Storm Over Hidden Lake (Kristi Cameron Book 6) Read online

  She bit back a harsh retort. Let the retarded girl believe in a God who cared, if she must. She didn’t need Him. “I just turned around and was going back to camp, Becca. That’s all,” she muttered.

  “Uh-huh. Jesus sent you. Isn’t that so wonderful?” Becca persisted.

  “Take a nap, Becca.” Tiffany closed her own eyes, hoping Rebecca would quit talking and do the same. It fell quiet under the pine boughs.

  Tiffany woke up a couple hours later. It was dark. Becca was snuggled up close to her, trying to stay warm. She could hear the raindrops still falling, but their own little spot was still relatively dry. She moved stiffly. It was going to be a long, cold night if they were stuck out here. Why wasn’t anyone looking for them? Maybe no one cared about her, but they would surely be looking for Becca, wouldn’t they?

  Becca woke up when Tiffany stirred. “It’s dawk! I’m afwaid!” she cried out. Tears began to fall again. “We have to go back, Tiffany! I want to go back to the camp!”

  “I think we’d better wait here, Becca,” Tiffany said. “It’s not safe to be wandering around in the dark. I’m sure someone will find us soon.” She reached for Becca’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Becca’s fingers curled around her own and she clung to her hand. Tiffany was surprised at the protective feelings that welled up in her toward the retarded girl. It was almost as if she were caring for a little child.

  “I wish we had a flashlight,” she sighed. “That would help.”

  “I have a flashlight!” Becca exclaimed. “Wight here in my backpack! Mommy gave it to me so I wouldn’t get scawed in the dawk.” She dug through her backpack and brought out the small torch. She flipped the button and a circle of light brightly illuminated their little hideaway.

  “That’s great, Becca!” Tiffany said. The light lifted their spirits. It seemed to bring a tiny measure of warmth and comfort to their weary bodies, as well.

  “Are you hungwy, Tiffany?” Becca asked. “I’m hungwy!” She reached back into her bag and pulled out several small packages of candy and cookies.

  “Wow! That’s a lot of goodies, Becca!”

  Becca shrugged and said simply, “I like snacks! I got more, too.” She retrieved five or six more packets from the bottom of the backpack and held them out to Tiffany. “Take whatever you want,” she offered generously.

  “Thank you, but you choose first, Becca.”

  “Um, I like—um—Goldfish cwackers!”

  “Okay. I’ll take the Oreos, if that’s alright with you.”

  “Sure.” Becca bowed her head and suddenly began to pray. “Dear Jesus, thank You for ouw food. And please help someone to find us soon. Amen.”

  They sat there munching on their snacks for a few minutes. Becca chatted happily now that she was rested up, and had some light and her favorite snack. Tiffany thought about Becca’s childlike simplicity and sighed. In some ways it would be a lot easier to be like Becca—to be able just to trust in someone else to take care of you, and be happy with the little things in life—a bit of light, a few snacks, and doing “cwafts.” Yes, her own parents took care of her in some ways. They provided all she could ever need—and more—of the necessities and comforts of life. But they were never there to take care of her in the ways that counted. To be there to hold her hand when she was afraid, or give her a hug when she was lonely, to comfort her when she was hurt, or to just sit down and listen when she needed to talk to someone. Becca is happy. Why can’t I be happy, too?

  Becca had a little box of raisins after her crackers and then they settled down for the night. Tiffany was surprised to find her arm around the retarded girl. Well, the closer we are the warmer we’ll stay, she thought. Becca was soon asleep again, and Tiffany reached over and turned off the flashlight. No use in wasting the batteries. Tiffany lay there, long into the cold, dark night, wondering when help would come—but refusing to pray.

  _________

  CHAPTER TEN

  _________

  Hug-A-Tree

  The rain had stopped at last. Kristi opened her eyes and saw that the sky was finally getting a little lighter. She felt achy and stiff all over. It had been a miserable night, and she knew the others had not slept any better than she had. Each time someone would stir, or try to find a more comfortable position, it would waken the rest of them. We’re all going to be exhausted today, she thought. Let’s just hope the sun comes out and helps us find our way back to camp. And dries us off and warms us up!

  Skeeter opened his eyes and groaned. “What’s the matter?” Kristi whispered.

  “My arm is really aching. Do you have any aspirin or anything in that magic bag of tricks of yours?”

  “I’m sorry, Skeeter. I don’t. I’m sure all the rain has affected your broken bone. Remember how Grandpa used to get whenever it rained? He was always complaining about his achy bones.”

  Anna turned her head. “I have some ibuprofen, Skeeter. That would probably be better than aspirin, anyway.”

  “Thanks, Anna. Sorry we woke you.”

  “It’s okay, Skeeter. I wasn’t really sleeping.” She sat up and reached for her backpack. “Here you go.” She handed him a couple of tablets. “Can you swallow them without water?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Robyn sat up then. “Have a little bit of juice. But don’t drink too much. These two juice boxes are the only liquids we have left for all six of us.” She handed him a juice box from her backpack.

  Dan sat up just then, too. “Well, it looks like we’re all awake. We might as well get up and start looking for our way back to camp. Pete? Are you awake?”

  “I am now. Thanks.”

  “I thought we were going to just wait here for someone to find us?” Anna asked.

  “I was thinking about that. Once the sun comes up—and now that the rain has stopped we should have a clear day and actually be able to see the sun—we’ll be able to see which way is east. We were headed south when we turned off the road into the trees, and I think we were going fairly straight most of the time. I think if we go north now, we may be able to find our way back.”

  “We might find Becca, too.” Kristi said hopefully.

  “Maybe. At the least, we’ll probably find a better location than this one to wait for help. Someplace that is more open for searchers to spot us.”

  “Can we eat something first?” Skeeter asked. “I’m starving.”

  Anna divided up the bag of trail mix, and they shared the granola bars and the juice box from which Skeeter had sipped. It didn’t take long to eat their meager breakfast. By the time they were done, the sun had risen a little more and they were eager to be on their way.

  Pete and Dan conferred, trying to decide the best way to go. All signs of any trail at all had disappeared. Somehow, in the rain and dark the night before, they had wandered off the path. They finally agreed on which way was north, and the group set forth.

  They talked as they walked, wondering why they hadn’t heard anyone searching for them, or seen any signs of Becca and Tiffany. “I don’t think we could have gotten that far from camp,” Kristi said, “and I’m sure we weren’t that far behind Becca. She can’t go very fast. I was sure we would catch up with her.”

  “I don’t know, Kristi. We were at the beach quite a while, and the girl at the craft shack said Becca didn’t stay there for long. She could have had a good half hour, or even an hour, head start on us,” Anna said.

  “And she may have gone faster than you give her credit for, Kristi,” Robyn said. “If she was scared, and trying to follow Tiffany, she would have been moving as quickly as she could.”

  “Well, I still don’t understand why no one is looking for us.”

  “I’m sure they are, Kristi. Just not in the right place. Let’s keep calling for Becca,” Pete suggested. “Maybe we’ll get close and she’ll hear us. At the very least, our voices will prevent us from surprising a coyote or a bear or a mountain lion.”

  “What?! Now we have to worry about wild animals, too?�
�� Kristi exclaimed.

  “Sure. There are large predators in these mountains. I didn’t want to mention them last night—and besides, I figured the rain would keep them hidden away.”

  “And to think that I thought skunks and snakes were all we had to worry about,” Skeeter muttered.

  They took turns calling Becca and Tiffany’s names as they tramped through the forest. The terrain was rugged, sometimes going uphill, and always rocky. They didn’t recognize a thing, and after an hour of hiking Dan finally called them to a halt once more.

  “I don’t know,” he said uncertainly. “This doesn’t look familiar at all. Maybe we should just wait here.”

  Kristi looked around. They were in the middle of an open field. If a helicopter or small plane flew over they would be seen easily. Besides, no cougar or bear could sneak up on them here! “Looks good to me!” she agreed. She threw her backpack on the ground. “Let’s all try calling for Becca once more,” she said. “All together. We’ll be louder that way.”

  They began shouting out Becca’s name as loudly as they could. “Becca! Becca!” They threw an occasional Tiffany in for good measure. Finally Kristi held up her hand and they listened.

  Nothing. The silence all around them was deafening. If Becca was nearby she wasn’t answering—or she couldn’t.

  * * *

  Becca was awake long before Tiffany. She had fallen asleep easily, and stayed asleep, so she was ready to get up. She tried to lie still so she wouldn’t waken Tiffany, but it was hard. Tiffany had actually been nice to her the night before, but Becca wasn’t sure it would last if she made the other girl mad. She looked up at the pine branches hanging above her head, and tried not to wriggle. She hummed a little song—vewy, vewy quietly so I don’t wake Tiffany—but before long she forgot herself and began singing “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know” not so quietly.

  Tiffany lifted her head up and looked blearily at the retarded girl still snuggled at her side. “Becca!” she groaned.

  “Oops! Sowwy! I fowgot!” Becca nervously looked at Tiffany and held her breath.

  “It’s okay. I guess I was ready to wake up anyway.”

  Becca let her breath out with a sigh of relief. The nice Tiffany was still here. “Is it time for bweakfast, yet?” she asked.

  “We can have breakfast anytime we want. What do we have for breakfast this morning, anyway?”

  Becca pulled her snacks out of her backpack and laid them out on the ground. They each chose a package of cookies and sat there under the pine trees enjoying “bweakfast.”

  “I’m thiwsty, Tiffany,” Becca said as she munched her last cookie.

  “I’m thirsty, too, Becca, but we don’t have anything to drink, so let’s not think about it, okay?”

  “Okay.” Becca picked up a few crumbs from her lap and popped them into her mouth. “Are we going to go back to the camp now, Tiffany?

  “We don’t know the way. I think we should just wait here until someone comes along and finds us.”

  Becca’s lip began to tremble. “I don’t like being lost, Tiffany,” she said.

  “I don’t, either. Let’s pretend we’re on a camping trip, okay? Have you ever been camping with your mom and dad, Becca?”

  Becca’s eyes lit up. “Uh-huh! But we slept in a tent! That was vewy fun! And Daddy took me fishing.”

  “Well, you’re very lucky then. I’ve never been camping in a tent, and my father has never taken me fishing, either. My parents like to stay in fancy hotels, and usually they go on vacations without me, anyway.” It was too depressing thinking about her parents, so Tiffany changed the subject. “Have you ever heard of hug-a-tree, Becca?

  Becca giggled. “Hug-a-twee? What’s that? It sounds like it would be vewy pwickly!”

  Tiffany laughed. “Prickly? Well, I guess it would be, wouldn’t it, if you actually hugged a tree! But what it means, Becca, is that if you get lost you should just stay right where you are until someone finds you. That is what we’re going to do.”

  “I don’t know, Tiffany. These are vewy, vewy pwickly twees! And how can anyone find us if we hide under the twees?” Becca said doubtfully.

  “That’s a good point, Becca. We’ll move a little to a better place where people can find us, okay? But I am glad we had these trees last night to keep us dry, aren’t you?”

  “Uh-huh! God was so wonderful to put those twees wight there for us!”

  Tiffany’s lips tightened, but she didn’t say anything. She picked up her overnight case and Becca’s backpack and walked away.

  Becca jumped to her feet and followed Tiffany. She didn’t know what she had said, but she knew Tiffany was mad again. She said herself she was glad for the trees, so she couldn’t be mad that God put them there, could she? Becca shook her head. She just didn’t understand.

  They didn’t go far. Tiffany found a small clearing and set the bags down. “We’ll wait here,” she said. Trees lined three sides of the clearing, but a small rocky ridge rose above the fourth side. She sat down next to the stone wall and leaned against it. She closed her eyes wearily.

  Becca looked around. She walked over to the trees and looked them up and down. Finally she called out, “I found one!”

  “Found what, Becca?” Tiffany asked. I wish she’d settle down so I could take a nap, she thought.

  “I found a twee to hug!”

  Tiffany opened her eyes. There was Becca on the other side of the clearing with her arms around a slender sapling. A big grin was on her face as she waited proudly for Tiffany to congratulate her.

  Tiffany couldn’t help but smile. Becca may not be very smart, but she certainly was entertaining! “Good for you! Now why don’t you give it a little kiss, too?”

  Becca giggled. “Tiffany! I’m not gonna kiss the twee!” She was relieved. Tiffany wasn’t mad anymore. She left her ‘hugging twee” and ran back over to Tiffany. She plopped down on the ground and leaned against the rocky wall, as well. “Now what are we gonna do, Tiffany?” she asked.

  “Take a nap.”

  “But I’m not tiwed.”

  “I am.”

  “Okay, you take a nap, and I will sing, okay? I like to sing. I will sing vewy, vewy quietly, okay, so you can sleep.”

  “Alright, Becca, but very, very quietly!”

  The sun had finally risen above the trees and now its bright rays bounced off the rocks. Tiffany fell asleep quickly in its warmth. Becca amused herself by softly singing “Itsy, Bitsy Spider,” “Where is Thumbkin” and “Jesus Loves Me” with all the hand motions until, despite her best efforts to stay awake, she fell asleep in the warm sun, as well.

  Neither of them heard voices calling a little while later, “Becca! Becca! Tiffany!” They slept on.

  * * *

  The big cat crept stealthily along the ridge. She was hungry. The rain the night before had driven all the little critters into hiding, and she herself had laid low through the night, waiting for the storm to pass. Now she was out, prowling for food, long after she would have normally been asleep for the day.

  The mountain lion’s tawny coat blended into the rock as she slowly and smoothly moved from shadow to shadow. She was big—almost seven feet long from her nose to the dark tip of her tail—and very muscular. All her senses were on alert now as she searched for food for herself—and for the cubs she had left back at her den. They were nearly a year old now, and nursing them was no longer enough. They needed real food—meat—and so did she. A weasel and a gray squirrel had provided the cougar (as she was sometimes called) with her own breakfast, but they were too small to share among her babies, and she was still hungry, so now she was searching for bigger prey. A small deer would be nice.

  A sound pricked her ears. It sounded like a small animal, perhaps a young animal, and like nothing she had ever heard before. It was a strange noise—not a cry, exactly—but definitely young. The mountain lion had never heard singing before. She moved forward now, trying to discern from which direction the noise was coming. It bou
nced off the rocks and echoed across the rocky ridge. That was okay. She would hear it again and then she would grab the young tender creature by the neck and take it home to her babies. They would eat well, this day, after all.

  * * *

  Becca woke with a start. She had dreamed someone was calling her name. “Mommy?” she whispered. There was no answer. It had been only a dream. Tears welled up in her eyes. She was tired of camping. She was tired of being lost. Tiffany was asleep and she was all alone. Becca got up and walked out into the middle of the clearing. “I want my mommy,” she said softly, sadly.

  She slowly turned around in a circle, holding her arms out and twirling as if she were a ballerina on a stage. “I want my mommy, I want my mommy,” she sang in a soft little singsong voice. She twirled a little faster and sang a little louder, “I want my mommy, mommy! I want my mommy!”

  Just then she heard it again—the voice, or was it voices? “Becca! Becca!” Someone was calling her name! There it was again! “Becca! Tiffany!” It wasn’t Mommy, but someone was calling for her, looking for her and Tiffany!

  “Here! I’m here!” she cried, as loudly as she could. “It’s me, Becca! I’m here!” She ran over to Tiffany beneath the rocky wall and shook her. “Wake up, Tiffany! Wake up! They’re coming! I heard them! Wake up!”

  She stood up and called again, “I’m here! It’s me, Becca! Come and get me!”

  * * *

  The mountain lion lifted her head. There it was again. The young creature. She had almost given up hope, for there had been no sounds from it for a long time. Now she listened carefully. Her muscles twitched as she crept forward, pausing every few steps to listen. There! It was below the ridge.

  She silently ran forward a few steps and peered over the edge of the ridge. There! There were two of them! The larger creature was lying on the ground, but the small one, the young tender one, was just below her. An easy kill! Her tail twitched and her muscles tensed. She opened her mouth in a deadly, silent snarl as she prepared to pounce.