The B Girls - By Cari Cole Page 0,32

on the bear to put her finger on the problem.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was probably less than two minutes, they moved out of sight of the bear.

Lucy took a last peek. "I think she's going back into the woods where she came out."

Jane and Mae breathed audible sighs of relief but continued to back up the trail for a few more steps.

They stopped next to a fallen log and by unspoken agreement sat down to get their wits about them and stop shaking.

"That was about as much adventure as I'm ever interested in having," Jane said.

"We'll have to be more prepared next time," Mae said.

Jane rolled her eyes. "There's not going to be a next time. We could've been eaten."

"I don't think the bears around here are carnivores."

"You know what I mean," Jane said.

"Yes I do," Lucy agreed. "But we're going to have to search that cave tomorrow. Unless you want out?" She'd come back alone if she had to. Until Belle was safe at home, she wasn't leaving anything undone.

"No, I don't want out. I just wish there was an easier way," Jane said.

"If finding the Declaration was easy someone else would have done it before now. Let's get back to the van," Lucy said as she looked around, still trying to put her finger on the problem that had been nagging at her since they backed out of the clearing.

"What?" Jane said. "I don't like the look on your face. Confusion is not a good thing in the navigator."

Lucy shook her head, concentrating. The trail was clear and relatively straight, leading . . . "Uh-oh."

"What uh-oh? I don't like it when the woman with the GPS says uh-oh," Jane said.

"This isn't the trail we were on before."

Mae looked around. "You're right. How did we manage that?"

"Never mind how we managed it. How are we going to find the van?" Jane said.

"Fear. We took the easy way out," Lucy said. "But we didn't come into the clearing on an easy path." Lucy studied the trail. "The big question is whether this trail will take us back to the road."

"I think it's headed in the right general direction," Mae said.

"What does your magic GPS say?" Jane asked.

Lucy checked the direction back to the point she'd marked when they came to the creek. "We're not heading back to the last point I marked."

Jane groaned. "I'm not going back where the bear is."

Lucy held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Let me check something else." She checked the point she'd marked at the fork in the road and the one for the van. Yes! This trail was leading to a point between the fork and the parking area.

She did a little happy dance. "I think this trail is a short cut back to the jeep trail."

"What is it Tolkien wrote in one of those hobbit books--'Short cuts make long delays'? Or something like that," Mae said.

"In this case, I think the short cut will make for an easier hike."

"Easier is good," Jane said. "Let's go."

###

It was easier than the climbing and clawing they'd done on the way in, but that didn't mean it was easy. The trail was still steep in spots and overgrown but they made better time on the return trip.

"I vote we pick up something really decadent for dinner," Jane said. "Protein bars and trail mix are great for energy and staving off hunger but we've earned something great."

"What about doubles at the gym?" Lucy asked.

"I think I've burned enough calories today for a huge binge," Jane said.

"Something really fattening and bad for us," Mae said as they stepped back onto the jeep trail. "Wow, that wasn't bad at all."

"Better than the first half anyway." Lucy stopped to mark the spot in the GPS. If they needed to go back for any reason she sure as hell wanted to be able to find the trail again.

"I just want air conditioning," Jane said. "Let's get back to the van."

Lucy looked at her friends as they trudged toward the parking area. They were a sorry looking trio. Dirty, sweaty, bug-bit, scratched and bruised.

She had the tin under one arm, its lid back in place and the map safe inside.

They rounded the last bend and the gravel parking area came into sight. The van was right where they'd left it but there was another vehicle parked in the lot.

When they got closer, Lucy realized it was a US Forest Service truck and Ranger Leonard was bent over the