Page 25 of Trail to Trouble
“I’ll fry up the Italian sausage. We’ll each make our own pizzas, so you can put on yours whatever you wish,” he said.
From the cooler, Hannah pulled out the loaf of bread and butter, then retrieved the two pudgy pie makers from the supply box and explained to her friends how to make the pizzas.
“It’s easy peasy.”
The girls nodded.
“First things first, though,” Hannah said as she headed toward the pit toilet.
First, she inspected the seat for spiders. She didn’t really mind using an outdoor toilet, but didn’t want any surprises, either. All clear. She sat and quickly took care of business. As she rose and pulled up her shorts, she looked ahead to see her missing sunglasses attached to a tree, staring back at her. She yanked them off the tree.
“Hilarious ladies,” she yelled to her friends as she headed toward them.
“What?” Bianca asked.
“My sunglasses. Where did you find them?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Right. Then who put them on the tree facing the toilet?”
“It wasn’t me,” Bianca replied.
“Me either,” said Alyssa.
Hannah turned her gaze to Hunter and arched a brow.
“It wasn’t me. I was with you,” he replied defensively.
She bounced her gaze between the three of them. “You’re all serious?”
They all answered with nods.
“Where did you find them?” Hunter asked. “Show me.”
With the group in tow, she marched back to the pit toilet and then up to the small tree that had worn her sunglasses and pointed to the spot.
Hunter’s gaze dropped from the tree to the ground and pointed. “The vegetation is disturbed.”
He pinned his gaze on her. “Where did you stand when you retrieved them?”
She pointed, “Right there. I walked over from the toilet to here, then spun around and walked the same few steps back.”
Hunter circled the tree and studied the ground. Then he stopped and looked at Alyssa and Bianca. “So, neither of you did this?”
“No,” they replied in unison.
“Did the staff from the boat come back here at all?”
The two shook their heads.
“They just stocked the cooler and the woodpile, then left,” Bianca said. “Maybe the campers from the site we were on yesterday found them and brought them here,” Bianca added.
Hunter rubbed his chin with his hand. Simultaneously, his brows knit.
“Maybe, but likely they wouldn’t. Their guide would have had to bring them here, and then why wouldn’t they just put them on the table, and better yet, why wouldn’t they just send them with the staff on the motorized boat? It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Unless they just thought they were being funny,” Alyssa added.
