Good decisions.
He was going to make sure this was a good decision.
As they left the streets of Idyllwild, Alexei didn’t speak, and Ben kept his eyes steadfastly to himself. He focused instead on his shins protesting the unforgiving pavement, on the sounds of civilization, bit by bit, fading behind them.
When they were almost out of town, Ben stopped.
“You hear that?” The call was high-pitched. Sweet sounding.
Alexei listened for a moment, brow furrowed. And then he said, “California towhee.”
Ben grinned. Remarkable.
A bit of quiet. Some lessons on birds. Before eventually, Ben was sure, Alexei would beg off, and Ben would meet back up with Faraj.
Where could the harm be in that?
Chapter Three
Alexei was not panicking.
Okay. He was panicking a little.
Fine. He was panicking a lot.
It had been unlike him to agree to this. It just…it had been impossible to say no to that smile.
Plus, Ben had listened so kindly to Alexei’s ornithological knowledge. No one ever cared about Alexei’s ornithological knowledge. Well, except for his dad, as his dad was the one who had taught him bird calls in the first place. Which was a topic—a great bigpinch—for another time.
But as Alexei and Ben hiked farther away from Idyllwild, back toward the PCT and the sandy, rocky forest surrounding Mount San Jacinto, Alexei assured himself his wish for 2,500 miles of peace and quiet was still, in fact, on track.
Because as they walked mile after mile, Ben proved he had meant what he’d said, back at Tommy’s Kitchen. That he was okay with silence.
He stopped every now and then to take pictures with his phone. Exchanged friendly greetings with other hikers they passed by. Hummed to himself, sometimes, which should have annoyed Alexei, but somehow he only found it endearing. They shared a few more five-syllables-or-less conversations.
“Great tree,” Ben stopped at one point to say, staring up the thin trunk of a lodgepole pine.
Alexei was starting to feel a little silly about this game, at this point, but the thing was, itwasa great tree. The way it reached so valiantly toward the sky. Any tree that existed in the desert seemed a bit of a miracle to Alexei. So…
“Great tree,” he agreed.
Other than these brief cameos of spoken language, though, Ben seemed right as rain, walking in absolute quietude with Alexei.
It was a little weird.
Every moment, Alexei’s brain filled with questions.
Starting with,Who are you and what is even happening?
Also:I have enjoyed staring at the backs of your calves. Did you know?
Alexei couldn’t quite figure out why Ben hadn’t kept hiking with Faraj and the other guys in the first place. Why he had stayed at the table. Why he was here, now, with him.
Third question:Seriously, who are you?
The questions continued to build that night as they set up camp together, just off the trail. As Alexei stared into the darkness from the comfort of his sleeping bag, after his nightly prayers. Knowing Ben was on the other side of Alexei’s tent, asleep in his own.
It wasn’t bad, he had to admit. Knowing someone else was out there.
