lake.
She turned to Rick. “We’re better off without it,” she said. “I’ll buy you a new one when we get home.”
“It’s all right,” he muttered, and took her into his arms. He held her gently against him. She was warm. He felt her fingers stroking his hair.
“I was so scared when I heard that shot,” she said.
“I didn’t fire it. They took it away from me.”
“That’s when you got the lump on your forehead?”
“Jase threw a knife. Just the handle got me, I guess. But they took the gun from me.”
“Well, I love you anyway.”
He kissed her, and they were still kissing when sounds of footfalls approached. They eased apart. Bonnie and Andrea came out of the trees.
Bonnie had a hatchet in her hand. Andrea had a knife. Apparently, neither girl had wasted time getting dressed. Bonnie was in her socks and a pale body stocking that clung to her like skin and made her look naked. Andrea wore her down vest and skimpy dark panties. She was barefoot.
They were in a sour mood. Cross, as if they’d had an argument that had almost, but not quite, simmered down. They were still fired up. The atmosphere around them bristled with tension and they looked just about ready to use their weapons on anybody who said a wrong word.
Rick glanced from one to the other and realized that Andrea had indeed expected him to join her. She’d lain in her sleeping bag, naked or just in her panties, and waited for him.
Bonnie had known this, and had probably kicked up about it.
Flattering. But he’d managed to stay away. And he was glad. He had Bert. Bert was all he ever really wanted, better than he deserved. He’d been stupid even to consider ...
“They just let you go?” Andrea asked.
“We were watching,” Bonnie said. “But we couldn’t hear what was going on.”
“They never meant us any harm,” Bert explained.
“What were you doing there?” Andrea asked Rick. “My Christ, we heard a shot and ...”
“Let’s get back to camp,” Rick said. “I’ll explain everything.”
“Yeah, let’s,” Andrea said. “I’m colder than the left tit of an Arctic witch.” She turned away. She started to run ahead of them, and Rick didn’t bother watching.
He took hold of Bert’s hand. “There’s something,” he said, “that needs to be told.”
Rick built the campfire to a high blaze while the others were in their tents. They came out one at a time after dressing for the early morning chill, and sat down around the fire.
Bert sat on the log beside Rick. She put an arm around his back.
“First,” Rick said, “I want to thank all of you for rushing to my rescue. It took a lot of guts, and ... I really appreciate it. The thing is, apparently no rescue was necessary. There never was any danger from Jase or Luke or Wally. That was all in our heads. In
“They did spy on the girls,” Bert reminded him.
“But like they said, who wouldn’t? You take any normal guy, and he’s not going to turn the other way if he has a . chance to look at some attractive females—especially if they’re not wearing much. It wasn’t any crime.”
“They came all the way down the mountain,” Andrea said.
“They denied that,” Bonnie reminded her.
“If they did come down,” Rick said, “we don’t know for sure that it had anything to do with us. But I thought they planned to rape and ... when I collapsed on the trail, I was having some kind of dream or vision that they’d killed all three of you. And I had another dream like that tonight while I was on watch. I was afraid it might be a premonition or something, a warning—so I could stop them sneaking in here.”
“You start telling us you’re psychic,” Andrea said, “I’m gonna shit right here and now.”
“I’ve never been psychic.”
“Thank God. ’Cause if those were premonitions ...”
“He said they weren’t,” Bonnie told her.
“No, all he said was that he’d never been psychic. That doesn’t mean you can discount the possibly that those visions of his—”
“Andrea also believes in extra-terrestrial life forms, ghosts, astrology and Ouija boards.” Bonnie shook her head and grinned. “Not to mention Tarot cards—and don’t believe her when she says she isn’t psychic. She is.” She looked meaningfully at Andrea.
“Remember the time you said that dummy Marion Dahl was gonna be off sick and wouldn’t be in class the next day and she was? Sick, I mean.”
“I keep an open mind, that’s all. I don’t disbelieve shit just ’cause people tell me it’s supernatural nonsense.”
“I don’t think there was anything supernatural about the tricks my imagination was playing,” Rick said.
“I sure the hell hope not,” Andrea said.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious at this point that Jase and the others never meant us any harm.”
“You were worried all along,” Bert said, “about making this trip. Even before we ran into those three guys, you were a nervous wreck. Then, when they showed up, it all seemed to focus on them. You were convinced they were trouble long before you ever had those—hallucinations, or whatever.”
“Yeah. I guess I expected history to repeat itself.” He saw confusion in Bert’s eyes. “I didn’t tell you everything,” he said, “about what happened on that other camping trip.”He looked at Andrea and Bonnie. “The last time I went camping was when I was fourteen. I’ve already told Bert about it. How I broke my leg and my father left me to go for help. What I didn’t tell her before was that my stepmother was with us. Julie. She stayed with me. And a couple of guys came into the camp. They knocked me out. They raped and killed Julie. They did it while I was unconscious. When I came to, the two guys were gone. Julie was naked on the ground and she was dead.”
“Jesus,” Bert muttered. “I wish you’d told me.”
“I’ve never told anyone.”
Bert shook her head. Her eyes glimmered wet in the firelight. Her hand moved up Rick’s back and curled around the nape of his neck. “It must’ve been so awful for you. I’m so sorry.”
“Anyway, that’s why I brought the gun along. I got Julie killed, but I wasn’t going to let it happen to you. Then when we met you two,” he said, glancing at Andrea and Bonnie, “it was all part of the same thing.”
“You couldn’t save Julie,” Andrea said, “so it’s like you wanted to save all of us—to make up for it.”
“Something like that, I guess.”
“Heavy,” Andrea said.
“If I’d known what happened before,” Bert said, “I never would’ve talked you into this.”
“You were so eager. I didn’t want to spoil it for you. Besides, I had no idea I’d suddenly turn into a total paranoid. That other was a long time ago. I figured I’d be able to handle being in the mountains again. But when we got here, it all came back fresh as if the years in between just folded up. Then Jase and his pals walked into the camp. That’s what the others did, just walked into camp and the next thing I knew Julie was dead. The way I saw it, it was all starting over again. But this time I was ready and I had a gun and nobody was going to get hurt except the guys.”
“And I threw away the gun,” Bert muttered.
“You
“I threw it in the lake.”
“Holy limping Jesus.”
“It’s all right,” Rick said. “We’re better off without it. I could’ve ... I came pretty close to shooting those guys tonight. And they were innocent.”
“Innocent my ass.”
“They’re creeps,” Bert said, “but they’re not rapists or killers.”
“That remains to be seen,” Andrea said.
“They had my gun,” Rick told her. “They could’ve done whatever they wanted. All they did was hand it over to Beet.”
