Lost at Running Brook Trail (4 page)

“She said stop, and we all stopped like we are in her army and she’s our commander.” Miriam dropped her backpack. If they were going to stop for this spoiled brat, they may as well take a load off.

“She may really be hurt, Miriam,” Elaine said. “She may have sprained or twisted her ankle.”

“That would be too bad.” Miriam sighed, rolled her eyes and looked to the sky, which was clear blue and dazzling in its intensity.

“I don’t want Kimberly’s ankle to be sprained or anything like that,” Susan said, “but I’m glad for the break.” She threw down her backpack and sat on it facing the hub of activity that was Kimberly’s right foot.

Kimberly paused in the untying of her laces to wipe a palm across her face. “It’s bloody hot out here,” she said, resuming the untying of the boot.

“Do you have to talk that way?” Elaine said, still standing over Kimberly.

“It’s not as if
bloody
is a bad word,” Kimberly said without looking up from her task.

“No, it’s not a bad word, but the way you use it makes it sounds that way.”

“At last,” Kimberly said. The tongue of her right boot was finally hanging loose like that of a thirsty dog on a hot day. She took off the boot hurriedly and felt inside.

“Well, what is the medical emergency?” Miriam asked.

“Maybe it’s a pebble,” Susan said, still sitting on her backpack. It would be nice to be eating a Big Mac with cheese and bacon minus the vegetables with a large soda. She would make sure she had this when she got back to civilization.

Kimberly felt inside the boot and suddenly raised her hand triumphantly. “Got it!”

Elaine, Miriam and Susan struggled to see what she held. They only saw a tiny speck that glinted in the sunlight.

“And what the hell is that?” Miriam asked, sounding irritated and walking up to Kimberly.

“A magnetic stud from my insole.”

“What!”

“I’m wearing a magnetic insole that stimulates and massages my feet while I walk. One of the studs got loose.”

“Oh, so what we’ve got here is a case of the princess and the pea. Miss sensitivity.”

“Just take a hike!” Kimberly said to Miriam.

“That’s what we were all doing until you decided that we should all stop and pay attention to your royal foot.” Miriam found a nearby stone and gave it a good strong kick.

“Now that the source of your pain is found,” Elaine said, “put your boot back on so we can all go.”

Kimberly flicked the silvery stud away, the light catching it as it dropped away. She put her head down and began to lace her boot.

Susan said nothing. All she knew was that the tightening of Kimberly’s lace meant she had to pick up her backpack and begin the endless walk again. She watched Kimberly’s fingers and willed them to work slowly, but the lace was now tied.

With bags now on backs, they all turned to continue the trek.

“Does anybody see what I’m seeing?” Miriam asked, stopping in her tracks. The others had too as well.

“If you mean we’re the only four people standing here, with none of our other schoolmates in sight, then I’m seeing exactly what you’re seeing.” Elaine looked as far ahead as she could and saw nothing but trees, mountains and the hint of trails here and there.

“We can’t just stand here,” Miriam said. “How far could they be anyway? We didn’t stop too long. They must be just around the corner.” She began running down the trail, the bottom of her boots leaving clear, grooved tracks in the hard earth, while her toes kicked up dust.

Elaine, Kimberly and Susan, perhaps not knowing what else to do, began to run as well. They ran past tall pine trees, brown-gold and green grass and shrubbery, barely noticing what they passed. They came to a clearing and stopped, barely able to catch their breath. Miriam and Elaine were bent over, hands on their knees like athletes after a race. Kimberly and Susan were down on their haunches. Kimberly’s head was bent forward, her hair sweeping the earth. Susan, wheezing, wondered if she would ever breathe normally again.

At the clearing, several trails presented themselves, most leading into what looked like denser woodlands.

“What are we going to do?” Susan looked perplexed and sweaty from her perch below. “We could just go back to the camp.”

“We could do that but we can’t remember all the switches of different trails that we took. All but one of these trails seems to be leading into some sort of forest. I would think they went on the trail that’s fairly clear and easy to navigate.” Elaine, who was now fully recovered from the sprint, walked around the entrance of each trail.

“Plus,” Miriam added, “none of these bushed-up trails seem to have had any recent activity. Nothing broken!”

“She’s
Mantracker
now,” Kimberly said, standing up now. She spat on the ground and scuffed out the wet spot with her boot.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Miriam jumped on Kimberly, literally. Kimberly fell backward, propped up partially by her backpack. Miriam was atop her, straddling her, her hand around her neck. She was seemingly blinded by rage as her two thumbs squeezed Kimberly’s throat.

“You self-loving airhead, can’t you see what you’ve done?” Miriam shouted.

Kimberly, struggling and defiant retorted, “Say it, don’t spray it!” This only served to take Miriam’s rage up a notch. She used only one hand now to try and force Kimberly’s head into the ground.

Susan was stunned and just stood with mouth wide open, but finally turned to Elaine and asked, “Are you going to do something?”

Elaine stood with her arms folded and watched the two on the ground. This had been brewing and was inevitable. Maybe if they fought long enough, they wouldn’t have any fight left. Maybe just wishful thinking.

“No, let them have a go at it, nobody’s going to die. They’ll only be a little sore.”

Kimberly was fighting back, using her hands to push at Miriam’s face. “Get off me, you malicious freak!”

“Because of you we’re lost! Do you even get that?”

“I get that you’re crazy and want to fight,” Kimberly panted.

Miriam screamed in exasperation, knowing nothing she said was getting through. She slapped Kimberly across the face, splitting her lip. Kimberly frantically scratched and clawed at Miriam’s face.

Elaine, who had seen enough, stood over them and with great effort pulled Miriam away. Miriam didn’t want to let go, and Elaine had to summon all her strength to accomplish this. Miriam was finally dragged away, one button from Kimberly’s blouse in her clawing hands. Kimberly lay on the ground panting and recovering her breath, her blonde hair now streaked with dust.

“Why’d you pull me off her?” Miriam turned to Elaine with anger blazing in her eyes.

“We all need our strength and senses to continue this hike and find the others. It’s futile to waste energy on a fight.”

“I wanted to break her neck.”

“I can tell, but we’re not going to get anywhere with her dead.”

They started on the trail they had chosen, not sure it was the right one but taking a chance.

Gravelled Road
 

The path turned sharply right onto a wide gravel trail that followed a creek. The sounds of the gurgling water over rocks that would once have been soothing now sounded ominous. They came to a stop and listened intently, hearing only the irregular, broken sounds of water.

“Hello,” Miriam shouted at the top of her lungs, her face turned up to the sky. Her voice seemed to be washed away in the vastness of the Albertan sky, air and looming mountains. “Can anybody hear me?” she shouted again with the same results.

“Maybe we should call out together for a stronger effect,” Miriam said.

“Hello!” they shouted together, with the exception of Kimberly, who stared at the creek.

“Kimberly,” Elaine said, “why aren’t you helping?”

“Nobody’s answering, and why don’t we find our way back to civilization by ourselves?”

Miriam laughed mirthlessly. She really had to control herself because Kimberly was getting on her last nerve. She didn’t know how she was going to survive this and keep her sanity at the same time.

“We had a guide because we don’t know where we are and where we are going.” The sun was scorching, and Kimberly’s response was also getting to Elaine. “Do you see the number of trails out here?”

Kimberly wondered why they were bothering her. How hard could it be to get out of these backwoods and get some means of help? All they had to do was pick a trail and follow it; they all led to some destination.

Elaine took one of her water bottles from her bag and drank most of the water. With the heat she might just faint from dehydration. Good thing they were by this creek.

“I’m going down to fill my water bottles.” Elaine began to navigate the embankment, holding on to shrubs to ensure her footing. Miriam followed; they didn’t know when they would see water again. Soon Kimberly was by the side of the creek too, with only Susan still standing on the gravel road, looking down at the other three. Analyzing the incline, she didn’t want to expend all that energy to get down there.

A poem from English class, thought to have been written in the 1800s, popped into her head. Without knowing why, she began to recite it.

“Down by the water we go

Everything we do is a show.

Hold my hand so you can understand

that we have no master plan.”

The writer was anonymous. Who would write something like this and not leave a name? The poem’s alive but the writer’s dead and obscure.

Elaine, hearing Susan’s recitation, looked up from filling her water bottle. She knew the second and the third verse. It was a poem they all had learned perhaps two years ago.

“Are you coming down?” Elaine broke into Susan’s thoughts.

Susan was contemplating the second verse. Again she looked down with disinclination.

Miriam, mistaking Susan’s aversion for fear of falling, called out, “It’s not that steep.”

Kimberly stared at her reflection in the water, turning this way and that but still unable to make out anything significant but a jagged, ill-formed silhouette.

“It’s okay; I’ll wait on you guys to get back up.” Susan sat on the edge of the gravel path facing the creek.

“Do you have water?” Miriam asked.

“A little,” Susan answered.

“So how are you going to get water in your bottle?” Elaine interjected. “If I were you I would come down here.”

Susan reluctantly got up from the road and mustered all her energy. She skated down the path, raking up leaves and stones in her wake.

“Good of you to join us,” Elaine said.

Kimberly, unconcerned with the others, filled her bottle. She emptied the full bottle on her hair and washed it with something in a small bottle that looked like shampoo. She was finally contented that it was fully washed and began to wring the entire thing out like a long yellow rag.

Elaine filled two bottles. She had carried an extra one because she knew how thirsty she got, especially when she was this exposed to the sun.

“We should eat lunch,” Susan said after washing her face. She was glad she had finally come down because she felt refreshed.

“You can eat if you want to,” Elaine said, “but I’ll be prolonging lunch until I’m really starving. We could be out here for a while.”

They sat by the creek, not wanting to leave. They watched the water wind its way over and around the rocks. Some parts were clear so the bottom was clear, but many parts were dark, shadowed by the trees hanging over its path.

Scampering up the incline like squirrels in the bushes, they headed for the trail again. They had forgone their eating plans. Kimberly was used to this. She prided herself on being thin. She wasn’t going to be a plus-sized model. She was going to be slim, pouty and angry-looking while making millions.

However, Susan, who couldn’t wait, had half a sandwich in one hand, a neat bite-sized crescent in its centre. Eating and climbing lethargically, she was left behind. One hand held the sandwich, the other clung to a supporting shrub. She made it back up to the gravel path safely, the half sandwich eaten.

They began walking again. The gravel path slanted away to the left so that the creek could no longer be seen but provided a backdrop of sounds in the distance. Perhaps it was the soundtrack to their being lost and alone. The cries of birds pierced the air at intervals, haunted in their calling to each other.

Miriam continued her stone-kicking ritual, but travelling on a gravel road filled with small rocks, she had to concentrate on which stone she was kicking. Perhaps not even kicking the same one. “We’re really lost, aren’t we?” she asked Elaine after she let another stone fly.

“It looks that way.” Elaine adjusted the bag on her back. The straps seemed to be eating into her shoulders. “But we might find them or they might find us.”

“It’s because of that one.” Miriam nodded back toward Kimberly, who was walking behind them.

“Only partially. We stopped of our own accord, and Mrs. Marks had warned us not to separate from the group. We’re going to be in deep for this one. We’re supposedly on a learning trip and we messed up big time. We can’t even follow simple instructions.”

They walked at a slower pace now. Heat and hunger took their toll, and it was hard to keep walking over small, packed-in stones.

“They messed up too,” Miriam responded. “They’re supposed to protect us with bells and whistles and all that stuff. So it evens out.”

“Yeah, like we could really make that one stick. Why do they need bells and whistles when we were given very specific directives? That’s how they’re going to spin it.”

The sounds of the keys on a phone broke into the quiet. Kimberly held a BlackBerry Storm in her hands.

“You had a phone all along, you idiot!” Miriam rushed back and attempted to grab the Storm from Kimberly. The phone hit the ground.

“If my phone is damaged, you’ll pay.” Kimberly bent and picked up the phone. She had just bought it, and now it was possible it was broken. Why did she have to be on this trip anyway? Here she was on this godforsaken road filled with stones, with these losers who wanted to damage her good phone, not to mention her good face. It had to be her face! It was the reason she was here. They all envied her face.