Page 81 of Grown-Up Second Chance

“No,” the man said. “The lady came too close to save us. We were wrong. She was not. No ticket for her.”

Duane looked up at the tourist. “It’s not for you to say. I’m the ranger here. Go pay your ticket.” He was sounding irritated.

“It would have been a lot more paperwork if they’d been gored,” Joe said. “And on your watch too.” He moved to one side of the ranger, glancing at the father.

“She saved our lives. No ticket.” The father moved to the other side of Duane.

The ranger glanced from one man to the other.

The lady and her two children arranged themselves next to me.

“No ticket,” the mother said firmly.

Duane looked around, his mouth firm with determination.

“No ticket,” a soft voice said.

He looked at the little girl beside me, and his shoulders dropped. After putting his pen in his shirt pocket, he closed the cover of the ticket book, then stuffed it in a back pocket. With a sigh, he extricated himself from our little group. Two steps away he turned back. “Stay away from the animals!”

“We will,” Joe said with a friendly wave. Then Joe turned to the group.

“There once was a woman named Di

Who made a park ranger cry.

She acted illicit

But tore up his ticket

And bid the poor ranger goodbye.”

The family looked bewildered as he took a bow.

“And that’s what you’ve been thinking about this whole time?” I asked.

“Not entirely. It kind of went on in the background.”

I shook my head as Bug came up to us.

“What’s going on?” Bug asked.

“Nothing important,” I said. “Where were you?”

“Using the facilities,” he said. He looked at his father, then at the small family. “Nice to meet you?” he said to them.

They nodded.

“Your mother saved our lives,” the father said.

“She’s not my mother,” Bug said with a frown.

“Okay. But she saved our lives.” The father took my hands. “We will forever owe you. You come to our country, and you see us. Okay.” It was a statement, not a question.

He handed me a business card, then held out his hand to his children. As they walked away, the small girl turned and waved at me.

I waved back, the ache in my heart making itself known.

“Well, that was interesting,” Joe said as we walked toward the Mammoth Springs Trail.

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