“And then there were four,” Ashton said.
“Hey, you guys were great yesterday,” Tess said. “It’s important to remain calm and work together in an emergency.”
“Joseph could’ve died,” Carter said. “I didn’t realize how dangerous this campout might be.”
“There are some lessons to be learned here,” Tess said.
“Listen to your guide?” Logan said.
“For sure,” Grayson said. “If Joseph had listened to Tess, he’d still be here. He didn’t freeze when we saw the snake, and he didn’t remember there was a cliff nearby, even though Tess warned us multiple times to steer clear of it.”
Carter nodded. “Just like Ashton getting blisters ’causehedidn’t listen.”
Tess remained quiet, as though she’d been through this before. As if proving herself was something she had to do on every campout. And not only that she was competent, but that she was better and more prepared than they were for facing the challenges up here.
Logan had no doubt that some men could be sexist, judgmental jerks. Many probably underestimated Tess, but she was tough and doing a fine job of earning their respect—his at least.
“Anyone get any sleep?” Tess changed the subject.
Everyone shook their heads.
“Sleeping on hard ground takes some getting used to,” she said. “But by tonight you should be so exhausted you could sleep on a bed of nails.”
“My stomach growling kept me up all night,” Carter said.
Heads bobbed up and down in agreement.
“Well,” Tess said. “Joseph leaving messes up the buddy system. We can only split into two groups now. Logan and Grayson can try fishing this afternoon. The rest of us will collect firewood. This morning—” She stopped mid-sentence, staring at the treeline. They followed her gaze and watched as a huge black bear lumbered out of the woods.
“Ack!” Grayson gasped.
“Get the gun,” Carter said.
Tess rolled her eyes. “Why is he headed to your tent, Ashton? Did you seal all your food?”
“Yes,” Ashton said, but hesitated.
“What about trash?”
He mumbled something incoherent, which Tess apparently took as an admonition of guilt. She stood, pulled a bear horn from her backpack, and looked at Ashton. “Come on. This is your fault. You’re gonna help me take care of it.”
“What?” he choked out. His eyes widened to saucers as his daredevil façade fell away. “I didn’t sign up for bear fighting!”
Tess planted a hand on her hip and tapped her foot. “Better hurry before he demolishes your tent and steals whatever food you have left.”
Ashton jumped to his still tender feet, the threat of food loss instantly motivating him to action. “We’re going to confront it?”
Tess nodded. “Follow my lead.”
Logan, Grayson, and Carter watched as the bear poked its head into the tent, ever so politely. As if he planned to go in and take a nap.
Tess picked up the pace, and Ashton hopped along after her. They honked the horn, waved their arms, and yelled until the bear got fed up with the noise and left. Tess stood guard as Ashton crawled into his tent and, Logan guessed, “cleaned up.”
He slunk back with a chagrined look.
“Andthatis why we seal upallfood andalltrash,” Tess said. Her tone was calm, but Logan caught the hint of irritation.
“Think he’ll come back?” Grayson asked, eyes darting to the woods every couple of seconds.
