Chapter 201
HANNAH
With the mountains screening everything and the only access to the campsite the narrow curvy road through which we had come through, one would notice anyone approaching the place.
The tents were set up. Cade set up ours, only allowing me to hand him the tools he needed.
"It's quite large," I said when we stepped back to admire the tent.
"It is," Cade agreed. "It can comfortably house five people, six on the outside but it's just for you and me. Don't plan on sharing our space with everyone else."
"A little help here, Cade," a girl called out. She pointed to the boy she was with who was grinning sheepishly and fumbling with the nail of a tent. He looked very clueless. "I don't think he has any idea what he's doing."
I heard Cade say to him, "Haven't you ever gone camping before?"
I drifted away, arranged our bags in our tent and went off with some a group of girls to get some wood for the fire.
"It's going to be chilly tonight," one of the girls said.
She handed me a bottle of mineral water she had just taken a swig out of.
"Yeah," I said, noting that though the day was hot, there was still a chill in the air all the same.
When the sun went down, it would definitely increase.
When we were all done settling in, Cade called out, "Gather around, people. Gather around." They stood around Cade in a circle. I did a rough head count. There were about twenty-one students in total. "Everyone here? Good. Eat, unpack, settle in, do everything you have to do now."
Cade checked his watch. "Fortunately you have more than five hours to take care of your personal business. Sample collection starts at night after the sun goes down. So get yourself and your equipment ready."
He clapped his hands once sharply. "Alright. That's all folks. See you at sundown."
The students dispersed. Some wandered off to eat. Others to chat. A few tired out with the day's activities crawled into their tents to take a nap before the night's activities began.
"Why at night?" I asked Cade when we were alone. "Couldn't we do it while there's daylight? At night time... this place will be a little scary. Too many shadows in too many places."
"It has to be at night," Cade explained. "Most of the plants, especially the animals and insects we're after are lively only at night."
"I understand now," I said.
Cade pressed his abdomen.
"Let's go eat something," he suggested. "I'm starved."
*********
The afternoon passed quickly. There was a lot to do and the beauty of the spot was a lot to take in.
Slowly the sun left the sky and a full moon took over. It lit up the place with a bright silvery light. When the stars came out, Cade called everyone together again.
"It's time," he said, looking up at the moon. "Fortunately it's a bright, clear night. Choose your partners. Let's split up and search the place. We move in teams of three."
There was some delay as the students chose partners. I was in Cade's team along with another boy.
"Alright people," Cade shouted. "Let's do this."
Cade's voice was pleasant and mellow as he kept up a running commentary on the plants we passed for my benefit. He seemed to have an extensive knowledge of them. Even the boy we were with looked interested.
"No wonder you're the team leader," I told Cade and he smiled.
We got to the foot of the mountain. There were so many specimens to choose from.
Cade squatted in front of a plant.
"This looks like something I saw in the textbook," he told the other boy. "Open it, will you?"
While Cade and the boy compared the diagram in the textbook the boy pulled out of his knapsack with the plant in front of them, I drifted away.
Something in the distance had caught my eye. I pulled out the flashlight from my pocket as I got close to it.
It was a plant. Its stem was long, slender and swaying slightly in the breeze.
The flowers were a deep purple and seemed to pulse with an inner light that intensified when you shone a light on it. I was certain I had never seen the plant before.
"Beautiful," I murmured and squatted, my fingers extended to carefully pluck it.
A twig snapped somewhere to my right. My head whipped around. Two gleaming red eyes, staring right at me, glowed in the dark.
It looked like the eyes were just floating in space. For a moment my heart stopped. Then my brain caught up with the rest of my body.
I saw the eyes were in a head and the head was attached to the body of a large wolf.
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