Lure

  Chapter 3

  DAVID

  My door opened with a bang, jolting me awake. I rolled away from it mumbling for five more minutes.

  “I should be over all the butterfliiiiiiiies, but I’m into you, I’m into you!”

  “Dude, you’ve really got to work on your song choice. Please be over those butterflies.”

  Sid cut off his serenade and dropped his arms back down to his sides when he realized what he was singing. “Okay, yeah, that was a bad choice,” he admitted.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” I asked amidst a yawn. I looked over at my clock, wondering if I had somehow slept through my 6 a.m. alarm, but the numbers read 5:49. “I didn’t know you could function this early.”

  “I came to see you off. Besides, it’s actually extremely late. I’ve been up all night working on this.” He handed me a flyer with an ad for his party. “I’m putting these up all over town. Everyone’s going to be there. It’s going to be so epic.” He started dancing around my room and I wondered how he was still so hyper if he hadn’t gotten any sleep.

  “Why didn’t you make these before graduation and hand them out there?” He stopped dancing and muttered a curse. I laughed at him as I rolled out of bed. “You know, this flyer is good. You could have a future in advertising if you could just get your timing right.”

  I went to brush my teeth and when I came back only a minute later, Sid was sitting in my desk chair looking like he was about to pass out. Apparently his energy only lasts until the task is complete. I hauled him up and started half dragging him to the kitchen for a Red Bull so he could get home. Once he perked up enough that I thought he could drive without killing anyone, I showed him out. “Next time how about you save this for after you’ve slept?”

  “No way. You’re leaving today and now the flyer will be there to convince you while I’m not.” Sid drove off and as I started back toward my room, I met Mom in the hall.

  “You all packed? I just woke Eric up, so we should be ready to go after breakfast,” she said.

  “Almost. Just a few last minute things.”

  She headed for the kitchen, and I went back to my room and pulled my bag onto the bed. I grabbed my toothbrush and a few sundries and shoved them in. By the time I changed into more outdoor-friendly clothes, the smell of eggs and bacon was wafting from the kitchen. Still half asleep, we didn’t make much conversation over breakfast. An hour later, we had the car packed up and we set out.

  The six-and-a-half-hour drive was pretty uneventful as well, but by the time we got to the campgrounds we were all excited. Actually, Eric and I were excited; Mom had begun her period of paranoia. Eric and I set up the tent and our supplies while we waited her out. I really didn’t know what the big deal was. It’s not like if there was an emergency or if we got lost we’d be totally alone. So many people were camped here that we could even see the next group over.

  We all grabbed some sandwiches out of the cooler for lunch, and Eric and I just sort of glanced around awkwardly while we ate so as not to freak Mom out. When we finished, Mom was still ringing her hands and scanning all around like she expected something to jump out from behind a tree. I checked for anything we may have missed, but everything was taken care of so I had to ask.

  “Mom, are you okay here if Eric and I head to the river?”

  She snapped her head around to me as if I’d snuck up on her. “Um…well….” Her eyes flicked all over, searching for a reason to ask us to stay. When she didn’t find one, she sighed in defeat. “Alright. But be careful. Stay together and don’t wander too far.”

  Eric and I strode off casually, but as soon as she was out of earshot, he muttered a quick “race ya” and we took off running. Eric’s long strides let him beat me but that was alright with me when I got to see him slip on the bank and do a face plant right into the water. I cracked up while he gave me a look of death. I assume that’s what it was, but it was hard to tell through the mud.

  “Oh yeah, you think that’s funny?” he said after coughing up a mouthful of water. Maybe it was my strategy. Body slam those fish. The competition starts now.”

  “Did you happen to incapacitate any fish that way? If not, and I’m guessing not, your strategy sucks.” With that, it was game on and we spent the rest of the afternoon flailing in the water, trying to grab fish. Just as the sun started to make the shadows noticeably longer, I miraculously got hold of one. It tried to wiggle away, but it was no match for me. “Ha, I win!” Holding it up in the air, I started to do a victory chant and jump around in the water.

  “No way! You so cheated! I don’t know how but you did.” Eric threw some mud at me and I nearly slipped and lost my catch. Luckily, I not only have mad fishing skills but good balance. I scrambled out of the river, fish in hand.

  “In your face! Who’s got skills now?” I laughed and dodged more of Eric’s mud missiles. Soon his unskilled arms were tired, so we turned toward camp. Just as we got to the tree line though, we heard someone calling from downriver.

  “Hey, guys! Yeah, you guys!” We turned to see a kid jogging up the bank toward us, his mass of golden curls bobbing along with him. When he got close, I realized he wasn’t actually a kid. He was short, even shorter than me, but maybe a few years older than us. He also had the greenest eyes I’d ever seen, as green as Mom’s. I imagined that despite his height, he did pretty well with the ladies because of those eyes and angelic hair. “Hey, you guys have any luck fishing today?” he asked when he reached us.

  “Well, we weren’t trying too hard, mostly just goofing off. I got one with my bare hands, though,” I told him, mostly to taunt Eric again.

  The guy chuckled at Eric’s pouty face. “Ah, so maybe that’s why I was so unlucky today; you scared all the fish off,” he said, laughing. “Guess I’ll have to pick some stuff when I head back.”

  “Oh, were you counting on catching something for dinner?” I asked. When he nodded, I felt bad for ruining his day. I held out my victory fish to him and said, “Here, take this at least. We don’t need it. Sorry for messing you up.”

  “Thanks,” he said, taking the fish. “Good that it’s just me so one fish will do for the night.”

  “No problem, man, and sorry again. Where are you camped? We’re just down there about a quarter mile, if you need anything.”

  “I’m across and downriver about half a mile. There’s a lot more hiking trails up that way, ones that aren’t traveled often. You two hike?”

  “Yeah, for sure,” Eric and I both said almost simultaneously.

  “We haven’t been up that way much,” Eric said.

  “Yeah, but maybe we should check it out,” I said looking over in the direction the guy indicated.

  “Well, I’m camped right at the base of one of the trails. I’m planning to take it tomorrow,” he said pointing toward some hills. “It can be a bit hard to see at first, but once you’re on it, it’s quite clear. It’s a nice, peaceful trail away from the masses. Maybe I’ll see you on it.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see if we can find it. What’s your name?” I asked before we parted ways.

  “Boden.”

  “I’m David, and this is my brother, Eric. Nice meeting you. We’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

  “Marvelous meeting you too,” he said before he quickly crossed the river and disappeared into the trees.

  Eric and I headed back to camp to find Mom cooking dinner over the fire and only normal-parent worried about us, the paranoia having passed. Looks like the mountain lions had failed to show themselves again. Unfortunately, our reprieve was short-lived. As soon as we told her about Boden and the trail, the paranoia came back as if it had never left.

  “Mom, what are you so freaked out about?” I said when she paused to breathe between her million questions.

  “Yeah, he’s just out camping same as us. What’s the big deal?” Eric chimed in.

  “We don’t know who he is or where the trail goes or why he wants us to take it,” she said.
br />   “Why he wants us to take it?” Eric repeated, confused. “Why do you assume he has some mysterious reason? Maybe he was just giving some fellow hikers a tip, sheesh.”

  Even though I agreed with Eric, he was not making our case well. He needed to tread lightly. He was still adamantly trying to convince her it was nothing to be worried about, but Mom had tuned out his whiny tone.

  “We’ve done the trails on this side of the river a million times. Let’s do something new this time. It’s not that far. He said it was like half a mile away. Come on, Mom.”

  “Okay, look,” I started as I stepped between them. “How about tomorrow morning we just find his camp and you can meet him for yourself,” I said to Mom. “If you think he checks out, we’ll go for the new trail. For now let’s drop it and get some sleep.” I glanced pointedly at Eric and he shut his mouth, knowing it was a draw for now. Mom still looked freaked but she nodded and then shuffled to her tent.

  “What was that?” Eric asked a few minutes later. “Why is a new trail so scary to her?”

  I started putting things away. Eric sat there pondering, not making any move to help. “I don’t know, but let it go. Your arguing isn’t helping.”

  “You agree with her?” he said sounding incredulous.

  “No, I want to take that trail too, but not if it means sending her over the edge.”

  “She always gets so weird when we first get here, but she gets over it when nothing happens. She just needs to get over it faster. A new trail could help with that.”

  “How would that help?” I said, throwing our plates a little harder than necessary into the wash bin. He was starting to piss me off. He needed to drop this. “Scaring her more is going to do just that: scare her more.”

  “But when nothing happens, she’ll see there’s no reason to be scared. We just have to give her an opportunity to see that.”

  “That won’t happen. She won’t see it until she chooses to. Just let her deal with whatever it is on her own. Fighting with her won’t help.” At that, he stomped off to our tent.

  I finished cleaning the dishes and then just sort of stared into the fire for a while, like it would give me answers. Part of me understood where Eric was coming from. Mom’s episodes could get frustrating. But there had to be something more going on, and since she never gave us real answers about it, she had to deal with it herself. My gaze wandered over to her tent, wondering if she was asleep already or if she had heard our whole conversation. I heard her move and let out a soft sigh, and I realized she had heard. I felt like crap, since it had probably sounded like we thought she was a total basket case. I know she’s not crazy, but I wish she would tell me what the problem is.

  I got up and took a step toward her tent. I thought, maybe, just this once, she’ll open up to me. But I had already tried a million times to ask her personal questions, about why she’s so afraid, about her past. A million times I’ve been shut down. What would make this time different?

  Instead I turned around and stamped the fire out. I went to our tent and found Eric already asleep. I lay down and tried to resign myself to the fact that Mom would never be completely open with us. I wondered if she really was just too terrified of whatever it is or if she just doesn’t trust us enough. I eventually drifted off into an uneasy sleep.