Mountain Moonlight - By Jane Toombs Page 0,9

thought. He wouldn't have. His annoyance with her was mixed with reluctant admiration for her tenacity. Vala just wasn't the kind who gave up, even when the odds were against her.

"We'll walk the horses for the next stretch and give them a rest," he said, aware he was doing it for Vala's sake. The horses weren't anywhere near ridden out but neither she nor Davis would know that. While she'd find walking painful, it wouldn't hurt as much as getting back into the saddle. They went on, Vala hobbling gamely along, leading Susie Q. Bram decided that Mac must have had a sixth sense about Vala's non-existent riding skills because the mare was the most amiable and tractable horse in his corral. Susie Q would never take advantage of her rider.

Near noon he called a halt for lunch and they ate the cheese sandwiches put up for them at Brenden's, Vala leaning against a rocky outcropping rather than trying to sit. When they were ready to go on, he hoisted her into the saddle, watching her bite her lip rather than moan as her aching muscles protested.

When they finally reached the spot where, revising his original plans, he'd decided to camp for the night it was only three in the afternoon but he knew she couldn't go on much longer. He'd originally figured three days in and three days out but now he added two additional days to his estimate. Food wouldn't be a problem because he always brought more than he expected to need.

After Davis helped Bram with the horses, they put up the tent where the boy and his mother would sleep. "It sure goes faster with four hands than it does with two," Bram told him when they finished. "Thanks."

Davis nodded, flushing with pleasure, then turned to look at Vala who was sprawled on a sleeping bag, eyes closed. "Do you think she'll feel better tomorrow?"

"Some, anyway."

"Where's your tent?" Davis asked.

"I like looking up at the stars so I don't use a tent unless it rains."

"I've slept outside before," Davis said. "At camp. I don't need to be in the tent with my mom."

"For her sake you should be tonight at least," Bram told him. "She might need you."

"Yeah, you're right."

Vala heard them talking but, in her relief at being able to stretch out at last, she didn't bother to pay attention to what they said until Davis knelt beside her, insisting she take a pill, claiming that Bram said it would help her.

"Mr. Hunter," she mumbled reflexively.

"He says on the trail we use first names."

She opened her eyes and Davis showed her the pill. "Ibu-something," he said. "It's for sore muscles." "Ibuprofen." She raised herself onto one elbow, swallowed the pill with a sip of water, then fell back onto the sleeping bag and didn't move again until sunset, when it was time to eat Bram's camp stew served with biscuits and hot tea.

She managed to walk to the camp fire by herself, where she sat on a folded sleeping bag, her back propped against a second rolled-up bag while she ate.

"Tonight's lesson," Bram announced, "is what to do if you get lost."

"You serve lessons with the meals?" she asked.

"Our walking wounded must be mending," Bram said to Davis. "She's beginning to talk." Turning to her, he added, "One lesson each evening--you might call it dessert."

"A kid at my camp got lost on a hike once," Davis said. "He wandered around until he came to a road and some guy on one of those big Harleys gave him a ride back to camp."

"We don't have any bikers in the Superstitions," Bram said, "so listen up. Rule 1. As soon as you know you're lost, stop, sit down and try to figure out where you are in relation to where you came from. Use your head, not your legs. Rule 2. If you have no idea where you are, make camp in a nearby sheltered spot. Rule 3. Don't wander. If you must move, travel downhill. Rule 4. If you're hurt, try to light a fire and make a smoke signal. Rule 5. Don't yell, run, or get panicky. And never give up."

Vala closed her eyes and let his words flow over her, thinking that when he wasn't angrily growling, Bram's deep voice was really quite soothing.

When Bram finished, he and Davis cleaned up, leaving her sitting alone by the fire. If she didn't try to move, she was fairly comfortable. But then Davis returned, asking for