by Perrin Briar
Cassie looked at the bulge under the pillow with interest.
“At least your father got to say he would be back,” she said. “My mom just disappeared. We don’t know where she went. She just disappeared.”
Aaron looked at Cassie with new eyes.
“I didn’t know that,” he said.
“It’s true,” Cassie said. “So don’t think you’re the only one who lost a parent.”
“I used to wait for him outside the house,” Aaron said. “On the curb. For him to come back. He’ll be back one day. I know it.”
They were both silent a moment.
“Come on,” Cassie said, getting up. “We don’t want them to get much sleep tonight.”
Cassie opened the zip slowly, one tooth at a time to reduce noise. She opened it just enough, like a cat flap, to be able to poke her head out. She looked at their parents’ tent, which was quiet, save for Bryan’s soft snoring.
Cassie climbed out of the tent armed with a loaf of bread. She tore it to pieces and tossed it on top of their parents’ tent’s roof. Then she opened a tin of dog food and upended it around the front of the tent. Then she headed out into the woods.
“What are you doing?” Aaron said, peering at the darkness around them. “We shouldn’t be out here.”
“One second,” Cassie said. “Dad has a phobia of spiders. Maybe we can do something with that.”
She moved to the undergrowth and lifted it like a blanket. Small creatures burst out, scattering in all directions. But Cassie had found what she was looking for. She picked up a large woodland spider. She held it in her hands and walked to their parents’ tent. She unzipped the front by a few teeth and then put the spider inside, doing the door back up behind it.
“Sweet dreams,” Cassie whispered.
26
BRYAN STARTED AWAKE, grunting as he did, accidentally kicking Zoe in the shin.
“Ngh?” Zoe said.
“Sorry,” Bryan said. “I thought I heard something.”
“It was probably just a dream,” Zoe said, turning over. “Go back to sleep.”
Bryan peered around at the inside of their tent, and then lay his head back down on his pillow. His eyes began to close.
Snap.
Bryan sat up.
“I definitely heard something,” he said. “A snap, like something walking in the forest.”
Zoe grunted but didn’t get up.
Bryan listened to the world around him again, but nothing stirred. He lay back in his sleeping bag, his eyes moving left to right. He relaxed his eyes and began to close them, when he caught something out the corner of his eye. A spider, made large by the angle it descended down toward his face, landed on his cheek.
Bryan screamed, pressing his hands over his face to dislodge the spider. He ran at the door, knocking the whole tent to one side, and then grabbed the zip, tore it open, and leapt outside, sliding along the dirt on his back. Something slimy pressed against his arms. He felt at it. In the darkness it felt like blood, and when he looked again, a pair of mice were clinging to his arms. They beat a hasty retreat.
A flock of birds descended upon the tent roof and pecked at it, as if disliking a manmade object in their natural surroundings.
“The forest has gone mad!” Bryan screamed.
Zoe came out of the tent, and the birds flew away.
“Was this what made you go crazy?” Zoe said, holding out her hand.
Long spindly legs reached out through her fingers. Bryan shied back and gibbered. Zoe took the spider into the forest and let it go.
“You need to get a grip,” Zoe said.
“But the birds…” Bryan said. “The mice…”
He cast his head about, but none of the creatures were present any longer.
“They were here,” he said. “I swear.”
“I believe you,” Zoe said in a tone of voice that sounded like she didn’t. “Now, let’s go back to sleep.”
Bryan stood up and dusted himself off, peering at the darkness and the sounds around him. He got back into the tent and listened closely to the night, eyes never still, muffling into his sleeping bag at every unexpected sound.
Cassie and Aaron smiled, letting the muffles wash over them like a lullaby.
27
“RISE AND SHINE!” Cassie said through their front tent flap. “The sun is up and it’s a beautiful day!”
Bryan and Zoe grunted and sat up, and then fell back into their sleeping bags.
“Wakey wakey!” Aaron said, kicking the side of their tent.
Zoe and Bryan stretched and got to their feet. They both had dark circles around their eyes and moved like the living dead.
“Put the kettle on,” Zoe said as she staggered toward the stream.
“What kettle?” Cassie said.
“A pot,” Zoe said. “Heat a pot of water over the fire. I need coffee.”
Bryan stood in place, his head hanging down as he fell asleep on his feet.
“Wakey wakey!” Cassie said to him.
Bryan started awake, but his eyes were already beginning to drift closed again.
After a wash, a cup of coffee and some breakfast, Bryan and Zoe were ready, at least in spirit, for the day. They packed their things and loaded their bags. They grunted at the weight of their backpacks – they could swear they were getting heavier – and then proceeded deeper into the forest.
“The fracking machinery will be kicking off any minute now,” Bryan said, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
“Do you want to see it start for yourself?” Zoe said.
“No,” Bryan said. “I’ve seen a million of these things. I don’t need to see another one.”
“But none of them have been yours before,” Zoe said.
Bryan shrugged.
“There’ll be plenty more to see in the future, hopefully,” he said. “Let’s keep going.”
They headed farther and deeper into the forest. The rocks grew wide and as tall as Bryan. Streams flowed around them, carving sharp grooves around their edges.
Boom! It was a loud crack, like from a cannon.
The family stopped and turned to look in the direction of where it had come from. A flock of crows took flight and cawed with alarm. There was another Boom! And then another.
“It’s the fracking machine,” Bryan said. “It’s started.”
The crows passed overhead, away from the disturbing noises. Bryan was excited. He listened for more, but none came. His expression dropped when he realized he was not an intrinsic part of the process.
“Shall we have lunch?” Zoe said. “We’ll cook something extra special to celebrate your success. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great,” Bryan said, though he was still distracted.
“Anything in particular you’d like?” Zoe said.
“How about beef Wellington?” Bryan said with a smile.
“I can try…” Zoe said.
“You know what I would really like?” Bryan said. “Some beans on toast. My father used to make it for me every time I did well on a test at school. I still get cravings for it now and then at work.”
“Beans on toast I can do,” Zoe said.
They unshouldered their bags and sat them down on the ground, taking shelter in the shade. Zoe dug out a saucepan, a slightly squashed loaf of bread and two tins of baked beans. She heated the beans over a paraffin heater and asked Aaron to hold slices of bread over a second heater until they were crispy brown. He sat the toast on some plastic plates and Zoe poured the bubbling beans over them.
“The first one’s ready,” Zoe said.
Bryan picked up a plate, sat on an upturned boulder and tucked into his meal.
“Mm,” he said. “That’s good.”
“Good,” Zoe said. “You’re the only millionaire I know who loves beans on toast.”
“How many millionaires do you know?” Bryan said.
“One or two,” Zoe said, poking out her tongue.
“You might be s
urprised,” Bryan said. “A lot of them will have grown up poor. They’ll all have a fond meal they remember from their youth.”
“How is it, Cass?” Zoe said.
Cassie shrugged. For once, she didn’t complain. It was a meal she had many times when she was young and associated happy moments with it. They sat in silence as they ate, letting nature offer a backing track to the moment.
Once they finished their lunch, Bryan took each of their plates and rinsed them in the stream. The water was crystal clear and sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. The air was fresh and clean and the city felt like it was a million miles away. That was until the alarm on Bryan’s laptop went off. Zoe sighed in exasperation.
“Sorry,” Bryan said. “I’ll turn it off.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Zoe said. “Let’s throw it in the river.”
“The alarms keep going off,” Bryan said. “I don’t know why.”
“Will the office fail to operate if you’re not there?” Zoe said.
“We agreed I could leave my phone on in case of emergencies,” Bryan said.
“And you decided to bring your whole office with you instead,” Zoe said. “We’re all here, enjoying the natural scene and you’re off out there somewhere in electronics land. It looks like you’re trying to set up your own branch of Best Buy.”
Bryan’s face screwed up into a mask of anger.
“If I’d had any say in the location of where we’ll be going at least then I’d feel comfortable,” he said.
“You don’t feel comfortable out here in nature?” Zoe said.
Cassie and Aaron stood a discreet distance away, far enough for their parents to say whatever they needed to, but not so far they couldn’t enjoy the action going on before them.
“I do,” Bryan said, “but not under all these rules. I thought nature was supposed to be about freedom? So far as I can tell, there isn’t a whole lot of that.”
Zoe folded her arms.
“So what would you prefer?” she said. “For us all to go on by ourselves while you work in the corner? And turn that damn alarm off!”
Aaron had never heard his mother swear before, and it took him by surprise. He stepped forward to calm her, but Cassie blocked him.
“I’d prefer it if we didn’t have any rules,” Bryan said. “If we could relax while we’re away from the city.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do,” Zoe said.
They folded their arms and looked away from one another. Cassie was struck by how similar they appeared in their moment of mutual anger. Zoe stormed off toward the fire, kicking dirt over it with venom.
Cassie leaned in close to Aaron.
“We’re getting close to the end now,” she whispered. “Dad can’t keep away from his devices much longer, not with the drilling machine starting. And I’ve just got the thing to push them over the edge.”
She rifled through her bag.
“What?” Aaron said.
Cassie extracted a pair of underwear.
“Panties?” Aaron said, feeling a bit embarrassed to look at them. “How are they going to help?”
“You’ll see,” Cassie said with a smile.
28
THEY WALKED along the stream for the rest of the afternoon. Bryan’s attention was transfixed on the flowing water. Something popped up to the surface every few seconds, casting ripples out in concentric circles.
“Zoe,” Bryan said. “Come here a minute! Do you see that? They’re fish coming up for air. We’re going to eat well tonight. Can you get me the fishing line and hook I’ve got in my backpack pocket?”
“Which side?” Zoe said.
“On the left,” Bryan said.
Zoe opened the pocket and pulled out what was inside. There was a piece of cloth, with a fish hook and line inside it. Zoe handed them to Bryan, and was about to put the cloth back in the bag when her finger brushed against a piece of lace. She unfolded the cloth to find it was a pair of ladies underwear. They were silk with a pink love heart on the front.
“Bryan, what’s this?” Zoe said.
“Hang on a sec,” Bryan said. “I’ll just set this line up and we’ll be good to go.”
“Bryan,” Zoe said. “Look at me.”
Her voice was stern, and Bryan knew better than to ignore it. Zoe held the panties up.
“What’s this?” she said.
“Looks like a pair of underwear,” Bryan said.
“I know what they are,” Zoe said. “But what are they doing in your bag?”
“My bag?” Bryan said. “Are you sure they weren’t in your bag?”
“They’re not my underwear,” Zoe said.
“Are you sure?” Bryan said.
“There are only two reasons why a man might have a pair of underwear like this in his backpack while on a camping trip,” Zoe said. “Either he likes wearing women’s underwear…”
“Next,” Bryan said.
“Or they’re underwear that another woman wears and you brought them to remind yourself of her,” Zoe said.
“You’re crazy,” Bryan said. “I swear I have never seen those before in my life.”
“Then how did they end up in your bag?” Zoe said.
“I don’t know!” Bryan said. “Maybe they’re a pair of my ex-wife’s that got stuck in the washing machine or something. Or maybe she used the backpack way back when and forgot to take them out. I didn’t put them in there. Why would I? I’ve got yours to look at if I like looking at underwear. And think about it. Would I really come on this camping trip, suggest ways for us to be together, and to take things more seriously, while secretly seeing someone else? How much free time do you think I have?”
Zoe frowned, letting Bryan’s responses run through her mind. She shook her head.
“I suppose you’re not stupid enough to let me discover something like this,” she said.
“Thank you,” Bryan said.
“Are they your ex-wife’s?” Zoe said.
“I don’t know,” Bryan said. “How can I remember? But the rest of her clothes are in the house. I suppose they could be hers. You do believe me, don’t you?”
Zoe looked into Bryan’s big brown eyes.
“I might be crazy,” she said. “But yes, I do.”
Bryan reached out and took Zoe’s hand. She looked at him and smiled, her anger seeping away.
“I would never do that to you,” Bryan said. “You’re everything to me.”
Cassie and Aaron stood watching a short distance away.
“You’re right,” Aaron said. “They’re going to tear each other to pieces any moment.”
Cassie growled under her breath.
“What’s going on?” she said. “That was supposed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. But look at them.”
Bryan and Zoe hugged one another tight.
“We need to try harder,” Cassie said. “We need to be ruthless.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t try to break them up,” Aaron said. “I mean, what’s the harm?”
“The harm is my reputation!” Cassie said. “And they won’t be happy together. We both know that.”
Cassie reached into a side pocket on her backpack and extracted a small packet.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” she said.
“What’s that?” Aaron said. “Another ultimate weapon?”
“To some, yes,” Cassie said.
“A packet of peanuts?” Aaron said. “I don’t understand how a few peanuts are supposed to do anything.”
“They wouldn’t,” Cassie said. “To anyone not allergic to them.”
“Wait…” Aaron said. “Your dad’s allergic to peanuts?”
“Just the sight of them brings him out in hot flushes,” Cassie said with a chuckle.
“But they won’t kill him,” Aaron said. Then more hesitantly: “Will they?”
“No,” Cassie said. “I mean, he might cough up a little blood, his throat might swell up until he can hard
ly breathe, but he’ll be all right.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Aaron said. “Putting dog food and bread around their tent to attract animals is one thing, but this… I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry,” Cassie said. “If it gets too serious I know where father’s auto injector is.”
But Aaron did worry. He worried a lot.
29
BRYAN WAS DETERMINED to catch something on his make-shift fishing line, so they had to return to the same spot beside the stream by evening. Unfortunately, when they returned to his fishing spot the line floated on the water’s surface. Bryan pulled it in to find it had snapped.
“Must have been a big one…” Bryan said, dejected.
“We’ve got other things to eat, don’t worry,” Zoe said.
The sun was beginning to draw a veil on the day, the birds roosting on the branches.
“Shall we stop here for the night?” Zoe said.
Everyone nodded agreement.
They pulled up on a small clearing of grass and began emptying their bags of the items they needed.
“How about sandwiches?” Zoe said. “We’ve got bread, tinned salt beef and some vegetables.”
“Sounds good,” Bryan said.
Zoe and Bryan headed over to the clear water stream and began to wash their hands. Cassie seized the opportunity and tore open the packet of peanuts.
“Are you sure about this?” Aaron said.
Cassie looked over at their parents chatting beside the stream. If she didn’t make a move now she might not get another chance. She used the little key on the bottom of the tin and pulled the top off. She jammed the peanuts into the meat and then upended it onto a plate.
“Cassie, Aaron,” Zoe said.
Cassie froze. Zoe had her hands on her hips and was glaring at them. How much had she seen?
“No food handling until you’ve washed up,” Zoe said.
Cassie watched Zoe preparing their sandwiches, halfheartedly washing her hands, trying to figure out which pieces were more likely to have the peanuts in, like a roadside pea-under-the-cup trick, but she lost track in seconds. She thought she caught sight of a peanut sticking out of a slice of salt beef but it could have just been her imagination.