A New World Begins
by Craig W
2 Dec 2021 1698 readers Score 9.4 (56 votes) PDF Mobi ePub Txt
An awkward question
* PING *
You have a new text message
Shane.Hi Boots, I can see you’re online. I think it’s your lunchtime. Am I okay to call you?
Craig. Sure, it’s just after 12:00 here. I’m on lunch. Won’t it cost you a fortune though?
Shane. No, I can route through the wi-fi and do an internet call. Stand by.
* Incoming call *
Craig:Shane?
Shane:Hi Boots, yes, it’s me.
Shane: Not quite, Boots. We’re on holiday here. It’s Thanksgiving. Well, that was actually yesterday, Thursday. We’re all at Travis’s place. I’m just about to go downstairs for breakfast. I’m still stuffed from yesterday though, so I’ll only manage a small bowl of cereal, not the huge breakfast Travis’s mom serves up.
Craig: Oh, right, yeah, I remember now. Nathan said he was fixing flights for you all to get there for a few days. We don’t have Thanksgiving here, it’s just a normal school day for me. You all having a good time? Who’s with you? Noah and Will too?
Shane: Yeah, Noah and Will too, Kyle and Nathan couldn’t come, and we sure are having a great time. We even came by private jet! Can you believe that? Travis’s family have their own plane. We couldn’t all get scheduled flights, they were really busy, so Mister Larson sent their own plane to collect us from Pittsburgh. It’s not actually a jet. Well, it sort of is a jet. It’s something called a turboprop. It has a propeller stuck on a jet engine. Will says it’s the best of both worlds. Will looked up everything about it. He even got to sit with the pilot. And talk to ground control on the radio too.
Craig: I’ll have to start calling him Major Tom!
Shane: We didn’t even land at an airport. We landed in the field right outside Travis’s house. He says they do it all the time. Will got to help with the landing. He had to look at something called a glide slope indicator on a screen and call out to the pilot if it changed from green to yellow. I think the pilot could have done it without him, but she let him help.
Craig: She?
Shane: Yes. The pilot is a lady. She’s called Kimimela, that’s Indian for Butterfly.
Craig: Wow!
Shane: I don’t think we’re meant to call them Indian though. They all seem to be from the Lakota tribe. Dakota is named after them, apparently the French pioneers couldn’t pronounce or spell it right. Lots of Lakota people work here. The farm is part on a Reservation. I think we are meant to call them Native Americans or First Nation People, not Indians. I keep forgetting but they are nice about it. They promised not to scalp me. They have even given me an Indian name.
Craig: They did? I thought of Indian names for you and Tavis once. I thought Travis should be ‘Strong Bear’ and you should be ‘Friendly Dog’ because you are always so nice.
Shane: Oh, Travis has a real Indian name too. It’s hard to pronounce though. It sounds like ‘wiggly waggly ticky tacky.’ It means ‘Truth Speaker with rich parents’ or something like that. But we went to see an old man after Travis taught me to ride – we went by truck though, not horse, Travis can drive here – and the old Indian said my blond hair and blue eyes made me a Snow Bear. I guess he meant polar bear.
Craig: Snow Bear? That’s good. Kind of cute.
Shane: I prefer it to Friendly Dog!
Craig: Yes, I guess it’s better. So, you learned how to ride a horse? I can’t ride a horse.
Shane: It’s only a small horse, and real tame, but I really like it. She’s called Jigsaw. We’re going out riding again today and camping out overnight. All four of us. Travis is going to bring his gun because he says there are wolves and mountain lions around. He says they won’t attack us, but they might try and attack our horses when we are asleep. I think he really means it.
Craig: You should stag on, two at a time. Keep each other alert and awake. Sit facing each other, looking in opposite directions.
Shane: Stag on?
Craig: Yes, stag on. That’s what you call it when you are sentry on watch.
Shane: Why’s it called stag on?
Craig: I dunno, it just is. Maybe it’s like you’re meant to be a stag guarding all the female deer or something. I’ll ask my dad.
Shane: We’ve all been real busy. When we got here, Will helped Kimimela, the pilot, do all the checks and maintenance after the flight. The plane has just been upgraded. Even Travis’s dad hadn’t seen or flown it before we did. Will loves it, they let him go flying again yesterday with some big survey cameras and sensors and stuff that can chart crop growth and things like that. I got to help Travis’s sisters deliver loads of Thanksgiving turkeys to lots of neighbours. And Noah is getting on like crazy with Travis’s sisters too, they really like him. Especially the younger one, Ella-Marie. She’s real cute. I think Noah likes her too.
Craig: It sounds awesome!
Shane: Yesterday was good. That was proper Thanksgiving Day. All we seemed to do was eat. In the morning there was still all the farm work to be done. But Mrs Larson cooked a huge dinner for us, and lots of the farm workers came too, and even some brought their families. We had a proper Thanksgiving Dinner. I haven’t had a proper Thanksgiving Dinner since I was about eight or nine. That’s when my parents really started, well, you know about the drugs and stuff. But yesterday everyone was really friendly and we had turkey and potatoes and loads of carrots and beans and peas and pumpkin pie and pecan pie. It was just like Thanksgiving should be. After dinner everyone was either watching the big NFL game on tv, or playing games, and then some people started singing and dancing too.
Craig: Definitely sounds like ‘Little House on the Prairie’.
Shane: Travis’s house isn’t little! It’s nearly as big as Nathan’s house. We’ve all been given our own bedroom to stay in here. Travis says it’s big because it’s old and when it was built they had lots of workers living on the farm because there weren’t any machines back then so everything was done by hand.
Craig: I guess that makes sense. So, you’re all going riding horses like cowboys today and camping out overnight? Have you got tents and stuff?
Shane: No, we’re going to make bashas like you showed us. We have sleeping bags though. It’s definitely going to be like a cowboy adventure. We’re going to cook on an open fire and stuff like that. Travis is fixing it all. Then we’ll come back to the farm on Saturday at nightfall and we fly back to college on Sunday afternoon ready for classes on Monday. You’d love it here, Craig, everybody is so nice.
Craig: Yeah, sounds great. It would have been nice to have been with you all. But it’s good you’re enjoying it Shane, and thanks for calling me. It’s nice to talk again.
Shane: Yes, you too Boots. I always look out for you online now I know you have messenger and ICQ and stuff. I’ll tell everybody your tips for stagging on so we don’t get eaten by wolves. Bye for now, Craig.
Craig: Bye, Shane, have a great trip. Say ‘Hi’ to all the gang for me. Don’t get eaten by wolves.
* * *
“Last again, Shane, we’ve nearly all finished breakfast. There might just be a few waffles and fried eggs left, maybe some beans and bacon too,” laughed Travis as Shane strolled into the kitchen. “This country air tiring you out?”
Shane blushed and looked towards the counter. “I’m just going to have a bowl of cornflakes, if that’s okay, Mrs Larson,” he said. “I’m still so full from yesterday. That was a really nice dinner you made for us, but I couldn’t hardly eat another thing.”
“Of course, it’s fine,” said Mrs Larson. “Don’t pay no heed to Travis. He’ll eat ‘till he bursts.”
Shane helped himself to a small bowl of cornflakes and milk, then sat down on the end of the bench seat running down the side of the big kitchen table.
“I just called Kyle to let him know I was okay, Travis,” said Shane, “Then I also saw Craig was online on my messenger and so I took a chance and called him. Just for a few minutes, just to chat. He’s doing well, it’s a normal school day for him.”
“Is that the English boy we met at your college Parents’ Day, Travis? He was called Craig, wasn’t he?” asked Ella-Marie, the younger of Travis’s two sisters.
“Yeah, that’s him. He’s back home now.”
“He seemed real nice. He’s the one that boxed, isn’t he?” said Mrs Larson.
“And swam,” giggled Ella-Marie.
“That’s him…” said Travis, frowning.
“I was telling him that we flew here in your private jet, with Will helping, and how you taught me to ride a horse. He said he would have loved to be here. He gave me some tips for tonight though, so we don’t get eaten by wolves.”
Mrs Larson looked at Travis. “Eaten by wolves, Travis?”
Travis looked awkwardly across the table.
Mrs Larson smiled and looked at Noah, Will and Shane. “There ain’t been no wolves round here for nearly fifty years, maybe more. Have there, Travis?”
“Err, well, there was that report a year or two back, mom. The Ranger Service said…”
“Yes, Travis,” said Mrs Larson. “The Ranger Service occasionally report a stray wolf passing through the state on a journey from Minnesota or somesuch, but those are just lone wolves. There aren’t any wolf packs resident in the whole state…”
“Can’t be too careful, mom,” said Travis, “Lots of species are making a comeback now we’re learning to be kinder to the environment. And there are always the mountain lions.”
“True, I’ll grant you that. There are the mountain lions…” said Mrs Larson.
“Mountain lions?” asked both Noah and Will simultaneously.
“Yup,” beamed Travis. “Definitely mountain lions…”
“They won’t bother you,” said Mrs Larson, “They are very timid around people. Hardly nobody ever sees one.”
“They see us though,” said Travis, ominously.
* * *
About an hour after breakfast, Travis and the guys were over at the stables loading various bits of camping equipment onto the horses that had been prepared and saddled for them. Travis was on his own horse, Midnight, and Shane was allocated Jigsaw again. Noah and Will each had a chestnut horse, again, not much bigger than a pony.
“Small and rugged, proper traditional Indian horses,” Travis said. “They can go for days and days on very little food and are as sure-footed as they come.”
Noah had surprised them all. He’d vanished after breakfast and then re-appeared at the stables wearing a thick, red and black, checked, woollen shirt, a pair of very high-quality, hand tooled, cowboy boots and a proper cowboy hat.
“Ella-Marie helped me choose them, when I went shopping with her and Leila. I helped them choose their dresses and they suggested I should buy these. I think they suit me.”
“They look good, Noah,” said Travis. “You put the rest of us to shame in our modern clothes.”
Mister Larson, who was assisting them, smiled. “The only problem is that the hat isn’t what authentic cowboys wore. It’s a Hollywood invention. Most cowboys actually wore bowler hats. You can see that on the old photographs of the wild west.”
“Bowler hats?” said Will, “Like the British wear?”
“Yes,” laughed Mr Larson. “Just like that. And…” he looked around conspiratorially, as though revealing a great secret, “Most of them didn’t carry Colts either. Most cowboys carried cheaper but reliable Adams or Bulldog revolvers from Birmingham, England. Hollywood mainly manufactured the Colt legend…”
“Some carried Colts though, just like mine…” said Travis defensively. “Did you get me the extra shells, dad?”
Mr Larson smiled. “Sure did, Travis, there’s two boxes of a hundred over on the table there just waiting to be put in your saddlebag. Mind you’re careful with the guns though.”
“Oh, we will be, Mister Larson,” said Will quickly. “We’ve all been taught gun safety at college.”
“Never point a gun at anyone,” said Noah.
“Always treat a gun as if it were loaded,” said Shane.
“Always be sure you have a safe backstop,” added Will.
Mr Larson nodded and smiled. “Yes, that just about sums it up. Always be safe.”
“I think Noah should carry my revolver for now,” said Travis, handing Noah his gun belt and holster. “Put this on, Noah, and I’ll get you my Colt Peacemaker. It’s unloaded now, but you can carry it until we get out into the hills and then I’ll show you how to load and use it.”
As Noah buckled the gun belt around his waist, Travis disappeared into a side room in the stables and then came back carrying a rifle and a revolver. He put the rifle in a leather scabbard attached to his saddle then turned to Noah with the revolver.
“It’s unloaded, Noah,” he said, swinging out the cylinder and showing it was empty.
Noah nodded. “It’s unloaded, Travis.”
Travis closed the cylinder and passed the revolver to Noah, making sure to keep it pointed safely down at the ground. Equally carefully, Noah took hold of it and put in in the holster, then fastened the leather strap to hold it in place. “It’s safe, Travis.”
“Okay boys,” said Travis, dropping the two boxes of shells into his saddlebag, “That’s us about ready. Food, water, spare clothes, sleeping bags and a radio. Let’s mount up and ride out.”
Travis led the way out into the yard and then mounted up, quickly followed by Noah, Will and Shane.
“Keep an eye on the weather, Travis,” said Mr Larson, “Don’t forget where the radio dead spots are. If you hit any problems there, just fire your gun once every minute and we’ll come searching. Keep safe.”
Travis nodded, then leaned low in the saddle towards his dad. “Are you going to see Grey Bear?”
Mr Larson nodded. “Yes, Travis, I plan to go with Kimimela later today and tell him your idea. It’s a good thought.”
Travis sat tall and then waved his hand in a circle round his head. “Squad,” he said loudly, “Ride out.”
* * *
“This coffee is good,” said Will, pouring more from the pot over the fire into his tin mug. “Everything tastes so much better out of doors, especially cooked over an open fire.”
“Sure does,” said Travis, “And these burgers are almost done too. And the onions smell perfect. Can you pass me the bread rolls, Shane?”
For the next ten minutes there was barely a word uttered as the four boys huddled around the open fire and tucked into their burgers. It was only just after five in the evening but they were all hungry after a long and exciting day. They had ridden for several hours, gradually leaving the flat plain behind them and ascending up into the foothills of the Black Hills maybe ten or fifteen miles from the farm. Mid-afternoon they had halted at the head of small sheltered valley, built shelters, “bashas” as Craig had called them, using pine branches and tarpaulins, then placed their sleeping bags in them ready for the evening. The horses had been unsaddled and tethered on running leads, allowing them to graze nearby but not wander off, after which Travis had set up some paper targets he had brought rolled up in his rifle scabbard and taught them how to use his revolver and rifle.
Now, as the first stars began to sparkle in the inky skies, they were sat around a camp fire enjoying some of the food they had brought with them. Simple fare, but a meal they would all remember fondly for their whole lives.
“You were good with the revolver, Noah,” said Travis. “Nearly as good as Shane with the tomahawk the other day. I think both of you would make great cowboys.”
“I’ve never thrown an axe before,” said Shane. “It just kind of came natural to me. Mikasi said to make sure it turned over once, end over end, in the air and then landed with the sharp edge forward. It was kind of like when I am pitching a baseball. I didn’t need to think about it. It just happened.”
“It’s because you’ve got good hand – eye co-ordination,” said Will. “And muscle memory. Once you do it right, and practice a few times, it sort of becomes wired in to your nervous system. Just like riding a bike. You don’t need to think about it anymore. You just do it.”
“I’m just going to check on our horses,” said Travis. “It’s going to be cold tonight, maybe even a frost if this sky keeps clear, so I think we should bring them closer up here into this sheltered valley and maybe put a blanket over them. The pines will keep most of the wind off them, and us. Does somebody want to come and help?”
“I’ll do it,” said Shane, jumping to his feet. “I’ve never put a horse to bed before.”
Travis laughed. “We’re not tucking them up in bed, Shane. Just bringing them closer. They’ll stay awake most of the night. They sleep standing up most times, just for ten minutes or so, then they’ll graze a bit more, then sleep again. Occasionally they lay down for a deep sleep, but only for a few minutes. We’ll just bring them close and tether them to those pines over there. That way we can keep an eye on them, but they won’t trample us if they spook.”
“Noah, Will, while me and Shane go tend the horses, can you two grab the small spade and scope a shallow hole in the ground just there?” said Travis, pointing. “Just a few inches deep. Then shovel some of the embers from the edge of the fire into it, and put that big tin pot on top, about a third full of that water we brought. Once it starts to bubble, drop in the packet of rice and the beef strips and chilli powder and dried beans and keep giving it a stir. Okay?”
“Sure, said Noah, “We can do that.”
With Noah and Will left in charge of starting the preparations for the main meal – the burgers just being a snack to tide them over – Shane and Travis went the few hundred yards down the valley to where the horses were grazing.
“Are there really mountain lions round here, Travis?” asked Shane as they gathered in the horses and led them back towards the camp and secured them nearby. “Are we going to stand guard all night to protect the horses?”
“No, I don’t think we need to be on guard,” said Travis. “There are mountain lions in these hills, quite a few more now than there used to be, but all the noise we made earlier with the guns will have warned them off. They really are quite timid. If we’re lucky we might hear one screech way out in the distance later tonight, but they aren’t likely to come anywhere near us. I’ll keep my revolver loaded though and just alongside my sleeping bag so I can grab it easy.”
* * *
“Did you read the horses a bed-time story, Shane?” teased Will half an hour later as Shane settled back down by the fire and pulled his jacket around him. It was definitely getting colder.
“No,” laughed Shane, “But only because I don’t speak Lakota and they don’t understand English.”
Travis wandered back over from the horses and sniffed the air appreciatively before sitting down in front of the fire beside Shane. Noah was stirring the pot of chilli on the glowing embers in the fire pit Will had dug just to one side of the main fire.
“That’s starting to smell good, Noah. Can’t beat a nice chilli con carne to keep you warm on a cold night.”
Noah nodded and smiled, and then gave the pot another stir with a big wooden spoon.
“It won’t get a chance to stick to the pan,” laughed Will. “Noah gives it a stir every two minutes.”
“Back at college we’d just be finishing private study and getting changed ready to head over to the ante-room and then dinner,” said Will, glancing at his watch.
Travis nodded. “The food at college is pretty awesome, but believe me boys, this chilli tonight will be the best you’ve ever tasted. Just simple ingredients, cooked on an open fire after a hard day’s play out in the countryside. Just can’t be beaten.”
A few yards away one of the horses snorted. “See,” said Travis, “Even the horses want a plateful of it. It’s way better than grass. Did you make enough for them too, Noah?”
Noah smiled and nodded. “I looked in the supply bag too. Found a few extra ingredients I’ve put in the mix.”
Will nodded. “There were some tomatoes and onions, so they got chopped up and mixed in, didn’t they Noah?”
Noah nodded. “And my magic ingredients. I just need to stir it and make sure it doesn’t stick and burn now.”
“It’s good being out here,” said Will. “Just the four of us, miles from anywhere. Nobody telling us what to do. With an awesome chilli cooking and an open fire to keep us warm. Just to think we didn’t know each other at all just a few months ago.”
“Yeah,” said Travis. “I remember my first day at college. Meeting you all in the dorm and wondering what I’d let myself in for over the next four years. Kyle and Nathan being in charge and telling us all the rules and regulations, and where we had to be and what time and never to be late. I thought I’d never get used to it.”
“I think we were lucky though, having Kyle in charge. He’s way nicer than some of the other dorm seniors,” said Will. “And Nathan’s not turning out too bad either.”
“And I recall meeting Shane,” said Travis. “I guess we became best buddies right away, didn’t we Shane? Both of us clueless together.”
“Just like me and Noah,” added Will. “We were actually parked next to each other in the parking lot, unloading our gear, got talking when we saw each other’s lacrosse sticks then found we’d been allocated to the same dorm. Been best friends ever since.”
Travis reached for the pot of coffee that was simmering on the main fire and poured some more into his tin mug. “Yes, Nathan’s not bad. At first though, him and Kyle were like good cop and bad cop. But Craig told me that was often a planned army thing. He said one of the instructors always plays ‘bad cop’ for the first few weeks. It makes the recruits forget their differences and bond together because they kind of all unite against the ‘Evil Corporal’. It makes for good cohesion and unity in the squad. After that, the ‘Evil Corporal’ can back off the gas because all the friendships have been made and the recruits have bonded into a good squad. Just like we have. I think the friends here are the best we’ll ever make.”
There was a moment’s silence as they contemplated, then Noah, his face lit red by the fire, looked concerned.
“Are you okay, Shane?”
Shane nodded but they could all see a tear in the corner of his eye. Travis leaned over and put his arm around Shane’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, guys,” said Shane quietly. “I don’t mean to put a downer on things. It’s just that what you said is so true. I’ve never had friends as good as you. Not for years. People didn’t want to know me… you know, because of my parents and the drug dealing thing. Being here, it’s just something I couldn’t have even imagined this time last year. Sometimes I even used to wonder if I would survive to the end of the day when things got really bad. My parents used to get visited by some really nasty people and I didn’t count for much with them.”
No-one spoke for a moment. Travis just pulled Shane close and held him tight, then Noah smiled. “Try this, Shane,” he said, holding out the stirring spoon with a small portion of the chilli on the end of it, “We need to use you as our guinea pig to see if we’ll survive to the end of the day after eating it.”
Everyone burst out laughing as Shane reached for the spoon and tasted the chilli, hesitantly at first then breaking out into a big smile. “Wow! That’s great Noah. It’s the best chilli con carne ever.”
* * *
Nearly an hour later Shane, Noah and Will watched as Travis wiped the last remnants of the chilli from the bottom of the cooking pot with a piece of bread and finally pronounced himself full.
“That was excellent, Noah,” said Travis. “I know exactly what was in the supply bag, but no chilli I ever had before tasted that good. You have to tell me how you made it.”
Noah shook his head. “It’s my secret. Just like the popcorn. Anybody can know the ingredients but the magic is in the proportions and my special techniques for making it.”
Travis laughed and looked at Noah. “You have to give me the recipe, Noah, or I’ll grab you and squeeze you in a bear hug until you give in.”
“You don’t have a chance, Travis,” laughed Shane. “You might be a super muscled wrestler but you’ve eaten so much that Noah will outrun you easy. He’ll be in the next state before you have got to your feet.”
Noah smiled and glanced at his watch. “It’s still early, just after eight. Aren’t the skies here magical?”
They all glanced up. With no artificial light for miles around, and not a cloud either, the vast panoply of stars over the prairie skies were on display.
“Like somebody has gotten a sheet of black velvet and sprinkled it with diamonds,” added Noah.
“Do you reckon the sky looks the same in England?” asked Shane. “Can Craig see this tonight?”
“I doubt it,” said Will. “I think Craig lives in a city. The light pollution from cities will just blot it out. England is a small country too, I don’t think you can get far enough away from a city there to really see the sky properly.”
“Craig disappeared pretty darn quickly, didn’t he?” said Travis. “No warning at all. Just one morning he was there, then that afternoon he’d gone. We still don’t really know why, do we? I don’t fully buy that story Kyle gave us about him needing to go home for family reasons. He seemed happy enough with us. I thought he was staying a whole year until his dad finished his posting.”
“I think there was more to it than that,” said Shane. “It was to do with those cheerleaders I think.”
“That got solved,” said Will. “I know that for a fact. I can’t tell you how I know, but Craig didn’t do what some people said. Trust me, it got sorted out.”
Travis slipped the knife Craig had left for him out of his pocket and turned it over in the firelight. “I don’t think I ever believed what people said about Craig and those girls. He just wasn’t that kind of guy. He’s totally decent. I liked him. He helped us out so much.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the fire.
“He was good to me, too,” said Shane. “Like when he learned I didn’t have anyone coming to see me on Parents’ Weekend and he insisted I go and stay with him and his dad for the weekend so I wasn’t left out.”
“Yes,” laughed Will, “He always was friendly to you. Like how many times did he end up in your bed? Because of the water fights and stuff like that?”
“Me putting the ice on his bed after boxing too,” smiled Noah.
“If it wasn’t for the cheerleaders we might have thought he was one of Kyle’s tribe,” laughed Travis. “He did always end up in your bed, Shane.”
Shane blushed, but in the red glow of the firelight no-one noticed.
Noah hesitated, then spoke quietly. “I don’t think Craig liked girls. I think that might be part of why he left.”
Everyone turned to look at Noah.
“I think he left because he was in love with Nathan.”
For a moment no-one said a word.
“What?” said Travis? “Craig? Gay? No way. Or Nathan. I’m not even sure they liked each other. Nathan was always breathing down his neck making sure he wasn’t up to anything. Nah, that’s not it. Craig has a girlfriend. Mandy, we all met her online, remember?”
“Even if he was gay,” said Will. “Why leave? He’d want to stay with Nathan. But neither of them are gay anyway. You and Travis were closest to him, Shane. Nat even called you The Three Mouseketeers. What do you think?”
Shane hesitated again, then nodded. “Noah’s right, at least in part. Craig is gay. He told me. Mandy really is just a friend of his. But I don’t know why he left. It can’t be because he was gay, nobody minds about that these days.”
“Doesn’t make any sense,” said Travis, “Even if Craig is gay. That’s no reason for him to go.”
“Unless Nathan told him to go,” said Will. “Maybe he didn’t like that Craig liked him. I know he doesn’t have any problem with gays in general – he’s best friends with Kyle after all – but maybe it was just too close if Craig liked him and obviously Nat didn’t feel the same way about him. He might have complained and that got Craig sent away.”
“Yeah,” said Travis. “That’s got to be it. Nat must have complained.”
“Yes,” said Will. “That’s got to be it. Nat and his sister were part of the reason it got proved Craig didn’t do anything wrong with those cheerleaders. And he got invited to their house to stay at the barbeque weekend. Maybe Craig misread the signals and tried to get too friendly with Nathan. That’d get him sent home.”
Shane and Travis nodded in agreement. “Yes, Will. That’s got to be it. It’s a shame, it would have been nice to have him around still.”
“That’s not it,” said Noah.
“What do you mean, Noah? That’s got to be it.”
Noah looked at each of them in turn. The look he had when somebody thought he was stupid but he knew that they were the one not seeing the obvious.
“Guys,” said Noah. “Nathan does like Craig.”
Shane, Travis and Will all stared at each other blankly, then looked back at Noah.
“Who did Craig write to?” asked Noah. “Who set up the online meetings with Craig to help us with drill? Who even dressed in the same style T shirt as Craig at the barbeque?”
“That’s true, Noah,” said Will. “Nathan was the first one in contact with Craig. And writing makes sense. Craig’s dad has his phone and laptop nailed down so tight even I couldn’t jailbreak it. He’d know straight away if Craig tried to email Nat. But an old-fashioned paper letter would slip through unnoticed.”
“Still doesn’t make any sense,” said Travis. “Even if you are right, and Craig and Nat do like each other, why would Craig have to go?”
“Yes,” said Shane. “Craig’s dad seemed nice. He chatted with Kyle and Lee. They didn’t bother him. I can’t understand him forcing Craig to go home.”
“The college wouldn’t, either,” added Travis. “Nobody batted an eyelid about Kyle. He even got made Honor Student.”
“And Nathan’s family wouldn’t bother if Nathan liked Craig. I know them real well, Elizabeth especially. That can’t be a factor. They took Craig out in public with them.”
Noah was waiting patiently for them to finish.
“I think Craig chose to go home.”
* * *
Travis finished covering the embers of the fire with some large flat stones and scooped some earth around their edges to prevent any chance of windblown sparks drifting away and igniting anything.
“That’s it guys, all safe now. If the wind gets up we won’t set fire to the prairie or our sleeping bags, and the stones will continue to radiate heat out for a few hours yet. Time for bed everyone.”
“Yeah, Travis,” said Shane. “But might the heat attract the mountain lions if they get cold?”
Travis smiled again. “No, I don’t think so. They’ve got fur coats anyway. They won’t come anywhere near us. But don’t worry. I’ve got my rifle tucked alongside my sleeping bag. And just in case the lion gets me first, I’ll give Noah my revolver. He’s the next best shot.”
Travis passed his revolver to Noah, opening the cylinder first and showing him it was loaded.
“Loaded, Noah.”
“Loaded, Travis,” said Noah, carefully taking the revolver and placing it under the rolled-up jacket he had placed beneath his sleeping bag to serve as a pillow.
“Nothing will bother us tonight,” said Travis, “Really it won’t. But if something does, and it gets me first, Noah has a gun too now. Be real careful, Noah. The only thing that might happen is if Mikasi or some of the other ranchers decide to sneak up here and try and scare us. Maybe hide behind a tree and screech like a mountain lion. So don’t shoot anything unless it’s absolutely attacking us and we know it’s a lion.”
Noah just looked at Travis. “Always positively identify your target,” he said, quoting the safety rules they’d been taught.
Travis relaxed. That was why he’d chosen to give the revolver to Noah. He could be absolutely certain that Noah would follow the rules. If Mikasi did creep up to cause mischief, he wouldn’t end up shot.
All the guys climbed into their sleeping bags and lay back looking up at the stars. No-one spoke but it was a long time until, one by one, they drifted off to sleep. They were all thinking the same thing.
“Why had Craig gone home?”