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“Of course you do. I should’ve guessed.” Charlie chuckled, and Gherring gave her a crooked grin.
“What’s a sat phone?” asked Anne.
“A satellite phone,” explained Gherring. “I think the best plan is for Spencer and I to go up together. When we find her, we can call you on the sat phone to let you know she’s safe. Because just in case she’s having ill effects from the drug overdose, it might take both of us to get her down.”
“What about me? I’m great at hiking. You can’t leave me here.” Charlie crossed her arms, twisting her lips sideways.
“Yes, I know you are. But I’m betting you don’t have your gear in New York.”
“No.” She gave a small stomp with her foot.
“Anyway, I don’t want to leave your mom alone.”
“We should go now,” urged Spencer. “It’s a long hike.”
“Where is it?” asked Steven.
“It’s Harriman State Park—the Long Path Loop. Have you been?”
“I’ve been a few years back. How long is it?”
“It’s about eighteen miles. They’ll go about ten before they set up camp.”
“What if she gets on the wrong trail, hiking by herself?” asked Charlie.
Spencer gritted his teeth. “I’ll find her. And when I do, I may tie her to a chair for safekeeping!”
*****
“Now, we get to go down a chute instead of up. You should like that,” Josh said to Emily with a smirk. Each time they faced another steep rocky chute, she questioned whether they were truly on the right path. Even with pants on, she had bruises and scratches on her legs from scrambling, climbing and slipping on the loose rock climbs. She hurt in every part of her body, but she refused to complain. She was afraid her companions would lose patience with her and leave her to fend for herself. She looked dubiously at the steep descent as Josh crawled down.
“You go next,” said Brad. “Just let him get down a bit so you don’t knock rocks on top of him.”
Emily wanted to stop and rest, but she kept the thought to herself. She managed to climb down the precipitous drop with only a few additional injuries. At the bottom she stood up and felt herself sway a bit.
Josh frowned at her. “Have you been drinking enough water? You look a little washed out.”
She tried to remember. “I’m not sure. Maybe not.”
“Sit down and drink something.” Obediently, she sat and dug into her pack for a water bottle.
“Why are you out here by yourself, anyway?” he asked. “It’s actually dangerous—you should always hike with a buddy. Why are you meeting your friends instead of hiking with them?”
She dropped her face in her hands. “It’s a long story.”
“It’s about a guy, isn’t it?” Josh grinned before taking a long drink of water. “Girls do really stupid stuff for guys.”
“Hey!” she objected.
“Guys, too.” He held up his hand. “Brad once ran naked in the snow to impress a girl.”
“And she really was impressed.” Brad plopped down beside Emily. “It was worth it.”
“So,” Josh asked, “are you trying to impress some guy by doing this hike by yourself? Because, he might think it was a dumb thing to do.”
“Do you think so?” She hadn’t considered her plan might backfire.
“Oh, yeah,” said Brad. “He’ll think it was a dumb thing to do. You should tell him you planned to hike with us all along. Except, I guess that might make him jealous. Who is this guy, anyway? If you were my girlfriend, I’d be hiking with you. I’d never let you out of my sight.”
