The Remedy (6 page)

“Hell yeah, it does!” Marshall agreed.

Rob slowed the van to look back at Marshall in the rearview mirror. “Don’t get too excited, man. You’re the one who’s going to be driving the van across the border.”

“Oh, really?” Marshall said.

“Yes, really. Ain’t no way I’m parting ways with our score. Besides, you owe me and you know it.”

Leigh expected Marshall to retort with some half-witted comeback, but his response was merely a single word.

“Shit.”

And then Leigh remembered: the first night they were in Montreal, they’d wasted no time getting drunk at the first pub they stumbled upon. Long after he’d lost count of the number of beers he’d emptied, Marshall excused himself to go take a piss. But instead of heading to the bathrooms in the back of the tavern, Marshall staggered outside, relieving himself against the side of the Peel Pub. Leigh was the only one to realize Marshall had yet to come back right before Alex discovered she had an unheard voicemail on her cellphone.

“They threw me in the drunk tank. Come bail me out.”

Two hours later, it was Rob who had offered cash from his own wallet to get his tanked buddy back to the hotel, safe and sound. Leigh found it unusually bighearted of Rob to step up to the plate without a moment’s hesitation—but now here he was, using the favor as leverage.

The world made sense again.

Marshall eyed his friend behind the steering wheel. “So you’re saying if I do this…I won’t owe you the money?”

“Like it never happened.”

Marshall gritted his teeth, swallowed hard, and finally said, “Okay.”

“Well, all right!” Rob punched the roof of the van, adding a high-pitched whoop. “Looks like I’ll be taking a hike with my main man, Sam!”

“It’s nothing,” Sam said sheepishly. “You guys are taking me all the way to Burlington. It’s the least I can do. In fact, I have something else for you if anyone is interested.”

Leigh watched as Sam hoisted his backpack from the floor and placed it in his lap. He tugged the zipper open and reached his hand into the largest pocket. A moment later he pulled out a plastic zip-locked bag filled with dark strips of dried meat.

Sam shook the bag and smiled. “Anyone hungry?”

Alex eyed the bag without attempting to hide her look of curiosity and disgust. “What is it?”

“It’s jerky!”

Marshall put an arm around Alex and eyed the bag as well. “I don’t know, dude. It doesn’t look much like a Slim Jim to me.”

“This is much better than that factory-packaged junk,” Sam replied. “It’s homemade.” He looked from one passenger to another. “Any takers?”

Marshall offered his most polite smile. “Uh, that’s real nice of you, man, but I’m not really that hungry.”

“And I’m a vegetarian,” Alex piped in, lying through her teeth.

“I’m going to have to pass as well,” Rob shouted to the back of the van. He nudged Eliza. “Don’t have a taste for squirrel.” Eliza tried to cover Rob’s rude commentary by quickly following it up with, “Maybe later, Sam. After we’ve gotten back and blazed up. I’m sure I’ll be craving it by then.”

Sam shrugged as if to say, “Whatever,” but Leigh didn’t fail to notice the subtle manner in which his eyes narrowed or how he adjusted himself in his seat. Leigh had paid enough attention in her psychology classes to know these were signifiers of discomfort, even possible feelings of dejection. She shook her head for the thousandth time that trip, once again disapproving of the group’s collective behavior. She tapped Sam’s shoulder.

“I guess I’ll try a little piece.”

Sam’s gaze sprung from the floor and met hers, sending another surge of electricity down her spine and into every limb.

“Check out Leigh going for it!” Marshall teased. “Most adventurous thing we’ve seen you do this whole trip.”

Leigh rolled her eyes and accepted the dried chunk of meat from Sam. The strip appeared harmless enough, a rich brown color that gave off a distinctively smoky, gamey fragrance. While the rest of the gang watched, Leigh took a timid nibble off the tip of the piece.

It took only three chews for her to decide the jerky was absolutely delicious.

“Wow!” she remarked. “Sam, you weren’t kidding. This is really delicious.”

Sam chuckled, most likely surprised by such a strong reaction. In any other case, Leigh would’ve worried her comments were coming off as blatant flattery, but she just couldn’t help it now. It really was that good.

“You guys should really try this,” Leigh urged. “It’s probably the best jerky you’ll ever taste.”

“We said we’re good,” Rob shot back, speaking for everyone.

“Whatever.” Leigh reached into the bag for another, larger piece. “Your loss.”

A pothole sent a violent tremor through the van, jostling the jerky strip from Leigh’s fingers. The jerky landed on the sliver of vinyl seat between her and Sam, and they both reached for the meat at the same time.

Their fingers connected for a moment. Leigh froze.

She looked up to find Sam doing the same, and their eyes locked in a shared moment of stillness. His touch was delightfully warm, several degrees above her own chilled, air conditioning-exposed digits. She tried to say “sorry,” or “excuse me,” but found herself taking a deep breath and swallowing her words.

Sam removed his fingers from Leigh’s and offered the “excuse me” that Leigh hadn’t been able to. She could only shrug as if to say, “Don’t worry about it,” and brought the piece of jerky to her mouth. Mercifully, it seemed no one else in the van had witnessed their moment, and for that, Leigh was grateful.

The van continued along the winding dirt road that gradually straightened the farther along they traveled. Once the turns had ceased altogether and the road became a long, flat lane, Rob pushed his foot down on the pedal hard enough for their speed to reach sixty-five miles per hour.

“Slow down,” Eliza ordered her boyfriend. “Just because it’s straight doesn’t mean you have to turn this into a drag race.”

“We’re making good time. I want to get to that trail already.”

“But we’ve already almost mowed down one person today. Are you going for two? Slow down!”

Leigh tuned out and concentrated on the scenery whipping by her window. It offered little variety: just trees, rocks, and bushes. She would’ve much rather been chatting with Sam and getting to know him better, but damn her incompetent brain, she just couldn’t think of a topic that didn’t seem forced or trite.

What about this weather?
No way.

So, how do you like college?
Yuck. It was a generic question she herself was sick of getting from about every member in her family tree.

It also didn’t help that every other passenger in the van could eavesdrop to their heart’s desire. At a loss, Leigh kept her eyes trained on the window.

Just as the monotony of the identical trunks and shrubs began to put her to sleep, a large square object emerged from the greenery. Leigh leaned closer to her window, squinting to make out the words on the faded billboard coming into view.

Its paint was washed out almost to the point of transparency. Unlike the modern advertisements Leigh had seen looming over the roads just outside of Montreal, this sign had obviously been standing here for many years. But even against its weather-ravaged wood, the billboard’s cracked lettering was still legible.

Eat at the Spruce Moose Diner! Just two miles past the sawmill in Embry, VT!

The text was accompanied by a painting of a waitress who strongly resembled Lucille Ball. She stood in front of the illustration of the mill with a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast held above her head. Three burly men in flannel shirts and suspenders gathered around her. Though she was sure the men were supposed to be attracted to the tantalizing breakfast, Leigh couldn’t ignore an unfamiliar cold feeling that crept into her gut as she watched the billboard fly by.

Three men approaching a lone woman from behind. Surrounding her
.

Hungry men
.

“Hey!”

Lost in this strange reverie, Leigh jumped when Sam shouted over Marshall’s mix CD blasting on the van’s stereo.

“You better slow down a little,” he called up to Rob. “The trail’s right up here.”

Rob leaned forward in his seat, squinting through the windshield. “I don’t see anything.”

“Just do what he says,” Eliza said with a sigh, not bothering to open her eyes as she leaned her head against her window.

“See that white birch tree coming up on your right?” Sam pointed, though there was no way Rob could see the gesture. “That marks the opening.”

Leigh leaned to look out past the dashboard and saw the landmark that Sam was pointing out. In the midst of a thick group of grayish-brown tree trunks, there was no way anyone could miss the white, papery bark of the birch.

“Yeah, okay,” Rob muttered, pulling the van to the side of the road. “I see it now.”

To Rob’s credit, the van stopped perfectly in line with the tree. Alex pulled the sliding door open and there it was: an unmarked but clearly identifiable path.

“Last stop,” Rob said, mimicking a public bus driver. “Everybody out.” He then turned around to Marshall and added, “Except for you, buddy. Your shift’s just beginning.”

“And mine.” Alex swung a slender arm around Marshall’s neck. “I wouldn’t abandon my man.”

Eliza opened her door and lifted up the bag of pot, shaking it tauntingly. “Not even for this?”

“On second thought…” Alex giggled. “But seriously, you guys better go before I change my mind.”

Among the discarded Jimmy Dean wrappers that had been that morning’s gas station breakfast, Leigh found a couple bottles of water and a few choice snacks. She loaded all the supplies into her backpack, but Sam insisted he carry the load. Rob, too, carried a pack, but his willingness to heft some weight was not a chivalrous gesture: his pack only contained the precious weed, a prize he demanded be kept securely on his own person.

Marshall climbed in behind the wheel and slammed the door. Leigh couldn’t help but notice the aggression behind the action.

“So I just keep going straight on this?” he asked Sam.

“Yup. Just look for Miller’s Road. That’ll take you right to the border patrol. Once you get past them, just keep goin’ till you see an old collapsed farmhouse. The trail comes out just past that.”

Alex, who had moved into the front seat, playfully jabbed an elbow into her boyfriend’s side. “Think you can handle that?”

“I think I got it,” he said flatly.

Sam continued, “You’ll most likely beat us there, so you’ll probably have to wait a little while.”

“Yeah,” Rob said, jiggling his backpack, “we might take a little break.”

Marshall grimaced. “You better not smoke any more than your share.”

“Of course I won’t.”

Leigh knew Marshall had every reason to be concerned, and judging by his furrowed brow, she was pretty sure he didn’t believe Rob, either.

Eliza walked over and leaned on the driver’s side mirror. “I thought you were supposed to get paranoid
after
you smoke, not before.”

“I’m serious.” Marshall’s eyes matched his words, which had taken on an uncharacteristically edgy tone. “If half that bag is gone by the time we meet up, I’ll be fuckin’ pissed. You hear me?”

“Loud and clear, dude,” said Rob. “We’re just going to have a tiny toke to make the hike a little more tolerable, that’s all. I promise.”

Marshall turned his attention to Eliza. “Do me a favor? Make sure he keeps his word.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will. We’ll save the
real
party for when we get home. But for now, we’ll have just a little sample to pass the time.” Eliza blew the couple in the van a kiss. “Bye, kiddies! Enjoy your air conditioning. I know I’ll be missing it in like two minutes. This bag is the only reason I’m not going with you guys.”

“How about you, Leigh?”

Her name snapped Leigh’s attention away from her nervous examination of the looming forest. She turned to see Rob shooting her a malicious grin.

“Is that your reason, too?”

Leigh decided to ignore the question, refusing to give Rob the satisfaction. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Leigh had no interest in marijuana or any other drug. Still, she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks at Rob’s comment. Leigh couldn’t deny that she chose to accompany the trio through the woods just to spend some more time with Sam.

“Okay, guys,” Alex said, buckling her seatbelt. “We’re gonna get moving. See you in a bit.”

Marshall leaned his head out and gave his best patronizing grin. “Enjoy your scenic nature walk!”

With that, the van was gone, tires spinning up pebbles as it disappeared into a cloud of dust.

Sam spun from the entrance of the trail to address the group. “Everyone ready?”

Leigh shrugged. “As ready as we’ll ever be.”

“All right, then. Let’s do it.”

They had just entered the trees, taking no more than three steps down the dirt path, when Eliza asked timidly, “There’s nothing in these woods we should be concerned about, right?”

Rob slapped his forearm, grumbling, “Besides these mosquitoes?”

“I meant is there anything dangerous.”

Sam, who led the line of four marching through the trees, stopped to look back at Eliza. “These woods? Heck, no. It’s as safe as your own backyard.”

The answer seemed good enough for Eliza, who nodded and continued on her way. Sam gave Leigh a reassuring smile before returning his attention to the uneven trail.

Leigh stared at the Major League Baseball emblem sewn into the back of Sam’s cap as they trudged along. The part of her that had been hesitant about choosing not to go with Alex and Marshall in the van—the part that couldn’t ignore the luxuries of a comfortable Rob-less ride—had completely dissipated. And all it took was one smile from a handsome guy.

Is that how easy you are?
asked Leigh’s critical inner voice.
Is that all it takes for you to lose your head and make a poor decision? Maybe you’re not as different from Alex as you thought
.

But then, instead of feeling yet another pang of regret, Leigh brightened.

Well then, maybe I’m not. Maybe I know how to relax and have a good time after all
.