that Lissie sounded like a real adventure guru—and a history buff too.
“And the ghosts . . . what happened to them?” Avery asked with interest.
“Ghosts? Do these places have real ghosts in them?” Maeve wondered.
Avery let out a low, wicked, ghostly laugh.
“Stop it, Avery. You’re creeping me out!” Maeve exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands.
“Lissie’s right,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Once the mines proved unprofitable, all the people moved away. Some mining towns have been turned into tourist destinations.”
“I read about one Montana ghost town that’s now a state park,” Charlotte jumped in.
“Yes, I remember my grandmother talking about Bannack. It’s north of here,” Lissie said.
“Can we stop, Mr. Ramsey? Aren’t you curious to find out what’s behind those doors?” Maeve pleaded.
“Sorry, girls, it’s getting late, and those clouds look like bad weather closing in quickly. I don’t think we can afford to stop.” Mr. Ramsey stepped on the gas and the road rose steadily as they rattled out of town.
“What are those yellow poles?” Avery asked.
“Those are to mark the edge of the road so the snow-plows won’t drive off it,” Mr. Ramsey informed her.
“But they’re like twelve feet tall!” Avery exclaimed. “Does the snow really get that high?”
“Sure it does!” Lissie said. “My grandmother told me about snowfalls of six feet with drifts up to twenty feet high in some places.”
“But that’s taller than a house!” Maeve cried.
Lissie nodded. “Yeah. The weather gets pretty intense around here sometimes.”
“You don’t think it’s going to snow that much tonight, do you?” Charlotte asked her dad.
“I hope not!” Lissie responded, as she looked out the window toward the darkening sky.
I wasn’t asking YOU, Charlotte thought to herself. Lissie was really getting on her nerves. She seemed to be making herself right at home, and she had only met the BSG a few hours ago!