by Melle Amade
I’m disappointed when I see the “Closed” sign out front. “I’m just going to look at the baskets,” I say to Zan.
“Out in a second,” Zan says, pulling open the door to the store and disappearing into the cool interior.
I take a quick look at the shop times to see when it’ll be open. Based on what I saw with Aunt Emma and Uncle Steve, they sure as heck won’t let me bring Henry down here for a playdate. But I’m going to figure it out anyhow. I don’t think it goes against my pinky-promise with Zan. It’s not like trying to assassinate someone.
The store hours read eleven in the morning until six in the afternoon. That’s not for a few hours yet. I guess I can just figure out a time and sneak away with Henry, if we’re not stuck doing too many chores. I press my face against the glass to get a better look inside the building. I can just make out a huge mural painted along one wall. I can’t quite see the detail from here, it’s too dark, but it looks like about five people in the sky, all looking down on Earth with their arms outstretched. The painting is delicately done with almost lifelike features and earthy tones. It’s as beautiful as the beadwork in the jewelry and the weaving of the baskets.
The jangle of the bells on the store door pulls me back from the window.
“Beautiful work.” I nod towards the baskets.
“Yeah, just don’t bring any of them home,” Zan says.
“Yeah, what’s that about?” I ask as we get in the Jeep.
She shakes her head. “Don’t ask.”
That’s exactly what I’m about to do, except something catches my eye over in the rodeo grounds, which are in the open field across from Hopper’s Corner Store. The place is empty and clean. There’s no way you could tell that a several hundred people were crowded in there the day before. All the trailers and animals are gone. It looks like nothing’s happened there for a year. Only the beer booth, the only permanent fixture besides the bleachers and the arena, stands guard.
Except there’s a man out there.
He’s just to the side of the beer booth and just by the way he’s dressed you can tell he’s not from around here. He has on black jeans and one of those Safari-type vests, black as well with overstuffed pockets. The low-slung belt around his waist looks like it’s got holsters, but I can’t see what he’s packing. He has shocking white hair, cut short and sticking straight up. But it’s the glasses on his face that are the weirdest. They aren’t ordinary glasses. They’re thick and dark and look like there’s some sort of electrical or mechanical device on the side. He’s pressing his hand against the side as he scans the ground. He stops every now and then and looks at something he’s holding in his right hand before taking a couple other steps and doing the same thing again.
“What’s he doing?” I ask Zan.
She glances over. “Probably one of those treasure hunters. You know, looking for dropped rings or money or stuff like that.”
“Seriously? You see them here? I thought we only had them at the beach in L.A.”
“Well, I’ve never seen one before, but he certainly doesn’t look like he’s from around here. He probably got bored at the beaches.”
I lean my head back to look at him as we drive off. He’s now stopped all motion and he’s recording something in the device in his hand. Based on his proximity to the beer booth, it looks like he’s where The Lodge had their booth and whatever has captured his attention is in the exact same place where Jacqueline was standing yesterday with the earthquake went off.
5
While the evenings may be cool, the days are stinking hot and by midday we’ve reached a sizzling point. We’re just finishing today’s task of harvesting the hay. There’s a wicked wind in the sweltering air, whipping hair across my face as I stand on top of the hay.
“Didn’t you say there’s a pool around here somewhere?” Callum asks, his gaze purposefully taking in all of our sweating, irritated faces.
Cooper’s stance changes immediately and a wide grin pulls across his face. “I’ve got something even better.” He raises a finger in the air. “We can go tubing.”
“Tubing?” I ask.
“Let’s go over the Hill” Zan nods and even though she doesn’t smile, I can tell she likes this idea. I’d like to go back to The Lodge and see what’s going on there, but it would be fun to do something recreational with Zan again.
“Okay,” I shrug. “I’m in.”
“Come on,” Cooper says. He leads us to the garage, where the roof and two walls of a small wooden shed is attached to the side. Inside piles of dusty crap lay untouched. Within minutes he’s dug through the mess and turned up four piles of dirty black rubber. He holds them up as if he’s just won the greatest prize ever. “Tractor tires, my city-slicker friends.”
“People don’t say city-slicker anymore,” Roman says.
Cooper’s eyebrows knit at him. “Huh?”
“I believe the correct terminology is ‘those who chose to dwell in high density areas,’” Roman deadpans.
Callum, Cooper, and I all laugh and there’s even an unexpected burst of laughter from Zan. I didn’t even realize how much I missed her until that moment.
Cooper hooks a tube up to the air compressor, which is apparently the other thing covered in dust in there. I never would have guessed. When the tire is blown up, it’s a head taller than me.
“This should be nice,” I pull one out and dust the cobwebs off. My nose and eyes tingle dangerously.
Callum’s eyebrows arch at the patches splattered all over the black rubber. But Cooper claps him on the shoulder. “They haven’t given out yet.” He grins.
“Looks like they’ve given out a number of times,” Callum mutters.
When they’re all pumped up we stack them on the back of the pick-up truck. It looks like they could tumble right off the side, but Roman jumps on top of the precarious tower.
“I’ll hold them down,” he says, laying lengthwise across them.
Zan hops in the Jeep whose keys, like most of the vehicles in the valley, rest somewhere on the floor beneath the steering wheel. “I’ll take this so we don’t have to walk from the end of the river back up.”
“Looks like we’re with Cooper,” I say to Callum.
It’s pretty close quarters. I’m stuck between Cooper and Callum who’s pressed up against the door. I want to take my hand and stabilize myself on him, but I’d probably melt. Being around him still makes dragonflies do flips in my stomach. I stretch forward and press my fingertips against the dusty dash as Cooper cranks some country tune. He starts gyrating with the music and singing at the top of his lungs.
She thinks my tractor's sexy.
It really turns her on.
She's always starin' at me,
while I'm chuggin' along.
Two weeks ago, I didn’t have any idea Kenny Chesney existed and now I find my foot tapping out the rhythm as I’m mouthing the words. Callum leans against the door and smiles at me.
Suddenly I’m light.
The windows are open and fresh warm air slides in on all sides. The rains haven’t started yet and the smell of sweet grass and hay fills the truck. I lean back and take a deep breath. This is what summer is supposed to be like. Hanging out with your friends and chilling. Not going through ancient ceremonies, dousing rebellions, attempting to assassinate dictators, and planning to get your dad out of prison. This is what I wanted, to be with my friends and chillax.
Spotswood Ranch is about two thirds of the way into the valley, but Cooper turns onto the road and, instead of the river that winds along the entrance of the valley, heads the opposite direction towards the mountain. We pass emerald vineyards whose branches run along trellises laden with heavy bunches of fruit. The pear orchards, having given up their harvest in the July, still possess large lush leaves swaying in the breeze. We go by Valley View Ranch where animals graze in the fields as ruby headed thistle plants sway in the long canals that skirt the road.
A couple of miles further into this
paradise the road narrows, winding its way up over the hill. We crawl through the switchbacks, each turn providing another stunning view of the fertile valley until it’s obscured by tall redwood trees and Cooper slows to handle the pot-holed one-lane road. It almost feels like we’re back in Topanga.
Only a lot more hick
For the first time in a while, I breathe easy. This is the kind of summer I remember. Relaxing with my friends, even if Zan is in the other vehicle. She’s still with us.
It takes about eight minutes to snake up the mountain. Cooper is surprisingly careful, which I’m grateful for because the mountain slides away right at the edge of the road, only trees act as the railing. I assume Roman’s hanging on in the back, because I can’t see anything. The big tires are filling up the rearview mirror of the cab.
When we get to the top, the road splits and heads downward. We stay to the right. “Where does that road lead?” I nod to the left. It’s bumpy, pitted, potholed, and barely paved.
“To the rez,” Cooper says.
“The razz?” That sounds really weird.
“The Pomo reservation,” he says. “Indians.”
“People live here?” The area is wilderness. Nothing at the base of the mountain but a river ambling through the tall trees.
“Is there even electricity?” Callum asks.
“Generators, I’m guessing,” Cooper shrugs. “I don’t know. No one ever goes there but them. Not the most welcoming of places.”
We continue to the right. My gaze falls a little wistfully on the road leading into the wilderness. A place no one ever goes. It seems…safe.
“Where we’re going is one of the greatest places to tube this side of the Mississippi,” Cooper grins.
“We’re going to have to take your word for it,” Callum smiles. He’s relaxed, too. The tense line that usually runs through his shoulders is still there but it’s slightly more curved.
Before I can stop myself, my hand is resting on his knee. He glances down and I smile at him as his fingers envelope mine.
The truck rattles over an old beat up bridge that looks like it couldn’t hold a car, Zan parks by the river and jumps up on the mountain of tubes with Roman.
We head up-river, the road gets super curvy and small until it finally narrows down to just a dirt track. Here is where we’re going to start rafting.
“We’ll take the tubes from here,” says Cooper. “Then, when we get back to the Jeep, we’ll drive back for mine.”
It feels like we just drove ten miles into the forest. Everything’s shaded and cool, the heat of the valley is totally gone.
“How cold is that water?” I mutter.
“We’re not getting in.” Cooper grins. “That’s what the tubes are for. We got three hours of bliss, scooting down the river.”
I have my doubts. From what I saw of the river, it was a pretty lazy and slow. But, well, Cooper’s a local, so he’s gotta know what he’s talking about. Regardless, it beats bucking hay or feeding cows.
I get a little giddy as we step into the moist shade of the forest. It’s nice to be in the woods again. It reminds me a little bit of Topanga, but the trees are denser here and it’s a lot more isolated. L.A. is not right around the corner. In fact, San Francisco is not even right around the corner. From where we’re sitting, nothing’s around the corner. But I can live with it for a while. We get these collars off before we can plan our assault on the Order.
We slip down a steep incline towards the river. I didn’t realize how quiet we had gotten until Cooper starts whistling and hollering and racing down the slope.
“What the-” My head whips around trying to see who is chasing him, but there’s no one there. He catapults his lanky body headlong into the water. We can’t help ourselves. Smiles trickle onto our faces as we throw each other sidelong glances.”
It’s been a long time since we felt that carefree. To my surprise it’s Callum who responds first. He pulls off his shirt, his white skin blinding and muscles rippling in the dappled sunlight. He hurtles after Cooper, leaping off a rock and dunking Cooper back down into the water. Zan, Roman and I burst into laughter.
Zan grins, all problems momentarily forgotten. “Come on!” she cries, letting out a yowl as she flies down the bank and splashes into the water. It’s definitely not the first time she’s been to this river.
“Are you game?” Roman asks, throwing his arm over my shoulder and gazing up at the tree. It takes me a moment to understand what he means, but when I follow his line of sight, he’s eyeing up a rope swing hanging from a heavy branch that lurks over the water.
“I’m all over it.” I shimmy up the tree in my shorts and t-shirt, grab the rope, push off, and swing as far out into the middle of the river as I can. I open my hands wide and let go. For a second it feels like I’m flying, but gravity wins out and I fall ass-first right into the frigid mountain water. My lips already turning blue as I rise spluttering, pieces of moss and leaves stuck in my hair.
Roman already has a grip on the swing, pushing out like I did, but instead of falling on his ass, he hurls himself high, somersaults through the air and dives gracefully into the water.
“Holy crap!” Cooper exclaims, letting out a low whistle. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“Where’d he go?” I giggle nervously, as we gaze at the water, which went still the second he disappeared into it.
Suddenly his hands grip my ankle and I’m pulled, screaming under the water. I attack him back in the murky, swirling water and shove him aside. We rise from the deep laughing and wrestling.
Callum applauds as I break free and swim to him. He stretches forward, easily lifting me out of the water and up against his broad chest. It’s like my whole body relaxes, resting against his and I can’t stop the sigh that slips through my chattering teeth. A silent chuckle rocks his chest as I rest my head against his shoulder.
Suddenly Callum gives a huge jerk and drops me. He reaches into the water and pulls up a laughing Roman. They grapple in the water, muscles bulging and wet as they try to best each other.
“We’re going to need the tubes to break those two up.” Cooper grins as he dashes up the bank. I stumble after him, slipping in the mud, getting my feet and legs covered in dirt, but right now I don’t really care. Who am I trying to impress? These people have seen me under every guise.
“Incoming!” Cooper yells as he wrenches a tube from the truck and sends it tumbling down the bank. I barely have time to leap out of the way as the tube rolls down into the creek and splashes into the water right between Callum and Roman.
“You almost got me, you dork,” I say.
“Get up here and help me then,” Cooper says.
I scramble to my feet, dodge out of the way of the next tube coming down, and help push the other ones into the water. We each get our own tube and this is just fine by me. I pull one of the tubes over, jump on it and push off a branch.
I’m not waiting for the others, I just want to get out and float, carefree and thoughtless along a river. I lay on my back, letting the sun warm my legs, skin and hair. The river is slow and easy with no waves whatsoever
It just carries us along.
In a way, it’s what my life has been like the last couple of months. I’ve just been carried along, having to deal with each emergency and each change of plans just to see what happens next. But I know it’s not completely true because even as the water moves me toward some low hanging branches, I can shove against them and push myself away.
“Hey, Shae.” Callum calls to me. When I connect with the pale green swamp of his eyes, I want to tell him I’ll be with him. Whatever it takes. However long it’ll last. But it’s a dangerous slope. He’s a shifter. They get married as teenagers. There’s no making a mistake, there’s no telling him, ‘Oh sorry, I never meant that.’
“You’re very quiet this afternoon.” Callum smiles good-naturedly.
“I’m just enjoying the peace,” I say.
“Are you sure
you’re enjoying it?” He asks. “You look a little bored to me.”
“I am enjoying it,” I insist.
“I don’t know,” he says. “From what I’ve seen of you lately, you tend to like a little excitement and danger.”
“Well I don’t,” I say.
“Liar.” He splashes water towards me.
“Stop it,” I laugh, as the freezing cold droplets raise goosebumps on my skin.
I scoop up a handful of my own and fling it at him, but he just smiles, close his eyes, and leans his head back to let the water trickle down his chest.
“I’ll take anything you can throw at me, Shae,” he says. I glance up seeing the others have slipped ahead of us. He follows my gaze. “You were so busy daydreaming, you didn’t even notice the current.”
“You slowed down to help me?” I ask, still feeling the thrill I get when I know he’s looking after me.
“Is that even a question?” he asks. “You’re the best Ravensgaard I have.”
“Had,” I murmur, feeling the cool metal of the collar around my neck. “But, not really. There’s Iona and Shanahan and a host of others I couldn’t come near taking down.”
“Shae,” Callum says, reaching across my tube and pulling a bit of hair away from my face. “It doesn’t matter if you’re banished, or a Passief, a Ravensgaard, or a Nuverling. You are always, always with me.”
He leans forward, his lips move against mine and his heat and moisture sends tingles up and down my spine more than the cold water ever could.
It’s slightly awkward, reaching across the tubes, but he takes my face in his hands and I lean towards him. The tube is sliding under me and all of a sudden, they both tip and flip. We’re in the river, laughing, but I can’t let go of him. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, his lips pressing against mine. Only, it’s too deep to stand, and we slowly sinking into the fresh river water until we run out of breath.
