“How could it be dark? You were in a pit, not a mineshaft, or else no one would have found you until you were bones. The pit only dropped a dozen feet.”
Bender frowned. “When did you become an expert on mining?” He switched from petulance back to storytelling mode. “Before I escaped, it was pitch black.” Bender gulped down the rest of his whiskey sour. “I couldn’t see my hand in front of me.”
“How did you get out?” Ellen asked.
Sotheara hoped the big-boned Gold Strike team captain was faking her rapt attention to his clearly ridiculous tale, but she wouldn’t have bet money on it.
“I found a beam. I called for help, but no one answered. The sides of the mine started caving in. Rocks and dirt pelted me.”
“That’s when I heard you. At first I thought it was a lamb.” Rankin placed his hands around his mouth and bleated. “Mehhh. Mehhh. I almost fell in, too. There were bushes growing around the edge.”
Bender was losing control of his story. He held up his empty glass.
“Rankin, get me another drink.”
The redhead paused, glaring at Bender for a long dark moment. Then he snatched the glass from Bender’s hand and trudged to the saloon. Candace shifted on her chair, wincing.
“As I was saying,” Bender continued, “before I was rudely interrupted, the sides of the mine started caving in on me when Rankin showed up. I unburied the wooden beam, placed it against the side of the shaft, and climbed out.”
“Why didn’t you do that to begin with?” Berdie asked.
“It was covered with dirt,” Bender said. “I didn’t notice it at first.”
Rankin returned with Bender’s drink, and one of his own. Sotheara dreaded seeing the volatile redhead drunk.
Rowdy stood and clapped. “Quite a story, Mr. Bender. It’s getting late. We’d better get to the next business before everyone heads to bed.”
“Don’t we get a key?” Bender asked.
“For what?” Rowdy asked.
“You gave one to Stockton’s Revenge for driving a stupid raccoon out of their tent. We should get one, too.”
“They earned their key by working together. Your team violated several survival principles in my book, Twelve Tips for Survival.”
Rowdy appeared ready to say more, but Bender stopped him.
“This is the screwiest game I’ve ever played. The rules change constantly.”
Sotheara had to agree, but she enjoyed hearing Jack whine.
“The next part of the game was on the Survive or Die television show,” Rowdy said. “You can’t argue with history.”
“Is this where we get to change teams?” Lavelle cringed a little when her teammates glared at her. She added, “Not saying I want to change.”
The creepy old wrangler attacked the score board. He erased the names of those who had left camp, and drew a line through Jessie’s name forcefully. Odd. Bud glanced across the campfire, meeting Sotheara’s eyes with a brief venomous glare before he faded into the shadows.
“This here is the current list of Buckaroo Crews.” Rowdy tapped the board.
Between campers leaving the previous night, taking their keys with them, and Stockton’s Revenge being awarded three keys in one swoop, her team of misfits had catapulted to first place.
Buckaroo Crews
Wild Cats – 13 keys (Archery, Canoe)
Ted, Kimberly, Yuri, Belinda, Gwen, Justin
Bender’s Defenders – 1 key
Doug, Jack, Candace, Mason, Roberto, Irena, Nigel
Wapiti – 10 keys (ATV)
Frank, Grant, Omari, Arianna, Luis, Sam, Veronica, Damon, Habika, Althea
Belle Stars – 6 keys (Edible Plants)
Jessie, Shirley, Yvette, Shawn, Della, Edna, Pam
Gold Strike – 1 key
Ellen, Tweet, Lavelle, Fawn, Jeremiah, Kyle, Naila
Stockton’s Revenge – 16 keys (Fish, Photo, Raccoon)
Rankin, Berdie, Madison, Sotheara, Aubrey
“Tonight is your chance to shake things up,” Rowdy continued. “Teams can re-form any way they want. The only rule is no team can be more than ten people. The team captains decide who goes and who stays.”
“Do we get to switch cabins?” Shirley asked.
“Only if you get invited in by a new Buckaroo Crew,” Rowdy said.
“What about our treasure chest keys?” Frank asked.
“They go with you to the new team. Recruit a Buckaroo from a team with keys, and they transfer to your team.” Rowdy held his arm up and studied his wristwatch. “You have ten minutes to realign your Buckaroo Crews. Starting in three, two, one. Yee haw!”
A whirlwind game of musical chairs began as people rushed from one side of the campfire circle to the other. Stockton’s Revenge wasn’t treated like the pariah of junior high gym class this time. Aubrey wasn’t concerned. They were a tight team. None of them would defect.
The Old Biddie Brigade approached their bench.
“Berdie, the Belle Starrs need survival know-how,” Shirley said.
“And muscle,” Yvette said.
“Hey.” Shawn, stylish as usual but thin as a reed, sniffed. “I thought I was your muscle.”
Yvette ignored him. “We have noticed your knowledge of woodslore is rivaled only by Squirrel Boy.”
“You have three treasure chest keys,” Shirley said. “Add those to the six we have, and we gain a much better shot at first place.”
The tiny receptionist in camo gear stood. Aubrey hoped she wouldn’t run them off with her machete.
“I accept.”
“Berdie!” Aubrey exclaimed. “How can you leave Stockton’s Revenge?”
Berdie hooked her thumbs through her belt. “I have my reasons.”
Then it became a free-for-all. Madison was wooed by Gold Strike, who were desperate for keys. Bender stole Rankin with a loud quip that if he kept the giant Scotsman close, maybe he wouldn’t get shoved into another mine. The Wild Cats took Sotheara for her team-building skills. Veronica defected to their side, too. Perhaps she had decided to focus on winning the game instead of stealing Aubrey’s husband.
Like a kid listening to the song instead of playing the musical chairs game, the team reconfiguration ended with Aubrey abandoned, while Stockton’s Revenge dissolved into the other teams.
“Hey.” She said it out loud, but there was no one to hear. “Where’d everyone go?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Grant pushed his way through the crowd, skirting the edge of the campfire. Aubrey sat still, afraid he was coming to tell her she might as well go home now that she had no team.
“Honey, we have an open slot,” he said. “Want to be a Wapiti?”
“Yes!” Aubrey leapt from the log bench and threw her arms around Grant’s neck.
Grant extracted himself from her embrace. “I don’t remember you getting this excited when I proposed marriage.”
“The alternative then wasn’t sleeping in a leaky tent.” Or facing public humiliation, junior high gym class style. “I’ll meet you at the cabin in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
In the musty tent, the ladies chattered about how great it would be to have four solid walls, a real bed, and heat. They had already pulled down the blanket wall. Rankin slammed gear into his duffle bag, cursing under his breath.
“Simmer down,” Berdie told him. “We’ve only got three more days.”
Rankin seemed startled to realize the ladies were staring at him. “Bender’s story,” he said. “It’s a lie.”
“None of us believed him,” Berdie said.
“What really happened?” Madison asked.
“There were never any fish. And Bender didn’t crawl out of that mine on his own. I hauled him out.”
“Did he really sound like a sheep?” Madison grin
ned.
“Just like. Meeeh. Meeeh.” Rankin smirked, but his expression quickly reverted to a scowl. “If he’d have told the truth, I could have won a key for rescuing him.” Rankin jammed a shirt into his duffle bag with so much force, a side seam tore. “I could kill that bastard.”
“Don’t say that, Rankin.” Sotheara placed a hand on his arm.
“I don’t really mean it. I guess.”
“If Bender ends up dead,” Madison said, “and people know you threatened him—”
“Half the people in this Camp of the Damned have admitted they wouldn’t mind seeing Bender dead,” Berdie said. “Threatening to kill him puts you on a long list.”
Rankin jerked the ties to the duffle bag. Clothing oozed out the tear in the side. “I’d better get over to Brown Bear cabin. Sounds like he needs a bodyguard.” He hefted the bag. “Well, ladies. It’s been fun.”
He headed toward the front door. The real one, not the one Berdie had sliced open with her knife. Before he could escape, Berdie grabbed him for a quick hug. Then the rest of the women piled on. Rankin’s face turned as red as his hair.
Berdie looked up at him. “Promise me something.”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“Then I’ll just ask,” Berdie said. “Please don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
Rankin didn’t answer. When he was gone, Madison slumped down on her cot.
“We made a good team.”
“I only joined the Wild Cats because you were all leaving,” Sotheara said.
“Berdie, I was totally shocked,” Aubrey said.
“I defected for a reason.” Berdie spoke in a low voice, then looked over her shoulder like she expected someone to be listening in. “We need to split up to continue our investigation. Bender said he was pushed. That he didn’t see who it was.”
“I vote for Rankin,” Madison said. “You saw how angry he was.”
“Then why would he pull Bender out of the pit?” Berdie asked.
“Regret?” Sotheara asked. “Okay, how about Squirrel Boy?”
“Jeremiah confessed he wrote the note,” Aubrey said. “And that he went looking for Bender’s Defenders, but he claimed he didn’t find them until they were almost back to camp.”
“No witness,” Berdie said. “Convenient.”
“Don’t be so quick to accuse Jeremiah,” Madison said. “Doug told Ellen his father fell in the mine shaft because he’d been sucking on his pocket flask all morning. Jack was drunk, and he’s too proud or too stupid to admit it.”
“Those don’t sound like the words of a devoted son,” Aubrey said. “Do you think he’d push his own father into a mine?”
“Maybe,” Madison said. “He’s an only child. He’s sure to inherit Bender Clips.”
“We’ve got a person on each team now,” Berdie said.
“Except Bender’s Defenders,” Madison said.
“Don’t count Rankin out,” Sotheara said. “I think we reached him, on some level.”
“People want Bender dead,” Berdie said. “Stewart’s death is suspicious. Add in Jessie’s assault, and Harv’s accident—”
“That was meant for Aubrey,” Madison chimed in.
“And someone drugging Madison’s drink,” Sotheara added.
“Once we leave Survive or Die camp,” Berdie said, “we’ll lose the chance to solve this.”
After delivering their luggage to their new cabins, Stockton’s Revenge agreed to meet at the campfire circle. They needed one last evening on their log bench together, Berdie insisted. On her way, Aubrey ran into Madison.
“I need to make a side trip,” Madison said. “Chipmunk cabin doesn’t have a restroom, but I’m still happy to be out of that leaky tent.”
“Amen, sister. I’ll wait for you.”
Aubrey leaned against the side of the bathhouse, shaded from the bright crescent moon by the roof’s overhang. The night air smelled faintly of pine, flowering bushes, and lemony cleaner. An owl hooted. Two bats flitted over the roof. Knowing she was spending the night with her husband had mellowed Aubrey’s attitude. She could forgive Grant his subterfuge.
She heard people talking, but the ladies’ side of the bathhouse had been empty when Madison went inside. A male and a female voice drifted from the woods.
“—were supposed to be helping me.” It was Candace.
“I did help you,” Rowdy said. “I told you the best spot on the river to catch a fish. Besides, your boss claimed he caught a half a dozen.”
“You know that idiot was lying.”
There was a pause. Aubrey tried not to imagine what was going on in the dark woods.
“I thought we had a deal.” Candace’s voice went from bitchy to sultry.
“I said I’d help you, but helping you means Bender wins, and I can’t stand that jerk.”
The toilet flushed inside the bathhouse.
“I’ll switch teams,” Candace said, “if it makes you happy.”
“Doesn’t much matter, darlin’. You’ll be leaving in a couple days.”
“I don’t have to leave.”
“Well, I kind of think you do.”
Aubrey heard water running. Madison was washing her hands.
“What are you saying?” Candace asked, her voice harsh again. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“You’ll go back to your job in the city,” Rowdy said. “You’re welcome to stay the rest of weekend, but—”
Aubrey heard a loud smack and a yelp from Rowdy.
“How dare you!” Candace’s voice sounded teary. “You took advantage of me. You’re nothing but a fat old has-been.”
Madison exited the bathhouse, preceded by a bright shaft of light.
“Let’s go.”
Aubrey held a finger to her lips, but it was too late.
“What?” Madison asked.
Candace rushed out of the darkness, as fast as one could rush with a poison ivy chapped posterior. She pushed past Madison to enter the bathhouse, slamming the door closed. A moment later, Rowdy sauntered out of the woods. He noticed Aubrey and Madison, then changed his direction, whistling the tune to one of Bud’s dreary old cowboy ballads.
As they headed back to the campfire circle, Madison asked, “What did I miss?”
“The demise of Candace’s summer romance.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The fire raged and the liquor flowed. Rankin trotted back and forth to the saloon, fetching whiskey sours for his boss. The owner of Bender Clips was plastered. Sotheara couldn’t hear his words, but she did hear Candace screech when Bender slapped her bottom.
“Poison ivy.” Candace pushed Bender’s hand away. “Remember?”
“I hope she smacks him in the face.” Madison slid onto the bench beside Sotheara.
“This camp needs a Safe Space,” Sotheara said.
Tomorrow was a free day. Her teammates chattered about their plans. Berdie was riding the bus to the nearby town of Lodgepole to see the museum dedicated to Mad Stockton, the Cannibal of Carver Pass. Campers on other teams planned to shop, hike, or sleep in.
Sotheara was staying at camp, but relaxing wasn’t her goal. She was under orders from Operation Clean Sweep to hunt for the dumpsite they suspected was on Rowdy’s ranch. Jessie had given them hope that it was near. The problem was that Jessie’s concussion, and the disorientation of being moved while unconscious, left her unclear about what she’d seen, or where. It could have been an illegal toxic dumpsite or a rancher clearing land for a pasture.
Wandering around the hills by herself seemed foolish. Sotheara huddled on the bench, feeling sorry for herself.
“Why so glum?” Aubrey asked.
“It’s nothing.”
Aubrey prodded with more questions, so Sotheara invented an answer to ap
pease her.
“This camp was supposed to be vacation. My only one since I started working at Bender Clips. But it’s been so stressful, I might as well have spent the week in the office.”
“Tomorrow could be fun,” Aubrey said. “The team, our old team I mean, plans to go to the cannibal museum.”
“I’m staying in camp with the Wild Cats,” Sotheara said.
“It’s supposed to rain all day,” Aubrey said.
“That stinks. They were planning a long run.”
“You should come with us,” Aubrey said. “Unless you want to run in the rain.”
Sotheara did a quick check of the weather on her smart phone, confirming the bleak forecast. Aubrey’s enthusiasm was impossible to resist. Sotheara was almost ready to believe she could have fun at Survive or Die.
Rowdy clanged the triangle and announced the new Buckaroo Crew configurations. The dry erase board was smudged with lines and partially erased names.
Buckaroo Crews
Wild Cats – 17 keys (Archery, Canoe)
Ted, Kimberly, Yuri, Belinda, Gwen, Justin, Sotheara, Veronica
Bender’s Defenders – 5 keys
Doug, Jack, Candace, Mason, Roberto, Irena, Nigel, Rankin
Wapiti – 12 keys (ATV)
Frank, Grant, Omari, Arianna, Luis, Sam, Veronica, Damon, Habika, Althea, Aubrey
Belle Stars –9 keys (Edible Plants)
Jessie, Shirley, Yvette, Shawn, Della, Edna, Pam, Berdie
Gold Strike – 4 keys
Ellen, Tweet, Lavelle, Fawn, Jeremiah, Kyle, Naila, Madison
Stockton’s Revenge – 16 keys (Fish, Photo, Raccoon)
Rankin, Berdie, Madison, Sotheara, Aubrey
Sotheara supposed she should sit with the Wild Cats, but she wanted a few more moments with the women who had made her feel a part of their team. Fun while it lasted.
“My head is killing me,” Ellen said. “Have you got something in there for headaches?”
Lavelle dipped into her blue vinyl purse to find some magic healing for Ellen.
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