Page 88 of Smoky Lake

Then he swung onboard the plane, and, moments later, it glided across the water, then rose into the air. Seconds later, it disappeared into the mist.

Wherever it was going, some kids were being held hostage, an exchange was going to take place, and there was a potential threat to Firelight Ridge.

And here was Gil, stranded, with no clue where to go, and no weapon aside from a measly knife.

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Bear didn’t seem to mind her lack of conversation. He was generally a quiet guy himself, so it was a comfortable silence.

When they’d gone a mile or so, he finally spoke. “Want to know why I drove back your way, just so happens right at the time you were ready?”

“Hm?”

“Lila told me to.”

“Oh. That was thoughtful of her.”

He grunted. “It’s just odd, that’s all. Like she knew it was the right time.”

Ani held her tongue. Lila didn’t want people here to know about her intuitive abilities. She had to respect that.

Bear didn’t follow up, for which she was grateful.

Their first stop was Pinky Bannister, who lived on a homestead five miles east of town. While Bear unloaded his delivery of green tea and Pinky’s favorite pretzels, along with some groceries, Ani checked him over. In his bare pine plank bedroom, adorned with several sets of antlers, he lay shivering under a pile of sleeping bags.

Poor Pinky had a bad case of the omegavirus, even worse than Gil’s. His voice was raspy, his breathing uneven, his fever raging. His answers to her questions meandered so much she could confidently say he was hallucinating. Maybe only the bad cases involved that particular symptom.

She wasn’t even sure if it was worth asking about the Wilderness Alive group, but she might as well.

“Pinky, have you heard anything about a group of kids camping on their own?”

He stared at her with dazed eyes. “Rivers run gold when you hop to it. Hoppy days, hoppy days.” Giggling, he repeated that a few times. “Snow castles, too.”

She startled. Hadn’t Victor written something about ice castles? “Have you seen Victor Canseco recently?”

“Can’t see co. Can’t see co. Sweet man. Tells a funny story about raccoons. You trust them? I trust them. Rivers run gold. Rivers run gold.”

“Pinky, you keep talking about rivers. Have you been swimming lately?”

He moved his arms in a swimming motion, leaving it to Bear to answer her question. “He told me he slipped on some rocks and fell into Copper Creek.”

“Oh dear.”

Just in case, she checked to make sure he didn’t have symptoms of a stroke, other than altered speech, and gave him some Tylenol.

Interesting that Pinky hadn’t mentioned any of his usual paranoid conspiracy rant topics. That was how Gil had been while he was sick, too. Delirious, possibly delusional, but not paranoid.

Their next patient had a much milder case. Solomon lived in a Sunseeker trailer on a barely cleared piece of land littered with old junk vehicles. Besides being a miner, he was a tinkerer and a trader, as well as a former chemistry teacher. He was riding out the virus on a lounge chair next to his fire pit. A face net protected him from the voracious mosquitoes.

When she asked about the Wilderness Alive group, he said that he’d helped them fix a broken water filter, but that was four days ago. “Ain’t seen ‘em since. Haven’t moved from this chair except to piss. I love this virus. Far as I’m concerned, they can keep the town like this. No one comes in, fine with me. Just airdrop us some supplies and we can take care of ourselves.”

Ani laughed, since that tracked with what she knew of Firelight Ridge. “Take good care of yourself and try that green tea.”

“For what? I don’t drink tea. I’ll chew it like tobacco, but I won’t drink it.”

“That works too. Have you noticed any strange thoughts or visions?”

“Kinda, yeah. When I first got sick. I thought it was from the fever. Should have known better than to go skinny-dipping in that creek.”

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