He wanted her so badly that it was dangerous. "Come on," he said, taking her hand and pulling her out of the trailer.
Chapter 18
Josie
Alex held my hand as we strolled toward the camp. It felt easy because he was unapologetic about doing it. A couple of times, he broke away, but he would grab my hand again after only a few steps. There were mountains in the background, but it was dark out, and I could hardly see them. They were in the distance, anyway.
The Sutters ranch was east of Missoula and set in a spot with a lot of flat land surrounding it. That was what made it perfect for this film, which was supposed to take place on the plains of Missouri. The stars and the moon were out, so it was light enough to see where we were walking and stay on the path.
We held hands and talked. Alex told me a story of something that had happened earlier that night, before we got there. I told him Judd had mentioned an egg scene, and he confirmed that I had inspired it. We were ten minutes into our walk when Cameron came up behind us on a golf cart.
"Cam's taxi. Do you guys want a ride? Ty and Amelia need a ride back to their trailer, so I'm headed to pick them up. I'll probably have others,too. People just call me when they don't feel like walking. Do you guys want to get in?"
"Yeah, we'll hitch a ride the rest of the way," he said, pulling me by the hand. He stood back and offered for me to get in the seat ahead of him. I went to the middle of the front seat, trying not to bump into Cameron. I smiled at her before we took off, and she smiled back. Alex was on the other side of me, and his leg was pressed against mine.
We drove a lot faster than we walked, and we were back at the campsite within a minute or two. Cameron talked to him about a scene they were going to re-shoot, and I just listened. We rode all the way to the place where they had the campfire going. It was smaller now than it was before, but it was the campfire for the actual set, so our surroundings were picturesque.
The cameras weren't rolling, and I had a gritty, authentic feeling of nostalgia as I looked out at the scene of people. They looked like we were set back in time. No one was looking at phones. There was nothing modern around except for the golf cart, which was behind me now. In front of me was a gorgeous scene of people having a conversation around a campfire. Most of them were in period clothing. There were only ten or twelve of them still there, and my sister was among them. She was sitting next to a guy, one of the musicians.
I stood next to Alex and took it all in while he bantered with them, and then announced that he hadto go get something from a wagon. Cameron asked if we needed a ride back, and Alex said that we would be walking. She said we should call if we changed our minds. He told her goodnight, and then he pulled me along. I smiled and waved at everyone.
"The campsite is beautiful," I said. "I love the set. I'm glad we came back here so I can take a look at it again."
"I'm thankful. Henry really came through with this ranch and the horses. The horses make it."
"The horses are beautiful," I said. "The whole thing is looking so good. I could see the camera screen some of the time."
"Judd's helping me with a lot of the photography. Judd and Cameron are both just such good artists."
"I love it that you give other people the credit."
"Only when they deserve it," Alex said.
"I see you working, and you're amazing, that's all. You're a great leader."
He took me around the back of one of the wagons and stopped at the back door.
"This is Wagon Two."
"Is it special?" I asked.
He nodded. "We have our cameras and equipment stored in here—things we don't lug with us every time we shoot out here."
"Are Wagons One and Three full of equipment too?" I asked him.
He reached up, opened the door, looked inside, closed it, and locked it.
"No," he said, casually as he moved. "Not One. Wagon Three is for equipment, though. All of them are pretty big on the inside, so Three's pretty empty. One is different. That's where I'm taking you. It's our set. It's all fixed up in there, packed with authentic set pieces that the travelers would have had. We have some scenes that are filmed inside the wagon, and that's all done in One." He had been walking while he was talking, and we approached the back of what I assumed was Wagon One.
He gestured to the back of it. "Would you like to go inside?"
"I was going to ask if I could see it," I said. "Is this Wagon One?"
"Yes," he said. He unzipped a piece of fitted canvas and shifted it to the side, exposing the back of the wagon with the canvas that was gathered in a circular frame around an open window. He opened the lower, wooden door part, and I stepped onto the ladder-style steps and made my way inside.
"Whoa,thisis what it was like?" I asked, sounding as shocked as I felt.
"What did you imagine?" he asked, coming to stand next to me in the cramped living space.
