Just The Way You Are(55)

‘Why is this unsuitable?’ I asked. ‘It’s an empty spot, with a stream nearby. I made sure the fire’s a safe distance from the undergrowth. I’m not disturbing anyone.’

‘Actually, the sight of you stripping off was pretty disturbing to the guys in the shooting lodge.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You’ve camped in direct line of fire of the rangers’ shooting lodge. See this?’ He took a couple of steps and nudged a cluster of tiny brown balls with his toe. ‘Deer droppings. They weren’t at all happy about catching a trespasser in their rifle scope until…’ Sam stopped, catching himself.

‘Until they caught her stripping off.’

He shrugged awkwardly. ‘It’s first Saturday of the hunting season. Spirits and emotions are high.’

I hung my head, the humiliation burning beneath my skin. ‘I can’t believe I thought I could do this.’

‘If it’s any consolation, you picked a great spot. That’s why the deer love it.’

‘I’m a complete joke.’

‘You looked like you were doing great to me.’

‘I mean literally. They’ll be laughing about me all over the forest.’

Sam looked at me, his eyes shadowed in the deepening darkness. ‘Not when I’m on shift.’

I shrugged. ‘It’s a big forest.’

‘With weird and embarrassing things happening all over it. Trust me, we’ve seen a lot worse. One woman drying out her walking gear is nothing compared to the group who decided to see in the summer solstice with a night of drug-fuelled naked dancing right on the edge of a thirty-foot drop. We had to call the police.’

‘Please tell me no one called the police about this!’

‘I think we can handle this one internally.’

A sudden crack echoed through the trees, causing Nesbit to spring to attention, ears twitching.

‘But that’s our signal to get out of the way.’ Sam pulled a wry grin. ‘Come on, I’ll show you a spot out of the action.’

He waited for me to shove my stuff back into the pack, and with a couple of flicks had the tent back in its bag. I tried to watch to see how he did it, but unfortunately blinked and so missed it.

‘Can you fetch some water for this?’ he asked, nodding at the campfire.

‘I think it’s already gone out.’ My amazing fire had not been quite as successful as I thought, having burnt out at some point after Sam’s arrival.

‘Oh, okay. Do you think it’s worth risking a forest fire?’

‘No, of course not. Sorry.’ I pulled my water bottle out of my pack and handed it to him. Sam had gone into ranger mode. I have to admit, I quite liked it.

‘We need a lot more than that. The stream is over there.’

‘Um…’

‘Yes?’ he asked, taking another look at the direction of the shooting lodge.

‘How do I get the water from the stream over to here?’

‘In your bucket?’

‘Um…’

He gave me a very hard look. Sam was the friendliest, most laid-back man I’d ever met, but it turned out he was deadly serious when it came to safety in his forest.

‘Are you trying to pluck up the courage to tell me that you lit a campfire, in open forestland, without a fire bucket?’

I nodded, too intimidated to speak.

Sam put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground. I got the feeling he was counting to ten in his head, but his set jaw gave nothing away.

‘Okay,’ he said, at about the point where I’d decided to pick up my rucksack and hotfoot it out of there. ‘We’ll use dirt.’

Cue a messy process that included spreading the burnt sticks about, digging beneath the dry surface dirt to damper soil below, then throwing it onto the sticks before doing the whole thing two more times until Sam declared the ‘fire’ to be sufficiently cooled. He then proceeded to check the surrounding area for any sparks or embers.

‘You really don’t have to worry, my fire was not that good.’

‘That’s what I’m worried about,’ he replied, poking at a log with a frown. ‘Next time, do everyone a favour and stick to a disposable barbecue. On bricks. And bring a fire bucket.’

I really didn’t think we needed to worry about a next time.

It was nearly fully dark by the time Sam was satisfied. I should have been completely frazzled, but I was still buzzing with adrenaline from his unexpected arrival and all that had happened since. Sam flicked on the torch that was strapped to his belt, which was about a hundred times more powerful than mine. Fortunately, a clear sky helped, with the moonlight shimmering between the treetops.

‘This is another reason why we discourage camping,’ Sam said, as we started walking back along the path into the trees, angling his torch so that I could see, completely eclipsing my feeble light in the process. ‘Dozens of people injure themselves tripping over roots or stepping in holes every year while stumbling around in the dark. Sometimes they end up lying there all night.’

‘I was planning to be safely tucked up in my tent by the time it was dark.’

‘Yeah, well. Things happen.’

Ain’t that the truth.

‘Are we going far?’ I dared to ask, once the grimace on Sam’s face had begun to ease. It was so dark out here that I’d totally lost all sense of direction or perspective. We could have been walking in ever decreasing circles for all I knew.