Chapter Twelve #2
I smile, knowing that Lily earned the Best Aunt of the Year award from my kids.
It’s an honor that my sister considers the consolation prize.
“Want to trade lives?” she’d ask me when the months of trying turned to years, when it became clear that IVF wasn’t an option, when she’d have a hot flash or a sleepless night and she was sure she was running out of time.
She had little patience for my occasional bitching; about being tired or overwhelmed, adolescent angst, school stress, and the noise—no matter how old they got, there was always a new noise.
Lily would have taken it all in a heartbeat.
“If you want to know the truth, I think he’s got a crush on her,” says Ian.
“Who doesn’t,” says Dane, which gets a chuckle out of everyone in the group—except me. I’m starting to not like this guy.
Every fiber of my being wants to stand up and shout, “She’s married, asshole,” but I promised my sister I’d let her play her
little game. I’m not sure how much longer my loyalty is going to last. This guy, the police-show character actor who recently
went through thirty days of something ominous that easily could have included an orange jumpsuit—I need to find a way to tell
him to back off. Perhaps there is a cliff with his name on it. Okay, dramatic. But Lily is playing a dangerous game, and someone
besides Just Normal Dane might have to take the role of bad cop here.
“Folks, we should make our move,” announces Brick. “You rested up, Bridget?”
I glance over at Mimi, and she gives a small nod telling me she’s feeling better. “Yup, all set.”
“We can cross here, since Xavier and Lily have already scoped half the route.” He laughs and hoists his backpack onto his
shoulders. “Remember LNT, folks.”
I give my interpreter Luna a confused glance. “Leave No Trace,” she explains.
Standing up is harder than I expected. My legs are wobbly, my lower back is complaining, and I’m feeling a hot pain at my heels and pinky toes. Could I actually be longing for my little twin bed back in the cabin with no plumbing and frying pans at the front door?
Walking up to the creek, I see the distance between the large, not-so-flat, wet rocks we are expected to hop from and to.
“How much farther to the top?” I ask again. I’m not complaining, mind you. I’m information gathering.
“You’re doing great, Bridget,” says Brick, coming behind me and placing a gentle hand on my back. “We cross the creek two
more times. Then we’ve got about a mile to go to the lookout. It will be worth it, I promise. Now, use your poles. Follow
the person in front of you. Step where they step. And don’t stare down into the water, that fast current can make you lose
your balance. Easy-peasy, I promise.”
“You sure there’s no bridge up the way?” Still, not complaining.
I can see my sister, safely on the other side, with her hands on her hips. “Need a piggyback ride?” she shouts.
That pisses me off. Jaw clenched, lips pressed together, I step on the first rock. Before I can steady myself, I hop to the
second. On rock three, I’m picking up momentum, and suddenly I feel a prick of excitement. I’m doing it! Look at me! Then
the troll comes out from under the bridge. Lily, full of confidence and bluster, bounds back across the creek and meets me
at my halfway point.
“Here,” she says. “Hold my hand.”
“I got it, Lily.”
“No, you don’t.”
I don’t need her to save me. If this is a play to make me out as the pathetic one so she can be the fun, cool one, I’m not
having it.
“Stop, Lily!”
“You’re going to fall in if you don’t let me help you.”
“I don’t want any—”
Lily grabs my arm and pulls on my secondhand sweatshirt.
I try to jerk out of her grasp, twisting away from her, but her grip is tight, and my center of balance is tenuous.
I make the calculated decision that leapfrogging my sister and propelling myself forward to the next rock is the best way to right myself.
I am wrong. The next rock is wet and slanted. I circle my arms like a propeller, but it won’t save me. Before my sister can
say, “I told you so,” I’m in the water. The temperature and power of the glacier water shocks the breath out of me. My mouth
is flapping like a fish, but nothing is coming out. Or going in. What was at first an icy jolt is now a million stabbing needles.
I can see the group, to a one with their hands over their mouths. At least my sister has the sense not to laugh. One of my
walking sticks is floating downstream. A strong current is playing havoc with what’s left of my balance, and I’m sure I’ll
be following it soon. Before I can become the next member of the Polar Bear Club, Brick jumps in and grabs me around the waist.
He steadies me and then helps me back up onto the offending rock. Jace is there to grab my hand and take me step-by-step to
the other side.
“Next time you think about helping me,” I say to Lily with chattering teeth, “don’t.”
After I’ve made it clear I can stand on my own two feet, Jace jogs downstream to retrieve my pole, which got stuck in some
tangled branches. Luna gives me a hug and laughs. “We almost lost you,” she teases.
“She wouldn’t have gotten far, we’d all have dived in to save you,” Ian assures me.
“My heroes,” I say in a singsong voice like a Disney princess, holding my hands to my heart to flesh out my character. That
makes Mimi laugh. At least my embarrassing dunk was entertaining.
“Well, I guess I neglected to bring up this rule,” says Brick.
His face is stern. Uh-oh, here it goes. My admonishment.
The Ackerman sisters need to wise up. This is not a game.
Someone’s going get hurt. That’s what I’d say if it were me.
Instead, our guide breaks into a wide smile.
“It’s going to happen. Someone ends up in the water at least once on a trip.
And since you are the first in this group, Bridget, you win the prize.
It’s a Grizzly Tracks Adventures rule—first into the drink earns a round of drinks for the group at the Heidaway tonight. On me.”
The group cheers. Suddenly I am their hero. Lily throws her fists in the air and chants, “Bi-ig, Bi-ig, Bi-ig!”