Ernie and Sam crowded into the front seat, and Paul—Frannie saw with surprise—slid into the driver’s seat.
“So where are we going?” She slid in next to Vicky. She didn’t want to ask too many questions and sound like a nervous Nellie.
Vicky smirked and exchanged a look with Sam. “That’s for us to know and you to find out.”
Frannie wished Vicky had stayed at the lodge instead of Jerrylynn.Sam passed around a bottle of beer and they approached a concrete bridge that crossed the Yellowstone River. The bridge was narrow—too narrow for two cars to pass—and Frannie looked across the span, wondering what they’d do if a car came from the opposite direction.
“Come on, Paul,” Ernie said, taking a swig of beer. “Put the pedal to the metal.”
Paul ignored Ernie’s jibe and slowed to check for cars before driving across the bridge. Frannie knew who the square was then. “Hey, give me a taste of that.” She held out her hand for the beer.
“See,” Vicky said to Ernie. “I told you she was cool.”
Frannie took a swig. It tasted terrible, but she smacked her lips like it was good. They drove for at least an hour, singing along to the staticky radio. Paul pulled the car over on a wide lookout where a sign said Lava Creek. “Come on, kids,” Sam said. “We’re wastin’ daylight.”
They hiked for what seemed like forever. While they walked through woods and over a rickety footbridge, they passed the beer and kidded around. Sam and Ernie were a panic and a half, but Paul was something else. “See this ridge of rock up here?” he asked, pointing to the dun-colored rock cliffs that rose above the dense blue-green forested slopes. “That’s dolomite.”
“Okay, nerd,” Vicky said, and the boys laughed.
Paul was nerdy, but Vicky rubbed Frannie the wrong way.
Paul didn’t seem to care about the jabs. “The dolomite shows that this whole area was made by volcanoes. And that volcano is still down there. Waiting. If it goes, this whole place—” He waved his hands to take in all of Yellowstone, then made an explosion sound. “It would make the A-bomb look like a firecracker.”
“Thanks for the geology lesson,” Sam said. “But it’s summer and we’re not in school.”
Frannie hadn’t known about the volcano under Yellowstone and thought it was pretty interesting, but what was Paul doing with this group of ultracool kids when Sam and Vicky didn’t even seem to like him?
The sun was lowering when they reached a shallow creek tricklingthrough huge boulders. They trooped over a smooth slab of rock and Ernie came to a stop at a steaming egg-shaped pool about five feet across and who knew how deep. “This is what they call Dead Savage Spring,” Ernie announced. “You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out why.”
Frannie’s heart tripped up a bit. “Is it dangerous?”
Ernie looked at her with a grin. “That’s the point, Sherlock.”
Frannie tried to look unimpressed, but a twinge of unease vibrated through her chest.
“You get to jump in,” Vicky said. “That’s the initiation.”
Frannie remembered about the kid who’d fallen in hot springs at that place Claire took them to. She looked at Sam and Vicky—and wished Jerrylynn had come along. She shot a glance at Paul and felt a little better. Paul was smart. If he did it, it must be safe.
“We’re going to count, and you jump,” Sam said with a slur to his voice.
“In my clothes?” Frannie said.
“Unless you want to skinny-dip.” Sam leered and Ernie laughed.
“Don’t be such a jerk, Sam.” Paul spoke up. “She doesn’t have to do it if she doesn’t want to.”
“Shut up, egghead,” Sam said. “You wouldn’t even take the plunge.”
“Wait,” Frannie said, stepping back from the steaming water. “Then how did he get in the gang?” Maybe there was another way.
“Because he has the car, of course,” Ernie said.
Frannie didn’t have a choice. Unless she wanted to sit by herself at lunch and not have anybody to dance with after dinner.
“Don’t be a chicken,” Vicky prompted. She started to cluck and Ernie and Sam joined in, flapping their elbows.
Frannie couldn’t back down now. She toed off her sneakers. “Okey dokey,” she said, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t beating like a drum. “Dead Savage Spring, here I come.”
