White Water Page 3

  Tia groaned. “Where’d everybody go? I’m starved!” She reached for a homemade roll, and Kara nearly lost it when the quiet, unflappable, Nez Perce woman actually tapped Tia’s hand with the back of a serving spoon.

  “We wait,” Anne said calmly.

  Tia’s mouth dropped open. Then she looked at Kara, and they both burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Ryan bounced into the room, followed by Dad, Colin, and Greg.

  Kara threw Tia a look of relief. They must have settled it. After the blessing, Dad started a conversation about their trip to Phoenix, and Kara knew she was right.

  Kara let the conversation flow around her. It was too bad Grandpa and Aunt Peg couldn’t be here, but it was so nice to have the rest of the family together at the table. She buttered a roll and felt a sense of contentment that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

  The talk died down, and everyone was busy eating. While eating her own meal, Anne passed the serving dishes as soon as someone was out of food. Only Ryan kept up a constant chatter between bites of roast beef smothered in catsup.

  Colin had taken off his hat, and Kara had to smile at the lock of damp, brown hair plastered to his forehead. He must have just washed it. She wanted to reach over and brush it away from his eyes. There was a nick on his chin from his razor, and he’d missed a few tiny hairs right along his jaw. Instead of shoveling in food like he usually did, he kept one hand on his lap and ate slowly, one bite at a time. He was quieter than usual, too, and Kara wondered if he felt uncomfortable after the episode with Ryan. Maybe she should say something; start another conversation.

  Before she could think of something to say, Colin looked up and flashed her a grin that caused deep dimples in his cheeks. Tia’s right. He really does have a killer smile.

  “Wakara, is something wrong? You’ve barely touched your food.” Dad’s voice seemed to echo through the now silent kitchen.

  Kara jumped. “What? No. I mean, it’s great. I guess I’m just not very hungry.” Everyone was staring at her. Her fork clattered against her plate, then fell to the floor. The heat spread from her stomach to her neck and face, and she wanted to crawl under the table.

  “I’ll get it.” Ryan jumped out of his chair, whacking her shin with his cowboy boot.

  Instant tears stung her eyes. This is not happening, she thought as her little brother scooted underneath her chair, nearly knocking her over, then scrambled out again and handed her the fork.

  “Don’t cry, Kara. Just wipe it off with your napkin, and it’ll be good as new.”

  That was exactly what Mom would have said to him. Everyone laughed and went back to eating, but Kara still felt like she was living a nightmare. Worse, Dad was still watching her with that thoughtful, What’s-going-on-with-her? expression on his face. More than anything she wanted to ask to be excused, but that would only draw more attention, which was exactly what she wanted to avoid!

  A gentle hand squeezed her shoulder as Anne handed her a clean fork. She managed to eat a few more bites of dinner, but the beef tasted stringy, and her carrots were cold.

  Ryan swallowed the last of his milk and jumped to his feet. “Hey, everybody, hurry up. We get to see the movie now!” He ran from the room, and Kara could hear him rummaging through the tape drawer below the VCR. She started to call out and tell him to wait, but Dad held up his hand.

  “I’ll get him in a minute.” His voice was quiet, but firm. “Anne, Ryan is to clear the table and load the dishwasher for a week.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I know it means more work than if you did it yourself, but I’d appreciate it if you’d supervise him.”

  He cleared his throat and looked at Kara. “Wakara, please see to it that he makes his bed and puts his clothes in the hamper every morning before he goes to school. And I mean he’s to do it. Don’t give in and do it yourself, even if it takes more time. Deal?”

  “Deal.” She sighed. “But what if it makes us late for school?”

  “If he doesn’t get it done, you both leave for the bus on time, and I’ll take care of it when he gets home.”

  Kara glanced at Tia, but she was examining the ceiling as if she’d never seen one before, and Colin kept his head down, concentrating on his empty plate.

  Dad’s gaze switched to Greg, and her older brother let out a groan. Dad smiled and laid a hand on Greg’s shoulder. “He has to learn some responsibility, Son. And since you’re training that high-spirited colt of yours, I think you’re the one to teach him more respect for horses.”

  Greg looked as shocked as Kara felt. Up ’til now, it had been her responsibility to teach Ryan to ride and groom the horses. She had started his lessons last fall, but then he took Star out without permission and lost his riding privileges.

  Dad must have read her mind. “I don’t mean I want him riding Lyman. Wakara can handle the riding lessons with Star. But it won’t hurt him to learn how to lead and back up a horse. Just once a week or so, until he gets the hang of it. Use the round pen—it’s safer.”

  “Hey, you guys, come on.” Ryan raced in and grabbed Colin’s arm. “You gotta see this movie; it’s awesome.”

  Kara could tell Colin was trying not to laugh. He ran one hand through his hair, brushing the stray lock off his forehead, then used his best Texas drawl. “Well, Partner, I think you’ve got some chores to finish first.”

  Ryan followed Colin’s arm as it swept over the table full of dirty dishes. His face crumpled, and Kara was sure he was going to cry. Instead, he sighed and handed the tape to Dad. “Oh. I forgot.” He turned to Anne. “I’ll do dishes tonight, Anne. You’d better sit and put your foot up so it don’t get sore.”

  DAD WAS RIGHT, OF COURSE. The film was not nearly as exciting without the special screen and 3-D projector. But Kara still felt the thrill of flying high over the Grand Canyon, plunging deep into the churning river, then floating through the misty shadows into brilliant light.

  “Outrageous!” Tia shouted when the film was over.

  Everyone stared at her, and Kara laughed. “Outrageous?”

  Tia just grinned. “Sure. And if you don’t know, Miss 4.0 student, it means amazing, marvelous, impressive, and sensational!”

  “It also means shocking, monstrous, and excessive,” Kara grinned back. “I had the same vocabulary track in English last year.”

  Tia rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She looked at Kara’s dad. “Have you ever flown over something that awesome, Mr. S.?”

  Dad shook his head. “No. I would have liked to, but no one’s allowed to fly over or into the Grand Canyon anymore except for rescue helicopters.”

  Tia still had that dreamy look that came over her when she latched onto an idea. “Can you imagine exploring a place like that? I mean, like, I wouldn’t want to mess with the scorpions and snakes and stuff, but it would be so awesome to go in there just for a couple of days and see how those people lived, you know?”

  “I’d take my raft in.” Colin’s voice rang with almost as much excitement as Tia’s. “Man, what a rush!”

  Kara shook her head. “That would be a rush, all right. I don’t see how any of those explorers survived. Those rapids were worse than class five. I’ll bet they weren’t even on the chart!”

  Colin laughed. “Rapids probably weren’t even rated back then. Now it’s one through five—ripples through raging white water.” He shook his head. “Threes and fours are good enough for me. Only a crazy man would tackle a class five.”

  “You could hike in,” Ryan piped up. “There’s a trail for angels, but they let mules and people use it too, I saw!”

  Kara reached over and ruffled his hair. “You mean Angel Trail?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Angel is the name of the trail, Ry. And they take mules down almost every day.” She sighed. “It looked like fun, but we didn’t have time.”

  “Too crowded,” Tia insisted. “At least it was when Pops took us a few years ago. We went to Mesa Verde too, and I saw how the Anasazi Indians l
ived. They built homes right into the sides of the cliffs and farmed the flat spots up above.”

  “The Anasazi disappeared.” Everyone turned to look at Anne, who was sitting in the far corner of the room next to her loom. “Hundreds of years they live in the canyons, then they are gone.” Her face was calm, but Kara could hear a trace of sadness in her voice.

  Tia nodded. “Yeah. They just vanished overnight.” She looked at Kara. “Wouldn’t it be awesome to find out why?”

  “Some things only God can know,” Anne said as she rose and headed for the kitchen. “I will bring the pie.”

  “I’ll help.” Kara uncurled herself from the couch where she’d been sitting beside Ryan and Greg.

  “Me too.” Tia jumped up from her spot on the floor. “What kind of pie?”

  While Tia got down the plates, Kara rummaged through the dishwasher for clean forks, and Anne cut into the deep-dish apple pie. She handed two plates to Kara, then held out two more for Tia to take into the family room, but she didn’t let go of them right away. “Wakara’s grandfather called while you were at the barn, Tia. He would like to read your paper on the Northern California Indian tribes.”

  Kara couldn’t wait to talk to Tia alone, but by the time they finished dessert, Tia’s dad had arrived to pick her up.

  “Your grandfather is looking for something, just like we are!” Tia whispered when Kara walked her to the front porch.

  Kara nodded. “I think he already knows more than he’s telling.” She frowned. “It’s frustrating. He’s had months to go through Great-grandfather’s papers. If he knows something new about my great-grandmother, I wish he’d tell me.”

  “Maybe he just wants to be sure first. You know, like, have all the facts before he tells you.”

  Kara shrugged, then gave Tia a quick hug. “Thanks, friend.”

  “Hey, no prob. See you tomorrow.” Tia grinned and hurried to the car.

  Kara drew in a deep breath of the cool night air and tipped her head back to study the stars. The night sky—another one of God’s masterpieces. “Outrageous,” she whispered to herself, then she chuckled. Tia could be weird sometimes, but no one could ask for a better friend.

  “Wakara?” Colin’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Light filtered through the open door, then vanished as Colin closed it behind him. She shivered a little when he walked up and stood beside her. “Aren’t you cold?”

  She shook her head. If she tried to talk, she was afraid her voice would shake too. Knock it off, Wako, it’s just Colin. Right, if it was “just Colin,” why did she feel all jittery inside?

  Colin walked past her, turned around, and leaned backwards against the railing, his head thrown back until he was practically upside down.

  Kara giggled and finally found her voice. “What are you doing?”

  “The Milky Way, see?” He pointed to the sky over the steeply pitched roof, then motioned her to stand beside him.

  She laughed. “Why don’t you just go out into the yard? You could see it better from there.”

  “This is a lot more fun. Come on, try it.” He reached for her hand and pulled her to the railing.

  Kara took her place beside him and leaned back, craning her neck to spot the Milky Way. But the fluttering in her stomach had nothing to do with a band of stars.

  “Colin? Wakara?” The front door opened again, and this time the porch light flicked on. Kara blinked and jumped away from the railing as if it was on fire. “Hey, sorry,” Greg said. She could hear the chuckle in her brother’s voice as he reached out to steady her. “Dad wants you guys in the house. Family meeting.”

  Greg held the door for her, and she rushed into the family room. Dad watched her with that thoughtful look again, and motioned for her to sit down. Ryan sat on the floor in front of the TV, sorting through his box of John Wayne movie tapes.

  When Colin and Greg came in, Dad said, “Thanks, guys, this won’t take long.” He looked around the room, his face sober.

  Kara felt a stab of fear. Was something wrong?

  Dad cleared his throat. “I know we just returned from a long weekend, but spring break is just around the corner.” He paused and grinned. “How would you all like to spend the week at Eagle Lodge?”

  “Yippee!” Ryan jumped up and spun around the room, nearly knocking over Colin, who squatted on his heels by the door.

  Greg stood beside Colin, leaning against the wall. “Yeah, yippee for you,” he said with a trace of sarcasm in his voice. “I have a feeling that for the rest of us it means work.” Kara hadn’t heard him use that tone in a long time, but at least now he was smiling.

  Dad laughed. “I’m afraid Greg is right. It won’t be just a pleasure trip. We’ve got a lot of extra work to do because of the fire.”

  Stuff they didn’t get done last fall because of the storm that practically shut down the ranch—the same blizzard that nearly killed Greg. Kara kept her thoughts to herself. She didn’t want to bring up bad memories.

  It had gotten quiet in the room, and Kara realized Dad was staring at her. She blushed. She’d been daydreaming again. “Sorry, Dad. What did you say?”

  “I just wondered if this upsets any plans you had for spring break.”

  She thought a minute, then stole a glance at Colin. A bunch of kids from youth group were planning a rafting trip, and Colin had said he would come and bring his new four-man raft. “We did have plans,” she said aloud, “but I guess we could do it another time.” She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Eagle Lodge was a main source of income for their family, and Dad needed all the help he could get to keep it running. Besides, she really liked it there. Sure, it was a lot of work, but the lodge itself was comfortable, and the wilderness that surrounded it was nothing short of spectacular. At least it used to be, before the forest fire. When she’d been up there last, there was so much snow she hadn’t been able to tell how much of the forest had been destroyed by the flames.

  Tia would be really disappointed, though. They’d planned on going shopping for some summer clothes.

  “Tia would be a help, I think,” Anne said. Kara looked at Anne, astonished, then felt a rush of gratitude when Dad nodded.

  “Yes.” His eyes shifted to Colin, then quickly back to Kara. “I think that would be a good idea. If her parents agree, she can come along and help.”

  Dad slapped his knees and stood. “Okay, then, we leave a week from Friday.” He glanced at Anne. “Is that enough notice?”

  The cook nodded. “We will all go?”

  “Yes,” Dad answered. “You can close up the house. Bud Davis will send some hands to take care of the stock.” He turned to Colin and Greg. “We’ll need horses. You can bring your own and lead a couple of others.”

  Ryan leapt to his feet. “Star gets to come!”

  Dad wrapped one arm around Ryan’s skinny shoulders. “Not this time, Tiger.”

  Ryan’s face clouded up and Kara expected him to argue, but he must have realized it wouldn’t do any good. He just hung his head and went back to sorting his tapes.

  Colin stood up, and Greg clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Is that it?” He looked at Dad, who nodded. “Good. I don’t know about you,” he said to Colin, “but I’m headed for the bunkhouse. I’ve got a class tomorrow morning, and 5:00 A.M. comes early.”

  Kara glanced at the clock and groaned out loud. Ryan should have been in bed an hour ago. Now he’d be a bear when she tried to get him up for school tomorrow. She kissed Dad goodnight. “Come on, Ry, I’ll race you up the stairs.”

  She let him win, of course, and smiled when he ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. She remembered when she was about the same age and wanted privacy. Mom hadn’t said anything, just backed off and allowed her to become more independent every year.

  “He’s growing up, Mom,” she whispered. “I know I can’t do as good a job as you would, but I’ll try.”

  Ryan changed into his cowboy pajamas and fell asleep before Kara could remind him
to say his prayers.

  Kara brushed her teeth, undid her braids, and pulled her long, black hair over one shoulder so she could untangle it with the brush. Just thinking about all she had to do in the next few days made her tired. First thing tomorrow morning, she would invite Tia to come with them to Eagle Lodge.

  She was really disappointed to miss the rafting trip, especially since she’d planned on manning the oar opposite Colin in his raft. Maybe there’d still be time for a river run before the spring season was over. She yawned at the mirror, set the brush aside, and headed for her room.

  Her closet door stood open, reminding her of the shopping trip she would have to postpone. Most of her summer clothes had smoke damage from the forest fire. She’d managed to save a couple pair of shorts, but everything else was terminal, and that included most of Ryan’s things as well. She groaned and promised herself she’d have a talk with Dad in the morning. Maybe he could take them to the mall the Saturday after they got back.

  Her head was spinning when she laid it on the pillow. Be anxious for nothing. The Bible verse popped into her mind. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

  Prayer always worked when she asked God to help with the big things, like rescuing people from fire and snow. Was it true He cared about the little things as well? She knew Mom and Anne thought so.

  She whispered a prayer, mentally giving everything she was worried about to God and thanking Him ahead of time for the answer. Then she turned on her side and closed her eyes.

  KARA MET TIA ON THE school steps as usual, ten minutes before the first class.

  “You’ll never guess!” Tia squealed. “Never in a zillion years!”

  Kara couldn’t guess, but it didn’t matter, because Tia didn’t give her a chance to answer. “We did it, Wakara. Patches and I made the cut.”

  This time Kara squealed. “You’re in with Mrs. Bryant?”

  Tia’s grin would have outshone the moon. “Only the best barrel racer in the country.” She grabbed Kara’s arm. “And, the best part is, we’re one-on-one!”