Something Wilder

She nodded to the box in his hands. “Well, good. Because I mean it when I say you won’t eat tonight until you’ve got it out.”

* * *

“I really hate you.” Leo glared at Bradley across the wooden puzzle they’d been working on for nearly half an hour.

“Can we just agree ahead of time to do the dinner dishes to earn the key?” Walter called out to the guides. “My stomach is eating itself.”

“Oh, sugar, you’re doing the dishes, too,” Nicole told him, smiling sweetly.

“If you would just focus,” Bradley hissed. “We have to be getting close.”

Close was meaningless. The puzzle box was only about six inches by six inches and made of wooden planks with a small maze inlaid into the surface of each one. Each maze contained a pin, and the object was to figure out how to slide each pin so its corresponding plank could be removed. The problem was that they had to work together to get every pin into its correct position, and even though Leo could see exactly how it had to be done, with three of their big hands stuffed into the tiny space it was challenging. After more than six hours in the saddle and with the proximity of dinner making their stomachs rumble, challenging became an understatement.

Which, he realized, was the point.

The upside, at least, was that with only the three of them, they were working relatively well together; Terry had gone off on his own, doing who knew what.

“What are you going to do about…” Bradley trailed off, tilting his chin to where Lily and Nicole were off checking on the horses. “I’ve known you for thirteen years and never once seen you look at a woman like that.”

With a dry laugh, Leo told him, “I don’t think that’s going to be the vibe between us this week.”

“What are you talking about? You two were up for a while the other night. Stars, campfire, tents. The scene writes itself.”

“We were just clearing the air.” He shook his head. “She never got any of my messages. She didn’t know about Mom. She thought I just left and forgot about her.”

“Poor Lily,” Walt said.

Bradley waved this off. “You can’t talk about your mom dying if you’re trying to score. You have no game, Leo.”

Leo reached over to free one of Walt’s fingers from where it’d gotten stuck. “She lives in Utah, I’m in New York. If you drew a Venn diagram of our lives, the circles wouldn’t touch.”

“I’m not talking about holding a commitment ceremony out here,” Bradley said. “Just a little fun.”

“It would be… complicated.”

He looked around to make sure Lily and Nicole were truly out of earshot. “We could ask Nicole to take us on a walk tomorrow morning so you and Lily can play a little butter-the-biscuit.”

“Bradley.”

“Clean the carpet. Check the oil. Ride the flagpole.”

“I understood the biscuit metaphor.” Leo held a pin with his index finger and reached around the box to push another with his thumb. “I’m just ignoring you.”

“Slime the banana,” Bradley said, and Leo winced as Walter gasped.

“That one is gross.”

“I thought you were ignoring me.”

“Shut up, I think I have it.” Focusing, Leo used the side of his thumb to shift one of the pins into place with a click, and the wooden plank slid to the side to reveal a small opening.

“Oh my God!” Bradley said, jumping to his feet. “Leo, you fucking did it!”

Leo peered into the slot and could barely make out the glint of a small key attached to one of the sides. He tried to reach it but couldn’t. The opening was too small.

“Can you get that?” he said, showing Walter.

Walt tried, but failed. “We need Terry’s tiny hands.”

“Where is Terry?” Lily said, approaching with perfect timing.

Walter shrugged. “Wandering.”

“What?” Lily was immediately annoyed. “You guys are supposed to stay together.”

Bradley was unconcerned. “He probably just walked a mile to pee this time to make a point.”

“Relax,” a voice called. Footsteps crunched through the dirt and everyone turned to see Terry emerging from behind a jagged rock. “Was out doing a little exploring.”

“You’re not supposed to leave camp alone,” Nicole said. “If a cougar gets hold of you, I’m not hauling what’s left of your body back to town.”

“If a cougar gets me?” He laughed, sucking his teeth. “Come on, Nicky, you’re not that old yet.”

Nicole paused, then took a step forward. Lily blocked her with an outstretched arm. “Terry, do we need to review the rules?”

He laughed this off, too, taking a seat on a wide rock and nodding to Bradley. “Dude, did you buy the nagging-wife package of the expedition or what?”

Lily froze, letting out a quietly controlled “Pardon?”

But Nicole’s attention had snagged on the bag at Terry’s feet. “Terry,” she said carefully, “what’s that in your bag?”

Walt, happy to distract from the tension, clapped. “Yeah, Terry, what’s in your—” When he registered that Nicole wasn’t playing around, his expression straightened. “Wait. What is that in your bag? Isn’t that Miss Lily’s journal?”