The Pickup
The next several minutes were a flurry of activity. Peng found Dempsey’s laptop and helped Zack upload the videos to several different locations for safekeeping until he could get the evidence to the president.
Zack took my cell phone from me and made several calls to people to come help clean up this mess. But his first call was to his family. I thought about listening in to see how a tough guy like Zack would handle this kind of conversation, but I decided I really didn’t want to see Zack cry. I preferred to think of him as invincible.
Demetrius and Chico loaded up the prince and his guard, as well as two pilots they’d found inside the cockpit of the plane, and took them in Dempsey’s van to some secret location that Zack had suggested they not even reveal to us. Zack asked them to drop him somewhere on the way.
The rest of us—Permelia, Hope, Jin, Peng, and I—got into my rented SUV and began the journey home.
About thirty minutes out of Wendover, I asked, “What day is it?”
“Friday,” Hope said. Her hair looked wild and windswept, and she smelled like smoke-canister dust. I had a sudden urge to kiss her. “We’ve been gone less than a week, but it seems like a year.”
“We’re supposed to be returning the boys to their families today,” I said. “The pick-up after that high adventure.”
Hope’s cheeks turned pale. “We can’t face those families. Not after what happened to the boys in the woods.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure Ron’s got it all sorted out by now.” But even as I said the words, I felt a nudge of concern. I didn’t think Ron’s injuries were major, but I’d left him on the road with three Scouts and a homemade crutch. I hoped they’d made it to a hospital.
“Can you grab that phone and dial Ron for me?” Tim’s phone sat in the compartment between the two seats.
Hope dialed the number and handed me the phone.
Ron picked up. “I don’t recognize this number,” he said flatly.
“It belongs to Tim. He was the guy who picked me up in the convertible. Kind of a jerk, really. I took his phone.”
I heard Ron breathe a sigh of relief. “I was getting ready to contact some of my Delta friends to come looking for you. You all right? How about Hope and the kids?”
I looked around me in the car and grinned widely. “We’re all fine. How about you and the boys?”
“We are all good,” Ron said. “Except maybe Eric. I think he really would eat a bathtub full of Easy Cheese if I let him. We’re on our way back from the condo now, ready to arrive at the rendezvous point in approximately one hour.”
“How’s your foot?”
“The doc says it will be fine, but I’ll be in a boot for a few weeks. Driving is a little dicey.”
“You could have turned the wheel over to JR.”
“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.” Ron chuckled. “Hey, what’s your ETA?”
“We’re just coming into Salt Lake. Why?”
“I’m taking the boys to the pick-up point. Parents are going to start asking questions. I’ve phoned the bishop to meet us there and given him a heads-up, but I could really use another leader to help divide and conquer. If you and Peng could swing by for just a few minutes . . .”
“We’ll be there,” I said. “We’ll need time to clean up a bit though. The boys need to tell their parents the truth, but I’d like to limit the details to what happened in the mountains. I’m sure the government would consider anything that happened after Peng and I left as highly confidential. Since you guys have been lounging in a condo with real showers for a couple of days, the other parents might be a bit suspicious if Peng and I show up smelling like the trail.”
“Jin and I are coming too.” Hope must have been able to piece together both sides of the conversation from what I’d been saying. “It would also be suspicious if one of the parents is missing.”
“We’ll see you in a few,” I said to Ron. I could hear him yelling at JR to keep his hands away from the steering wheel as I hung up. I saw Peng looking at me expectantly in the rearview mirror. “They’re fine.” I met his eyes in the mirror. “As long as JR doesn’t kill them all on the way home.”
Peng smiled.
* * *
Peng and I took the rented SUV and parked around the corner from Ron’s house. Hope, Jin, and Permelia would arrive with the rest of the parents and look pleased and surprised when they came to pick us up. Permelia had been practicing her lines as we left. I got the feeling she would overact, but I didn’t think anyone would notice. It was Permelia, after all.
The boys were standing on the lawn as Peng and I rounded the corner. JR was gesturing with his hands, Eric was holding his sides laughing, and Joey seemed to be studying some sort of insect in the palm of his hands. For some reason, they all looked taller than I remembered.
“Hey, it’s Peng,” Eric shouted and pointed at us. Everyone stopped for a second to look, and then all three of the boys rushed to us, nearly bowling us over with their hugs and pats on the back. Everyone was talking at once, asking questions, telling stories, going off on random tangents. I couldn’t make any sense of any of it. I just looked over at Ron, who was sitting on the grass with his real crutches and boot, and I grinned at him. He grinned back. These were a great bunch of boys, and they would make great men. I not only loved them, but I also really liked them. I liked them a lot. I couldn’t wait to spend more time with them. I didn’t think our Sunday meetings would ever be the same again. I turned my head and wiped my sleeve against my face. I was glad Zack wasn’t around to see me cry.
“Incoming,” Ron said as he pulled himself up on a crutch. “The first of the parents is arriving. Places, everyone. Don’t screw this up. The bishop is going to call a meeting tomorrow, and we’ll fill your parents in on all of the details. For now, they mainly need to know that you’re safe.”
The boys moved to sit on the lawn, still talking, still laughing. Peng flowed back with them as if part of a choreographed dance. It struck me how well he fit in.
I looked up to the heavens and voiced a silent Thank you.
Joey’s mom parked her minivan, slid her short, squat body out of the seat, and scooted over to Joey with a mixture of furrowed brows and worried tsks. She licked her thumb and wiped at his face.
“My poor baby.” She began examining him from head to toe. He still bore some of the scratches he’d received in our battle with Tiny, and I worried that our fragile cover story of Ron taking a fall and the boys having to work together to save him was quickly going to crumble under the light of scrutiny.
“You have scratches all over your head,” she said. “Was it just awful?” She pulled Joey to her. “Tell me, was it awful?”
Joey pulled away from his mother and looked her in the eye. I saw his lip begin to quiver, and I thought the whole story was going to spill out right now. But the quiver turned into a wide smile. He glanced at the other boys sitting on the ground, watching him with anticipation. “It was awesome,” he proclaimed. His smile grew even broader, and his eyes darted back and forth from the boys to his mother. “It was the most awesome experience of my life.”
“Better than Disneyland,” JR agreed.
Joey’s mother blinked as if this was not the answer she had expected. “What happened to you?” She continued to rub at his face. “You look different.”
“He found a pony,” Eric said, and then all the boys looked at Joey’s mother.
Joey began to laugh. And he couldn’t stop. And then all the boys were laughing with him, so hard they couldn’t talk, so hard I wondered if they would ever be able to regain their composure.
Joey’s mother turned to Ron, a look of horror on her face.
Ron shrugged. “Sorry about that. They found my stash of Easy Cheese in the condo. I think they might be a little giddy.”
Joey’s mom turned back to Joey, the horrified look on her face becoming even more pronounced. “You ate processed food? You know how you get when you eat processed food.”
For some reason, the boys found that funny as well, and they fell into another fit. To tell the truth, I had to check myself so I didn’t join them.
The other parents began to arrive, and it wasn’t long before Hope pulled up in our Hyundai. She looked around at the scene in front of her. The frivolity was beginning to subside, but the parents were taken by surprise at the enthusiastic hugs they were receiving from their normally subdued teenagers. There was an electricity in the air, and everyone seemed to feel it.
“I thought I told you not to bring them home damaged?” Hope said, looking at the boys and their fits of laughter.
It had been only a few minutes since I had seen her, but I gathered her into my arms and swept her in a circle. “What kind of fun would that be?”
Permelia had been carrying Jin, who quickly latched on to Peng’s neck. I put Hope down, and they joined us in a large group hug.
I looked around at the other families and noticed we were not alone in our affection.
We were back, we were alive, and somehow, despite everything that had happened, we were better off than when we had left.
“This trip is so over,” I said. “Let’s go home.”