Wild Hike by Jake Maddox

Author:Jake Maddox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 9781434207852, 9781434208811, Fiction, Jake Maddox Sports Stories, Action & Adventure/Survival Stories, Social Issues/New Experience, Nature & the Natural World/General (see also headings under Animals), Animals/Bears
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2009-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

TIME AWAY

“What was that about?” Andy asked from behind Nick.

Nick turned. “We got fined,” he said.

“Fined? For what?” asked Andy.

“For that fire you guys had last night!” said Nick. He walked back to the bench and sat down. He picked up the cup of hot chocolate. It was getting cold, so he added some more hot water.

“Sorry, man,” said Andy. “How much?”

“Two hundred bucks,” Nick told him.

“Devin and I will pay it,” Andy said. “It was our fault.”

Nick felt annoyed. It was nice of Andy to admit that it was their fault, but Nick just wanted to pretend nothing had happened.

“There’s oatmeal if you want some,” he told Andy.

Nick and Andy sat in silence for several minutes, eating their oatmeal. They watched as the sun climbed over a distant mountain peak.

“How do you know so much about camping?” asked Andy. “I mean, you know all about animals, how to cook, and all those rules and stuff. How do you know about all that?”

Nick took a deep breath. He was still mad. He stood up. “I know you didn’t want to come on this trip,” he told Andy. “You don’t have to pretend to want to be here.”

Nick turned around so he wouldn’t have to look at Andy. He stuffed a granola bar and a bottle of water into his backpack.

“I’m going for a hike,” he told Andy. “Don’t start any more fires.”

Before Andy could reply, Nick took off.He walked and walked, trying to get as far away from the campsite as he could.

It turned out the hike was just what Nick needed. He needed to be by himself, alone with the world around him and away from his cousins for a while. As he followed the flight of a hawk in the blue sky, he thought about what his dad had said.

“Your cousins may not be exactly like you,” Dad had told him. “They may not love camping. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get along with them and have fun.”

Nick hiked for over an hour. Finally, he reached the top of a large mountain.

It seemed like he was on top of the planet. Nick looked ahead at the trail in front of him.

A family of four mountain goats stood about a hundred feet away. They were nibbling on some grass just off the trail.

Nick decided to sit down and take a break. He wanted to be completely calmed down before heading back to camp. He was determined to give Devin and Andy one more chance, but he knew he had to be calm to do that.

For a while, he watched as the mountain goats moved slowly through the patch of grass. He wished his life could be as simple as the goats’ lives were.

He waited a few more minutes. Then he let out a deep breath, stood up, and began walking back toward camp.

After another hour of walking, Nick rounded a bend in the trail and stopped. He was at the top of a hill, just a few minutes away from camp.

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