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Show 4. Maybe it was because his dad had looked so haggard that night, or because the lid of his tobacco tin had clattered to the floor just as JD opened his mouth to protest. Instead, he'd only nodded and gone upstairs to bed. He knew he wouldn't join the hunt without his dad. Not this year, anyway, "I refuse to read one more word of Sophocles while we're camping!" Stephanie's mind had gone full circle again, JD thought. Now it was back to Oedipus. "The teachers all go off to Cheyenne to their big, hairy convention and we end up with the homework," she complained. "Ah, they just get together and booze it up," JD added, like he knew something she didn't, "Do you think they do?" Stephanie wrinkled her nose. "I mean, someone like Garth? Do you think he really gets stoned at teachers' convention?" "Aw, I dunno. He's pretty straight." "How about ol' Miss McGinnis? I know she wouldn't." "She's the one who needs to the most," JD chuckled. It took them some time to go through the whole faculty of their consolidated high school and some judgment trying to decide who would and who wouldn't. "Hey, we're here," JD pointed off to a rutted trail coming into the state road at right angles. "See the sign? Skull Mountain." "Do we camp up on top?" "No, there's a clearing, two or three hundred yards across. Dad and I always made camp on the west side next to an aspen grove. You'll see." The VW bounced and swayed. JD slowed to a crawl to avoid the high centers caused by the sheep trucks. This whole side of the mountain had been designated a range study area and both rangers and ranchers came in and out driving heavy rigs. It wasn't until they stopped to let themselves through a gate that they noticed the camper parked off to the left among the trees. "Hey, Steph, we've got company," JD said quietly. He frowned. Two weeks before the hunt. He didn't think anyone would be in here. |