Wyatt stepped into the middle of the path. “You can’t go back this way. There’s a fire, and it’s cut off the trail. I think we should all just go back to the falls.”
The dad scowled. “What are you talking about? Are you joking?”
Wyatt raised his empty hands. “Why would we joke about that? Look at all the smoke in the air. The fire’s just a few hundred yards up the trail.”
“And Trask is really tired.” The mom shook her head. She had a spiky black haircut.
“We just came through there like an hour ago and there wasn’t any fire,” the dad said. “Maybe we could still get through.”
Wyatt shook his head. “It’s moving pretty fast.”
But it was like the couple hadn’t heard him. Without another word, the man walked past them. When the edge of the child carrier knocked against Natalia, he didn’t apologize. More slowly, the woman followed.
Natalia exchanged a look with Wyatt. “Maybe we should go after them?”
“They’ll figure it out in a minute.”
“But what about their kid?” The memory of her little brother swamped her. To steady herself, she rested her palm on the rough bark of a tree trunk. Her therapist, Dr. Paris, called it anchoring to the real world.
“I’m sure they won’t really risk it once they see it. They just need to wrap their heads around reality.”
Natalia and Wyatt started back up the hill. It was an effort to keep lifting her boots. They had worked until two thirty and then driven the hour out here. At least now that she couldn’t see the fire, her fear wasn’t as paralyzing. The authorities were probably already redirecting one of those helicopters. Maybe she and Wyatt would even be rescued by one.
When they went around another turn in the trail, four people from the falls were coming toward them. In the lead was the dog. Natalia eyed it nervously. She didn’t like the fact that it was off its leash. Dogs could bite or snap or otherwise be unpredictable. Its ears stood straight up, and its blue eyes were a striking contrast to its flat brown coat with a white splash on the chest.
Thirty feet behind the dog was the college-age couple it belonged to—the tall, skinny white guy in cutoffs, with the leash draped around his neck like a scarf, and the Hispanic girl in flip-flops, a blue-and-white beach towel draped over her bare shoulders. Behind them was an African American man with graying hair. He was holding the hand of a lighter-skinned boy who looked about eight.
Wyatt stepped into the middle of the path and raised his hands. “Hey, guys—I’m sorry, but we can’t get out this way. There’s a fire about a half mile back.”
“What? A forest fire?” The older man wrapped one arm around the boy. He pulled him close, ignoring the kid’s attempts to squirm away.
“Really?” The girl’s eyes went wide.
“Blue!” Her boyfriend patted his thigh, and the dog came to his side. He snapped on the leash.
Wyatt pointed the way they had come. “We’re not fire experts, but we figured we’d be safest by the water. If I climb up above the falls, I think I might be able to get cell service. Then I could ask 9-1-1 what to do.”
This time there wasn’t any argument or discussion, just a hurried push to get back to where they had started. When they reached Basin Falls, there were only three people left. The sweaty white guy was finishing up the last of his Gatorade. An older white woman wearing a tan sun hat and an old-fashioned pack was sitting on a boulder, watching the falls. And the dark-haired guy who had passed them on their way out was facing toward the trail, staring up at the sky. None of them were near each other.
“Hey! People! Listen up!” Wyatt waved his arms, but it was difficult to compete with the sight and sound of falling water.
Natalia slid off her backpack and found the gear she had bought at REI. She pulled out the cord holding a bright orange whistle and put it to her lips. Even over the rush of the waterfall, the sound was piercing. The other people’s heads turned.
Wyatt put his hands around his mouth and shouted. “Hey, you guys, there’s a fire blocking the trail.” He pointed at the top of the falls. “I’m going to get up higher and see if I can get cell service.”
He headed toward a faint line of trampled brush that led to the top of the falls. Natalia followed, her stomach twisting. At the bottom of the slope was a sign bolted to a tree. The top had the word “NO” in big white letters on a red background. In full, it read, “No cliff jumping or diving into Basin Falls. Three people have died trying. $500 fine.”
“Do you really think it’s safe to go up there?” she asked as he scrambled up on a boulder.
He looked over his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to try diving. Want to come up with me?”
“I’ll just slow you down,” Natalia said, which was true but not the truth. She was afraid of heights. “Just promise you’ll be careful.”
“Of course. But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Wyatt started to clamber up the rocky hillside. Her heart in her mouth, Natalia watched him go.
CHAPTER 4
EXTREME DANGER
7:23 P.M.
AS NATALIA WATCHED, WYATT scrambled up the steep hill. He was in the full sun, but down here, in the shadows by the water, the light was changing as the sun got lower in the sky. Long, slanted rays revealed that smoke was beginning to reach them. How long until the fire did?
To calm herself, she took a deep breath, regretting it when she tasted the smoke. Around her, the other people were gradually coalescing, all of them looking up, focused on Wyatt.
Before joining them, the guy who had passed them on the way in tossed the bottle cap he’d been carrying into the water. Natalia didn’t bother to hide her disgusted look. What a jerk! All those cargo pockets and he couldn’t be bothered to pack out a single bottle cap? The bottle it belonged to had probably been tossed into the bushes along the way here. He met her glare with narrowed eyes.
Now he challenged her. “Are you sure there’s a fire? I was just through there like a half hour ago and I didn’t see any fire.”
“Well, there’s one now.” She waved at the particles floating in the sunbeams. “You can see the smoke in the air.”
The girl in the flip-flops pointed at Wyatt. Her nails were painted purple. “So that’s your boyfriend up there?”
“Um, we work together at an ice cream shop in Portland.” Natalia gave the other girl a weak smile. “This was kind of our first date.”
“Some first date!” She rolled her eyes. “My name’s Beatriz.”
“Natalia.” She pointed up the hill. “And that’s Wyatt.”
With her thumb, Beatriz gestured back at the guy with the dog, who was standing a little apart from everyone. “My boyfriend, Marco. And the dog’s named Blue.” Knuckling the top of Blue’s head, Marco nodded at them. He was skinny with a mop of streaked blond hair. His shorts, with hacked-off legs of different lengths, had clearly once been jeans.
Everyone else introduced themselves. The older guy was Darryl, and his grandson was named Zion. AJ was the stocky guy in boots that looked as new as Natalia’s. Susan had an old-fashioned pack made of green canvas and gray curls peeking out from her sun hat. The jerk was the last one to give his name—Jason.