Backcountry Read online

  Sam flipped on her still-hidden recorder, then started the evening discussion. “I know you all had a lot of time to think during your first solo. Our exercise tonight is to state what you’re feeling now.” She hesitated a moment to let that sink in. “Here are the rules: no judgments, there are no right or wrong statements, any of you can comment as long as you’re respectful.”

  The response almost seemed planned as the teens groaned in unison.

  “I’ll start so you can have a minute to think about it.” She took a breath, and then placed a hand on her chest above her heart. “I feel happy that I get to share my love of nature with you all. And I hope that the experience of being out here makes a difference in your lives.”

  Then she pointed to her right, at Gabriel.

  The boy squirmed for a minute, his face solemn, then crossed his arms and looked up. “I feel like a lot of others are getting to level thirteen while I’m out here communing with birds.”

  Justin snickered, but when Sam glared at him, he fisted his hand in front of his mouth and changed the sound to a cough.

  Aidan leaned forward, peering around Justin to ask Gabriel, “So what if they do?”

  While Gabriel considered the question, they heard only the whispering of the candle flames as they flickered in the slight breeze. Then the boy’s shoulders lifted and sagged, and a calm settled on his face. “Yeah, so what if they do?”

  Aidan was a born counselor. She was grateful to have him along.

  Next up was Olivia. The girl studied her hands, which she clasped in her lap as she mumbled, “I feel like nothing will change when I get back.”

  This time Ashley leaned in. “Can’t you change, Olivia?”

  A glimmer of satisfaction began to glow in Sam’s belly. This was how things were supposed to go. The kids were learning, and so was she.

  Taylor added, “If you change, that’ll change the equation, right?”

  Olivia, a doubtful frown on her face, responded by pointing back at Taylor. “Your turn.”

  The lanky girl straightened her spine and placed her hands on her knees, somehow managing to make the position look authoritative. “Okay. Here’s what I feel: I’m not going to take it anymore. I’m going to change the equation.”

  Sam wanted to ask what this mysterious equation was, but her instructions were to stay quiet unless a fight erupted.

  Ashley said, “I like it here. The food may be crap but the rules are easy, and there aren’t so many people in my face all the time. I’m afraid that when I go back home I’ll start doing all the bad stuff all over again.” Before anyone could comment, she held up a hand like a cop stopping traffic. “But I’m going to try my best not to, because I don’t want to be like that anymore.”

  Instead of meeting anyone’s eyes, Nick drooped forward over his crossed legs and poked a finger in the dirt. He pinched up a little, rubbing the soil between his index finger and thumb. “I feel like I’ve got to find a way to get beyond this thing with my dad.”

  Several of the kids nodded, but nobody offered any advice.

  Dropping the dirt, Nick rubbed his fingers on his pants leg. “But I can’t think of any good way to do that.”

  Sam wanted to know what “the thing” was with Nick’s dad, but nobody else seemed curious about that. Maybe all teens had “things” with their parents. Heaven knows she’d had issues with her own father.

  When it was his turn, Justin began by flexing his biceps and cracking his knuckles. “I feel like I’m strong out here. I mean, I’ve always been strong.” He struck a bodybuilder pose and flexed again for emphasis. Ashley snorted in response, and Nick shook his head.

  Relaxing his posture, Justin continued, “But out here I’m strong with you guys, not against you. Like that rope thing, how we all did our part to get over it.”

  “Way to say it like it is, dude.” Aidan offered Justin a fist to bump.

  Sam was allowed to sum up the exercise. “I feel like you guys are getting smarter by the hour. The world can be ugly or cruel, or just plain stupid, but you realize you don’t have to be ugly or cruel or stupid. Things around you can fall apart, but you can keep yourselves together.”

  Sam was sure she sounded incredibly wise.

  Taylor rolled her eyes. “You don’t remember what it’s like to be sixteen.”

  Several of the others muttered a “yeah,” seconding Taylor’s statement.

  Sam lifted her chin. “I was sixteen once. My mom died when I was nine, so it was just my dad and me, and he didn’t understand me very well.”

  Crap. She had just fallen into her crew’s typical routine of blaming others. Too late, she corrected herself, “We didn’t understand each other very well.”

  Maya volunteered, “When I was sixteen, I was convicted of burglary and some other stuff.”

  All the crew faces swiveled to stare at her.

  “Yeah.” She ran her fingers through her spiked ebony hair, nodding. “And I was in my fourth foster home.” Her gaze slid skyward for a beat, then back down. “No, my fifth.”

  They all turned to look next at Aidan. He chuckled and bounced his shoulders. “I got nothing, sorry. Hey, someone has to do the two-parent, middle-class thing. Else what would you guys have to compare against?”

  “And that’s an excellent stopping point.” Sam stood up. “I have notes to write and plans to make. It was a good day, and now good night, all.”

  The kids dispersed to their tents. Sam strolled off into the dark woods to answer a text from Troy, confirming their location and approximate time for the pickup and staff exchange tomorrow. After she’d done that, she skipped down to a new line and typed The name KALPTON mean anything to you?

  As she waited for a response, she leaned against a cedar. With little air movement, the evening was quiet, the hush almost velvety. Her eyelids felt so heavy she could hardly keep them open. The abrupt buzz of the phone in her hand startled her so badly that she nearly dropped it.

  WWQ Admin lit up the screen.

  “Troy?” she answered quietly.

  “Where did you see the name Kalpton?”

  She told him about the note she’d found. “It was actually Klapton; I can’t type worth a darn on this thing. It was probably some kid’s idea of a joke, but it also might have come from Kyla’s pack or sleeping bag.”

  “Klapton with a K?” Troy sounded breathless.

  “Yeah. Is that important?”

  “Can you describe this note?”

  “Uh, blue ink, all caps. It’s on the back of a receipt from the convenience store in Glacier.”

  “Glacier?” There was a beat of tense silence before he asked, “Is there a date?”

  “Just a second, I’ve got it in my pocket.” She pulled out the slip of paper. “I can’t see in the dark. I’m going to turn on the flashlight mode on this cell; if I disconnect you, I’ll call back.” She scanned the note and raised the phone to her lips again. “No, if there ever was a date, it’s been torn off.”

  “Sam, are you in the same place as you were when you found that note?”

  “No, that was this morning. We hiked twelve miles today.”

  “That’s good. Did you see any other hikers along the way?”

  She mentally rifled through the day’s events for a minute. “No.”

  Several quick breaths rasped across the airwaves. Troy sounded like he was hyperventilating. “Sam, bring the whole crew down to the trailhead tomorrow, first thing after breakfast. We’re going to relocate everyone.”

  Now she felt like she was on the verge of hyperventilating. “What’s going on, Troy?”

  “I have to go; I’ve got a lot of arrangements to make. Please don’t say anything to anyone else.”

  “Troy?”

  “I’ll explain everything tomorrow, Sam. Be extra careful tonight.” He hung up.

  “Gex!” she hissed, staring at the phone. What the hell? Chase was right when he said that she didn’t know the Quintana-Johnson family well enough. Troy J
ohnson was hiding something.

  Chapter 10

  Sam considered calling Chase. After checking the time, she realized it would be nearly one a.m. on the east coast, if he was still there. Earlier in Salt Lake if he was home, but there was no way he could shed any light on whatever was going on, anyway. She settled for texting Miss you to him, then punched Home on her call list.

  “Whazzup?” her housemate Blake answered.

  “Since when do you talk like that?” she asked.

  “I figured you’d be fluent in teenspeak by now. Although I think Hannah says “S’up?” when she’s trying to be cool. Or whatever they say instead of ‘cool’ now. Rad? Sweet? Sick?”

  “Don’t ask me.” Hannah was Blake’s daughter, fifteen years old a few weeks ago. It was comforting to hear her housemate’s usual banter. “I assume it’s my duty to teach these kids adult English.”

  “So, same question—s’up, Sam? How’s life in the wild?”

  “Well, like you might expect, it is wild from time to time. The food is pretty awful, and now that the crew is cooking it, it’s burned half the time. And you should have seen my biggest kid throw the smallest one over a five-foot-high rope.”

  “And some people worry about bears.”

  “We did see a bear. And some mountain goats. Gray jays. And a couple of hunters.” Or maybe the same hunter twice.

  “I’m impressed.” After a pause, he added, “I am supposed to be impressed, right?”

  Blake was not a wilderness type.

  “Yes. Those critters are not so unusual up here, but it’s always sweet to spot them. How’s Simon? How’s Claude?”

  “They’re both soft and purry when they want to be, and all teeth and claws at other times.”

  Sam laughed. “I hope it’s the former most of the time.”

  “It is, thank God. Although you need to come home ASAP, because Simon’s taken to sleeping on my head, and Claude says that is not a good look for me.”

  She laughed again.

  “Maya okay?” he asked.

  “Everyone’s okay so far. It’s just been a little stressful for me; you know I’m not a natural caretaker.”

  “You mainly kill house plants. And maim perfectly good groceries now and then.”

  “Right. Anyhow, I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ll be home tomorrow night. Just for two nights, though.”

  “Tomorrow? I’d better vacuum up the dust bunnies. They’re more like jackrabbits now. I’m pretty sure they mate in the wee hours of the night. And Simon can sleep on your head for a change.”

  “I’m glad you’re there to take care of everything, Blake. I always feel better after I talk to you.”

  “Then I’m impressed all over again. And if you get eaten by a bear, I still get the house, right?”

  “As long as you keep cooking and paying rent, you’ll stay in my will,” she promised.

  “Ah, cooking. Let me think about that.”

  She knew he would. He took nearly every culinary class the community college offered each quarter. Eating great meals was one of the benefits of living with her housemate. “Night, Blake.”

  For a minute after she turned off the phone, she stood still, listening to her surroundings. Something cracked a short distance away. A branch dropping to the ground?

  A footstep on a twig?

  Klapton?

  She waited, listening to her own heart pounding, holding her breath, but there was nothing more, and her heart rate slowed back to normal.

  Damn Troy. That phone call had put her on edge. But Troy was a cautious man. If some danger was lurking in the dark, surely he would have sent in reinforcements, even if they had to travel in darkness.

  Wouldn’t he?

  She told herself he would.

  The camp was quiet when she returned, with all lights out. An owl hooted softly in the woods. In the serenity of the night, it seemed melodramatic to worry about a piece of paper, and she cursed Troy for being so mysterious about that dang note. Unzipping her tent, she slithered into her sleeping bag, being careful to pull her door zipper tightly closed. She stashed her headlamp under her pillow and opened her jackknife and placed it within reach. If a hand slipped into her tent tonight, the intruder was not going to escape unscathed.

  Every tiny sound of the forest woke her up. By dawn, she was exhausted.

  * * * * *

  “What? Why are we relocating?” Aidan wanted to know. “We’ve only done that once before, when there was a threat of forest fire.” He scanned the sky around the campsite.

  “I don’t know exactly,” Sam hedged. “Maybe some sort of Forest Service directive? I’m sure Troy will fill us in later.”

  “He’d better. This doesn’t make any freakin’ sense.” He stomped off to pack his tent.

  Sam whispered to Maya, “Why is Aidan upset? We move almost every day.”

  “I don’t know. He’s been sort of in a mood lately. Maybe because he’s going back to college in a couple of weeks? I think he’s worried about paying the tuition.”

  That might explain his erratic behavior; Aidan’s job here ended after this expedition. “I understand about money issues. Does he have a job lined up at school?”

  “Dunno. I think he tutors sometimes.”

  Maya would soon be out of a job, too. And Sam Westin would be unemployed again, too. As they broke camp, Sam considered where she might look for work.

  As usual, the staff didn’t tell the crew kids where they were going. The group got excited when they crested the hill and saw the company van in the lot below.

  Justin pointed at the parking lot. “What the gex?”

  “Was the twenty-one day threat just a bluff?” Ashley.

  Taylor suggested, “Time off for good behavior?”

  Olivia stopped in her tracks, causing the three kids behind her to halt, too. “I’m not ready to go back home.”

  Sam, bringing up the rear, was surprised to spy Troy Johnson leaning against the front bumper of a Jeep Cherokee, scanning the slope with binoculars. He seemed to be training them above their location on the mountainside. She glanced over her shoulder. Nothing but empty trail behind her as far as she could see. What was he watching for?

  “Nobody’s going home yet,” Sam informed her crew. “But like I told you earlier, the counselors are going to take the place of me, Maya, and Aidan for a couple of days. They’re bringing you chocolate and letters from your families.”

  “Good news on the chocolate,” Ashley drawled.

  “And you’ll get the counselors’ help to work on your contracts with your families,” she reminded them.

  “Gex counselors!”

  “Lurik contracts!”

  “Meekam families!”

  “Onu, onu, onu!”

  At least the last refrain from Olivia got a chuckle from everyone, so her crew sounded lighthearted as they reached the parking lot.

  Troy explained to the group that the Forest Service had asked the company to move this crew to a different location for the duration of their field trip. They forgot about their annoyance at being shepherded by three counselors for the next two days when he added, “And the big news for you all is that the van will stop at a restaurant on the way to your new location. You can order whatever you want.”

  “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger!” Justin yelled.

  “A giant fresh salad with veggies and crunchy croutons and ranch dressing.” Taylor’s eyes were half-closed, her expression dreamy.

  As they climbed into the company van, they eagerly discussed what they would eat. After the outgoing field crew conferred briefly with the incoming counselors, Troy directed Sam, Maya, and Aidan to the Jeep. He jerked his thumb at the van, which was backing up to turn. “They’re going south to Highway Twenty; we’re going back to Bellingham.”

  After tossing her pack into the cargo area, Sam slid into the passenger seat beside Troy. Aidan and Maya climbed into the back seat.

  “What’s really up, boss?�
� Aidan asked.

  Troy started the engine. “Like I said, some Forest Service thing. It’s happened before. Annoying how they never bother to give us enough notice.” He shot Sam a sideways look that said we’ll talk later.

  As much as her two peer counselors said they were looking forward to a break from their teen charges, the crew was all they could talk about on the way back. Aidan and Maya discussed liaisons they saw developing.

  “Justin and Olivia,” Maya suggested.

  Aidan countered with, “Taylor and Gabriel.”

  Sam twisted in her seat to glance back over her shoulder. “Seriously?”

  “Trust us,” Aidan responded. “Nick and Ashley.”

  “Call me Ash,” Maya poked Aidan in the arm with an index finger. “Or you get this knife I no longer have.”

  “Don’t threaten me; I’ll send a vortenex after you.”

  “Voltenark!” Maya exclaimed. “Don’t you pay attention to anything? Vortenexes are pussycats, while a voltenark could rip you to shreds.”

  “What is all that?” Troy asked, frowning at them in the rear view mirror.

  “You had to be there, boss,” Maya told him.

  Aidan’s funk seemed to have lifted, at least for the moment. As her two assistants laughed together, Sam turned her face to the side window and silently watched the scenery slip past. After ten days in the backcountry, all the cars zipped by too fast, and there were way too many of them. The tiny village of Glacier seemed crowded, and the larger settlement of Maple Falls, with two gas stations and neon signage for several fast-food restaurants, seemed downright garish.

  What was Chase looking at right now? She wished she could go out to dinner with him tonight, then relish hot sex and happy dreams while cuddling in her bed.