Part 9 (1/2)
”Well, you clearly love what you do.”
Kristine nodded. She couldn't deny it, couldn't ignore how being out in the backcountry on horseback made her heart sing. Nard's behavior in the yard had reminded her all too vividly why she had stayed away from the Lodge for so long. A s.h.i.+ver went down her spine remembering how she startled when she heard his voice that morning.
He'd called her Teeny again, refusing to bend and use her full name. He'd unsaddled her horse and was holding the heavy roping saddle by the horn like it weighed nothing. ”I need that Boomerang horse in the backcountry.”
She'd moved to take her saddle, realizing that there was no easy way to take it without touching him. ”Throw it on the rail,” she'd said. Though she liked Boomerang a lot, she let it go. She couldn't argue with him for not wanting to have a new horse on an overnight trip. It wasn't his choices, it was the way he stood there waiting for her to challenge him. He'd been testing her, she was certain, seeing how far he could push her, his watery blue eyes intent on her reaction.
He'd pushed again. ”There's a number of people who can help your brother here. Dad's having to send a cook from the cafe on this trip. After this, I've got the photography trip. You should cook it.”
”I'm a packer, Nard, not a backcountry cook.”
He'd pulled at his mustache with his bottom lip, a habit that had always made her skin crawl. She'd been proud of herself for the unemotional reply, for shutting him down.
Though she'd tried to tune him out and stay on task, the expression on his face as he lurked around her pack dock this morning had made her rush to get out of the yard. Now Scooter was stuck with the extra weight of the stone she'd added to his load, carrying it up the rocky staircase that switchbacked beside the Shadow Lake waterfall.
She paused halfway up the hill before the climb got more intense. Her riders halted on the switchback below her.
”How's Scooter's pack riding?” she asked the boy.
”Great!” he chirped. ”I've been watching it the whole time!”
Kristine winked at the boy's parents, knowing they were all glad that he'd stopped complaining about being on his own horse. She glanced ahead of her, aware that the next part of the trail would test her young rider's bravery.
”I'm really going to need you to watch it closely until we get to the lake, okay?”
His nod and his lowered brows matched her serious tone.
”You can help out your horse by holding onto the horn of the saddle and leaning forward. We're going to climb some pretty steep stairs, and I want that pack riding just like you are. Ready?”
”Ready,” they all agreed.
She nudged her horse forward and onto the steep staircase. The Appaloosa struggled with the uphill climb, making her even more aware of the small burden she had added to her mule. A burden much like the one she had carried since she'd left the Lodge unexpectedly, one that Nard had handed her and that she had carried ever since. As they climbed the steepest part of the trail water thundered from the lake in the valley above them, drowning out even the sound of her horse's hooves scrambling to find purchase. She felt herself slipping back to the panic of refusing Nard, the feel of his hands around her wrists and her inability to make any noise at all, the only sound her heart thrumming in her ears.
And then the silence.
The vast, calm lake before them.
She released the breath she'd been holding and a.s.sessed the guests and the mules. All fell into line behind her. She had made it to safety. She was in control. Malcolm gave her a big thumbs-up. Kristine's tension eased as the seven animals snaked silently along the trail, their hoofbeats now m.u.f.fled by the soft earth. She gave Digger his head, liking how he'd dug into his challenge and smiling at how it fit his excavator tendencies.
Her senses still heightened, she methodically unloaded the mules and tended to the dude horses. She stood letting Peac.o.c.k rub his head on her when Malcolm's father, Jack, came to find her. ”Will it be you picking us up?”
”Hard to say,” she answered truthfully.
”We all enjoyed the trip up so much. Thank you for working with Malcolm. The gentleman last year got us to Emerald, but he certainly didn't have the gift you have. I thought you'd like to know that Malcolm invited you to his party. We'll try to save you a cupcake.”
”Just promise me you've got your bear containers and won't be attracting any other guests,” Kristine joked.
”We know the drill.” He smiled. ”Hope to see you in a few days.”
”Me, too.” She strung up the horses but detoured to the lake before starting her journey back. She took a deep breath, standing on the rocks at the sh.o.r.e of the crystal blue lake, the dramatic backdrop of rocky mountain with sporadic pines growing from crevices. She rolled the rock from Scooter's pack in the palm of her hand, feeling the weight of it. With all of her might, she threw it as far into the lake as she could, standing on the sh.o.r.e until the ripples reached her toes. She smiled, then, feeling lighter than she had in years.
Chapter Fourteen.
”Gloria!” Mitch.e.l.l's voice startled her out of her ch.o.r.e of poring through years and years of ranger reports, collecting data on the local bears. ”Anything I can help you with?”
”No, but thanks.” She bent to her work, grumbling inside when he sat down across from her.
”Boss man says you're picking up camp.”
”I just moved the camper to the Aspen Grove Campground. I want to talk to the campers and hosts at both campgrounds, get a read on whether the Lodge is attracting more problems.” Gloria left out that being at the Aspen camp would mean she could easily walk over to the outpost at the end of her day. More days than not, she found herself joining the Owenses there, if not for dinner, then to share a few beers out on the pack docks, listening to the valley settle for the night.
”Doing any research in the backcountry? I cover the Thousand Island section, and my camp up there is suh-weet. You're welcome to stay anytime. Plenty of room in the tent for you, so you don't have to carry that in. I've got a bear box, the works.”
”I'll be doing some day hikes into the backcountry to set up some barbed wire to collect hair samples. We check the DNA back at the lab in Sacramento to determine whether it's the same bear turning up at multiple camps. If I end up needing to stay out there longer, I'll keep your camp in mind.”
”I just finished my report for Scott, so I'm a free man for the next four days.”
”Great.” Gloria was starting to feel uncomfortable with his continued conversation given that she had done her best not to encourage him. He certainly smelled like he'd come in from his ten days out, and she was anxious to have the works.p.a.ce back to herself.
”I was thinking of driving out to Mono. Have you been?”
”Nope.”
”It's truly awesome. How can I describe it?” He tipped his head back, his scraggly Adam's apple protruding and bobbing as he swallowed. ”The lake's full of these weird-shaped spires that make it look like an alien landscape. The saline content is so high that you float like you're sitting in a chair. You want to check it out?”
”No, thank you. I still need to settle into my new camp.”
Mitch.e.l.l studied her. ”Is this a PhD thing?”
”Sorry?”
”I'm a lowly seasonal employee, and you're this expert research scientist. Is that why you're blowing me off?”
Gloria set down the reports she'd been reading and took a deep breath. ”I've dated plenty of rangers,” she said.
Mitch.e.l.l's eyes lit up.
”Female ones,” she said.
”Oh, dude. I'm sorry.”
”You're sorry?”
”That came out wrong. I just meant...ugh. I just feel so stupid. I just a.s.sumed...It's not like we get much gossip to key us in.”