Rocky Mountain Mayhem by Joan Rylen Page B

shoulder. “We can’t be
that lost, we’ve only been walking a few minutes.”
    They studied the map together. Wendy walked
the perimeter, scanning for landmarks. Vivian checked her cell
phone. No service. “At least it’s still early. They should find us
before the creatures come out.”
    “I think I got it,” Kate said. “If we hike a
bit that way,” she pointed a little to the right of north,
according to Vivian’s compass, “we should make it to the southern
edge of the lake, instead of the east, as we had planned.”
    “Lead us to the promise land, sista!” Vivian
said.
    They started out again and hiked for 10
minutes before reaching a ravine.
    “Is this the stream?” Vivian asked and sat on
top of a boulder lining the edge. It started to slide and she
scrambled forward, grasping for a tree.
    Lucy and Wendy ran to her, grabbing her arm
just in time to pull her to safety. The boulder continued to slide
off the side, crunching and crushing everything in its path. The
three fell in a heap.
    “Oh my god!” Vivian said as she sat up. “That
coulda killed me!”
    Kate rushed over and helped her up. “You
probably would have been impaled on something on the way down.”
    “We would have needed a medical chopper to
rescue you,” Wendy said and stood up. “That crash sounded bad .”
    Vivian dusted herself off. “Thanks for the
save!”
    “We get an F in primitive wilderness school,”
Lucy said, looking dejected. “I was sure I would ace this.”
    Vivian patted her back. “You did great with
the tree-pit snow shelter. That’s something.”
    “And you saved your friend’s life,” Buck said
as he walked up behind them.
    “Woo-hoo, we’re saved!” Wendy said and
clapped. “I am done with this land navigating stuff.”
    “How did you find us?” Lucy asked.
    “At first I tracked you,” Buck said and
chuckled. “Then it wasn’t hard to hear you, so I just followed the
sound.”
    “Tracked us?” Kate said.
    “Yes. Using the skills of Apache warriors, I
can track anyone and sneak up silently.”
    Vivian crossed her arms in front of her
chest, then raised one hand. “How Chief Buck, we come in peace.
Ooohoohoohoohooo!” She popped her hand back and forth over her
mouth doing her best Apache impersonation. She was one-sixteenth
Cherokee so she felt semi-qualified.
    “Thanks for finding us,” Lucy said.
    “If it’s any conciliation, the guys didn’t
make it, either,” Buck said.
    “Is that what you’re teaching us this
afternoon?” Kate asked.
    “The basics, yes. Let’s get back to the
group.” He crossed the ravine and the girls followed —
carefully.
    Buck had the guys gather tinder, kindling and
a few larger logs for his fire demonstration. He got right to it.
“There are four types of campfires: cooking, warmth, lighting and
signaling. Which one you build depends on your situation.”
    “I always thought there was a
one-size-fits-all fire,” Vivian whispered to Lucy.
    “Me, too.”
    As Buck dug a fire pit, he said, “I’m not
going to light the fire today, but your best bet is to carry
waterproof matches with you. In the event you don’t have a 21st
century method for lighting fire, do it caveman style by using two
sticks together in the bow-drill method or finding flint rock which
can create a spark.”
    Kate coughed and Wendy elbowed her in the
ribs. “He’s not talking about that kind of caveman
style.”
    “I don’t even know what that would be, it
just sounded funny.”
    “I think it would involve a lot of ughaaa
wughaaa, ughaaa—”
    Kate and Vivian started full-out laughing,
and Lucy gave them a look.
    Buck, ignoring them, threw the tinder and
kindling into the pit and then used the kindling and logs to
assemble the four types of fire. He concluded with the signaling
fire. “Make a tripod frame over the tinder and kindling and tie the
branches together with wire or evergreen branches. Light the fire
and drape green leafy branches from the top of the tripod.