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Show 6. "You're an enterprising kid," Crawford had said when JD approached him about getting some shots of the elk herd. "First thing I know you'll be wanting my job!" It had the ring of truth. JD hung around the office of the Red Butte T_ime_s--their small town weekly--as much as he dared. He hoped next summer that Crawford could hire him. Being bus boy at the Holiday Inn might pay for his Volks, but it wasn't exactly his choice for a life's work. JD checked his camera and put it back in its case for the night, then closed the trunk of the car. He'd have to chop up a pile of wood before dark and help Stephanie with some dinner. She was a rotten cook. She'd tackled building the lean-to with so much enthusiasm he thought he might just assign her to dig the latrine. Digging the shit hole made a good initiation. Meanwhile, he_'d heat the stew and make the coffee. You were cheated out of evening on Skull Mountain, JD remembered. One minute it was late afternoon, the next time you turned around it was dark. He used to imagine that the sun went down with a "thud" at deer camp. The soft gradations of the sky they were used to seeing in Red Butte, the pinks and oranges of an autumn sunset savored perhaps by the sheepherders on the other side of the mountain, were lost here. JD built up the fire one last time after dinner. "We'll turn in early," he said as he dragged another log on the coals. He liked the way Stephanie looked tonight--her long hair braided out of the way with the loose strands forming a halo around her face in the firelight. Her blonde Scandinavian looks belied her strength. Easy-going and strong-backed, she'd been as good a companion today as he could hope for. Well, except for Gayle Evans. For some reason, though, he didn't associate Gayle with work. With crawling in his sleeping bag maybe. Funny, he hadn't thought of her all day. He wondered what she'd be like on an overnight. "Are there bears up here?" Steph's voice, sounding smaller than usual, cut her back to kid sister size in a hurry. She offered JD some of her beer nuts, like her generosity might make for a favorable answer. "Now tell me the truth!" "There are. But hell, they're just little black bears. We never saw any in camp before." |
