No one answered. The footsteps stopped at the perimeter of the camp behind a thicket of trees.
A voice called back from behind the trees. “Yo, Nancy Drew, how’s things in River Heights?”
Nadia couldn’t believe her ears. Was that her brother? Marko was the last person she expected and the one she most wanted to see. The sound of his voice made her want to jump up and down. “Marko?” she said.
Marko stepped out from behind the trees, shined a flashlight at his own head, and made a goofy face. “The one and only.”
Nadia was so happy she wanted to run up to him and jump into his arms, but she didn’t. Their family didn’t do silly things like that. No hugs and kisses and other stupid things that weak people did.
Marko drew closer. “I said, how’s things, Nancy Drew?”
“Rough,” she said. “How’s things with you?”
“’Bout even.”
“Where’s Father?”
“Having a reunion with his old friend, Johnny Walker Red. What happened to your fire?”
Nadia explained that she’d used all her matches the first night, and that the fire had died after she’d left camp to help an injured hiker.
“You lost your poncho, too?” Marko said, setting the large, square flashlight on its end so that it shone upward.
“No poncho, no matches, no water, no food.”
Marko handed her his canteen. She took a long swig while he pulled a box of strike-anywhere matches out of his knapsack.
“Wait,” Nadia said, placing her left hand on her hip. What the heck was he thinking? “You can’t do that.”
Marko gave her the flashlight while he added kindling to the ashes. “Do what?”
“Any of this. You can’t give me any more matches. You can’t help me at all.”
“Why not?”
“It would be cheating.” Nadia stomped her right foot. “I’m not a cheater.”
“It would be cheating if you went outside of camp and got some matches. Got some water. Stole some food. This, this is not cheating.”
What a load of crap. “It feels like I’m cheating.”
“Nancy Drew, I’m tired and it’s dark. So I’m going to light myself a fire here right now and make it a little more comfortable for myself. Is that okay with you? Are you going to deny a brother a fire?”
Nadia imagined a crackling fire: its warmth, comfort, and security. Marko had a point. She hadn’t asked for help. If he was cold and he needed to warm up, who was she to say no?
“I guess not,” she said.
“Good. Then make yourself useful and bring me some firewood. We’ve got to get this thing lit fast because I brought some friends with me. And they’re a bit antsy to come out of hiding.”
Oh, great, she thought. Had some troublemakers from high school joined him to drink beer and smoke cigarettes? Or had some hippies hooked up with him and brought pot, LSD, or some other drugs? That seemed unlikely, too, except that with her brother, anything was possible.
Nadia prayed it wasn’t drugs.
When they were finished building the fire, she sat nervously on a rock. Marko stood before her near the fire with his knapsack in his hands.
“Ready to meet my friends?” he said.
Nadia wasn’t sure she was ever going to be ready. Still, she nodded. “Are they in the woods behind you?”
“Nope,” Marko said, pointing to his knapsack. “They’re in here.”
“In there? In the knapsack? Oh, no. Don’t tell me you have a dead animal in there. Don’t tell me you’re going to make me eat snake again. That was… so gross. It wasn’t like chicken the way you said it would be. It really wasn’t.”
Marko reached into his bag and pulled out a candy bar. “Say hello to my little friend, Baby Ruth,” he said.
“Baby Ruth?” The mere mention of chocolate and peanuts brought Nadia to her feet. “You brought Baby Ruth with you?”
Marko reached into his knapsack again. “And her good friends and protectors, the Three Musketeers.” He pulled two Three Musketeers bars out of his bag.
“Wow! What a stash!”
“Hey, I’m not done yet.” Marko overturned his knapsack. Ritz Crackers, Cheez Whiz, Red Devil Chicken Spread, Pop-Tarts, and a six-pack of canned juices fell out of the bag.
“Oh my God,” Nadia said, as she fell over and almost did a reverse somersault. The fat around her belly kept her from rolling over. When she straightened up, her conscience prodded her. “But it’s cheating, isn’t it?” she said.
Marko sat down on a rock beside her and opened the Ritz Crackers and the chicken spread.
“Well, let’s talk about that,” he said. “Your job is to survive in the wilderness for three nights and three days. You’re supposed to live off the land. Does the land include this knapsack and what’s inside it?”
Nadia shrugged. “I don’t know about that.”
“Of course you do. What, it doesn’t exist? It’s not right here in front of you?”
“I guess so. But I’m supposed to do this on my own.”
“You are doing this on your own. You didn’t ask for help. But when someone offers you some food, you have to take it. Because let me tell you something, little sister, and listen good.” Marko stopped spreading chicken on the cracker and looked Nadia in the eyes. “You’re a tough chick. But even a tough chick can’t make it on her own. Everyone needs a little help from somebody every once in a while. Everyone.”
“Even the Three Musketeers?” Nadia asked, reaching for a candy bar.
“You bet.”
They sat beside the fire and ate. Nadia told her brother about the hikers and that she’d used her poncho to create a stretcher for their wounded friend.
“Good job,” Marko said. “Losing your poncho is not good but you had no choice. That was the right thing to do. I’m proud of you.”
Nadia wasn’t sure what she enjoyed more. The whipped nougat in the Three Musketeers bar or her brother’s praise. One thing was certain: the combination was unbeatable. She really was going to pass this stupid test, she thought.
They ate and talked for another hour. Marko told her that he and their father had gone on personal walkabouts before joining up again at their camp, which was half a mile away. During the day, Marko had hiked nine miles to civilization and bought supplies at a 7-Eleven. He’d waited until their father had drunk his fill of scotch and fallen asleep before escaping to check up on Nadia.
“Oh, I saw Mrs. Chimchak,” Nadia said.
Marko looked at her as though she were crazy. “Up here? No way. She’s on vacation in Florida.”
“Uh-uh. She was here. Checking up on me to make sure I was okay.”
“For real, she was here?”