'Today, I would rather stop and stretch my legs for a while. Please look on your map for a campground.'
'Of course,' Jose said.
'Will I be allowed to explore tomorrow?'
Hector saw the twinkle in Grandfather's eyes, nodded his head, and laughed. He checked for oncoming traffic, saw none, turned the truck around, and started driving back toward the town of Reserve.
Kerney left the Forest Service truck in front of the old schoolhouse, now the Luna District Ranger Station, glad to be finished with the Glenwood assignment. In the high country, no matter what the season, early morning was chilly, and across the valley plumes of wood smoke drifted from the chimneys of the homes that were still occupied.
Over the years many houses had been abandoned, and the village presented a neglected face to the world.
The former classroom that served as an office for the commissioned rangers was a snarl of desks, file cabinets, map cabinets, and office chairs. The walls were plastered with posters, maps, memorandums, and aerial photographs of the Apache National Forest, which was managed as part of the Gila east of the Arizona border. There were several responses to Kerney's fax inquiry on the top of his desk.
Clipped to them was a note for him to see the boss.
He didn't have a chance to read the replies. Carol Cassidy, the district supervisor, came into the room and stood in front of the blackboard that stretched along one wall. A quotation from Edward Abbey, written on the board with a warning not to remove it, read, 'The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs defenders.'
'What are you doing?' she asked, nodding at the fax papers on Kerney's desk. Carol's full lips accentuated her round cheekbones. She brushed her short blond hair back from her forehead. Her oval light brown eyes, usually impish and cheerful, were serious.
'Nothing, yet,' Kerney replied, waiting for more.
'Are you trying to give Charlie Perry a heart attack?' she asked, walking to him. She picked up the thin sheaf of fax papers and let them float down to the desktop one at a time.
'From what I've seen, he doesn't need any help from me,' Kerney answered.
'He's wound up pretty tight.' He scanned the replies quickly. No hits on his inquiry so far.
'He's hyper,' Carol agreed.
'But Jesus, Kerney, it's his investigation. I don't need any grief from Charlie.' 'Why would he give you grief?' Kerney asked.
Carol leaned back, hand on her hip, and stared at him. She was short and blocky-the legacy of a Nordic grandmother-but carried herself with poise. In her late forties, she was delighted to be running the Luna office and planned to keep doing exactly that until she retired.
'This will be a turf issue for Charlie,' Carol answered.
'It's his district and his case. You did your part. The rest is up to Charlie. Did he put a burr under your saddle?'
'No burr,' Kerney replied.
'I'm just following up. I plan to pass along whatever comes in.'
Carol liked Kerney, which was a pleasant surprise.
Often the temporary personnel hired out of the regional office in Albuquerque either lacked a strong work ethic or couldn't adapt to the rural culture of the area. Self-contained yet easygoing, Kerney fit nicely into the team.
'What's the issue?' she finally asked.
Kerney hesitated.
'Come on. Give,' Carol prodded.
'From what I can tell, Charlie's wearing blinders.
He isn't coordinating his investigations with other agencies or looking at trends. I thought it might be worth a shot to see what else is out there.'
Carol gave Kerney's assessment some thought before responding.
'You can make that same criticism about every district in the region,' she replied.
'The whole system is understaffed, under budgeted and under siege. Top that off with the Sagebrush Rebellion and the People of the West movement, and what we've got here is a damn near explosive situation.'
'I understand,' Kerney replied.
'Perhaps you do in a general way,' Carol responded, 'but you haven't been here long enough to know the depth of the anger that's out there.
Logging has been curtailed because of the Endangered Species Act. Mines have shut down because of water pollution. Grazing fees have been raised. Everybody blames the environmental movement and the government.
People feel that nobody outside the county gives a damn about their survival.
'In the last twelve months, four homemade bombs have been found on hiking trails in the wilderness. Bombs, for chrissake. Some people are more than angry.'
'Any ideas of who is responsible?'
'Nobody has a clue.'
'Not even rumors?'
'Some think it may be the county militia, but nobody is talking to me about it.'
'Who knows about the militia?'
'I haven't the foggiest. Some time back, when the first bomb was found, I asked to have an investigator assigned from the Inspector General's Office to look into the situation. Instead the acting regional forester referred the request to Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.'
'And?'
'Andnada.'
'Do you want me to drop the poaching research?' Kerney asked.
Carol took a minute to think it through.
'No, you can follow up, as long as it doesn't cut into your other duties. Charlie won't like it. He's been handling all the Luna District cases, as well as his own, for the past two years. But it's my call to make, and I'd just as soon put your experience in law enforcement to good use. Remember, you're a ranger, not a chief of detectives in a police department anymore.'
'I know that,' Kerney replied dutifully. He wished he could avoid the never-ending sermons that came with being a rookie newcomer.
Carol's expression softened, and she laughed.
'I'm lecturing, aren't I? Sorry about that.'
'It was more informative than what I learned from Charlie,' Kerney allowed, grinning at her.
'Tell me about him.'
Carol's smile was half a grimace.
'He's a golden boy. Can't seem to do anything wrong, as far as Sam Aldrich, our acting regional forester, is concerned.
Charlie transferred here about two years ago. He's single and not very social. Keeps pretty much to himself. There's not much to tell.'
She wiped the piqued expression off her face.
'Like him or not, he does a good job. He's a Young Turk on a fast track. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Are you ready to do something different for a while?'
'What do you have in mind?'
'We're finishing up a new campground at the foot ofMangas Mountain. It's nothing fancy. Parking for vehicles. A well and water line. Some picnic tables.
An outdoor toilet. New hiking trails. I can use you there for a couple of days.'
'No problem,' Kerney answered with a smile.
'Any special instructions?'
'Amador Ortiz will put you to work. Keep the area closed until the job is finished. I don't want anyone camping there until it's ready to open.' 'You got it, boss,' Kerney said, getting to his feet.
