"You know, you spend an awful lot of time out here for a volunteer, Bobby. Why haven't you hooked up with the Forest Service yet?"
"We looked into it last year. Roger is so short-handed, he thought they might authorize another position up here, but they said there wasn't enough money. Not if Roger wanted to get SAR up here, too. And, of course, they had just brought in Hatcher the year before." Bobby shrugged and looked off into the forest. "I mean, I could have gotten hired. When someone who's been in as long as Roger puts in a word for you, it's a lock, but I didn't want to relocate. Could've gone south to Sequoia or someplace up in Oregon, but this has become home. And I really wasn't interested in hiring on as maintenance."
Chris nodded. "So, college educated and working in a lodge. Ain't that the life?"
Bobby grinned. "I make enough to pay my student loans and I've got free rent. And it beats the hell out of working in a high-rise, that's for sure."
"Can you imagine fighting traffic every damn day to get to your job, only to be locked inside some depressing building for eight hours?"
"Yeah. Then traffic all the way home again, too." Bobby playfully tossed a pinecone at her. "We've got it made up here, McKenna. You know it?"
Chris agreed. "Pay's not so great but look at this view."
She turned a complete circle, eyes following the jagged face of Sierra Buttes to the west, outlined perfectly against the blue, blue sky, then back down the trail which they had just hiked. Beautiful.
The radio broke static just seconds before Roger's voice disturbed the silence.
"McKenna?"
"Yeah," she said, taking the radio from its holster at her hip.
"What's your ten-twenty?"
"Fire Lookout Trail."
"How far? Have you passed the lake cutoff?"
"Yes. We're just past the steep part where it levels off," she said. "You need us to go back down?"
"No. Up. I've got a frantic mom here. Her two boys were going to hike to the tower. Were supposed to be back down by now."
Chris and Bobby exchanged glances.
"No one signed in at the trailhead," she told Roger.
"No. They would have started on the Lake Trail and cut across. I've got Matt covering that one." He paused only long enough for Chris to notice his frustration. "Besides, they probably wouldn't know to sign in."
"Meaning?"
"They're young, McKenna."
"How young?"
"Grade school."
"Grade school? Jesus Christ! Who lets children hike up..."
Roger cleared his throat. "McKenna, she's already heard it from me."
"Ten-four. I'll radio from the top." She was already striding off while putting the radio back in its holster. "Come on, Bobby," she called over her shoulder.
Fifteen minutes later, they topped the ridge, the old fire tower in sight. They paused to catch their breath while Chris searched with her binoculars.
"They're under the tower," she said. "Shit. One is prone. Goddamned stupid mother letting them go off by themselves," she murmured as she ran towards them.
"They probably convinced her they were old enough," Bobby panted behind her. "You know how kids are nowadays."
"Actually, I think it's how parents are nowadays. They look all of eight years old."
She had her backpack off by the time she reached them, relieved to see both boys conscious.
"Hey guys," she said. The boy lying down had blood on his forehead and the other one had obviously been crying. She touched his arm gently. "What happened to him?"
"He fell," he said, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his T-shirt.
"From the tower?"
"Yes," he whispered, his voice trembling.
She shook her head, but held her tongue. They were eight and ten, she guessed. Jesus Christ! Up here alone. The mother is the one who needed a good ass whipping. She bent to the boy on the ground.
"Can you move your arms? Your legs?"
He could. She took the first aid kit from her backpack and cleaned the small gash on his head. He apparently hit a rock when he fell. Chris guessed he had been knocked out or else they would have attempted to hike back down. She turned back to the older one.
"How long was he out?" she asked quietly.
"A long time," he said before he started crying again. "I thought he was dead."
"And he could be. That was a damn stupid thing to do." She handed the radio to Bobby. "Let Roger know we found them."
She put antiseptic on the boy's gash and nodded when he jumped. At least his reflexes seemed to be normal. She put two butterfly bandages on before speaking.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Kyle. He's Kurt," the older one said, pointing to his brother who was now sitting up.
"Does he talk?"
"Yes."
"Kurt, how high up were you?"
"We crawled over the wire," he whispered
"Jesus Christ! You could have broken your neck. Do you know that? There's a reason for that sign, a reason those steps are closed off." She stared at them, trying to make them understand how lucky they were to be unhurt. "Hike up Ridge Trail. You can stand on a rock and see forever. Just like up there," she said, pointing to the tower. "But don't ever come up here again. You hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am," they said, lips trembling, eyes tearing again.
"McKenna, Matt's here," Bobby said, pointing to the lone figure walking towards them.
If there was one person Chris had taken an instant liking to, it was Matt Henderson. No matter what the circumstance or situation, Matt had a smile on his face. He had been in the Sierra District four years and he was well respected in town and depended on by Roger to handle even the most mundane chores.
He greeted them now with a wave and a smile, his long hair tied in a ponytail and bouncing on his neck as he walked.
"Found the little monsters, huh? Hi boys. How are we feeling?"
Chris smiled and stepped out of the way, bringing Kurt around for Matt to inspect.
"Got a nice gash here," she said. "Probably a headache, too."
"Stitches?"
"Gonna need a few," she said. At Kurt's horrified look, they laughed. "Be thankful it's only stitches, Kurt. We could be hauling you out of here by helicopter."
"Let's take them back down the way you came up," Matt suggested. "It'll be quickest and all downhill."
"You go ahead. Bobby's going to show me the shortcut to Ridge Trail."
She headed down the trail Matt had just come up and left Bobby still talking. He chased after her, catching up just as she disappeared into the trees.
"Hey, wait up, McKenna!"
"Well, come on, it's getting late."
"They're about the fourth ones this summer," he panted beside her.
"Then why in the hell is the thing still standing?"
"It's old, I guess. Built in 1906, Roger says. Some think we should just open it up, so people could just walk up the steps instead of climbing over the wire."
"That's great," she said dryly. "The tower is a hundred feet high. That'll be pretty."
"It was just a thought, McKenna. It's not like we've got the personnel to keep watch, anyway."
"No. And it's not like the wire is doing any damn good."
Bobby stopped her with a tug on her sleeve and pointed into the woods.
"There."
"Where?"
"What did I say to look for?"
"The rock with the face in it," she said, her eyes glancing over the rocks lining the trail. Then she laughed. "A face, my ass."