Billy looked at her. "So are you ready?"
"I guess. I'm kind of glad Mr. Peters didn't switch partners for me now. I'm a real greenhorn at this." She chuckled. "If I do something wrong, just tell me."
"Don't worry, by the time you go home you are gonna know a lot more about hiking and I truly hope you learn to enjoy it."
"I'll try." She smiled. She figured if he could smile with all his worries, so could she.
Chapter Four
They lined up to get their supplies and their maps. Everyone one had a small GPS in case they got lost. Emergency equipment would be carried by the adults, but flares and supplies for fires and eating were issued.
Billy carried most of the supplies in his backpack.
Kelly managed to keep up with him even though he had long strides. She was in good shape for the trip, she knew that. In that he was surprised.
Kelly was shocked at how beautiful things looked here though. They all stared at the beautiful country in awe.
"It's beautiful here," Kelly murmured. She shook her head and then glanced at him with a real smile, "There's no way you can look at something like that, and not admire it."
Billy smiled, "You're right about that."
But the first evening was spent at Tuolumne Meadows Grill and they ate a magnificent meal there. Then later after wandering about with Billy a while, they went to the camp for the night.
"So you ready for the big hike tomorrow?" He asked her after setting up her tent for her.
"Yeah, I guess. Now that I'm here, it is getting more interesting." She grinned.
"Good. Well, better turn in, the first day isn't so rugged, but it will get you in shape for the next." He smiled.
"Thanks for being so nice…"She said.
He stared into her eyes, "Being nice. You talk like most people aren't."
"It's not that. It's just well, I'm a Junior and I kind of expected you to be reluctant to want to hang out with me."
"This isn't a date, it's an adventure." He smiled. "Enjoy it."
"I'll try."
The second day the Guide informed them it would be a six-mile hike, mostly downhill toward the Tuolumne River gorge where a glacier cut through the river canyon.
We don't have to all walk the same pace, but don't lag behind too much that you lose site, and try to stay together as much as you can. If you do get separated for any reason, you can use a flare or we have these little beepers you can contact us with, the signal comes right to my phone and I can beam in on your location easily."
The trails were marked and all the kids took off at their own pace. Although Billy didn't seem to rush, but paused to show her things as they went. Unlike some of the others, they took their time when enjoying something. He let her take all the pictures she wanted too, including of him.
They saw a lot of wildlife moving through the woods and he pointed them out to her. She took pictures with the camera she brought. Her mother would be thrilled and she kind of liked the idea of sharing all of this with her later.
Kelly quickly realized that Billy was very good at this. He could be a guide if he wanted. She wondered if he ever considered it.
Each time they lagged, they caught up quickly with the others. They spent the first night at Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp. And it offered swimming.
"Grab your suit and let's take a dip." Billy encouraged.
She went inside the tent and changed clothes and came out in her modest one-piece suit. He looked at her and something in his expression changed.
"You look nice, Kelly." He smiled.
"I do?" She looked down at herself.
"Come on, let's have some fun." HE challenged.
They jumped in and all the kids were enjoying a dip, and sitting around talking to each other.
Patricia Johnson came over and started talking to Billy, but he brushed her off quickly and went back into the water.
He came up beside her. "Want me to pitch you?" He asked.
She smiled shyly, "I guess…"
When he touched her, she almost gasped, but she couldn't act like some prude who had never been touched so she closed her mouth and gasped when he threw her in the water.
When she came up, he came up under her and put her on his shoulders.
She shrieked.
It was a night she would remember for a long time.
Later, as they sat back on the rock and watched the roasting hot dogs she asked. "How did you learn so much about all of this?"
"My father and I used to go out camping a lot. He taught me a lot about it. Like trapping a rabbit, skinning it and hooking up the spit. Building fires and setting up tents. After a while, you get used to it. It's more a guy thing than for girls, but you can learn to enjoy it."
A bug flew around her and she jumped up.
"Did you spray yourself?" He asked.
"Yeah, little good it did."
"Remind me tomorrow I'll put some Sulphur on your shoes and socks."
"Sulphur? What for?"
"Chiggers mainly, and ticks, but it keeps other critters away too. My dad and I used to go coon hunting, and we always kept it around. Sure beats scratching yourself all the time." He chuckled.
"I'm for anything that keeps bugs away."
"Don't like bugs huh?"
"No way."
"As kids, we wouldn’t have gotten along because I loved to play with bugs." He chuckled again. "Are you scared of animals too?"
"Some, haven't been around many." She shrugged.
"Well, you'll see a lot here, and you'll begin to see the ones that are friendly and the ones that aren't. Any cats that aren't domesticated are usually not friendly. Bears are very nosey, and they sure wreak havoc on a campsite. If one comes snooping around it's best to be very still and quiet. But they really will come out if you leave food out. So don't leave it out."
She nodded with a grin.
"If a bear has cubs about, don't try to pet the cubs, she'll attack you over them. Most animals will when it comes to their babies. If you are close enough to see a snake, don't move, call out, but don't move."
She shivered, "Yuck, snakes? I hadn't even thought of them. I really don't like them."
"Snakes can be anywhere, but usually around rocks."
"Oh, and when you need to go, don't wander too far, we have portable potty seats usually a few yards away from camp."
"No, you can bet I won't wander off."
"Good. Then you should be pretty safe."
"Not that I want to drag you down, but, I'll stick pretty close to you most of the time, if you don't mind." She assured him.
He chuckled. "That's okay. I'm actually glad. Don't want to have to worry about you."
She studied him a minute. Would he worry over her?
She didn't want to be some helpless creature, but she also didn't have a clue what to expect out here either. All those animals rambled around in her head.
The first night was good. She looked at him before she retired. "Kind of rough you guys not sleeping in tents."
"Don't worry about it. I like sleeping under the stars myself."
She shrugged. "Okay, I guess I'll go to bed, then."
"Goodnight." He called and got his sleeping bag out.
"Night," she barely uttered. She laid her sleeping bag out and got in it, zipping it up.
She slept like a baby. The air here was so fresh and clean away from all the automobile exhaust and she found she could sleep really soundly.
But when Billy flew inside her tent and put his hand over her mouth, she didn't know what to think.
"What's wrong?" She tried to ask as he turned around and stared out the tent door.
"Bear…" he whispered.
"Oh My God…." He covered her mouth again.
"Don't scream. Be very quiet. He's just curious. He's busy looking for something. Somebody left food out."
She nodded. They sat there watching through the netted doorway.
He held her close and she shivered in
his arms. When the bear got bored and wandered off, he let her go and went outside.
"Is he gone?" She whispered.
"Yeah. He made a mess of camp though, did you leave food out?"
"Oh, oh my goodness." She looked almost sick. She'd forgot. "I'm sorry, I forgot. I didn't put everything in the bucket."
"That's what he was after. Well, next time you will, I'm sure." He grinned.
She chuckled aloud, "Yeah."
"Get some sleep, he won't be back tonight."
"How do you know?"
"He's tracking someone else's food now. I saw him scamper down the hill." He looked at her and saw the distress on her face and came to stand in front of her. "Don't worry, almost everyone forgets to do that the first time, but it only takes once. Then you learn."
She sighed, "Thank goodness."
She fell back to sleep quickly. She slept so good.
In fact, she didn't want to get up the next morning.
He had made the fire and he was down at the creek they camped by getting water to make coffee when she came screaming toward him.
He ran to see what was wrong, but she ran straight into his arms and hollered. "It's a hornet…." She screamed.
He held her for a minute and then suddenly looked into her flushed face. "It's okay. They usually fly in a straight line, and you must have gotten in its path. Don't let it bother you."
"But they're huge," she looked up into his face, unaware that she was still clutching him.
"The best thing is to stand very still and don't move until they get where they are going or out of site." He advised.
But the look he gave her as he held her sent a new kind of awareness through her. He looked at her like she was a girl. A pretty, and desirable girl. No boy had ever looked at her like that and it shocked her.
She pulled away, "Sorry. He was just so big."
"There weren't two of them?" He asked with a smile.
"Two?"
"They usually travel in pairs."
"Oh my God."
He came closer, pulled her chin up and smiled down into her worried face. "He's gone now. No worries, mate."
He was trying to sound funny, but the word mate had her taking notes again.
After she got over the shock of the bug, she puzzled over the way he held her and looked at her. She was way out of her depth. But it was comforting knowing he was able to take care of most of her fears.
But deciding not to make a big deal of it she squatted down to see what he was fixing.
"Want a cup of coffee," he asked.
"Oh, sounds wonderful." She sighed. "I slept so good I didn't want to get up."
He had the small portable stove going and at this camp they had round, rock dugout for fire.
He grinned. "It's going to take some time for you to get acclimated to all of this, but I have high hopes for you and yeah, the air is much better out here than in town."
"You're more positive than I am." She chuckled.
"What's that," She asked when he got the frying pan out and started whipping up something.
"Powdered eggs."
"Yuck…"
"They're good, you'll have to try some…" He insisted.
She sighed. "You are determined to make a Little House on the Prairie woman of me aren't you?"
"Yep, get used to it. Your life has changed." He laughed.
"For the better or the worse?" She chuckled.
His eyes gleamed into hers, "You decide at the end of our journey."
"Fair enough." She agreed.
He dished her some eggs and she ate. "Hey, this isn't bad."
"I know." He chuckled. "I have a secret, I brought some sample packs of butter to add to it. Makes it taste almost as good as regular."
She chuckled. "Good secret there, I'll have to remember it."
After they were through, she went to the creek and washed the dishes, taking a rag with her to wash her face and other parts of her. They had informed them that spit baths were allowed any time and they and a collapsible pan to put water in to clean up with.
Refreshed she came back and saw he'd already taken the tent down and was packing up their supplies. Another pair came by and joined them.
It was Marty and her partner, Jimmy Saunders. "How's it going." Marty asked.
"Fine, except for the hornet."
"Hornet, oh my. It didn't get you did it?"
"No…" She glanced at Billy. "I had my protector."
Marty laughed.
"Well, let's go guys." Jimmy suggested.
They hiked together, talked and observed a lot of nature. They would hike ten miles today through many canyons stopping by a waterfall at the end of day to camp at. It was more primitive the further then went now and wildlife was more prevalent. They took so many pictures and Kelly just knew her mother would love them all. She almost wished her mother was with her. Everything went smoothly until Kelly tried to help with making camp. Which turned out to be more disaster than help. She watched him and it looked easy, but the more she tried to copy him, the worse things got.
When she tried to help him put the tent up though, she got tangled up in it and he had to help her. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help."
"Next time, let me show you how to do it."
"Okay…" She shrugged, but there were tears in her eyes and he saw them.
"Hey, what's this?" He lifted her chin with a finger to see in the firelight.
"I'm a real klutz, aren't I?" She asked.
"No…you just haven't ever done this." He stared sincerely concerned. "You can't learn everything in one trip, Kelly. No one can."
"No, that's not it. I’m a klutz at doing things. That's why I don't do much. I make things worse, instead of better."
"That's not true, honey. You've never been on this kind of trip. You've never probably even seen a tent before. How could you possibly know how to put it up?"
He asked.
"Why you being so nice to me? I've done nothing but complain and gripe since I got on the bus and you've bent over backwards to help. Why?"
He held her by the arms now, so he could look at her, "We all have to learn things, Kelly. We aren't born knowing how to do stuff. It took a couple of years for me to catch on to what my father was teaching me. I don't expect you to know how to do all of this alone. That's why Mr. Peters put you with me. You are a rookie and I know what to do. Don't fret. I'll teach you how to put the tent up, okay."
"Okay," she said softly realizing how close he was now.
"Good," He clipped her softly on the chin with the curve of his finger and grinned. "So relax and enjoy it."
"Okay."
Her stomach felt all knotted up from him being that close to her. She didn't understand what had happened, but she did know she liked Billy.
After he got the tent up, they ate what he called rabbit stew. It was a staple of the Park diet for hikers.
"Too bad we don't have a real rabbit huh?" He smiled at her. "Oh, I wouldn't want to kill one."
"Cute. Ah…now you aren't gonna turn girl on me all of a sudden are you?"
"No! But rabbits have such big eyes and those floppy little ears. How can you even think of killing one?"
"Honey, ordinarily we'd have to eat!" He insisted.
That endearment went straight to her heart and a tear rolled down her cheek. He came over and saw the tear sliding down her cheek. "I'm not going out to kill anything. They don't allow it in the park."
She smiled, and ran to hug him. It was just an impulse, but she was so happy.
That's when it happened. He looked at her then into her eyes and that's when he bent his head and kissed her. Really kissed her. The sweet way his lips touched hers, made her melt inside. She moved her lips like he did, but slower.
"Why'd you do that?" She asked breathlessly when he let her go.
"I don't know. It just happened. I didn't plan it…."
She ran to the tent and didn't come out for the rest of the night.
> He'd kissed her.
Really kissed her, like he meant it. And she enjoyed it.
Her world seemed turned upside down.
She cried part of the night, and then when she woke up early, she began to smile. She'd been kissed, by the cutest boy in school and somehow that bolstered her ego to some extent.
But she'd acted so silly. Like a real prude.
How did she apologize.
She came out of the tent and he was boiling coffee.
"How can I help?" She asked standing over him.
"Wash the dishes," he glanced up at her. But he didn't smile.
"I'm sorry, about last night. I over reacted."
"Yeah, you did. But it's okay."
"It is?" She asked astonished that he could forgive her so easily.
"I was out of line. You called me on it. Like you should have."
"Oh…" She sat down and tried not to look at him.
She ate the eggs but she didn't taste them. It seemed her apology and his dismissal of it changed the whole thing.
She shrugged, he probably thought twice about his own actions. He kissed a Junior, who was a definite nobody in school, that had to be a big mistake on a jock like him. The other guys would probably laugh at him.
He had put her so at ease with everything, she forgot her own status. She'd remember.
They didn't talk that day much. It was a long ten-mile hike today, more strenuous as they were going uphill now and by nightfall they end up at Sawtooth Ridge where there was a beautiful waterfall. Halfway through the trek, she stopped and uttered loud enough for him to hear, "It's gorgeous here. I've never seen anything like it. No highways, no roads, just beautiful untouched looking country."
He smiled but didn't say much.
When they reached the falls, she just stood and stared. He built the fire and she got out the pots and pans. She wondered if he was mad. He hadn't said much the entire day. Obviously the groups were doing well, no one heard a ruckus and there was a particular quiet about this night. Of course the hike was longer and more tedious and she reckoned everyone was more tired.
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