Dangerous Minds (Knight and Moon 2)

“We should take turns standing watch,” Emerson said. “We don’t want to get taken by surprise by bears or rangers.”

“Or a Bigfoot,” Vernon said. “Just ’cause we got a doubter among us don’t mean Bigfoot is any less real.”

—

At first light, the campsite was disassembled, and everyone prepared to set off for Sour Creek Dome. The bear had eaten 90 percent of the food, but Emerson had managed to salvage enough for a meager lunch and breakfast.

“It should be an easier hike today,” Emerson said. “We’re sticking to the valley floor until we reach Sour Creek Dome, so it should be fairly flat.”

Riley looked at the hill. “It looks out of place. It’s just kind of sitting in the middle of the flat expanse.”

“It’s what geologists call a resurgent dome,” Emerson said. “It’s formed by the swelling of a volcano’s caldera floor. There’s a vast supply of underground magma, and it’s literally lifting the ground.”

“Why here and not somewhere else in the caldera?”

Emerson shifted his backpack. “The magma is a lot closer to the surface at the dome, so that’s where the effect is most dramatic. However, more subtle changes are taking place all over the park.”

“Like what?” Riley asked.

“For one, Yellowstone Lake, where we started the hike, used to drain to the north. Today, that’s been completely reversed by the uplift of the dome, and the lake is now tilting and draining south.”

“What do you think we’re going to find at the dome?” Riley asked.

Emerson shrugged. “There are a couple possibilities. Whatever it is, it’s something worth killing to protect.”

“Well, I sure do hope it’s a cheeseburger,” Vernon said. “No offense, but the freeze-dried mush didn’t cut it for me. If I get a chance, I’m going to do a little hunting and see if I can rustle up something that doesn’t taste like tree bark.” Vernon patted the .45 tucked into his jacket. “I never miss with my lucky gun.”

“It is an attachment and bad for your karma,” Wayan Bagus said.

Vernon was last in line, lumbering along behind the monk. “No offense, but starving to death is worse for my karma.”

“I do not take offense,” Wayan Bagus said. “I am just a simple monk. The sun shines on the just and unjust alike. If the sun does not judge, then who am I to do so?”

Vernon looked suspiciously at Wayan Bagus. “Why are you all of a sudden so magnanimous when it comes to my Second Amendment rights?”

“Upon consideration I realized it would be unwise to part with a lucky gun.”

Vernon grinned. “I’m powerful glad to hear it. We need all the luck we can get.”

“Thank you,” Wayan Bagus said. “That is why I threw away the bullets. Bullets are very unlucky.”

Vernon stopped walking. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” Wayan Bagus said.

“What good is a gun without bullets?”

“It’s even better without the bullets. Now it is lucky for both us and for anyone at whom it happens to be pointed.”

Vernon shook his head and muttered to himself that vegetarians know nothing about anything, and that Wayan Bagus wouldn’t be so short if he’d eat a cow once in a while.

—

By noon, they had circumnavigated the lake and the marshy grasslands had given way to a thick forest of conifers. “I can’t see a thing through the trees,” Riley said to Emerson. “How do we know if we’re still heading in the right direction?”

“As long as we continue to walk uphill, we’re making progress. Hopefully once we reach a higher elevation, the forest will get a little less dense.”

“How are we doing with the food?” Riley asked.