Keira sniffed and listened. The chill air carried scents from miles away. She would catch a whiff of something and then the wind would change.
Mary Beth sat nursing the blisters on her heels. They had been hiking for three days now over rough terrain and she kept talking about socks, blisters and band-aids.
There it was. Keira stood and sniffed again, then tilted her ears forward. She looked at Mary Beth, then over the rock rim to the west.
“What is it, girl?”
Keira took ran a few steps to the west, then returned, whimpering. She watched as Mary Beth finished bandaging her feet, then put her socks and boots back on, then hoisted her pack.
“Okay, Keira. Take me to him. Come on.”
They set off down the craggy rock surface. Overhead a red tail screeched. As they descended, they saw weeds pushing up through cracks in the rock, then stands of pinyon pine, and at last meadows. They traversed through fields of late spring flowers, where bees buzzed in the warmth of the afternoon.
Finally they smelled wood smoke and Keira took off in a run. When she came to a clearing and a small encampment, she stopped. This was for Mary Beth, not for her. She sat down at the edge of the open space where a brook bubbled through stones and wild grasses, and waited.
When Mary Beth caught up to her, she stopped too, and they both looked on. There was no movement in the camp, but a wisp of smoke rose from a smoldering fire.
Suddenly there was movement and rustling in the trees, and Scotty emerged. Keira barked.
“Hey girl! Come here.”
She ran to him and jumped and barked. She was wonderfully happy to have found him. She loved him so.
Mary Beth took a step into the clearing. Keira turned to watch her, then looked back at Scotty. She knew they had things to say.
“Hi mom.”
“Hi Scotty.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I just happened to be in the area.”
Scotty laughed. “I’m sorry. I know I must have worried you. It’s just… you’ve always been the guide and the outdoor expert. I needed to try a wilderness excursion on my own.”
“I understand, honey. I really do. And you have all the skills. But… you’re only 15.”
Scotty looked down. He seemed to be contemplating what to say. “I caught a fish. Would you like some?”
Mary Beth nodded. “I have a bag of rice and a few turnips.”
Keira didn’t understand about the food, and she couldn’t figure out why Scotty and Mary Beth seemed so happy and sad all at the same time. But later on, as they all sat together by the fire under the stars, and Scotty and Mary Beth told stories of Scotty’s father and how funny he was when he was alive, it seemed that maybe the meal brought them together, closing the aching distance that threatened to separate them.
In the morning they would pack up and start the trek back home. Tonight, she would rest.
###
