“Dad! Dad!” called Mark, waiting until David had finished his speech.
“What is it, son?”
“We have James VanFleet on the radio!”
“Is everything okay?” asked David.
“I don’t know—just said he needed to talk to you and that it was important.”
“Sure. Tell him I’ll be right there,” he said, whispering something to Tina.
* * * *
“Hello, James. To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked an upbeat David.
“Hey, David. How you all doing up there? Get those greenhouses up?” asked James.
“We finished yesterday and even planted the seeds. I do have some questions, though, about crop rotation.”
“Sure thing, old friend. I’ll show you firsthand.”
“Great! Are you headed up this way?” asked David.
“Not exactly. I’m not in a position to make it up there now, but we need to meet.”
“You want me to come down the mountain?”
“Yep, I have some news you will need to hear from me off the radio,” replied James. “I reckon I need about two or three hours of your time. Can you make it?”
“Yeah, I guess I could do that. How’s the road down to your place?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Can’t be as bad as when Janice and I rode down it.”
James looked at Jason, getting a smile out of him. Both never expected to be able to joke about how they met, but somehow they could.
“When should I come?”
“Tomorrow works,” said James.
“That quick, huh?”
“Yeah, that quick,” replied James.
“Okay, hold on for a few and let me talk to Tina and Mel. They’re right here, so it should just be a minute or two.”
David was back on the line in five minutes.
“Not everyone is happy about it, but I’ll be there, and I’m bringing Mark with me on the four-wheelers. I have a quick group meeting at breakfast, but we can head down right after. We’ll need to head back up here by three or so. I want plenty of time before it gets dark.”
“I don’t blame you,” said James. “Lunch is on us tomorrow, so tell Mark to bring his appetite.”
“He always does,” said David, laughing.
“You remember how to get here?” asked James.
“That I do. We should be there by 9 a.m.”
“Okay then. We’ll be watching for you, and Jason will come up and unlock the front gate.”
“I hope I’m not up all night wondering what the news is,” added David.
“Well, I’ll tell you this much now. It’s not the kind of shocking news, like a missing kid or injured adult, that might make you worry. However, it is the kind of news that one way or another will impact you, whether you stay home or not.”
“Kind of like beachfront living with a hurricane you can’t see heading straight for you, right?” asked David.
“Let’s just call it a tropical storm,” said James. “Nothing to lose sleep over yet.”
David believed his old friend but had a restless night’s sleep anyway. Mark only knew he was taking a day trip with his dad and was happy for the change of scenery. Maybe I will get lucky and meet a girl my age, he thought, realizing it was unlikely.
* * * *
Mel helped David with the breakfast meeting, not handing out jobs but asking for volunteers. Breakfast was delayed by an hour after a strong summer storm dumped on the Pass most of the night. David would remain head of security and Mel in charge of supplies, but teamed up for the last two-man job on the list that nobody volunteered for.
“It looks like we’re on latrine cleanout duty,” said Mel.
“I think we should get started on it right away, like after breakfast,” David replied with a straight face.
“Nice try and not a chance in this world!” said Mel, breaking David’s stone face into an “it was worth a try” grin.
“I’ll pitch in cutting wood while you’re gone today and save you the pleasure of working with me tomorrow, elbow-deep!”
“Okay, okay. That’s what I figured,” David replied, still grinning.
David and Mark said their good-byes, getting a late start. Both Tina and Beatrice were concerned, with only Tina showing it on her face.
“Would you be a dear?” Beatrice asked Tina, “and help me prep some food for the coming week? We should be finished about the time these men come back. Bring the girls, and let’s invite Katie to help.”
* * * *
David and Mark headed down the mountain, with Mark’s father leading in front. The winding mountain road sucked Mark into its world, navigating ruts and spots washed out by recent rains. The road was masterful at clearing his mind of recent tragedies that he could not seem to escape for more than a few minutes at a time throughout the day. He steadied his breath, with warm wind careening off his helmet and the occasional bump of a flying bug flattened on his visor. Mark let his dad get a little ahead and would gun it until he caught up with him, hitting the breaks hard and fishtailing the quad, only to fall back and try it again. The center of the old fire road was in decent shape, as those roads went, but the shoulders loosened up more than expected during last night’s rain.
David started to slow to say something a dad would about being careful and watching out for one’s surroundings when he saw it up ahead on the corner.
She walked with her cub down the center of the narrow mountain road.
David stopped quickly, applying both brakes hard, hoping Mark didn’t run into him. He waived an arm up in a stop position as Mark careened past him and halfway around the corner before applying his own brakes, just as quickly. His momentum was too much for the corner, too sharp maybe. The back of his machine slid around, hitting the soft
