Beside him, Walter dropped his bag at his feet and squinted into the distance, fists planted on his hips as he surveyed the landscape. It wasn’t likely he could make out much—the sky was more black than purple now, a backlit bruise with only a hint of the mountains beyond—but he slowly took it all in. A row of lanterns lit the path to where a small camp had been set up about forty yards away.
Nicole had already told them they’d be camping, but even the roughest of their previous excursions had included, at the very least, running water. As they followed her, a hushed awareness set in: this was rustic. Six glowing tents circled a crackling campfire; the soft whinny of horses carried through the darkness. It was beautiful. The closer they got to the fire, the better Leo was able to make out an iron corral with a corrugated metal overhang, a small building, and what looked like an outhouse nearby.
A large stake had been pounded into the ground near the fire, and Nicole reached for a clipboard hanging from a bent nail. “This is base camp, so there are more amenities here than we’ll have the rest of the trip.” She swatted at a mosquito and then pointed to the semicircle of tents. “Soak up the luxury, kids. Inside your tent you’ll find a pack with some food and water to get you through the night. Might even be a few cold ones in there, but that depends on how generous the boss was feeling. As a rule, there’s no drinking unless we’re back at camp for the evening, and only what we provide. Can’t have any messy cowboys.”
Her gaze landed meaningfully on Bradley, who jerked upright at attention. Beside him, Walt jumped at something rustling in the dry grass nearby, clutching for Leo. On instinct, everyone but Leo and Nicole took a step back.
“What the fuck was that?” Bradley whispered.
“Just a kit fox or jackrabbit,” Nicole said without taking her eyes off the clipboard. “It’s not gonna hurt you.”
Walt didn’t seem reassured. Even Leo had to admit it was hard not to feel exposed when surrounded by nothing but black sky and unending stars. The closest he’d ever been to this degree of isolation was his summer at Wilder Ranch, and at least that property had electricity and toilets. Here they were out in the middle of nowhere with just the moon and the stars and a few torches to light their way. Leo assumed it was safe at camp, but so far there’d been no sign of Nicole’s boss, and he wouldn’t exactly say Nicole seemed overly concerned about their well-being.
“I will ask you not to wander around, though. It’s flat here, but it won’t be for long. We don’t want anyone tumbling over a cliff because they got disoriented taking a leak in the dark.” She pointed to a small cluster of buildings. “For tonight, the tack shed and outhouse are that way, but stay inside the boundary of the lanterns. If you can’t see the ground, we can’t see you.”
Terry stood with his arms crossed over his chest. “What’s the mountain lion situation ’round here? I’ve read they hunt in this area. I assume you have some kind of perimeter fence set up.”
Nicole bit back an amused smile. “Fence wouldn’t keep ’em out if they really wanted in.”
“A gun would,” Terry countered.
“I got no problem turning a rooster into a hen with one shot,” she said, “though it’s my experience that guns usually cause more problems than they solve. But if you’re worried, just know mountain lions don’t have much use for us and are usually following the mule deer this time of year, anyway. Just do what we ask, and we’ll keep you safe.”
“？‘We’ being just you and your girlboss?” he asked, and the rest of them took a step away, distancing themselves from Terry’s mouth. Apparently he hadn’t seen Nicole’s knife.
“Why do you assume my boss is a girl?” Nicole asked, arching a brow at him.
When Terry inhaled to answer, Bradley quickly cut in. “I’m sure he just meant, like, we don’t imagine a man would just leave you out here alone with a bunch of guys.”
Nicole laughed at this. “I can handle myself just fine.”
Leo had no doubt this was true.
But Terry couldn’t help himself: “Can you?”
Nicole took a step forward, eye to eye now and staring him down. “We’ve been capably taking care of tourists for nearly a decade. There are a few cowboys who use this camp when they need to, and we have a guy who jumps ahead to leave supplies along the trail, but you won’t see them and you won’t need them.” She paused, gazing evenly at him. “That going to be a problem? I can call someone to come pick you up before we head out tomorrow.”