Page 17 of Wilderness Search (Eagle Mountain: Unsolved Mysteries #2)
“We’re asking search and rescue to assist with an intense, targeted search in this section of national forest between Mountain Kingdom Kids Camp and Mount Wilson Lodge.
” Sheriff Travis Walker stood before the gathered search and rescue volunteers Wednesday afternoon inside the main building of the Mount Wilson Lodge.
He indicated a section outlined in red on an enlarged map pinned to the wall.
“We’ve found some indication that Olivia Pryor has been in this area recently. ”
A murmur rose among the volunteers. “What did you find?” Bethany asked, addressing the sheriff.
“We’re passing around a smaller copy of the map,” Travis continued. “On the back is a photograph of a brush shelter where we believe Olivia spent at least one night. The location of this shelter is marked on the map. Keep your eyes open for similar primitive shelters like this.”
“How would a thirteen-year-old girl know how to build something like this?” Dr. Rand Martin, Eagle Mountain Search and Rescue’s chief medical officer, asked.
“Mountain Kingdom has a three-day wilderness adventure course where they take the kids out and teach them survival techniques, including building shelters,” Sergeant Gage Walker, the sheriff’s brother, spoke up.
“Olivia’s parents also say she is a big fan of adventure novels and TV shows.
Looks like she was paying close attention. ”
“Do we know why she ran away from camp?” Danny asked. “Can we expect her to try to hide from us?”
“We don’t know why she left camp,” Travis said. “And yes, she may try to hide. But she’s been out there three days now and may be ready to return, if not to Mountain Kingdom, then to her family.”
“May I say something, Sheriff?” Scott Sprague stepped forward.
The camp owner had added a silver Stetson to his khaki-and-polo uniform, the hat mimicking those worn by some members of the sheriff’s department.
“Thank you all for volunteering to help with the search for Olivia,” he said, his voice projecting clearly in the large room.
“All we want is for her to be safe. Whatever reason she decided to run away, it wasn’t because of anything that happened at the camp. We know she was happy there.”
“Already working on covering his reputation,” Carrie Andrews, on Willa’s right, whispered.
Scott continued, talking about the illustrious history of his family’s camp, and reminding everyone that this was the first time anything like this had happened. The gathered volunteers exchanged glances and shuffled their feet.
“Thank you, Mr. Sprague.” Gage put a hand on the camp owner’s arm, silencing him. “Let’s get out there and start searching. We want to take advantage of every bit of daylight.”
Willa turned away, but found herself face-to-face with Carter and Dalton Ames.
“Hi, Willa.” Carter offered his hand. “I don’t know if you remember us. We’re Aaron’s brothers. We saw each other a few times in Vermont, but I didn’t recognize you until Aaron told us about your name change.”
“Of course.” She shook hands with each of them in turn. What was she supposed to say? “Um, this is a little awkward.”
“Don’t worry,” Carter said. “We won’t tell anyone your secret identity.”
She winced. “Thanks.”
“Aaron told us the whole story,” Dalton said. “Sorry you were being harassed back in Waterbury. And it’s great that you joined search and rescue.”
“Yeah. If you need anything, let us know,” Carter said. He glanced over his shoulder as someone called his name. “We just wanted to say, no hard feelings or anything.”
“Yeah.” Dalton clapped his brother on the shoulder. “We’d better go.”
Willa stared after them. She had a memory of Aaron’s brothers as friendly but involved in their own world. All her focus had been on Aaron. At least they didn’t hold any grudges about the way she had ended her relationship with their brother.
Willa was assigned to search with Bethany and Carrie. “I saw you talking with Carter and Dalton,” Bethany said as Willa approached. “I hope they didn’t embarrass you or anything.”
“No.” She glanced at Carrie, who was studying her phone screen. “They just welcomed me to search and rescue.”
“Aaron made them promise not to ask you out,” Bethany said.
“No! They didn’t ask me out.” Aaron had told them that? Why? Of course, she would never have agreed to go out with them. Talk about awkward! “What else did Aaron say about me?” She couldn’t help it—she had to know.
“Well…” Bethany looked over to see that Carrie had turned away and was talking with another volunteer.
Then she leaned closer to Willa and lowered her voice.
“He said he doesn’t think your brother had anything to do with that little girl’s murder back in Vermont, that he was only acting guilty because he was scared. ”
Willa stared. Why couldn’t Aaron have seen this at the time of Gary’s arrest? Why change his mind now, when it was too late to undo the damage?
Bethany shrugged, maybe reading the unanswered questions in Willa’s eyes. “He’s not one to admit he’s wrong very often.”
Carrie turned to them. “We’d better get started.”
As they moved out of the building, a fourth person joined them.
Aaron, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, held up a copy of the map.
“I’ll be with you three,” he said. He looked at Willa, then away.
He couldn’t have overheard her conversation with his sister, but she still felt the impact of Bethany’s words.
Aaron had admitted he was wrong about Gary, but wasn’t that too little, too late?
“You’re out of uniform,” Bethany said to her brother.
“We thought the uniforms might scare off Olivia.” He slipped a daypack onto his back and glanced at Willa again. “You’re the trained professionals. I’m here to follow your lead.”
Carrie turned the map over and studied the photograph of the shelter. “They really think Olivia built this thing?” she asked.
“I saw it,” Aaron said. “It was really clever.”
“Why would a kid go to all that trouble?” Bethany asked. “The camp looks like it would be a blast. Was Olivia secretly bullied or something?”
“No one we talked to mentioned anything like that,” Aaron said. “The other girls in her cabin seemed to really like her.”
“I heard the same thing,” Willa said. When they all turned to look to her, she added, “We had one of her cabin mates in the clinic yesterday. She said Olivia’s best friend at camp really misses her.”
“Her poor parents,” Carrie said. “I hope we find her soon.”
They set out for the section of the map they were assigned to search—a brush-choked half acre of forest bisected by a deep gully.
It was easier to forget about Aaron’s close proximity as they fought their way over and around the massive, rotting trunks of fallen trees, pausing to look under each one in case Olivia had hollowed out the space for shelter.
After forty-five minutes of this, they stopped to drink water and catch their breath.
“I don’t see how a kid could get through all of that,” Bethany said.
“She would probably have an easier time of it than us,” Willa said. “She’s smaller and probably more flexible.”
“It would be a good place to hide,” Aaron said. He looked around them. “We’re making so much noise thrashing through here, she would hear us coming from a long way off. All she would have to do is double back to an area we had already searched and wait until we left.”
“Come on out, Olivia!” Bethany shouted. “Your parents really want you to come home!”
Aaron was leaning against the same tree trunk as Willa, two feet of space between them. “Did the girl you saw at the clinic have anything else to say about Olivia?” he asked.
“She said she didn’t know Olivia very well, but that her friend Stella cries at night now that Olivia is gone.
She thinks it’s because Stella misses her friend.
” She couldn’t believe she was having a regular conversation with him.
It didn’t even feel that awkward. They were behaving like normal people, no messy past between them.
“We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover,” Carrie said. “We’d better get going.”
Another half hour of pulling aside thorny vines, slipping in mud and scrambling up rocks had Willa feeling bruised and battered. She stood atop a granite boulder and surveyed the surrounding wilderness. Then her breath caught.
“There’s someone over there!” she said, and pointed straight ahead.
Aaron vaulted up beside her, and steadied himself by briefly holding her arm. He released his hold and followed her gaze. Someone was clearly moving around, ducking under branches and around rocks.
“There aren’t supposed to be any other searchers assigned to this section,” Carrie said.
Aaron cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hello!” he shouted.
The figure stopped. Aaron took a pair of binoculars from his pack and focused. “It’s not Olivia,” he said. He handed the binoculars to Willa.
She focused in on a burly older man in a green shirt and a silver Stetson. “It’s Scott Sprague,” she said.
Aaron waved. “Mr. Sprague!” he shouted.
Scott looked up, then began picking his way toward them. “What are you doing out here by yourself?” Aaron asked when Scott was almost to the boulder where they waited.
“I can’t sit still and do nothing while Olivia is missing,” he said. “I’m responsible for that little girl.”
“It isn’t safe to be in this rough country alone,” Aaron said. “You need to go back to camp and leave the searching to us.”
“It would be terrible if you were hurt while you were trying to help,” Carrie said. “The camp needs you.”
He slumped against the rock. “You’re probably right. I felt energized when that brush shelter was found. Now that we know that Olivia is alive and probably close by, it feels wrong not to be out here searching for her.”
“I’m sure you’re a big help to Olivia’s parents,” Bethany said. “You should go back to them.”