“Are you sure there are only two tents?” Riley asked. “There are four people.”
Emerson looked up from his reading. “Four tents would have made the packs too heavy. I decided it was more efficient for two people to share a tent.”
“I volunteer to bunk with you,” Vernon said to Riley. “You won’t have no trouble keeping warm neither. I’m a hot sleeper. And I sleep in the nude, but I promise not to entice you with my nakedness.”
“I appreciate the offer, but no.”
“I suppose you think you would be too tempted to…you know,” Vernon said.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Riley said. “Best not to put it to a test.”
Wayan Bagus gave a small apologetic head bow. “It would not be appropriate for us to share a tent,” he said to Riley.
“I understand,” Riley said. She turned her attention to Emerson. “It seems my choice of a tent mate is limited. Do you sleep in the nude?”
Emerson hesitated. “Would you like me to?” he finally asked.
“No!”
“Anything else?”
“I don’t want to wake up and find Post-it notes stuck to me.”
“He does that to me too,” Vernon said. “He leaves me notes that say there’s a zebra in the house or we’re all out of orange marmalade. When I wake up, first thing I do is check my forehead for a sticky note.”
—
By the time Riley and Vernon had the tents set up, Emerson had a decent-sized fire started and enough dry wood gathered to keep it going until morning.
Riley sat down next to Emerson. “What are you reading about now?”
“Bear safety. We need to be especially careful through the night.”
“Do you think we’re in danger?” Riley asked.
“Not just from bears. There are other predators out here too. The fire should keep them away. It’s important we take shifts to keep it burning until dawn.”
Riley took the book from Emerson. It was open to a section on what to do in a bear encounter. “It says identify yourself by talking calmly to the bear, and stand your ground.”
“Running is one of the worst things
you can do,” Emerson said. “Grizzlies can move at thirty miles per hour, uphill or downhill.”
“And if talking calmly doesn’t work?”
“If a grizzly attacks you, play dead. Get onto your stomach with your hands around the back of your neck. Spread your legs so the bear can’t roll you over too easily.”
“Why on the stomach?” Riley asked.
“Harder for the bear to rip out your intestines.”
Vernon sat down next to them and blew out a raspberry. “I reckon it’s not the bears we need to worry about. These here woods are well-known to be infested with Bigfoots. And let me tell you something. Getting on your stomach and spreading your legs is the last thing you want to do around a Bigfoot.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Riley said.
Vernon nodded his head solemnly and looked a little choked up. “Yep. I was nearly raped by a Bigfoot.”
“You should tell Riley the story,” Emerson said. “After all, it just might save her life.”