heard about it in the news.”
“Heard about it? I was there. I was grateful that the kindergarten classes are separated from the rest of the school. My kids did great though. I was so proud of them. When they heard the alarm they all got under their desks like for an earthquake drill. I wasn’t going to tell them to do otherwise. I locked all the doors and turned my desk so I could see the kids while I sat under my desk too. I kept telling them what a good job they were doing and we read stories. We were lucky an officer was on hand at the time. It could have been so much worse.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly an officer. It was me.”
“You? You mean you had to… How did you do it? I mean you had to, I know that, but I don’t think I could even if I had to. I could see some cops springing to action, taking aim, firing, no problem. I just have trouble picturing you doing something like that.”
“I know, me, too. And it was very hard. It’s always hard to make a choice like that. If it weren’t for the kids, I’d be haunted by something like that. And it still bothers me. It bothers me a lot. If I talk to your class, I’d rather they not connect me with the shooting. I’d like to make it fun for them. You know what would be fun? A tracking demonstration. I can tell from the kids’ tracks what they have done. It’s always fun to let a few kids lay a trail for me and then let me tell them exactly what they did. I get kids who do handstands and back-flips trying to trip me up and I always figure it out.”
We kept talking as we cleaned up the cooking gear and packed it away, then headed back to Elk Meadows. Ally was a fun person to talk to. She was bright and attentive and knowledgeable and yet she was curious about everything. Maybe she became knowledgeable by being curious about the world around her. However it happened, Ally made the trip back enjoyable for me.
“How do you know where we are?” Ally asked.
“I found us on the map while the water was heating for lunch. And I can see on the topo map where the hills, mountains and valleys are. I have a GPS device that tells where we are.”
“So show me. Where are we?”
“I thought you wanted to get back soon. I know Peter sure wants you back today.”
“Oh, it won’t take that long, show me!”
“Okay, here’s the map. I’ll read off the coordinates to you and you find them on the map.”
I gave her the longitudinal coordinates and showed her how to find that on the map. Then I gave her the coordinates for our latitude and let her find it herself. After putting the two together we located our position on the map.
“You mean, that’s us, standing on that elevation line, right there?”
“Yup.”
“I don’t see any line.”
I hoped she was kidding. “Now, you see how the lines are spaced to our right, it shows this hill to our right and we are following this line here because it is a natural pass through the hills. See where the lines are far apart? Those are the meadows. That’s where we are trying to go.”
“Oh! And it doesn’t look far!”
“Well, it’s two miles but it won’t take long if we keep going.”
It felt strange for me to be teaching a fifty-plus-year-old woman how to read a map. But she learned eagerly and it reminded me of my nephew, Patrick, who was only six.
I was surprised just how quickly the miles passed while we talked and walked. When the meadows appeared before us Ally got excited.
“I know where we are now! Oh look! Look at all the cars!”
But it didn’t keep her from being curious about other things either.
“Look,” she said pointing, “the grasses make like a tent for little animals to run through. I could sit for hours waiting to see what little animals come running through that tunnel but they never appear.”
“That’s because they think you’re big and scary.” I examined the small game trail and found evidence of several animals. “Well, it’s at least mice and rabbits, perhaps voles. Have you ever seen a vole?”
“No, never, but maybe if I am careful I can someday.”
“That would be highly unlikely because they are extremely timid. I’ve only seen a vole once.” I didn’t tell her that I ate it on a survival trip. “Come on, the guys are waiting for us.”
“Is Peter there? Maybe he’ll come back and watch for voles with me.”
“Yes, Peter was there when I left. I’m sure he’s still at the campsite. I bet your dog missed you too.”
“Oh, Livingston, I’m surprised he didn’t run off somewhere just like me. He’s an explorer, that dog is. I have to watch him every minute.”
As we got closer I noticed Rusty’s dark blue Explorer in amongst the county cars.
“Oh yay! Rusty’s here!”
“Rusty?”
“My husband.”
“I still find it hard to believe you’re not in high school. Now watch him be this big tough guy. You need a big tough guy to watch out for you, especially if you’re a trouble magnet.”
“He’s tough enough. But he’s also the most patient, gentle person I’ve ever met. You’ll like him. He’s one of those thirtyish guys you were hoping would find you.”
“Well, well, then, let’s get a move on.”
She tromped through the knee-high grass and a group of guys gathered watching us approach the campsite. Rusty stood, hands on hips, big smile plastered on his face. Oh man, if he just knew how good he looked… He spoke with Strict and then they both smiled. Peter stood there with a look of fondness in his eyes. Ally might not fit into his cookie cutter world but he loved her just the same, perhaps more, because of it. I shed my pack at the nearest picnic table and ran over to Rusty for my welcome home hug. It felt so good wrapped in Rusty’s arms. I could live there. Ally watched and just shook her head wondering what that little kid was doing with a big hunk like him. Strict came over and gave me a polite shoulder hug, his way of saying job well done. EMTs closed in on Ally but she eventually fought them off.
“Ally, you met Rosco. This is our search commander Lou Strickland, my husband Rusty Michaels. Guys, this is Alisondra but you can call her Ally. How’s Landon doing?”
“He’s sitting at home with a stack of pizza boxes,” Strict replied.
“I need to go over and cook up some backpacker spaghetti, backpacker stroganoff, and backpacker macaroni and cheese. I bet he missed all that.”
Rusty warned me, “Actually he has a wish list. Chocolate chip cookies with nuts is on top, followed by mayojar steak with fried rice and steamed vegetables.”
“He ate all my chocolate chip cookies and now he’s asking for more? After I spent
