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Titus Hitch Wilderness

Titusville, Virginia

Mid-June

“Autumn, stop!”

“Come on, Tash, it’s easy. Watch me. It’s just a little jump and you’ll clear the water.” He didn’t move, just stared at her, shaking his head. Something was wrong with him. She no longer felt the same impatience with him she’d felt when her mother had first asked her to take him under her wing four days before. When she’d first seen the pasty-faced little private-school boy, she’d known, just known, he’d ruin her very fine summer. But no choice, he would be her summer job, spend five days a week with him, teach him how to hike and swim and whatever else he couldn’t do. She was also supposed to give him more confidence in himself, and how did one do that? Autumn had planned to spend the summer with her friends and helping her mother with her outdoor adventure business—Titus Hitch Adventures—hiking, white water rafting, camping, having all sorts of fun and making sure big-city folk didn’t drown. At least spending time with Tash was a well-paid gig, and 90 percent of what the kid’s dad was paying her would go into her college fund. The other 10 percent would buy them all Christmas presents, her dad had told her, with a wink to her mom. She’d heard her dad’s dispatcher, Faydeen, say Tash’s dad owned a big-time investment fund in Philadelphia, and wasn’t that something. Mr. Navarro had seemed nice enough when she’d met him, a big man, handsome and fit, older than her stepfather, Ethan, with dashes of gray at his temples. His wife, Sasha, was much younger, with lots of thick, wavy blond hair. Her toenails were painted sky blue, a color Autumn wanted to try, and she’d showed off her body in tight white capris and a crop top. Autumn wondered how long it had taken her to fix her hair and makeup. Archer Navarro smiled down at Autumn and shook her hand like she was a grown-up. “My brother, Rebel, tells me you’re the best, Autumn, you know every square inch of the Titus Hitch Wilderness, like your parents do. I’m pleased you’ll be spending the summer with Tash. I’m sure you’ll do well with him. As you know, he’s staying with Rebel for the summer.”

Autumn had turned to the little boy grudgingly. He hadn’t smiled or met her eyes, just stared down at his painfully new sneakers. She wondered how she would ever be able to teach this thin, wimpy little kid how to fish, pitch a tent, make a fire, or cook on a Coleman stove. He looked pathetic in his stiff jeans and ironed T-shirt, and who ironed a T-shirt? Five days a week with him—full days—until the end of August. She’d shaken his limp white hand and finally he’d looked her full in the face. She’d seen a sort of dull acceptance on his face, and something she didn’t expect—loneliness. In that moment Autumn knew to her adolescent shame that she’d been wrong to dismiss him as a dweeb impinging on her precious time. She’d said his name and smiled and he’d smiled back, at least a try at a smile. She’d leaned down and whispered, “We’re going to have a blast, Tash.”

Things were good now, and she’d smile as she slid into bed.

“Tash, I’ve jumped the creek from these rocks a thousand times and so can you, I promise. You just push off. Watch me, okay?”

He shook his head, wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Autumn walked to the rocks she’d used as a springboard for years, saw nothing unusual. She leaned down and shoved hard at the largest one. To her surprise it broke loose, tipped forward, and tumbled down the incline into the creek.

Tash had known, he’d seen what would happen, but he was afraid to admit it.

Slowly he nodded, his head still down.

He swallowed. “There was my mom.”

“Tell me.”