When they reached her, she didn’t know whether to clasp the boy to her or scold him. She did neither. Erik seized control again.
“Hey, Kathleen, look what our little scout found!” Erik said to her cheerfully but with a warning in his eyes.
“Yeah, look, Kathy,” Jaimie chimed. He held out a piece of stone, roughly resembling an Indian arrowhead. “Erik says it could have been from the Creeks or the Cherokees or the Chickasaws. Do you think it’s real? Erik says he’s sure it is. What do you think, Kathy?”
The eager brown eyes looked up at her guilelessly, and she longed to reach for the thin, little body and hug it to her.
She spared Jaimie the embarrassment by answering in as calm a voice as she could muster, “I’m sure it’s real, though I don’t know which tribe it could have come from. Maybe you could look it up in one of B. J.’s books when we get back.”
“Okay,” he said, scampering away.
“Jaimie,” she called after him. “We’ll be leaving before long, so don’t wander off again, please.”
“Okay,” he called back, and ran toward the river to show off his prize to his comrades.
Now that the ordeal was over, she felt the weakness in her knees and would have collapsed onto the hot rocks of the shore had Erik not put out supportive arms to draw her against his hard body.
Mike and Patsy, looking somewhat embarrassed, hurried off to watch the children. Everyone had been sobered by the last hour’s worry.
Kathleen turned around to face Erik. “Where did you find him?” she asked tremulously.
“Come here,” he said and, taking her hand, pulled her behind the parked bus to afford them some privacy. When they were out of sight of the others, he cradled her against him as though she were the one who had been lost and was now home.
The hair on his chest tickled her nose as he pressed her head into it, and he stroked her back with a comforting hand. “Jaimie didn’t know he was missing. That’s why I signaled you not to chastise him. He told me he had to go to the bathroom.” A ru
mbling chuckle formed deep in his chest. “Number two, he said. Wanting absolute privacy, he decided to go into the woods. After he had done the deed, he got a little carried away with his exploring, and I found him investigating that piece of rock, which I assured him must be an arrowhead. He was in a world all his own and didn’t realize how long he’d been gone or how worried we’d been.”
“Erik, if anything had happened to him… to any of the children, I…” She shuddered, not able to complete the thought.
“I know, I know, but it’s all over now and no harm’s been done. Later today, I’ll tell Jaimie that he shouldn’t ever go wandering off by himself like that.”
“Thank you,” she whispered into the hair-roughened skin beneath her lips.
“Don’t I get a reward of some kind?” he asked tenderly, and placed a finger under her chin to lift her face up to his.
He was close. He was strong. She needed him, his strength. And she only nodded numbly in answer to his question before his head descended toward hers and she felt his warm lips move over hers. It was a kiss rife with caring. When he withdrew his mouth, Kathleen continued to cling to him for a few moments.
They walked back to the riverbank with his arm secure around her shoulders. Kathleen tried to behave normally, but for the remaining time they were at the tubing site, she was jumpy, nervous and overcautious with the children. The hands on her wristwatch moved with infinite slowness, but at last it was time to blow the whistle and call everyone for the trip home.
She sat beside Erik on the way back and made no pretense of not wanting to. As soon as everyone was aboard the bus and she had made the final head count, she plunked down on the uncomfortable seat beside him and didn’t refuse when he offered her his hand to clasp tightly.
When they arrived at Mountain View, everyone was already in the dining hall. For this day, the rules were suspended, and the children were allowed to have their dinner without having first showered and rested. They clambered off the bus, eager to share their day with the other campers. The weary adults were less exultant, and they made a bedraggled picture as they entered the hall.
Briefly, Kathleen recounted Jaimie’s disappearance to B. J. and Edna when they asked about her bleak expression and pale face. They agreed that she had handled it correctly in not scolding him, but they also thought that B. J. should talk to him and caution him again about the dangers of separating himself from the others.
Under Erik’s stern and watchful eye, Kathleen managed to choke down some of her dinner, but she was still too upset by the day’s frightful incident to enjoy it. Never was she so glad to hear the evening bell as she was that night.
As she trudged down the steps of the dining hall, planning to go directly to her cabin, her upper arm was gripped firmly. “Come on, you’re going with me,” Erik said decisively.
“What?” She tried to release her arm, but it was a futile effort. “I’m going to bed.”
“Yes, you should. But first you’re going to unwind a little bit. If you try to sleep now, you’ll only have nightmares about what could have happened today.”
No doubt he was right about that, but she still didn’t give in too easily, especially since they were trekking in the direction of his cabin. “Where are you taking me?” Kathleen asked.
“For a drive.”
That wasn’t the answer she had expected to hear, but when had Erik Gudjonsen done anything she had expected him to? “A drive?” she asked weakly. “Where?”