About ten minutes later, the path widened then opened into a clearing.
The three of us stopped walking, hanging back within the coverage of the tree line to scope the area. The shopkeeper had been correct.
There was indeed a cluster of old camp cabins scattered throughout the clearing.
They looked to be in disrepair, some missing windows or sections of roofing. There were no people in sight.
“I think it’s abandoned,” Heath said, the disappointment evident in his voice. “Looks like they haven’t been used since the CCC moved out of here last century. I’m sorry we came all this way for nothing.”
“At least we found it. At least we know.”
I was disappointed too, but I didn’t want him to feel bad for leading us here. We had to start somewhere, and now we could mark at least one spot off the list of potential locations for the Haven.
We walked from cabin to cabin, checking out their dusty interiors and rotting exteriors. If they’d been maintained, the old camp might have been an excellent location for a group of kids on the run to hide out.
As it was, though, the three of us couldn’t even consider staying the night here, which meant it was time to head back. The sun was already dropping in the sky.
We headed for the narrow trail again so we could backtrack to the private falls and then take the Dark Hollow Falls trail back to Skyline Drive.
As we hiked along, I mentioned something that had been bothering me since we’d come upon the abandoned campsite.
“The thing I don’t understand is why that trail back there even exists. The cabins obviously haven’t been used in many years—maybe even decades. So you’d think the trail would be unpassable.”
“Maybe there are others who’ve done the same thing we did—go looking for the old campground to see if it’s there,” Heath said. “Maybe enough people do it that they keep the path from growing over.”
“Maybe.”
I shot a longing glance at our secret waterfall as we passed it, but this time we kept going. None of us were experienced enough outdoorsmen to hike these woods after dark.
“My feet are tired,” Daniel announced. “I’m hungry, too. When can we eat?”
My stomach growled in response, reminded of its own emptiness.
“Soon,” Heath said. “Just keep walking. I’ll get a protein bar out of the pack for you.”
“Can we have pancakes for supper?”
Daniel’s high-pitched voice was so hopeful, I would have had a hard time telling him no, but Heath did.
“Sorry pal. Maybe we’ll get some tomorrow. Tonight, I think we’ll eat the MRE’s we brought along.”
“Yay! Soldier food,” Daniel said.
“We’re camping?” I asked.
“It’s up to you, but there are still a few more old campgrounds in the park to check out, and there’s no way we’ll get to them before dark.”
“Well we should definitely check them out tomorrow. You don’t want to go back to Charlottesville and get a room for the night?”
My pulse picked up speed as the words left my mouth. The idea of spending another night sleeping so close to Heath was nerve-wrecking. I wasn’t sure why.
I’d been with him all day. It shouldn’t make a big difference that the moon was overhead instead of the sun. It was just that sharing the same quarters at night seemed more… meaningful.
“I was thinking of a cabin,” he said. “There are some inside the park, not too far from here. A hotel in the city would require us to scan our new I.D’s. I think it’s a bad idea to leave a record of them in this area, in case someone is able to tie them to our old ones.”
“Is that possible?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t want to find out the hard way. I’d like to keep things on a cash-only basis as long as we possibly can.”
“I do have money,” I offered.
“You hang onto that. You might need it later. The cabins here are pretty reasonable anyway, according to this park guide.”
We emerged at the Dark Hollow trailhead and walked about half a mile to the visitor center. While Daniel and I used the restrooms, Heath went to talk to one of the volunteers.
He met me in the lobby with a smile on his face.
“We got a cabin?” I asked.
“We did. You can’t book rooms here at the visitor center, but the volunteer called the reservation line for me. It’s a good thing, too. They were almost all booked for tonight. It’s not too far,” he assured. “A hot shower and a bed await you.”
“That sounds so good. I don’t think I’ve ever walked all day long before.”
“Well, rest up tonight because we’ll probably do the same thing all day tomorrow—unless we get lucky and find the site on our first try. I asked the guy if he knew of any other old campgrounds that might not be on our map. He pointed out a few for me. Most likely they’ll be in the same condition as the one we found today, but it’s worth a try.”
“Absolutely. Did you ask if he’d seen any teenagers hanging out in the park?”
“No. I thought about it, but I was afraid of raising suspicion. He did say something interesting, though, now that you mention it.”
“What?”
“He said the park seemed to be getting popular with the ‘younger generation’ as he put it. Maybe he’s seen the base kids around.”
“Maybe.” I stood and brushed off the seat of my shorts. “Lead the way. Those MRE’s are sounding better and better all the time.”
We caught the trolley again outside the visitor center—the last trolley of the day as it turned out. It was nice to sit and rest for a few minutes as we rode about seven miles back down Skyline Drive to the Lewis Mountain campground.
Our cabin was a dark brown, wooden structure in a quiet enclave with four similar-looking structures, though ours was smaller than the others and further removed as it was on the far end of the semi-circular arrangement, nearer the woods and the Appalachian Trail.
It had a tiny covered porch with a picnic table outside as well as a fire pit. As Heath unlocked the front door something occurred to me.
“Is this only one bedroom?”
“Afraid so,” he said, opening the door and gesturing for me to go in first. “That’s all they had left. But the volunteer said there’s a cot, so at least we won’t all three be piled up in the same bed.”
I whirled back to face him. “There’s only one bed?”
“And a cot. It’s all they had available on such short notice. There is, however, a bathroom, electricity, towels, and heat if we need it.”
The interior was as simple as the exterior, a single room plus a tiny bathroom, all with wooden floors and walls. I scanned the main room, searching for a couch.
There was none—only two un-upholstered chairs, a dresser under the window, and a small table beside the queen bed.
“I’ll take the cot,” I announced.
“Whatever you want to do. I can sleep on it if you’d rather have the bed—as long as you don’t mind Daniel squirming all night and waking up with a pair of very small feet in your face.”
“And they’re really smelly,” Daniel announced with a gleeful laugh, darting off to check out the cozy cabin’s bathroom.
“Not tonight, they won’t be,” Heath called after him. “You’re taking a shower before bed.”
“Awwwww.” The word was nearly a howl from the other room.
Heath chuckled, setting his pack on the small kitchen counter. “He hates showers.”
“I love them,” I said before really thinking it through.
It was a rather personal admission to make to a guy. My face heated, and I looked away, pretending to explore the bare-bones cabin to keep him from seeing my blush.
“Well, then I’ll be sure to clean the shower thoroughly after Mr. Smelly Feet has his. I’d let you go first, but he usually goes to bed by eight, and he’ll be extra tired tonight. Extra tired leads to extra cranky, and believe me, you don’t want to see that. If you don’t mind, I’d like to bathe him right after we eat so we can get the bedtime process started—he might balk at sleeping in another strange place.”
“No problem at all.”
Heath set his backpack on one of the chairs and pulled out several small packets, reading the instructions on the label of one of them.
“Apparently these things are self-heating, so we won’t need to use the grill, which is probably a good thing since I’ve never grilled in my life—they’re not allowed in the city because of air pollution.”
“Well, I’m an expert at preparing military rations.” I held out a hand. “Give them to me. I’ll do this if you want to help Daniel wash his hands for dinner.”
“Deal.”
Within minutes we were all seated around the picnic table, steaming plates of spaghetti and protein sauce in front of us.
A previous tenant had left a string of Christmas lights hanging from the porch rafters, and their cheery glow lent a magical air to the rustic setting. The cabin adjacent to ours appeared to be empty at the moment—awaiting late arrivers maybe.
Farther in the distance, the sounds of low laughter and clinking bottles came from another campsite.
There was no conversation at our table as we all dug into our MRE’s. In addition to the pasta, they contained crackers, raisins, and much to Daniel’s delight, cookies and candy.
“It doesn’t seem very nutritious,” Heath commented, watching Daniel reach for the cookies first.
“They’re not as bad as you’d think,” I said. “The point of them is that they’re calorie-dense to provide energy for soldiers out in the field. Anyway, they’re probably better for you than chocolate chip pancakes.”
“Nothing’s better than chocolate chip pancakes,” Daniel announced, making me giggle.
“Better for you,” Heath corrected him. “And I want you to finish your entrée before having any more dessert.”
Daniel crammed the remainder of his cookie in his mouth before picking up his fork and complying.
I tried to set a good example, eating all of my entrée before digging into my own portion of cookies.
My crackers and candy I would save for the next day. I wasn’t sure where it would take us or how long we might be away from a restaurant or store.
When they’d both finished eating, Heath led Daniel to the bathroom to clean him up while I disposed of the food containers and wrappings.
Then I checked Heath’s backpack to take stock of our remaining food supply. We had enough to last the three of us about three days—four if we conserved.
Could we find the Haven before our supplies ran out, or would we have to go home without any answers? Eventually I’d have to let my mom and dad know I was okay.
Opening the bear-proof locker near the picnic table, I stowed the pack. Neither mine nor Daniel’s held any food, so those could stay in the cabin with us overnight.
“He’s asleep already.”
The quiet words nearly made me jump out of my skin. Heath had walked up behind me without my noticing.
I turned around. He was standing under the string of lights, their golden glow casting spiky shadows from his long lashes onto the tops of his cheeks.
“Well, we did a lot of walking.”
He smiled. “Yes. And he rode a train, and swam, and spent the entire day away from home. In some ways, he’s like you.”
“How?”
“Experiencing a lot of firsts.”
“Maybe I should be passed out right now, but I feel kind of… I don’t know… energized,” I said.
“Want to sit outside a while?”
“In the dark?”
“We could make a fire.” He gestured toward the fire pit. “There’s still some wood here. Probably wouldn’t be too hard to get it going. I’ve never had a campfire either.”
I hesitated a moment then smiled at him.
“Sure. Why not?”
