“This is all new—the setting, the work … you.” Gabi waved a vague hand. “Even though they hate the manual labor, they’re doing what you’re asking, but I’m not confident that this will continue long term. The bathroom is a serious carrot you’re holding in your hand, but once that’s up and done, I don’t know whether this cooperation thing will continue. Challenging authority is what these girls do best. They’re bound to crack.”
He nodded. “Huh. So I’m not a miracle worker who’s converted them all in a week flat? Damn.”
“Fine.” She had to smile. “So you’re not delusional.”
“Not usually. So what do you suggest we do?”
“I suggest we don’t take our eyes off them for a minute. They have an escapist history … but I guess you know that.”
He looked out at the lake, then back at the forest edging into the camp’s central area. “Gabi, they do know how dangerous it could be to take off from here, right?”
“They must.”
“Do they? Really?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I would hope so. I’d hope they’d be petrified to try it, but these are the girls who made exceptionally stupid decisions together not too long ago. Not sure I trust their groupthink.”
“Okay.” He nodded, thoughtful. “I have an idea. Let’s get ahead of them, then. Maybe we’ll take a construction break today. How’s a hike sound?”
Gabi cringed, picturing every single muscle in her body still screaming in protest from the work of the past couple of days. It was mortifying how out of shape she’d let herself become, sitting in her little dorm apartment all winter long.
“Honestly? Sounds like ow right now.”
He laughed. “Hikes are good for loosening up sore muscles.”
“How’s a hike going to convince the girls not to take off in the dead of night?”
“Easy. I’m going to spend a lot of time pointing out all the signs of all the wildlife that roams through here in the dark.”
Gabi shivered, and he laughed again.
“Also, I think it’d be a good idea to teach them some basic survival skills, so if they get some cockeyed notion to go off by themselves, at least they won’t die … as quickly, anyway.”
“That’s comforting, Luke.”
He shrugged. “Not saying they will or won’t—take off, I mean, not die—but they’ve got a history, and we’ve got a responsibility. If they bolt on our watch, whose head’s it gonna be on?” He paused, looking intently at her. “I have a feeling, based on your presence here, you already know how that goes down.”
* * *
“See that?” Three hours later, Luke pulled up short and pointed at a tree, making all of the girls grumble. They’d been hiking for two hours already, and even Gabi was tiring of the endless encyclopedia of wilderness information Luke was doling out.
Her head was spinning with the parade of don’t-eat-this and do-eat-this and don’t-burn-this and do-drink-this items in Luke’s repertoire, and though she was pretty impressed with his knowledge, she was afraid if push came to shove, she’d stare at every single one of these plants and not be able to remember which one could sustain her and which one could likely kill her.
“What are we looking at?” Madison sighed, adjusting her backpack straps. Luke had insisted they all carry these old army-surplus bags, loaded with water and granola bars and flashlights and matches, among other things. They were heavy, even though he’d said they were only going out for a few hours, and the girls were starting to grumble.
“See those marks up there?”
Gabi looked up at the thin, vertical stripes, but she had no more idea what they were than the girls did. Luke stood on a log to reach up and touch the stripes, rubbing his fingers together after he stepped down.
“Fresh.” He smiled. “That’s bear.”
Waverly’s eyes suddenly darted around, and she pulled in closer to the group. “What do you mean, that’s bear?”
“Claw marks, and the sap’s still running out of them. Probably came by this morning.”
“It is this morning,” Madison screech-whispered.
“Yep.” Luke looked around casually, like he wasn’t at all bothered that they were sharing the woods with a creature that could pummel them with one paw and eat them for lunch. “Probably has cubs, too. Bears generally stay out of your way if they smell you first, but if you ever get between a mama and her cubs, you better say your prayers.”
Gabi gulped, looking around for little bundles of fur.
“Don’t worry.” He smiled. “You four walk like a pack of elephants. She’ll have taken her babies well out of our way by now. But just good to know they’re out here. If you see one, don’t run. Just back away slowly, like you’re not interested in hanging out today, and hope for the best.”
Wow, he really was pouring it on thick here. He wanted to scare the girls into staying at camp? Well, score one for him. He’d now scared her into peeing her pants before leaving the tent to use the outhouse.
“You ladies ever seen a moose?” His eyes were bright, amused, but the girls were anything but amused.
“How about we head back to camp?” Eve suggested. “You know, in case the bear is still around.”
“Nah. We brought lunch. I know a good spot.” Luke started forward, then stopped dead and put his arms out, scaring every single one of them. He looked at the ground in front of his feet. “Well, would you look at that.”
“What?” Sam narrowed her eyes, gripping her backpack straps. “What is it?”
“Can’t tell for sure. Scat. Lynx or catamount.”
Gabi felt her eyes go wide. Lynx? Catamount? In these woods less than half a mile from the tent? Their next project was going to be a sleeping cabin with walls and windows and a damn door.
“What is scat?” Eve whispered.
“Poop. Big cat.” He studied it. “Probably yesterday. Last night, maybe. They move around at night, mostly.”
He looked back at the girls. “Lots of action out here at night. Not all of them are big enough to take down a human, but some are. Make sure you don’t give ’em a reason, okay? Some of them don’t actually require one.”
Gabi turned backward, pretending to gaze behind her so the girls wouldn’t see her smile. She would now be willing to bet not one of them would consider taking off from camp. Bears? Moose? Lynx and catamount? Yeah, there was no way these girls were even going to sleep tonight, let alone stage an escape.
Score one for Luke.
An hour later, after an epic climb that Gabi would definitely be feeling in her thighs for days to come, the six of them were seated on a rocky outcropping at the top of the world. At the top of Echo Lake, Vermont, at least. Directly in front of them, far below, was the lake, shimmering in the noontime sunlight, and Gabi was pretty sure she’d never seen anything quite so beautiful in her life.
A breeze wafted over the tops of the trees and cooled her heated face as she drank from her water bottle, then wiped it across her forehead. The girls were splayed out over the rock, moaning and groaning instead of enjoying the view, but she could care less. If they didn’t want to take advantage of their hard work by looking around, that was their problem.
“Anybody want some chocolate?” Luke waved a couple of Hershey bars in the air, and the girls all snapped upright, making Gabi laugh.
Waverly practically drooled. “You have chocolate?”
“It’s good energy food for a hike like this.” He tossed the bars toward them. “Split ’em up. Don’t forget to drink your water. Long hike down.”
Twenty minutes later, the girls had finished their lunches and were each leaning on their backpacks, practically asleep. Luke winked at Gabi, then banged a metal spoon on his metal bowl, making all four girls jump practically out of their own skins.
“Question—how many of you think you could find your way back to camp if you needed to right now?”
All four girls raised their hands slowly, like they weren’t at all s
ure they could, but didn’t dare admit it.
“Really?” Luke’s eyebrows hiked upward. “So you all paid close attention to the twists and turns we took all the way up?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “No. We were following you.”
“Yes.” He pointed at her like she’d given exactly the right answer. “So, second question—what if I fall off this cliff right now? Or what if I trip and conk my head on a rock on the way back down? Think you could find your way then?”
Gabi’s stomach felt suddenly cold as she realized she, too, had merely followed his lead all the way up the mountain, not even trying to keep track of landmarks, turns, or anything in the world that would help them get back to camp if something happened to Luke.
Shit. He was going to make them find their way back to camp. She could feel it.
He paused, letting all of them come to that same realization, and then he grinned. “I’m not going to make you find your way back. Not this time, anyway.”
Gabi felt her shoulders fall in relief as she watched the girls’ faces relax. Next time, she promised herself. Next time she’d mentally mark every tree, every rock, every blade of grass. How had she not thought to at least make an attempt at doing so this time?
“Here’s the thing,” Luke continued. “No matter how many people you’re with, you have to keep your eyes open, your ears open, your brain open. The woods are beautiful, and this mountain is one of the most amazing places on Earth, but you have to pay attention, or you could end up dead.”
“Dead? What else is out here?” Waverly’s eyes widened. “Gabi? Do our parents know about this?”
“He’s exaggerating.” Gabi tried to send him a warning with her eyes, but Luke either wasn’t paying attention, or didn’t care.
“He’s not.” His voice was firm. “One of the first rules of survival is to respect your environment, and that means you need to understand all of the possible dangers, and you need to know how to keep yourself safe. That includes always knowing how to get home if you need to. It also includes knowing what to do if you can’t find your way back. That’s what we’re going to talk about this afternoon.”
Gabi looked at the girls, and she had to hand it to Luke. He sure had their attention now. Even Madison had her arms folded on her knees, eyes glued to him as he started demonstrating how to clear a space for a fire, then had them dump out their backpacks so he could show them what to do with each of the items he’d insisted they put in there.
Two hours later, they had a crackling fire, a makeshift shelter, and four dirty girls who each glowed with an inner sense of accomplishment. They’d hauled branches, they’d chopped down pine boughs, and they’d identified three different plants whose stems could be eaten. They’d learned to filter water from the stream that cascaded over nearby rocks, and to wait until it was safe to drink. They’d learned to mark a trail if they got lost, and how to read a compass. And they’d learned that the fastest way to get any of those things done was to work together.
As Gabi watched them gather up their things and stuff them into their backpacks, she felt a tiny glow of possibility take hold. For an entire school year, the only thing these four girls had agreed on was that they despised each other. But now, after only a week at Camp Echo, they were actually working together.
She turned to gather her own pack, rolling her eyes as she did so. Yes, Gabi. The world is now solved. One bathroom and one hike, and we’re good to go.
“You okay?” Luke’s voice interrupted her inner diatribe as he came up behind her.
“Sure. Yeah. Of course.” She pulled up a smile and turned his way.
He raised one eyebrow. “That was convincing.”
“I know.” She shook her head, stuffing things into her pack. “Sorry. I was just kicking myself for getting all excited about how well they’ve been working together for the past couple of hours.”
“Why would you kick yourself about it?”
“Because it’s not real. It’s temporary. It’s them being out of their element and under different supervision … temporarily.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “And you’re convinced none of these cooperation skills could possibly transfer to their Briarwood lives?”
“I’m sure they could. But I’m just as sure they won’t make it happen.”
“I’m not.”
She paused to look at him as he watched the girls put out the fire, covering the coals with dirt and water, just like he’d taught them.
“I appreciate your optimism, Luke, as misplaced as it might be.”
He half smiled, like he found her more amusing than the herd of girls he’d shepherded up the mountain.
“Well, misplaced optimism or not, it’s been a good day, right?”
“Yes.” She’d allow him that. “It’s definitely been a good day.”
“An-nd they’re definitely too scared now to take off at night, right? So it’ll be a good night, as well?”
“Definitely possible.” She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to say something about one-day-at-a-time being a camp mantra now?”
“I wasn’t.” He shrugged. “But I could. We’ve made some baby steps here, Gabi. And that’s something. Don’t discount it. There’s a long month ahead. Plenty of time for us to see what more we can do.”
“We?” She heard the word come out before she could stop it.
He turned toward her. “Or you. I’m not jumping in on your job here. Just offering to help, when you need it.”
“Okay.”
“But if you’re ready to dismiss me, I’ll just head on down the mountain and wait for you guys at camp.” He grinned.
“Not funny, Luke.”
“See? You do need me. At least a little.”
He turned, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from letting her eyes travel his body.
Oh, she needed him, all right.
She just didn’t want to, dammit.
Chapter 13
The next morning, Gabi and the girls slogged into the dining hall at seven o’clock, having been jogged out of bed by a bugle Luke had unearthed from God-knows-where. Gabi was not amused, but less amused were the girls, who still thought they should get to sleep in at least on the weekends.
“Good morning, ladies!” Luke called from the kitchen. “Bright eyed and bushy tailed, I see!”
Gabi looked at him, and before she could stop herself, swallowed hard. Clad in his customary cargo shorts and a dark blue T-shirt, with his hair still damp from the shower, he stood at a big griddle, spatula in one hand and coffee mug in the other. Yes, it was a summer camp dining hall, but it was such a sweet domestic picture that Gabi had to blink hard to shut down the thoughts it triggered.
The girls slithered onto picnic table benches and put their heads down on the table, groaning about the early hour, while Gabi made her way to the coffeemaker.
“A bugle? Really?”
Luke grinned. “Forgot I had that old thing.”
“Could you please forget again?”
“Nah. The girls kept getting up later every day. Had to nip it in the bud. We’ve got a lot to do today.”
Gabi took a long sip of her coffee. “It’s the weekend, Luke. Do you ever give it a rest?”
“Nope. Saturday’s just as good a day to work as any other. No way that project list will get done on five-day weeks, especially if we keep taking time out for hikes and stuff.”
“The hike was your idea, mister.”
“Yep. And it was a good idea.” He pointed to the girls. “Look at these exhausted young ladies. I love it!”
Waverly raised her head, but just barely. “Gabi? Are you paying him to be this annoying?”
“Nope.” Luke grinned. “I come by it naturally. Now, let’s all eat some breakfast so we can head out and finish up that bathroom. If all goes well, I suspect we might, just might, be able to get this thing done today.”
“Really?” Madison raised her head. “Seriously?”
“Depen
ds on how you ladies do, but it’s definitely possible. Leach field and septic tank are all set. All you girls need to do is the above-ground part of the job.”
Gabi saw Sam crack a smile as she slid off the picnic table bench and headed for the plates. “I’d love for the rest of Briarwood to know the true way to your heart is a flushing toilet, princess.”
“Shut up, Sam.” Madison rolled her eyes and got up as well, followed by Waverly.
Gabi sighed. “An-nd we’re back.”
“Nah.” Luke sipped his coffee. “Leave it to me.”
“That phrase should really, really scare me.”
He turned off the griddle and tossed the spatula into the soapy sink. “Piper said you need to do some laundry? And that you don’t care to use the lake? Which I can hardly believe?”
Gabi smiled. “Yes. We have piles of laundry. And no, I have no desire to wash clothing in the lake. Piper said I could use her washer and dryer this morning, but that would mean leaving the girls with you.”
“And you’re not sure that’s a good idea?”
“Well … I’m more afraid that it’s an incredible imposition.”
“You afraid for them? Or for me?”
She laughed. “Little bit of both, maybe?”
“Understandable.” He shrugged, pointing out the window to where the bathroom stood framed on its cement pad. “I’ve got eyes enough to watch them, and Oliver’s here to call 911 if somebody slices off a finger. We’re good to go.”
Gabi took a deep breath. “Do you try to be like this?”
“Nope.” Luke winked. “We’re fine. Go do laundry. Have lunch in town. Take a break, Gabi. I imagine you don’t get too many of those.”
The tone of his voice was sweet, caring … almost affectionate, and Gabi wasn’t sure how to react. One week ago he’d stood beside the van with his arms crossed, obviously wishing he could turn them right around and send them back to Briarwood, and today? He was practically ordering her to go do something nice for herself while he did her job.
“Are you sure? I still have a thing about power tools. Just saying.”
He patted her shoulder gently. “I know you’re paid to be a worrywart, but I officially give you permission to stop. They won’t get hurt. And if they do, we have hospitals.”
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