Chapter 7. Haley
Haley
NINE YEARS AGO
Dad wanted Ace to have a camping experience, so he invited him to come with us on our first camping trip of the season.
Matt was thrilled to have someone to hang out with that wasn’t his irritating little sister, and I was happy to have Ace around.
He was kind and thoughtful and he also seemed to show up when I was about to get myself into trouble.
He’d been in Riverstone for less than a year and had already become a fixture in our house, and frankly it would have seemed odd if he hadn’t come with us.
Camping was Dad’s favorite recreational activity.
Every winter he spent hours poring over maps and review sites to pick the best campsites for the summer.
Big Meadows Campground near Shenandoah National Park was one of his favorites.
Located in a remote forest with three waterfalls nearby and plenty of hikes, wildlife, and mountain vistas, it was the perfect place to pitch a tent.
Ace was the first one out of the car when we reached our campsite tucked away in the middle of the forest. Usually, Matt and I would wander around checking things out while Mom and Dad unloaded the supplies, but Ace had the hatch open before my feet even hit the ground.
“Bruh, you’re making us look bad.” Matt sometimes got irritated with Ace’s enthusiasm for helping out, because it meant he couldn’t slack off like he’d started doing when he turned fourteen.
“He wants to get this party started,” I said, sticking up for Ace. Although he’d tried to hide it, Ace was more excited than I’d ever seen him, and I didn’t want Matt to ruin his experience.
Ace caught my gaze and thanked me with a smile and a nod of his head.
“Haley, you can help Ace pitch his tent,” Dad called out. “Matt and I will take care of the others so we can get this vacation party started.”
“Prepare yourself.” I looked over at Ace and grinned. “You’re about to experience ‘vacation Dad.’” I grabbed our spare tent and took it to one of the clearings. “Where did you go on vacation when you were younger?”
“My parents didn’t do vacations,” he said quietly. “They didn’t like to leave the city unless we were moving somewhere new.”
“My parents don’t like to leave Virginia.
” It was the first time I realized that we’d never vacationed anywhere else.
Paige and her mother were always going on trips to Mexico, Florida, Costa Rica, and California.
They’d even gone to Quebec City for the winter carnival, and once they’d gone to London to visit Paige’s grandmother.
“If I could camp here all the time, I wouldn’t leave either.” He helped me lay the ground sheet and I showed him how to peg it down.
“Don’t you want to travel and see the world?
” I was desperate to get on an airplane and visit other countries.
I wanted to experience new cultures, new foods, beautiful buildings, and different people.
“I saw a show about Florence and that’s the first place I’m going to visit when I grow up. It looks so pretty.”
“I want to fly.” He glanced quickly over at Matt like he was embarrassed by his admission. “I don’t care where I go.”
“Fly like a bird?” I teased, trying to lighten his mood. “Or in an airplane?”
“I want to fly airplanes and helicopters.” He looked up at the sky, barely visible under the canopy of trees. “I’m thinking of joining the air force when I graduate…”
Something told me to tread carefully, that this was a dream Ace had never shared. “I think that would be very cool. You could see the whole world from up in the sky.”
“I’d be free.”
Dad had told Matt and me that Ace’s parents had often left him alone in their apartment when he was a kid, sometimes for days at a time, and that was why he was quiet, and that we shouldn’t think he didn’t want to be involved.
I didn’t know what Dad meant because Ace always talked around us, but in that moment, I got a glimpse into the pain he’d been hiding.
“Think how fast you could go,” I said, hoping to pull him out of the memory that had made his forehead crease and his shoulders slump. “Maybe you could fly one of those planes that breaks the sound barrier.”
Ace shook off whatever had pulled him into the darkness and smiled. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, bug?”
Ace had never called me by my nickname before, but I liked it. He was like family and that was my family name.
“I love going fast. I can hardly wait to be able to drive.” Ever since I’d been little, I’d loved speed, the roar of the car engine when it accelerated, the invisible force pushing me back in my seat, the world racing by so fast it took my breath away.
My favorite part of our road trips was when Dad had to pass another vehicle on the road, and I would yell, “Hit the gas!”
“I’d be afraid to be in a car with you driving.” He helped me unfold the tent and we laid it on the ground.
“No, you wouldn’t.” I smiled at him. “You’re not afraid of anything, and you like to go fast, too.”
Early the next morning, I left the campsite to go for a walk to one of the mountain vistas where I could see the entire Shenandoah Valley.
We’d hiked the short trail many times before, and I was confident I could do it alone.
I picked a handful of wildflowers along the way for my mom and found a few smooth stones in the creek under a small bridge for Matt to skip in the lake.
By the time I reached the lookout, the sun was almost up, and the last streaks of the pink-and-orange dawn were fading away.
I drew in a few deep breaths of mountain air, fragrant with pine, and took in the valley spread out below me. I loved being up high and would happily hike to any mountain peak for the feeling of being at the top of the world.
“This is amazing.”
I startled when Ace came up behind me. I hadn’t even heard his footsteps.
“Just wait until you see the waterfalls and the view from the top of Blackrock. Dad said we’re going to do that hike today.”
“Did you tell your parents you were coming up here?” His tone was more inquisitive than admonishing, and I appreciated that he wasn’t judging me.
“I thought I’d be able to get back before they woke up.
We’ve done this walk lots of times. It’s not like I could get lost.” I looked over at him, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, T-shirt uncharacteristically untucked, hair mussed like he’d just rolled out of bed. “How did you know about the trail?”
“I followed you.” He shrugged. “I figured you’d be up early and find something interesting to do.”
“It gets crowded up here during the day,” I said. “But if you get here early enough you can have it all to yourself.”
We watched the colors change from pinks and golds until the sun was fully up. It was one of the few times I didn’t mind the silence, because Ace was talking without using any words.
“We should get back,” he said finally. “Your parents will be worried.”
“Not if you’re with me.” I knew he hadn’t followed me because he was looking for something to do.
He’d come to keep an eye on me, and it didn’t bother me the way it did with Matt.
My brother would have shouted at me and dragged me back to camp.
But Ace had stayed to enjoy the view. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for showing this to me.”
I heard a rustle in the bush, followed by the crack of sticks and a huff so loud I knew it wasn’t human. Two eyes blinked in the shadows and then a black bear walked out of the bushes and onto the path leading back to camp.
Ace’s arm slammed across my chest, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn’t feel so grown-up anymore. I wasn’t supposed to leave the campsite alone. There was no way off the lookout except through the thick forest or down the path, and if the bear charged at us, the only escape was over the cliff.
“I’ll run over there and try to get him to chase me.” Ace pointed to the side of the lookout. “You get to the path and go back to the campsite.”
“You can’t run from a bear,” I said. “We have to make noise and wave our arms to scare him away.” Mom and Dad had drilled us on how to handle a bear, although we were never supposed to go hiking without bells and bear spray.
“Go away,” Ace shouted at the bear.
“No. Like this.” I dropped the flowers I’d picked for Mom, jumped up and down, and waved my arms. “HEY BEAR!! GO AWAY BEAR!! GET OUT OF HERE!! BEAR!!”
Unimpressed by my efforts, the bear just stared.
“You try,” I said to Ace. “You’re bigger and louder than me.”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BEAR!!!!!!” Ace yelled, waving his arms. I clapped my hands and joined in. Still the bear didn’t move.
“Do you have anything to throw?” Ace asked.
“I have some stones in my pocket. I picked them from the creek for Matt.” I handed him a few stones. “Don’t hurt him. We’re just trying to scare him.”
We shouted some more and threw our stones until Ace hit the bear’s nose. The bear growled and shook his head. For a moment I thought he was going to charge us, but he turned and lumbered away into the forest.
“Let’s go.” Ace grabbed my hand and half ran, half dragged me down the path until we reached the meadow, and I realized I’d left my flowers behind.
“Wait.” I pulled to a stop. “I need flowers.”
“We need to get back to the campsite.” Ace put his hand in his pocket. “I only have one stone left.”
“He didn’t follow us. We’re safe now.”
Ace offered me the stone. “At least you’ve got one left to give to Matt.”
“I think you should keep it.” I folded his hand around it. “That’s a lucky stone. You never know when you might need it.”