Hunter rolls over on top of me, pushing me toward the center of the very narrow bed, and I wrap my legs around his hips.
“We’ll hike fast,” he says.
We don’t leave the lookout for another hour.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Hunter
The hike downdoesgo faster than the hike up, even if we leave later than we meant to.Clementine says her ankle is fine, or at leastalmostcompletely better, so even though I can’t help but keep an eye on her as we make our way down, nothing terrible happens.
She’s quiet, but I am too.I’m ticking off equipment in my head, thinking about what the plan’s going to be.Trying to take mental notes of anything in particular I might have seen or heard while I was up there, anything I know because I grew up in the area.
I’m probably the only one who’s hiked into the Spires, I realize.
Suddenly, I feel a lot more useful.As one of the newest guys on the hotshot team with only two seasons done, I do a lot more learning than teaching.Some of the guys who’ve been doing it for ten, fifteen years seem to have vast encyclopedias of knowledge stored away in their heads, and I never feel like I have anything to offer.
But this time, I might.
With about a mile left to go, Clem’s portable radio suddenly crackles.The batteries on those things are shit, so they don’t use them much, but she looks surprised and answers.
“McKinnon,” she says.
“What’d you name the fire?”Mike asks.
Clementine doesn’t respond right away.She just looks at me for a long moment.
“Harold,” I whisper.
“The Saturn Fire,” she says.
“All right, thanks,” Mike says.“Over and out.”
“Harold’s a much better name,” I say.
“I’m not naming a wildfire Harold,” she says, and pokes me in the stomach.I grab her wrist, pull her toward me, and kiss her just because I can.
I don’t know when I decided I was moving to be with her.I just woke up and knew I was going to, even though I think she’s a little more cautious about this than I am.
It’s not that I don’t have doubts, or that I think it’ll magically be perfect.I stayed in a war zone just to avoid her because she broke my heart so hard, for fuck’s sake.
But some things are worth the effort.
“Oh good, it’s still here,”Clementine says when we see the Forest Service truck parked at the end of the fire road.
“Do these get stolen?”I ask, slinging my pack into the back.
“I’m sure it’s happened,” she says, turning the key.The AC comes on full blast, still hot, and Clementine cranks it down.“But can you imagine what a pain in the ass it would be if we got down here and there was no truck?I’m kind of relieved every time.”
On the drive back, we talk about mountain lions and her favorite trees.We talk about the best route to Yellowstone, and about how to sneak into Canada if youreallyneed to.I try to explain the appeal of theFast and Furiousmovies, though Clementine remains skeptical.
We don’t talk aboutus, or what’s going to happen, or whether any of this is a good idea.It’s all I’ve been thinking about for nearly a week, and I can’t think about it anymore.It’s happening, full steam ahead, and I don’t give a shit about the rest.
When she parks at the ranger station, the place is already hopping.We grab our packs and go inside, where Mandy is sitting behind a reception desk with a taxidermied raccoon on it.
“There you are!”she says, her perky voice sounding just a littletoochipper.
“It was a nine-mile hike,” Clementine says.
