Hey guys, what’s goin’ on?” I kicked a rock off the trail. La, la, la. . .
Dad ran over and gave me a big hug. “Are you okay, honey? You’ve been gone a long time. We thought you were lost.”
I tilted my head a little. “I’m fine. Sorry I took so long.”
“Why did you go so far? I showed you those bushes.” Fawn looked like she’d been crying.
“There were people. I needed more privacy.”
“I could have gone with you,” she said. “Buddy system — remember?”
“Potty and buddy doesn’t go together.”
“It does if you don’t want to get lost.”
“I wasn’t lost.”
“Whatever you say, missy.” She huffed off.
“Okay, well, we’re glad you’re here now.” Matt hooked his whistle back on his pack. “I hope you don’t forget to use your whistle if you do get lost. Sometimes people panic and run deeper into the woods.”
I think Matt knew the real story.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not a panicky person.”
I saw Nate scribble more notes.
“That’s good, because the next part of the hike is not for the panicky.” Matt gathered us all together to explain. “We’re about to climb up the back of the Sub Dome — about eight-hundred granite steps.”
“Ouch,” I said.
“Yeah, especially if you fall. Because there’s nowhere to go but straight down — four thousand feet.”
Dad gave me a stern look. “That means you need to concentrate.”
“No prob.”
Dad grabbed me by the shoulders and stared me down. “No — concentration is a problem for you. You’re always getting distracted. You can’t get distracted any time during the next couple of hours. You got that?”
“O-kaaay, but what about Flip?”
“What about me?” Flip asked.
“You’re worse than me at getting distracted.”
“Okay, let’s make a pact. We have to ignore the squirrels, no matter how cute they are.” Flip and I had been giving the squirrels cuteness ratings all during the hike. He liked the ones that were chubby and funny, and I liked the ones that were slim and bouncy. All of them were super cute, and none of them were shy. I really wanted to feed them, but Matt said no.
“What squirrels?” I said.
“See? We got this.” Flip gave a thumbs-up sign.
Dad didn’t look convinced.
“You might want to reapply your sunscreen,” Matt said. “There aren’t going to be many more trees on the trail to shade you.”
Gulp. Reapply? I sort of forgot to “apply” in the first place. No need to say anything to Dad about that. I got out my bottle and spread the gloppy stuff really thick over my dried-out shoulders and arms.
“Need some help with that?” Fawn grabbed the sunscreen out of my hand and started slapping a bunch on the back of my neck.
“Ow.”
“Did you forget this earlier? You’re getting pink back here.”
“I knew I should have left my hair down.”
“You should have put on sunscreen.”
“I know. I forgot. Please don’t tell my dad.”
“I won’t — if you admit to me that you were lost earlier.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Mr. Hart? Can you come over here?” Aargh. Fawn is like a really annoying big sister sometimes.
“Okay,” I whispered. “I was lost. And I freaked out, and I was about to blow my whistle. Are you happy now?”
“What’s up, Fawn?” Dad had his fingers pushed into his neck as he walked over to us.
“I was wondering if you have any trail mix. Riley and I are craving some chocolate.” She winked at me.
“Sure, I have some left.” He reached into his pack and pulled out a bag.
“Why are you taking your pulse again?” I asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Matt just wants to monitor me since I’m the old guy of the group.”
“Everyone ready?” Matt strapped his pack back on.
“Hey, do you guys mind if I pray for our group before we continue?” Dad’s good at remembering important stuff like that.
“Yeah, me and Riley really need the help.” Flip laughed.
Nate started scribbling again.
Dad prayed for safety, and then he thanked God for healthy bodies to climb and for the beautiful creation around us. As soon as he said “Amen,” I asked everyone how old they were.
“Dad says he’s the oldest — and I wanna know by how much.”
I found out that Matt was thirty-two, Nate was thirty-one, Fawn was thirty (Flip had to tell me because Fawn refused), and Flip was twenty-seven.
“I guess you’re too old to marry Breanne, then.”
“Hey, I’m not such a bad guy.”
I tried to stick up for Flip. “I think you’re fine. You even clean up nice — I saw a picture of you in a suit.”
Flip stopped walking and looked at Fawn. Then he looked at me.
“Where did you see a picture like that?”
“At Fawn’s house. In her hallway. There was some other guy in it too — from Swiftriver, I think.”
He started walking again.
“Fawn, I didn’t know you put pictures of me up in your house.”
“Yeah, well I was desperate. Too much wall space and not enough art, so I had to settle for that picture of when we went to that wedding — ”
“Mary and Smitty’s wedding?”
“Yeah, Mary and Smitty.”
“Was that the picture of us with Eric? I’m surprised you didn’t crop me out of it.”
“Well, like Riley said, you clean up okay.”
“Who’s Eric?” I asked.
“Just a guy that Fawn loves.”