Fiona beat her tail in a joyful rhythm on the seat, and licked Alyssa’s face with her huge warm tongue.
Steve grinned in pleasure at the sight. “I forgot you two used to be housemates,” he said.
“Oh yeah,” Alyssa agreed, rubbing Fiona’s right ear until the dog’s eyes glazed over in contentment. “Mom doesn’t often let us bring in one of the pups but this one was so little the rest of the litter beat up on her, and Megan and I felt sorry for her. We were always sneaking her upstairs to sleep with us.”
Alyssa scrunched in beside the dog, and Fiona obligingly shifted to the center of the front seat until the teenager was settled, then she draped herself across Alyssa’s lap. Alyssa laughed aloud, her ill mood evaporating on the spot.
“So what did you name her?” She asked at last.
“Fiona,” Steve replied, making a wry face.
Alyssa nodded. “After the princess in Shrek. That’s good.”
“I guess I need to rent a movie,” Steve muttered, impressed that fifteen year old Alyssa saw the same connection that six year old Gracie had with the name, while he hadn’t a clue why.
“So did your mother ever bust you for smuggling her into your room?”
Alyssa thought for a moment. “Only if she actually caught us. I kind of think she was glad we were giving her some extra love.”
“Why do you say that? Steve asked, wanting to keep the conversation going.
“Well, once when Fiona was about three months old, I had her in my bed, rubbing her belly, and mom suddenly opened the door to ask Megan a question.”
Steve laughed. “She caught you red handed, huh?”
Alyssa shrugged and then shook her head. “She should have! I threw my blanket over her, of course, and acted all innocent, but she would have had to be blind not to see this great lump crawling up the bed!”
Steve laughed with Alyssa, pleased to have finally broken through the girl’s surly exterior. They drove slowly around the circle, Steve stopping occasionally to sell wood or to register another camper. Alyssa seemed content to spend those few minutes in the cool air of the truck, rubbing Fiona’s belly or scratching her ears until the poor dog lay in a near coma of joy.
They drove back by the campsite, but Kelly and Megan were still not back.
“Let’s drive over to the Park Headquarters,” Steve suggested. “Maybe we can meet them and give them a ride back.”
Alyssa shrugged, suddenly the indifferent teenager again, so Steve took the movement to mean ‘yes,’ and turned the truck back toward headquarters. They were just pulling into the parking lot, when the truck’s scanner crackled to life.
“Steve, where are you right now?”
Steve picked up the mike and replied, “Just outside, Sharon. What do you need?”
“Fifty year old white male, twisted his ankle on the top of Hanging Rock.”
“So you want me to go pick him up?” Steve asked. “Where is he now?”
“Still on top, I think. His wife sent word down with some other hikers. I don’t have any further information at this time.”
“Okay, then. I’m heading up the trail. Do you at least have his name?” Steve asked hopefully.
“Roger,” Sharon replied. “Roger Leland.”
Steve replaced the mike and drove to the far side of the parking lot, made a sharp right turn and slowly bounced down a shallow set of steps.
“What are you doing?” Alyssa asked, grabbing for the sissy grip and the dog as they lurched and bounced down the steps.
Steve looked at her and grinned at her discomfort. “I suppose that you don’t recall, but I’m taking you back up Hanging Rock the same way we brought you down last fall.”
“I know that!” Alyssa snapped. “I just figured that you would leave me at the Headquarters to wait for my sister and Aunt Kelly!”
Steve looked at her as if she was crazy. “Leave you alone in a parking lot? Your Aunt would kill me!”
“No she wouldn’t,” Alyssa muttered, uncomfortably aware of how unpleasant she had been to her Aunt Kelly this past year. “She’d probably thank you!” Then she sighed dramatically. “How long is this going to take, anyway?”
Steve shrugged as he cruised up the wide gravel trail. “It didn’t sound too serious. Depending on whether he’s still on top or not, maybe a half hour.
The next few minutes passed in silence as Steve maneuvered around hikers, and over some gnarly roots. At last, he pulled the truck to the side of the path and got out. There was no sign of an injured man at the base of the trail. Steve sighed in disappointment. “Okay. Well, this will take a bit longer if I need to bring him down,” he commented to Alyssa as he climbed out of the truck.
A group of teenage boys appeared from behind the huge rock outcropping that led to the summit trail. One young man saw Steve and the truck, and asked, “Are you looking for the guy that hurt his leg?”
“Yeah,” Steve replied. “Can you tell me where he is up there?”
“He’s about halfway down, but he’s moving slow. His ankle looks pretty bad.”
Steve thanked them and opened a truck bed box. He pulled out a crutch and a large blue first aid kit. He looked at Alyssa, who was staring out the passenger window in bored disinterest. “I need you to get out of the truck Alyssa.”
She looked up, startled and as usual, irritated. “Why?” She challenged him.
“Regulations. I need to lock the vehicle.” Steve said apologetically.
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” She asked him plaintively.
Steve took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “For starters, you can get out like I asked you instead of arguing over a policy I did not make,” he pointed out patiently. “Fiona’s on a leash, so while I go help this injured man, you can walk her around some here on the trail. Or, if you are feeling ambitious, you can start walking back down the trail and I will pick you up after I get this guy.”
“Newsflash,” Alyssa said bitterly. “I have this bum leg? I can’t hike.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Medical bulletin: ‘regular exercise is necessary to strengthen muscles and regain mobility’: don’t even go there, Alyssa. I spent a year in therapy, too, remember? Anyway, if you want to sit under a tree by the trail and work on adding some more frown lines to your forehead, I don’t care, but you still have to get out of the truck. Now. Please.”
Steve smiled in secret amusement as he saw Alyssa glance in concern at the side view mirror as she slid out of the truck, Fiona’s leash wrapped tightly around her good wrist.
“Thank you. I shouldn’t be too long.” After locking the truck, Steve turned and strode quickly up the trail, fighting a desire to stop just out of sight to see what Alyssa would do when there was no one around to put on a show for. He shook his head. What a piece of work she was!
Alyssa stood hesitantly on the path and watched Steve disappear around the rock. She bit her lip in indecision. Wait, or walk down the trail? Listlessly she walked Fiona around the truck, stubbornly refusing to walk down the wide, even trail, even though she knew that Steve was right, and that she was only hurting herself by not exercising more.
Then her eyes fell on the orange construction barrier that stretched across the left side of the trail. Alyssa stared in fascination at the barrier, and the warning sign in front of it. Six months ago she had ignored that sign and stepped around the fence.
Alyssa closed her eyes for a moment. She remembered falling, and that awful moment when she had hung suspended over the ravine by the strap of her day pack, before dropping onto that tiny ledge…almost without realizing her own intentions, she glanced around. No one was in sight.
Once more, Alyssa slipped around the fence. She wanted to see the spot again. But mostly, she wondered about the daypack. It had slipped off as the branch cracked under her weight. Was it still hanging in the scrubby little tree, or had it fallen down the ravine? She limped quickly through the trees, Fiona trotting happily at her side.
At last, Stev
e returned to the truck with the Leland’s. It had been a slow trip down. Mr. Leland had severely twisted his ankle, and had had to lean heavily on the crutch and on Steve. His face was white with nausea, and once when he had accidentally banged the foot on a long root, he had vomited from the pain. Steve had wrapped the whole leg tightly in a cardboard emergency splint in an attempt to stabilize the entire leg, but each step had been agony for the man.
Steve helped Mr. Leland into the back of the truck where he lay on his back with his foot propped on his wife’s lap to reduce jarring on the return trip. Once he had gotten the couple situated, he looked around for Alyssa and Fiona.
At first, he was pleased by their absence, thinking that Alyssa had taken his advice and headed back down the trail after all. But no sooner did he think it, than he felt the unlikelihood of Alyssa doing anything that he suggested.
He smiled tightly at the Leland’s knowing he needed to get them down the trail quickly, but he was loathe to drive off without being certain that Alyssa had really gone on. “Alyssa?” He called, not really expecting a response. Then he called loudly for Fiona, and instantly heard her distant answering yip. Steve frowned. Fiona sounded as if she was somewhere off to the left, which would put her behind the barrier fence! Surely Alyssa would know better?
He called again, and this time he was in no doubt where the sounds were coming from. A minute later, Alyssa and Fiona appeared in the trees, coming around the fence.
Alyssa was flushed with exertion and a defiant light shone in her green eyes. She hadn’t expected him back so quickly and she hadn’t planned on getting caught.
Steve’s eyes hardened with disappointment and anger. “Get in the truck,” he told her quietly.
“I didn’t go close to the edge!” Alyssa said, her voice just as defiant as her eyes. “I just wanted to look.”
“No discussion, Alyssa. Just get in the truck,” Steve repeated, his voice softer but somehow, much more alarming. Uncertain now, Alyssa opened the door. Fiona leapt in effortlessly, and Alyssa slid in awkwardly beside her.
The return trip seemed to stretch on forever. Neither Steve nor Alyssa spoke or looked at each other the entire way back to headquarters. Eventually, even Fiona seemed to feel the weight of the silence and looked mournfully from master to girl.
Steve drove the Leland’s straight back to their campsite, and helped Mrs. Leland pack their tent and cooler of food. In ten minutes, he had their equipment stowed and Mr. Leland propped as comfortably as possible in the back seat of their car, packed in and padded with their pillows and sleeping bags. Alyssa had started to get out to help, but Steve had fixed her with a silent challenge in his blue eyes, and she had sunk back into the seat, feeling angry and ashamed.
At last, Steve climbed back into the truck and drove slowly to Alyssa’s campsite. He pulled over to the side of the road in front of the neighboring site, and sat quietly for a moment. Kelly and Megan were back and working together to fix something for supper. Megan was carefully slicing an onion, and Kelly knelt with her back to them, fanning the campfire into life.
Steve looked at Alyssa for the first time in an hour. His voice was icy. “Do you want to tell me why you deliberately went into an area that's very clearly marked as off limits to the public? I would have thought that your last trip down the ravine would have given you better sense.”
Alyssa didn’t look up. “I got curious,” she mumbled. “I wanted to see that spot again.”
“If you would have asked me, I’d have walked with you. You should never go into these woods without a buddy. No one would have known where you were, Alyssa, if anything had happened!”
“Nothing happened!” Alyssa shot back in irritation. “Last year was an accident! I’m not stupid enough to fall down the same ravine twice!”
“That still does not change the fact that it was off limits. I gave you two choices: stay near the truck or walk back down the trail in plain view so I could see you and pick you up on the way back. I came very close to driving off without looking for you. If Fiona hadn’t barked, I might not have waited. I don’t think you’re ready to hike that far yet – not to mention the fact that you would have put us all in a panic and scared your Aunt Kelly to death.
“Sorry for the inconvenience, then,” she retorted. “Can I go now?” She reached for the door handle.
“No.”
Alyssa sighed impatiently but she slumped back in her seat.
“You’re right, Alyssa. I don’t think that you are stupid enough to fall down the same ravine twice. So something besides morbid curiosity made you risk re-injuring that leg by going out of bounds and stumbling through all that uneven terrain. Why would you do that?”
Alyssa was silent a moment. Her hand still rested on the door handle, and she considered briefly what might happen if she just flung it open and walked away. Instead, she heard herself answer him in a low voice. “I wanted to see if I could see my backpack. I wanted to get it back.”
Steve was silent for a moment, tasting her words and finding a miserable sincerity in them. “Alyssa, you were wearing that backpack when you fell. You know it went over the side. What’s important about the backpack?”
Alyssa’s voice was strained as she finally whispered, “Three hundred dollars.”
Steve raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Alyssa’s face was flushed and her eyes were watery with the beginning of tears. She looked out the window, up at the ceiling, anywhere but at Steve. “I stole three hundred dollars from Aunt Kelly,” she finally burst out. “She said I had to go on the camping trip even though I told her I didn’t want to go! I was going to use the money to take a bus home and see my boyfriend.”
Steve sucked in his breath. “Does she know that you took the money?” He asked her at last.
Alyssa shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s usually locked up in the safe for emergencies. She had a phone call and left the safe open, and I just reached in and pulled out a few bills. She keeps nearly a thousand dollars in the envelope, so I don’t think that she’s missed it.”
Alyssa finally looked at Steve with pleading eyes. “I feel bad that I took it, and I’ve wondered all winter what would happen when she found out, but I don’t think she has yet. I wanted to put it back, if I could just find that old back pack!” Tears of shame ran down Alyssa’s cheeks.
Steve waited a minute for Alyssa to regain some of her composure. “Anything else you want to tell me?” He prodded her.
Alyssa shook her head.
“Okay,” Steve said after a minute. “Thanks for your honesty. You may get out now.”
Alyssa frowned and looked at Steve strangely. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
Steve shook his head. “I’m still on duty, and I have an accident report to complete, too. You can tell your Aunt that I’ll be by when I get off.”
Alyssa hesitated and looked nervously at Steve. “What about the money?” She asked softly.
Steve let out a long sigh. “That is between you and your aunt. But Alyssa, your chances of finding that bag are slim. I advise you to tell Aunt Kelly the truth, and you should do it soon. She will think better of you for your honesty now, than after she raises a cry that she’s been robbed, to find out it was her own niece who was the sneak thief.”
Alyssa looked stricken at his words.
“You don’t like that picture of yourself?” He said coolly. “If you don’t tell her the truth and apologize, how will she ever trust you again once she does find out what you’ve done?” He asked. “Admit your mistake. This is something that could really destroy your relationship with your Aunt. I can’t believe you want that.”
“N-no,” she whispered shakily.
Steve pointed his chin toward her sister. “Go help Megan now, and quit being such a pill. I still have a lot of work to do.”
She nodded and started to slip out the door. Fiona whined.
“Hey Alyssa? Would you want to keep Fiona with you? She’ll enjoy being here
with you better than being stuck in my truck for another few hours.”
Alyssa smiled slightly and nodded. “Sure. Thanks.” Alyssa reached for the leash. Fiona leapt out beside Alyssa, her plumed red tail waving in pleasure.
Kelly looked up from building the fire at the sound of the truck door, and waved at Steve. He waved back and drove off around the circle, looking for any new sites that needed to be registered before going back to headquarters to complete the accident report on Roger Leland.
Alyssa stood watching the truck until it disappeared and then looked glumly at the dog. Was Mr. Steve right? Should she go ahead and tell Aunt Kelly the truth? She had to admit that it would be a relief to finally tell her. Alyssa had regretted the act almost as soon as she did it, and the knowledge of it had kept her angry and a little frightened all winter, anticipating the moment when Aunt Kelly would discover the missing money…
Fiona whined and tugged at the leash. Still undecided, Alyssa followed the dog to the campsite, acknowledging Aunt Kelly’s cheerful greeting with a half smile. She walked over to the work table and, taking up a knife, began chopping green peppers beside her surprised sister.
Ch 44
Three Hundred Dollar Falls
“Steve!..slow down!” Pete huffed, as he stalked along the trail behind Steve. “When are you going to tell me what's going on and why do we have to go soooo early?”
“I wanted to get up here and back before most of the hikers get stirring,” Steve explained tersely, glancing back over his shoulder at Pete, but not slowing his pace any.
“That’s obvious enough,” Pete grumbled under his breath. “Six a.m. isn’t exactly my most favorite hour of the day for a hike, either – in case you were wondering,” he grumbled loudly, still waiting for Steve to explain what they were doing on the Hanging Rock trail at such a ridiculous hour of the morning.
Steve paused in his long legged stride. He gave Pete a troubled frown. “I need your help,” he said at last. “I want to make a descent and I need you to help me remember where the spot is.” He turned back to the trail.
Far Country Page 37
