“Give it one hour and you’ll have a cup of fresh water.”
“No way.” Lucas looked disbelievingly at the contraption.
“Yes way.” Mr. Whitman grinned and unzipped his backpack. “Who wants to learn how to build a fire?”
Four hands shot up.
For the next hour, Mr. Whitman taught them how to survive overnight in the woods, tips Olivia had learned in her guide but didn’t fully understand. When their filtered waters were ready, much to Lucas’s amazement, they boiled the water with the fire they’d made from an egg carton and twigs.
When it was time to return to the cabin, Mr. Whitman announced they were hiking back on their own, one at a time. And they had to keep at least one hundred yards between them, and they couldn’t help each other.
“What if we get lost?” Lucas asked.
“Fill up your cups and use your compass.”
“Bet you wish you didn’t give Ty your needle,” Blaze mocked.
“Shut up.” Lucas folded his arms and scowled at the ground.
“You’ll be fine,” Olivia reassured.
Lucas looked at her like he didn’t believe her.
“Olivia, you go first.” Mr. Whitman pointed toward the trailhead. “Wait two minutes, then you go, Blaze.”
Her eyes widened. She nervously looked at the trees edging the meadow. She’d truly be on her own.
“See you back at the lake.” Blaze clapped her back, not at all acting afraid. She could do this. She grabbed her cup, filled it with water, and took off at a fast walk. The hike seemed longer returning, but Mr. Whitman had left stone markers at each fork. They helped her until she reached the markers Lucas knocked over, leaving a pile of stones. She had to use her compass. By the time she magnetized her needle, she could hear someone tromping through the brush behind her. She looked over her shoulder. Blaze was closing in.
He cupped his mouth and hollered, “You’re slacking, Carson.”
“You can’t catch me. You’re not allowed to.”
“Rules, shmules,” he yelled, gaining on her. “Dad won’t know if you don’t tell him.” He started running.
Suddenly their hike was a race, because rules or not, Olivia was not going to let him pass her. She took off. Ten minutes later they burst from the trees, gasping and sweating. Her boots and calves were muddy, arms dusty and speckled with mosquito bites. But she won and couldn’t help grinning and poking at him.
Blaze playfully smacked away her hands and pulled her into a stinky, sweaty hug. “Good job, Liv.”
Tyler crashed out of the trees with a holler of delight. Several minutes later, Mr. Whitman arrived. His gaze skimmed over them and he looked back toward the woods. “Where’s Lucas?”
Olivia and Blaze looked at each other and shrugged.
“Didn’t see him, Dad.”
It took another five minutes for Mr. Whitman to get seriously worried. He dropped his pack on the drive and went inside to see if Lucas had somehow reached the cabin before them.
Olivia chewed her thumbnail, unable to take her eyes off the trailhead.
“Maybe he twisted his ankle,” Blaze suggested.
She shook her head. “Your dad would have passed him.”
Mr. Whitman returned. “Let’s backtrack,” he told Blaze. “Olivia and Ty, wait here in case he comes back. Rhonda,” he called up to his wife who’d come out on the deck with Lily. “Give us an hour. Lucas couldn’t have gone far. But call the sheriff if he doesn’t show up within thirty minutes.”
“I will,” she said.
“Livy, where’s Luc?” Lily asked, kicking her legs between the deck rail slats.
“He’s playing hide-and-seek,” she said, not wanting to worry Lily. Her little sister would have another meltdown and Olivia didn’t want to deal with her temper tantrum, not when she was worried about her brother. Where was he?
Mr. Whitman and Blaze disappeared into the forest. Ten minutes went by, then twenty and still no sign of Lucas. Olivia paced the driveway. She chewed the cuticles off her thumbs. Lily whimpered from her spot on the deck. She knew something wasn’t right.
Five minutes before Mrs. Whitman was to call the sheriff, gravel shuffled behind Olivia. Someone poked her shoulder blade. She turned around and shrieked. “Lucas!”
“Where is everyone?” he asked like it was no big deal for him to suddenly show up.
Olivia hugged him. “Where’ve you been?”
“Hiding in the canoe. I was going to spook you guys but you were taking forever.”
“You idiot!” She thrust him away from her. “We’ve been looking all over for you. We thought you were lost. Mrs. Whitman was going to call the sheriff.”
“Why? I’ve been here the whole time.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Mrs. Whitman came rushing down the steps. She hugged Lucas. “We were so worried.”
Lucas grimaced, his cheeks reddening as he realized the joke he’d tried to play on them didn’t go over well.
Mr. Whitman and Blaze returned an hour later, panicked. When they found everyone safe inside the cabin, and after Lucas explained he thought the trail was boring and made his own, cutting the distance in half so that he arrived before everyone else, Mr. Whitman knocked back a finger of scotch and grounded Lucas for twenty-four hours. The following morning, he took Lucas back on the trail and made him find his way home the right way, insisting he pay attention to the trail markers.
For the rest of their summer visit, Olivia was grateful Lucas didn’t pull any more pranks, even though she knew he wanted to. But whenever he started to get that mischievous, rebellious look in his eye, Olivia glared at him. She didn’t like him ruining their adventures. If the Whitmans couldn’t trust them to be on their best behavior, Charlotte had told her, they wouldn’t invite them back next summer. Olivia needed these summers at the lake. It was the only time she genuinely enjoyed herself. She felt like she was part of something. A real family.
CHAPTER 6
Olivia strips off her sheets that smell of Blaze and her insecurities, memories of summers at the lake lingering like his scent. But it’s thoughts of Lucas that have her shaking the pillow so hard from its case that she almost knocks over her bedside lamp. Her brother was never reliable. Deep down she knows she can’t count on him, but her fingers are crossed he’ll step up and help with Josh when she calls him. He’s Lily’s son. That should motivate him.
A toilet flushes in the bathroom. Olivia looks toward the door and the unfamiliar sound where Josh is getting ready for bed. He’s the first guest to use the spare room since the remodel. He reminds her of a lost puppy, all big feet, floppy hair, and baggy sweats. She found a pair of Blaze’s in the dryer when she noticed Josh didn’t have a change of clothes. He was going to sleep in his jeans.
If he was planning to run away, wouldn’t he have packed smarter? He doesn’t even have a phone. Can Lily afford one, or is she strict? Maybe she never gave him one. Or he could have lost it when he lost his mother.
Olivia needs to find her. Or, she thinks, her limbs feeling shaky, find out what happened to her.
Looking back at the empty bed she feels a little empty herself, like something, or someone, is missing. And she’s not sure if the feeling stems solely from knowing Blaze won’t be staying with her tonight, or if it arises from Lily. Her whereabouts are a mystery.