Nancy perked up. “You know where you definitely don’t find centipedes?”
“While I am sure there are many fascinating creatures to observe at high elevation, we’ll restrict ourselves to lowland habitats for now.” Conleth had a fleeting regret that there was no nearby tundra. “I know some pretty woodland glades away from the main hiking trails. We should have a decent shot at finding some interesting wildlife. Ideally, not species which will fit down the back of my t-shirt.”
“Doesn’t that sound nice, Hetta?” Paige said hopefully. “It’s so beautiful around here. Don’t you want to explore?”
“Buck showed us how to identify moose poop last year,” Archie mused. Conleth was fairly certain he wasn’t even listening to the conversation. “Moose poop a lot. Big piles of it.”
“I’m not exploring anywhere that’s full of bugs and poop!” Hetta folded her arms. “I don’t want to go on a nature hike.”
“Well, some of us do,” Estelle said in exasperation. “And you can’t stay at camp all by yourself.”
“Then Paige will just have to stay here with me.” Hetta attached herself to Paige’s arm like a barnacle on a rock. “The rest of you can go out with Conleth.”
Archie was suddenly all beaming enthusiasm. “Yeah, that’s a great plan! Let’s do that!”
“Don’t be silly, Archie,” Beth snapped. “Conleth can’t supervise us all on his own.”
The glimmers of an idea flickered into life in his mind.
“Actually, it is a feasible suggestion,” he said. “According to camp regulations, there’s no reason why the group has to stay together. And we did all sign the pack contract, Paige. If Hetta doesn’t want to go hiking, we can’t force her.”
Paige gave Conleth a look that eloquently stated,What on earth are you plotting now?He held her gaze, willing her to play along.
To his relief—and somewhat to his surprise—she did. Paige shook her head in a show of resignation. “That’s true. I suppose if you really don’t want to go on the hike, Hetta, then Conleth can take everyone else out while I stay with you.”
Hetta’s face lit up. “Really?”
“If that’s your final decision.” Conleth drew Hetta to one side, ducking down so that their heads were on the same level. Casting an exaggerated glance at Paige over his shoulder, he lowered his voice. “Though I wish you’d change your mind. Paige won’t say anything, but she was really looking forward to going on that nature hike.”
As he’d hoped, Hetta hesitated. “She was?”
“Yes,” he confirmed, making sure his mock-whisper would carry to Paige’s ears. “I know Archie’s told her a lot about how much fun he had at camp last year. I’m sure she’d secretly love to experience some of the same things herself. Have you seen how she looks at the forest?”
Paige caught on fast. Heaving a deep, longing sigh, she stared wistfully into the trees.
It wasn’t, Conleth suspected, entirely feigned. It hadn’t escaped his notice that her gaze always lingered on the forest when they were chivvying the kids from place to place. He’d seen the way she took a deep breath when she first stepped outside the cabin each morning, turning to gaze at the mountain. Even though she wasn’t a shifter, some part of her still felt a connection to the wilderness.
Hetta could clearly see that too. And though she was as timid as a mouse and as stubborn as a mule with a hangover, she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She shuffled her feet, looking torn.
“Do you really, really want to go on this nature hike, Paige?” Hetta asked, clearly hoping that the answer would be ‘no.’
“Yes, actually,” Paige said, with such sincerity that none of the kids could doubt she meant it. “I do.”
“Come on, Hetta,” Finley coaxed. “We all want you to come. Please say you will.”
Hetta hesitated, but Rufus took her hand. He gave it an encouraging tug.
“Well…all right,” Hetta said reluctantly. She looked up at Conleth. “Youpromisethere won’t be any dangerous animals?”
“None whatsoever, unless you include ourselves,” he assured her. “Beth can sense any creature bigger than a mouse within two hundred feet, so there’s no chance we’ll run into anything unexpected. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Everyone go use the bathroom before we set off,” Paige told the kids. “We’ll meet up at the flagpole in five minutes.”
The kids trailed away with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Paige lingered behind, mouth tight with anxiety.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she muttered. “If anything goes wrong on this hike, Hetta won’t set foot outside the cabin for the rest of the summer.”
“Trust me.” He smiled, pieces falling into place. “I have a plan.”
