No Sanctuary (20 page)

“We better keep our eyes peeled. For cats—and for The Three Thugateers,” Bert said. “And tell the girls, too. Better safe than sorry. Anyway, we keep to the main trail, cougars won’t bother us.”

“Okay. But you said we shouldn’t confront the guys empty-handed,” Rick said. “What did you have in mind?”

“Weapons.” She patted the sheath knife on her belt and eyed Rick’s. “The girls have knives, too.”

Rick opened the side pocket of his pack. He pulled out the T-shirt and unwrapped his revolver.

Bert gazed at it. “My God,” she muttered.

“Just in case there’s real trouble,” he said. He lifted the back of his shirt and pushed the pistol under his belt. Its barrel slid down cool between his buttocks. He let his shirt-tail hang out to conceal the bulge.

“I don’t believe this,” Bert said.

“I knew you wouldn’t like the idea. That’s why I kept it out of sight. But it’ll do us a lot more good than knives and a hatchet.”

“You wouldn’t shoot anyone?”

“If we’re attacked ... This isn’t fun ’n games, Bert. We’ve got to be ready to protect ourselves.”

“But a gun.”

“They’ve got knives, too, you know. You actually think we’d stand a chance if it came to a fight?”

“I don’t want anyone getting killed.”

“As long as it’s them and not us.”

“You and Dirty Harry. Maybe we shouldn’t take any weapons at all.”

“Are you looking to get yourself gang-raped? Or chewed up by a cougar?”

“Yeah. Cougars.” The color drained from her face.

“It’ll stay in my belt unless they try for us.”

“Promise?” she asked in a small voice. “You won’t wave it in their faces and threaten them?”

“They’ll never know I have it. If I pull the gun, it comes out firing.”

“Don’t let the girls know about it, either. Andrea—she might start something with the guys if she knew you had it.”

“It’ll be our secret. You and me.”

“I wish it was just your secret.”

“Well, now at least you know we’ve got some protection.”

“A real comfort. You didn’t happen to bring along a nuclear warhead?”

“Wouldn’t fit in my pack.”

Bert sighed. “Let’s go. My teeth are floating.”

He followed her out of the clearing. They leaped the small stream. A distance beyond it, he stopped and Bert went ahead. She stepped behind a tree. Rick heard her belt buckle, the rustle of fabric as she lowered her pants.

She didn’t take it well, he thought. But at least she didn’t go ape. She’ll be damn glad I’ve got the gun if things get so bad that I have to use it. The look on her face when I mentioned getting gang-banged. Hell, she’d probably use it herself before she’d let that happen.

Give the gun to ber if she’s so afraid of what I’ll do with it.

I don’t think so. No, I don’t think so. Not such a hot idea. She might not even know how to fire the thing, and even if she did, she might chicken out until it’s too late. Too late for all of us.

I’ll just keep it, thanks.

Just let them try something, they’ll be dead meat.

Dead meat.

The words had a chilling ring to them.

Rick began to tremble. His breath hissed through his clenched teeth.

If I’d had a gun last time, Julie would still be alive. They wouldn’t have fucked her and killed her. I’d have blown their heads off and saved her and we wouldn’t have been alone together until Dad got back with help and Dad wouldn’t have acted like I’d killed her and he wouldn’t have turned into a drunk and killed himself and my life wouldn’t have turned to shit.

All because I didn’t have a gun.

Well, I’ve got one now.

Bert came out from behind the trees, fastening her belt. When she saw Rick, her face darkened. “What’s wrong?” She looked around as if expecting to spot the guys.

“Everything’s fine,” Rick said.

“Is it?”

“I’m just worried about what might happen.”

“What’s to worry about? You’ve got your equalizer.”

“Thank God.”

They returned to the clearing. The girls were out of their tent. Both had changed into jeans and jogging shoes. Bonnie wore a sweatshirt, Andrea a red plaid shirt with long sleeves. It looked too big for her, and it wasn’t tucked in.

“Do you have knives or something?” Rick asked.

Nodding, Bonnie patted a bulge in a front pocket of her jeans. Andrea lifted the front of her shirt. Sheathed at her hip was a hunting knife with a staghorn handle. “Bonnie has a tomahawk we could take along,” she said.

“It’s my brother’s old Boy Scout hand-axe. But we probably shouldn’t take it with us. I mean, we don’t want to look like we’ve come to do battle.”

“I agree,” Bert said. “I think we should just play it very cool.”

“Maybe you should do the talking,” Rick suggested. “You were good with them this morning.”

“Okay.”

“And no mouthing off,” Bonnie told Andrea.

“You think I’m stupid?”

“You flipped them off, didn’t you?”

“That was different. They were ten miles away.” She scrunched up her face and said, “Uh-oh. You don’t suppose that’s why they came down? Maybe I pissed them off and they came down to pound the shit out of me.”

Her tone was half joking, but Rick could see that the possibility had her worried.

He’d read, last month, of a motorist being killed because he gave the finger to the driver of a pickup truck that cut him off. The pickup stopped, blocking the road. The driver got out, pulled the man from the car, and beat him to death with a tire iron.

“I’m sure your gesture didn’t help the situation,” Bonnie said.

“I doubt if that’s why they’re here,” Bert said, and Rick nodded in agreement.

“Good. Glad of that. So all they want to do is fuck our butts off.”

“Hilarious,” Bonnie muttered.

“Come on,” Bert said. “Let’s get it over with.”

She led the way. Rick followed. His leg muscles felt soft and shaky. Everything, he realized, felt soft and shaky, as if his skin was filled with jelly.

“Oh, and incidentally,” Bert murmured, over her shoulder,

“I came across cougar tracks when I went for a pee back there.” She glanced at the girls’ faces and saw that she had all of their attention. “Just thought you ought to know.”

“Should we whistle a happy tune?” Andrea asked.

“Should we shut up?” Bonnie suggested.

“Everybody wearing clean panties?”

Rick heard a soft whack.

“Hey!”

“Just cut it out,” said Bonnie. “There’s nothing funny going on here.”

“Why don’t you lighten up.” Andrea sounded hurt. “Just because we’re walking toward our imminent defilement and demise, you don’t have to be so fucking tense about it.”

Rick looked back. “We’ll be okay,” he said.

Andrea made a grim smile. “Encouragement from the male. You ever hear the one about the Lone Ranger and Tonto? They’re surrounded by an Injun war party, they’re out of ammo. The Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and says, ‘Looks like we’re gonna buy the ranch.’ And Tonto, he says, ‘What you mean we, white man?’ ”

We’re not out of ammo, Rick thought. He wanted to lift his shirt-tail and let her see the revolver, but he’d promised Bert to keep the gun secret from the girls.

It would ease their minds, knowing.

But Bert was right. If Andrea knew about the gun, she might become very brave and make matters worse.

“We’ll be all right,” he said.

“Yeah? You got an Uzi or something?”

“No, but I’m good with my dukes.”

She smiled. “That’s consoling.”

“Is this banter absolutely necessary?” Bert asked.

Rick faced forward again. “Just trying to keep up the morale of the troops.”

Her eyes flashed. She looked shaky. Rick realized, suddenly, that he no longer felt loose and shivery inside. “The banter helps,” he said. “Why don’t I take over the lead.” Bert nodded. She stepped aside. Though the late afternoon was mild and they had been walking in the shade, she was wet. Honey-colored curls were stuck to her forehead. Her face and neck looked slick. The sides of her pale blue shirt were dark. Rick saw that she had buttoned it all the way up. He stopped in front of her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

A corner of her mouth twitched. “Maybe we should turn back,” she said. “The more I think about it...”

“Why don’t I go on ahead,” Rick suggested. “You and the girls could wait here. There’s no need for all of us to confront those creeps.”

“I’m not going to let you do it alone,” Bert said.

“Besides,” Bonnie added, “we don’t even know for sure where they are. Or the wildlife, and I’m talking cats, here, for that matter.”

“Yeah,” Andrea said. “What if you go on your own, and the guys, or the cats, jump the rest of us?”

“The bastards are probably up near those rocks,” Rick said, pointing. He deliberately didn’t mention cats. They hadn’t actually seen a cougar anyway, so in his opinion, The Thugateers posed a more immediate danger.

The rocks suddenly seemed very close. There it was again. Whoever, whatever it was, ducked out of the way, behind another rock. It wasn’t one of the teens. Too thin, too wiry. Too spindly. What the hell was it? Good thing he’d got the gun.

For godsake, what is it about this place?

One thing’s for sure. Little House on the Prairie it ain’t.

Too right...

Best not alarm the girls till I know the score about our mystery stalker.

“We’d better all stick together,” Andrea said. “It’ll be four against three. Even if some of us are of the female variety, it doesn’t mean we’re helpless.”

“And we’ve got our knives,” Bonnie added.

“We’ll stay together,” Bert said.

Rick kept going. She moved on behind him. He felt her hand rub lightly for a moment between his shoulder blades. Then it was gone.

He walked along the shoreline path, closer and closer to the rocks where the boys had been crouching to watch Bonnie and Andrea. He saw no heads among the rocks.

They would’ve seen us coming by now, he thought. They probably took to the trees. We may not find them at all.

He passed the rocks, and looked back at the place where they’d been.

Gone.

Bert touched his shoulder. He snapped his head to the left.

Jase was sitting on a log beside the fire ring of a campsite not far from shore. He wore jeans and no shirt. He was staring at them. A cigarette hung from a comer of his mouth.

Luke was stretched out on a sleeping bag in a patch of sunlight. His hands were folded under his head. He wore sunglasses and jockey shorts. His skin looked almost as white as his underwear, except for a cluster of zits in the center of his chest.

Wally, sitting cross-legged in the shade, was stripping the wrapper off a Mars bar. He still wore his cut-off jeans and camouflage shirt.

“Hi there,” Jase said as Rick entered the clearing. Bert moved up beside him, and he heard the footsteps of the girls to the rear.

Wally looked up from his candy bar. A smile spread across his broad face. Luke propped himself up with straight arms and crossed his outstretched legs at the ankles.

“Thought you people would be on the other side of the pass by now,” Jase said.

“We thought you would, too,” Bert told him.

“Nope. When we got to this place, we decided to flake out.”

“Wally was whining about his feet,” Luke said.

Wally, chewing on his candy bar, nodded agreement.

“So you didn’t go up the mountain at all?” Bert asked.

“Nope. Been here since about noon.”

“Funny. We walked right by this place a couple of hours ago and you weren’t here.”

“Don’t know how that happened.”

“Must’ve been while we were gathering firewood,” Luke said.

Rick glanced at the pile of kindling and branches near the fireplace. He hadn’t noticed it when he and Bert had looked at the campsite earlier. But he was certain that the boys’ packs hadn’t been here either.

They’re lying, he thought. Of course they are. They’d been the ones with the binoculars high up on the trail, and they’d come back down because of the women.

“Are you going to introduce us to your friends?” Jase asked.

“Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum,” Andrea said.

Luke grinned.

“The friendly type,” Jase said, and mashed his cigarette under his boot.

“I don’t like being spied on,” Andrea said.

“Shut up, would you?” Bonnie muttered.

“Has somebody been spying on you?” Jase asked.

“Sounds like she means us,” Luke said. “Do you mean us?”

“Who do you think I mean, anus-face?”

“Woooo.”

Bert whirled around and glared at Andrea. “Would you please stop it?”

“You people must have us mixed up with someone else,” Jase said, all innocence. “We haven’t been spying on anyone. We’ve just been hanging out, relaxing. Isn’t that right, Wally?”

Wally swallowed and nodded. His face was bright red.

“Isn’t that right, Luke?”

“We have simply been minding our own business. Frankly, I find myself disgruntled. Not only are we being unjustly accused, but my face has been maligned by this vicious wench.”

“I think you’re the one getting spied on,” Wally blurted.

“Indeed. I believe they came here for the sole purpose of ogling me in my dainties.”

“Nothing there to ogle,” Andrea said.

Wally whooped. Jase’s thin lips turned up. Bonnie squeezed Andrea’s shoulder, making her grimace for a moment before she knocked the hand away.

With a thumb, Luke hooked out his waistband and peered down the front. “Oh yeah,” he said, “something there all right. Want to see?”

“That’s about enough,” Rick said.

The elastic snapped down. Luke grinned at him.

“I don’t know what you guys think you’re up to, but rd suggest you pack up your stuff and get out of here,” Rick said.

Jase narrowed his eyes. “Hey, man, it’s a free country. You don’t like us here, you move on.”

“And have you follow us there, too?”

“We haven’t followed you anywhere. We were here first. You don’t like it, tough.”

“We’re not leaving,” Bert told him. “We’re staying exactly where we are—and I’m sure you know where that is. We saw you looking at the girls from those rocks by the shore. Now here’s the thing. Stay away. Don’t come anywhere near our camp, or else.”