Page 16 of Squatch Out!
I reluctantly set down the blanket I was folding and walk over to the shelf. It’s mostly canned goods with some crackers and instant noodles. I consider grabbing a can of peaches, but then I catch sight of a box of granola bars. The oats will hold off my hunger longer than peaches, so I reach inside and take a few bars.
Bending down, Owen pulls out a small basket tucked under the shelf with several bottles of water. My hands are shaking when I reach for the bottle he holds out to me.
“Do you want to take the blanket too?” he asks. “It’s still pretty chilly.”
I give the thick wool blanket a long look but then slowly shake my head. “Thank you, but once I get moving, I’ll be fine.” I know once we get farther down the mountain I’ll warm up, then I’ll end up having to carry it the rest of the way to my camp.
He grunts his agreement and then leads me out of the cave and down a narrow trail that a mountain goat would look twice at, but this giant of a man walks down without a care in the world.
I don’t remember it being this narrow and steep on the way up, so I carefully pick my way along behind him. Of course, last night, my mind was on the fact that I was draped over the shoulder of a mythical creature. Avery arousedmythical creature.
“So, are you from around here?” Owen asks as he leads me down the side of the mountain.
“Um, no.” I carefully place one foot in front of the other along the narrow path while keeping an eye on my surroundings, in case the bigfoot decides to come back. “I’m from Virginia.”
“Virginia? That’s about as far from here as you can get. What brought you this far?”
I know he’s probably just making small talk, but part of me can’t help but wonder if he’s also fishing for information.
“I was born here. Well, actually in Vancouver, but we moved when I was a kid.”
Owen looks back at me over his shoulder. “So, you’re visiting family?”
Hmm, definitely fishing. “No. Just camping with friends.”
When I don’t elaborate, he turns back to watch where he’s going, and we lapse into a surprisingly comfortable silence. That is, until I decide to do some fishing of my own.
“So how long have you been a park ranger?” I ask.
“Oh, ever since I graduated high school.” He tosses me a smile over his shoulder.
“Did you always want to be a ranger? Or did you have other aspirations?”
We reach the end of the steepest part of the trail, and I’m thankful when it widens so I can walk beside him. “These mountains are in my blood.” Owen lifts his dark eyes to roam across the sky and over the treetops before resting on me. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”
A smile pulls at the corners of my lips. “I wish I felt that way about something.”
“Oh? And what do you do?”
My nose wrinkles. “I’m a recruiter for a big insurance company.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.Ohpretty much sums it up.”
“If you hate it, why not find something else?”
“I don’thateit,” I grumble. I don’t love it either, but… “I’m good at it, and the pay and benefits are too good to turn down.” I finish with a shrug.
I don’t have much of a life outside work. Pretty much my only hobby is bigfoot. I don’t have a lot of friends because I’venever really felt like I fit in anywhere. Except, I feel like I could belong here. Even after being abducted by the very creature I was hoping to see. Something about the wide-open sky and crisp mountain air feels?—
Don’t say “like home.”
As much as I love it here, when my time is up, I’ll head back to Roanoke, and that will be it. I won’t have any other excuse to come back again.
Owen nods like he understands, but I know he doesn’t. How could he? He just said this is where he’s always wanted to be.
“I think it’s important to be happy, no matter where you’re at or what you do,” he glances at me and offers a small smile, “because when you’re happy, everything else falls into place.”
