what made him seem so tranquil much of the time. For him, protecting nature wasn’t just a job. He was protecting life of all kinds, taking care of the earth, and perhaps it seemed to him that his calling was at least somewhat holy. Not exactly a religion, but sacred in a way.
She liked that. She had seen enough destruction for one lifetime, and was more than ready to consider all life sacred. Even the rocks and trees, come to that.
After they washed up, he showed her how to use the gravity shower. Even though there was a holding tank into which she could pour some stove-heated water, she had a feeling the experience would be reminiscent of a few she had had in Iraq. Pull the chain, the water would be all the wrong temp, wash fast, pull the chain again...
“Or,” he said, “you could continue to go to town anytime you want a real shower. I wouldn’t advise the streams, though. That’s really cold. But if you decide to go that route, there’s biodegradable soap and shampoo on that shelf.”
Not to mention she was beginning to wonder just who was wandering around in the woods. No, it would be the gravity shower or a trip in to her motel room. She had already paid in advance for an entire month.
Night had settled fully, and she decided to pull out her new jacket and stargaze again. The nighttime woods had a beauty all their own, one she probably couldn’t justify in paint, but one she could feel all the way to the depths of her being.
She sat on her tarp with her knees up, arms wrapped around them. A few minutes later, Craig joined her with two cups of coffee. She noticed he put a safe distance between them.
“I love sleeping in the open,” he remarked.
Well, that was a nice way of telling her she’d probably have the cabin to herself tonight. She almost sighed, then stopped herself. It was hard, she thought, to get to know somebody new. In fact, it was so hard she wondered if a lot of relationships lasted long beyond their expiration date simply because nobody wanted to go to that much trouble again.
But this was different. This was never going to amount to anything, so no effort was really required. Just take it for what it was and skip the social anxiety.
“So you’ll be going to see the sheriff in the morning? What exactly happened?”
Craig turned a little toward her, sitting cross-legged. “Well, it turns out he was right. He saw evidence that there were at least four men there beyond Buddy and his family, and it bothered him that he didn’t see them. As if they were trying to stay out of sight. And he didn’t like that guy called Cap either.”
“Sounds unanimous.”
“Apparently. Anyway, when I was out riding along one of the streams looking for obstructions, I saw something I didn’t like—a watchtower under construction.”
She stiffened a bit, turning her head to look right at him. “What does he need a watchtower for?”
“Exactly what I was wondering. You know, Sky, I admit I’ve only known the guy for three years, but he never struck me as the sort who’d want to build an armed camp. At least not without some reason. Being out in the middle of nowhere like this mostly obviates the reasons. You tell me how many people are likely to show up at his place if a meteor drops out of the sky. And if Yellowstone erupts, there aren’t going to be any of us around anyway.”
“What a thought!”
“It’s true. Not likely in our lifetimes, but true anyway. Regardless, this is a pretty thinly populated place. Most of the ranchers are fairly self-sufficient to begin with. You take the townspeople, and I think this would be the last place they’d come. Besides, Buddy, being a prepper, isn’t exactly advertising what he’s doing. His family has been here forever, they’ve never been really sociable from what I hear and I doubt anyone thinks of him very often if at all. The sheriff and I know he’s a prepper only because we see him so often and he’s let a few things slip.”
“So?”
“So I don’t think he’d cross a single soul’s mind if a catastrophe happened. People in town would pull together, the ranchers would hunker down and help who they could. But nobody would be on the way to Buddy’s place. I’d bet on it.”