Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
B y the end of the week, Conleth was experiencing a profound existential crisis.
Previously, he’d considered himself an excellent negotiator. He’d sat down at a conference table opposite arrogant alpha CEOs used to getting their own way, and shaken hands on a contract entirely in his own company’s favor before they’d even finished a single cup of coffee. He’d been studying the art of persuasion for his entire adult life. He was good at it.
Or at least, he’d thought he was good at it. At the moment, all those billion-dollar deals and corporate mergers seemed like child’s play compared to changing the mind of an actual child.
“Come on, Hetta.” He gave her his most encouraging smile, which he suspected was starting to look rather strained around the edges. “I promise, it’s perfectly safe. I’m right here. Just try taking a single step.”
Hetta didn’t budge, still maintaining a death grip on the rope rails to either side of the log beam. “What if I slip?”
“Then I’ll catch you.”
Hetta eyed the log as though it were suspended over a flaming pit of hungry crocodiles rather than barely six inches off the ground. “What if you get distracted?”
“I won’t,” Conleth said, inwardly praying for strength. “I’ll keep my eyes on you the whole time, I promise.”
“That’s impossible. You have to blink. What if I slip while you’re blinking?”
“Hetta, I’m a pegasus shifter. I don’t have to be looking at you to know exactly where you are. I’m not going to let you come to any harm.”
“But you have to watch out for all of us,” Hetta countered. “What if someone else slips and falls, and you zoom off to save them, and then I slip and fall while you’re busy?”
In fifteen years or so, Conleth reflected, she was going to make a truly terrifying lawyer. “I’d catch you both. You don’t realize how fast I can move. But in the unlikely event that every child here simultaneously decides to test that gravity is still working, I’ll make sure to rescue you first. Now will you please, please at least try?”
Hetta edged the tiniest fraction of an inch closer to the log. “You swear you won’t look away?”
“You have my complete and utter attention.” Conleth locked eyes with her, holding out a hand. “Look at me instead of the ground. I know you’re scared, but you can do this. Don’t think about the rest of the obstacle course. Just take the first step.”
Hetta wavered. Loosening her grip on the safety ropes, she cautiously poked at the beam with one toe?—
“CONLETH!”
Hetta snatched her foot back. “You looked away!”
He cursed himself. “Only for an instant.”
“You promised you wouldn’t get distracted, and you did.” Hetta retreated from the start of the obstacle course. “I’m not taking any chances.”
“Hetta, I will pay you to walk across this log,” Conleth said recklessly. “I will literally buy you a pony. Two ponies. Any color you want.”
“Nuh-uh.” Hetta turned her back on him, marching away. “I don’t want to go on the obstacle course, and you can’t make me. I’m not doing it.”
This was possibly just as well, as there was a horse ranch just down the road from the camp, and Conleth had not been joking. It had taken him a solid twenty minutes to convince Hetta to even approach the obstacle course. The prospect of having to start all over made him want to crawl under the log and stay there.
“CONLEEEEEEEEEETHHHHHH!”
He counted to five. Then he turned.
“Yes, Archie?” he said, as patiently as he could manage.
From on top of the monkey bars, Archie waved a socked foot at him. “I lost my shoe again.”
“Archie, stop bothering Conleth,” Paige called from the other end of the course, where she was supervising the rest of the kids. “You can climb down and get your own shoe.”
“I didn’t drop it here.” With a triumphant smirk, Archie pointed at the previous obstacle—a knotted rope swing over a wide, muddy trench. “I dropped it there. ”
Conleth contemplated the solitary sneaker, half sunk in the center of the mud. It was, he noted, just slightly out of reach from any edge. “Of course you did.”
“I’ll get it, Uncle Conleth,” Beth volunteered. She started to make her way back down the climbing wall. “I don’t mind.”
“That’s all right, Beth.” Conleth went over to the swing obstacle. “I’ll do it.”
“But…” Beth threw a worried glance at Paige. “You’ll get all dirty.”
Conleth boosted himself up onto one of the platforms. “No, I won’t.”
He took up the rope, wrapping the end around his calf. It wasn’t quite the right equipment, and it had been a while since he’d done this, but he should still have the knack…
Gripping the rope with one hand, he kicked off from the platform. Everything slowed to a crawl as he drew on his power. He had all the time in the world to judge his approach, flip upside down, and snag the lost shoe.
Pulling himself back upright, he reined in his pegasus. Time sped back up. He landed neatly on the far platform, let go of the rope, and turned to find everyone goggling at him.
…Perhaps I should have done that more slowly.
Conleth mentally kicked himself. He could have made that look much more impressive.
Well, no doubt he would have another opportunity before too long. He tossed the sneaker over to Archie. “Your shoe. Again. Perhaps you should try double-knotting the laces this time.”
Estelle was still staring at him as though he’d started levitating and speaking in tongues. “I thought you only did paperwork.”
“One of my brothers has a boundless passion for exotic new hobbies, which he always starts with enormous enthusiasm and inevitably abandons after two sessions.” He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it back down. “I’ve thus been dragged along to a lot of different activity courses over the years. Including, in this case, aerial silks.”
Nancy also looked deeply impressed. “Can you teach us how to do that?”
If she was dangling from the ceiling, at least she wouldn’t be able to leap anywhere. “If you like. We already have crash mats, and I can order proper equipment to set up in the sports hall. I’ll warn you that you’ll have to put in some work, though. It takes practice to be able to do that sort of advanced trick.”
Finley frowned. “I thought you said you only did a couple of lessons.”
“I said my brother got bored and gave up.” Conleth tugged his shirt straight. “I believe that if you’re going to do something, there’s no point doing so half-heartedly. Which is why I can also ride a unicycle, make a variety of French pastries from scratch, chisel a perfect dovetail joint, and wield nunchucks. And in anticipation of your next question, no, I’m not teaching you that last one.”
“All right, everyone, time to get going again.” Paige clapped her hands, putting an end to the discussion. “We haven’t got that much longer on the obstacle course. Like Conleth said, let’s do our best.”
The kids went back to scrambling, climbing, and covering themselves in filth. Or at least, most of them did. Hetta had parked herself on a bench at the side of the course, with the air of a girl who did not intend to move for any reason short of an incoming meteor strike.
Conleth let out a sigh. Hetta was hardly going to be willing to confess her secret if she didn’t even trust him to hold her hand across a log. There had to be some way to persuade her to take part in camp activities.
Paige came over while he was still trying to come up with an angle he hadn’t already tried. “No luck with Hetta?”
“I offered to buy her a pony. She didn’t take me up on it.” He massaged his forehead. “Do you think she’d like a pet squirrel?”
“I’m certain her dad would be less enthusiastic.” Paige gave him a curious look. “Can you really ride a unicycle?”
“Yes, though I can’t say it’s a skill that’s ever come in handy.” He kept an eye on the kids, just in case anyone started to get too ambitious on the obstacles. “I’m beginning to wish I’d let my brother talk me into that hypnotism course instead. Or possibly cattle-roping.”
Paige made an amused sound. “I’m pretty sure we’re not allowed to lasso the children.”
“I can get Zephyr to change the rules. He always says he owes me for helping him to get this business off the ground.”
Paige shook her head, but a smile tugged at a corner of her mouth. Conleth’s day improved immeasurably.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Archie, staring hard in their direction. Paige must have noticed too, because her smile vanished. She edged a little further away.
“It’s nearly the end of the session,” she said, rather more stiffly. “I’ll get Archie and Hetta. You’d better stay close to Nancy.”
Sure enough, the camp bell rang a few minutes later. Conleth, ready for this, lunged for Nancy. This meant that instead of launching herself into the air, she merely cracked him under the chin with the top of her head.
“Thanks, Conleth!” Nancy took off her crash helmet. “Good thing you made me wear all this safety gear.”
“Yes,” Conleth said indistinctly, hands clamped to his throbbing jaw. “That was definitely one of my better ideas.”
By the time Nancy had wriggled out of her layers of protective padding and he’d satisfied himself that he still had all his teeth, Paige had rounded up the rest of their pack. Hetta trailed behind the others.
“That was fun!” Beth announced, too loudly. “Wasn’t that fun, everyone?”
“Yes, there’s nothing I enjoy more than pointlessly scrambling over random piles of wood that I could easily walk around,” Ignatius said, with almost as much withering sarcasm as Conleth could have managed himself. “I do hope our next activity will be equally thrilling.”
“What are we doing next, Conleth?” Finley asked.
Conleth consulted the itinerary Leonie had given him that morning. His heart sank further.
He folded the paper, tucking it back into his pocket. “A nature hike.”
Hetta’s eyes widened. So did Archie’s—though, Conleth suspected, for very different reasons.
“Oh, that does sound fun!” For once, there wasn’t anything forced about Beth’s enthusiasm. She’d always loved animals. “Can we go deep into the woods, away from the main trails? If we’re careful and quiet, we might be able to see mule deer, or cottontails, or?—”
“Worms,” Archie breathed. “Spiders.”
“Spiders?” Hetta squeaked.
“Slugs.” Archie sounded lost in some private, wondrous vision. “Big, fat, slimy slugs. And centipedes. Giant centipedes with a billion legs and poison pinchers.”
Hetta shrank back against Paige. “I’m not going anywhere with giant poisonous centipedes!”
“Don’t mind Archie, Hetta.” Paige put an arm around her, shooting her brother a warning look. “There aren’t any giant centipedes in the woods.”
“Oh yes, there are,” Archie assured her. “I’ll show you. I know exactly where to find them.”
Conleth was starting to suspect that this hike was going to involve rather too much nature. For him personally, at least.
“Don’t worry, Hetta,” Beth said. She glared at Archie. “We won’t go near any bugs. And anyway, Conleth would protect us from anything dangerous.”
Hetta paled. “There are things more dangerous than giant centipedes with poisonous pinchers in the woods?”
“Maybe we should go some other place,” Finley suggested. “Where the wildlife is less, uh, leggy.”
Nancy perked up. “You know where you definitely don’t find centipedes?”
“While I am sure there are many fascinating creatures to observe at high elevation, we’ll restrict ourselves to lowland habitats for now.” Conleth had a fleeting regret that there was no nearby tundra. “I know some pretty woodland glades away from the main hiking trails. We should have a decent shot at finding some interesting wildlife. Ideally, not species which will fit down the back of my t-shirt.”
“Doesn’t that sound nice, Hetta?” Paige said hopefully. “It’s so beautiful around here. Don’t you want to explore?”
“Buck showed us how to identify moose poop last year,” Archie mused. Conleth was fairly certain he wasn’t even listening to the conversation. “Moose poop a lot. Big piles of it.”
“I’m not exploring anywhere that’s full of bugs and poop!” Hetta folded her arms. “I don’t want to go on a nature hike.”
“Well, some of us do,” Estelle said in exasperation. “And you can’t stay at camp all by yourself.”
“Then Paige will just have to stay here with me.” Hetta attached herself to Paige’s arm like a barnacle on a rock. “The rest of you can go out with Conleth.”
Archie was suddenly all beaming enthusiasm. “Yeah, that’s a great plan! Let’s do that!”
“Don’t be silly, Archie,” Beth snapped. “Conleth can’t supervise us all on his own.”
The glimmers of an idea flickered into life in his mind.
“Actually, it is a feasible suggestion,” he said. “According to camp regulations, there’s no reason why the group has to stay together. And we did all sign the pack contract, Paige. If Hetta doesn’t want to go hiking, we can’t force her.”
Paige gave Conleth a look that eloquently stated, What on earth are you plotting now? He held her gaze, willing her to play along.
To his relief—and somewhat to his surprise—she did. Paige shook her head in a show of resignation. “That’s true. I suppose if you really don’t want to go on the hike, Hetta, then Conleth can take everyone else out while I stay with you.”
Hetta’s face lit up. “Really?”
“If that’s your final decision.” Conleth drew Hetta to one side, ducking down so that their heads were on the same level. Casting an exaggerated glance at Paige over his shoulder, he lowered his voice. “Though I wish you’d change your mind. Paige won’t say anything, but she was really looking forward to going on that nature hike.”
As he’d hoped, Hetta hesitated. “She was?”
“Yes,” he confirmed, making sure his mock-whisper would carry to Paige’s ears. “I know Archie’s told her a lot about how much fun he had at camp last year. I’m sure she’d secretly love to experience some of the same things herself. Have you seen how she looks at the forest?”
Paige caught on fast. Heaving a deep, longing sigh, she stared wistfully into the trees.
It wasn’t, Conleth suspected, entirely feigned. It hadn’t escaped his notice that her gaze always lingered on the forest when they were chivvying the kids from place to place. He’d seen the way she took a deep breath when she first stepped outside the cabin each morning, turning to gaze at the mountain. Even though she wasn’t a shifter, some part of her still felt a connection to the wilderness.
Hetta could clearly see that too. And though she was as timid as a mouse and as stubborn as a mule with a hangover, she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She shuffled her feet, looking torn.
“Do you really, really want to go on this nature hike, Paige?” Hetta asked, clearly hoping that the answer would be ‘no.’
“Yes, actually,” Paige said, with such sincerity that none of the kids could doubt she meant it. “I do.”
“Come on, Hetta,” Finley coaxed. “We all want you to come. Please say you will.”
Hetta hesitated, but Rufus took her hand. He gave it an encouraging tug.
“Well…all right,” Hetta said reluctantly. She looked up at Conleth. “You promise there won’t be any dangerous animals?”
“None whatsoever, unless you include ourselves,” he assured her. “Beth can sense any creature bigger than a mouse within two hundred feet, so there’s no chance we’ll run into anything unexpected. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Everyone go use the bathroom before we set off,” Paige told the kids. “We’ll meet up at the flagpole in five minutes.”
The kids trailed away with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Paige lingered behind, mouth tight with anxiety.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she muttered. “If anything goes wrong on this hike, Hetta won’t set foot outside the cabin for the rest of the summer.”
“Trust me.” He smiled, pieces falling into place. “I have a plan.”