Tread Softly

He took his flashlight from a pocket of his parka, and turned it on. The beam lit up the red jeans and sneakers of the girl in front of him. He shined it into the trees to his left. The weird, lurching shadows made him nervous. He swung his light down across the path, over pale rocks along the shore, and onto the water. The surface of the lake was rough from the wind. He swept the beam back and forth over the waves. He made curlicues. It was fun at first. Then he thought, What if a hand reaches up out of the water and nobody sees it but me? That's stupid, he told himself. But the image of a dead pale hand rising out of the murky lake wouldn't go away and he began to feel certain he would see it if he kept watching. His skin was prickly with goosebumps. He turned off the flashlight.

'Doreeeen,' Julie called in an eerie voice. 'Audreeey! Come on, everybody.'

Nick took up the call. Then the high voices of the twins joined in. With a shrug, Benny started calling out, too. Their voices rose, mingling with the noise of the wind.

Somebody'll hear, Benny thought. But he kept on shouting, unwilling to be the only silent one of the group. Besides, he told himself, there's nobody around to hear us. Nobody we know about. He glanced over his shoulder, but saw only darkness behind him.

He began to wish he weren't last in line. It'd get him first. Nobody would even know. He'd yell his head off, but with all the others calling for Doreen and Audrey, they wouldn't even hear him. It'd drag him away and.

Benny jerked his foot back, but it was too late. The girl yelped and stumbled forward, leaving her sneaker behind. She crashed into the other twin, and they both fell sprawling. 'Jeez, I'm sorry!' he blurted.

'Get off me!' snapped the one on the bottom, pushing at her sister.

Benny picked up the shoe.

'What happened?' Nick asked. 'You okay?' He and Julie helped the girls to their feet.

'I tripped,' said the girl Benny had stepped on. She had to be Heather.

'I stepped on her,' Benny admitted.

'Four-eyes!' Rose snapped.

'You klutz!' Julie said. 'Goddamn it!'

'I'm sorry.'

'Jesus, why don't you watch where you're going?'

His throat felt tight. He fought to keep himself from crying as he handed the shoe to Heather. 'I'm awfully sorry.'

'It's okay,' she told him. 'It doesn't hurt much.'

'Stupid jerk.'

'That's enough, Rose,' Nick said. 'It was just an accident. You both all right?'

The girls nodded. Heather put on her shoe.

'Okay, let's get going.'

'Don't walk so close,' Julie warned Benny.

'Maybe I'll just go back to camp.'

'Good idea. Why don't you?'

Turning away, he looked down the dark trail. They were near the end of the lake. There was no sign of the campsite.

Someone tugged the sleeve of his parka. 'Come on,' said a girl's voice. 'It's all right.' He looked around, and saw one of the twins behind him.

'I'm sorry I stepped on you,' he mumbled.

She smiled up at him. 'That's okay. Don't go back, okay?'

'I guess not,' he said. 'Thank you.'

They started walking again. Benny grimaced as he noticed that Heather was limping. He was careful to stay well behind her until the narrow path curved upward and vanished in the rocks at the lake's end. There, he stepped up beside her. She looked at him and smiled. Side by side, they walked over the low slabs of granite near the shore.

With no trees to cast heavy shadows, the night seemed very bright. The lake still looked almost black, but the bare rock was pale, as if painted with milk. Benny was amazed that he could see so well. He saw Julie's hair blowing in the wind, the pattern of Nick's plaid jacket, even the three stripes on the side of Rose's left sneaker. No colors, though. He couldn't make out any colors. Even Heather's jeans, which he knew were bright red, appeared to be a dark shade of gray. He wondered about that. You can see colors with a flashlight, but not by moonlight. It seemed strange.

Nick stopped and took hold of Julie's arm. 'Look,' he said, pointing high.

'What?' Julie asked.

'Way up there. Near the top.'

Benny scanned the pale slope. He saw patches of darkness, a few scrawny trees scattered about like solitary, watching men.

'Oh, yeah,' Julie said.

'I don't see anything,' Heather muttered.

'I do,' Rose said. 'Are they dogs?'

'Coyotes,' Nick explained.

Then Benny spotted a pair of lean, gray shapes strutting stiff-legged across a ledge high on the slope. They had long snouts, and tails as bushy as a squirrel's.

'I still don't…' Heather began.

Benny crouched to her level and pointed.

'Oh, gosh,' she said.

'Don't worry,' Benny told her. 'They don't hurt anyone.'

'Is that so?' Julie asked. 'A coyote killed a four-year-old girl, last year, in her own backyard.'

'Where?' Nick asked.

'Back home, in L.A. One of those canyon areas. It just came down from the hills behind their yard and mauled her to death.'

'Let's get out of here,' Heather whispered.

'It's all right,' Nick said. 'They're way up there. Besides, they wouldn't try anything with five of us.'

'Unless they're hungry,' Julie added.

Nick laughed nervously, and started walking again. Soon, Benny saw the glow of the campfire on the other side of the lake. When they were directly across from it, he could see the tents and the adults sitting around the fire.

'Hel-lo!' Julie called.

Nobody answered. The wind must be too loud, Benny thought.

They kept moving. Benny stayed close to Heather. She continued to limp slightly. Sometimes, when they had to climb over clusters of rock, Benny went first and gave her a hand. He liked helping her. She wasn't a snot like her sister. And she still seemed nervous about the coyotes. Every few steps, she looked back. 'I don't like it here,' she said after a while.

'There's nothing to be afraid of,' he told her.

She glanced behind her. 'What's that?'

Benny spun around, his heart thudding. 'That? Just a bush.'

'Are you sure?'

'Sure I'm sure,' he said, but he kept staring at the dark, hunched shape. It was barely visible in the shadows of an outcropping no more than two yards away. It was a bush, wasn't it? An icy feeling of dread crept up Benny's back. 'Come on,' he said. He took Heather's hand and pulled her away. She sidestepped behind him, still looking back. They hurried to catch up with the others.

Benny was glad to see that they had almost reached the end of the lake. Just below an outcropping ahead, the forest would start again. They would merely have to pick up the trail there, follow it around a bend in the shoreline, and hike straight back to the camp.

Nick, in the lead, disappeared over the top of the outcropping. Julie followed. Rose waited for Benny and Heather, then started down.

Benny looked back. Nothing was approaching from the rear. He let Heather go ahead of him. As she climbed