Strangers on the Trail
I hefted off the large pack and dropped it on the ground. Ron had suggested that we hike to the top of a ridge to get a better view of the boys. Of course, he’d made this suggestion when it was my turn to carry the big pack.
Ron dug inside and pulled out a pair of binoculars that looked like they weighed fifteen pounds.
“Didn’t you have a smaller version?”
“Couldn’t find them,” Ron said as he wedged his elbows into the ground and put the glasses up to his eyes.
I could see the small forms of the boys as they moved out of the pines and into a clearing. “Still headed the wrong direction?”
“Yup.”
“Do you think they’ll ever figure it out?”
“Oh, they’ve already got it figured out. At least Peng and Joey do. They’ve known from the start. The question is how long they’ll let JR and Eric lead them off into oblivion.” Ron continued to watch the boys. I could almost hear the gears grinding in his head.
“Are you sure our following behind like this meets the requirement for having two leaders present at all times?”
“I told you we will never let them out of our sight. They think they’re alone, but they aren’t. When do you think he’ll make his move?”
“Who?” I had no idea what Ron was talking about.
“Peng. Our quorum president.”
“You think he has a plan?”
“Don’t you?”
I sighed and sat next to Ron. “I have no clue. To tell you the truth, most of what Peng does is a mystery to me.”
“Huh,” Ron grunted. But what I heard was, “Aren’t you his father? Shouldn’t you know this boy by now?”
“Who’s that?” I pointed to a spot about a hundred yards to the left of the boys. Two figures had appeared, jogging through the clearing toward the boys. Ron turned his glasses on them.
“Huh,” he said again.
“What?”
“See for yourself.” Ron handed me the binoculars. “Maybe some ultrarunners training in the mountains?”
I focused the lenses on the two figures. A man and a woman. They carried medium-sized packs, wore trail-running shoes, and moved at a measured pace. Their movements reminded me of something. “Not ultrarunners,” I said. “At least not like any I’ve seen before.”
“And you’ve seen lots of ultrarunners?”
“As a matter of fact, I was a pacer for one once.” Ron and I had spent a lot of time together, but I’d been careful not to share too much about my past—especially my past work.
“Huh,” Ron said for the third time. I wasn’t sure if he was commenting on my past or on the runners. I wasn’t sure if he had handed me the binoculars because he wanted to see my reaction or to find out what I really thought. I told myself I needed to be careful not to reveal too much. Even to Ron. I didn’t want to get into a discussion about how my experience with ultrarunners had occurred while I was acting as a pacer to my roommate, who was also a terrorist. I didn’t want to bring up my former life at all.
Thinking of my past, I began to get a sick feeling in my gut. I’d finally figured out what the runners reminded me of. They reminded me of Ron. Their fluid, synchronized movement across the ground was typical of the few army rangers I had known. “I think we should get down there,” I said.
“Not yet,” Ron replied. “I want to see if the boys will follow instructions and refuse help from strangers.”
I thought briefly about telling Ron everything, about telling him of the hidden danger my past might bring to those around me. But I choked it down. So what if the runners were military or ex-military? That didn’t mean they were a danger. I wasn’t worried about the military. I was worried about terrorists, those who might be ticked off that I had ruined their plans to reap vengeance on the West. These people were probably just enjoying the wilderness. Maybe a couple on leave from Afghanistan. Besides, it would take us at least twenty minutes to get to the boys. The encounter was going to happen whether we liked it or not.
“Keep an eye on them,” Ron said as he dug into his pack. “Give me the play-by-play of what you see.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to change my shirt. This T-shirt is too tight. I need something loose and with long sleeves. I don’t want to get a sunburn.”
* * *
Peng felt them before he saw them. He hadn’t felt that sensation in a long time. Not since he had come to live with Matt and Hope. Not even when he ran alone in the darkness through the streets at night. Not since the orphanage.
He felt the bile rise in his throat and the lead sink into his legs. For a moment, he thought he had let JR and Eric’s manic march go on too long, that he might be letting the group he was supposed to be leading march straight toward a cliff or a dangerous animal. Then he saw the man and woman jogging out of the pines toward them, and he knew where the threat was coming from.
The boys stopped in the clearing and gawked as the two figures came close. The man had his T-shirt pulled up over his shoulders, and his abs were defined in tight layers across his midsection. The woman looked beautiful from a distance, but as she drew closer, Peng sensed there was something wrong about her. Something hard.
“How’s it going, boys?” The man pulled out a thirty-two-ounce bottle of yellow Gatorade and downed half of it while the sweat dripped off of him.
“Wow,” Eric said. “Just like the commercials.”
The woman didn’t say anything. She looked like she was annoyed at the man for stopping.
“Are you training for the Olympics?” Eric asked, his voice filled with reverence.
The man laughed. “Naw, not Olympians. Just recreational runners enjoying God’s beautiful creations.” He winked at the woman, who scowled back at him.
“Where you boys headed?” The words were casual, but Peng sensed the man was forcing the lightness into his words. Like his pleasantness was just an act. Just like Mistress Wu at the orphanage.
“Ryder Lake . . . and then out of this place and into a condo,” JR answered without hesitation. “A condo with a pool and loads and loads of junk food. Isn’t that right, Easy Cheese?”
“Don’t call me that,” Eric snapped.
“Easy Cheese?” the man asked, a slight smile pulling at his lips.
Eric looked at the ground. “My name’s Eric.”
“That’s too bad.” The man seemed to consider Eric’s words seriously. “I kind of liked the name Easy Cheese. It’s got character. Smooth and cool. Kind of like real Easy Cheese, as a matter of fact. There’s not many things in this world that I love more than Easy Cheese. But for a nickname, I think I would shorten it to just Easy. Now that is a seriously classy nickname.”
Eric’s head came up, and he beamed. He looked back at JR as if to say, “I am so much cooler than you.”
“But if you’re headed to Ryder Lake, I have some bad news for you.”
“Wait.” Peng heard the voice, an authoritative voice that got everyone’s attention. It was a moment before he realized it was his own voice. He had stepped forward and was holding up his hand. “Remember the rules. We can’t receive help from anyone else. We have to find the rendezvous point on our own.”
“But we’re lost,” Eric whined. “We all know it. We’re only following JR because he talks like he knows where he’s going. If we were where he said we were, we would have already reached Ryder Lake.” Eric stared at JR in defiance. He glanced quickly at the stranger to make sure he was watching.
“We aren’t going the right direction, but we’re not lost either,” Peng said.
“If you knew we were headed in the wrong direction, why didn’t you say something?” JR’s tone was frustrated but reasonable.
“Because the men were in charge.” Peng made sure he made eye contact with both JR and Eric. “And the men didn’t want to listen to Joey.” Peng turned his attention to the smaller boy. “Joey, why don’t you tell everyone where we are and where we need to go to get to our camping spot.”
Joey’s face brightened. He stepped up to JR and held out his hand for the map and compass. “The mistake was an honest one. Our starting point was supposed to be at the Mirror Lake trailhead. My family goes there all the time for summer picnics, so I noticed when we passed it. But instead of stopping, we drove all the way to Christmas Meadows. So to get to Ryder Lake, we actually should have been following the trail mostly south and not cutting cross country. If we alter our course and go southwest, we should reach the trail pretty soon, and we can follow it right to the lake.”
Peng didn’t watch Joey as he spoke. Instead, he focused on the strangers—the man with the permanent smile and the woman with the scowl. The man nodded in appreciation. “It never ceases to amaze me how some of the most profound insights come from the quiet ones,” he said. “What do you think, Jillian? You got to admit the little one is impressive.”
Jillian turned her head to the side as if she was going to spit but then seemed to think better of it. Instead, she just continued to glare at her companion.
“She says she doesn’t like kids,” the man explained to the boys. “But I think she’s just nervous ’cause I want a big family.” The glare turned from disdain to poison.
The man was suggesting that these two were a couple, but something was off. They didn’t seem anything like Hope and Matt—even when Hope and Matt were arguing with each other. He wanted to get away from these people as soon as possible. “We better go,” he said. “We don’t want to set up camp in the dark.”
“I think that is a wise choice,” the man said. “We best be moving too. Maybe our paths will cross again someday.” The man pulled the pack onto his back. “Take it easy, Easy.” He winked at Eric, and then in a matter of seconds, he and the woman were jogging away from them on the trail.
“I think I’m in love,” Eric said.
“She was pretty hot,” JR said as the woman glided away.
“Not her.” Eric soured his face at the thought. “Did you see the abs on that guy? Did you notice how he talked? Did you see how he took your stupid nickname and turned it into something cool? I’ve just seen a vision of what I want to be when I grow up. That’s it. I want to be that guy.”
Peng continued to watch as the two moved out of sight. When they were gone, he said, “Let’s go.” He hoped to never see them ever again.
* * *
I put down the binoculars and studied Ron’s expression. It was thoughtful—as usual. I had been giving him the commentary on what was happening with the boys and the strangers. I’d been a little surprised when Peng had stepped in and seemed to get the boys going on the right track.
“He’s a good kid,” Ron said. “You should have a little more faith in him.”
“He doesn’t make it easy sometimes.”
“They never do.” Ron had changed from his T-shirt into a long-sleeved, tan, UV shirt, supposedly so he wouldn’t get a sunburn. It was loose fitting and looked like it would do a good job of keeping him cool. It also did a better job than the T-shirt of hiding the slight bulge behind his waist. When Ron said he was prepared for anything, he wasn’t kidding. No wonder the pack was so heavy. I didn’t bring up the fact that I noticed the weapon.
“So what do we do now?”
Ron watched the runners as they disappeared into the pine trees, moving in the opposite direction of the boys.
“I think it’s time we hoof it to Ryder Lake. Now that the boys have the right scent, they’ll be moving double time.”
I looked at the large pack sitting on the ground.
“Do you mind?” Ron said. “It makes my back sweat.”
By the look on his face, Ron knew I had noticed the gun. In fact, it felt like he had expected me to spot it, as if I had the type of background that I would notice such things. Sometimes I thought Ron might suspect just a little bit too much. Even so, after seeing the two strangers approaching the boys, I was glad Ron was here. And I was glad he’d brought a gun. I kicked myself for choosing reason over intuition and leaving my own weapon at home, and I prayed that I was wrong about my feelings of uneasiness.