Gravity Check (6 page)

Nolan doesn't look up from cleaning his glasses on his shirt. “Aw, shucks, Mitch, you're making me blush,” he says. Everyone laughs.

Chase walks Mitch to the end of the valley we're camped in. I watch him leave, disappointed that the party's over.

We stretch our muscles out, trading stories of our experiences on the jumps. After a day like that, there's no way we'll be able to get out of our sleeping bags in the morning unless we've stretched.

Seth and I are on supper detail tonight. When we're all limbered up, we start our supper preparations. I rummage through our food bag in search of some ingredients to put our meal together. Looks like it's going to be spaghetti and tomato sauce. No meat. I sigh.

Chase rejoins us at the fire pit. “What's cooking, Jamie?”

“Spag,” I say. “No meat though. Bummer.”

“We've got that veggie meat,” Chase reminds me. I brighten. Yeah, of course! I had forgotten the little package of meatless ground beef we'd brought.

“That'll work,” I say.

“We used to pack fresh meat on our hikes when I was at camp,” Chase says. “We always had to cook it by the third day, because that's when it would start to go green.”

“Ugh,” says Seth, screwing up his face in disgust. “That's nasty, man.”

Chase nods. “Yeah. The good old days,” he says, “before we learned about food safety.” He lies back on the gravel and props his head on his rolled-up fleece jacket. “I like watching you guys work. You're doing a good job.”

“You're just lazy,” I say.

Chase spreads his hands in mock helplessness. “Hey, it's the counselor's job. How can I supervise you if I'm too busy helping?”

I laugh.

Nolan rolls his bike up to the fire pit. “I'm starving,” he says, snagging a piece of carrot from the pile Seth is chopping. “Glad you guys're cooking tonight.”

“Where are you headed?” Chase asks, looking up. A flame of worry blooms inside me at his words. I had forgotten all about freebies. Nolan and Rico get to go off exploring now. I'm worried that Nolan and Rico will go down that trail, even though Seth and I tried to make it sound lame and boring when we got back to camp last night.

Nolan's next words calm my worries. “Can we go back to the jumps?” he asks.

“Hmm,” says Chase. “If you're doing tricks, you should probably have me with you. No offense, Rico, but you're still in training. And to tell you the truth, gentlemen,” he says, lacing his fingers behind his head, “I'm pretty comfy.” He closes his eyes. “I don't exactly feel like getting back on my bike.”

“We won't get hurt,” says Nolan. “Rico's a counselor. And I'm totally Mr. Cautious and In Control.”

Seth laughs. “Mr. Falling On His Ass is more like it,” he says. “Don't forget, Nolan, we've all seen your true colors.”

Nolan raises his chin and peers down his nose at Seth. “It was a moment of weakness, I'll admit,” he says. “Seriously though, Chase. We'll be careful. It's only three minutes away. If one of us gets hurt, the other can bike back for help.”

Chase thinks about this for a moment. “You got your first-aid kit, Rico?” he asks.

Rico nods and pats the bag on his back.

“I want you catching lighter air than we did today,” says Chase. “No funny stuff. And I want you back here at six.”

Nolan digs for his watch under his glove strap. “Hey, that's only half an hour,” he protests. “The other guys got way longer last night.”

“Yeah, and look at what they ran into,” says Chase. “A bear, out foraging at dusk. Not cool.” He shakes his head. “You've got half an hour. Twenty-nine minutes, now that you've spent one of them arguing with me.”

Nolan sighs and grabs his handlebars. “Half an hour,” he agrees. I listen to the crunch of gravel under his wheels as he rolls away.

Half an hour comes and goes. Nolan and Rico have yet to return.

“They're probably so stoked on the jump park that they've lost track of time,” says Seth. “That place is wicked awesome.”

“It was wicked awesome to have Mitch come and hang out with us,” I say. I'm about to ask Chase what he thinks of the stuff Mitch was talking about at lunch, but Seth goes off on me.

“Yeah, you're his little pet biker, aren't you?” Seth asks. “He thought you were just the shit, didn't he?” He's half joking, but it makes me mad all the same. I shouldn't let it get to me, but I can't help myself.

“You're just choked that you couldn't make him fall in love with you, like you can with everyone else,” I say.

Seth narrows his eyes at me. I'm pretty much the only person who can push Seth's buttons. I can see he's trying to decide whether to get into it or not. He glances at Chase, who's stretched out on the ground nearby. I think he's asleep. “Whatever, Jamie.” He lets it go. I let it go. We work in silence for a while. Seth walks to our sump spot and pours the water off the noodles.

I glance at the sun. It's already edged down behind the mountains. “They're late,” I say. “Doesn't seem like Rico to miss curfew. Nolan maybe, but not Rico.”

Seth shrugs. He's still too mad to talk.

I let a few more minutes slide by. Then I remember the computer on Chase's bike. He was showing it off today at lunch. It logs miles, checks your heart rate, maps terrain and shows you where you're going. I'm sure it could tie your shoes too, if you let it. But I know for a fact it has a clock on it.

I go to where Chase's bike is resting against a tree near the tents. The screen is blank, but as soon as I touch it, the display lights up.
6:23
. Holy smokes. Those guys have been gone for almost an hour.

I head back to the fire pit, a bad feeling growing in my stomach. Suddenly I'm certain Nolan and Rico aren't at the jump park. “Seth, did you happen to notice which way Rico and Nolan went?”

He doesn't look up from where he's stirring spaghetti sauce on the stove. “They went to the jump park, didn't they?”

“That's where they
said
they were going,” I say. I nudge Chase's foot gently with my toe. “Chase.” I nudge harder. “Chase, wake up.”

Chase opens his eyes and sits up. He shakes his head and passes a hand over his eyes. “What's up? What time is it?” He looks around. “Where are the others?”

“I don't know. I was just trying to figure that out. It's almost six thirty,” I say.

“Six thirty?” Chase is on his feet. “Where the hell are those guys?” Without waiting for an answer, he jogs off to get his bike. “I'm going out to the jump park to see what's what.” He shoulders his pack and mounts up. “You guys stay put.”

“Sure thing,” says Seth.

“Be right here,” I add. And then he's gone.

chapter eleven

Five minutes later, Chase is back. “They're not there,” he says. His voice is clipped, angry. “Where the hell are they?”

Seth and I exchange glances. Then Seth looks at the ground. My stomach drops. I don't even have to ask. Damn.

He spilled it to the others.

“The grow-op,” I say. “I
knew
you couldn't keep it quiet, Seth.” I'm fuming, but Chase is even angrier.

“What?” Chase barks. “What grow-op?” He looks from me to Seth, then back at me. “What
grow-op
, Jamie?” He's almost shouting.

We don't have much time to waste. If those guys have somehow found their way out to the grow-op, they might be in big trouble right now.

I take a deep breath and tell Chase everything that happened last night. The single track, the double track, the dozens and hundreds and thousands of plants. Our race home. I watch his face flip-flop between anger and worry.

“Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?” Chase asks when I've finished. “What were you thinking?”

“We weren't thinking,” I admit.

“We were worried that you'd make us pack up and leave,” says Seth. “And that if we left, we would miss our chance to go biking with Mitch Woodgrove.”

Chase is quiet for a moment. He shakes his head and then squeezes his temples. He looks at me. “I'm disappointed in you, Jamie,” he says gravely. “I thought you had better judgment than this.” My ears grow hot, and I drop my eyes.

“Seth,” Chase barks.

“Yeah?”

“Throw me my pack. I'm calling the camp. We need to get those guys out of there. We need help.”

Seth tosses Chase his pack. Chase unzips it and digs for the sat phone. A second later he hauls it out, presses the power button and starts dialing.

The display doesn't light up.

I watch as Chase presses the buttons harder. Nothing. “It's not working,” he says. His voice is calm, but I know he's worried.

He turns the phone over and pushes the power button again.

Still nothing.

He presses it again, holding it longer this time. I bite back on my panic, reminding myself that some phones need to have the power button pressed for a few seconds before they'll fire up.

Still nothing.

“Is it on?” Seth asks. He comes closer. “It is working?”

“I don't think so,” Chase says. “The batteries must be dead.”

“Do you have spares?” I ask.

Chase shakes his head. “Nope. They're supposed to check everything out and make sure all our equipment is in working order before we go off on out-trips,” he says. He blinks, obviously surprised that the camp sent him out with subpar equipment. Then he looks up. “What about you guys? You got spares?”

I shake my head. The only stuff we have with us that takes batteries are our headlamps, and those take tiny triple-As. No use in a sat phone.

“I don't, either,” says Chase. “Let's check Nolan's and Rico's bags.”

Our search turns up nothing.

We're stranded in a high mountain pass with no phone, no batteries. No way to call for help. And our friends are god knows where, very possibly in deep trouble.

“I'm going to kill those guys,” Chase says. “Especially Rico.”

“If the grow-op guys don't kill them first,” says Seth, putting words to the fear that's suddenly settled in each of our hearts.

“Shut up, Seth,” I say.

“What?” he asks. “It's not like we're not all worried about it.”

Chase is deep in thought as we argue, the heels of his hands pressed against his eyes. After a moment, he looks up. “I'm going after them.”

Seth turns on him. “What? Are you
crazy
? No, let's…let's wait a little while. Maybe they're on their way back now!”

I shake my head. “I doubt it, Seth. I think something's happened.”

Chase glances at the computer on his bike. “It's after seven. We'll be losing daylight soon. I think that spells trouble.”

Seth shifts uneasily on his feet. “But you can't just leave us here!”

Chase runs his hands through his hair. “I have no other choice now,” he says. “It's a tough call, but I can't take you with me. It's too late to bike out and go for help. It'll be dark soon, and the risk of getting lost is just too great. And besides, anything could happen to those two in the time it takes us to bike all the way back to camp from here. It would take us hours. Even longer in the dark.” Chase breaks off and looks toward the trees. “You two will be fine to look after yourselves until I get back. I know you will. You're both sensible guys with good outdoor skills. If we're lucky, those two have just had an accident. Broken an ankle or something. But if something is wrong— you know,
really
wrong—I don't need to be dragging you guys into it.”

“He's right, Seth,” I say. “It's too dangerous for us all to go.”

“Besides,” Chase continues, “what if they do come back? Someone needs to be here, or else they'll go looking for us. And then we'll
all
be separated. And that's dangerous.” He pulls his helmet on and buckles it.

I nod. What he's saying makes sense. I don't like the idea of splitting up, but it's the only choice we have right now.

“Where am I going?” Chase asks me.

“Head straight on the single track for about two miles, then take the fork toward the forest on the left,” I say. “The trail opens up into a double track pretty quick. The plants start growing right there. We went a few hundred feet before we turned around and came back.”

“Okay,” Chase says, sliding his shoe onto his pedal. He looks at us. At Seth's worried face. “Don't worry,” he says. “I'm coming right back. And I'll be dragging their sorry asses with me.”

I nod again, my stomach knotting into a tight ball. It feels terrible to have our counselor go off into the forest in the fading daylight. To go and find who knows what.