Page 35 of Leave No Trace
Lucas looked at me for a long moment before standing unsteadily on the swaying dock.
‘Good.’
We stood there with the wind pulling at our clothes while Jasper ran up and down the floating walkway, making us struggle for balance. I’d spent my life separated from the rest of the world, first by my mother’s illness, then her ghost breathing in every rock around me, and by the dead man whose eyes wouldn’t stay shut when I fell asleep. I couldn’t get rid of them and suddenly I was furious that they might keep me from knowing the one person even further disconnected from the world than I was. I didn’t want to be unreachable, not anymore. Not to Lucas.
I stepped forward, about to speak, when Bryce’s warning cut through the air.
In the parking lot I saw a streak of bright red hair. The girl from the protesters ran toward us, leading a group of cell phone – and sign-wielding fans. I stepped in front of Lucas, calculating the distance to the car, when Bryce grabbed his Taser.
16
No!’
Cinching Jasper’s leash and holding Lucas behind me by his good elbow, I navigated the narrow dock as it dipped and swayed. Bryce had his arms spread wide, holding the Taser and blocking the group from getting to us. The red-haired girl recognized him and, pointing at the weapon, started in on the Eighth Amendment and cruel and unusual punishment. Shouting above her, Bryce swept his arms forward, trying to make a space for us to get off the dock where we were trapped. Phones pointed at us and I squeezed Lucas’s arm. ‘Get ready.’
I could hear him saying, ‘They want me free.’
The hair on the back of Jasper’s neck stood entirely on end. He growled and shifted his weight, unsure of what to do. I choked up further on the leash, steadying him, until Bryce had pushed the fans back far enough for us to duck through.
‘Excuse us. Please allow us to pass.’ I tried to make myself heard as we edged forward. The closer we got to the crowd, the more Lucas stiffened against my grip. His head jerked as someone called his name, a girl young enough that she should have probably been in school, who ran forward and yelled, ‘I love you!’ Bryce caught her just as she launched herself at us, holding her by the arms and glaring at me.
‘Go!’
‘Come on.’ Jasper barked as I dragged him away, shielding Lucas’s face with my free hand. The red-haired ringleader began shouting at Bryce to release the girl while two more of them chased us across the parking lot, holding their phones in front of them like talismans. I unlocked the car and Lucas got in immediately, bending at the waist and covering his ears. Jasper climbed in front and, ignoring the shouted questions and yells, I asked everyone to please move back so I could pull out of the spot and return our patient to Congdon. They swarmed the car instead, holding their phones to the backseat windows and making it impossible to see where Bryce was. Revving the engine, I inched back, finally spotting Bryce in the center of the crowd. Angrily, he holstered the Taser and gestured to the road.Go.
I went. We took the fastest route back to the hospital with Jasper pacing, falling whenever I turned, and anxiously checking the windows. Lucas stayed hunched over for the entire ride, only sitting back up after we cleared Congdon’s gates and were driving through the parking lot.
Pulling up to the main entrance, I put the car in park and turned around.
‘What was that?’ He still looked shell-shocked.
‘One of the reasons it’s not entirely safe for you out there.’
‘I don’t want this.’ Without warning, he ripped the sling off his arm and threw it on the floor of the car. ‘I don’t want any of this. Maya—’
‘I know.’ I reached a hand over the seat. ‘I’m going to get you there. I promise.’
He took several deep inhales, using the meditation breathing, and then wrapped my hand in both of his, squeezing down to the bones.
The next few days passed in a blur of emails and phone calls crammed between near-constant sessions with Lucas and updates to Dr Mehta. I checked the ice in websites, making sure none of the Boundary Waters lakes were freezing over yet, and also monitored news sites and social media. Other than a bear sighting near Twin Harbors and photos of the last of the fall colors, it was quiet up north. I wished I could say the same for Duluth. Footage of Lucas at Twin Ponds had swept through the media, causing backlash at the protesters and throwing Congdon’s practices even further into the spotlight. Dr Mehta had given a news conference explaining patient reintegration privileges and appealing to the public for their support.
With Lucas in attendance I held the first meeting for the search party, who were surprisingly easy to recruit. Everyone wanted to be part of the rescue effort, winter be damned. Two orderlies volunteered within ten minutes of when I sent the email and Dr Mehta offered up one of the associate psychiatrists as the medical resource on the expedition. A US Forest Service ranger named Micah was going to be our official guide and within two minutes of meeting him – and without asking – I learned that he’d grown up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, he’d needed to find some direction after his discharge from the military, and he had no, absolutely no, problem with crazy people. Officer Miller, who was sitting in on the meeting, stifled a laugh as I shook the ranger’s hand.
I started by displaying the same picture showcased on all the news outlets and taped up on my fridge, the Blackthorns sitting on a dock together before they’d disappeared. After repeating the story everyone in the room knew, I told them the part they didn’t know – that the Blackthorns had lived happily off the grid for ten years until a few months ago, when Josiah got sick.
‘It’s been twenty-five days since Lucas last saw his father and time is running out. Our mission is to rescue him before the ice
sets in.’
I went over the details of the trip. Due to Lucas’s ‘inability’ to pinpoint Josiah’s location on a map, we’d backtrack his journey starting from the outfitter’s store. Lucas would lead us to his father, our doctor could administer any emergency medical treatment, and Micah the forest ranger would be able to radio in for an airlift to transport Josiah to the hospital.
‘What if he’s already dead?’ one of the orderlies asked.
That question sparked a debate about whether a helicopter would be called, under increasingly extreme conditions, merely to transport a body and who was going to pay for all these extraordinary measures. The doctor suggested towing an empty canoe for the remains, but – after accidentally catching Lucas’s murderous look – quickly amended that it could be used to haul out any extra stuff from their campsite, too.
‘After all,’ he appealed to everyone else, careful to avoid Lucas’s corner of the table, ‘that’s the motto in the Boundary Waters, right?’
Lucas grunted, drawing the table’s attention. ‘We don’t need lessons on how to disappear.’
