Count Me In (7 page)

“Is that true, Mom?” Ashley asked.

Tess narrowed her eyes at Tabitha, as if weighing how much she'd heard and understood of her one-sided conversation. She nodded. “No use hiding the facts from you. We're going to be on strict food rationing until the rain stops and we can head back down the mountain. We don't know how long we might be stuck here.”

Cedar groaned. “I'll never make it.”

“Yes, you will,” Tess said. “It won't be fun, but the whole point of rationing the food is so that we will survive. The good news is that we brought extra fuel, and we can always cook on the woodstove if we run out.”

“What will Max eat?” Tabitha asked.

At the sound of his name, Max got up from his seat by the fire and nuzzled Tabitha's hand.

“We'll ration his food too. If he gets hungry enough, he'll probably look for food outside.”

“What about us?” Cedar asked. “Can we do the same?”

Tess nodded. “There are still a few huckleberries on the bushes along the path. You can pick some. But don't pick any mushrooms. I don't know them well enough, and we don't have an identification book with us.”

They sat and began to eat their meager breakfasts. Tabitha picked at her granola, trying to make it last longer. Cedar gobbled his share in two mouthfuls and went back to bed. Ashley sipped her tea when Tess forced her to. Tess must have eaten earlier, because she had nothing but tea.

After finishing her granola, Tabitha was still hungry. She poured herself another cup of tea to try and fill her stomach, then went and sat by the fire with a musty book she'd found on the shelf. It was a plant identification book. She might as well learn something if they were going to be stuck in the hut for a week.

She flipped through the pages, trying to recognize the different trees, but they all looked the same to her. Maybe if she went outside, she could try to find some of them to identify.

Grabbing her jacket, she went over to the door. “I'm going to take Max for a walk. Maybe I can find us some huckleberries.”

Tess raised an eyebrow. “Do you know which ones they are?”

Tabitha waved the plant identification book at her.

“Okay,” her aunt said. “There aren't a lot of poisonous berries around here anyway. Stay away from anything white, or anything that looks like a billiard ball, and you'll be fine.”

Tabitha put her hand on the door handle.

“And don't take any chances!”

Tabitha slammed the door behind her. Did Tess still think she'd caused Ashley's accident? After their ordeal yesterday, would she take a chance? Get real.

She headed in the opposite direction from the boulders where Ashley had fallen. Max trotted at her heels. She didn't know if she was just getting used to the rain, but it felt like it had eased up ever so slightly. Instead of big drops splashing her face it was more like walking through a mist. Her pace quickened as her mood lifted. Maybe they'd get off the mountain sooner than they thought. Then she slowed. Maybe the clouds had moved lower, and she was walking inside of one. The mist was actually the cloud hitting her face. Below, the rain was probably still flooding the river.

It still felt good to be outside and away from the hut. She smiled. She was turning into a mountain girl after all. She was the only one of the group who wanted to come back outside after the hike yesterday. That hike was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do, and she'd survived it. Wait till her parents heard. They'd never believe it. Her mom preferred the treadmill to walking outdoors. And most days, the only exercise her dad got was the walk to the bus stop. Her parents created computer programs so complicated that nobody else could understand them, but they didn't have a clue about the wilderness.

Tabitha looked up from her thoughts and realized that she was walking alone. “Max!” she called. No response. “Max!”

All she heard was the rain. He must have run after a squirrel. She continued walking, calling as she went. After she walked for five minutes without seeing him, she decided to turn around. She returned to the spot where she thought she had lost him. In the dense fog, everything looked the same.

“Max, come!” Her voice sounded like her head was covered in a pillow. Maybe Max couldn't even hear her. She stepped a few paces off the trail. Small heather bushes—she recognized them because they grew in her front yard—spotted the ground. She wound around them, calling Max's name. Then she stopped. She could no longer see the path. This was a bad idea. She turned, eyes on the ground to make sure she didn't miss the trail, and walked back down the hill.

The fog made her dizzy. She took a deep breath and kept walking. Within a few seconds, she stepped back onto the trail and sat down to center herself. She needed to think. Searching for Max wouldn't do any good. He could be anywhere. If he chose not to come back to her, there was nothing she could do about it.

Max was a smart dog. He'd come back to the hut when he was ready. But what if he was hurt? She would have to take that chance. If she got lost too, then it would make things worse for everyone.

She began walking back to the hut. As she approached the final bend, she heard a snuffling sound ahead of her. “Max, there you are.”

She ran through the fog, ready to give him a hug and a talking-to.

It wasn't Max. She screeched to a stop three feet from a large black bear.

She gasped and froze. She and the bear stared at each other. His huge body blocked the path. After a moment of the staring contest, he casually turned away from her and started eating berries.

Tabitha's mind swam with images of bear maulings she'd read about in newspapers. Fear coursed through her body, making her tingle. Yet her feet were fixed to the ground. What should she do? The one thing she knew about bears was that you weren't supposed to run. She couldn't saunter past him either.

“I'm going to back up and get out of your way,” she said, trying not to sound scared. Her voice shook.

The bear turned to her again. Maybe talking wasn't such a good idea. But she vaguely remembered a talk by a bear expert in grade two. She was pretty sure he'd said to talk so the bear knew you were human.

She edged backward into the fog. As far as she could tell, the bear didn't follow. Berry bushes rustled, but she didn't hear any paws thudding. What to do now that she was out of his sight? She could walk the long way around the lake, but that would take an hour at least. After the big hike the day before, and with so little food in her belly, she didn't think she would have the strength to make it. Besides, Tess would probably start to worry and would come out looking for her when she was halfway around.

She waited a few minutes, but the bear didn't move. The only thing to do was to walk off the path and go around him. Her heart beat so loudly, it drowned out all other sounds as she stepped off the path. It would be so easy to get lost in the fog. She counted her steps, trying to keep in as straight a line as possible. Her feet trampled the heather. If she walked around each bush she'd have no idea which way she was facing.

After twenty steps, she felt far enough from the bear to head back to the path. In the fog he wouldn't see her. Would he smell her? All her senses felt deadened by the fog. Even the inside of her nose was damp. Maybe the bear's would be too. She'd take the risk.

She turned, making sure the downhill slope was on her right. How far to walk? Not far enough, and she'd meet up with the bear again. Too far, and she'd wind up in the creek that ran past the hut.

The terrain became more difficult as she walked. Boulders crept out of the fog and tripped her. Tall bushes covered in red berries blocked her way. She had to weave around them, hoping that she was still heading in the right direction. It felt like the downhill slope was still on her right, but she was so disoriented she couldn't be sure.

Finally she turned again and headed to where she hoped the trail would be. She inched her way toward it, stopping after every step to listen for snuffling and grunting, straining to see a black beast towering over her, ready to charge.

After twenty paces she slowed even more. She must be close to the trail. Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven. No trail. Maybe she'd taken smaller steps on the way down. At thirty she began to worry. What if she'd walked in the wrong direction while avoiding the bushes? She could be lost out here all night.

She berated herself for not walking the long way around the lake. Because she was too lazy, she might wind up completely lost. First she had lost Max; then she had gotten lost herself. So much for being a mountain girl.

She shook her head. Time to focus. Forty steps. Nothing. Her cheeks prickled with panic. Fifty. Should she call out for help? No. The bear would be the only help that would arrive.

After fifty-eight paces she stepped onto the path. She stopped for a full minute, cocking her head and listening like a chipmunk. No sign of any bear. Cautiously, she crept along the path until she saw the hut. She sprinted the last few steps, flung open the door and slammed it closed behind her.

CHAPTER NINE

“You look like you've seen a ghost,” Tess said.

“A bear,” Tabitha squeaked. She leaned her back against the door, willing her heart to slow.

Cedar ran to the window. “No way! Where?”

“In the middle of the path.” Tabitha's hands shook so much that she could hardly unzip her jacket.

“Cool,” Cedar said.

She gave up on her zipper and collapsed onto the bench. “I guess.” If you were into a long painful death by dismemberment. She pressed one hand on top of the other to stop the shaking.

“Where's Max?” Ashley mumbled through lips that only opened a crack.

Tabitha froze. She pressed her hands harder into the table. In her panic to get back to the hut, she'd forgotten about Max. “I was going to tell you.” Now it would sound like she hadn't cared. “Max took off.”

“You left him there?” Ashley's voice grew higher with every word.

“I called and called. I tried searching, but I didn't want to get lost in the fog. I was on my way back to get you guys to help. That's when I ran into the bear.”

Tess stirred a package of soup into a pot. “Max is a smart dog. He'll come back.”

“What if he chases the bear?” Ashley asked, glaring at Tabitha.

“What if he's hurt?” Cedar asked.

“Let's eat lunch, and then we'll go look for him.” Tess put out four bowls of soup with two crackers for everyone but Ashley.

“Lunch?” Cedar asked. “Where's the rest of it?”

“At least you can eat,” Ashley said.

Tabitha shivered in her damp clothes. The soup made from a package of dried organic veggie broth tasted delicious, but it didn't fill her up. She thought about Max out there, cowering in the cold. Maybe he'd run off to find food. Maybe he'd had a fight with the bear and lost.

After they'd cleaned out the bowls, Ashley waited until her mom crossed the room and put on her jacket. Then she leaned close to Tabitha and hissed, “Max better be okay. He was my dad's dog. It'll kill my mom to lose him too.”

Tabitha nodded. She dragged herself to the door and reached for her jacket.

Tess put a hand on her arm. “Why don't you stay? You look like another search might do you in.”

Tabitha stopped. She didn't feel like going back out and searching anymore, but she didn't want the others to think she didn't care about Max. Ashley and Cedar had their backs to her as they put on their jackets. What did it matter? They would blame her one way or the other.

“Maybe I could take a nap?”

Ashley faced her long enough to roll her eyes, but Tess nodded. “I think that's a good idea. Ashley, you should stay too. You need to conserve your energy.”

Ashley didn't respond. She turned her back to her mother and stormed out the door. Tess sighed and followed her.

After the others left, Tabitha climbed up the ladder, pulled on some drier clothes and collapsed on the bunk. Should she have gone to help? She didn't know if she'd be able to sleep, but she'd barely put her head on the pillow before she was out like a light.

Her nap ended with the sound of boots tramping up the outer stairs. She tiptoed to the edge of the sleeping loft. Cedar, Ashley and Tess came in. No Max. She crept back to her bunk before anyone saw her.

“What do we do if Max doesn't come back?” Cedar asked.

“He will,” Ashley said.

“But what if he doesn't?” Cedar asked.

Tabitha heard the thud of boots being tossed by the door.

“Let's think positively,” Tess said.

“We'll stay here until he does,” Ashley said.

“We could run out of food before he gets back,” Cedar said.

Tabitha's stomach grumbled. Good point. They wouldn't be able to wait forever.

“Then we'll eat Tabitha,” Ashley said.

Tess gasped. “Ashley!”

Tabitha blanched. Obviously her cousin wasn't serious. But how far would she go?

“She lost Max,” Ashley said.

“It wasn't her fault,” Tess said firmly. “He could have run away from anyone.”

“She should have looked harder. It is too her fault.”

There was a short silence, followed by a rattle. “Why don't we play Monopoly?” Cedar said.

“Sure.”

Tabitha closed her eyes. They were back to their club of two. She never should have tried to be friends with them, or to think that she might be included. Just when things were starting to get better, she had to go and lose Max, who reminded them so much of their dad.

A bench scraped downstairs. “Mind if I play?” Tess asked.

Tabitha could almost hear Ashley's shrug.

Tabitha pulled her sleeping bag over her head. Wasn't that sweet. A family game of Monopoly. She tried to fall back to sleep, but their voices intruded.

Tabitha burrowed deeper into her sleeping bag and put her hands over her ears to block out the voices. What Ashley said was true. Didn't her cousin know how guilty she felt over losing Max? She probably knew Tabitha was eavesdropping.