“Not an actual chicken. It waslikea chicken. With these weird inflatable chest pouches, or something. It danced and made popping sounds.” I imitated the popping sounds I’d heard, which in hindsight probably did more to hurt than to help my credibility.
Noah looked more skeptical the more I described it. “A dancing bird withinflatable pouches?”
“And popping sounds.” I made the sounds again.
“It almost sounds like …” Noah had a faraway look in his eyes, but then shook his head. “But that would be impossible.”
“Here, I can show you.” I held up my phone so he could see.
Noah’s eyes flicked over my screen, then widened like he’d seen a ghost. “Wait.” His eyes fixed on the video. “Play that again.”
I played it again.
Noah pointed to a specific moment when the bird turned, revealing a distinctive pattern on its neck feathers. “I can’t believe it.” His entire demeanor changed, anger and hurt wiped away by wonder. “Where exactly did you see this?”
“Coming from the resort. Near the Adventure Center.”
For such a serious man, I’d never seen Noah more serious.
“Close to where I saw the one my first night. Except that one was smaller and not quite as animated. I think one was a girl and the one today is a boy.”
Noah ran a hand through his hair, his eyes never leaving my phone screen. “Sam, do you have any idea what that is?” He looked at me like he actually expected me to come up with an answer.
“Not a disco chicken?” I ventured.
“It’s a Gunnison sage grouse,” said Noah, voice hushed with awe. “They’re critically endangered. And you’ve seen two different ones? In the same area?”
“It’s like they’re targeting me specifically.”
“Researchers have been trying to document their mating grounds for years. The population’s been declining so rapidly that finding an active lek is rare.”
“Lek?”
“Their mating grounds.”
For some reason, my mind flashed back to the old cabin. “So, me finding them is a good thing? Even if I did it recklessly?”
Noah couldn’t fully suppress a smile. “We have to show the others. This changes everything.”
With a renewed sense of urgency, Noah dumped his climbing gear in his Jeep, then whistled for Yeti.
“Um … a little help, please?”
I stood on one leg while Noah considered me for a moment, then made a decisive nod. “Put your arms around my neck.
“What?”
“I’ll carry you.”
“I thought you said you’d never carry me.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as Noah scooped me off the ground.
“That was before you discovered an endangered species’ mating ground.” He held me as if I weighed next to nothing.
I clung to Noah like I never planned to let him go. His body was warm against mine, his muscles tense as he checked to make sure I was secured. “You okay?” he asked, breath tickling my ear.
“I am now.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
