Part 17 (1/2)
Kristine carried their food to the table. She paused before sitting. ”No. I'm sorry. I was awful to you because of this photography trip.”
”Trip?” Gloria stepped closer to Kristine, taking her hand.
”I'd just found out that Nard put me on his photography trip. Five days, four nights.”
”No. Since when?”
Kristine couldn't meet her eyes. ”Since you were down at Fish Creek.”
”And when does it leave?” Gloria insisted.
Kristine sat and bit into her sandwich, instantly regretting it because her suddenly dry mouth made it hard to chew.
Gloria sat next to her. ”Tomorrow morning? That's why you were doing laundry before?” Kristine nodded.
”Well that explains a lot. I wish you'd told me.”
”Kind of hard to get a word in edgewise.”
Gloria shot her a penetrating look. ”You still could have shared that with me.”
”I know.” Kristine's mind spun. She considered telling Gloria it just wasn't her instinct to reach out when she got scared. Instinct told her to protect herself, and she'd felt particularly vulnerable. She knew, though, that Gloria would have argued that was all the more reason to tell her, to let her help or at least offer support. Kristine blew out a breath, feeling lost. ”I don't have a lot of practice telling people stuff like that.”
Gloria traced the back of Kristine's hand. ”Maybe that's something we could work on.”
Kristine smiled and tipped her hand over to hold Gloria's. ”That's fair. As long as we can work on other stuff, too.” She arched an eyebrow.
”Food. Quit trying to distract me.” Gloria's expression had finally softened. She spooned up some soup. ”So where will you be for this photography trip?”
”Starts out at Rosalie. We'll base camp there for a few days and then head across to Thousand.” Having just cleared the air, Kristine was surprised when Gloria's spoon reversed direction and plopped back in the bowl. ”What?”
”Can you start out at Thousand and go somewhere else?”
”What's wrong with Rosalie?”
”I have a really bad feeling about that bear up there. After you left, I talked about it with Rick. He's had some experience with the bear in past seasons, but this season his behavior has changed, dramatically in the past few days. He recalled a hiker talking about a weasel acting weird. He's going to see if he can track down which report it's in for me.”
”Why do you care about a weasel acting funny?”
”What we're looking at doesn't sound like a food-conditioned bear. It sounds like a rabid bear. And if that's the case, I'd have to prove myself wrong before another big party enters his territory.”
”Bears get rabies?” Kristine asked, not wanting to argue but also shocked. When she'd been in the valley last, no one was even talking about food-conditioned bears, much less sick ones.
”Not very often, in fact it's quite rare, but I'd be negligent if I didn't issue a warning and follow through on my a.n.a.lysis.”
Kristine wondered if she was being more cautious than she needed to be because of the Fish Creek bear that had been attracted to the campsite by the dead horse.
”You think I'm crazy,” Gloria said, breaking the extended silence.
”I think it wouldn't hurt to talk to Leo tomorrow morning.” She held Gloria's eyes. ”I doubt he'll move the trip on such short notice, but at least you'll have someone there who's backing you up.”
”I like it better when you're on my side.”
”Sorry that was in question before,” Kristine said, and she meant it.
Chapter Twenty-Six.
A few of the Lodge employees acknowledged Gloria when she stepped into the employee dining room, but she didn't see Leo. She'd headed over first thing to see if she could convince him to redirect his trip.
Nard stood with his plate and coffee cup and glanced out the window. ”Teeny with you?”
”She let me borrow her truck. I'm looking for Leo.”
Nard swigged the last of his coffee and appraised her, his lips pursed under his scraggly mustache. Gloria met his gaze and did not blush or offer any explanation. He gave up the glaring contest first, sucking some of his breakfast from in between his teeth.
”Dad's up at the corrals. Dude animals are out of water.”
Gloria thanked him and strode up to the corrals, locating Leo easily with his grunts and mumblings. He wore his typical plaid s.h.i.+rt, jeans and suspenders, though the suspenders had lost the fight to keep his jeans up over his rear. Gloria cleared her throat.
Leo rocked back onto his heels next to the trench he'd dug, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of a grimy hand. ”Miss Fisher. Does Sacramento back up your a.s.sessment that I'm causing in the backcountry?”
”I've only had the chance to check in with my boss in Ontario who was going to contact the Director in Sacramento. I haven't had a chance to hear what he said yet about the Fish Creek problem, sir. I've been up at Rosalie Lake. I'm sure you heard about the bear up there?” She hoped her tone conveyed that the number of incidents involving bear and human contact alone suggested that he should listen to her.
”Oh, yeah. Heard all about the mess it made before my guys got in there to pack them out.”
”Two encounters with two different bears in less than a week warrant a re-evaluation of your policy to pack whatever a client wants into the backcountry.”
”They know they're headed into the wilderness. What they choose to bring is their business. Far as I know, backpackers have that same right.”
But backpackers actually have to carry what they take in, which gives them the common sense that many of the Lodge clients lacked, she thought. That lack of common sense raised her ire when she was in Fish Creek. It was certainly magnified by the Rosalie trip he'd allowed. However, that wasn't why she was standing in front of him now. ”Unfortunately, what a group takes into the backcountry isn't my only concern anymore. I didn't have a lot of time up at Rosalie, but I have talked to the ranger in that area, and we are both worried about that animal. We cannot ignore his unnatural behavior at the campsite.”
”Isn't this where you get your rubber bullets out? Give him a good spanking?”
”That might work if the bear were merely habituated or food-conditioned. In those cases, the precautionary measures I discussed at the beginning of the season might be effective. We fear, though, that this bear is no longer sane.”
”You're suggesting the bear is crazy?” He did not bother to stop his work as she talked.
”Sir, food conditioning happens with exposure and opportunity. Nothing in the ranger's reports indicates that the bear has been taking advantage of humans for food this season.”
”You see how much c.r.a.p that group hauled in, and how bad they were at securing it? My bet is that's what attracted the bear.”
”Yes, but if that were the case, the campers should have been able to scare him off easily. I'd like some time to study the animal before you put more parties in the area. The ranger and I suspect that the animal may be rabid,” she said frankly.