After the brief interest triggered by the scorpion talk, Travis had reverted to his usual blank self. He showed no emotion. Not relief, not excitement, not even boredom.
It was as if someone had switched him off.
Jason, one of the camp directors, was in charge of leading the trip and Steph, one of the counselors, was the one designated to drive the gear up to Heron Pond and prepare for their arrival.
Three other counselors joined the trip, including Rachel, Ryan’s sister who taught at the local school and helped at the camp during her summers.
While Rachel took a group of the younger children and played games as they walked, identifying trees and plants, Zach noticed that Travis stayed close to Brittany.
She chatted to him about the various expeditions she’d been on over the years, knowing instinctively which stories were likely to hold the attentions of a teenage boy. Listening to the conversation, Zach started to form a picture of the life she’d led in the decade they’d been apart. It was a three-hour trek through the woods to Heron Pond and by the time they approached their camp he’d learned that she preferred Cambridge to Oxford, that her favorite food in Greece had been baklava and that she’d once fallen off a camel in Egypt.
“The worst thing about camels?” She smacked an insect from her arm with her palm. “The smell. Ever seen that scene in Indiana Jones where the girl sprays the elephant with her perfume? I wanted to do that with the camel but having already fallen off when the stupid thing stood up, I needed both hands to hold on.”
Travis almost smiled. “You said real archaeology was nothing like that movie.”
“It isn’t, but that part made perfect sense to me.”
“Did you see the pyramids?”
“Yeah. They’re cool if you can dodge the tourists. Because we were working with the university, we had a private tour.” She talked about the thrill of watching a sunset over the desert and of almost collapsing on the walk up to Machu Picchu. “Eight thousand feet above sea level. Breathing is a challenge and a couple of people in my group had altitude sickness, but it was stunning. I’ll never forget it.”
But most of the time she talked about Greece. About blue skies and transparent water and how the whole place was an archaeological nirvana. To pass the time she taught Travis a few words of Greek.
Zach couldn’t stop watching her. He loved the way she used her hands when she talked, and sensed her frustration when her movements were restricted by the cast on her wrist. She told every story with energy and enthusiasm, until he almost felt like flying over the Atlantic just to visit some of the places she described.
The smart girl had grown into a strong, independent woman and if anything the attraction was even greater than it had been when they’d been together in the past.
Her anecdotes made a long trek through the forest feel like five minutes.
When they finally arrived, they ate lunch and then took the canoes out on the pond. There was much squealing as they waited for the boats to leak or sink and even greater satisfaction when they didn’t. They raced in teams, then dragged the canoes onto the banks and swam in the clear sparkling water, jumping in from the dock.
It was lighthearted, innocent fun and by the time they gathered around the campfire, everyone was tired.
This part Zach would happily have avoided, but two of the younger children had decided he was the key to staying alive in the big scary woods and had latched themselves on to him like ticks. As he settled down for campfire, they sat next to him, so close that their legs pressed against his.
Suffocated, he’d glanced across at Brittany but she simply grinned at him and carried on handing out marshmallows.
He turned to the little girl on his right who had welded herself like superglue to his side. “You all right?”
“I want to go home. I’m scared of the forest.”
In his experience, there was a range of things in life worth being scared of, but the forest wasn’t one of them. He racked his brains for her name. “Which part scares you, Grace?”
“The dark.” It was a nervous whisper. “And not knowing whether what’s out there is going to come and get you.”
Zach felt a twinge of sympathy. He’d felt that fear himself, although never related to the forest. “The dark isn’t going to hurt you. And you know what’s out there. Trees, plants, and the birds and animals that live in them. This is their home and they’re not too interested in you as long as you treat their home with respect. And you’re going to be tucked up cozy and warm in your cabin tonight.”
“Will you be there?” Her head turned towards him and he noticed that one of the red ribbons in her hair had worked its way loose.
It made him think of all the times he’d hung out at Ryan’s house, teasing him mercilessly every time Rachel had plopped herself onto his lap to have her hair braided.
Observing Ryan had made him relieved he didn’t have a little sister.
There was no way he would have wanted the responsibility of caring for another person in the home he’d inhabited. It would have been like dropping a dormouse into a nest of vipers.
“You’re losing your ribbon. Let me fix that for you.” Leaning towards her, he retied the ribbon. “You don’t need to worry, Grace. I’m not in your cabin, but you have Rachel and Stephanie. And I?
??ll be close by.”