Backcountry Page 9

  There was a thrashing in the woods behind her and she spun around, her heart in her mouth. Alex emerged from the darkness, holding his hatchet.

  “Good, now I feel better,” he said. “Our friend gone?”

  Jenn turned back to the forest. “He’s—” She stopped. His light was nowhere to be found. Alex stepped up beside her.

  “Yeah, he’s gone,” she said, doubtfully.

  Alex didn’t seem to notice her hesitant answer. “Good. You ready to turn in?”

  “Sure,” Jenn said, still looking out into the forest and trying to find the light again.

  Alex finished the last sip of beer in his can and crunched it up, throwing it on the fire. “I’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

  Jenn looked over at the bag of food scraps sitting next to the bag that held their supplies.

  “We’re not putting that in our tent, are we?” she asked, remembering what Brad had said about attracting bears.

  Alex was one step ahead of her, pulling out a length of rope and tying it to the neck of the bag. He flung the other end of the rope over a high branch and quickly hoisted the bag well up off the ground. He wrapped the rope around the trunk and tied it off with quick, efficient skill. He stood back, wiping his hands with evident satisfaction.

  “I’ll bury the food scraps tomorrow.”

  Jenn moved up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

  He turned his head to look at her. There was an unreadable look in his eyes.

  “Hey, when you were talking to him, did you tell him we were going to Blackfoot Trail?” he asked.

  “No, why?” she asked.

  She was almost certain that it hadn’t come up in their conversation. It had mainly been small talk about the weather and Brad boasting about his fishing prowess. It was funny, he’d seemed much more normal when it was just the two of them, but when Alex had come back it was like some switch had been flicked. Some guys were like that though, competitive by nature, as if they believed the only way they could impress a girl and make themselves look good was by making another guy look bad. It had never really done anything for Jenn, though, smacking as it did of insecurity.

  “It’s funny that he mentioned it,” Alex said. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” she said hesitantly. “Well, pretty sure.”

  He looked her in the eyes. “Are you sure, or pretty sure?”

  She thought hard for a moment, replaying the conversation in her mind. “I’m sure.”

  She followed as Alex walked over and unzipped the tent. They crawled inside, and climbed into the double sleeping bag. Alex placed his hatchet beside his pillow.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  Alex flicked off his light and darkness filled the tent. Outside, Jenn could hear the creaking of trees swaying in the wind and the occasional mournful cry of an owl. She shivered. It was so different from the sounds of sirens and shouting that usually filled her nights. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around Alex, snuggling up to him. He didn’t respond, so she gently began to kiss his neck and ears.

  “Want to keep me warm?” she asked, trying to sound seductive.

  He didn’t answer and she pouted, then began to bite his neck gently. She could feel how tense he was.

  “We should get some sleep,” he said. “Get an early start.”

  He rolled over, turning his back on her. For a moment, she lay there in disbelief, unused to that sort of rejection.

  “Good night,” she whispered.

  There was no reply, only the sounds of his breathing. Jenn rolled back the other way and tried to get to sleep. It was a long time coming.

  Saturday Morning

  The sun is shining on Jenn’s sleeping face. It wakes her gradually, and she moans as she rolls over, trying to hide from the light. She stretches out her arm looking for Alex, feeling up and down, but he’s not there.

  She’s fully awake now and she hears someone walking around the campsite in heavy boots. There is the sound of a bag being opened and something large being pulled out.

  The person starts blowing on the fire, and Jenn is starting to get concerned. She can’t see anything outside the thin walls of the tent.

  “Is that you, Alex?” she calls softly.

  The movement from outside suddenly stops, but there is no response.

  “Alex?” she calls again, but still there is nothing.

  The footsteps start again, slowly making their way toward her. Jenn starts to panic, her breath coming faster and faster.

  “Not funny, Alex.”

  The boots are now right at the door of the tent, and Jenn is frozen with fear as a hand slowly pulls the zipper from the outside.

  Alex turns over in the sleeping bag, sighing as he snuggles up to her. She looks over at him in horror. If he is in the tent . . .

  Whoever is outside starts to unzip the flap, and Jenn tries to wake Alex, sobbing as she shakes him. The zipper is almost fully opened, but Alex refuses to wake.

  The flap opens and Jenn is bathed in blinding white light. She screams.

  “Alex!”

  Jenn awoke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright in her sleeping bag. The morning light was coming in the same way as it had been in her dream—no, her nightmare—but that was the only thing that was the same. The sleeping bag next to her was empty; this time she made sure. She lay back down again for a few minutes, trying to calm down. Gradually, her heartbeat slowed down and her breathing returned to normal. The pounding in her ears having stopped, she could make out the sound of someone moving around, just like in her dream. The footsteps moved closer and the zip began to open. Jenn tensed, waiting, and she jumped when Alex stuck his head in through the gap.

  “Hey, honey.”

  “Jesus.” She relaxed a little. “Why didn’t you say something?’

  “Good morning, beautiful. How’s that for saying something?” He seemed much more cheerful than the night before.

  “Where were you?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

  He grinned. “Come outside and I’ll show you.”

  He left her to extract herself from the sleeping bag, whistling a jaunty little tune that faded as he moved back toward the fire. Jenn groaned and stretched as she extricated herself from the sleeping bag before clambering out of the tent and staggering toward the campfire. “Oh, my God. That smells amazing,” she said, taking in a big breath of the delicious aromas.

  She walked over to Alex to gratefully accept the cup of coffee he was holding out to her. She giggled, and he raised his eyebrow.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “‘How many times has your boyfriend made you breakfast in bed?’ was the first question on that quiz,” she laughed.

  He coughed. “Oh, really? What a coincidence. You’d think I was trying to impress you or something.”

  “I’ll have to change your score from zero to one.”

  “Well, it’s not exactly in bed.”

  “I think this qualifies.” Alex smiled at her. “I had a—” she stopped.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I just had a nightmare.”

  “What was it about?” he asked curiously.

  For a moment she thought about telling him, but instead she finished her coffee with one gulp.

  “I don’t remember. Now, how about some bacon?”

  It hadn’t taken them long to finish packing up their gear and hit the trail. After a few miles, they had come to a fork in the trail. The wide path they had been using continued onward, as well maintained and clear of obstructions as it had been so far. The other fork looked neglec
ted and little used, much narrower, with branches and grass impinging on both sides.

  “Let me guess, you want to go that way?” Jenn asked, pointing toward the shadowed path.

  “That’s the path we have to take,” Alex said, staring up the trail. “We don’t want to get caught sneaking up to Blackfoot Trail, remember?”

  Jenn took a few steps after him and then stopped, looking back toward the wider path. She had suspected that Alex would try to sneak up there, despite what the ranger had said, but the path that he wanted to take didn’t seem right to her, somehow. It wasn’t just the way the trees around it seemed to brood and the shadows seemed darker that didn’t sit right with her. With a jolt of what felt almost like fear, she realized what had spooked her—it was the way Alex’s voice had sounded when he said it was the trail they needed to take. They had been together for a long time now, and she knew the timbre of his voice when he was certain of something. Just then, he had sounded more like he did when he was trying to convince himself of something.

  Before she could pursue that uncomfortable train of thought, she realized with a start that Alex hadn’t even noticed Jenn stopping; he was already moving up the trail. She hurried to catch up, moving quickly along the path. The ground was much rougher here, with stones and roots protruding from the ground in awkward places, and she had to concentrate on her footing. Soon, she had forgotten the ominous feeling, more worried about keeping up with Alex and not tripping and breaking her neck than anything less tangible.

  Despite her lingering unease, Jenn soon managed to develop a rhythm in the way she moved that made hiking easier. She was still not anywhere near as natural as Alex, but she was rather proud of the fact that she was managing to keep up with him. Jenn had a competitive streak a mile wide and hated being bad at anything. Alex had soon learned that if she couldn’t do something, no matter how minor it was, she would spend time learning how to do it, putting in whatever practice was required. She’d decided to treat this camping thing like anything else and work out what she needed to learn to become, if not excellent, then better than average at it. For now, that meant watching and observing how Alex made his way along the trail. She noticed that he didn’t overcommit with each step, ensuring that not all of his weight was ever on one foot. She guessed that was in case he hit a slippery patch of moss, or so that, if the soil gave way, he would have a chance to recover his balance before falling over. Jenn also saw that he didn’t try to barge through the leaves or twigs hanging over the path, instead finding the path of least resistance. Jenn had been whacked in the face a few times before she learned there was a better way, and she was enjoying herself much more without the occasional mouthful of leaves.

  The day wore on, but Jenn barely noticed. Between focusing on improving her hiking skills and admiring the scenery, it came as a shock when she looked up and saw the position of the sun. Hours must have passed and it was now well into the afternoon. As if acknowledging the time had broken a spell, all the aches and pains she had been suppressing came crashing over her like a wave. She could feel a throbbing in the arches of her feet and her glutes were aching from her fall the day before.

  “I hope this is worth it.” After the silence, her voice sounded rough and unmelodious to her own ears, and the next sentence came out nearly as a whisper. “Tell me again how amazing this place is?”

  “Blackfoot Trail?” Alex said. He shook his head like he was waking up, and Jenn realised he must have been in what he called the “zone.”

  “Yeah. Why is it called that anyway?” she asked.

  “The First Nations called it that because when the trail ends, it circles around this really small lake, and the earth around the lake is black—not dark, but black. When they hunted, they followed animal tracks in the black earth, so they called it Blackfoot Trail.” His voice had taken on the tone of someone telling a story they had heard and told a hundred times before and knew by heart.

  “What’s the lake called?”

  Alex had to think for a second. “Um, I have no idea,” he confessed.

  Jenn laughed, and he threw a twig at her in mock anger.

  “But picture it: you walk up a steep rocky trail, then all of a sudden, when the trail levels off, there is this beautiful, pristine lake. It’s my favourite place in the world. It looks so out of place that high up. Right out of some fantasy novel or something.”

  She groaned. “Sounds like your geeky side is about to come out.”

  He gave her an injured look. “What geeky side?”

  She threw a twig back at him. “The one that forced me to watch Legend four times.” She screwed up her nose and did a bad impression of him. “Just wait for the part when Tom Cruise is by the lake and the white unicorn appears.”

  Jenn laughed hysterically at her own impression, even though it bore no resemblance to Alex’s actual voice, while he tried to remain serious.

  “What?” he said, completely deadpan. “It’s an awesome scene.”

  She kept going with her impression. “There it is!”

  Alex chuckled, unable to help himself.

  Saturday Afternoon

  The sun was now on the descending part of its arc across the sky, and the shadows had grown longer and longer. The trail was now no more than a goat track, thin and winding its way through the trees. Several times, they had to climb over boulders or push larger branches out of their way. Jenn was still trying her hardest to keep up and refrain from complaining, but her backpack seemed to weigh three times more than when she had started, and the straps were cutting into her shoulders. As the sun dropped lower and lower, it became harder and harder to maintain her stoic resolve. Sweat dripped into her eyes and down onto the raw skin of her shoulders, stinging even more. Her feet ached and the woods seemed to be closing in around her. She watched Alex for a moment. His limp was now pronounced and, for some reason, that was the final straw. She stopped walking.

  “Please tell me we’re close.”

  Alex’s face was red and sweaty, and he looked as tired as she felt. “Yeah, we’re getting close.”

  She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice as even and nonconfrontational as possible. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask this. Are you sure you know where we are going?”

  She waited for him to flare up, but instead, he simply nodded. It was that, more than anything, that showed her how tired he really was.

  “Yeah, I’ve done this plenty of times,” he said. His voice was dull with pain and exhaustion. “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s just that we haven’t seen anyone in a while and—”

  “And that’s a bad thing?” he cut her off.

  “No, but it isn’t much of a trail we’ve been walking on, and you seemed pretty sure we would be there by now.”

  “I guess it’s farther than I remember.” He sighed. “We’ll have to look around and find a spot to camp.”

  For the next hour they walked in silence. Jenn could tell Alex was brooding, unable to understand how he could have misjudged the distance. She wondered if she should say something and then decided it might make things worse.

  “Here!” He stopped and pointed at a small clearing.

  Jenn caught up to him, panting with the effort of catching up. She followed him into the clearing and dumped her backpack on the ground, nearly falling as her centre of balance changed. Alex grabbed her arm, steadying her. He pulled out one of their collapsible chairs from his pack, and placed it on a level piece of ground.

  “Here, sit down and I’ll get everything set up.”

  “No,” she protested, “I can help.”

  He took her elbow, guided her to the chair, and sat her do
wn.

  “No, honey, you’ve been a real trooper today, and you deserve a rest.” He laughed ruefully. “Anyway, I got us into this mess, so I should be the one fixing things up.”

  Jenn was too tired to protest, merely giving him a grateful look as he set about the task of making camp. As she watched, he piled the wood up near the tent and dug a shallow fire pit. Building another pyramid of tinder and kindling, he set about trying to light the fire, but this time it was not so simple. His hands were shaking so much that it took him several tries to coax a spark from the flint. Finally, a small flame was burning and he began to place sticks around it. He raised his head to find Jenn looking at him curiously.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” she asked. “You don’t seem yourself.”

  He forced a smile. “Just tired, that’s all. And feeling a little silly about getting us off course.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Tomorrow is a new day.”

  “I hope so,” he said.

  “I know so.”

  “Thanks for not freaking out. Tomorrow we’ll reach the lake, and going back will be much easier. We’ll head straight back rather than staying another night, and that way we’ll definitely be able to get you back in time for work, okay?

  “But weren’t we staying tomorrow night, anyway?” she asked.

  “Yeah, but I was thinking that you’ve been such a good sport I might treat you to a night in one of the cabins they have. They aren’t four-star hotel rooms, but they are pretty nice. And they’ll have hot water,” he said. “I want you to agree to come back sometime!”

  “Alex, I know this trip is really important to you. Hot water does sound great, but I don’t want to leave early and for you to be disappointed.”

  “No, the important thing to me is to make sure that we get to see that lake,” he said. “Once we’ve done that, I’ll be satisfied.”