“Thanks for the education,” Bill called as the man trudged back toward the water. He raised his rod in the air and waved goodbye. Bill watched him a moment then realized…he never caught his name.
He turned back to his Jeep and started pulling his gear out. Best to just set up camp for the night and maybe find something he could shove in his ears for the evening. Something…anything to muffle the noise of what was about to come.
Chapter 3
Bob bagged up the trash from supper and stowed it securely in the storage section under the RV. He was glad the RV had so many areas that allowed for such things. He couldn’t imagine hauling a week’s worth of rotting food around inside with them once it had a chance to turn and work up a healthy stink.
He double-checked that the gas valves to the smaller propane tanks were shut off and folded away the small outdoor grill that made ‘cooking out’ so simple with this monster machine of his brother’s. Jerry made a big show of pointing out all of the creature comforts of the vehicle before handing over the keys, and Bob had to admit, he was impressed. Cool gel-foam mattresses, wide screen, high definition televisions with satellite feed, microwave, full sized fridge and stove. Hell, it even had a washing machine and dryer for their clothes.
As he took the few dishes inside and set them into the dishwasher, he glanced around and noted that Keri was glued to her iSomething and Buck was unpacking and reading the directions for his slingshot. The ultimate wrist rocket model, it promised to do some serious damage if he accidentally hit a window. “Be careful with that, sport.” Bob ruffled Buck’s hair. He walked past him and into the master bedroom in the rear of the RV. “I’m going to soak in the hot spring. Care to join me,” he asked in as sultry a voice as he could manage, wagging his eyebrows at Lucky.
“Are you nuts? There are bears out there.” She pointed out the window. “I’m shocked that you stepped outside to cook the chicken.”
“They’ve been gone for hours. As soon as I hit the horn, they took off like nobody’s business.” Bob slid out of his pants. He pulled a set of swim trunks from the built-in dresser and pulled them on. “Besides, the sun is setting, and I can’t think of anything sexier than you in a natural Jacuzzi with the sun dropping behind the mountain…”
Lucky studied him for a moment and then narrowed her eyes. “Go blow your horn some more and I’ll think about it.”
Bob smiled at her knowingly and skipped off to the front of the RV. She shook her head as she began stripping down and pulled her own swim suit out of the dresser. She grabbed a towel and stepped out of the relative safety of the RV to find him getting into the natural hot spring and waving at her to join him.
“If a bear tries to eat me, I’m so never letting you live it down,” she yelled.
“He’ll have to get in line.” Bob smirked as he settled into the spring. “This is freakin’ awesome.”
She stepped gingerly across the rock-strewn ground and surveyed the area. “How hot is it?” She tossed the towel beside him.
“About like a hot bath.”
Lucky dipped a toe into the spring and tested the waters. “Okay, Bob, but if something tries to get me—”
He slipped his hand up her leg and pinched the back of her knee. “Grr!”
“Stop it!” she barked. “I will march my ass right back into that rolling piece of…whatever it is and stay indoors the rest of this trip if you try to scare me.”
“Fine…” he capitulated. “Just hop in. The water’s great.”
Lucky lowered herself into the water and settled in. “Mmm, it does feel pretty good.”
Bob pulled her closer to him and settled her against his chest. He rubbed at her shoulders while she relaxed. “See? It’s like a natural spa,” he whispered in her ear as the bubbles rose all around them.
She leaned her head back against him and slowly relaxed. “I could get used to this.”
“So could I.” His hand slipped down her back and untied her top.
“Bob,” Lucky said quietly, “the kids are right over there.”
“Keri has her nose stuck in her laptop, and Buck is going through all the stuff I got him for the trip. They’re busy.” He nibbled at her ear.
Lucky felt his hands slip down and remove her top, his fingers caressing in all the right places. “You’re about to start something you shouldn’t be starting out here,” she moaned.
“Why not?” He kissed his way down her neck. “We’re all alone.”
Lucky groaned as she craned her neck to give him access. She scooted back and rubbed herself against his hardening middle, her eyes closed and her mind drifting. She cracked an eye for a moment to ensure the coast was clear, then reached behind her to adjust him so that he wasn’t poking her in the small of her back. She moaned slightly and stretched her neck once more. “A little to the left,” she directed.
Bob adjusted his hand rubbing her neck and she shook her head, smiling. “Other hand.”
Bob grinned and adjusted his other hand slightly under the water which brought a sudden quiver from Lucky and a more serious quiver to her lower lip. Her arms reached for the sides of the natural Jacuzzi and she held herself in place as Bob worked his magic while her breath quickened. She soon lost herself to his deft hands and his quick kisses along her neck. He pulled her earlobe into his mouth and gave it a quick nip. She inhaled sharply as his hands knowingly worked her over under the bubbling waters.
Bob was lost in the moment and had all but forgotten where they were and their surroundings when he heard the snap of a twig, followed by the rapid crunch of gravel. He quickly opened his eyes in time to see a blur fly by.
“CANONBALL!” Buck yelled as he flew through the air and splashed directly in front of Lucky.
Bob had just enough time to turn his face, but Lucky wasn’t so fortunate. She looked up just as Buck had yelled and gasped, catching a face full of hot spring water. She leaped from the hot spring, choking and spitting, trying desperately to find her top in the dark to cover herself before Buck resurfaced. She turned her back to the two and coughed, spitting the spring water over the edge and trying to catch her breath.
Buck came up laughing and splashing while Bob sat where he was, dejected, knowing that his plans for the night had just gone up in smoke. Buck finally settled down and stood still for a moment.
“Hey, Mom?” he asked, holding her top up like it was a dead cat. “Did you lose something?”
Bob quickly snatched it from his hand and held it out to her, her back still turned to them. “It came untied and I was about to retie it before you jumped in here like a maniac,” Bob tried to explain. “With all the splashing, it got lost.”
“That wasn’t very nice, Buck,” Lucky coughed out as she attempted to replace her top in the dark.
“Oh.” Buck’s head swiveled between the two. “I thought maybe you two were over here making out or something.” He shot his dad a knowing look.
“Knock it off, smart aleck.” Bob reached over and teasingly smacked him upside the head. “You know Mom doesn’t go for that kissy-kissy stuff anymore. She’s too afraid we might accidentally make another one that acts like you.” He pulled the teen to the side and jabbed him in the ribs.
“Quit it!” Buck yelled, “You’re gonna make me pee myself.”
“Who’d know in a hot spring!” Bob tickled him more aggressively, then pushed him under the water. When Buck came back up, Bob pulled him over and said, “See? I already peed in the water, and you can’t tell, can you?” Then laughed as he splashed water in his face.
“Eeeewww!” Buck yelled and splashed him back. Neither saw Lucky step from the water and wrap the towel around her.
“I’m going to go rinse off and get ready for bed,” she said quietly. Bob stared up at her, suddenly feeling very rejected and confused.
“Hey, hold on a second…” But Lucky turned and walked back to the RV, her head low.
Buck looked to his dad questioningly. “Did I do that?”
“I don’t thin
k so.” Bob continued to watch her walk away. “I think your mom is just…”
“What?”
Bob shook his head and stared off into the shadows. “I don’t know. She just really doesn’t want to be here.”
Buck slapped the water and sat down. “Dad, I know I don’t know nothin’ from nothin’, but maybe you should go talk to her?”
“Son, sometimes it’s best to just let a woman be.”
Buck stared at him and patted his shoulder. “Dad, I don’t think this is one of those times.”
“Oh, really?” Bob chuckled. “And when did you become such an expert?”
“She is my mom. I know her pretty good.”
“Is that so?” Bob gave him a lopsided grin.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve known her ever since I can remember. In fact, of all the women I know, I’ve known her the longest. Well, except maybe grandma, but I know Mom the best.”
“So that makes you an expert, huh?”
“On Mom, yeah.” Buck nodded. “And right now, she needs you to go in there and explain to her that this isn’t forever. That it’s just a vacation and it’s going to be fun.”
“And you really think that’s going to work?”
“Sure.” Buck pushed at his dad. “Now get in there and be a man.”
Bob laughed as Buck pushed at him, shoving him up and out of the hot spring. “Okay, okay. I’m going.” He stepped up out of the hot spring and the summer air suddenly felt chilly. “But if this doesn’t work, Dr. Phil, I’m coming back out here and I’m tickling you ’tilyou pee yourself.”
“Hey, I’m in a hot spring. Who’d know, right?”
Bob hiked a brow at him and shot him a smirk. Shaking his head, he walked back to the RV and toweled off before stepping back inside. He caught Keri’s attention. “Sweetie? Think maybe you might go outside and play in the hot spring with your brother or something and let me and Mom talk for a bit?”
She rolled her eyes and finally tossed her iWhatever on the couch. “Fine,” she breathed harshly and stomped to her bag. She pulled out her sandals and switched them with her shoes.
“Don’t you need a swimsuit?” Bob asked.
“Duh.” She pointed to the neon pink strap that was barely exposed under her t-shirt.
Bob assumed she already had it on under her shirt and shorts as she stepped out the door. He wondered if the extent of their conversations would ever go beyond her uttering single syllable retorts, then thought that maybe it was best if it didn’t. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the inner workings of her mind. Tweenies scared him. They weren’t quite teenagers yet…they were ‘something else.’ Twelve going on twenty, as so many of his coworkers put it.
He watched her through the RV window to see if she were simply going to mill about outside the RV and pout, or if she might actually go to the hot spring and spend a little time with her brother. He was surprised to watch her carefully approach the spring and engage her brother in what appeared, for all intents and purposes, conversation that didn’t involve a phone! He chuckled to himself and slipped back to the rear of the RV. He rapped lightly on the door of the bedroom then turned the knob.
Lucky’s swimsuit was piled on the floor and he heard the shower turn off. He didn’t know if she had just finished or if she had actually listened when he instructed her about how to conserve water in the RV. Wet yourself, turn off the water, lather up, turn the water back on and quickly rinse. He listened at the door and heard her moving around inside. Just as he was about to press his ear to the door, it opened and she banged the door into the side of his head, knocking him into the wall and startling a scream from herself.
“Jesus, Bob! Are you going to keep scaring me?” she screeched.
He laughed as he rubbed his head. “I didn’t know if you were done or not. I was listening, and you hit me with the door.”
“You are such a perv.” She marched past him.
He gave her a questioning look. “A perv?” he asked. “For listening? I could understand if you called me a perv for watching you take a shower, but listening?”
“You know what I mean,” she barked, not truly understanding what she meant herself, but refusing to back off her original statement.
“If you say so.” Bob sat on the edge of the bed.
“Don’t sit there with your wet trunks on.” She shooed him with her towel. He kept his back to her as she slipped on nightclothes and pulled back the comforter.
Bob stood and waited a moment. “Honey, we should talk about—”
“I don’t want to talk,” she snapped. “I just want to go to bed and sleep. The sooner I can go to sleep, the sooner tomorrow comes, and the sooner I’m one day closer to being home.”
Bob hung his head and sighed. “Fine.” He grabbed his clothes from the drawer and stepped outside the bedroom to change. Before he could shut the door, she had already turned out the light.
“Holy cow, Hatch. How are we supposed to keep an eye on all these people?” Shelly asked.
“Just do your best.” They had deputies from two local sheriffs departments sifting through the crowds, and rangers from other parts of the park working this area for the event. They’d made more drug arrests and had more drunk-and-disorderly conduct charges in one day than they had in an entire season. Hatcher didn’t know whose bright idea it was to hold this damned event HERE of all places, but he really felt they should be shot.
His radio crackled and he listened in as one of the mobile units reported that their four-wheeler had ran out of gas. Apparently, the gas gauge had broken and they weren’t aware the needle was stuck at half a tank all day. Hatcher sighed when Shelly patted his shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”
“No, I’ll send Fisher.” Daniel reached for his radio. “He likes those four-wheelers. It will give him something to do besides walk around and stick his chest out.”
Shelly stifled her smile, but she had to agree. Fisher would probably have a backache after tonight from all of the flexing he was doing. Daniel called the man on the radio and dispatched him to the four-wheeler rescue. He was only too eager to respond.
He watched Shelly as she broke off and worked her way back into the throng. He stepped back along the fringe, doing his best to stay along the outer border, trying to keep a better view of the growing crowd. He knew it was an effort in futility, but he hoped that, by keeping the better part of the crowd in his vision, he might catch a problem as it was forming and direct his people to it before it got out of hand.
Two more deputies arrived and nodded to him as they entered into the mass of people. Hatch nodded back and returned his attention to the sea of bodies. His eyes scanned the growing number of young people as they crowded into the natural amphitheater. He knew this area wasn’t meant to be used in such a manner, but politics comes into play when public perception is on the line. The park service took a huge hit when the fires decimated Yosemite, and regardless of who may or may not have been to blame, the park service took the hit. Now Yellowstone paid the price.
Hatch groaned as he tried not to think about it all and shook his head as he watched the trash on the ground grow to new levels. Park crews tried to keep up with the huge number of people, emptying trash bins and spearing the trash on the ground as people simply discarded cups, cans, bottles, and plastic bags where they stood. He wanted to throw up as he watched the self-righteous ‘nature lovers’ defile the very thing they supposedly came here to save.
He knew better than to expect the people that came to the event to be tree-hugging types, but he did expect a little common courtesy. You don’t go into somebody else’s house and take a huge steaming dump in the middle of the living room carpet, and that was effectively what this mass of human detritus was doing. He watched the crowd and felt emasculated as the throng grew more and more restless waiting for the band to step out on the stage and perform their ‘benefit’ concert. He still wasn’t sure how it was considered a benefit, since the band was being compensated, but a portion of the
proceeds went to the park and the number of visitors for the weekend had gone through the roof. According to the number crunchers and the politicians who supposedly cared, that was enough to justify this sort of disturbance.
Hatch moved along the fringe, his eyes constantly scanning the moving people, looking for anything that could be the next trigger. He watched as deputies escorted drunks out of the group. He observed rangers escort others out who were obviously under the influence of something. Still, the officers plunged back into the crowd and continued to pluck out people as Hatch pointed them out.
Fisher approached him from the rear on the secondary mobile unit. “I’m back. Want me to park this thing and continue on foot, or do you want me to patrol?” he asked expectantly.
Hatch stifled a smile and motioned with his head. “Use the wheels and stay along the periphery. Keep your eyes open and look for anybody who might be trouble,” he ordered. “Radio it in rather than go it alone.” He pointed his finger at the large red-haired man. “I mean it, Dwayne. I don’t care how simple it may appear, no single apprehensions. We have no way of knowing if your man may have buddies just itching to jump you.”
Dwayne nodded. “Got it.” He thumbed the throttle and accelerated out along the outer edges of the crowd.
“This is going to be a long night,” Hatch muttered.
Bill had just finished setting the spikes in the ground and stretching his tent tight when he heard the snap of a twig and the approaching footsteps behind him. His first instinct was to reach for the sidearm he had kept on his hip for the previous twenty-seven years, but realized that not only was it not there, it was locked in the center console of his Jeep.
He paused for just a moment debating on what he should do when a familiar voice called out. “Hello, neighbor.”
Bill smiled to himself and finished pulling the tent line tight before tying it off. He turned to find the gentleman he had spoken with earlier standing at the edge of his camp, a large mouthed bass hanging from a stringer. “I come bearing gifts.” He smiled as he held the fish high.
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