by Hill, Hayden
I remembered from the orientation material that C covered the most territory.
Rebecca went on to discuss the assignments of the other workers and interns and then she dismissed us. "I look forward to another great season with you guys."
The group started to disperse.
"Section C?" Kade's voice startled me. I hadn't noticed him come back. "Sweet! Momma said we might get to go out there again."
Blaine nodded, grinning widely. "How early do you want to head out tomorrow? Seven-ish?"
Kade frowned. "Tomorrow? Shit, no, I want to head out today. I've already got everything packed. I just need to finish up with Jessica. Meet you at the Jeeps in an hour." Kade was already strolling back to the aviary.
"Who's Jessica?" I asked Blaine. Was that jealousy I heard in my voice?
Blaine had an amused glint in his eye. "Not who but what. Jessica is a falcon."
"Oh."
"Come on." Blaine escorted us to the dormitory and told us to pack for our three day trip in the woods. "All you really need to bring is a change of clothes. Don't worry about tents, food, water or insect repellent. We've got that all covered."
"What should we do when we're done packing?" I said.
"I'll meet you in your dorm's kitchen." He walked off.
Gina stared at his back. "He has such a sexy butt, don't you think?"
I rolled my eyes and started toward the other dorm.
"Hey, where you going?" Gina called to my back.
"There's something I have to do. See you at the room!"
In the other dorm, I caught Momma Jeanne reading a slut-mance in the common room. She didn't hide it. She seemed proud of the book, actually, and was slightly offended when I suggested she use an e-reader for more privacy. Anyway, I got her to lend me some bear spray. She insisted I wouldn't need it but I took it for the peace of mind. No matter how hot they were or the connection I thought I felt with Kade, I hardly knew him or Blaine and I was a bit scared about being alone in the wilderness with either of them. Gina and I were big girls, sure, and we could take care of ourselves, but there was no way either one of us would be able to overpower the two if it came to it.
I went back to the room and spent the next hour packing with Gina. I was actually done in ten minutes. Sweater: check. Rainproof jacket: check. Extra pair of jeans: check. Bear spray: check. Gina, meanwhile, spent her time wavering back and forth over what to pack, but eventually she decided on three sets of clothes, one portable makeup kit, two disposable razors and a manicure set.
We brought our backpacks down to the kitchen. Blaine was already there, devouring a sandwich, and he made two more for Gina and I to eat. When we were done, we left our backpacks in the kitchen and then all three of us went to the aviary to fetch Kade.
The inside was roomy, filled with rows of spacious cages, half of which were empty. The remaining cages held birds of all kinds. Magpies squatted on perches. Robins pecked at food. A hawk screeched. I counted five peregrines. It was like going to a pet shop but minus the cute puppies, kittens and parrots, though the place had that same barnyard smell.
I loved it.
"All these birds are injured?" I said.
Blaine shook his head. "No. Only two are right now. But for a lot of the injured birds, this becomes home. We can't just release a bird with half a wing or half a leg into the wild. It'd die. And Rebecca doesn't have the heart to let them go. None of us do. So we keep the ones that need our help."
Kade was at the far end of the aviary with another intern. I recognized the punk rock girl from Montreal I'd met last night during supper. Half her head was shaved. The other half hung in a cropped wedge over her face. She wore a tight tank top and all the exposed skin from her neck down was covered in tattoos. I felt the jealousy again—she was exactly the kind of girl I thought Kade would be interested in. The two of them were hunched over a sedated falcon. Its wings were spread out and clipped to the tabletop.
Both of them looked up as Blaine came close, but when Kade saw who it was, he returned his attention to the falcon.
"Hey, Blaine!" the punk rock girl said.
Blaine nodded. "Sadie." So that's what her name was again.
She gave him a hug. "We're almost done."
Blaine glanced at Gina. "Good. The girls are getting antsy."
"You look even more beautiful than last night," Sadie said, giving Gina a hug.
"Thanks, baby," Gina answered. "And you're a doll, as always."
Sadie hugged me. "Hey, gorgeous."
"Hey," I said. I turned toward Kade next, not sure if I should greet him, but he didn't look up.
"He's a bit prickly," Sadie told me.
"I heard that," Kade said.
Sadie smiled and shrugged. "See?"
I glanced at the falcon. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh." Sadie's tone abruptly saddened. "One of the locals brought Jessica in on the back road. Half the feathers of her right wing were ripped clean off. The bone itself was shattered. We're setting it now. Birds have hollow, light bones that break pretty easily. Great for flying but not so great for hitting things."
"Or getting hit," Kade said.
I leaned closer and watched Kade wrap a strip of cotton gauze in a figure eight pattern around the wing. "What happened to her?"
"We're not sure," Sadie said. "Maybe a wolf or coyote."
Blaine came forward and had a look at the falcon. "That's definitely a wolf. You can see the bite pattern."
Kade glanced at his friend. "Maybe. Though I doubt a falcon with a broken wing could escape a wolf."
"Maybe the wolf changed its mind when the falcon pecked out its eye?"
Kade gave a sharp laugh. "Yeah. Falcons are good like that." His expression hardened. "Still pisses me off, though."
I stared at the bird. "Jessica. Poor thing."
"Don't worry." Sadie smiled reassuringly. "In a few weeks she'll be as good as new. You'll see."
"We're about done," Kade told Blaine. "Might as well start loading the Jeeps. I'll be out in a jiff."
I followed Blaine outside. I wasn't sure whether to feel excited or scared—all I knew was that the true adventure was about to begin.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kade
I finished up with Jessica and went outside to the Jeep. I was the first one there. My backpack sat in the trunk—I'd already loaded it before orientation—so there was nothing for me to do but wait. The Jeep was shaded by a tall pine so I climbed up to perch on the roll cage and lay back.
Normally I would have enjoyed the peace and quiet, but not today. The nicotine withdrawal symptoms were too intense. I rubbed my scratchy eyes with sweaty palms. My head was beginning to ache and my mouth felt dry, no matter how much I drank. I kept seeing images of cigarettes in my head. I suppose there was a bright side to all this, because the cravings kept my mind off that sexy little intern.
I started to doze off when the thump of another bag landing in the back of the Jeep made me jump. I didn't bother to look. "When do you think those damn interns will get here, Blaine?"
"Well, Gina wanted to apply some last minute makeup so she should be down in two minutes or so. I couldn't tell you about Blaine."
Holy shit. That sharp, distinctly feminine voice snapped my gaze right down from my perch on the roll cage and I met Ash's blue eyes. God, those eyes reminded me of the free, open sky, yet they were always unsettling somehow. I had called them haunted but I wasn't sure that was the right word anymore. The expression in them was far too complex for so simple a word. Sometimes I thought I saw barely restrained lust there and other times, pure fear. Right now I saw a mixture of both and I wanted to reach out and hold her in my arms.
I could lose myself in those eyes.
I could lose myself in her.
It felt like I'd known her all my life. That I'd been waiting all these years to be united with the girl I was meant to be with since I was born.
But I didn't believe in destiny.
And I de
finitely didn't believe in love.
These feelings would only hurt me. I was sure of it. So I shrugged them off and did my best to deny the raw want that was threatening to devour me from the inside.
I tossed up a smirk, a defense mechanism of mine that worked great at hiding my emotions.
The moment of connection instantly passed and I felt physically drained, like I'd just thrown away the best gift I'd ever received.
Shit.
I jumped down from the top of the Jeep.
"Hey, girl," I said with a sigh.
"Hey." She managed a smile. She seemed weary too, and a little sad. Had she felt the connection too?
I was standing beside her now, and I noticed the lump hidden beneath the top of her shirt. A pendant, maybe. I'd seen the lump before but never bothered to ask her about it.
"What's this?" I reached toward the hidden object but before I could touch her, she jerked back, wrapping a protective hand around the area.
"Nothing," she snapped, clearly irritated.
I raised my hands in surrender. "And Sadie calls me prickly." I went to the driver's seat and sat down. Leaning back, I closed my eyes. "That from your boyfriend back in big ol' Tenni-zee?" I put as much Southern twang as I could into the words. "Bet he's fucking some other chick right now. You know what they say. When the cat's away..."
Suddenly I realized Ash was sobbing.
I jerked up in my seat. "What? No. I didn't mean it. Christ." I got out of the Jeep.
Blaine arrived just then, carrying a loaded backpack. He looked once at me, then at Ash, and dropped the backpack. "What's going on?"
Ash was already storming away.
"Ash," I said. "No. Come on."
She disappeared into her dorm building.
"What the hell did you do?" Blaine asked.
I swallowed hard, then sighed. "The usual. I was an asshole."
"It's going to be hard to get any work done if she hates you. You know that, right?"
I shrugged. "She'll get over it."
Blaine sighed. "It wouldn't kill you to be nice to her."
I picked up the backpack Blaine had dropped and hoisted it into the Jeep. "Actually, it's probably for the best if she hates me."
I stalked to the edge of the woods and ducked under the trees. I sat on a fallen log just out of view of the Jeep. Damn, I needed a smoke.
What the hell had I said? I almost felt like I should apologize. I knew it was the right thing to do. But some loud, errant part of me argued that it wasn't my fault. I'd made a joke, for chrissake. A bad one maybe, but still a joke. The nicotine withdrawal was making me testy, that's all. I couldn't be blamed for that. My thoughts wavered back and forth, warring with one another, driving me deeper into bitterness and inaction.
Finally, Blaine called my name. The concern in his voice dragged me away from my conflicted thoughts. I pushed myself off the log and took a deep breath to brace myself for having to go back to dealing with people.
I instinctively reached up and brushed my fingertips across my neck, tracing the wings of the falcon tattoo from memory. I rested my thumb on my larynx, where the falcon's eye looked out on the world. I could almost feel the falcon there inside me, calming me, giving me strength.
Steadying myself, I walked from the pines.
The other three were already in the Jeep. Blaine sat in the driver's seat and Gina and Ash were in the back. Damn it—I wanted to drive today. I had half a mind to kick Blaine out from behind the wheel.
I grudgingly swung myself into the shotgun seat, pretending I didn't notice the dark look Ash sent my way. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to start anything. If we could all survive this trip without any major blowups I'd be happy. Well, not as happy as I would've been if we didn't have to drag the two interns along in the first place. Ash was going to be a distraction, big time. Not to mention a pain.
I would've turned the radio on full blast but there were no stations out here and the Jeep's radio wouldn't accept CDs or tapes so I couldn't use an adapter to connect my phone. We drove in uncomfortable silence, the only sound the constant drone of the engine.
I felt the tension in the Jeep building until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I turned to Ash and said, "I acted like a dick, okay? I should've kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry."
I sat back in my seat, not really expecting a response. But a minute later she spoke up.
"You did act like a dick," she said, loudly.
I turned back, feeling a rush of defiance. But when I saw her blue eyes, saw how wary, mistrustful, and accusing they were, I lowered my gaze, feeling like she'd just slapped me in the face. I didn't like that look on her at all.
When I glanced up again I thought I saw a flash of gratitude in her eyes. Like she was happy I acted ashamed or something. Or maybe it was a flash of victory. Damned if I could read her.
I shifted in my seat and looked away.
"My dad boxed in college, you know," she said. "Keep that in mind the next time you decide to touch me. Also, I have bear spray."
I felt my cocky nature, the side of me that hated to back down from a fight, reassert itself. "What are you saying, you'll beat me up?"
"You wish."
I snorted. "I didn't exactly touch you. I reached for you. There's a difference."
"Not to me."
I shook my head but I took the fact that she was actually talking to me again as a good sign. I felt the bitter knot in my stomach slowly start to untangle. I glanced in the right-side mirror and tilted it so I could see her without looking back. Her posture appeared less tense, though she still seemed to be watching the back of my head warily. Did she think I was some kind of wild animal that had to be under constant observation? Was she afraid I'd suddenly snap at her with my fangs or something? I cataloged her every movement in my mind, not even close to figuring her out.
I tilted my head back and watched the sky as Blaine steered the Jeep over bumpy, rutted roads that hadn't been driven since last summer. Pine trees bordered on either side in a dense wall of terrain that was impassable to the Jeep. The occasional branch overhead blocked out the sun so that the rays flickered. I managed to doze off despite it all but I couldn't escape Ash, not even in my dreams. She was always there, no matter if I was awake or asleep, the idea of her lingering in the back of my mind. The way her cheeks dimpled when she smiled. The curve of her body. Her mysterious eyes.
Her secrets.
Somehow, she reminded me of Orion, the education falcon. So beautiful, yet wounded in ways that weren't immediately obvious.
I wanted to know all her secrets.
I jolted upright when the Jeep stopped suddenly. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. Pines still lined the route but we should have been in a clearing. I heard water gushing nearby.
I looked directly ahead; this definitely wasn't the planned campsite.
"Well, kids," Blaine said. "Looks like we've reached the end of the road."
CHAPTER SIX
Ash
I stood up and got out of the Jeep, stretching the kinks from my muscles. I walked to the bank, where Kade was taking pictures of the river with his camera.
"Flash flood." Kade pointed out the logs, twigs and other sediment. A wide steel culvert lay in the middle of the river a short ways downstream. "The river swept out the bridge. When you get a hundred millimeters of precipitation, it has to go somewhere. Rebecca said they had a ton of snow this winter plus heavy rains all spring. Something had to give, eventually. That's climate change for ya."
I saw no sign whatsoever that there used to be a bridge here. The dirt road went right up to the river and just ended.
"The river doesn't look like much now though, does it?" Blaine said. "Think it's shallow enough to ford?"
Kade shrugged. "I'll go first. If it's crossable, I'll let you know."
"We could always go back." Blaine said.
Kade laughed bitterly. "And do what? If we tell Rebecca we can't reach section C, we'll be given de
sk jobs for the rest of the summer. Fuck that. We cross."
I stepped up to the edge of the river and eyed the length both ways. "Maybe we should follow it for a while and see if there's a shallower area. It looks a bit deep in the middle here. Even if the river's only waist deep, if one of us slips, that's a whole quarter of our gear soaked."
Kade met my eyes briefly and I saw a hint of a challenge there but then he nodded. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. We can split up and go in opposite directions, then meet back here in twenty minutes." He looked at his watch. "Blaine and Gina, you search upstream. Me and Ash will go downstream."
"Wait." I felt a rising panic. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea to separate." I looked at Gina pleadingly.
"We'll cover more ground this way," Kade said.
"But can't Gina come with us?" I pressed.
Gina seemed about to argue but then she sighed. "All right. I'll go with you guys."
Kade gave me an angry look. "I'd feel much better if Blaine wasn't out there by himself. Most wild animals won't bother two people. The same animals won't think twice if they spot a man alone. It's their instinct to hunt for prey separated from the pack."
"Wait a second. Wild animals?" I swallowed. "Like what? This wasn't in the field guide."
"Actually, it was. There's a whole section on wolves and bears."
I vaguely recalled the section he was talking about, which offered the same type of warning I'd read in those little pamphlets they handed out at national parks like The Smoky Mountains about black bears and whatnot. I always ignored those pamphlets because I knew I'd probably never see a bear if I didn't stray from the trails. But I was in a different country now, far from any trail, and very likely outnumbered by those very same bears.
"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking." I went to the Jeep and dug into my pack.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting some protection." I was waiting for Kade to crack some joke about condoms or something but he kept quiet. What he said about wolves and bears gave me the excuse I was looking for, though, and I pulled out the bear spray along with my jacket. I slid the jacket on and shoved the spray into my pocket. I gave Kade a smug smile.
