AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Great. You’re doing amazing, buddy!” she said, in the voice of a mother congratulating their child for not pissing themselves during their first Christmas nativity. “Now look at the map and give me your best guess on how far away it is.”
“A mile? Maybe two?”
There was an uncomfortably long pause. “A few miles?”
“Yeah. Why? Is that bad?”
“So... it’s not way out across the range?”
“What? No! It’s down in the first valley. The one closest to me!”
“And you didn’t see it when you woke up?”
“I think I would’ve noticed a pillar of smoke.”
“Luca?”
“Sandy?” he said, exacerbated.
“Is the smoke rising in one fluffy little column?”
“Yes!”
“Do me a favor. Give the smoke a thumbs up.”
“What? Why?”
“Trust me.” Though his heart was racing now, Luca followed her instructions. “Now, is your thumb wider than the smoke?”
“Yeah?” said Luca.
He could almost hear the newspaper being regripped. “Then good news. You don’t have a wildfire. You have a campfire. A big one, probably. Maybe some college kids living out their bonfire fantasy. But not a wildfire—those spread wide, and the smoke pattern is totally different.”
“A campfire?” he said, peering into the woods. He’d seen dozens of campfires before, although admittedly not from this height. The best camping spots were at the bottom of valleys, near water. Not at the tops of mountains.
Luca squinted. He could see the vague area of the smoke, but the source was hidden below the tree line. “No one’s checked into the tower?”
“Most hikers don’t. We can’t force them.”
“So . . . what should I do about it?”
“Nothing? Campfires are legal this summer because of all the snow and rain. As long as it doesn’t spread, it’s not our concern.”
“Oh . . .”
Luca found himself strangely conflicted. It wasn’t like he wanted the forest to go up in smoke. But after a week of zero excitement and zero people, getting to lead the charge of some water-bombing helicopters would’ve made for a better story than some intrepid family frying up their lunch.
“Actually... Northwest, eh?” said Sandy, with a strange little laugh that Luca couldn’t quite place. “Have you wandered out that way?”
“Not yet.”
“Then you know what? You can never be too careful. Why don’t you strap on a pair of boots and go check it out. Make sure those campers are following proper procedure.”
The excitement in Luca’s voice was hard to hide. “Really?”
“Absolutely,” she said, to the sound of turning newsprint. “I insist.”
Luca wasn’t lost. Sure, he didn’t know where he was, but he didn’t know where he was going either. So it probably evened out.
