Page 46 of Always

“How’s your dad doing?” Anika asked Marco.

“Better,” Marco said. “Much better. He’s been swimming in the mornings again.”

“That’s fantastic,” Anika said.

“If he’s up to it, we should all go out to dinner together, next weekend or the one after. He wants to see you.”

“I’d love to,” Anika said. “But remember that the weekend after next is the Red Line dinner for this year’s graduates.”

Marco grimaced slightly.

“What?” Anika said. “You don’t want to go?”

“Of course I do!” Marco insisted. “Anything to see you dressed up all fancy.”

“It will just be us two,” Anika said. “My father and sister don’t tend to come to anything with the students. Oh, and Gwen and Hannah and Calvin, of course.”

“I’ll be there,” Marco promised.

Nobody talked much as they ascended the last portion of the hike, which involved a short scramble over a stretch of broken rock and boulders, and then a traverse across a smooth rock face, not steep at all, and then the final climb to the large, flat basin containing Lake Poheto.

With the final push complete, they all spread out over the sun-warmed rocks to catch their breath and admire the slate gray lake, ringed round with evergreen trees and lichen-speckled boulders. Anika and James passed out the water bottles and snacks. Blaine devoured his portion in minutes, and Anika kindly gave him her trail mix as well.

“What a slog,” Blaine said. “But it is pretty, after all.”

“I’m impressed you made it,” Gwen said, sounding surprised.

“I can do things!” Blaine said, cheerful now that he only had a descent to look forward to.

Gwen took a few photos of a moose on the far side of the lake, and an osprey fishing in the water, and the various members of their group as they rested or ate. While the others were still recovering, Hannah became bored and started climbing around on the rocks. She was full of spirits, and a bit impatient with James who was being dull, looking quietly at the water.

“Catch me!” she called from the top of a boulder.

When James ignored her, she said, “Think I can jump to that one over there?”

“Be careful,” James said. “I don’t want to have to—"

But even before he had finished his sentence, Hannah had leapt to the next rock over. The jump was successful, but as she turned around to crow about it, her foot slipped on the moss and she tumbled backward off the rock.

They all yelled and jumped up, running over to her.

Anika was first there, because she was closest. Hannah was laying at the base of the boulder, her elbow scraped and oozing blood, her forehead dirty and twigs in her hair.

“Are you alright?” Anika asked breathlessly.

“Of course!” Hannah tried to say, but as she attempted to get to her feet, her left leg crumpled under her and she fell back down again, tears springing to her eyes.

“Don’t try to get up,” James said, kneeling down beside her with his hand on her back.

The blood was starting to run down Hannah’s arm from her elbow. Anika saw that James’s face was very white. She remembered that he had a bit of a phobia about blood.

“What should we do?” James asked Blaine.

“I’m not sure,” Blaine said, flustered by everyone turning to look at him. “I’m a dentist, not a doctor!”

“We could call for a medivac or something,” Gwen said. “Like those helicopters that pick up skiers?”

Gwen was also looking quite frantic, not at all like her usual composed self. For all their differences, the sisters were very fond of one another, and Anika guessed that as the elder of the two, Gwen particularly disliked seeing her baby sister in pain.

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