Red Man

by catt dahman

  Charlie, watching them, laughed, “You two are still as funny together as in college.”

  “Her side of the room was pink and clean. Mine was just dirty.” Bev said. She smiled, remembering Anthea’s side was filled with stuffed animals, cute pink lamps, a frilly coverlet for her bed, boxes bejeweled in pink rhinestones, and bulletin boards covered in cards, ribbons and dried corsages. Bev’s side was Spartan, actually, with a neat but faded quilt on the bed, plastic bins, and one poster of Smokey the Bear and a forest fire. Opposites had forged a strong friendship.

  Bev, in her plain, worn clothing and ball cap and Anthea with shining black hair to her waist and designer gear, took the lead on the hiking trail. Both were now talking about Bev’s children and how they were growing up fast. Carla ran to catch up with them, her pretty Hispanic face lit up as her amber eyes flashed with excitement about this hike and sleep out.

  Taryn followed behind, savoring a little bit of peace since she had heard nothing but the others chattering for hours on the trip here. As always though and just as she had in college, she kept a look out for her former roommate, Carla, who was frequently quick tempered and prone to cursing and always seemed to be in trouble when they were in school because of her mouth.

  Taryn chuckled a little to herself, remembering how often she had to sweet talk someone to get Carla out of trouble. Luckily, men always fell for it, and women didn’t want to face the two of them and were easily made to back off. But, after all, who wanted to deal with a hot headed Hispanic girl with a loud mouth and a sex kitten wanna-be who batted her eyes and slung insults with them best of them?

  Leila, self-assured and back in the day a real grind when it came to studying, took the lead with Dana, who now and back then never knew a stranger. They strode past the Taryn and then the trio as they blazed forward at a harder, faster pace.

  “Are they trying to win a race?” Holly asked.

  “Probably.” Charlie shrugged. “You know how those two are. I can’t believe they aren’t running the world already.”

  Holly, who almost had been Leila’s match for time spent studying and her roommate, laughed and responded, “Riiight. And they would decide who had the final match with a huge fight over it. Leila would out talk Dana, and Dana would tie her up and blacken her eye.”

  “Add Carla if there’s a fistfight,” Bev suggested, “and jeez, they’re going to have us running up and down the trail. Can they slow down? Dana, can you slow down?”

  “Come on, slow poke,” Dana laughed, looking over her shoulder. In a while, she and Leila stopped at a shady spot and waited for everyone. Dana had been elected as leader of the hike since she had the most experience.

  The second Charlie had said she needed a girls’ vacation in the wilds and had told Dana, her best friend put her on hold and called the rest so they could plan the trip.

  It was as if all her friends had just been waiting on her to call.

  Charlie had ridden in one SUV and then the other and told her story of the woods twice. All of them had a lot of questions, and she told everything about the blue light and her concerns, saying that she didn’t believe any of it but didn’t disbelieve it either. Her friends divided on time travel.

  Dana motioned to Anthea and said, “Don’t sit down, or you’ll ache when you get up. Just rest as you stand there. Everyone drink up. Even if you aren’t thirsty, drink slowly and about the amount I showed you in the car. Eyeball it. Remember to take a drink, roll it about, and then swallow slowly.”

  “I have one of those spots you said to tell you about,” Anthea said, “It’s hot and not really sore but rubbing.”

  “Gotcha,” Dana told her, bending down to remove Anthea’s boot and sock and put a piece of duct tape on the irritating area. “Test it, and if the tape is feelable, then tell me so we can adjust.”

  “Feels fine now,” Anthea said, digging out a hair scrunchie and yanking her long hair back and then putting it into a sort of messy bun. She had more money than she could ever spend, was beautiful, but was the sweetest, most big-hearted of the group. She couldn’t be snobby if she tried.

  Charlie passed around a bag of trail mix, chewing the nuts and fruit thoughtfully. “This is good stuff, Dana, thanks for the recommendation.” She made sure everyone ate a little, as Dana had directed. At the next stop, someone else would bring out a small snack for hiking fuel and energy.

  Dana adjusted straps for everyone to feel more comfortable and then made sure each had on sunscreen and insect repellent. They started walking again after she reapplied a little sunscreen to each person’s nose. The trail was easy, and Dana reminded them she had planned for them to stop twice more, and then they would descend a little and make camp at a campground a few dozen yards past the main one.

  “Good, I’m tired,” Holly said.

  Charlie ran to Dana and almost knocked her over with a hug. “Yes. I knew we had this in the bag.”

  “Huh?” Holly asked.

  Leila rolled her eyes and answered, “I had money on Anthea to say she was tired first.”

  “Very funny. I was on the list to bet on? Then how come Dana had me put money in and bet?” Anthea grumbled, “I was so cheated here.”

  Taryn asked, “Who did you pick?”

  “You,” said Anthea as she giggled.

  They all laughed as Taryn found that she had also lost the bet and then laughed harder as Holly let it slip that she had made a bet, too, but had forgotten and said it first, that she was tired. Holly shrugged. “I knew not to say it unless I had bet on myself. Damn. I should have done that.”

  “Cheater,” Leila declared.

  A trio of men passed them on the trail; one walked backwards. “Glad to hear such lovely ladies out here having fun.” They were city boys with fancy packs and boots but must have had some experience in the wilds if their worn supplies were an indication. All three first looked over Dana.

  “My middle name is Fun,” Taryn said, “or something that starts with an F and is something I like to have.”

  “Oh, my God,” Charlie groaned, grabbing Holly’s hand and gripping it while she struggled not to laugh as her face reddened. Holly and Charlie stumbled to the side of the trail, muffling giggles and snorting unladylike.

  “Are you ladies camping at Fast Creek Pass?”

  “Yes.”

  “We don’t know yet,” Dana interrupted with a sharp glance at Taryn, who shrugged like a reprimanded child, sighed, and waved good-by to the men. Dana knew that Charlie was still shaky and didn’t trust any strangers hanging around.

  The man waved back and yelled, “Be safe. See you later if you camp there.” He turned back and jogged to catch up with his other two friends.

  Taryn grumbled and complained about the no men rule until the next stop. A family had stopped for a break, and the teenage son was sitting on a log, complaining about his legs cramping. Dana showed the boy how to stretch his legs and how to rub the cramp out; she handed him a packet of mustard after asking his parents if it were okay.

  “Yuk,” the young man said, but in a few minutes, he said he felt better. Dana explained she was a sports medicine nurse and said hydrating the boy was a big step, but people swore by the mustard trick as well. They thanked Dana and the rest several times before they were moving again. The family took the trail over to a closer camping spot that was at a wider spot on the river’s path.

  After another short break, they finished that leg of the hike and walked into the Fast Creek campground. One branch of the creek was racing at the far side and would have to be crossed before they could go any farther; the river was to their left.

  The men they had met earlier on the trail waved; they had their camp set up. One of them, not the one who had spoken earlier, ran over and said, “Hi, we have an empty spot beside us.”

  “Thanks, but we’re going on.”

  “Up the trail? This late? You won’t make the next camp before dark.” He held out a hand and said, “I’m Rick.”

  Som
e of the women shook his hand, but Dana kept going. “We’re moving along.” She crossed the long, tall bridge over the creek and was irritated to see that the other two men, Cody and Chris, had joined Rick and her group.

  “Let’s just get camp set up,” Charlie said. She gave Dana a ‘what can we do’ shrug. They weren’t foolish enough to make the next leg of the hike in the dark and then have to set up a camp. At least the men already had a camp, and the women could be all the way across the creek from them.

  Taryn grinned and gushed as the men offered to help them set up camp and did Taryn’s, Anthea’s, and Holly’s parts of the chores. All six of them went to soak their feet in the creek as per Dana’s instructions.

  Carla and Leila stayed to finish filtering the water and boiling it once they had a fire going. Dana and Charlie went to swim in the river and bathe.

  “I worked up a real sweat,” Dana said.

  “Me, too. My shirt was soaked. You’d think we’d be nasty enough to avoid those men tagging along.”

  Dana shook her head and said, “Not using deodorant allows you to pass out more sweat and stay cooler, but since you don’t have the bacteria, you don’t stink.”

  Charlie sniffed and added, “I don’t smell good.” She laughed, lathering with scentless soap and bathing her armpits.

  “Are you really okay?”

  Charlie nodded. “I’m fine. I’ve told you that. I didn’t need this trip, but I love we’re doing it. You know Sam and I were long over with, and you know what an ass he was to me. If he had ever slapped me again, I might have been the one to shoot him.”

  “That still had to be creepy.”

  “It was more than creepy. While I am here, I have the housekeeper there with all new security going in. But as bad as he treated me, you know how horrible Sam could be in the courtroom. I think he was on a few lists, to be honest.”

  “I hated that jerk,” Dana admitted, “and I don’t like that guy he partnered with either, Mark Banner.”

  “I know. Me either. Slime buckets…both of them. I was just too stupid to realize Sam was that bad for sometime. I always hoped he had a decent side if not for me, then for Ginger or himself.”

  “But you did figure it out. So that’s what counts,” Dana said, “and Kelly Brodie, this detective, what’s your take on him?”

  “I think he’s honest and a good person. I can feel those vibes. He’s smart and competent, so hopefully he can get Mark arrested before I get home.”

  “Is he doing this because he’s a good detective and a good person or because he doesn’t wanna die in two weeks and believe the time travel stuff?”

  “All of the above, I think, Dana; I don’t know what to think. I can look you dead in the eyes and tell you for sure, one hundred percent positive that I saw Sam fade out, and he had the blue fire around him. Now it isn’t a coincidence that he brought that up and that the paramedic said that. It wasn’t possible for Sam to predict those plays and the score, but he did.”

  Dana was the one Charlie trusted most because she was level headed; she didn’t believe in ghosts or Bigfoot and was very grounded in reality. Dana gave her head a small shake and said, “There’s no other explanation. Maybe it’s an anomaly we’ll never understand and it’s gone with Sam now. But, despite all the fun here, Charlie, in two weeks you’re going to be with that detective, and you will shoot Mark, and the detective will die.”

  “I have to change it. I think we have free will, and I don’t know how time works, but I can change this.”

  “If Sam was shot there and went back…you see? It has already happened because of that. It has to happen.” Dana’s big blue eyes filled with tears.

  “I know. I’m really scared,” Charlie admitted.

  “Is he cute?”

  “Who?”

  “You know whom I mean,” Dana said as she chuckled.

  “He’s rugged and simple. He’s a straight shooter, and I like that. Ummm…yeah, he’s pretty cute. I don’t know if he sees me as more than one of his many cases, but maybe, I kind of hope he notices me, I think.”

  Dana laughed and said, “You’re blushing. How funny.”

  Once she was dry, Charlie let Dana bandage her arm and shin injuries from the encounter in the woods. “Can you believe we get way out here and Taryn manages to find men?” Charlie laughed to break the somber mood. “What are the chances?”

  “I figured there would be almost nobody during the week, unlike the weekends, but of course, there are men, and if anyone of them is within a million miles, he’ll find her. Anthea, too. They are men magnets.”

  Charlie rolled her eyes and then said, “True, but the men were checking you out, too even if you are their height and are more buff than any one of them.”

  Dana laughed hard. Wearing flip flops and bathing suits, they walked back to camp; both ignored the men who looked at them. Charlie had on a modest teal ‘tankini’, but Dana, unaware of how gorgeous she was, wore a tiny red bikini because it was less weight to pack for hiking.

  Charlie suppressed a giggle at how clueless Dana could be at times.

  After they changed clothes, Dana couldn’t ask the men to leave since they had come back and made a cozy fire, filtered and boiled water, set up all the tents and rolled out the pads for sitting and sleeping bags inside. Also, they had even gathered wood and stacked it in a neat stack.

  “Water is boiling now. What’s for dinner, Dana?”

  Digging through the foods, Dana selected a big package she dumped into the boiling water and grabbed another package and asked everyone to get the sticks ready. She set out several packs of hotdogs. “We’ll have bean and rice stew and hotdogs.”

  “I have a small, partly smashed bag of tortilla chips and salsa, too,” Rick announced, “and we brought over the makings for s’mores.”

  “Yum,” Charlie said, “might as well share,” she whispered to Dana who grudgingly nodded.

  Later, Charlie sat back and managed to cover a belch. She had cooked two of the hotdogs in the fire until they had a crispy char to the skin and had eaten a bowl of rice and beans that Dana had designed herself. The spice was dried red pepper flakes, onion, and tomatoes with garlic. She indulged in eating the tortilla chips and hot salsa the men brought over.

  “If only we had cold beer,” Chris added. He was blond and soft- spoken. “I just have tequila.” She passed the bottle around, and some of the group had a shot, sucked on small slices of lemons, and licked salt; Holly skipped the alcohol.

  Charlie ate the last bite of s’mores, licking the chocolate off her fingers. The marshmallows and graham crackers made it wonderful. “I am so stuffed. Bedtime for me.”

  She and Dana made sure the food wouldn’t attract bears.

  Then they slipped away to use the restroom, brush their teeth, and wash their faces. Returning, they said goodnight, and went to the tent they shared. It was a three-man tent, so they had some elbowroom.

  “We’re going to sleep. Shhhh,” Charlie called out to the rest. If they stayed loud, Dana would smack each and every one of them.

  “Shhhh, yourself,” Leila giggled back but lowered her voice.

  “Sacado de onda,”said Carla as she took one shot of tequila and stood, “I’m too tired to party. My aching body is ruining it. Goodnight chicas and chicos.” She waved a goodnight to everyone and went to her tent.

  In the tent, Charlie was lying on her belly and watching out the unzipped-tent section. “So that leaves five out there with three men. Who are you betting on? I say Taryn, Leila, and Holly.”

  “No way,” Dana whispered, “Taryn, Anthea, and Bev.”

  Charlie fell asleep but awoke and saw Leila and Taryn fooling around with two of the men, but the rest had retired to their own places to sleep. Knowing she had won with one on her bet, Charlie fell asleep in her sleeping bag, had no dreams, and slept soundly.

  Part 2

  Chapter 2

  Carla made coffee and an egg-potato-bacon-cheese pouch for each of them and p
rovided bags of strawberry energy bags, containing strawberry mini-wheat, driedstrawberries, yogurt-covered raisins, chocolate bits, and walnuts.

  After a quick wash, they had everything packed and ready to go, the fire was doused, they left a fresh stack of wood for the next campers, and they were once again loaded.

  Leila swallowed two pain relievers before they began the hike. She and Taryn were teased unmercifully for the next few hours, but both blamed the tequila.

  “The more I drank, the more he was smart, interesting, and cute. Every shot made him a better kisser. Ohhhh, my head aches,” Leila moaned, “I regret every sip I took.”

  Taryn added, “Me, too. And we didn’t sip; we did shots; I wish I were asleep in a dark closet.”

  “This is why I am pouring water into both of you because of dehydration.” Dana was a little angry. “Both of you could get really sick.”

  “I had better sense than to drink. Besides, Rick wasn’t that into me,” Holly told them. “You saw that he left and went back to his own camp to sleep. We didn’t even make out.”

  “Well, he sure didn’t look at me twice,” Bev said, “but then again, men never do, especially with you around.”

  Charlie bit her lip, thinking about that. Of the group, Bev probably got the very least attention from men. Bev was very plain, and none of her features were pretty. Her hair was frizzy brown, so she kept it in a braid. Her freckles gave her a country-girl look that most men didn’t go for; Charlie thought that was a shame because of all of them, Bev probably had the best personality.

  Carla wore her hair short and was into bodybuilding, but she was still a smaller version of Dana and had a very pretty face with her high cheekbones and full lips. Holly wasn’t especially beautiful unless you looked at her the right way. She was a natural beauty, and while none of her features stood out, she was the one men all wanted to marry.

  “Lunch,” Charlie announced. She handed out the bags of tortillas they smeared with packets of peanut butter, and Charlie then handed out the rehydrated bananas, “and we get granola bars.”