In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries)

  She heard Jeremiah’s breathing slow down even further and she was sure he must have finally fallen asleep. She lay there for what seemed a long time listening to the sounds of the night. People began to snore and she smiled but managed not to start laughing again. Beds creaked as their occupants moved around. Outside she could hear crickets. She could feel herself finally getting drowsy. She flipped onto her side, started to pray, and fell asleep before she could finish.

  A piercing scream caused her to sit bolt upright. She grabbed for her flashlight and switched it on. A moment later several others came on as well. She hit the floor, the thud incredibly loud in the silence following the scream. She winced slightly at the impact on her ankles.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  “It came from the bathroom,” Jeremiah said. He was standing next to her and she hadn’t even heard him hit the ground.

  “Where’s Traci?” Mark demanded a moment later. Cindy shone her light toward the other woman’s bunk and saw that she wasn’t there.

  Heart in her throat, Cindy ran toward the bathroom, her light bobbing all over. She had no idea where the light switches were and no time to waste looking for them.

  She skidded into the bathroom and saw Traci standing, clutching a sink. She had one hand clamped over her mouth and she was staring downward, eyes wide in horror.

  Cindy dropped the beam of her light toward Traci’s feet. There on the floor was the body of a man, blood pooling underneath his head.

  2

  Thank heavens I wasn’t the one who found him, Cindy thought to herself as she stood, flashlight trained on the dead man. A moment later lights flooded on behind her in the cabin. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced back to see Jeremiah standing behind her. He reached over and found the light switch in the bathroom and turned it on.

  Mark entered the room a moment later and reached for Traci who leaped over the body and flew into his arms, sliding slightly in the blood on the floor.

  Kyle burst into the room, his hair sticking straight up, wearing grey sweats and an old Star Wars T-shirt that seemed vaguely familiar to her and was way too small for him.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  She pointed to the floor and he dropped his eyes. “Martin!” he shouted and started to drop to his knees.

  Cindy grabbed him and pulled him back. “Don’t touch the body,” she hissed.

  “Body?” he asked, sounding dazed. “That’s Martin. We have to help him.”

  “We can’t help him. He’s dead.”

  He turned and stared at her, eyes large and glassy looking. “That’s not possible,” he whispered after a moment.

  “I’m afraid it is,” she said, putting her arms around him and hugging him.

  He just stood there, unmoving, and her heart ached for him. She remembered how it had felt when she’d tripped over the dead body in the sanctuary, and she hadn’t even known that guy.

  “Take him in the other room,” Jeremiah said softly.

  She nodded. She pulled away from Kyle and took his arm. He didn’t fight her as she led him back into the main cabin, but he kept staring back over his shoulder. She forced him to sit down on one of the lower bunks, she thought it was Mark’s. Then she sat beside him and put her arm around him.

  “It’s going to be okay,” she told him quietly.

  “Martin’s dead,” he said numbly.

  She nodded. He had introduced all his crew when everyone had arrived and she was struggling to remember what he’d said Martin’s job was. She was pretty sure he was the cameraman. She could be wrong, though. As she rubbed his shoulder she couldn’t help but notice that the T-shirt was full of holes and well worn. It had seen far too many washings and she wondered idly given how small it was why he didn’t just throw it out.

  A few minutes later Mark was sitting Traci down on Cindy’s other side. She put an arm around her as well and just sat, trying to offer what comfort she could to both of them.

  It seemed to take forever but police finally arrived and took charge of the scene. Soon everyone was in the main cabin area sitting on bunks, including Jeremiah. Mark was the only one who was still in the bathroom area talking with the officers.

  “I didn’t want to turn on my flashlight,” Traci said woodenly.

  Cindy turned to look at her. “What?” she asked.

  “I didn’t want to wake anyone up and there was just enough light coming through the window that I thought I could just get up and go to the bathroom and it would be okay. Then I kicked something and fell against the sink.”

  “And that’s when you screamed,” Cindy said.

  “Did I? I don’t remember,” Traci said, sounding dazed.

  “You did. That’s what woke me up,” Cindy told her.

  “It woke everyone up,” Kyle said.

  “I’m sorry,” Traci said.

  It was a ridiculous thing to apologize for, but Cindy could tell that Traci was in shock. Kyle was, too. She thought it spoke volumes that she, herself, felt fine. When had dead bodies become commonplace?

  “Are you okay?” Jeremiah asked.

  Cindy nodded. “I think we could use some blankets and maybe some tea or apple juice or something for these two.”

  She had been learning recently that apple juice did wonders to calm her down when she was starting to freak out.

  “I’ve got tea I can make,” the cook volunteered.

  “Mark,” Cindy called.

  The detective entered the room and came quickly over. “What is it?” he asked, looking worriedly at his wife.

  “The cook volunteered to make some tea for those who need it,” Cindy said.

  Mark nodded. “That should be fine. I’ll let the sheriff know.”

  The cook got up and headed outside to the chuck wagon. He returned a few minutes later with some steaming mugs which he handed to Kyle and Traci. Traci took hers and then looked up at him. “I know you,” she said.

  He nodded grimly. “Yeah, when the bosses at the Escape! Channel suggested this to me I thought it might be kind of fun. I’m rethinking that at the moment.” He straightened up and looked around. “Who else needs tea?”

  A couple of others raised their hands and he left to get more mugs.

  “Who is he?” Cindy asked, struggling to remember how her brother had introduced him. She was pretty sure it had just been a fake, old west kind of name like Cookie.

  “Brent Joelson. He’s a famous chef, owns a bunch of really high-end restaurants.”

  Cindy blinked. “And he agreed to be our camp cook?”

  “It seemed like a good idea,” Kyle muttered after taking a sip of his tea. “The network wanted to see how long before viewers figured out who he was. They wanted to have a few different Escape! Channel hosts show up. Bunni Sinclair was supposed to come, but she broke her leg while filming an updated segment for Girl Meets Guam.”

  Traci winced. “I always feel so sorry for her. Terrible things always seem to happen to her.”

  Cindy could relate, but she didn’t say so.

  Detective Mark Walters wondered if he was the cursed one or if it was Cindy. After a moment’s thought he decided it had to be Cindy. He just had the misfortune of being here as did Traci. He winced, feeling incredibly bad for his wife. She had been so excited about the trip, too, that it just made him feel guilty that he’d been such a jerk about it. He’d find a way to make it up to her.

  After the year they’d had, they both deserved something nice. Maybe a second honeymoon somewhere. He began to warm to the thought even as he stood in the cold bathroom waiting to see if the sheriff needed anything more from him.

  On the plus side it looked like the dead man had just fallen on the slippery tile, hit his head on a sink, and died. It was tragic, but a matter for the lawyers and insurance companies, not for homicide detectives. Which was a relief to say the least. He got enough of murder and mayhem at home without dealing with it on vacation.

  “I don’t see anything to make
me think this wasn’t just an accident,” the sheriff said at last.

  Mark nodded.

  “Still, I’ll need to take statements from everyone else, just in case,” the man said with a sigh.

  Mark could feel his pain. It was the middle of the night and both of them wanted nothing more than to get some sleep. Mark led him into the other room.

  “Everyone, this is Sheriff Danvers,” Mark said, feeling the need to make an introduction.

  “Thank you, Detective. I’d like everyone to just sit tight. I’ve got to ask a few questions, but I’ll try to be as quick as possible.”

  Around the room heads bobbed up and down. Fear mixed with grief on several faces. For most this was probably the first dead body they’d encountered, at least, like this.

  “Is there anything you need me to do, Sheriff?” he asked.

  “I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”

  Mark headed over and just managed to squeeze into the space on the other side of Traci. Cindy was still wedged in between her and Kyle. Jeremiah was standing, leaning against a bunk, arms folded across his chest, attempting to look casual. But Mark could see the way his eyes were roving over everything and everyone. He was clearly worried, and given their history he had good reason to be.

  “Don’t worry,” he said quietly to Cindy, but loud enough that he knew Jeremiah would hear. “It looks like it was just an unfortunate accident.”

  Cindy looked relieved. Jeremiah flicked his eyes toward Mark’s briefly and he could tell the rabbi wasn’t convinced.

  Traci was looking better than she had before and she had almost finished drinking her tea. He put his arm around her and hugged her tight and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  Jeremiah watched as the sheriff made the rounds, asking people the same few questions. Everyone had the same answers. No one had seen or heard anything until Traci screamed. No one knew of any problems that Martin had. It was all very predictable.

  Jeremiah had gotten a good look at the accident scene. Mark was right. It looked like a classic slip and fall accident. The floor was slick enough that it was inevitable that someone would fall on it. Hitting his head on the sink had been the tragic part.

  Still, Jeremiah couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t an accident. He tried to tell himself that he was being paranoid. There was nothing to suggest that it was anything but an accident. He had been sound asleep until Traci screamed and he hadn’t heard or seen anything suspicious before. Everyone in the cabin seemed genuinely shocked.

  When the sheriff finished questioning everyone it was nearly two in the morning. The general consensus was that no one wanted to go back to sleep in the cabin so close to the spot where Martin had died. The sleeping blankets that they would have been using on the trail were broken out as everyone moved outside. It was cold, but the sleeping bags were warm and everyone was exhausted.

  Within minutes people began to fall asleep until Jeremiah was the last one awake. He was still feeling unsettled and when he finally did go to sleep, he slept lightly, prepared to rise at the slightest hint that anything was wrong.

  Cindy could hear the sounds of people getting up and moving around. She could tell that it was light out, but she wasn’t ready to get up yet. She laid still, snuggled inside her sleeping blanket. Her hand was wrapped around her flashlight just as it had been when she had finally fallen asleep.

  At the time she had told herself it was just because she was worried about finding it easily if she needed to get up for anything. In truth, though, she realized she’d been worried something else would happen in the middle of the night.

  Those fears seemed silly now, though. It had been an accident. That’s what the sheriff and Mark both had said. Somehow in the light of morning it was easier to believe.

  Suddenly she smelled bacon and that proved to be too much of a temptation. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Next to her Traci was just starting to sit up. Jeremiah, Mark, and Kyle’s sleeping bags were all empty. Several people were standing around in various states of waking.

  She reached over and touched Traci’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better. Not good, but better. And hungry, surprisingly. I think I could eat everyone’s share of bacon by myself.”

  Cindy grinned. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”

  Traci frowned. “Unfortunately, before I eat anything I need to use the restroom.”

  “I’ve been wondering for the last minute or so how to avoid that myself,” Cindy admitted.

  “Mark told me about that first day you met. How did you force yourself to go back into the sanctuary after you tripped over that body there?”

  “It was either force myself to deal with it or get a new job. In the end dealing seemed the better choice,” Cindy said.

  “Okay. So, come help me deal with this?”

  “You bet.”

  When they made it into the bathroom Cindy was relieved to see that someone had already cleaned up and gotten rid of the blood. Still Traci and she both gave the spot a wide berth and hurried to finish changing and get out of there.

  She breathed easier once they were back outside. They found Jeremiah and Mark standing together a little ways away from everyone else. Cindy’s stomach rumbled loudly as the smell of bacon became nearly overpowering.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “A couple of new people arrived this morning. I think one of them is Kyle’s boss. Not sure who the other one is.”

  “When do you think they’re going to bring in the helicopter to pick us up?” Cindy asked.

  Mark shrugged. “It’s hard to say.”

  “While we wait to see what’s going on we might as well eat,” Jeremiah said just as Cindy’s stomach rumbled again.

  She realized she hadn’t eaten much of the stew the night before. She had been nervous enough she hadn’t really tasted anything. It was a shame. How often did she have a chance to eat food prepared by a famous chef?

  Breakfast was pretty standard fare including bacon, eggs, and biscuits. It was all delicious, though.

  Everyone ate in the same small groups that they had the night before but this time it was much quieter, the mood definitely subdued. It was a stark contrast to the night before and Cindy couldn’t help but feel a little sad, especially when she looked at Traci. The other woman’s enthusiasm had started rubbing off on her and now she felt a little lost at the thought that they weren’t going to get to even start on their journey let alone complete it.

  She noticed that Kyle seemed a lot better than he had the night before. He was standing apart from everyone having an animated conversation with the man she guessed was his boss. She couldn’t help but wonder how the whole mess was going to affect his new show.

  As soon as they had finished eating they all packed up their gear. It took Cindy three tries to roll her sleeping bag up as tightly as it had been before. Jeremiah offered to help after he finished packing his stuff but she felt the need to accomplish it herself. When she had she felt a small amount of pride and he just grinned at her. Whenever he smiled like that it made her feel warm inside.

  When they were all packed up they ended up sitting back on the same hay bales they had sat on for dinner and breakfast. She could see the corral with the horses and she noticed that the cowboys were busy saddling them up.

  “Look,” she said, pointing. “What do you think is going on?” she asked.

  “That’s an excellent question,” Jeremiah muttered.

  She turned to look for her brother and saw him making the rounds of his crew. He had a smile plastered across his face that only looked a little strained and he was shaking hands one after the other. He would know what was going on and when they were getting out of there if anyone would.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to the others and walked over to Kyle.

  He saw her and fin
ished shaking Liz’s hand and walked to meet her.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked him.

  “I’ve been better, but I’ve also been a lot worse,” he said, no longer smiling.

  “Yeah, me, too,” she said with a shiver.

  For a moment it hung in the air between them, the memory of what had happened to their sister. She could tell they were both thinking about it, but neither of them wanted to say anything. Impulsively she reached out and hugged him. He hugged her back for a moment before pulling away.

  “So, when is the helicopter coming to take us home?” she asked after a moment.

  The smile returned to his face. “Yeah, about that. I’ll be making an announcement in a couple of minutes.”

  “Can’t you just tell me now?”

  “Best to wait. It won’t be but a minute or two,” he said.

  Irritated she nodded and headed back over to rejoin the others.

  “He says he’ll make an announcement in a few minutes.”

  “I hope he hurries,” Mark said with a sigh.

  Cindy returned her attention to the horses and was surprised to see that they were now all saddled and standing in a line with their reins tied to the fence. A sudden suspicion formed in her mind, but she told herself she had to be wrong.

  A minute later Kyle jumped up onto a bale of hay. He stood there, smile planted firmly in place, beaming at everyone. He was larger than life.

  “First off, I’d like to say thank you to everyone for how well you’ve been hanging in there. I know it was a rough night for everyone. I wanted to introduce you to a couple of new faces.” Kyle gestured to a tall Native American man who had a thick black braid that hung down his back. “This is Hank Lightfoot.”

  Hank nodded solemnly.

  “And over here,” he said, gesturing to a short man with pasty white skin and thick, round glasses, “is Norman Smith.”

  Norman gave a short, nervous wave to everyone.

  “They’re going to be joining us from here on out and I want you to welcome them aboard.”