CHAPTER SEVEN
After a quick supper at a local diner, the boys finally hit the sleeping bags around midnight. Too tired to put up the tent, they crashed in and around the van. Keith was told to sleep inside while Danny and a sullen Chris slept outside nearby, warm enough in the down bags for a chilly March night.
Morning brought the warmth of the sun again and Danny stirred to find Chris already awake and neatly folding his sleeping bag.
"You talking to me, yet?" Danny sat up.
"I haven't decided. I'll let you know." Chris muttered.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Look, I didn't mean to make you mad. It was just a joke."
Chris didn't respond; he was busy tying the bag down, and Danny squirmed out of his. The morning chill hadn't quite worn off yet, and he shivered.
"How's Keith?"
"I don't know. I just got up."
Danny glanced toward the van. Keith had protested their insistence in his sleeping in the back seat, and he wouldn't have been surprised if they found him out there with them. "I'm gonna get my jacket. Want yours?"
"Sure." Came Chris's curt answer.
Danny shook his head. This was going to be one long drive north if Chris kept up THAT attitude. He went to the van and opened the back door. Keith wasn't there, and though that didn't surprise him, it did worry him just a bit.
"He's gone."
Chris looked up. "What?"
"He's not here."
Dropping his rolled bag, Chris peered over Danny's shoulder, then dashed around to the other side of the van. Danny followed, half-expecting to see Keith in his sleeping bag in deep slumber, but he was immediately disappointed.
"Where could he have gone?" Chris's face reflected concern.
"Maybe he had to pee, I don't know." Danny shrugged, just as confused as his brother.
Chris opened the door and looked around
at the messy insides. Keith's painkillers were lying on the seat, and the blanket he'd used was haphazardly tossed over the back of it. He swallowed.
"Think we should go looking for him?" He looked back at Danny.
"No, no sense in us all getting lost and missing each other. Let's just wait. He could be taking a walk."
"Okay, but let's not wait too long."
Danny patted his shoulder.
****
Keith shivered in his suede jacket. Amazed to find frost in the Mohave Desert, he looked around him, watching it glisten in the early morning sun. The boys should be up by now, probably worrying over his whereabouts AND talking to one another again. The final forty miles to Barstow had been painfully silent and Keith knew that he had to get them talking to one another once again, so he'd planned this little disappearance. He knew that in their concern for him, they would end up buddies again, like before.
He looked at his watch. He'd officially been 'gone' for half an hour. That would worry them just enough to begin talking again. He rested for a minute on a boulder, feeling the sun's warmth as it slowly penetrated the jacket. It was a welcome feeling. All he needed, now, was to catch a cold.
He sat there, waiting until he was sufficiently warmed, then decided to start back. Pushing up off the boulder, he began the short hike back to the van.
Sitting on his bedroll, Danny watched Chris pace. The younger boy was almost frantic, but trying to suppress it.
"He's okay, Chris."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. Calm down. If he's not back here in…ten minutes, I'll go looking for him. Now sit down; all this pacing's making me dizzy."
Chris glared at his brother. "He could be in pain, Danny. Don't you care at all?"
"Yes, I care! But you're too focused on the negative side…he could be…out fishing or something."
Chris gaped at him. "Fishing. Keith," he said.
"Why not? He took me fishing once. I remember, because we skipped school." He grinned. "He'd just read Huck Finn or something and I guess he wanted to try some of the adventures."
Chris's brow furrowed deeper. "I never knew that."
"That's because you were too young. It was before we started the band, when Mom was working at the bank."
The young doctor-drummer leaned against the van, looking interested, now and had, thankfully, stopped pacing. "Really? What happened?"
Danny chuckled. "I fell in the river and Keith had to save me. We lost our poles and the two fish we DID catch."
Chris smiled. "You actually caught something?"
"Besides a cold, you mean? Yeah, a couple of little trout, but they ended up back in the water where they belonged. It was great. I can still see Keith's face when he got me to shore. He was pretty worried. He gave me his jacket to keep warm. It smelled like fish, I smelled like fish…I tasted river water for a week."
Chris laughed, shaking his head. Looking up, he happened to catch a glimpse of Keith in the distance, walking towards them. "Here comes Keith!"
Danny jumped to his feet. "Think he's okay?"
"He'd better be!" He had to fight to keep from running to greet his brother. Danny was right behind him.
"Hi, guys," Keith smiled.
"Where the HELL have you been?" Chris exploded.
A little surprised at the normally mild-mannered Chris's reaction, Keith shrugged. "Went for a walk. Why?"
Knowing that the younger boy was out of expletives, Danny put a calming hand on Chris's shoulder, speaking gently to Keith. "We were…a little worried, that's all. You okay?"
"Couldn't be better. What do you say we hit the next diner for some breakfast and get on the road?" Keith took his hands out of his pockets, tossing the van keys to Chris. "Your turn to drive, I believe." And with that, he moved to the vehicle, leaving two very relieved boys in his wake.
"I told you. We're never gonna have any fun unless you lighten up!" Danny said to Chris from behind him.
"ONE of us has to have a sensible head on his shoulders, and, seeing as you couldn't even SPELL sensible, I guess that leaves me," Chris quipped back, and Keith smiled. At least they were talking again. He climbed into the back seat.
****
The Tehachapi Mountains imposed on their views as Chris drove the van due West. Why did he have the sinking feeling that this would be their next stop? He wanted to gun the motor and get around them as fast as he could, but Danny had to open his mouth
.
"Anybody in the mood for a hike?"
In the back seat, Keith had his guitar in his lap, strumming it softly. He stopped playing and looked up as Chris's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
"A hike?"
Danny swiveled in his seat. "Yeah. We
could walk our breakfasts off."
"How long of a hike?" Chris wanted to know.
Danny shrugged. "I dunno. A couple of miles. How about it?"
"Sure, why not?" Keith answered.
"Chris?"
"Well…"
"Oh, come on, don't be a stick in the mud," Keith prodded. "It's only two miles. You've done that on a round at the hospital!"
Chris's jaw tightened. "I know Danny and I can make it, I was just worried about you."
"Well, don't be, okay? Forget you're a doctor for once and just be my brother again!"
Keith's words, exasperated though they were, surprised him. Chris glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the look on his older brother's face. He smiled. "Okay, then, if that's the way you want it."
Keith grinned back at him, looking relieved as Danny turned back around to face the front.
It wasn't long before they found a hiking trail and parked the van just below it. While Danny searched for the compass, Keith stood looking at their surroundings. The worn, dirt trail looked rather steep as it wound upwards, finally disappearing into the woods beyond.
"Found the compass. Where's Chris?" Danny stood beside him, now.
"He said something about finding some walking sticks," Keith answered, his eyes still on the trail before them.
Danny followed his gaze. "Looks pretty steep, huh?"
Keith nodded. "Yeah, it does."
"Gonna be okay?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Keith nodded again, trying to sound carefree. He smiled at Danny's look. "We'll soon find out, huh?"
Danny gave his shoulder a squeeze. Keith had always been fairly active. On stage, he could run circles around the others in his band; guys 10 years younger! It was how he stayed so thin. Even back when the Family was touring, Danny noticed how Keith would manage to burn up a lot of energy. It worried Mom. She was always on him to eat, make sure he got plenty of sleep. But Keith was thin by nature, unlike Danny, who was on the stocky side. Sometimes, he, too, worried about his brother's slender frame. To Danny, Keith was always a little TOO slight. And now, with the cancer taking its toll on him, Keith was almost delicate, breakable, and Danny wanted nothing but to watch out for him. "I'm just worried about you, bro."
Keith waved him off as Chris appeared with three long, thick tree branches that he'd bared down into walking sticks. "Here, these will do," he said, handing them out.
"I feel like Mary, looking for my lamb," Danny muttered, eyeing the five foot branch in his hand.
Keith laughed as Chris rolled his eyes. "Did you get the compass?"
"Right here in my pocket."
"Okay, then, let's go," Chris started off, and his brothers followed suit.
The trail was, indeed, steep, and all three boys were puffing as they reached the pinnacle, where the path leveled out and went deeper into the trees. Both Chris and Danny kept their eyes on their older brother as he stopped at the level, leaning on his stick, trying to appear non-chalant.
"My leg muscles are wondering what the rest of me is doing," Danny winced, bending down to rub his calf.
"Yeah, you don't use 'em much, they'll get you," Chris nodded, watching Keith as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, still holding the stick. "How you doin', buddy?"
"Okay," Keith flashed a weak smile.
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm gonna take a breather," Danny limped over to an overturned log and whipped out his canteen.
"Good idea. We can get our second wind," Chris said, looking at Keith and following Danny's lead.
"Okay, okay, I get you. You want me to rest, I'll rest," Keith eased down onto the log, too.
They drank from the canteens that Chris had insisted they tie to their belts, and Keith squinted as he looked upward, focusing on the cloudless sky above them. It was a rich, azure blue with the sun peering out from behind the mountain peak just to the east of them. It was peaceful, calm and serene, and Keith would have been happy just to sit there forever, but Danny's voice broke the tranquility.
"Enough rest! Let's go!"
Chris scowled at him. "Who says we're rested?"
"That snake at the end of the log says!"
Keith and Chris whirled to see the fat snake as it slithered lazily toward them. All three boys got up quickly, their hearts pounding as one.
"What do we do?" Keith breathed.
"Back up slowly, then run like hell!" Danny bellowed, doing just that.
Nearest the snake, Chris trembled as he backed up. Feeling Keith right behind him, he kept stepping back, pushing gently on him until they both turned and sprinted off, trying to catch up to Danny, who by now, was just a distant memory.
They found him a good quarter mile down the trail, hands on knees and gulping in bucketfuls of air from his run. Out of breath themselves, Keith and Chris staggered up to him, moaning and coughing.
"Was…was that a rattler?" Chris gulped.
"I didn't hear a rattle…probably some harmless snake. I'm sure not gonna go back there and check!" Keith gasped.
Danny laughed. "I'm sure glad the girls and Mom weren't here to see that. We weren't exactly brave back there!"
"Yeah, well, no one has to tell them, DO THEY?" Chris asked.
"Not me," Keith shook his head.
"Me, either!"
Keith's chest heaved. "Let's just be grateful it wasn't another skunk!"
Chris's face split into a grin. "Oh, yeah, right. I remember that! You know, tomato juice still makes me break out!"
"Everything makes you break out," Danny slapped him, playfully.
Chris pulled a face at him as Keith took another quick drink from his canteen.
"So," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Do we go on, or are we gonna let one little snake scare us from finishing what we started?"
Chris shrugged. "I'm game if you are."
Danny nodded. "I'm in."
Keith grinned. "Okay, then. After you." He made a sweeping motion with his hand.
When it was obvious that the exertion was getting to be too much for Keith, Chris and Danny decided to head back. Not that Keith protested; he was just grateful they were letting him out of it gracefully.
All three boys were starving by the time they reached the log where the snake had appeared, and after a quick check of the area, Danny waved his brothers over. "All's clear. Let's break out the food."
Keith and Chris looked at one another. "I…think it's in the van," Chris said sheepishly.
"Not funny," Danny shook his head, holding his hand out. "Now fork it over."
"I'm serious, Danny. It's in the van." Chris took a seat on the log next to Keith.
Danny moaned, peering down toward the van, a good half mile below them. "Oh, great. Well, if you think I'm going back down there to get it and bring it back, you're insane."
"We'll just wait and eat it down there; not a problem." Keith tried to look cheerful. "I shouldn't take my painkiller without food, but…I'll be okay."
Danny looked nervous. "You…need a painkiller?"
Keith scrunched up his handsome face. "Yeah…my back's a little achy, but I think I can make it down there all right."
Danny studied his brother's expression, trying to fathom just how long it would take for him to go down, get the food and climb back up all the way with it. He also tried to gauge Keith's pain level. If it was serious, he knew his brother wouldn't make it very far without it being too difficult to walk.
Chris put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "I don't think you should try it, Keith. Walking too far with your back hurting is dangerous. You could end up back in the hospital." He looked at Danny. "You'd better go get the food. Either that, or we'll have to carry him down."
"How come you don't go get it?"
"This hike was your idea, remember?"
"Yeah, well, who forgot the stupid food?"
"Guys, guys…time out! Let's just all go down. It's not hurting that bad." Keith, in the middle of their feud, raised his hands.
Danny glared at his younger brother. "I'll go get the food," he said between his teeth.
"No! We'll all go." Keith looked at Chris. "It's only a little ache. If it gets too bad, I can always just take the damn pill."
"It'll make you sick," Chris warned.
Keith sighed. "At this point, I don't care. I'm hungry, tired, and dirty. I just want to eat, get to the next truck stop for a shower and catch a few winks. Now, come on." He pushed up off the log and began leading them back down the mountain.
After a quick supper at a local diner, the boys finally hit the sleeping bags around midnight. Too tired to put up the tent, they crashed in and around the van. Keith was told to sleep inside while Danny and a sullen Chris slept outside nearby, warm enough in the down bags for a chilly March night.
Morning brought the warmth of the sun again and Danny stirred to find Chris already awake and neatly folding his sleeping bag.
"You talking to me, yet?" Danny sat up.
"I haven't decided. I'll let you know." Chris muttered.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Look, I didn't mean to make you mad. It was just a joke."
Chris didn't respond; he was busy tying the bag down, and Danny squirmed out of his. The morning chill hadn't quite worn off yet, and he shivered.
"How's Keith?"
"I don't know. I just got up."
Danny glanced toward the van. Keith had protested their insistence in his sleeping in the back seat, and he wouldn't have been surprised if they found him out there with them. "I'm gonna get my jacket. Want yours?"
"Sure." Came Chris's curt answer.
Danny shook his head. This was going to be one long drive north if Chris kept up THAT attitude. He went to the van and opened the back door. Keith wasn't there, and though that didn't surprise him, it did worry him just a bit.
"He's gone."
Chris looked up. "What?"
"He's not here."
Dropping his rolled bag, Chris peered over Danny's shoulder, then dashed around to the other side of the van. Danny followed, half-expecting to see Keith in his sleeping bag in deep slumber, but he was immediately disappointed.
"Where could he have gone?" Chris's face reflected concern.
"Maybe he had to pee, I don't know." Danny shrugged, just as confused as his brother.
Chris opened the door and looked around
at the messy insides. Keith's painkillers were lying on the seat, and the blanket he'd used was haphazardly tossed over the back of it. He swallowed.
"Think we should go looking for him?" He looked back at Danny.
"No, no sense in us all getting lost and missing each other. Let's just wait. He could be taking a walk."
"Okay, but let's not wait too long."
Danny patted his shoulder.
****
Keith shivered in his suede jacket. Amazed to find frost in the Mohave Desert, he looked around him, watching it glisten in the early morning sun. The boys should be up by now, probably worrying over his whereabouts AND talking to one another again. The final forty miles to Barstow had been painfully silent and Keith knew that he had to get them talking to one another once again, so he'd planned this little disappearance. He knew that in their concern for him, they would end up buddies again, like before.
He looked at his watch. He'd officially been 'gone' for half an hour. That would worry them just enough to begin talking again. He rested for a minute on a boulder, feeling the sun's warmth as it slowly penetrated the jacket. It was a welcome feeling. All he needed, now, was to catch a cold.
He sat there, waiting until he was sufficiently warmed, then decided to start back. Pushing up off the boulder, he began the short hike back to the van.
Sitting on his bedroll, Danny watched Chris pace. The younger boy was almost frantic, but trying to suppress it.
"He's okay, Chris."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. Calm down. If he's not back here in…ten minutes, I'll go looking for him. Now sit down; all this pacing's making me dizzy."
Chris glared at his brother. "He could be in pain, Danny. Don't you care at all?"
"Yes, I care! But you're too focused on the negative side…he could be…out fishing or something."
Chris gaped at him. "Fishing. Keith," he said.
"Why not? He took me fishing once. I remember, because we skipped school." He grinned. "He'd just read Huck Finn or something and I guess he wanted to try some of the adventures."
Chris's brow furrowed deeper. "I never knew that."
"That's because you were too young. It was before we started the band, when Mom was working at the bank."
The young doctor-drummer leaned against the van, looking interested, now and had, thankfully, stopped pacing. "Really? What happened?"
Danny chuckled. "I fell in the river and Keith had to save me. We lost our poles and the two fish we DID catch."
Chris smiled. "You actually caught something?"
"Besides a cold, you mean? Yeah, a couple of little trout, but they ended up back in the water where they belonged. It was great. I can still see Keith's face when he got me to shore. He was pretty worried. He gave me his jacket to keep warm. It smelled like fish, I smelled like fish…I tasted river water for a week."
Chris laughed, shaking his head. Looking up, he happened to catch a glimpse of Keith in the distance, walking towards them. "Here comes Keith!"
Danny jumped to his feet. "Think he's okay?"
"He'd better be!" He had to fight to keep from running to greet his brother. Danny was right behind him.
"Hi, guys," Keith smiled.
"Where the HELL have you been?" Chris exploded.
A little surprised at the normally mild-mannered Chris's reaction, Keith shrugged. "Went for a walk. Why?"
Knowing that the younger boy was out of expletives, Danny put a calming hand on Chris's shoulder, speaking gently to Keith. "We were…a little worried, that's all. You okay?"
"Couldn't be better. What do you say we hit the next diner for some breakfast and get on the road?" Keith took his hands out of his pockets, tossing the van keys to Chris. "Your turn to drive, I believe." And with that, he moved to the vehicle, leaving two very relieved boys in his wake.
"I told you. We're never gonna have any fun unless you lighten up!" Danny said to Chris from behind him.
"ONE of us has to have a sensible head on his shoulders, and, seeing as you couldn't even SPELL sensible, I guess that leaves me," Chris quipped back, and Keith smiled. At least they were talking again. He climbed into the back seat.
****
The Tehachapi Mountains imposed on their views as Chris drove the van due West. Why did he have the sinking feeling that this would be their next stop? He wanted to gun the motor and get around them as fast as he could, but Danny had to open his mouth
.
"Anybody in the mood for a hike?"
In the back seat, Keith had his guitar in his lap, strumming it softly. He stopped playing and looked up as Chris's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
"A hike?"
Danny swiveled in his seat. "Yeah. We
could walk our breakfasts off."
"How long of a hike?" Chris wanted to know.
Danny shrugged. "I dunno. A couple of miles. How about it?"
"Sure, why not?" Keith answered.
"Chris?"
"Well…"
"Oh, come on, don't be a stick in the mud," Keith prodded. "It's only two miles. You've done that on a round at the hospital!"
Chris's jaw tightened. "I know Danny and I can make it, I was just worried about you."
"Well, don't be, okay? Forget you're a doctor for once and just be my brother again!"
Keith's words, exasperated though they were, surprised him. Chris glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the look on his older brother's face. He smiled. "Okay, then, if that's the way you want it."
Keith grinned back at him, looking relieved as Danny turned back around to face the front.
It wasn't long before they found a hiking trail and parked the van just below it. While Danny searched for the compass, Keith stood looking at their surroundings. The worn, dirt trail looked rather steep as it wound upwards, finally disappearing into the woods beyond.
"Found the compass. Where's Chris?" Danny stood beside him, now.
"He said something about finding some walking sticks," Keith answered, his eyes still on the trail before them.
Danny followed his gaze. "Looks pretty steep, huh?"
Keith nodded. "Yeah, it does."
"Gonna be okay?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Keith nodded again, trying to sound carefree. He smiled at Danny's look. "We'll soon find out, huh?"
Danny gave his shoulder a squeeze. Keith had always been fairly active. On stage, he could run circles around the others in his band; guys 10 years younger! It was how he stayed so thin. Even back when the Family was touring, Danny noticed how Keith would manage to burn up a lot of energy. It worried Mom. She was always on him to eat, make sure he got plenty of sleep. But Keith was thin by nature, unlike Danny, who was on the stocky side. Sometimes, he, too, worried about his brother's slender frame. To Danny, Keith was always a little TOO slight. And now, with the cancer taking its toll on him, Keith was almost delicate, breakable, and Danny wanted nothing but to watch out for him. "I'm just worried about you, bro."
Keith waved him off as Chris appeared with three long, thick tree branches that he'd bared down into walking sticks. "Here, these will do," he said, handing them out.
"I feel like Mary, looking for my lamb," Danny muttered, eyeing the five foot branch in his hand.
Keith laughed as Chris rolled his eyes. "Did you get the compass?"
"Right here in my pocket."
"Okay, then, let's go," Chris started off, and his brothers followed suit.
The trail was, indeed, steep, and all three boys were puffing as they reached the pinnacle, where the path leveled out and went deeper into the trees. Both Chris and Danny kept their eyes on their older brother as he stopped at the level, leaning on his stick, trying to appear non-chalant.
"My leg muscles are wondering what the rest of me is doing," Danny winced, bending down to rub his calf.
"Yeah, you don't use 'em much, they'll get you," Chris nodded, watching Keith as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, still holding the stick. "How you doin', buddy?"
"Okay," Keith flashed a weak smile.
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm gonna take a breather," Danny limped over to an overturned log and whipped out his canteen.
"Good idea. We can get our second wind," Chris said, looking at Keith and following Danny's lead.
"Okay, okay, I get you. You want me to rest, I'll rest," Keith eased down onto the log, too.
They drank from the canteens that Chris had insisted they tie to their belts, and Keith squinted as he looked upward, focusing on the cloudless sky above them. It was a rich, azure blue with the sun peering out from behind the mountain peak just to the east of them. It was peaceful, calm and serene, and Keith would have been happy just to sit there forever, but Danny's voice broke the tranquility.
"Enough rest! Let's go!"
Chris scowled at him. "Who says we're rested?"
"That snake at the end of the log says!"
Keith and Chris whirled to see the fat snake as it slithered lazily toward them. All three boys got up quickly, their hearts pounding as one.
"What do we do?" Keith breathed.
"Back up slowly, then run like hell!" Danny bellowed, doing just that.
Nearest the snake, Chris trembled as he backed up. Feeling Keith right behind him, he kept stepping back, pushing gently on him until they both turned and sprinted off, trying to catch up to Danny, who by now, was just a distant memory.
They found him a good quarter mile down the trail, hands on knees and gulping in bucketfuls of air from his run. Out of breath themselves, Keith and Chris staggered up to him, moaning and coughing.
"Was…was that a rattler?" Chris gulped.
"I didn't hear a rattle…probably some harmless snake. I'm sure not gonna go back there and check!" Keith gasped.
Danny laughed. "I'm sure glad the girls and Mom weren't here to see that. We weren't exactly brave back there!"
"Yeah, well, no one has to tell them, DO THEY?" Chris asked.
"Not me," Keith shook his head.
"Me, either!"
Keith's chest heaved. "Let's just be grateful it wasn't another skunk!"
Chris's face split into a grin. "Oh, yeah, right. I remember that! You know, tomato juice still makes me break out!"
"Everything makes you break out," Danny slapped him, playfully.
Chris pulled a face at him as Keith took another quick drink from his canteen.
"So," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Do we go on, or are we gonna let one little snake scare us from finishing what we started?"
Chris shrugged. "I'm game if you are."
Danny nodded. "I'm in."
Keith grinned. "Okay, then. After you." He made a sweeping motion with his hand.
When it was obvious that the exertion was getting to be too much for Keith, Chris and Danny decided to head back. Not that Keith protested; he was just grateful they were letting him out of it gracefully.
All three boys were starving by the time they reached the log where the snake had appeared, and after a quick check of the area, Danny waved his brothers over. "All's clear. Let's break out the food."
Keith and Chris looked at one another. "I…think it's in the van," Chris said sheepishly.
"Not funny," Danny shook his head, holding his hand out. "Now fork it over."
"I'm serious, Danny. It's in the van." Chris took a seat on the log next to Keith.
Danny moaned, peering down toward the van, a good half mile below them. "Oh, great. Well, if you think I'm going back down there to get it and bring it back, you're insane."
"We'll just wait and eat it down there; not a problem." Keith tried to look cheerful. "I shouldn't take my painkiller without food, but…I'll be okay."
Danny looked nervous. "You…need a painkiller?"
Keith scrunched up his handsome face. "Yeah…my back's a little achy, but I think I can make it down there all right."
Danny studied his brother's expression, trying to fathom just how long it would take for him to go down, get the food and climb back up all the way with it. He also tried to gauge Keith's pain level. If it was serious, he knew his brother wouldn't make it very far without it being too difficult to walk.
Chris put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "I don't think you should try it, Keith. Walking too far with your back hurting is dangerous. You could end up back in the hospital." He looked at Danny. "You'd better go get the food. Either that, or we'll have to carry him down."
"How come you don't go get it?"
"This hike was your idea, remember?"
"Yeah, well, who forgot the stupid food?"
"Guys, guys…time out! Let's just all go down. It's not hurting that bad." Keith, in the middle of their feud, raised his hands.
Danny glared at his younger brother. "I'll go get the food," he said between his teeth.
"No! We'll all go." Keith looked at Chris. "It's only a little ache. If it gets too bad, I can always just take the damn pill."
"It'll make you sick," Chris warned.
Keith sighed. "At this point, I don't care. I'm hungry, tired, and dirty. I just want to eat, get to the next truck stop for a shower and catch a few winks. Now, come on." He pushed up off the log and began leading them back down the mountain.