Running From Bears: Chapter Four--On Their Way

In all, it took the boys three hours to pack, gather, rethink, and be certain they hadn't forgotten any major necessity. They loaded the car, leaving room in the trunk for a tent they would have to borrow from Jason's girlfriend's family. Neither Jason nor Andrew had any luck finding their own. They sifted through every box of junk in their shed to no avail. 1

In the car, they passed three of Jason's friends' houses and the road they would follow up the mountain. "Why does it have to be Sara's tent? Doesn't anyone else you know have one we can borrow?" Andrew complained. He was sure the reason for the wide detour was some mushy goodbye scene.2

"Hers are the only parents who both work days when school's out for the summer. If any of the other parents find out we went on this trip, they'll tell Mom, for sure!" Jason informed him. He made the mental correction that his brother was only quick on his feet in certain instances. Besides, he wouldn't see Sara for a day and a half. Although he routinely went a week or more with no more contact than daily phone calls, it was a perfect opportunity for a mushy goodbye scene since her folks weren't home.3

The younger boys waited in the car while Jason went with Sara into her open garage to acquire their shelter for the night. The body language between the young couple was so noticeable, even Matt caught it. He hung his head out the window and taunted them, "Kiss her Jason! Jason! Kiss her! Slip her the tongue!" 4

Both kids laughed and watched eagerly. Even Tucker seemed to be encouraging an act of indiscretion with barks of approval. Still, several minutes passed while the teens flirted and fawned without getting physical.5

HONK! HONK! "Come on, Jason! You're cutting into our camping time! Let's go!" Andrew bellowed impatiently. Jason held up his index finger to indicate he was almost ready. 6

Several more minutes passed before Matt leaned over the seat in front of him and laid on the horn, himself. His blast was answered by a scowl from Jason and a wave from Sara.7

Andrew put his seat down as far as it would go and put his feet up on the dash. He rested the muzzle of Jason's .22 between his sneakers and toyed with it distractedly. He twisted it from side to side for a time, minutes that seemed like hours. Finally impatience gave way to annoyance and he took aim and said, "If you don't hurry up, I swear I'm gonna shoot you in the ass." It was a remark he intended to say under his breath, more like thinking out loud, but Matt heard him anyway.8

"U-u-u-m!" he sang with a giggle, clasping his hands over his mouth.9

With an audience to cheer him on, Andrew started mocking pulling the trigger, making firing noises in his cheeks. "Take that, you staller!" Matt thought each pretend shot funnier than the first. "Bang! AAHhhhh, my ASS!" Andrew performed. He continued until Matt was hysterical with laughter. Tucker barked and jumped on him, sending him into sputtering, breathless fits of giggles.10

Jason heard them and glanced their direction in curiosity. He noticed the rifle aimed at Sara and himself. His dimeanor immediately turned into rageful alarm.11

"What are you doing, Man?!" he screamed nearly losing his footing as he ran toward the car. "Put that thing down! You never, never, EVER point a gun at ANYthing unless you intend to shoot it!" 12

Picking the most inopportune moment possible to play a trick on Jason, Matt reached up and smacked the locks on both driver's side doors. The windows were down so he did little more than delay his progress. However, the act further infuriated his brother. 13

Jason jerked at the handle automatically, but pointlessly. 14

"I have every intention of shooting you if you don't hurry up!" Andrew growled at him, aiming at him again.15

Jason pulled at the handle over and over again, panicking. "Unlock the door!" he commanded Matt who jumped forward to pull on the handle from inside. The muzzle of the gun brushed the side of his head as he lunged over the seat. "PUT THAT THING DOWN!!!"16

As the lock clicked upward, Jason snatched open the door and swiftly yanked the weapon from his brother's grip. The look on Jason's face as he did so was more cross than either of his brothers had ever seen it before. Andrew wrung his stinging hands and wondered if he had seen fear there beneath the anger, or was it a kind of hurt? His empathy turned out to be short lived. His hands really smarted. 17

"Piss on you! How long you been standing there, Jason? Call her on the phone or something. It's hot in this car and we're bored!! Let's GO!" Andrew leaned toward the steering wheel to engage his brother in an argument.18

"No, piss on YOU!" Jason fired back at him. "I put the gun in the front seat because I thought you were responsible enough to handle it."19

"You're making a big deal out of nothing! The dumb thing's not loaded and the safety's on! You're just mad cause you don't have the nerve to lay one on her and get it over with. We're not sitting here roasting to wait for you!"  20

"Stop changing the subject. You had it pointed right at me! And you scraped Matt's head with it when he leaned over, Dumbass! What if it went off? Did you think of that?"21

"I didn't even have my finger on the trigger. How stupid do you think I am?!" Andrew insisted.22

"Do you really want to know? How stupid do YOU think you are, sitting out here TEACHING him some crap that could get somebody killed! He's FIVE!! Do you think he noticed your finger wasn't on the trigger? Did you say to him, 'Matt, let's practice some gun safety today: when pointing a weapon at your brother always make sure it's not loaded, the safety's on and never put your finger on the trigger'?  What's wrong with you?" 23

Tears streamed freely down Jason's face by the end of his rebuke. Unaware of the fact and still very angry he screamed again, "I put it up here with you so we'd be safe! I thought you were smarter than that! What happens when he's at a friend's house whose daddy has a gun that IS loaded?...What the hell are you crying about, you big baby?"24

"I'm NOT!" Andrew exclaimed, only just realizing that he was in fact crying. "I don't know. I'm just crying because you're crying, I guess." It was the only explanation Andrew could surmise with such short notice and only eleven years of human behavior analysis behind him. As inconsequential as his answer sounded, it was in fact a very apt response. He didn't understand the contagion factor of his brother's tears, only that it existed. He was too young and inexperienced to realize he was overwhelmed by the sight of his big brother crying openly with such brute, raw emotion and the knowledge that it was he who put the fear and pain behind the eyes that wept. Least of all could he comprehend the depth at which Jason's sermon struck his conscience. The idea of Matt someday repeating his own frivolous actions and the probable results were too much for his tender mind to consider.25

"Hey!...Hey!" Sara said rushing down to quiet the storm. Like Andrew, she couldn't bear to witness the bleeding of Jason's open wound. She was compelled to bandage it somehow, if only to hide it from view. She touched Jason's elbow and gently tugged him toward her.26

Embarrassed he resisted, but only slightly. Finally he faced her and she wiped his tears, saying "Why don't you leave the gun with me until you get back. You're not going to need it for just one night."27

"I guess I shouldn't have brought it," Jason reprimanded himself, relinquishing it to her. "It's my fault..."28

"It's nobody's fault. It just happened. He's a kid...it could have been a lot worse," she tried to console him. Her contradictions weren't helping matters. His eyes were still wet and began to leak again when she made the very point that worried him most. She pecked his cheek lightly and held the door for him to get into the car. "Now you boys make up and go on with your camping trip and have a good time."29

Jason and Andrew stared straight ahead without speaking. For an hour, the only chatter came from the back seat. "Why were you crying, Jason? What's the matter, Andrew?" From these first chafing questions the boys tuned out their little brother. Well accustomed to being ignored, Matt babbled his nonsense comforted by the fact that no one was listening anyway.30

They drove north out of town on State Road 51 to the foot of the Boston Mountains, known locally as Cookson Hills. The Boston Mountains are actually the southwestern part of the Ozark plateau. They are the highest and most rugged of the three phases of the Ozark mountains. All three boys drank in the essence of their natural surroundings as their car wound upward. 31

The scenery changed from rural backwoods to dense forestland that appeared to endlessly roll across the terrain, an effect produced by the ridges and bluffs on which the towering trees stood in the distance. They climbed higher and higher, winding as they went. On their left they noted changes in the wall of rock formation as they increased their elevation. The highest peaks were capped by sandstone and shale, and leaned over to inspect the upturned curious faces of their occasional visitors. Stretching valleys, carved in limestone on top of dolomite, exposed numerous mouths of caverns that yawned lazily in the August sunlight. The air grew thinner and cooler as they rose. Time seemed to slow; the family sedan crawled more than drove. Even the wind lacked the urgency to blow, but rustled aimlessly instead. Eventually, the heaviness of their previous quarrel fell away with all signs of civilization and lightened their mood. Even Matt relaxed enough to watch out the window, too in awe to speak.32

After another thirty minutes it was Andrew who first broke the silence. "Do you see any place to pitch the tent?"33

Secretly realizing he had been lulled into forgetting his purpose, Jason answered, "There'll be a place to pull over before long." At least he hoped there would be.34

As if on cue, a wooden shack that sat nestled beneath the trees appeared on their right. A large wooden sign attached to a fencepost announced, "Oklahoma Fish, Game, and Wildlife Station" in wood burnished letters that were painted yellow. Jason veered onto the gravel driveway in front of it and stopped.35

"What are we doing here?" Andrew questioned.36

"I'm going to find us a campsite," Jason said, opening his door to step outside. When he turned to close it, he noticed Matt and Tucker asleep in the backseat. He asked Andrew if he needed to use the bathroom. Declining the invitation meant he was to wait in the car with his brother until Jason returned. Although unintentional, it proved to be beneficial for a reason neither of them had considered. Walking in alone to request information, the ranger behind the desk assumed Jason was with his parents, noting the vehicle parked outside. He was able to find out what they needed without being detained or interrogated.37

When he reached the car again, he had a pink xeroxed pamphlet and a white sheet of paper that turned out to be a map of the area which was also a copy. Jason slid into his seat and began perusing the map quietly.38

"Where do we go?" Andrew wondered aloud.            39

"Well, looks like we got two choices. We can go back a ways and take this road," Jason informed, pointing at the map, "and stay in a camping area with a bunch of other people or we can continue on to this lookout here, and hike until we find our own spot. What do you think?" Jason began to back out and repositioned the vehicle facing the road again.40

"Well, I'd rather rough it. More of an adventure. Plus, if we go around a bunch of other families, somebody's gonna ask where our parents are."41

"Guess that settles it. Onward HO!" Jason said heading right and upward again.42

It was only about twenty minutes until they reached the lookout. One couple of site seers was taking in the view when the boys pulled into the small lot to park. Jason and Andrew stepped up to the stone semicircular wall to have a look, themselves. To the left of the wall an overgrown  trail wound down and into the foliage of the valley that opened below them. In the distance, near the bottom, they could see parts of what looked like a small stream running west to east, perforated by trees and rock formations. 43

The boys' presence apparently spoiled the romantic mood for the fellow nature lovers. When they got into their van, leaving them alone, Jason said, "Let's go down there by the water." 44

"Awe, man! So close to the road?" Andrew said with obvious disappointment.45

"We'll pick a spot hidden under the trees so people can't see us and we don't have to look at them. I don't want to go too far. We're not boyscouts, ya know. The last thing we need is to get lost out here. Nobody knows we're camping, except Sara. She doesn't even know where. Anyway, we need to be close to the car in case something happens," Jason explained walking back over to open the trunk and start unloading.46

"True," Andrew went along with him. He could see the reasoning, but shrugged when he added, "So much for Alaska!"47