The Way

by Janet Parsons

  The path they ventured along was strewn with the late summer fallen leaves and the trees arched overhead, meeting like a variegated green vaulted cathedral.

  “Wow, look at the way the light filters through the gaps like little spotlights on a stage.” Beth took a deep breath.

  “Come on Lady MacBeth, there’ll be plenty to ‘wow’ at along the way. Old Cragg is setting quite the pace.” Toby adjusted his back pack and they set off to tackle a slow and steady incline ahead.

  An hour and a half into the hike, the overhead canopy thinned and as the bright sunshine overhead beamed down on them, Beth was relieved she had worn a baseball cap.

  “Hang on a minute Toby, I need to stop for a drink.” She gulped thirstily from her water bottle.

  He agreed, “Me too, that old boy’s set a fast pace, he sure walks a lot quicker than he talks.”

  The group had already spread out enough so that at certain sections of the trail they couldn’t see or hear the hikers ahead of or behind them. A clear mountain stream ran a few feet away from the track and after draining his bottle, Toby walked over and crouched to refill.

  “Toby, you can’t drink that! It’ll need to be boiled first. I have a spare bottle in my pack.”

  “Come on, the water’s crystal clear and running,” he replied.

  “Yes, and quite possibly brimming with salmonella, not salmon. ‘Crystal clear’ doesn’t count. The water is running downstream which means it could have collected all kinds of nasty microorganisms from upstream.” Beth continued with her lecture.

  “Okay, okay, but that’s a bit dramatic. Too many biology classes for you I think!” Toby stood up and made his way back onto the path.

  “And perhaps, not enough for you. You stick to being the specialist on oceans. I’ve got years of experience in the wild on land, so trust me and take this spare bottle.”

  They set off again feeling refreshed after a drink, which was just as well as the next section of the track inclined steeply.

  Professor Cragg, Ms. Flanders and the four hikers who had kept up with them had stopped at a lookout point, and were waiting in a semi-circle on the stream’s side.

  As Beth and Toby came up behind, Jemma leapt from the group holding her hand to her mouth and wailing; “Ugghh I’m gonna throw up, get out of my way!” She staggered past them and headed into the trees.

  They soon saw what had caused her upset.

  Lying across the stream, a decaying carcass of a huge black bear made the water create a little dam and then flow through the massive rib cage before continuing on its way.

  Beth looked at Toby and pointed. “Exhibit A – why we don’t drink the water.”

  Professor Cragg had approached the bear, unfazed by the accompanying foul odor, and proceeded to pick up a small tree branch to use as a pointer;

  “Gather around, students, this is a most interesting find. Bears are not known to frequent this area, and looking at the size of this creature you would presume it was taken down by a mountain lion or a coyote; but have a look at the bite marks on the flanks here; they are most unusual. They must be from at least thirty different mouths with incredibly defined canine puncture wounds. Lucky for me there is something embedded here and if I just flick it out…” He maneuvered the pointy end of the stick, dislodging a long razor-edged tooth which he flicked up to land near the rest of the group’s feet. No one else had moved any closer to the gruesome carcass, as the smell was ferocious.

  Professor Cragg took a few photos with Ms. Flander’s phone.

  “This will make a fascinating case study. A most unusual presentation of bite marks. There must have been a huge pack of whatever they were. I wonder what sort of creature belongs to this tooth; do you recognize it Ms. Flanders?”

  “No Professor, I can’t say I do. Here put it in this specimen jar and we’ll investigate further when we get back it to the lab.” Kim Flanders handed him the bag. “Let’s head up the mountain a bit more, before we stop for lunch at the falls. I know some students are tired but I don’t think they could stomach their lunch here.”

  “Yes of course, ah, here come the last few stragglers and Mr. Yeats. Well done students, we will be moving further up the mountain to Arethusa Falls to break for lunch.”

  Luke Bolling, red faced and puffing, began to whine, “Oh can’t we just sto—ewwwww what the heck is that smell?”

  “Come on Luke, only a mile or so to go to the Falls—you’ll do that easily.” Logan tried to encourage him along. “Take a sip of your water, you’ll be okay buddy.”

  Beth watched and listened to his patient ways with the boy.

  Toby caught her in the act again. “Maybe we could slow down for this next bit, Beth, so you can keep your eye on the prize.”

  “I’ll be fine keeping the pace we’ve been doing. Come on, I’ll race you to the Professor.” Beth looked back, and saw Logan over at the bear carcass. He had a grim expression on his usually chilled face.

  The next twenty minutes saw the hikers stay a bit closer together as the incline was intensely steep, but the reward that awaited them was ever so sweet. The 140-foot high Arethusa Falls was an impressive white horsetail cascading over the natural sculpture of orange and black granite rocks. Mature conifers and hardwood trees grew both sides of the falls and the river below hosted large flat rock beds. Pools of water beckoned them with relief from the hot hike.

  Shelby, Jemma and Ashley could barely get under the waterfall quickly enough. They ripped off their hiking boots and socks. All three were wearing pale v-neck tee shirts and denim shorts. They scrambled across the rocks and proceeded to see who could win the wettest tee-shirt competition.

  “Daybian, take some pics; you have my Go-Pro. We may as well get some action shots,” Jemma called to him, then turned to Ashley and said slyly, “Just you wait ‘til I put them on my phone. Miffy will be furious.”

  The trio continued with their show, while the rest of the group found a shady spot, some removing their footwear to paddle in the refreshing shallows. Beth waded into the clear stream, her feet feeling immediate relief.

  Daybian approached her, camera in hand; “Aren’t you going to join the show? Too shy perhaps; maybe groups aren’t your thing. A bit more of a one-on-one girl are you? We’ll have to work on that when we set up camp tonight.”

  Beth held up her palm. “Are you seriously this delusional? I’m not interested in you or any of your twisted projects, if anything, you disgust me!”

  “Oh, I get it, you must bat for the other team. That’s why you’re always hanging around that freak.” He pointed at Toby. “No problems, you’ll grow out of that and when you do, I’ll be waiting.”

  Toby had waded over to see what was going on and overheard the last comment. “This girl has taste, ya big doofus. She’s out of your league DaFȍe, so go back and play with your wh—”

  Beth intervened again to avoid Daybian’s reaction and reached over, grabbing Toby’s hand. “Toby, don’t even bother, I’ll race you back to land. I’m famished!”

  CHAPTER 14

  Nightfall

  “Keep calm & Carpe Noctem students”

  – PROFESSOR CRAGG

  Frankenstein Cliff, a bare granite crag, stood majestically at the end of the long flat mountain, towering 1000 foot over the lush green valley below. The final leg of the hike had been hard work, with a steep slope and a gloomy, enclosed forest for much of the climb. This at least provided shade from the beating sun and was appreciated.

  It was difficult to know when they had reached the summit, as a tall, graceful beech forest surrounded them. The trunks were enormous with gnarled mossy green-covered roots. Such rugged terrain had protected much of the forest from being logged out and genuinely ancient trees stood like a noble greeting party for those who had endured the challenging climb.

  “Frankenstein Cliff! Could they have chosen a creepier location for us to set up camp?” Jemma gasped.

  She and Shelby had a corner each of the rainfly to cove
r the orange tent, while Ashley and Beth had the other corners. They wrestled with the tent pegs. The tents the school had provided were the easy to assemble, pop-up variety, but Beth seemed the only one from her group able, or perhaps willing, to tackle the manual labor required at this stage. After securing her corner she went around to the other corners and erected the tent.

  The tents were arranged in a small circle in a natural clearing. Several jack pines had left a thick, fragrant carpet of needles. The ranger had set up a stone-rimmed fire pit for the group as a favor to Professor Cragg. Camping was not usually permitted on the mountain, but the ranger’s father was a lecturer from Cragg’s student days at Harvard, and allowed them to camp out if they were careful to not start fires.

  Daybian had managed to ensure his two-man tent was as close as possible to the cheer girls’, and was sharing with Caleb Evans, a stocky line-backer from the football team.

  All of the accompanying teachers had their own tents and Ms. Flanders ensured she was on one side of the cheer girls and organized Logan to take the other side. She had been warned that some of the more adventurous students would need heightened supervision. The school did not want a repeat performance of the ill-fated field trip four years ago when the senior humanities students visited New York. The trip resulted in three students being arrested for disturbing the peace, and a student teacher charged with being an accomplice to their pranks.

  Daybian and Caleb had erected their tent and were already showing off, play wrestling in front of the others.

  “Why don’t you boys gather some wood for tonight’s fire?” Ms. Flanders prompted, “and then you can come and help me prepare the dinner. We’re having chili bean rice and fire-roasted corn on the cob.”

  “Firewood I can do—but cooking is not my thing,” Daybian answered.

  “It may not have been your ‘thing’ until now, but you and Caleb are on duty with me, so get hustling with the firewood and then bring me some water in this pot for boiling.” Ms. Flanders did not take back-chat lightly and the boys had been warned that since she had taken over as their coach, she had zero tolerance for any off-field antics. While they were in her sight, at least, it was best to behave rather than face suspension.

  Beth wandered over to Toby’s tent. He was sharing with Luke, who was sitting red-faced and exhausted on a log, having developed a blister on his foot from hiking. He was attempting to dress it with antiseptic wash and a pile of Band-Aids. Nathan and Gary Wang, identical twins physically, although opposite in dress sense and personality, made an interesting dynamic to complete the group of four. Nathan wore his hair in a strategically gelled mohawk, dyed red at the tips. His look was arty and out-there, and his demeanor matched. Everything about Gary was conservative and quiet; from his precision groomed haircut, to his penchant for crisp white shirts, navy vests and black pants or shorts which he wore like a regulatory uniform. Despite their outward differences, the twins did absolutely everything together. Beth had loved hearing a Haiku that Gary had written in English, describing Nathan as his alter ego and vice versa; revealing that perhaps his artistic side was as present as Nathan’s.

  My brother and me

  Two bodies, one entity

  Counterparts made whole

  The twins sat playing cards. Nathan had approached Luke earlier and asked if he needed help but was met with a gruff retort so the twins moved their card game well away from Luke.

  Toby emerged from the tent. “Lady MacBeth, how did you go with your cheer squad? All settled in for the big session?”

  “Oh, save me, please! Looks like you have quite the roomies here; is Luke okay? That blister looks nasty. I’m going to see if he’ll let me help.” Beth walked towards him, and Luke looked up from the wound, wincing with pain.

  “Go away, I can handle this myself,” he snapped.

  “Let me have a look, I’ve done first aid and I know how to best dress that blister. If you don’t cover it properly it will only get worse.” Beth knelt and heard a voice behind her.

  “Yeah Luke, she’s right, let her help you, bud.” Logan joined Beth on the ground and helped her hold Luke’s foot in place.

  Her hand brushed Logan’s ever so slightly as she was attempting to place a dressing under the Band-Aids, causing a jolt of electricity to race up her arm. She had never found herself this close to him and she was having difficulty concentrating on what would normally have been a simple task. She wondered if he had felt the energy buzz between them. He remained as composed and cool as ever, so she thought not. His face was so near to her that she could feel his breath on her skin, and her fingers began to tremble as she stuck the last plaster on.

  “There, that’ll do it.” Beth stood up before her trembling became any more noticeable.

  “Luke, if you stay off your feet tonight that will feel so much better in the morning. Thanks to Beth you won’t miss any of tomorrow’s high paced action.” Logan smiled at Beth and gave her a subtle wink, waiting for Luke’s complaints which were swift to follow.

  “No way, I’m in way too much pain, I don’t think I’ll be up for any of that. I’ll probably have to stay here and rest. In fact, I might even have to be air lifted out of here, I feel so bad!” Luke answered seriously.

  Logan looked over at Beth using a hand gesture that she wasn’t familiar with. He pointed to her and then to his back, then spoke to Luke. “Relax now, I’m sure the EMS will not have to do an Airlift. Nothing that a good meal, some campfire stories and a sound sleep won’t fix. Right Beth?”

  “Sure thing, Luke.” Beth had not understood Logan’s hand gesture, and as Logan stood up and turned to walk back over to his tent, she called after him, “Mr. Yeats, is your back okay? You were pointing at it.”

  Logan came back towards her close enough that he could speak quietly. “I forget sometimes you aren’t familiar with some of the local speak. My back’s great; I was asking you to ‘have my back’ in relation to allaying Luke’s fears. It was hard work hiking up here with him. I don’t think he’d taken a walk in a long while, let alone a challenging uphill one. For every step, there was a complaint. Good lesson in patience for me.”

  Beth looked into his eyes. “That’s okay, I know how to have your back now, so all is well…I guess.”

  He turned to walk away again and looked back at her. “Yep, all is well, I’ll get over and see how the others are doing. I’ll catch you later.”

  Toby, who had been watching the first aid party from a distance, appeared right next to Beth and shared his thoughts; “Yeah, you may have his back – but he has your heart. I could smell the (in the immortal words of Frank-N-Furter) antici…pation, from where I was standing. Fancy that, the two of you bonding over Luke Bolling’s grimy foot! What a great story to tell your kids. It’ll go a bit like this; ‘Well, there was this big kid with a mighty blister and your handsome and dashing Prince Charming of a father came to help me…blah, blah, blah.’ Come on, we’ll go report to Professor Cragg. I think we’re supposed to be fetching water. I saw it on the chore roster sheet.”

  Toby grabbed her hand and they headed towards the supplies tent which had all the desired equipment including the water drums.

  “Oh Toby, I don’t think he even knows I exist, he’s just that type of nice guy to everyone; you saw how kind he was to Luke on the walk.” Beth sighed despondently. “And that is not easy, given the temperament of that boy. Honestly, the kid complains as much as he breathes.”

  “Just chill and give it time, the night is young. Ahoy there, Nathan and Gary, you two better come and grab a drum. Luke you’re excused of course. Just rest up there.”

  Toby led them to collect the drums, checking in with Professor Cragg, explaining that Beth would have to help their team as Luke was out of action.

  “See, always thinking of you Beth, got you out of the cheer squad tasks, how good am I?” Toby held one side of the water drum and offered her the other. He called to Nathan and Gary to pick up theirs and they headed to the nearby smal
l waterfall.

  Shelby had spotted them and called out, “Beth, you have to come and help us collect firewood. Me, Jemma and Ashley all had manicures this week and honestly, we can’t afford to break a nail. There’s not a salon for miles. We’ll help hold the pails if you put the wood in.”

  Ms. Flanders interjected. “Shelby, I have asked you three to do this as Luke is out of action. Beth is needed for the water and if I hear one complaint about those claws of yours again it will be too soon. Why on Earth did you have your nails done to go camping?”

  Shelby and the other two girls had no answer for this—expect that they liked to think of the outdoor life as ‘glamping’ not camping. A girl had to look her best at all times – it was in their code. Ms. Flanders was not a ‘mani’ kind of woman, so unlikely to understand the rationale. It was best they just got on with the task. They bickered quietly among themselves about who would have to risk a nail break.

  Daybian and Caleb were busy peeling and cutting up onions for the chili beans, their eyes red rimmed from the pungent, stinging odor.

  Toby couldn’t help himself as they went past and heard them sniffling. “What’s up, boys? Missing your mamas?”

  “Shut it freak! Or you’ll be crying some real tears,” Daybian responded tersely.

  Caleb stopped the chopping and just held his knife, glaring at Toby menacingly.

  “Come on you. Get moving before you end up in the stew. Can’t take you anywhere without you poking a bear, can I?” Beth pulled him along with the water drum.

  “Ha! They don’t scare me now I’ve got you – my secret black belt weapon!” Toby grinned smugly.

  Beth just shook her head at him. They arrived at the brook and immersed their drum. Nathan and Gary had already filled theirs and were returning up the path.

  “How did you get done so quickly?” Toby asked.

  “You know two brains, four hands – the usual mix,” Nathan quipped as they passed, “See you back there, we have a card game to finish.”