I wish Morrie was here. He’d love this.
I finished the stew and scraped my plate clean. The flavors were incredible. I was quite impressed we’d found every ingredient ourselves. The mushrooms, in particular, were divine, and Heathcliff cooked them to perfection.
Sam tossed his plate aside, smacking his lips. In the firelight, his eyes were wide as saucers. He leaped to his feet.
“We should make shelters. Shelter from the cold. Yes, yes, we need shelter sticks.” He darted around the clearing, picking up sticks and waving them in the air, laughing gleefully at jokes the rest of us didn’t understand.
I glanced at Quoth, but he shrugged. Heathcliff had taken Oscar for a walk to a nearby stream to wash the pans. I stood up and held out a hand to our instructor. “Uh, Sam? I’m not sure you should be dancing like that so close to the fire—”
“Ssssssssssh.” Sam dived behind me, his fingers gripping my wrist so tight my fingers tingled. He peered into the trees with his saucer eyes, his body rigid with fear. “Is that a bear?”
“I don’t see anything—”
“I said, be quiet!” Sam shook my arm. “It is. I can see it. It’s an enormous brown bear! Quick, everyone, get back. I’ll beat it off.”
Sam elbowed me in the gut as he shoved me toward the trees. I stumbled over a log and fell back. Warm hands caught me under the arms, and Quoth pulled me to his chest, holding me tight. Sam grabbed a log from the fire and waved it in front of him like a sword.
A dark shape emerged from the trees. My stomach twisted as the shape towered over Sam.It can’t be a bear. We don’t have bears in England. That’s impossible—
“The bear has a cub! You have to run. Mother bears are fiercely protective of their cubs.” Sam swiped the stick through the air. The bear cub leaped behind its mother and let out a frightened whimper.
Afamiliarwhimper.
“Oscar!”
“Watch what you’re doing with that thing,” the bear growled. Heathcliff stepped into the firelight and closed his hand over Sam’s, twisting his wrist so he dropped the log. “You’ll put someone’s eye out.”
“The bear speaks!” Sam dropped to his knees, touching his forehead to the dirt in a gesture of reverence. “It is a spirit of the forest. Oh, spirit guide, tell me what I must do to earn your gifts.”
“What are you doing?” I shook Sam’s shoulder.Why’s he acting so odd all of a sudden?“That’s not a bear. It’s Heathcliff and Oscar, my guide dog.”
“I know you’re blind, Mina, so you’re going to have to trust me. I know the difference between a dog and a spirit bear. You must bow in reverence—”
“Sam…” Heathcliff growled. “The forest spirits have chosen you as our representative on earth. I’ve come to test your worthiness. You must dance the dance of the forest.”
“Yes, spirit bear. I will dance the dance of the forest!” Sam ran off into the woods, skipping like a schoolgirl as he sang about fairies.
I yanked Oscar’s lead from Heathcliff’s hand and glared at him. “Our instructor is dancing around like a maniac, and you don’t seem surprised. What did you do to him?”
“Nothing.” Heathcliff grinned. “He should have paid more attention to the mushrooms I added to his pot.”
“I aaaaaaaam the forest,” Sam warbled as he pirouetted through the trees.
It took a moment for Heathcliff’s confession to sink in. Weariness overcame me, and I sank to the ground, unable to hold myself upright any longer. “Please tell me you didn’t feed our wilderness survival instructor psychedelic mushrooms.”
The corner of Heathcliff’s mouth tugged up. “Okay, I won’t tell you.”
I buried my face in my hands. “That’s such a Morrie response. Is this your plan for getting us away from Sam?”
“It worked, didn’t it? With the number of shrooms he consumed, he’s not going to remember his middle name, let alone whether or not you were here for the night.” Heathcliff shoved several objects into my hands. “Take this. It’s a map of the mountains and the trails, with a few cabins and bothies marked. I swiped it from Sam’s shed while he was giving his stupid safety lecture. And here’s Morrie’s junk.” He grabbed his whisky bottles from his rucksack and looped the strap over my shoulder.
“How do you know about psychedelic mushrooms?”
“I spent days at a time on the moors. How do you think I entertained myself?” Heathcliff held out the pot. “Want to give it try? Sam’s left half the stew behind.”
“Tempting, but I think I’ll pass.”
“Moan all you like, but I got the annoying tree-hugger out of your way.” Heathcliff tossed the flaming log back into the fire. “I’ll stay here and make sure he doesn’t dance his way over a cliff. You and the birdie get to Morrie.”
