It began innocently enough, with layers and layers of interactions, opportunities and nods. Walt and Vic (or was it Vic and Walt?) had spent a lot of time together, not only at work, but outside of work. They weren't sure what to call it – it was more than friendship, but was still relatively undefined. They had been enjoying outings and meals that were unrelated to work. An unfortunate side effect of being a cop meant that they were never very far away from work. Even when they grabbed a quick meal at the Busy Bee, invariably someone would approach them to complain about a neighbour or ask for assistance with a vandalism problem or something like that. So when Walt and Vic had some time off, they would head to Sheridan to pick up some much needed supplies and enjoy a meal in peace. They weren't as well known in Sheridan. It was a rare pleasure for them to relax and just be two people doing something mundane together without the pressure of the call to duty. With the two recently hired deputies up to speed and well trained, it was now possible for the two of them to leave the county together from time to time. THAT was nice! It was at one of their lunches that Vic asked "how come we never do outdoor stuff together? I'm not totally useless outside of a jail, you know!"
Walt was a bit surprised by the comment. He and Henry had spent just about every minute of their childhood and young adult years in the outdoors, experiencing all kinds of activities like hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, horseback riding, fort building and had loved every minute of it. Their shared activities had made them close friends with the added benefit of Henry getting to know Walt's dad, and Walt getting to know Henry's grandmother. Each of the boys at that time, was missing that family member; Henry enjoyed the strong male influence of Walt's father and Walt enjoyed the quiet guidance and love of Henry's grandmother. Without being obvious about his views, Walt had pegged Vic as a city girl, based on what she had told him of her past, and on her fairly regular complaints about Wyoming weather, the woods, the roads, the trails, animals and outdoor spaces. "Gee Vic…um…sorry, I didn't think you liked the outdoors that much."
Vic glared at him over her BLT and said, reading his thoughts, "well, yeah, I am a bit of a city girl, but I kinda want to experience the outdoors more. Henry keeps telling me that I need spend time on the land in order for me to understand the people. That makes sense. Besides, it will help me get to know the places where people are always getting lost or are causing problems for us. You know, I wasn't that useful on that big search party for the missing kid last year. I hated being stuck on the sidelines operating the radio, when the rest of you got to go out there and have fun."
"Vic, it wasn't fun," Walt pronounced, thinking back to that time. "Henry and Omar and I spent something like 27 hours straight up in the Saddlestring Hills looking for that missing kid. I ended up with a big blister on my heel from a hole in my sock which made every step I took painful. Henry had his old knee injury flare up and Omar ate too many beans and drove us crazy with his sound and wind effects. Plus it was damn cold!"
Vic continued to stare at Walt. There was nothing like Vic when she wanted something. "My views have changed a bit lately, Walt. I'm feeling more settled here, as you know. But it's not enough for me to drive around responding only to the town calls. When someone talks about the weather up at Meadowlark, or mentions that the fish are biting at West Tensleep Lake, I want to know about those places. I think I'm ready now to get out there. Can we go to some of those places? Besides, this will be really good for me, even for the department."
Walt knew there could only be one answer for Vic. "Sure, Vic. We can do that. We could do some hiking and camping if you want."
Vic looked pleased and helped herself to one of Walt's French fries. She crammed the last of the BLT into her mouth, made a goofy face at Walt and put a ten dollar bill on the table. "Great! A hike would be awesome. Gonna need a good pair of boots, I guess. My work boots have steel toes and they make my feet ache, so can't wear those. Can we go look at boots while we're here? It's still a bit cold for hiking, but if I got the boots now, I could get them broken in over the next while." She caught her breath and waved her arm at the café window, as though speaking to the distant hills. "Ferg is going to take me fishing. And Henry said he'd take me out tracking some time. I want to experience it all. It bugs me that you guys get to have all the fun."
"Ok Vic. We'll see how much fun you have the next time we get one of those 3 a.m. callouts for a missing hiker." Walt looked at his watch. "It's only 1:30, Vic. A bit early in the day to be buying boots."
"What?" Vic looked puzzled and then gave him the classic eye roll. "Are you joking?"
"Nope. It's always best to buy boots later in the day after you've been walking around, and your feet have swelled a bit. The people at the store will tell you that you get a better fit that way, otherwise your boots may end up being too small. Your boots have to be roomy enough for any changes your feet go through when you are hiking, and you need to allow lots of room for your socks. Let's go get some groceries and hit the bank and then we can look at boots. You're gonna need some good socks too," Walt said with a grin, as he finished off his burger and fries.
"If you're yankin' my chain about this feet swelling business, your ass will be grass, cowboy!" Vic said with emphasis. Walt raised his left eyebrow, smothering a smile, as he drained his glass of iced tea.
After the bill for lunch had been settled, groceries purchased, utility and credit card bills paid and cash withdrawn at the bank, the pair moved down Main Street to Sheridan's biggest outdoor store, the Sporting Life.
Walt was never much of a shopper, with Martha or Cady typically making most of the decisions for him regarding clothing or household purchases, but he instantly felt comfortable being in THIS store. It had been a while since he'd been in, maybe last spring when he had picked up some ammunition and fishing lures. He enjoyed looking at the displays of fishing and hunting gear. "Over here," he said, pulling at Vic's sleeve, leading her towards the back of the store, where he had spotted the boot display.
They were left to themselves for a while as they looked at boots. Vic was drawn to the section of lightweight hybrid boots, made of nylon and gore-tex. Walt, being old-school, preferred his heavy leather boots that had taken forever to break in. Those heavy boots had served him well for many years, although there were very few of that type on display in the store. Vic was leaning towards the lighter boots that looked really comfortable.
"Can I help you folks?" asked a young man approaching from the front of the store. "I'm Jimmy. What kind of activity will you be doing in these boots?" Vic let out a small snort and smothered a hint of laughter. Walt looked away and started browsing at the sock rack nearby. "Um…hiking mostly," Vic recovered her voice. "I was sort of looking for a light-weight boot that would be easy to break in, and would keep my feet dry. What about this one," she said, holding up a boot that had caught her eye. "Do you have this one in a 7 ½?"
"Yes, I believe we have several sizes of this boot. It's a good thing you're trying on boots this late in the day. You'll get a better fit that way," Jimmy explained. He was met by a loud snort from Vic.
After a brief discussion on the merits of this boot versus that boot, Vic tried on three styles, eventually settling on a mid-weight pair of Merrells, sure she would be able to get used to them quickly. She could even wear them at work, which would help to break them in faster.
Walt ended up being surprisingly opinionated about socks. He was biased towards thick wool socks of course, since he wore them with his overly-heavy-difficult-to-break-in leather boots. It had been at least ten years since Walt had purchased boots or socks, and thus he was unfamiliar with all the new technical materials. Jimmy suggested a combination of a mid-weight synthetic sock for Vic, a Thermax, layered over a thin polypropylene liner sock. "The thin liner will help wick away moisture and the over sock will keep your feet warm and dry. But you should try different combinations with your new boots, and see what feels good to you."
Due to her lack of experience in these matters, Vic was somewhat indifferent about the technical specifications of the socks, thinking more of the convenience of washing and drying the socks after wearing them. She didn't think that she wanted to fuss with wool socks.
After selecting two sets of socks to go with her new boots, Vic looked over at Walt who was moseying toward the backpacking section nearby.
"Hey Vic. Do you have a good daypack?" Walt asked, thinking that he had only seen Vic with a shoulder bag, he thought for her laptop. "Look at these. I'll treat you to a new pack – look at this one with all these pockets and loops." He held up a North Face 'Borealis' daypack for Vic to see. It was a great looking pack with all the bells and whistles. It was navy and royal blue, with several small zippered pockets on the outside, which were useful for storing snacks, car keys and a cel phone. The inside of the pack had a secondary compartment for a light rain jacket, in addition to the main compartment. Walt pointed out the advantages of the mesh back, "Keeps your back dry when you sweat. And you can attach a bit of rope to a biner on those outside loops."
Vic put the pack on and liked how it felt. Walt tugged on it a bit at the back, pretending to be a load of gear. "How does that feel?" "It feels like someone's draggin' me down," Vic said with a laugh to Walt's smile.
Vic had no idea that hiking gear could be so complicated or expensive. She was grateful that Walt had offered to treat her to the daypack, even though they typically went dutch for everything they did together. Her small paycheque barely covered her rent and food and the boots were going to make a big dent in her savings account.
"I think we'd better stop shopping for now," she said with a grin. "I'm tapped out. And thanks a lot, Walt, for the offer of the daypack. If you're sure this one's not too expensive?"
"Nah, Vic, this one's really good. It fits you well and isn't too big, so you won't be tempted to overfill it. It's a good investment and besides, you can always use it for travel or day trips too. It will last you a long time."
It had been an expensive trip to Sheridan with Vic forking out a little over $ 300 for the boots, socks and three bags of groceries. The daypack had cost Walt about $130, but he was pleased that Vic was ok with his offer. In spite of some trepidation initially, he was now looking forward to trying out something different with Vic. He'd find a way to help her get a better rain jacket somehow. It bugged him that his deputies were paid so poorly, but now that he and Vic had gotten really close, anything he might try to do to increase her salary might be seen as inappropriate or biased. He wondered if Ruby could help him one day and they could look at how the salaries of Absaroka's deputies compared to other counties and maybe build a legitimate case for a pay raise for all of them.
They stopped for gas on the way home and Vic took this as an opportunity to put on her new boots. She was excited about her new purchases and the prospect of exploring the outdoors with Walt. "Hey, do you want a Slurpee? I'm gettin' one."
"What's a Slurpee? " Walt asked, looking puzzled. Vic rolled her eyes, "just pick a colour then, orange, green or red?" Walt wasn't sure what he was agreeing to. "Green, I guess," thinking of popsicles from his childhood. They walked into the 7-11 together, with Walt heading to the counter to pay for the gas while Vic walked to the Slurpee dispenser. She selected strawberry for herself and fake lime for Walt. "Mmm…this is good, Vic," muttered Walt as they left the store. He had a pleased look on his face. "That's right, these things aren't just for kids, you know!" Vic said with emphasis, looking at a grinning Walt.
It was a good three weeks before Walt and Vic had a chance to try their first hike. One of their new deputies, Warren, had to take a couple of days off for emergency dental surgery and this had messed up their schedules. Once Warren had returned to work, the carefully and discretely crafted schedule that allowed Walt and Vic to have most of the same days and nights off, could be reinstated. In the meantime, Vic had taken to wearing her new boots all day long. On her lunch breaks, she was often seen walking around the Town Square with her daypack filled with books 'practicing' her hiking. Walt smiled to himself as he watched Vic through their office window. She looked really happy out there and seemed pleased with the prospect of their first outdoor adventure together.