The Trail by Meika Hashimoto

Author:Meika Hashimoto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

MOOSE HAS COMPANY by the flat rock. I spot a familiar ball cap and bandanna standing a respectful distance from him.

“Sean! Denver!”

“Hey there, Tony.” Denver waves. “How long have you been here?”

“Just a couple of minutes.”

“Are you planning to stay the night?”

“Yeah. At Nauman tentsite, next door.”

Denver nods. “Us, too. Glad to see you caught up to us. Sean and I were heading to the hut to refill our water bottles when we ran into your dog.”

“It doesn’t seem as though he’s having a very good day,” says Sean.

Moose thumps his tail sadly.

The girl from heaven turns to the pile of stench curled in a miserable ball. “This guy is going to need a good scrubbing.”

“Do you need help?” Denver asks eagerly.

“The more the better,” says the girl. She smiles at Denver. “I’m Abbey.”

“Denver.”

In that moment, I wish I were five years older and handsome and rugged and not a blubbery mess whenever I talk to a pretty girl. Denver has spoken five words, and already he’s gotten the girl’s name and her smile. Jealously flickers in me.

On the other hand, Sean does not seem impressed with Abbey’s green eyes and long, dark, silky hair. “I’m refilling my water,” he says gruffly, and heads inside the hut.

“I hear tomato juice is great at getting the stench out,” Denver says to Abbey.

“No, that’s a myth,” I interrupt. Denver has been nice to me, but I’m eager to prove to Abbey that I know a thing or two about skunks. “It just covers the smell—it doesn’t get rid of it. A few years ago, me and a friend of mine were volunteering at a rescue shelter. A dog came in after being skunked, and the way we got rid of it was with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent.”

Abbey pulls out her phone and double-checks my facts. “Looks like Tony is right,” she says.

I silently cheer.

“We’ve got that stuff in the hut. We can de-skunk Moose out back. Follow me,” Abbey says.

I call to Moose, and he hops off his rock. He follows me and Denver as Abbey leads us down a rugged path that cuts through grass and rocks to a hidden corner of the hut. It’s like a little hideaway, surrounded by trees and protected from view of foot traffic.

It’s a surprise to find a secret place so close to the hut. It’s even more of a surprise to find a turquoise kiddie pool dotted with pink dolphins, full of water, with a guy in a Speedo and a forest of curly hair on his chest lounging in it, reading a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He looks up as we approach, then goes back to his book.

As we get closer, the guy’s nostrils flare. He gives two short sniffs, and then he is out of the pool and hopping about, holding his nose, as water dances off his tight swimsuit. Miraculously, Harry Potter has stayed dry.

“Pool time’s over, Dan.” Abbey gives Moose a tentative pat. “Pepper skunked this little guy.

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