Chapter 6
A s Ragvald descended on her like a landslide, Honey had just enough time to think, quite clearly: I am going to die.
And then someone barreled into her, sweeping her out of the way. Ragvald hit the floor with a window-rattling thump .
Honey stared up into Buck’s face, only inches from her own. He had her practically horizontal, dipped low in his arms as though they were halfway through a passionate tango.
Ragvald was saying something, but it seemed very far away. Honey could only hear the thunder of her heartbeat, pounding with more than just the shock of the near miss.
Buck seemed frozen too. He stared right back at her, eyes gone dark, chest heaving for breath. His gaze flicked down to her mouth, so close to his. His arms tightened, and for one insane, heart-stopping moment, she thought he was about to kiss her.
“Ragvald! Are you hurt?”
Moira’s anxious voice broke the spell. Honey felt Buck stiffen. He pulled away a little, though he didn’t set her back on her feet.
“You okay?” he said gruffly.
“I’m not the one you should be worried about.” Face hot, she pushed at his chest. She might as well have shoved at a cliff. “Put me down, you idiot! What were you thinking?”
Rather than releasing her, his hands tightened. He jerked his head, an odd spasm crossing his face.
“Buck?” Concerned, Honey stopped shoving at him. She could feel his heart pounding through her palms. “Are you okay?”
“I…” His lips drew back, baring his teeth in a snarl. He twitched again, harder, the spasm going all through his body. “I… can’t… no!”
Abruptly he dropped her. Unprepared, Honey sat down hard, the unexpected impact stealing away her breath.
Without another word, Buck turned his back on her. He lurched away as though drunk, shouldering through the crowd of gawping counselors. Whispers rose in his wake. From what Honey could make out, everyone shared the question that was on her own lips: What was that all about?
“What’s going on over here?” Leonie demanded, striding over. Her golden eyes widened in alarm as she saw Ragvald, still prone with Moira kneeling at his side. “Ragvald! What happened?”
“A minor mishap,” the big man wheezed. He feebly waved one hand, brushing aside the lead counselor’s concern. “It seems our warrior bonds require a little more strengthening. Nothing a friendly wrestling match will not fix.”
“Under no circumstances are you to wrestle Buck,” Moira told him. “That’s a direct order.”
Leonie looked around. “Where is Buck?”
“I don’t know,” Honey said, getting her breath back. She scrambled to her feet. “He just took off for no reason whatsoever.”
“I wouldn’t say no reason,” Moira murmured as she helped Ragvald sit up. “I warned you about Buck’s problem, Ragvald. You’re lucky he went for Honey rather than you.”
“Outlanders,” Ragvald grumbled. He smoothed a hand down his beard. “For people who barely touch each other, your men are all so touchy . ”
“All right, everyone, that’s enough.” Leonie said to the crowd of onlookers. “Let’s treat this as an opportunity to practice staying calm and unflustered in the face of drama, okay? As counselors, you’ll have to get used to handling situations like this.”
“Though it’s usually a kid losing control,” Moira said under her breath as the crowd reluctantly dispersed. “Come on, Ragvald. Let’s get you to the infirmary. We need to get you checked out for concussion.”
“Honey, could you go after Buck?” Leonie asked as Moira led the big man away. “I don’t think he should be alone. See if you can calm him down.”
Honey grimaced. “I’m not sure I’m the right person for that job.”
“I think you may be the only person,” Leonie said, giving her a look Honey couldn’t quite interpret.
“I don’t know where he’ll have gone, but it can’t be that far.
Try the cabins first, and if he’s not up there, head into the woods and sniff around.
Start at one of the trailheads—there are places there to leave your clothes, you can’t miss them—and don’t go beyond the camp boundaries.
If you don’t find him, come back here and we’ll figure out what to do next, okay? ”
“Okay,” Honey said automatically, and then, “Wait, what was that about my clothes?”
Too late. Leonie was already bustling away, clapping her hands to attract the attention of the other counselors. Honey was left blinking at her retreating back, wondering if she’d somehow misheard.
Shaking her head, she went out. There was no sign of Buck in the big central square. She did, however, spot Rufus, Finley, and two girls sitting on the front steps of the storeroom in a tight, whispering huddle. As she headed over, all four looked up, with varying degrees of relief.
“Hi kids,” she greeted them. “Listen, have you seen Buck?”
One of the girls—a tall red-head with a worried, serious expression—nodded. “Yes ma’am. He went by a few minutes ago.”
Honey pressed her lips together, holding back a smile at the girl’s careful manners. She could remember being that age, so desperate to impress adults with her own maturity.
“You don’t have to call me ma’am,” she said. “My name’s Honey. I’m—”
“Buck’s co-counselor, yeah, we know,” interrupted the other girl.
She was a tiny thing, so pale that if not for her startling mismatched eyes—one bright blue, the other an equally vivid green—Honey would have wondered if she was an albino.
“Which means you’re our counselor. I’m Estelle, and that’s Beth. Finley and Rufus told us about you.”
“Good things,” Finley clarified hastily. Rufus confirmed this with a slight nod, looking up at her sidelong through his thick hair.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Honey said. “It’s nice to meet you, girls. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all, but right now, I really need to find Buck. Did you see which way he went?”
“Yeah, that way,” Estelle said, pointing away from the camp, where the flat green fields gave way to the rising, forested slopes of Thunder Mountain. “He was really sprinting, too. What did you do?”
“Estelle!” Beth hissed.
“What?” the other girl replied. “She must have done something . Buck looked ready to rip a tree in half. Even more than normal, I mean.”
Finley interposed himself between Estelle and Beth with the ease of someone used to being a human peace-keeping buffer. “We were just debating whether we should go tell someone, since it looked like he was heading straight out of camp. Did something happen?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Honey said, hoping that was true. “He just needed some space to clear his head. I’ll go find him.”
Beth perked up, like a dog that had just heard the word walkies. “Do you want me to come too? I’m good at finding people.”
“No, that’s all right.” The last thing any of the kids needed was to see one of their counselors having a sudden, inexplicable breakdown. “The first counselor training session is nearly done, so I expect Leonie will call you in for lunch soon. You kids get back to what you were doing, okay?”
Finley, Beth, and Estelle all nodded, though Beth looked distinctly disappointed. Rufus, however, didn’t. His gaze slid past Honey, fixing on the woods beyond. He swallowed, mouth working soundlessly, then—
“Hurry.”
Honey jumped at the unexpected whisper. All three other kids whipped round to stare at Rufus as though he’d burst into song. He flinched but held his ground.
“Hurry,” he said again, in that dry, barely audible whisper. She could see his throat working, struggling to shape his thoughts into words. “He needs… you need… need to see…”
He fell silent, mouth contorting in frustration. Finley touched Rufus’s arm, like a question. Rufus pulled away, shaking his head. He looked at Honey, not quite meeting her gaze. She was struck once again by the strange bright gold of his eyes; like a lion, or a hawk.
“I’ll find him,” Honey said to him, and saw his tense shoulders drop a little in relief. “I promise.”
* * *
This did not turn out to be easy.
“Buck?” Honey called again, cupping her hands in front of her mouth. “Oh, for crying out loud, you aggravating man. Buck! ”
Her call bounced off tree trunks, falling flat into the undergrowth. She couldn’t have been that far past the camp boundaries, yet it felt like she was the only human being for miles.
“This is ridiculous,” Honey muttered to herself, dropping her hands to her hips. “What does Leonie expect me to do, track the man through the wilderness?”
Maybe the head counselor would indeed have been able to follow a trail of bent leaves and scuffed dirt straight to Buck, but Honey’s ability to find people began and ended with typing their names into Google.
For all she knew, Buck could be clear on the other side of the mountain by now.
Or hiding behind the nearest rock, refusing to answer her increasingly hoarse calls out of sheer cussedness.
If it hadn’t been for her promise to Rufus, she would have l given up and turned around half an hour ago. Only the memory of those intense, pleading eyes kept her struggling onward, wading through the tangled undergrowth.
“Buck!” she shouted. “If you can hear me, come here right now! We need to get back to camp!”
Not even a blue jay called in response. Apart from the occasional leaf fluttering to the ground, nothing moved.
Closer to the camp, the woods had been alive with chirping birds and buzzing insects, but now she couldn’t spot so much as a squirrel.
A dense, oppressive silence had settled over the forest, as though every living thing had simultaneously decided it would be a good idea to stay very, very still.
Honey was trying hard not to feel unnerved by this.
She moistened her dry lips, wishing she’d thought to bring a bottle of water.
Some camp counselor she was turning out to be, charging into strange woods without an ounce of preparation.
She didn’t even have her phone. Not that she would have been able to get any signal out here, but she could at least have used the inbuilt compass.