“Don’t tell me this is what we’re supposed to do these next twenty-four hours.” Not even an hour into the Challenge—Ranger Amelia was already bored out of her mind. She and Ranger Kate had finished setting up their tent. They now sat around the fire pit in the heart of the campsite.
The tent could hold four people. Its fly was dark green, but the tent itself was light green.
“This is ridiculous!” Ranger Amelia lifted her hand and waved a cloud of mosquitoes away from her face. “This place should not be called Red Squirrel Lake but Bug Paradise!”
“If you’re so bored, why don’t you get up off your butt and find us some firewood?” asked Ranger Kate. “Ghosts don’t come out until nighttime, Amelia. We need to wait until the sun goes down.”
“But this is Canada! It doesn’t get dark until 10:00 pm!”
“Strange, I thought you would like that since you are not too peachy-keen about being here.”
Ranger Amelia blushed. “Well, I—I’ll go get some firewood.” She got no more than halfway to her feet when a loud crack came from the woods. Yelping, she dove behind Ranger Kate and grabbed her shoulders. “What was that? The Ghost of Ontario? Is he going to drown us?”
Ranger Kate pulled her off like duct tape and set her down beside her. “Amelia, please. You’re acting like a child. Let’s go investigate.”
“Why don’t you go? I’ll stick here and make sure the tent is all decorated. It’s never too early for Christmas in the wilderness, eh?”
Kate rolled her eyes. She reached out her hand, grabbed Amelia by the back of her uniform, and pulled her toward where the crack came from. For being a ranger, Amelia was quite cowardly. She reminded Kate of the Cowardly Lion.
On their way to the campsite’s path, Ranger Kate called into the woods, “If you’re in there, show yourself! We mean you no harm. We’re just curious about the Afterlife.”
The Afterlife? How did she know about the Afterlife? Who was this woman Ihaan found on Red Squirrel Lake? He and Ro got there only a short time ago. They hid the canoe in a small pond at the other end of the island and immediately took shelter in the trees.
Ihaan couldn’t help but stare at Ranger Kate. Why did he find her so intriguing? Was it her neatly brushed hair or that she looked annoyed by the young, curly-haired, blonde woman beside her? He wanted to play, for they were the first people he’d seen in his entire life. At least, that’s what it felt like.
Ranger Kate and Amelia stepped onto the path cautiously. Well, Amelia’s footsteps were more cowardly-like than Kate’s.
“Please, Amelia. There’s nothing to be scared of,” she told her.
“Scared? I’m not scared. I’m just nervous.”
“It means the same thing.” Ranger Kate sighed. “Why don’t we do this? I’ll go deeper into the forest and look for the source of the crack. You stand guard duty here.”
“Perfect! That’s a wonderful idea!” Right at her partner’s words, Ranger Amelia calmed down. “Unlike you, ma’am, I’m scared of ghosts.”
“Ya don’t say?”
Ranger Kate waited until Ranger Amelia was in position before she trekked further into the forest. Her eyes wandered in the morning sunshine that wafted through the treetops. She reached into a fanny pack she wore on her back and pulled out a picture frame. Within it was a photograph of a five-year-old boy who looked just like her.
He wore a Native American costume and stood beside a canoe with a husky pup in his arms. Behind him were the trees of the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park.
“Where are you? I know you’re here somewhere,” said Ranger Kate.
Ihaan’s curiosity went up an entirely new level at the sight of the picture frame. He was very curious to see what exactly was in it. He moved toward the edge of the branch he and Ro rested on to get a better look. Right when he did, it broke under his hand. Ihaan hugged it with both arms to prevent himself from falling but now hung upside-down before Ranger Kate’s face.
He and she met eyes, and there was an awkward silence until…
“Ahh!”
“Ahh!”
“Ahh!” That scream came from Ranger Amelia. She took off at a full sprint and dove into hers and Kate’s tent.
The rest of Ihaan’s branch broke, causing him to land in a heap at Ranger Kate’s feet.
She, too, ran but remained in the forest and hid behind a large tree trunk. Who was that boy who just dropped out of the treetops? She was so surprised that she dropped her picture.
A sudden chill blew through the area. It was so cold that Kate could see her breath. Her eyes did not leave the sudden boy.
He jumped to his feet and limped over to the picture she dropped. It landed in the middle of the path. The boy stopped over it and leaned down, picking it up.
One look at him, and Kate could tell he was very curious. She also saw innocence in his deep brown eyes.
“Um, that’s a picture of my son,” she stuttered. Slowly and carefully, Ranger Kate emerged from her hiding place but stayed away from the mysterious stranger. She wanted to pull her radio off her belt and give a report, but something stopped her. Just peering into the boy’s face, she couldn’t help but feel he looked familiar.
Ihaan felt the same. Something about Ranger Kate was familiar, too, and it made him nervous. Was she the source of his lost memories? Why did the voice send him there unless something was supposed to happen? Was that something Ihaan and Kate’s meeting?
No longer did Ihaan want to play. He hugged Ranger Kate’s picture close to his bare torso.
She started toward him, but he jumped.
The picture fell from Ihaan’s hand as he dove into the forest to escape the woman.
All Ranger Kate could do was stare. She had no idea what happened to her and wondered if she ever would.
***
“Why do you look like you just saw a horror movie?” Ranger Amelia asked when Kate returned to the campground. “And here I thought I was the only one scared of this lake.”
“Amelia, I-I met a boy.”
“Boy? What boy?”
ns 15.158.61.17da2
