Page 60 of Wilderness Search
“But why?” Willa asked.
“Because Trevor interrupted Mr. Sprague when he was feeling me up behind the pit toilet, just like you interrupted him today. It was what Mr. Sprague did. He took girls back there on bonfire nights—and other times, too—and kissed you and fondled you and…and other things. If you cried too loud or threatened to tell, he would hurt you even more. He said if I told anyone what he did he would say I lied and no one would believe him. He said he had done the same thing before. I knew he was telling the truth because I had heard that the year before some girl accused him of molesting her and he called her a liar with a sex addiction and her parents believed him and not her. I figured the same thing would happen to me. Everyone knew I had been sent to camp because I was seeing an older boy. But the thing is, Jared and I never actually had sex. Nobody believed that, either.”
She leaned forward and picked up the cup and passed it to Willa. “It should be ready now. Sorry, you kind of have to strain out the leaves with your teeth.”
Willa tested the tea, more out of politeness than anything else. “It’s not bad,” she said.
“It would be better if I had sugar, but I forgot to take any of that. I have a couple of cookies, though.” She dug in her bag and pulled out a bundle wrapped in plastic. “Stella left them for me a couple of days ago. She didn’t know I was the one taking the foodshe left but she really helped me out. She didn’t leave anything today, though. I hope she didn’t get in trouble.”
“You eat the cookies,” Willa said when Olivia offered her one. “I ate at the bonfire.”
“Smores!” Olivea groaned. “What I wouldn’t give for one of those.”
Willa set aside the tea. “How did you learn to do all of these things?” she asked. “The shelter and the tea and everything.”
“From books, mostly. I like to read adventure stories. And some of the stuff I just figured out on my own.” She popped a piece of cookie into her mouth and chewed, then swallowed.
“Did you make the trap in the woods?” Willa asked. “The pit with the branches over it?”
“You know about that?” She rose up on her knees, her expression excited. “I made that after I saw Mr. Sprague sneaking around the woods, looking for me. I was really hoping he’d end up in that hole, unable to get out, and nobody around to hear him yell. Too bad it didn’t work.”
“Someone else fell into it,” Willa said. “A man who was searching for you. He broke his leg and a couple of ribs.”
Olivia looked stricken. “Oh no!” She flapped her hands. “That wasn’t supposed to happen! I didn’t think anyone else would be out there. Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. Is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be okay. But why would you make a trap like that?”
“I just saw the hole and thought it would be perfect.” She groaned. “I really only wanted to get back at Mr. Sprague. I didn’t think about anything else. What happened to the trap?”
“Sheriff’s deputies marked it so no one else will fall in.”
“Good.”
“Are there any other traps in the woods we should know about?” Willa asked.
“None, I promise.”
“How about other shelters or hiding places?”
“None of those, either. Once I fixed up this place, I didn’t need anything else.” She sighed. “It was almost fun, at first, figuring things out and building stuff. But it’s getting old.”
“So many people were searching for you,” Willa said. “How did you keep from being found?”
“It wasn’t as hard as you might think. Big groups of people in the woods make a lot of noise. Most of the time I could hear them coming from a long way away. I doubled back behind them and hid in places they had already looked.” She frowned. “The dogs were harder to avoid. I did a lot of things like walking in streams or across rocky places. I climbed trees and walked along fence rails. It was kind of a game. I think they did pick up my scent a few times, but they always lost it. As miserable as the rain was, I think it helped destroy my scent.”
She rested her chin on her upraised knees. “I saw Mr. Sprague looking for me a couple of times. He was alone, sneaking around. He was right by one of my hiding places one time and I thought I would die before he finally left—I was so scared. I knew if he found me, he would kill me.” She lowered her voice to a deep, nasal timbre, not unlike the camp owner’s. “Poor little Olivia, she had an accident in the woods. Isn’t it terrible?”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Willa said. She hesitated, then added, “Do you mind telling me what happened with Trevor?”
“I don’t mind. I planned all along to tell someone, as soon as I was sure I was safe from Mr. Sprague.” She sat back, considering. “Last week, at the bonfire, Trevor came around the corner of the outhouse and his flashlight lit up the whole scene—gross Mr. Sprague leaning over me, trying to stick his tongue down my throat, him with his pants already undone. I screamed and Mr. Sprague turned around. I ran away, but then I had to stop and look back. I was hoping to see Mr. Sprague on the ground, being beaten to a pulp by Trevor, who wasn’t a reallybig guy, but he wasn’t little, either, and he was a lot younger and stronger than Mr. Sprague. Instead, I saw Mr. Sprague punch Trevor, and Trevor went down like a fallen tree. Then Mr. Sprague dragged him over to this cabin nobody uses anymore. A night watchman used to use it, I guess, though now the kids just make up stories about how the watchman hanged himself there and the place is haunted. That didn’t really happen, did it?”
Willa shook her head. She had no idea, but she didn’t want to interrupt the flow of Olivia’s story. The girl finished her cookie and picked crumbs off her lap. “After Mr. Sprague hauled Trevor to the cabin, I sneaked up and watched through the window. He’d switched on one of those LED lights we all carry around, like this one.” She nodded to the light on the ground between them. “Mr. Sprague tied Trevor to a chair, then left for a little bit. He locked the door behind him. I tried to break the lock but I couldn’t, and I had to run hide again when I heard Sprague coming back. Trevor was awake by that time, and throwing himself around, trying to break free. Mr. Sprague pulled out a really big pistol and put it to Trevor’s head. I thought I was going to die right there. If he had shot Trevor, I might have—not died, maybe, but I bet I would have passed out. Instead, Sprague handed Trevor this big bottle of whiskey and made him drink it. He held the gun there until Trevor had drained about half of it. Then Mr. Sprague pulled his head back and forced something down his throat. Maybe pills or poison or something. Then he made Trevor drink some more.”
She bowed her head and fell silent. Willa waited a moment, then prompted, “What happened next?”
Olivia blew out a breath. “I stayed there watching a really long time, until Mr. Sprague untied Trevor and led him to the parking lot and helped him into his car. I thought everything would be all right then. He was letting Trevor go. So I sneaked back to my cabin and went to sleep.”
“And the next day you found out Trevor had died?”
