by Raven Snow
***
Breakfast went on longer than it probably should have. Everyone had long since emptied and washed their plates when Crystal finally said something. “All right!” she boomed out of nowhere. “Is everyone dressed for a hike?”
“I should put on my hiking shoes,” said Paris, even though the shoes on her feet were perfectly fine for a hike.
“All right, everyone go get ready. We’ll meet in front of the cabin in twenty!” Crystal turned as soon as she was finished speaking and began to walk away. If Rowen had to guess, she would say she was headed for her tent.
***
Rowen didn’t need the full twenty minutes. Not that she was paying attention to the passage of time. She only knew that she was one of the first to take a seat in front of the cabin. She sat in the grass, thoroughly distracted, stuck in her own head. Should she call Ben? Did this qualify as something she should warn him about? That a couple of camp workers might be missing?
A lesser gut feeling was telling her it was too soon to make assumptions. She couldn’t go jumping at every little thing. Was that wishful thinking, though? Was she just making excuses? Coming up with reasons why everything would be okay?
Rowen was about to get up and go get her phone after all when she had her first stroke of good luck. Veronica wandered into her cone of vision, clipboard in hand and her walkie talkie on her hip. She looked as dour as ever. Thank goodness.
Rowen continued up onto her feet. She couldn’t resist. She went to Veronica. “Hey.”
Veronica did something of a double-take. She looked around before responding to Rowen, making sure she wasn’t talking to someone else. “Hello.”
“How’s it going?”
“It’s… going all right.” Veronica’s tone was measured. “How are you?”
“Oh, you know. Tired.” Rowen tried to keep things conversational, jovial.
Veronica wasn’t all that receptive. “Mm,” she hummed in acknowledgment, her lips a thin line. “Well, I hope you sleep better tonight.”
She was trying to end the conversation, but Rowen still felt the urge to ask more. “Yeah, so do I… Things are a little hectic this morning, huh?”
That got Veronica’s attention. She looked up from her clipboard. “What do you mean?”
Rowen shrugged, playing dumb. “I don’t know. Crystal seemed kinda frazzled over breakfast, I guess. Plus, breakfast went on for so long. Feels like we’re going off schedule a bit. I hope everything is okay.”
“Everything is fine,” Veronica assured her. It was a reflexive response. Rowen could tell. She would have said the same thing regardless of the situation. She would try to keep up appearances even if they were surrounded by flashing lights and a body was being wheeled away. It was her job to defuse situations and keep up appearances. “It’s the first full day of the retreat. We thought it would be a good idea to let everyone acclimate to the schedule is all.” She gave Rowen one of those smiles that didn’t suit her again.
Rowen returned the smile. “That makes sense.” She didn’t want to drop the subject just yet. There was one more thing that was bothering her. “I haven’t seen Phoenix around today. Is he okay?”
That definitely got Veronica’s attention. “What do you mean?”
“Is he okay?” Rowen repeated. “I haven’t seen him around today.”
“Is there some reason you need to speak with him?”
“Not really. Just wondering was all. Hadn’t seen him. Thought it was odd.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. Crystal probably has him off doing something or another.” Veronica’s smile was even more forced than usual. She didn’t know where he was either. Granted, she hadn’t known where he was the day before. He had wandered off when he was supposed to be working and then came back smelling of pot. Maybe that was where he was and why Veronica seemed annoyed.
“Okay. As long as he’s fine, I guess. There’s only the three of you. I imagine it would be pretty rough if one of you got sick. Glad to hear that’s not the case, though.” Rowen walked back to where she had initially been sitting. That had been awkward. ‘Stop it,’ she told herself. ‘You’re being weird.’ This was why she didn’t act on these gut feelings of hers unless she was sure something was going on. It only made her look like a crazy person.
***
Crystal Spruce led the hike. Fortunately, there was a trail to follow. Crystal seemed like the sort to march a group into the woods and immediately get them lost. Rowen wasn’t sure that wouldn’t happen even with the trail beneath their feet. She made a point to map every turn and split in the path in her head just in case.
The weather was nice, at least. The sun was blocked by the canopy of trees above their heads. The air was warm but not too still or too humid. It was nice in the mountains, Rowen decided. There was even a light breeze at her back. She would like to come back and camp here with her family. No rude housewives or awkward wizards or Crystal Spruce.
Aunt Lydia caught Rowen during a lull in the hike. Crystal had stopped rambling on about the forces of nature and mystical woodland critters. She had stopped to give everyone a quick rest. Gossamer had been asking for one for a while. She had dropped down onto a rock and was currently attempting to fan herself with her dream catcher.
“Nadine told me that you had a premonition?” Aunt Lydia led Rowen away from the group by a couple dozen feet. She held the crook of her arm with her hand, making escape impossible. Not that Rowen could have ignored Lydia otherwise. Lydia was a difficult woman to ignore.
Rowen shrugged her shoulders, trying to play down what she had felt. “It was just a feeling. You know how I get feelings sometimes.”
Aunt Lydia’s shoulders sank. Rowen hadn’t realized how tense they had been until then. “So you don’t think it’s anything serious?” asked Lydia. That wasn’t like her. It sounded like she wanted everything to be fine and was willing to believe whatever version of events supported that. It was an attitude that was hard to encourage.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen or when or how bad it’s going to be. I’m not sure that’s much of a premonition.”
Lydia smiled like that was a comfort. “That’s good.”
“Is it?”
“Bad things happen somewhere every day. You can’t be expected to fret over every little thing.” Lydia pulled her niece into a brief but loving side hug. “Looks like we’re about to get moving again.”
Sure enough, Crystal was beginning to motion for everyone to gather up again. “All right. Everyone looks like they’ve caught their breath.”
Gossamer huffed miserably but didn’t object. Beads of sweat were still rolling down her red face. It was Gary who came and helped her off the rock she was seated on. “Such a gentleman,” she said in her high, breathy voice. “Thank you.”
***
They went deeper and deeper into the woods, following the trail as it curved. Rowen wondered if the trail’s end fed back into camp or if they would need to turn around at some point and walk back the way they’d came. She wondered if Crystal knew.
“Do you think anyone will care if I turn around and go back to the cabin?” asked Peony, practically dragging her feet through the leaves and dirt.
Rowen understood the temptation. She was feeling it too. “They’d probably care,” she said with a nod. “Besides, we’ve been walking for a while. It might be faster to see the hike through than to go back the way we came.”
“You think so?” asked Willow.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Hey!” Willow raised her voice so that it was loud enough to be heard by Crystal and everyone else in between. “How much further?!”
Crystal slowed her pace and then stopped completely when she turned around. “Have some patience.” There was a smile on her face, but the corners of her mouth twitched. Her hands were twitching too. Rowen could see the way her fingers kept traveling along the plastic surface of her walkie talkie. It was like she needed to be constantly reassured
that it was there.
“Okay, but like, how much more patience, though?” Willow pressed. Nadine turned and frowned back at her daughter, giving her a warning look that was more than a little too late to be effective.
Crystal laughed like Willow’s question was a joke. “All right. Enough stalling. Let’s get going everyone. I think I see some toadstools up ahead. How many of you are familiar with their magical properties?”
Paris launched into an unrelated anecdote about reishi mushrooms and her personal nutritionist. Willow hung back entirely, prompting her sister to do the same. Rowen fell back as well. It was basically her duty to make sure her cousins weren’t about to do anything stupid. “I’m heading back,” Willow announced.
Peony covered her mouth as she yawned again. “I’m going with you.”
“Come on, guys.” As tempting as it was to join them, Rowen still wasn’t sure it was the best idea. “You can’t just go off on your own.”
“We’re not.” Willow took her sister’s hand and raised it to eye level. “We’re together. See? Buddy system.”
“You guys headed back?” It was Tasha. She and Erin were at the rear of the group as well.
“Yeah,” said Peony, still holding hands with her sister. “Wanna come?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Rowen said, making her opinion loud and clear. She didn’t want Tasha thinking that she was a part of this.
“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Tasha turned to Erin who was only now falling in beside her. “You wanna go back to the cabin? Take a nap?”
“Not really.” Erin glanced back to the group. They were about twenty feet ahead, presumably gathered around a mushroom patch. “I know I said I’d like to take a nap, but I was thinking it’d happen during our downtime or something.”
Tasha took a deep breath and let it out in a long, low sigh. “I guess I’m not going either then.”
“Why don’t you guys wait like Erin is?” Rowen asked her cousins in a last ditch effort to keep them with the group.
“No thanks,” said Willow immediately. She looked to her sister who nodded. They both turned and headed down the trail.
Rowen swore under her breath. “If you don’t mind, can you tell my aunts where we went?” she asked Tasha and Erin. “You don’t have to do it now. Just… whenever.” If Rowen wanted to, she was pretty sure she could go tell Nadine what her daughters were doing now. That would probably put a stop to things. Rowen wasn’t going to do that, though. It didn’t feel right to rat them out. “Tell them I went along to make sure they made it back safely.” That was something of a stretch. Rowen was only partly tagging along to keep an eye on them. In truth, she really wanted a nap too.
“Will do,” said Erin with a smile and a nod.
Tasha sighed wistfully. “Enjoy your nap.”
***
Rowen jogged to catch up with her cousins. “Do you two even know the way back?”
Willow shrugged. “Sure. Just follow the trail, right? Easy.”
“You know the trail splits, don’t you? Do you know which way to go when it forks?”
Peony glanced at her sister as they all continued to walk onward. “Do we?”
“Yeah, of course,” Willow said, reflexively. “Probably.”
Rowen snorted. “And this is why you should never wander off by yourselves. The buddy system doesn’t help if you get lost together.”
“As long as we stay on the trail, it can’t be that hard to get back,” Willow said in her own defense. “It’s like a maze. You just keep your hand on the left wall and eventually you find your way out. There’s only so much trail.”
“I’m not sure mazes translate to trails.” Rowen didn’t press the matter. Her cousins had already made up their minds. Besides, she was with them now and she knew her way back.
“This retreat sucks,” Willow complained once they had reached the first fork in the trail and Rowen had indicated the correct way to go. “I thought it would be more fun than work, but it’s not. It’s not much of anything. We just walk around and talk and it’s boring.”
“What did you think it would be like?” asked Rowen. She had expected the worst from the get-go.
“I dunno? Better than this. I thought there’d be activities, like… I dunno. Swimming or something. Right now it looks like I packed my bathing suit for nothing.”
“No one told you to pack your bathing suit,” Rowen pointed out. She didn’t even know where they would swim nearby. As far as she knew, there was no large body of water within walking distance.
“Which is probably why it’s so boring out here,” Willow grumbled.
“I thought we’d do crafts,” said Peony. “We could put sigils on t-shirts or make sachets or something.”
Rowen had to agree that she had imagined something that felt a little more organized. They should never have gotten so bored that they wandered off from a hike. Heck, that they had wandered off unnoticed by staff was probably a bad sign. “They don’t really seem to have their stuff together, do they?”
“Nope,” Willow agreed. “I wonder if we can complain and get our money back.”
“Did you pay for your ticket?” asked Peony.
“No, but… still.” Willow stopped walking. Peony fell in beside her, and both looked back at Rowen. “Are you okay?” asked Willow.
Rowen had stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn’t even realized she had done it until Willow called her attention to the fact. “Huh?” She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of the sudden daze that had come over her. “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.” That couldn’t be true. If she was fine, then why had she stopped? Something must have prompted her to stop walking. She wasn’t so tired that she was ready to fall asleep on her feet.
“Are you sure?” asked Peony.
Rowen didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what to say. She scanned their surroundings. The trail was still beneath their feet. Trees were still to either side of them. Rowen still felt like she knew where they were. She hadn’t gotten them lost yet. So, what was it that had made her stop? What was it that was bothering her now? “There’s something… Something is wrong.”
“Aside from this whole week sucking?” Willow put her hands on her hips and turned in a circle. “I don’t see anything.”
“It’s not back with Mom and Aunt Lydia is it?” Peony asked, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her.
“No,” Rowen said immediately, not wanting Peony to worry. She wasn’t getting the sense that something was wrong behind them. No, it felt more like something was happening off to their right, off the trail. “It’s that way.” Rowen pointed.
Peony walked in the direction Rowen had indicated, taking a couple of steps from the trail before Willow stopped her. “She said she felt something wrong! Don’t wander off toward something wrong!”
Peony didn’t continue onward, but she didn't look particularly deterred either. “What’s the point of pointing out wrong stuff then? We have to go see what it is.”
“No, we don’t! All we have to do is make it back to camp… and then take a nap.”
“Peony’s right.” Rowen wished she wasn’t, but she was. Or, at the very least Rowen agreed with her. In actuality, Willow was probably more right than the both of them. The smart and logical thing to do would be to mark where they were and return to camp. They could tell Veronica or someone else what they had seen, come back with more people. Except, what they had “seen” was nothing. Rowen had warned them about a feeling she’d had before. She doubted they would come out to investigate another feeling. “Come on. If we get too far from the path we’ll turn around and come back.”
Willow bounced from toe to heel. She huffed and frowned. “Fine, but this is going to end in an, ‘I told you so.’ I’ve got a feeling about that.”
“Come on Willow. All we have to do is keep our hand on the left side of the forest. We’ll find our way out eventually.”
“Shut up.”
Rowen walked off
of the path and out into the woods. Willow and Peony followed close behind. “What exactly are you feeling?” asked Peony.
“I don’t know. An uneasiness, I guess?” It was difficult to describe. “I feel a pulling too, though. Like a tug, you know? I think there’s something out here we need to find.”
“Is it going to tug us back to the trail after you’re done?” asked Willow. Rowen didn’t deign to answer.
***
They walked further than Rowen had intended. Any moment now Willow was going to say something, to ask to go back to the trail. Rowen wasn’t sure she could deny her if she did. She was tempted to turn around and head back herself. She could still feel the tug, but it wasn’t like it was giving her an ETA. It wasn’t going to do them a lot of good if they discovered something only to get lost in the woods immediately afterward.
“I see something,” Peony said suddenly. Willow and Rowen both turned to see her pointing. At what, Rowen wasn’t sure.
“What do you see?” Rowen squinted in the direction she was pointing. She only saw more trees and foliage and leaves on the ground.
“In the dirt there.” Peony stabbed her pointing finger in the air. “It’s like a bag or something. See?”
She was right. There was a lump of fabric in the distance. It had a strap on it. A messenger bag, maybe? Rowen headed that way.
“So what?” Willow wasn’t undermining their discovery. If anything, she sounded apprehensive. “What’s in the bag?”
Rowen stated the obvious, “Don’t know yet.” She intended to find out, though. “It doesn’t look like it’s been here all that long.” She knelt down beside the bag and looked it over carefully before disturbing it. It was indeed a messenger bag. It was an expensive-looking bag too. At least, the brand name emblazoned on the outside suggested as much. It wasn’t at all weathered by the elements. Only a few leaves and pine needles covered it. Rowen brushed those away.
“Are you sure you should touch it?” asked Peony. “What if it’s evidence?”
“Evidence of what?” Rowen cast a look around in case she had missed something. “Maybe there’s evidence of something in here, but I won’t know until I open it.”
