A Matter of Trust, an adam-12 fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the story, I have only borrowed them for the purpose of writing this story. My thanks to the creators of both the Adam-12 and Emergency characters.

A Matter of Trust

Bright and early Sunday morning, Pete Malloy rolled over and glanced quickly at the bedside clock that read 7:05 a.m. Momentarily, he contemplated the idea of just ignoring the annoying sound that had awakened him. That contemplation was short lived. Groaning, he reached for the ringing telephone that had interrupted what had promised to be a very good dream.

"Hello?" He gruffly spoke into the handset.

The voice coming from the other end of the phone line was laced with an uncanny cheerfulness for such an ungodly hour of the morning. "Good morning, Pete! I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?"

"What?"

"I asked you if this was a bad time? I can call back later."

"Bear?" Pete could hardly believe that the woman was calling so early in the morning; and on his morning off, when he could be sleeping in, no less. "Why are you calling at this time of the morning? It's only seven o'clock."

"It's going on seven-thirty. The average person sleeps away one third of his or her life. You could be putting that time to better use, you know."

"No…I didn't know that…thank you for calling at 7:05 to enlighten me of that fact." Pete's voice held a deadpanned tone that would've discouraged anyone else from pursuing the conversation any farther.

"My stars! You are a grump this morning, Pete Malloy! I have half a mind to hang up and call back after you've had a chance to wake up and be civil!"

"Please do; I'll unplug my phone so you don't bother me!"

Mindy Dancer, the psychologist at McLaren Hall, and a good friend of Pete's, was not about to be put off by his bad mood. Choosing to ignore his sarcasm, she launched into her reason for calling. "Get up, I'm coming over and fixing you a nice, big breakfast and then I need your help lining up some medical personnel for this camping excursion. It's the only way I can get the county to go along with letting me take these kids out into the woods. Okay?"

Just listening to Mindy ramble on was more than his half-awake mind could fathom, so Pete merely mumbled an acknowledgement and hung up the phone. Sighing regretfully over the dream that got away, he lay there for a few more minutes before rolling out of bed and shuffling his way into the shower. When Mindy said that she was on her way, he figured she was probably calling from only a few blocks away, which meant that he knew he only had about fifteen minutes, at best, before the little whirlwind would be at his door.

Ten minutes and a quick shower later, Pete put on a pot of coffee and then went into his bedroom to get dressed. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long day.

At precisely 7:35 a.m., Mindy knocked on Pete's apartment door and went in when Pete hollered that it was open. As promised, she had brought along the fixings for a breakfast casserole and went straight to the kitchen to begin preparing it.

"G'morning Mindy." Pete directed at her as he entered the kitchen a few minutes later, heading straight for the cupboard to get a cup for coffee.

Bubbling over with an exhilarated excitement "Hi Pete! You're coffee is already poured; it's over there on the countertop. Thanks for letting me come over so early to tie up these loose ends. The trip is this coming weekend and I just don't know what we're going to do if we can't find somebody that's qualified to go with us. The county says that they have to be certified. I figured that, with you being a cop and all, you probably have…"

"MINDY! Stop! Take a breath!" Pete was looking at her with a dazed expression. "Slow down, start from the beginning, and for God's sake, woman, quit rambling! I haven't had enough coffee to even wake up yet, let alone follow anything that you're saying."

Mindy took a deep breath and managed to curb her enthusiasm just a shade, before continuing, "Anyway, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me…I figured that you would probably know someone in the medical field that you could schmooze into going camping with us this weekend. They wouldn't even have to ride the bus up with us; they could drive themselves. As a matter of fact, it would be preferable that they drive, just in case there would be an emergency. Having a car up there is going to make it a lot faster for transporting someone to a hospital than it would be if we had to go and find a ranger or get an ambulance up into the mountains."

Pete sat there, eyes glazed over and nursing his coffee as he listened to her once again gain momentum, as she spoke. He figured that trying to slow her down was a lost cause so he just let her talk…and talk…and talk. Finally, when he felt like his head was about to explode, he held up a hand to stop her. "Mindy!"

"What?"

"You're doing it again! You're babbling."

"Oh sorry…sometimes I get carried away."

"Gee, ya think?" Pete knew that his voice was laced with sarcasm, but he also knew that he wasn't hurting Mindys' feelings. The young lady was as used to Pete's abrupt way of telling her to be quiet, as Pete was of being used to her way of talking the subject to death without ever getting to the point.

Mindys' laughter rang out through the kitchen as she went about putting the casserole into the oven. After pouring herself a cup of coffee, she sat down at the table with Pete, saying nothing.

"So what did you find worth cooking for breakfast, in my kitchen?"

"I didn't figure I'd find anything, so I brought the stuff along to make a breakfast casserole."

"Ooh…that sounds good. Thanks."

"No need to thank me; after all, this is a working breakfast…and what we're working on is finding certified medical personnel to go on this camping excursion this weekend. Any ideas?"

It was Pete's turn to chuckle as he gave her a thoughtful glance and said, "You certainly don't waste any time on pleasantries when you get an idea into your head, do ya?" Seeing the sheepish smile that she gave him, he continued, "It doesn't have to be a doctor or nurse, does it? Can it be a county paramedic?"

"From what I understand, the county just wants someone that is certified in medical training, more so than basic first aid. My interpretation of that is, if it's a county paramedic, and he's certified by the county, he should be a qualified to fill the bill. I'll check with the bosses when I go in tomorrow and then give you a call. In the meantime, you need to come up with a plan 'b'…just in case."

Again, Pete gave her an incredulous look, "Why do I have to come up with a plan 'b'; this is your baby, remember?"

"Yeah, but you're a problem solver, Pete; a real 'get it done' kind of guy. You bellow and people listen…and do what you expect them to do."

Pete narrowed his eyes, and scrunched together his eyebrows. "Thanks, for what I think, was a compliment."

Mindy just giggled.

Over breakfast, Pete made a list of possible paramedic candidates to ask, starting with Roy DeSoto and John Gage from Station 51. He and Jim both had a pretty good professional working relationship with the two men, though the occasions that they worked together were rare. The four men had also done some fishing and competed against one another in a few police vs. firefighter bowling matches. He was almost certain that they would go along if they were off for the weekend and didn't already have plans.

"What about another female to go along? Do you have to get someone else? I may be able to line up Dixie McCall from Rampart, if you want me to try; or, maybe Jean would like to go along."

"If you think that either one would be interested, that would be great, but I don't think it's required. The head honchos made it pretty clear that they were more interested in muscle and brawn going along than they were in 'mommy figures'. I think that has something to do with 'the Flounder' voicing her opinion that a couple of the boys going are nothing but thugs."

"Let me guess; the two that tried to take you out with the coffee mug a while back?"

"Yeah, that would be them. They haven't been in any more trouble since then, but she sticks on them like fly on flypaper!"

"Still, maybe she has point. Maybe taking the two of them out there at the same time wouldn't be such a good idea, Mindy."

"Pete, please don't start second guessing my decision of who should or shouldn't go on this trip. These kids need this; they need to know that somebody has some confidence in them, and that not everyone thinks they are just troublemakers. After all, they aren't at McLaren because they got into trouble, they are there because they were removed from their homes and their parents for one reason or another. It wasn't their own doing, and if they were troublemakers, they would be sitting in juvenile hall right now. They need a break, Pete. It's imperative that they be around people that believe in them. They need roll models that they can learn from and not be afraid to turn to when things are tough…and things will be tough for these kids; it's the hand they've been dealt and they need a little help in playing that hand."

The compassion that Pete saw in the young woman's eyes touched him to the very core. He decided then and there that he wouldn't question her decisions regarding these kids anymore. If ever there was a true advocate for children, Mindy Dancer was it, and Pete was going to do everything in his power to help see that this camping excursion turned out to be everything that Mindy and those kids hoped that it would be.

"How soon do you need to know who is going? I can make some phone calls today and check in with you tonight or tomorrow. Will that work?"

Mindy had gotten up and was clearing away the dirty dishes and putting leftovers away. She stopped what she was doing, bounded over to where Pete was sitting and threw her arms around him, giving him a big hug, as she simply said, "Thank you, Pete."

"You're welcome, Mindy. Now, just do me a favor, huh?"

"What's that, Pete?"

"Promise me that you won't wake me up before 8:00 a.m. on my next morning off, okay?"

"Oh Pete, you know that I can't make promises that I won't keep…it just wouldn't be right of me to let you get your hopes up." Mindy was smiling sweetly at Pete as he rolled his eyes and sighed.

A short time later, Mindy left Pete's apartment, leaving him to make the necessary phone calls. He was able to line up Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage, along with their fellow firefighter, Mike Stoker. Afterwards, he called Jim and asked him if Jean would be interested in going, as well. He'd thought about calling Nurse Dixie McCall, but given their previous dating history, and the fact that Dixie and Dr. Kelly Brackett were now an item, he figured that wouldn't sit too well with Dr. Brackett. He certainly wasn't going to do anything to get on the good doctors' bad side, just in case he ever needed to be treated by him.

With he and Jim, Mindy, the two paramedics, the firefighter, and Jean lined up, Pete felt pretty confident that the seven adults would be able to wrangle eight teenagers for the weekend without any problems. Confident that this would be the case, Pete called Mindy back about three hours later and gave her the good news.

Plans were then made for Pete, Jim and Jean to meet Mindy and the kids at McLaren Hall at 6:00 a.m. that Friday morning. They would take off on the bus for the two-hour ride to the campgrounds, where they would be escorted by a park ranger, to their secluded campsite, complete with a nearby ramshackle outhouse and a cold water stream for fishing. Roy, Johnny, and Mike were going to drive up in Johnny's Land Rover. The whole group would leave together on Sunday, after lunch, to head back home.

The week passed quickly and on Friday morning, there was feeling of static electricity in the air as the bus pulled up in front of McLaren Hall. The eight tired looking teenagers, four boys and four girls, filed out of the building carrying their overnight duffels and sleeping bags. The looks on their faces ranged from uncertainty to indifference, with just a touch of excitement showing through when the adults weren't watching.

Pete, Jim and Jean all grabbed their overnight bags and sleeping bags from the back end of Jims' car and took them over to the bus. Jim then drove his car to the rear lot of McLaren Hall and parked it. He then went back to the bus and began to help Pete load the many camping items and other gear. Thirty minutes later, sporting healthy looking flushes from the exertion of tossing bags and gear, the twelve occupants of the bus sat wearily in their seats as the bus driver started the bus and put it in gear. They were finally on their way.

Pete and Mindy sat near the front of the bus, with the kids occupying the seats near the middle, and Jim and Jean near the rear of the bus.

Earlier in the week, Mindy had put together a folder listing the name of each camper and a small biography of sorts, for each of the adults going along. Even with this information at hand, she insisted that the kids each take a turn and tell a little bit about themselves beginning with their name and ages. That was pretty much all that any of them were willing to give at that point. Mindy hoped that by the end of the day they would begin to loosen up.

Pete, seeing a tiny bit of discouragement etched out on Mindys' face, put a hand on her shoulder, and gave a slight squeeze and a smile of reassurance. "Don't worry, Bear, they'll loosen up soon enough; just give 'em some time."

Mindy gave Pete a grateful smile and nodded slightly, "I hope so, Pete; I sure do hope so."

At the back of the bus, Jean was speaking quietly with Jim. "Honey, can I please see that folder? I just want to get an idea of about each of these kids, again. They seem so young to be going through so much!"

Together Jim and Jean looked through the folder and the information from Mindy. There were two 16-year old boys, Kenny Owens and Lee James, as well as two 16-year old girls, Melanie Martin and Susie Kinkle. The other four juveniles, Linda Bramble, Allison Clark, Bobby Spencer and Joey Franklin were all 15-years old. The reasons behind their McLaren Hall residency ranged from parental neglect and abuse to having lost their parents. Jeans' heart went out to these kids, as did Jims'.

An hour into the trip, Linda spoke up, "Miss Mindy?"

"Yes, Linda?"

"I, uhm, I have to you…well, you know…"

"Gus, could you pull over at the next gas station, please?"

"Yes, Miss Mindy; I could use a break myself."

With that, several of the other kids spoke up and voiced their approval of pulling over for a few minutes, so Gus found a gas station just minutes up the road, and pulled the bus into the parking lot. The kids filed out and made a beeline toward the restrooms. Jim and Pete headed over to where the boys went, while Mindy and Jean followed the girls.

"So Pete, how do you think it'll go this weekend?" Jim asked.

"I think it will be okay, Jim. Mindy is kind of worried about the kids letting their guards down and opening up a bit, though."

"They'll be fine, she'll see."

"Yeah, that's what I told…." Pete's sentence was cut off by a blood-curdling scream coming from the ladies restroom. Immediately, he and Jim were over there and ready to kick in the door to get to the young lady on the inside. She was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Move over, Mindy!" Pete nearly picked the young woman up to move her away from the door. "Who's in there?"

"It's Melanie…and she won't unlock the door; I can't understand what she's saying, other than it's something deadly."

Pete put his face closer to the door and bellowed, "MELANIE! Get away from the door, I'm going to kick it in." With that said, Pete took step backward and lifted his right leg, throwing his body full force into a kick toward the door…which miraculously came open on it's own, swinging towards Pete, knocking him off balance and into Mindy. They both went hurling toward the ground on their backsides, much to the amusement of the others that were standing around listening to the racket.

Pete looked at Mindy; Mindy looked at Pete. Both looked at the sea of faces gazing at them and they began to laugh.

Jim spoke up, laughing as he did so, "Uhm, Pete, in case you didn't notice, the hinges are on the outside of the door."

Pete just glared at him, causing Jim to laugh even harder.

Melanie had come out of the bathroom with a sheepish look on her face, and glanced down at Pete, "I'm sorry Officer Malloy…it's just that there was huge spider on the wall, right next to me and I panicked. I guess I must have screamed loud enough to scare it, because it hurried up the wall and now it's up in the corner. I don't like spiders…especially the huge ones."

Standing up and dusting himself off, Pete put forth his hand and pulled Mindy up as well. He smiled patiently at Melanie and said, "It's okay Melanie; this kind of stuff happens all of the time. By the way, you can call me Pete." Looking around at the other youth as well, "That goes for all of you; you don't have to call Jim or I, 'officer' when we're not on duty, okay?" He tried to ignore Jim's snicker.

"Okay girls, let's not keep the bus waiting. Get to your business quickly. Who's up next? Susie? Allison? Linda? Jean?" When no one stepped forth, "Okay ladies, whose turn is it in the bathroom?" Mindy asked, once again. Again she didn't get any volunteers.

Jean spoke up, "I don't think any of us are interested in going into the bathroom if the huge spider is going to be dangling over us. Jim, honey, can't you kill it for us?"

"Honey, I can't go into the ladies room. Besides, if it's on the ceiling, it isn't going to hurt you." The blush was creeping up Jim's neck towards his face as he spoke.

It was Pete's turn to snicker. "I'll kill the spider." With a sigh, he went into the women's bathroom and looked around. Straining to see the 'huge' spider, all he saw was a tiny speck of a thing in the corner above the commode. He made a lot of noise, pretending that it was a tough job. He then flushed the toilet and came out, "There; I killed it, wiped it off of the wall and now it's all gone. Get to it ladies so we can get this show back on the road."

Once they were back on the road again, Mindy nudged Pete and whispered, "Just how big was that 'huge' spider; you certainly made quite a show of killing it. You DID kill it, didn't you?"

"No…I could barely even see it, and I certainly couldn't reach it. I figured that if I couldn't see it, nobody else probably could either. I suppose you're scared of spiders, too?"

"Huh-uh…I like to dip 'em in chocolate and put 'em in the freezer. Tasty little morsels when they are frozen."

"That's sick, Bear; just sick."

Mindy began to laugh, "No, I'm not scared of spiders…and no, I don't eat 'em…chocolate covered, or otherwise."

The two of them shared a chuckle and then turned their attentions back to listening to the kids banter back and forth. Jim and Jean had relocated to the front part of the bus and the four adults talked quietly amongst their selves.

"Jim, when we get up to the campsite, you and I, along with the boys, will start in on setting up the tents; Mindy, you and Jean can gather the girls together and start organizing the supplies and gathering small pieces of firewood. After we get everything set up, there should be a little time for some afternoon relaxing and fishing. Sound good?"

"Sounds fine with me, Pete." Jim agreed.

It was then that Gus, the bus driver started in on a well-known chorus.

Ninety-nine bottles of milk on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of milk; take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of milk on the wall.

Ninety-eight bottles of milk on the wall, ninety-eight bottles of milk; take one down, pass it around, ninety-seven bottles of milk on the wall.

"Come on, y'all, don't be shy, now. I know you got it in ya; sing with me or I'll just sing louder." Gus yelled over the drone of the bus.

"You heard the man, Mindy echoed…everybody sings!"

Fifty-two annoying choruses later, the bus pulled into the reception station of the State Park. Pete nearly stumbled over himself escaping from the noise filled bus. He hurried into the ranger station with Mindy close on his heels. Jim and Jean stayed with the kids on the bus.

They checked in and left word that there would be another vehicle with three more campers joining them soon and then a ranger escorted the bus up to the campsite. It was a spacious open area surrounded by tall, heavily leaf-laden trees. Just beyond the tree line, there was twenty-five foot wide glistening crystal clear stream running at a steady flow.

Everyone piled out and stretched; walked around a bit to get the cramps out of their legs and were ooh-ing and aah-ing over the peacefulness of the area.

The first thing the boys wanted to do was to go hiking and fishing, and they began to split off and head in separate directions. Pete quickly reared them back in and told them that they were going to help unload and get the camp set up, first, and then play would come later. There was a lot of moaning and groaning, but within the hour, eight, two-man tents were set up, forming a circle with the fire ring ornating the middle. Once that was finished, Pete and Jim pulled out the fishing gear and sent the boys to the stream for a little fishing and relaxation.

After unloading and organizing the dry goods and gear, Mindy instructed Gus to come back and pick them up on Sunday afternoon, and after he drove off, Mindy, Jean and the four girls went off into the woods to gather firewood. They weren't at the campsite when Roy, Johnny and Mike Stoker pulled in.

"Hey, Pete, Jim; how ya guys doing? Been here long?" Johnny asked as the three men piled out of the Land Rover.

"Only about an hour or so." Answered Jim. "You guys could've gotten here a little sooner and helped set the camp."

"We had to stop and help an elderly gentleman change a flat tire." Roy offered.

Jim nodded toward Mike Stoker, the quiet one of the three firefighters. "Hey Mike, how are you? What's it been, three or four months since that barn burner of softball game where you robbed me of that homerun with that catch in left center?"

Mike nodded and smiled toward Jim, "Uh, yeah; three months. No hard feelings, huh?"

Jim laughed, "Nah, man, no hard feelings. Glad you come along on this excursion. I think Mindy was pretty pleased to have so many volunteers for this."

Mike shrugged, "It sounded like fun and I wasn't doing anything else."

Just then, the girls came trampling through the clearing, laughing and carrying on while stumbling through a few choruses of an old campfire song from Jeans' childhood. Each had an armload of firewood that they dropped over near the back of one of the tents.

"Our reinforcements are here, Mindy; come say 'hello'"

Talking while walking, "Hey guys, I really appreciate…." Mindy stopped mid-sentence when she realized that the reinforcements were none other than the two paramedics that had come out to McLaren Hall to treat her when she found herself on the receiving end of the coffee mug. Thinking back on the experience, Mindy remembered that the dark haired paramedic was rather testy with her and the blond wasn't much better. She didn't recognize the third man that was with them. All she knew was what Pete had told her, and that was that he was firefighter. Mindy flashed him a smile; he flashed one right back.

Narrowing her eyes, Mindy sent a glower over Pete's way, earning her an eyebrow raised, questioning look.

"You're the one running this show?" Johnny asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Is that a problem…."

"Johnny…Johnny Gage, and that's my partner, Roy DeSoto. That other guy is Mike Stoker, he works with us. I'm surprised you don't remember our names from when we came out to McLaren Hall a couple of months ago."

"I don't believe I ever got your names, when you came out."

"That's probably because you barely had time to let us do our job. If you recall, you were very…"

"I recall that your being there was impeding my ability to do my job, in case you don't…"

"Okay you two, knock it off. That was nearly two months ago; water under the bridge, so get over it." Pete gave them both a look that meant business.

Roy cleared his throat and put a hand over his mouth to cover a smile as Johnny and Mindy stood toe to toe, sizing each other up. It was a comical sight to behold, as Johnny had her by a good eight to nine inches.

Mike, Jim, Jean and the girls, stood off to the side, watching the show as well.

When Pete saw that neither one was going to make the first move to budge, he reached out and took Mindy by the elbow, turning her away from Johnny, and in a low tone, "C'mon Bear, you wouldn't put up with this from the kids and you know it."

Mindy glared at Pete a few more seconds then slipped her elbow from his grasp, turned back toward Johnny and extended her right hand in a truce handshake. "Mr. Gage, I'd like to thank you, all three of you, for donating your time to come out and spend time with the kids."

Warily, Johnny shook her hand, "It's our pleasure Miss…"

"Mindy…just plain, Mindy. And I'd like to apologize for my behavior, both today and before."

Again, Johnny gave her a guarded look, "Uhm…no problem…and just call me Johnny."

Pete spoke up, doing his best to keep his amusement over their behavior, at bay, "Okay, now that we've settled that, maybe the girls would like to go fishing with the boys while we adults fix some lunch. Then maybe we can all take a hike or something. Sound good, Bear?"

"Sure, Pete; I packed cold cuts and chips for lunch since I figured we'd be busy setting up the camp and all. Actually, I can throw the sandwiches together if everyone else wants to head down to the stream, too."

The four girls didn't waste any time making tracks toward the stream, giggling all of the way and whispering to each other, leaving Mindy to wonder just what they were up to.

"Oh no, Mindy, I can stay and help you make them." Jean offered.

"I'd like to help." Mike piped in, quietly, earning a surprised look from both Roy and Johnny, who were getting ready to head over to the stream; Jean smiled slyly at Jim and Pete, who were listening intently to the exchange.

Mindy met Mike's eyes and suddenly felt very shy. Shifting her gaze, she slowly nodded her head, saying, "Thank you Mike; I appreciate the offer." She then glanced at Pete, Jim and Jean, "Uhm, maybe y'all should go with Johnny and Roy to keep an eye on the kids."

Pete, feeling ornery, "Ahh, now Bear, that wouldn't be right of us to leave just two of you to do all of the…"

"Pete!" Mindy cautioned.

"Yes, Bear?" The twinkle in his eyes told her that he was indeed being a trifle bit whimsical.

"Just go fishing, will ya, huh?"

Pete gave a chuckle and headed toward the stream, calling out over his shoulder, "You kids behave and holler when lunch is ready."

"So, anybody catch anything yet?" Pete inquired as he approached the group at the stream. The four boys all had poles in the water, as did Johnny and Roy.

Jean and Jim sat down on some nearby rocks, quietly holding hands and enjoying some time together.

Two of the girls, Susie and Melanie, were huddled together near Johnny and giggling together as they cast shy glances over Johnny's way. Linda and Allison sat nearby, watching Kenny and Lee cast out their lines. The boys seemed oblivious that the two girls were watching them so intently.

"No, Sir." Kenny answered, "We haven't caught nothin' yet, but we have had a few nibbles. This is a nice spot that Miss Mindy picked."

"You gonna fish with us, Offic…uhm, I mean, Pete?" Lee asked.

"Oh I might just wait and drop a line later on this afternoon. Just make sure you save a few worms for me."

"Miss Mindy said that we can't use worms out here." Bobby volunteered.

"Say what?" Pete didn't think he heard correctly.

"That's what Miss Mindy said, Sir. She said that worms would pollute the water so we have to use pieces of hot dog, or nibblets of corn." Joey added.

Pete shook his head and muttered under his breath, "That woman! I swear, next she'll want to set an extra plate and invite the fish to dinner!"

Back at the campsite, Mindy and Mike worked quietly, side by side, making sandwiches for lunch. Very few words, with the exception of a few social pleasantries, were being exchanged, but both were stealing occasional glances at the other, when they were sure that the other person wasn't looking. When they finally finished with the lunch preparations, Mindy excused herself and walked toward the stream.

"Lunch is ready, everyone." Mindy hollered.

The group quickly gathered their fishing gear and headed back to the camp where they all sat down and enjoyed the lunch fare. After finishing up, Pete announced that he and Jim would be heading up a hike after a short rest. All of the kids quickly jumped on board with idea of a late afternoon hike and broke off into smaller groups of two, excitedly talking amongst themselves.

Roy sat down with Mike, Pete, Jim and Jean to hash over the evening plans for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows and then finishing out the evening with ghost stories around the campfire.

Johnny had ventured over to where Mindy was re-arranging some of the cooking and food items, lost in her thoughts about Mike.

"Say, uh…Mindy?" Johnny reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

Mindy swung around with a start, putting a hand over her heart, "Oh hell! You scared the devil out of me. What were thinking, sneaking up on me like that!"

Johnny took a step back, "Well I didn't mean to scare ya! I just wanted to talk to ya a little bit. Why are you so jumpy, anyway?"

"Oh, sorry Johnny. You just startled the bejeebies out of me. I was kind of lost in my own thoughts; that's all."

"Yeah, well, like I said…sorry about that." Johnny looked uncomfortable.

"No, really, it's okay, Johnny. I'll, uhm, try not to be so jumpy from now on." When Johnny didn't say anything, Mindy continued, "So, what'd you want to talk about?"

Hem-hawing around, Johnny shrugged his shoulders and wouldn't look Mindy in the eye as he spoke, "Well, nothing in particular, mind you. I just kind of wondered how you got interested in working with the kids and such. And this program that you've got going to reach out to these kids…well, I was just kind of wondering about it."

"Oh…well, I'm sure Pete must've told you guys that I am a psychologist and I work very closely with the kids at McLaren; I mean, you do know that I work there, after all." She gave a nervous laugh.

Johnny laughed a bit too, "Uh…yeah, I seem to recall that little piece of information from some distant corner of my mind. So how'd you come up with this idea, anyway?"

"It's something I've been thinking about for awhile. These kids come to McLaren, broken and scared witless. They've been uprooted from the only home that they've known, whether of a good or bad environment."

"They have been taken from their parents, against their will, and forced to go live in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people. And here's the kicker, Johnny…the people that are forced to take these kids away from their homes and parents, are none other than the very same people that we tell the kids they can trust!"

"You know, we drill the idea of trusting authority figures into their heads from the time that they are just knee high to grasshoppers. We preach to them that they can trust the police, the firemen and the doctors, and that if they are ever in trouble, they can go to any one of those people and get help. But, more often than not, it's the police that have to take them away; or the firemen that are forced to tell them that their mommy or daddy isn't coming out of the burning house. Sometimes it's the doctor that says, 'you can't go back home right now, but some nice lady will come and take you somewhere where there are other kids that you can play with and get to know.' Bottom line is, it's people in authority that these kids associate with the worst thing that happens to them…they lose their family, their home, their life, as they knew it."

Mindy was coming down off of her soapbox now, "So you see, this program is more or less a bridge to re-connect these kids with their broken trust issues. I don't want them to only associate authority figures with the troubled times in their lives; and that's what will happen you know, especially if we don't find a way to 'undo' what life experience has done." Mindy gave Johnny a heartfelt look, "There you have it, in a nutshell…a very longwinded nutshell, mind you."

"I don't think it was longwinded at all. I think it's an admirable program that you are launching. I'd like to participate in future activities with these kids; if you need volunteers, that is."

"Oh absolutely! Thank you, Johnny."

"You know, I have a small ranch just on the outskirts of town. Now, it's nothing fancy, but I do have a few horses and there are some really nice riding trails to the rear of my property. Maybe you can bring a group out to go riding some day."

"Oh Johnny, I am sure they would love that! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Mindy."

"Hey, Bear, Johnny, come on over here and rest your lunch for a few minutes before the hike." Pete called.

"Yeah, okay, Pete, we'll be right there." Mindy called back to him, before returning her attention to Johnny. "Hey Johnny, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure Mindy. Shoot!" Johnny flashed her a friendly smile. I'm making some brownie points! He thought to himself.

"Does Mike have a steady girlfriend or anything?"

The smile instantly left Johnny's face. I can't believe she's asking about Mike when I am practically drooling at her feet! "No, Mindy, Mike doesn't have a girlfriend, steady or otherwise that I am aware of…why?"

"Just curious…come on, they're waiting for us so we can make hiking plans." Mindy led the way over to the small group of adults and took a seat on the ground between Mike and Pete.

Roy smiled up at Johnny and laughed when he saw the look on Johnny's face. Johnny looked down at him and as he sat beside his partner, he said, "Don't say it, Roy…just don't say it."

"Don't worry, Junior; you won't hear it from me!"

Twenty minutes later, the entire group set out on a hike. They took a very well traveled hiking trail that just wide enough to walk two by two. Pete chose to head up the group, followed by Kenny and Lee, Susie and Melanie, Jim and Jean, Linda and Allison, Bobby and Joey, and Johnny and Roy; Mindy and Mike brought up the rear.

"Mindy, do you think you should be up there with Pete?" Mike asked softly.

"Nah, he's fine. Besides, he's kind of a control freak, so I figured I'd just let him take charge and lead the way. I kind of like the atmosphere…and the company, back here in the back." She shyly replied; blushing with the last part of her sentence.

Mike smiled at her as he averted his gaze, and quietly said, "Yeah, I do too."

There was a lot of bantering and chattering going back and forth between the adults and the kids as they hiked. Once in a while, Pete or someone else would point out a certain type of plant or tree. Linda and Allison thought they spotted a deer. Bobby thought he saw a snake, which sent the girls into screaming fits. Joey picked up a frog along the way, figuring that he would put it into one of the girl's tents when they got back. Susie tripped over a tree root and took a header forward, earning her the royal treatment from Johnny and Roy while they checked her over for injury. Jim and Jean held hands and laughed like a couple of teenagers in love.

When they had been hiking for about fourty-five minutes, Pete decided that the kids could probably use a rest. He wasn't sure how much physical exertion that they were used to with living in McLaren Hall. "Hey Bear!" Pete hollered over his shoulder. "How far do you want me to take this crew before we head back?"

"Pick a spot and stop, Pete. I think we could all use a break." Mindy hollered back.

Stopping at her word, Pete turned around toward the group, "All right, everybody take a break for a few minutes and then we'll head on back to camp. Is everyone doing okay? We're not going too fast for anyone, are we?" He scoured the group of faces that were staring back at him.

A chorus of 'no's' and 'we're fines' reverberated back towards him, as he made his way to the back of the group where all of the adults gathered.

Putting his arm around Mindy's shoulder, Pete looked down and gave the young woman a big smile. She smiled back. Neither one saw the shadow of disappointment that came across Mike's face as he thought, Wow, how could I have misread those signals. I guess she and Pete must have something going. Oh well.

Johnny, wondering why Pete was putting an arm around Mindy, gave Roy a questioning look. Roy only shrugged his shoulders slightly. They both noticed Mike's disappointed look.

"I think the kids are having a good time, don't you, Bear?"

"Yeah, they seem to be. I hope everyone else is too?" She added as she gave a questioning look to the others. Her smile widened when they all piped in that they were enjoying this excursion. Seeking out Mikes' face, her smiled faded a bit as she noticed that Mike didn't look as content as he did earlier. She made a mental note to speak privately with him when they got back to the camp. Gosh, I wonder what's wrong with him, he was enjoying himself earlier. Hmm…maybe he's just not an outdoorsy type person.

"Hey Pete?"

"Yeah Kenny?"

"We all want to know how come you call Miss Mindy 'Bear', all of the time?"

Jim and Jean, who already knew the reason, began to laugh at Pete's sudden look of discomfort as the eight juveniles and three remaining adults fixed their gazes on him in anticipation of his answer.

Pete looked down at Mindy, removed his arm from around her and chuckled as he chose his words carefully. "Because, when she gets mad, she growls like a grizzly, but deep down she's just a teddy bear!"

Everyone laughed when Mindy playfully punched him in the arm and muttered 'idiot' under her breath.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Oh for heavens sakes, that didn't hurt and you know it!" Mindy growled.

Pete smiled at the group, "See what I mean…did you hear that growl?"

Mindys' only choice, at that point, was to laugh along with the group.

"Okay people, let's get this show back on the road. There are dinner preparations to take care of, and then anyone that wants to go for a swim before supper can do that too, just a ways down from the camp, in the stream; it's a little deeper there, but not deep enough to dive in…so don't. I don't want anyone busting his or her head open on a rock. If we all pitch in, we can get everything ready to go for dinner and still have time to relax. Let's go, up and at 'em!" Mindy wasn't having any trouble giving orders.

"You think maybe she was a drill sergeant in another life?" Johnny muttered to Roy.

"Johnny, I think you've been burned at your own game and you don't like it."

"That's not true! I wasn't making a play for the girl…I was…I was just trying to be nice, that's all! Jeez, can't a guy be nice to a girl without anyone making something of it?"

Heading back toward the camp, everyone fell into place in pretty much the same order in which they had hiked out. This time, though, instead of enjoying a peaceful quietness at the back of the line, with Mike, Mindy could feel some tension coming from him. Neither one spoke during the entire trip back to camp.

Once the dinner preparations were out of the way, Jim and Jean escorted Linda, Allison, Bobby and Joey down to the area where they could swim. Pete, Mike, Roy and Johnny went fishing with Kenny, Lee, Susie and Melanie, leaving Mindy to a few moments by herself.

Sitting down on a fire log, Mindy let out a sigh, while thinking I can't believe how well this is going so far. These kids are having fun, the adults are doing great with them…this is exactly how I pictured it. Closing her eyes, Mindy sent up a silent prayer of thanks that all was going well.

While sitting with her eyes closed, Mindy had begun to doze off for bit. Suddenly, a noise aroused her with a start. Eyes darting around the camp, she soon spotted the source of the noise; a skunk…a big, black and white, beady-eyed ball of fur stood ten feet away from where she was sitting. She was staring at it, wide eyed and it was staring right back at her. Oh hell…what do I do now? I hope they don't come barreling back into camp or that thing is going to spray. Oh hell, hell, hell!

Unsure of what else to do, Mindy just sat deathly still and prayed that she wouldn't have to sneeze, cough, or make any sudden moves. After an eternity, the skunk went about it's business of checking out each and every inch of the camp, including, much to Mindy's dismay, the inside of one the tents that the girls had used when changing into their bathing suits. They had left the tent flaps open, inviting every tom, dick, and hairy little skunk, to saunter in.

While the skunk was pre-occupied inside of the tent, Mindy made her escape to the stream and caught Pete's attention. "Pete, come here, we've got a problem!" She loudly whispered.

Pete set his fishing pole down and hurried over to where Mindy stood. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Is somebody else hurt?" Pete's questions were fast and furious.

Waving her hand at him, "No, no, no…it's nothing like that…it's worse!"

Pete gave her a questioning look that spoke volumes, "Worse?"

"Yeah…there's a skunk…in the camp…in one of the tents."

Pete's eyebrows raised two inches…and then lowered. He opened his mouth…then closed it, rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I get it now…you're pulling my leg. You're getting even with me for telling everyone that you growl when you're mad, aren't you?" Despite what he was thinking, Pete was striding towards the camp, with Mindy on his heels trying to stop him from barging into the campsite.

"Pete, I swear to you, I am not joking! There is a skunk in one of the tents. The girls left the flap open after they changed into their suits…." Mindy watched, helplessly as Pete continued on towards the tent in question. "Oh Pete…please don't…"

Mindy stopped short, and so did Pete, as the skunk sauntered out of the tent and began sniffing around. They both stood as still as statues.

Oh hell, thought Pete, she wasn't joking! What do we do now?

The skunk sniffed all around, nearly bumping into Pete's foot as it came close to him. Finally, as if tired of his surroundings, the skunk went back towards the tent and skittered back inside. Mindy silently began to back away from where Pete was still standing. Very quietly and slowly, Pete also began to back away from the area, and when they were both a safe distance away, Pete turned toward Mindy, "Yep, there's a skunk in the tent, alright. Question is, what do we do about it?"

"How should I know…you're the one with the gun!"

"You want me to shoot it? He asked in disbelief.

"Oh for heavens sake, Pete; of course I don't want you to shoot it…I just want you to get it out of there; order it out, or something." Mindy was making hand gestures toward the tent and looking at Pete as if he could just say the word and make everything better.

"It's a skunk, Mindy…not a human; I'm pretty sure it's not going to come out just because I tell it to!"

"Well…do something…anything!"

Not exactly sure what Mindy thought that he should do, Pete stood there and stared at her, letting her contemplate what she had just said to him. Realizing that she didn't think her request was unreasonable, Pete let out sigh and rubbed his aching forehead, "Bear, just watch the tent in case it comes out, while I go tell the others to stay out of the camp for little while. The last thing we need to do is frighten it into spraying."

Mindy flashed him a bright smile and mock saluted him, "Okay, Sir…will do…anything you say."

"Just watch the tent." Pete re-iterated as he walked back towards the stream. Hearing Mindy's giggle, as he walked away, made Pete smile as well, despite the situation.

Approaching the stream, Pete motioned for Roy, Johnny and Mike to join him for a short pow-wow.

"Uh, gentlemen, we have a slight problem in the camp."

"Is Mindy, okay?" Mike quickly asked, earning a questioning look from the other three men.

Pete nodded, quirking his eyebrows up at Mike, "Yeah…she's fine. There's a skunk loose in the camp and it seems to have taken up residence in one of the tents. Any ideas on how to get it out?"

Nobody said a thing.

"C'mon now, guys; now's not the time to be shy…if you have an idea, any idea at all, just speak up and share…C'mon, c'mon, we don't have all day."

Again he was met with silence. "Okay, since we are all so full of ideas, why don't we concentrate on keeping everyone out the camp for awhile. Roy, would you mind going downstream and telling the others what's going on."

"Sure, Pete, no problem." Roy jogged off toward where the others were swimming while Johnny and Mike went back to the group that was fishing.

Pete made his way back to where Mindy stood guard at the edge of the camp. "Well, did he leave yet?"

"I don't think so. I haven't seen him leave yet, anyway."

"You've been watching though, right?"

"Yes, I've been watching."

"And you haven't seen him leave, right?"

"Uhm…yeah…right."

Pete gave Mindy 'the look', "Mindy, you have been watching…yes?"

"Well, I may have gotten distracted, just a little…you should know by now that sometimes my mind wanders, Pete! But I swear, it didn't wander long enough to lose track of the skunk…I don't think, anyway."

The skunk picked that moment to exit the tent and scamper into the woods. Mindy smiled at Pete, saying, "See, I told you he was still in there…and now he's gone."

"Yeah…he's gone…shall we go in there together and survey the damage?" Pete smiled sweetly at Mindy, who wrinkled her nose at the thought, and started to shake her head 'no' when Pete held up his hand and crooked two fingers in a motion meant to direct her to follow him. From the look on his face, she wasn't about to argue.

Together they made their way over to the tent and stepped cautiously inside, where nothing seemed out of place and no odor was present. Neither one realized they had been holding their breaths until the both exhaled at the same time, then looked at each other and began to laugh.

"C'mon, Bear; let's rally the troops and get dinner going before our friend comes back and wants to dine with us."

"Uh, yeah…let's do that, after we zip the tent door closed."

"Good idea!" Pete agreed.

Skunk issue resolved, Pete and Mindy gathered the campers together and passed out hot dogs on roasting sticks. A cast iron skillet of pork and beans had been set on the fire grate in order to heat.

Dinner was a lively affair with lots of chatter. The kids were all curious about the resident skunk in the area. The boys thought it would be cool to try to catch it; an idea that was quickly discouraged by all of the adults. The girls were hoping that it wouldn't come back and bring friends with it.

Smiling contentedly, Mindy sat back in her chair, staring at the roaring fire and listening to the excited exchanges between the kids and was pleasantly surprised and pleased that the kids seemed to be relaxing and letting their guards down around the adults. This was exactly how she envisioned the program and couldn't have been more pleased with the results this far. As she sat listening, she could feel a pair of eyes watching her and looked up from dancing flames in the fire ring, her eyes meeting Mikes'. He smiled at her and she, suddenly feeling slightly breathless, smiled back. The two of them continued to cast several glances toward one another when the other one wasn't looking.

At nightfall, just before it was time to turn in, Johnny decided that he wanted to tell a spooky story. The kids were all ears. A dropped pin would have sounded like a tree falling in the night silence as everyone concentrated on Johnny's every word. His spook story was one about an escaped axe murderer that was running loose in the wooded forest and happened upon a group of camping teenagers. The more in depth he got with the story, the more intently the kids listened. Every so often, one of the girls would let out a squeal or a gasp. At all of the crucial moments, Johnny would allow his voice to become booming, causing all of the girls to, Mindy and Jean included, jump and scream. Pete, Roy, Mike, and Jim were enjoying the show, but also figured that there would be several campers afraid to close their eyes that night.

Spook stories and night rituals taken care of, the group broke off into their assigned tents. Mindy had broken it down so that Jim and Jean shared a tent, Pete with Roy, Mike with Johnny, Kenny with Lee, Susie with Melanie, Linda with Allison, and Bobby with Joey. Mindy, the odd person out, was assigned to share a tent with the food and other items that couldn't be left out overnight. Since nobody relished the idea of sleeping in the tent where the skunk had explored, just in case it came back, Mindy was assigned that honor, as well.

"Alright, everyone get a good nights sleep tonight. There are some caves to explore about two miles from here so we want to get an early start. They are supposed to be pretty cool from what the rangers were telling us…isn't that right, Pete?"

"Yeah, they said that some people even swear that they are haunted." The conviction in Pete's voice made the girls squeal as the boys uttered words like 'cool', 'far out' and 'groovy.'

"Pete…you're supposedto be helping…not causing a stir amongst the natives." Mindy playfully chastised, as she walked toward her tent.

"Now Bear, you just get a good nights sleep and you and Jean can worry about the girls and the guys and I will take care of the boys."

Rolling her eyes, Mindy crept into her tent and rolled out her sleeping bag. She drifted off to a chorus of 'good nights' being heard throughout the camp.

**********

"Mindy…wake up…Wake up Mindy."As the blissfulness of sleep began to fall away, Mindy realized that she wasn't dreaming; someone was outside of her tent, whispering her name.

Grabbing her flashlight, Mindy unzipped the tent flap to find Mike kneeling down in front of it. "Mike? It's still the middle of the night…what are you doing?"

"I think we have a problem, Mindy."

"Huh? Is everything okay…did the skunk come back?" The sleepy fog was giving way to alertness as she spoke.

"No…but a couple of the kids snuck off into the woods together, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't to go 'snipe' hunting."

"Who?" Mindy inquired, figuring it was the two older boys, Kenny and Lee. They were probably going to try and make weird noises and frighten the girls, no doubt.

"I think it was Allison and Joey; I can't be sure though, it's kind of dark out here."

"Okay, let me check the tents and see who's missing and then we can go fetch them."

"You think maybe we should wake the others and let them know what's going on?" What he really wanted to ask was whether or not Mindy was going to wake Pete and have him help her look for the kids.

"No; not unless you don't want to help me go look for them?"

"No, I'll go…I just thought maybe you'd want Pete to go with you, since…." Mike let his voice trail off, sentence unfinished.

Mike couldn't see the frown on Mindy's face as she replied, "No…not really; I think we can find them on our own, so there's really no sense in waking everyone else. C'mon, let's go." As she climbed the rest of the way out of the tent and zipped it down, she couldn't help wondering why one minute Mike was exchanging shy glances with her and the next he was trying to throw her and Pete together. She pushed those thoughts aside and the two of them made quick work of checking the tents housing the juveniles. They quickly discovered that it was indeed, Allison and Joey that had gone for the stroll.

Quietly, Mike and Mindy headed off in the direction that the two had gone in. Mike leading the way, with Mindy close on his heels. When they had gone a few hundred feet, Mike stopped short and Mindy ran into him; with a very un-lady like thud, she fell on her backside. "Why in the hell didn't you say you were stopping?"

Caught off guard by the sudden impact, and the explicative question, Mike muttered, "Sorry about that. I think we lost them. I don't see them or their flashlight beams."

"Oh hell, if they turned off their flashlights, heaven only knows what those two are out here doing! C'mon, let's go a little further in."

Going a little farther, they came across a path that forked to the left and to the right. "Which way?" Mike questioned.

"I don't know, I've never been a horny teenager in the dark woods…." Mindy realized just what she was saying and who she was saying it to, and abruptly stopped short with her sentence. "Just pick one." She finally finished. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and was suddenly glad that the moon wasn't full and that Mike couldn't see her face. Mike himself was blushing at her words and was glad that he was in front of her and not behind her, just in case she stopped suddenly and turned around. Forking to the left, they found another path and headed down that one. Before long, they were lost, but hadn't yet realized it.

"What do we do now?" Mindy cast a questioning glance toward Mike as they now walked side by side, he holding her hand to keep her from falling on the twig-strewn path.

"Maybe we should head back and let Pete and the others know what's going on. Those two are probably lost out here." Mike suggested.

"Okay, lead the way." Mindy agreed.

The couple turned around and began to walk back in the direction that they had come, but in the dark, nothing looked familiar and they soon realized that they were lost.

"Uhm, Mindy…I think we should've been back at the camp by now; after all, it didn't take us this long to get this far into the woods."

"Oh hell, we're lost, aren't we?"

"It would seem so, from all points that I can see. Why don't we just find a nice big tree to sit against and wait for daylight? I'm sure we'll be able to find our way back before the others even know that we are gone."

"But what about Allison and Joey?" Mindy couldn't keep the panic out of her voice now. "Who knows what they may be doing out here in these woods…alone…together…" and quite possibly against HER will… Mindy's thoughts were running on overtime and she feared for the young girl that had been lured into the woods by the teenage boy. Stop it this instant, Mindy Dancer, those kids are fine…you're past has no bearing on what they may or may not be doing right now. They are good kids; for all you know they may just be…what…what the hell else would they be doing traipsing around the dark woods at night!

Willing herself to quit thinking like that, Mindy sat down next to Mike against a large tree trunk; suddenly the temperature in the woods seemed to have dropped ten degrees and Mindy shivered in the darkness.

Mike, sitting close enough to feel her shiver, placed an arm around her shoulder and drew her close to him, putting his other arm around her as well, and held her close to his chest. He could feel her stiffen up and chalked it up to the fact that they barely knew each other. "It's okay, Mindy…just trying to help you keep warm. The temperatures out here at night can drop fast and neither one of us thought to put a jacket on." A few moments later, she relaxed a slight bit, closed her eyes, and feeling 'safe' in Mikes' arms, she gently slipped her arms around his mid-section while thinking how 'right' that it felt to be held by and to be holding Mike. This was a new feeling for Mindy, and as she sat there, relishing in the safety of Mikes' arms she became sure that everything that was happening was nothing more than a dream and that at any moment, the alarm would startle her awake, shattering her blissful dream. So sure, was she, that it was just a dream, that Mindy tilted her face up towards Mike's, and when he looked down at her, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips as she mumbled goodnight.

Drifting off into a pleasant sleep, Mindy's eyes suddenly flew open, "OH Hell! I just kissed you…I am so sorry…I'm not like that…I don't just go around kissing on strange men!" She was rambling and she knew it, but try as she might, she couldn't stop herself, "I don't mean that you're strange, please don't think that; what I meant was…I meant…well…"

"Mindy," Mike quietly interjected, "It's okay…I…I didn't mind…really. I, uhm…well, I…I'm not going to lie to you…I, uhm…what I want to say, is that, I really enjoyed it, and I hope you aren't really sorry about it; I'd like to kiss you again…if that's okay with you, that is."

Mindy's eyes bugged out of her head at Mike's words. Her surprise was not from fear, but from anticipation of a kiss from this man that was holding her tight. This man that made her feel safe. This man that she had been stealing shy, schoolgirl like glances at, all day long, wanted to kiss her. This man, who was, at this very moment, invading her every thought and making her tremble with anticipation of what kissing him…really kissing him…would be like, wanted to kiss her…and she knew that she never wanted anything more than she wanted his kiss right then.

"Is it okay…if I kiss you?" Mike asked softly.

Knowing that he couldn't see her nodding her head, Mindy trusted that he would take her gesture of leaning upwards and towards him as the 'yes' that she was intending it to be.

Slowly, Mike lowered his lips hers and very gently, very tenderly, the two shared a breathtakingly real 'first kiss', before Mindy drifted off to sleep to the soft sounds of Mike's even breathing near her ear.

*********

"Hey, Bear…wake up." Pete was standing outside of Mindy's tent, trying to rouse the woman. I can't believe that she isn't already up and chomping at the bit to go hiking! He thought, as he called her name yet again. Still receiving no answer, he unzipped the tent from the outside and peaked in; Mindy wasn't there.

"Hmm…anyone see Mindy this morning?" Pete posed to the others that were sitting around the fire ring.

A round of 'no's' and 'huh-uhs' followed from everyone, just as Johnny and Roy came back into the camp from doing some early morning fishing.

"What's up?" Roy asked, seeing the concerned looks on everyone's faces.

"Mindy's not in her tent; was she at the stream with you guys?" Pete asked.

"No, she wasn't. Maybe she and Mike went for morning hike…he wasn't in the tent when I woke up this morning, either." Johnny put forth.

Pete looked at the group around the fire, "Anybody seen Mike?" He questioned.

Again, there was a round of 'no's' and 'huh-uhs'.

Studying the faces of everyone, Pete noticed that two of the teenagers wouldn't make eye contact with him. Walking over to them, he knelt down and addressed them. "Allison, Joey…have you two seen Mike and Mindy?"

Joey stared at the ground; Allison burst out crying, "We gotta tell him Joey…what if they're hurt!"

Jean, having seen how upset Allison was becoming, moved over beside the young girl and put her arm around her. "Shh…it's okay, Allison, just tell us whatever you know."

"Jo..Joey and I, well, we wanted to take a walk last night and we didn't think anyone would miss us."

"And?" Jean coaxed, gently.

"We waited until we thought everyone was asleep and then we snuck out of camp…only…" Allison stopped, sniffled, and looked at Joey, who took over where she had left off.

"Mike heard us and he went to get Miss Mindy. We got scared that we'd get into trouble, so while Miss Mindy and Mike were getting their flashlights and getting ready to come after us, we ducked into some brush and waited until they passed by…then we came back into the camp and went to our tents."

"Why didn't you holler at them and let them know you hadn't gone into the woods?" Roy asked.

Once again, Allison started crying, "Be…be..because….we didn't want to get into trouble."

"Yeah," Joey seconded, "we figured that when they didn't see our flashlight after a few minutes, that they would come back and check the tents and find us here…no harm, no foul."

"Joey, you really should have awakened one of us adults and told us what was going on. The woods are very dark and there are a lot of dangerous obstacles that are hard to see, even with a flashlight." Johnny admonished in a gentle voice.

Joey hung his head low, "I know, and I'm sorry…can we help go look for them?"

"I have a better idea; just inside the woods a ways, the path splits off into a fork." Pete began, "You kids stay here with Jean and start breakfast; Roy, you and Johnny head into the woods and to the west; Jim and I will go east."

"Gotcha, Pete." And "Will do" came from Johnny and Roy.

"Ready when you are, Pete." Jim said as he walked over to where Pete was standing, after giving Jean a quick kiss.

As they were heading into the woods, Pete heard another sniffle come from Allison; he stopped, turned around and went over to the young girl, "Allison, don't worry, we're going to find them. Mindy's no stranger to the woods and Mike is trained to handle emergencies. I'm sure they're fine…they probably just got turned around and figured it would be better to settle down for the night rather than try and find their way out." He put his arm around the girl and gave her a slight hug. She smiled timidly up at him and nodded her head in understanding.

Pete, along with the other three men headed off into the woods and split off into the two different directions.

*********

"Hey, Mindy…wake up, it's morning." Mike whispered gently into Mindys' ear. They had both fallen asleep, clinging to each other for warmth against the cool night air. The morning air still held a bit of chill, but with the rays of the rising sun shooting through the forest trees, the chill promised to burn off quickly.

Opening her eyes slowly, Mindy tilted her head up and gazed up into Mike's hazel colored eyes and smiled slowly. She felt so totally safe with him and, though she was glad that daylight was with them, and that they could continue their search for Allison and Joey, a part of her wished that they could linger just a little longer. Sighing quietly, "As much as I'd love to sit here a while longer, we'd probably better set out and find Allison and Joey."

"I have a feeling that those two are probably back in the camp by now. I really do think we would have seen a flicker of light from their flashlights last night if they were still in the woods."

"Ya think they doubled back when they figured they were being followed?"

Mike shrugged slightly, "I figure if I was a kid and didn't want to risk getting caught and getting into trouble, I'd turn off the light and lay low until the search party passed by; then I high tail it for home before anyone knew I was gone."

"Hmmm; you may be right about that. They really are good kids, and I can see both of them realizing their error of bad judgement and turning around to head back. What I don't understand, though, is why not just get our attention and walk back with us?"

Mike had to laugh at that musing, "Well, think about it…like you said, they're just kids and they probably thought they'd be in trouble for leaving the camp to begin with. Besides, if they'd gone back with us, all of us would be lost right now, not just you and me!"

Laughing along with Mike, "I guess you're right about that. C'mon, let's get up off of this cold ground and find our way back to camp; I imagine they know that we're missing, by now."

Walking side by side, Mike reached out and took Mindys' hand into his. As they headed back the way they thought they had come, they met Pete and Jim on the path.

Pete, seeing that they were holding hands, exchanged a sly smile with Jim and then cocked a questioning eyebrow at Mindy, as a smile spread across his face. "Well there you two are. You didn't like the comfortable accommodations offered at the camp so you decided to sleep in the woods?" He questioned with grin.

"Never mind that, Pete…Did Allison and Joey make it back to camp?" Mindys' voice was tinged with worry.

"Oh yeah…they never made it farther than just inside the woods. Seems they realized they were going to be followed so they hunkered down until you two were past them and then they doubled back. I'd be willing to bet they both slept just fine, all snug in their sleeping bags."

"Uhm…how'd you two sleep?" Jim questioned with smirk.

"With our eyes closed!" Mindy deadpanned at him, earning a round of laughs.

The four made their way back toward the camp and met up with Johnny and Roy at the fork where they had split up.

"Well, well, well…don't you two know better than to go traipsing off into the dark woods by yourselves? Just what were you two doing out there all night, anyway?" Johnny questioned, with a humorous undertone, when he saw Mike and Mindy holding hands.

"Looking for your axe murderer." Mike offered as he and Mindy continued to walk hand in hand.

Johnny just stood there, with his mouth open, watching the retreating figures, until Roy slapped on the back and said, "Let's go, Pally, before we get separated and lost in the woods…and don't expect me to hold your hand!"

"Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Roy just laughed at his partner as he followed him back to the camp.

Arriving back at the camp, Mike and Mindy found themselves surrounded by curious teenagers wanting to know what it was like to be out in the spooky woods all night long. It didn't escape their notice that Allison and Joey were not amongst the questioning teenagers, and after answering their questions, Mindy made her way over to where Allison and Joey were helping Jean with breakfast preparations.

"Jean, why don't you take a walk with your hubby; I'll finish up fixing breakfast." Mindy offered. She wanted a chance to talk freely with the two teenagers, in a relaxed setting.

"Oh…okay, thanks." Jean caught the message that Mindy was conveying and quickly hurried off to where the others were standing. Mindy watched as she embraced Jim and whispered something in his ear before taking his hand and walking toward the stream.

Turning her attentions back to fixing breakfast, Mindy paused, "Allison, Joey…thanks for helping out with this."

"Your welcome, Miss Mindy." They offered, in unison.

"Miss Mindy?" Allison spoke.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"I'm…well…we're sorry."

"Yeah, Miss Mindy, we're really sorry." Joey added. "We didn't want anyone to go out there and get lost. We were just gonna take a little walk, but when Mike saw us leave, we decided to hide until you already went passed. Then we went back to camp and figured that you guys would come back when you didn't see us anywhere. We didn't mean no harm, honest we didn't." The youths' voice was low and he sounded on the verge of tears. Allison was already sniffling and had tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I know you didn't mean any harm; I'm just glad that the two of didn't get out there and get lost…those woods are kind of spooky at night." Mindy smiled at the two youths and continued to work on breakfast. She could tell, just by their actions, and their words, that they had learned a powerful lesson.

"Well, ain't you even gonna yell at us for doing that? And for causing you and Mike to have to sleep outside all night long in the dark woods?" Joey asked, incredulously.

Mindy knew that Joey had been removed from a home with a physically abusive father and that he fully expected to be reprimanded to the highest degree for his actions in last evenings' farce. He'd been at McLaren Hall for three months already and was still expecting to be knocked around when he did or said something that, in the past, would have earned him a beating.

"Joey, I don't think I need to yell…or to hit, in order to make sure that you and Allison know that your actions could have caused someone, including yourselves, to be hurt. I think the fact that you realize that, and that you are remorseful for those actions, speaks volumes. Now, how about you two go round everyone up and tell them that breakfast is ready.

"Okay, Miss Mindy." As Allison and Joey headed toward where the others were gathered, Joey stopped and turned around, "Thanks, Miss Mindy." He then turned, and followed Allison.

"Your welcome, Joey." Mindy whispered in a barely audible voice. She had a lump forming in her throat. I think he's finally coming around.

The entire ensemble gathered around and loaded their plates with bacon, scrambled eggs and hash browns, as well as good, old fashioned campfire toast that had been toasted over the coals by laying the bread directly onto the hot grate. The adults drank coffee and the kids had hot chocolate to go with their breakfast.

After they ate, they all pitched in to clean up the breakfast dishes and straighten the camp before leaving on their hike towards the caves that they were going to explore. As they had the previous day, they walked two by two, with Pete leading the way and Mike and Mindy bringing up the rear. Traipsing through the heavily wooded area, they sounded like a group of magpies as they walked and chattered. It was like music to Mindys' ears.

The two-mile hike to the caves took a little over forty-five minutes on the uneven terrain. They stopped for a few minutes about half way so that the kids could have a few moments to rest. The adults needed the break as well.

Once they arrived at the caves, Pete proceeded to tell them that they had to stay together as a group and that they were not to, under any circumstance, break off from the group to go exploring any of the side shoots of the cave. With that detail taken care of, Pete stepped towards the entrance of the cave and stopped. He thought that maybe Mindy would like to lead this expedition so he hollered, "Bear!"

The girls screamed, turned and ran the direction they had just come from; the boys weren't far behind. Pete stood there, in disbelief, as he realized that everyone, including the adults, had run away.

"Hello?" He bellowed, "Why am I the only one left standing here?" The retreating figures stopped and turned around at Pete's inquiry.

Realizing the mistake that had been made, the group slowly made their way back toward where Pete stood, all by himself, at the cave entrance. The questioning look on his face was absolutely priceless. "I give," he said. "What'd I miss?"

"Pete, you really don't know why everyone ran?" Jean asked, through fits of laughter.

"No, I don't know why everyone ran. All I did was holler for…oh…I hollered 'Bear'…at the entrance of the cave…bears live in caves sometimes…you all thought I saw a bear…" Even Pete had to see the humor in the mistake and collapsed in a fit of laughter. Everyone joined in and it took several minutes for the group to regain their composure.

Once the group re-gathered, Pete turned to Mindy, "Would you like to lead us in this little expedition?"

"Oh, uhm, I don't think I need to do that Pete…you make such a fine leader and you haven't led us astray, yet." Mindy choked out in a barely audible voice, making everyone wonder what was bothering her all of the sudden. Oh God, I can't go into that cave…that small, dark, closed in cave…no lights, only one way out…I can't do it, I can't do it. Mindy could feel her heart pounding fast in her chest as she bit back the fear of going into the cave.

"Okay, then; I'll do it…Mindy, are you okay?" He noticed that she had become awfully pale and her voice suddenly sounded strange.

Mindy nodded her head…and then just as quickly, she shook her head from side to side as a big, alligator tear slid down her cheek. "Mindy…what's wrong?" Mike asked as he gently touched her arm, causing her to practically jump out of her skin.

Suddenly it dawned on Pete what the problem might be. Mindy was associating the small, dark closeness of the caves' interior with the feeling of being trapped in her bedroom with Jake Spradlin, in the dark and unable to escape. "Mindy…you don't have to go in there. I know you don't like the dark. We'll take the kids in…you stay out here and watch for bears, okay?" Pete tried to keep his tone light.

Mindy offered a tearful, yet thankful smile to Pete and shook her head in agreement as Mike spoke up, "I'll stay out here you, Mindy."

"Mike you really don't have to; I'm fine, really; but thanks just the same."

"Why don't you want to go in there, Miss Mindy?" Susie asked.

"Dark places just kind of creep me out and I really did think I'd be okay to go in there…until the time actually came to go in there. You all go on and enjoy the cave; I'll sit out here and wait."

"You heard the lady," Pete piped in, "everybody get their flashlights turned on and let's head on in." Everyone followed Pete into the recesses of the cave, leaving Mindy behind to keep watch.

"Now watch your step." Pete cautioned the group as they delved deeper and deeper into the cave. He could hear the group behind him as they oohed and ahhed over the stalagmites sticking up on the ground all around them. When they came to an area that was heavily populated with stalactites hanging from the ceiling, Pete stopped so that the kids could safely inspect natures' beautiful formations on the cave floor and ceiling.

"Why are there icicles growing up out of the ground?" Linda asked, to nobody in particular.

"Those are called stalagmites." Roy supplied. "They look like icicles, but they are formed from lime deposits that have dripped down from the ceiling. The ones on the ceiling are called stalactites."

"These are really cool!" Mused, Lee.

"Can we touch them?" Inquired Bobby.

"Sure…just don't try to break them off or anything." Johnny answered.

Once again, the teenagers were enthralled with what they were seeing. "I wish Miss Mindy would have come in here and seen this too…she would have liked it, I think." Melanie stated.

I wish Miss Mindy would have came in too, thought Mike, to himself. I would have made sure that she felt safe in the dark.

"Hey Pete, what's that squealing sound?" Jim asked. The squealing seemed to be coming from farther in.

"I don't know; it's coming from a little deeper in. Anyone want to investigate?" Pete's question was met with several enthusiastic 'yeahs', and a few not too enthusiastic responses from the girls. "I promise that we won't go much farther in." Came Pete's reply to the negative responses.

Jean reached out and touched Jim's arm, "Honey, maybe we shouldn't go any further."

"Awe, c'mon, Jean, where's your sense of adventure?" Jim asked as he put his arm around his wife.

"My sense of adventure is kind of scared of all of that squealing, Jim."

Everyone froze and time seemed to stand still as they noticed that the squealing had become more and more prevalent.

"Uhm, Pete…" Johnny began, "I think maybe we had better turn around and head back towards the camp."

"What is that sound? I know I have heard it before; I just can't…" Jean started to voice, and when it dawned on her, Jean let a scream, causing a chain re-action out of the girls "BATS!"

The entire group turned back toward the area they had just come from and were hurrying towards the entrance of the cave. They could hear the squeals right on their tales. By some miracle, they all managed to spill out of the cave, without any of them having stumbled on the stalagmites on the cave floor. As they all dove toward the ground, Pete yelled, "BATS! Hit the ground, Mindy!" She was on the ground before he finished his sentence.

The bats flew in circles a few times and then zoomed back into the cave. A few flew off into the wilds.

"Oh my gosh…what did you guys do in there? I have never seen so many bats in my life!" Mindy exclaimed.

"We didn't do anything!" Pete answered defensively. "We just happened to happen upon a bat convention."

"Holy Smokes, Pete…do you suppose Batman and Robin are in there heading up the convention?" Jim choked out and then collapsed in a fit of laughter at his own cleverness. Everyone else laughed, as well. Pete rolled his eyes and wondered how he'd ever let himself be talked into this.

Everyone cautiously arose from the prone positions on the ground. It was pretty much a unanimous decision that they had all seen enough of the caves, so it was decided to head back towards camp and spend a relaxing afternoon and evening. The boys, young and older, alike, were looking forward to catching more fish for dinner, while the girls talked of wanting to do some more swimming before they had their evening meal.

Dinner that night proved to be a veritable feast of freshly caught trout. Mindy had prepared several foil packs of potatoes and carrots to go with the fish. Jean had baked a batch of brownies before leaving the house, so they had those for dessert.

"Hey Mindy?" Mike ventured, as he helped her clean up after dinner.

"Yes, Mike?"

"Uhm, when Roy and Johnny mentioned this outing, I uhm…well, I began to think about one of the fun hobbies that I had as a kid. My family did a lot of camping and one of my favorite things to do after dinner was to sit around the fire and carve wood. I have several pocket knives with me…if I supervise the kids, would it be okay if I shared the art of woodcarving with them…if they're interested, that is. I wouldn't expect them to participate if they didn't want to." Mike met her eyes briefly and then looked toward the ground.

Mindy could tell, just by the look on Mikes' face, that this was something that really meant a lot to him; it was something that he wanted to share with the kids. In that instant, Mindy felt herself drawn just a little closer to the kindhearted man standing in front of her. She smiled at him, "I think that's a wonderful idea, Mike. Thank you for wanting to share that with them." Mindy reached out and gently touched his hand.

Mike blushed at her expression of gratitude. "Do you want to ask them, or should I?" He asked uncertainly.

"No, you go ahead. I'll finish up here."

Mike went about asking if anyone would be interested in learning to carve something out of wood; the two younger boys, Bobby and Joey, quickly jumped on board, as did Allison and Linda, the younger of the four girls. Jim and Johnny expressed an interest, as well, though Mindy had a sneaking suspicion that their show of interest was more in the form of providing a couple of extra adult hands to handle the four kids.

Pete and Roy rounded up the two remaining boys, Kenny and Lee, and went fishing, while Jean and Mindy took Melanie and Susie swimming.

As the late afternoon sun went down, the group re-convened around the campfire to go over the plans for breaking camp the next day. They also took a few minutes to re-hash and laugh about all of the funny mishaps and incidents that had taken place over the past two days. The kids all took a turn telling about their favorite part of the camping trip, thus far, and everyone took the opportunity to admire the various carvings of wood that the four teenagers had created under Mike's skilled tutoring. Mindy was impressed that, other than a few blisters on the girl's hands, and one or two splinters that had been imbedded into Joey's and Bobby's skin, no one had seriously hurt themselves with the pocketknives. She would have put money on an accidental cut or two.

With blisters and splinters tended to, the group took care of nighttime routines and then settled around the campfire for yet another spooky tale. This time, though, Johnny led them in a round robin spook story. He began the tale, and then each person took a turn adding to it. They went around the campfire, each taking several turns, until they had a story worthy of a true Hollywood spook story.

As the moon rose high in the sky and the fire began to die down, one by one the kids sauntered off to their respective tents, leaving the adults behind. Mindy had wanted to find an opportunity to express her thanks to them, and this moment of quietness, with only the crackling of the fire, and the soft sounds of the wooded night as backdrop, gave her that opportunity.

"I want to thank all of you for making this weekend possible for these kids. They have all had so much heartache and grief to deal with in their young lives, and I can't begin to tell you how much this has meant to them. You've shown them that there are people, virtual strangers even, that really do care about them. You have given them hope by coming into their lives at a crucial time; a time when many of them no longer trusted any adult, anymore. But you guys took time out of your busy schedules, out of your own lives, and came out here to be with them. You all have given them a reason to trust again. You've shown them that it's okay to reach out and to open up; that someone is going to be there for them to lean on when things don't look so good. I can't begin to express to you what that means…not only to them, but to me as well." Tears were streaming from Mindy's eyes as she spoke. Had the fire been a little brighter at that moment, she would have seen that there wasn't a dry eye to be found around that campfire.

Clearing his throat, Pete was the first to speak, "Mindy, you don't have to thank us. We did it because we wanted to. We believe in what you're trying to do; if we didn't, we wouldn't be out here."

One by one, each person acknowledged and made similar declarations, leaving a lump in Mindy's throat, and more tears streaming down her cheeks.

With the campfire nearly burned out, the adults stood up and began heading off to their respective tents. Mindy, not really all that tired, decided to go gaze at the stream under the moonlit sky. After a few minutes, only Pete and Mike were left around the campfire; both lost in their own thoughts.

"Pete?"

"Yeah, Mike?"

"You and Mindy aren't…well, you know…you two aren't dating or anything like that, are you?"

"No…we're just good friends, Mike; why do you ask?" Pete knew why Mike was asking; he would have had to be blind to not see how Mindy looked at Mike, and how Mike looked back at Mindy.

"Well, I just thought that maybe I'd like to ask her out sometime and I didn't want to do that if you and she were involved at all."

"Well we aren't, so I think that you should ask her out. But Mike, if you do go out with her, tread lightly. Mindy has had a lot of hurt in her past that she is still working through."

"Can you tell me about it? The last thing I want to do is say or do something that is going to cause her any distress."

"No Mike, I can't. I only know what she has told me, in confidence, and I can't and won't break that confidence. I can tell you that when she feels comfortable enough with you, she will open up to you. Just don't push her, though. Let her open up in her own time. You won't be sorry; she's a wonderful woman, Mike."

"I can already tell that…just by how she handles these kids." They sat quietly for a few more minutes before Mike spoke again. "I think maybe I'll go take a gander at that moonlit stream myself."

Pete smiled in the darkness and then said, "Hey Mike?"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"Just a little heads up for you…she likes to star gaze…her favorite constellation is the Little Bear." With that, Pete stood up and headed towards his tent.

Mike made his way to the stream where he found Mindy, sitting quietly and looking up at the stars. Being careful not to startle her he said her name quietly as he approached her.

"Mindy? Is it okay if I join you?"

"Sure, Mike…pull up a rock and have a seat."

Mike sat down on the rock next to the one that she was sitting on. In the darkness, he reached out and gently took her hand into his, giving it a little squeeze. "The stars are sure pretty."

"Yeah, they are. It's so clear out here…look, there's the little bear…it's my favorite." Mindy supplied

Mike brought her hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. "That's what a little birdie told me."

"Hmmm…let me guess, Pete the Parrot?" Mindy laughed.

Mike laughed, "I don't think I'd call him that to his face."

"No, I don't suppose you would; but I would…and I'd get away with it." She had a wicked grin on her face that caused Mike to chuckle.

They sat quietly for a few moments before Mike broached the subject that was foremost on his mind. Though he'd heard it from Pete, that he and Mindy were just friends, before putting his feelings on the line, Mike needed to hear it from Mindy, too.

"You two are pretty close, aren't you?" Are you interested in him, romantically? Was the question that Mike really wanted the answer to.

"Yeah, we're pretty good friends. He's been there for me through a couple of tedious situations. I couldn't ask for a better friend. He doesn't question…and he doesn't judge. He just accepts and offers support, when it's needed…but, he's not my type, Mike." A few silent moments passed. "Does that answer your unspoken question?"

A slow smile spread across Mike's face as he turned and leaned towards Mindy for a kiss. "Yeah, it does. Would you like to go out to dinner sometime this coming week?"

Mindy nodded her head enthusiastically. "I'd like that very much."

"Me too."

They sat for a few more minutes before Mindy said, "I guess it's getting late. We probably should be getting back."

"Yeah, we probably should."

They both got up and started for camp, holding hands. At the entrance of Mindy's tent, Mike took her in his arms and gave her a lingering kiss, "Sweet dreams, Mindy Dancer; I'll see you in the morning."

"I'm sure they will be, Mike; I'm sure they will be. Goodnight."

Mindy stepped into her tent, her mind going ninety miles a minute. She couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she lay down and drifted off to sleep. It had been a grand weekend, not only for the kids, but for her as well.

The End

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read and review this story. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I hope that you have enjoyed the story, along with the slight twist that Pete doesn't always get the girl. Future stories, if any, involving Mike and Mindy, will be posted in the Emergency section of the fan fiction site.