The Middle of Somewhere(33)

Rodell caught her watching them, and waved. She returned the wave and joined Dante, who was struggling to extract the stove from its pyramidal container.

“Allow me,” she said, extending her hand.

She squeezed the sides of the container and pulled the stove out with two fingers. It consisted of a central hub, the size of a caramel, that screwed onto a fuel can, forming its base. Three pointed prongs, each the length of a finger, were attached to the hub. To fit in the fist-sized container, the prongs swiveled and folded to lie flush along the hub. She twisted and lifted each prong in turn.

“You look as if you’re in love with that thing,” Dante said.

“I am. Look how they cut holes along each prong to make it lighter.” She screwed the hub onto the fuel can, and placed her hand across the open prongs. “The pot balances perfectly on these little points. The jet is an inch in diameter but boils water in a few minutes. And this is cool. This rectangular hoop is the gas control. So simple. So beautiful.”

“So hungry. Let’s eat.”

By six o’clock they had finished their chili and washed the dishes. Liz was brushing her teeth (away from the camp because the toothpaste might attract bears) when the Root brothers crunched through the undergrowth separating the campsites and approached Dante. They stood talking a moment. Before she could rinse and spit, Dante pointed to a log and the men made themselves comfortable. Liz sighed and picked her way through the forest toward them, wondering how rude it would be to crawl straight into the tent.

Payton, his long legs stretched in front, followed her movements as she lowered herself next to Dante. “Heck of a storm today, huh?”

“Were you at the pass when it hit?”

“Were we ever! Dante said you had hail, too.”

“For a couple minutes. It was a drive-by.”

Payton let go a short laugh. “Go on,” he said to his brother. “Tell them what you did up there.”

Rodell shuffled his feet, considering. “Oh, all right. But so long as everyone knows it was a dare.”

This’ll be worth staying up for, Liz thought.

“So, we’re at the very top, right? And the sky was dark as midnight and the clouds hung low and heavy. Like the end of the world was coming. What do you call it? The eclipse?”

“Apocalypse,” Liz said.

“Yeah, that. A big one. Anyway, I’m standing there, waiting for the thunder.” He got up, assumed a wide stance and turned his face to the sky. “My knees are shaking like crazy and Payton is laughing his butt off.”

Payton smiled. “I wish you could’ve seen yourself.”

“Then the thunder goes ‘Boom!’ Right there! I swore a bomb went off inside my head. So I throw my arm up like this,” he thrust his arm above his head, “and stick my hiking pole way up in the air!”

“Holy crap!” Liz said.

Payton’s eyes locked on hers. “Your own personal nightmare, I take it?”

How the hell would you know? She held his gaze, refusing his challenge. “Sounds like a bid for a Darwin Award.”

Rodell either didn’t understand or refused to take offense. “Got away with it.”

Dante said, “That’s quite a story. Who dared you? Your brother?”

“Yeah.” He shot a glance at Payton, who closed his eyes and nodded once, slowly. “We do a lot of dares. It’s a game.”

“Like Truth or Dare?” Liz said.

Payton said, “Just like that. We’ve been doing it since we were little.”

“I’ll bet your parents were thrilled.”

“Wasn’t any of their business. It was only between us.”

Rodell said, “Daddy didn’t approve.”

Payton narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Like I said, it wasn’t anyone else’s business. Thing is, we ran out of truths a long time ago.”

“In 2001, wasn’t it?”

“It was. Late October. No secrets left.”

“Not a one.”

“So now all we’ve got are dares.”

The failing light dimmed another notch. The trees froze in the hush. Liz reached for Dante’s hand, warm against her suddenly cold skin.

Dante spoke in a cautious tone. “Sounds exciting. Or dangerous. Or both.”

“That about covers it,” Payton said.

“Sometimes it’s funny, too,” Rodell said, and fell into a fit of laughter, snorting like a pig. He bent over, holding his stomach, and snorted again and again. “Isn’t it funny sometimes, Payton?” Another snorting fit. After a few more bouts, he gathered himself and wiped his mouth with his hand. “Remember the time you and that girl—Brenda, wasn’t it? Remember? She didn’t—”