Jan let out a gasp. “Bears? This is the real thing, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” Ezra agreed. “But they’re not really any more interested in running into you than you are in running into them. If you make noise, they’ll most likely clear out of your way.”
Clarissa unzipped a compartment of her pack and peered inside.
“Let’s go over what you have in your backpack.” Ezra ambled toward her.
The rest of the group scattered off, their books in hand.
“Shouldn’t I be looking for plants with the others?” She continued to search the compartments, presumably looking for her book.
“The others already had this instruction from the emails I sent out, and they packed their own gear, so they know where everything is. I helped Leonard with it this morning in the office. I think it’s good to have an understanding of what you have to work with, so if an emergency does come up, you can find what you need quickly.” He knelt in front of her.
“I guess that makes sense.” She hooked a strand of hair behind her ear and then glanced around nervously. “Guess I’m a little worried about those bears.”
“I say that as a precaution. The kind of bears that are around here like to avoid people. The forest is way more safe than any big city.”
She unzipped the largest compartment of her pack, pulling the supplies out, laying them on the ground. “What makes you think I’m from the city?”
He let out a huff of air. “You kind of put out that vibe that first night I met you.”
“I have been living in California, but I’ll have you know that I grew up in Montana. Lived in a bunch of little towns, and even in Discovery for a while.” Her voice took on a faraway quality, as though there were a wealth of memories behind what she had told him.
She was full of surprises. He’d had her pegged as urban to the core. “But in all that time you never went backpacking with friends or family?”
“No, no family to go backpacking with.” A shadow seemed to fall over her face, and she looked off into the distance. She regained her composure almost as quickly as she’d lost it, lifting her chin and meeting his gaze. “How about you? Did you grow up around here?”
She had a way of revealing only a small amount about herself and then deflecting the attention back on him. “Yeah, my brothers and I hunted and fished these mountains from the time we could walk.”
She scooted several of the items toward him. “Why don’t you tell me what all this stuff is?”
Ezra picked up the multitool and showed her what each part of it could do. “This is how you open the pliers.” He wondered what had been running through her mind in that moment. How could such a benign question about hiking tap into such deep hurt?
She took the tool from him and folded out another component. “This looks like a nail file. Do you mean to tell me I’ll have time for a manicure while I’m tromping around with the bears?”
He laughed, appreciating the joke, but realizing that she also used humor to divert him from thinking about her. He must have been staring a little too intensely. “The file is handy. Sometimes dirt from digging or blood from skinning an animal gets under your nails.”
She made a face and jerked her head back, the usual reaction to the idea of skinning an animal.
“And sometimes you just need to file something down,” said Ezra. “Let’s go through the rest of the gear. Most of it is pretty straightforward.”
She held up the water filter. “I don’t know what this is.”
“You have a day’s supply of water in your pack. Beyond that, it’ll be up to you to find clean water sources or use that filter to purify your water. The stuff you get from the rivers and creeks will have to be cleaned up to drink.” As he instructed her about each item in the pack, he watched the sunlight play on her hair. The way she closed her eyes when she laughed was endearing. He found himself enjoying her company despite how guarded she was.
Bruce came bounding through the trees holding something in his hand. His bow was flung over his shoulder. Why he thought he needed to carry it around to look for plants, Ezra could only guess. Bruce had assured him that he knew how to use such a deadly weapon. Ezra only hoped the younger man was telling the truth.
Bruce dropped a handful of yellow flowers on the ground. “Is this evening primrose?”
Ezra picked up one of the plants. “Yes, it is. You missed out on some good eating by just picking the flower though. The roots are edible, too. They taste like parsnips.”
“I’ll go look for some more.” He seemed encouraged by his find and tromped back toward the trees.
“Why don’t I get a bow and arrow like he has?” Clarissa asked.
“That’s a personal item he chose to bring. But it’s not really necessary. You have things in your pack that you can use to defend yourself and even hunt with.”
Clarissa examined everything that was spread out around her. She picked up a long knife in a sheath. “This, right?”
Ezra nodded, then rose to his feet. “Now I want you to put everything away, arrange things to suit yourself, so if you need to grab something in a hurry you’re not fumbling in your pack.”
She put the items away, so quickly that he wondered if she was even taking note of where things were going. Then she stood. “Can I go look for plants now?”
“Sure. You’ll want to take the book with you and find one of the others to partner up with.”
“Oh!” Clarissa laughed at herself and then leaned down and pulled the book out of a side pocket.
He watched her walk gracefully into the forest.
* * *
Clarissa quickened her pace as she moved deeper into the trees. She walked until she could no longer hear the chatter of the others as they foraged for plants. She pressed her back against an expansive evergreen and gazed up at the green canopy above her as she took a moment to regroup.
Though she had seen no sign of Max’s men on the hike, her heart had been racing from the moment the car had pulled in beside the Jefferson Expeditions van. Somehow they had tracked her down. Ezra had mentioned something about a business partner. Maybe the thugs had finagled information out of him.
Don knew she’d ridden into town in Ezra’s van. When they couldn’t find her, they might have drawn their own conclusions, or they might have seen her going into Ezra’s office. She didn’t know how she’d been found; she only knew that even this forest wouldn’t provide safety for her for long.
She could only hope that she might be able to keep a little ahead of the thugs. Don was muscular, but hardly the hiking type. The two men were probably not moving very fast. Maybe they wouldn’t even bother following her, and would just wait to grab her until the group returned to the van.
Clarissa closed her eyes, attempting to stave off the panic that invaded her mind and body. She needed to get away and hide, but she couldn’t go back the way she’d come. She’d have to get a clearer sense of where this town was that Ezra had mentioned, and then take off on her own. The people in the group seemed really likable. She didn’t want them hurt at her expense. The problem was if she took off now, she might not last a day. She needed to learn everything she could from Ezra