The three cats were late getting up the next morning.
The trek out of the foothills had not gone quite as planned.
“I couldn’t believe how soon we lost the light while we were walking between the hills,” Chantel said as she searched her pack for something to eat for breakfast.
“Yeah, if I had thought about it more,” Jax said, “I would have realized that traveling on a south to north path would guarantee that the hills would cast us in shadow as early as possible.”
“Our shiners worked great though,” Piper added. “I’m just glad we had extra mineral charges for them.”
“Even at that, we still covered the final distance using Chantel’s dim shiners.”
“The thing is, we can’t let our enthusiasm, or our sense of urgency, lead us to make bad decisions like we did last night.” Jax stated.
“Yes, things are more serious now,” Chantel said. “The decisions we make matter more.”
“I understand what you’re saying,” Piper replied, “but we’re all at our best being ourselves. Being all sober and serious just won’t work for us.”
“That’s true,” Jax said. “We’re better when we play it loose and rely on our natural skills.”
“And with those words of wisdom, let’s finish breakfast and head back to the base camp to let them know we found the tree.”
It was around noon when they found themselves walking through lush green grass.
“There’s no mistaking where we are,” Piper said.
“I’m guessing we’re at the famous Green Spot,” Chantel said, grabbing a handful of grass and holding it to her nose. “I love that smell, it reminds me of nothing but good things.”
“And how many paces across is the Green Spot?” Jax asked, looking at Piper.
“You just shut up,” Piper replied. “Don’t start me counting again… and the answer is 4000 paces.”
“Right, no more counting,” Jax laughed. “Being at the Green Spot means that we should be able to reach the camp this evening.”
“Would that be with or without shiners?” Chantel asked with a grin.
“Just keep walking and we’ll find out,” Jax replied. “but we should stop for a quick meal break when we get to the stream.”
When they got near the stream, they spotted a figure approaching from the east.
“Whoever it is, they don’t seem to be in a big hurry,” Jax said. “We might as well wait for them right here. It’s time for lunch anyway.”
As the other cat got close, Piper called out, “Hey, Zelli, fancy seeing you here. Just passing through?”
“It looks like you guys have been working up a sweat,” Zelli called back. “Don’t get up, save your strength.”
Joining them, she found a place to sit. “Nice place for a lunch break,” she said, pulling out a piece of dried fish. “Been here long?”
“I know you spotted us at the same time we saw you,” Jax said, chewing on his own fish. “So what’s up?”
“Cassy decided that Benji was well enough to travel, so the cats are breaking camp and hauling everything back down to the village.” she replied, finishing the piece of fish and reaching for her water skin.
“They had an idea that if I could catch you soon enough, I could save you a trip all the way to the camp.”
“That’s perfect,” Jax said, standing up and looking at the forest to the north. “We can follow this stream straight downhill and see where we come out at the valley’s main stream.”
“That’ll give us an idea of how far this spot is from our border with the Hungry Tribe.”
“Okay, so if you’re not going to tell me,” Zelli said in exasperation, “Did you find the History Tree?”
“Well, now that you bring it up,” Piper said with an unconcerned yawn, “we did find a tree that looked pretty old. Didn’t we, Chantel?”
“You guys are too mean,” Chantel laughed. “Yes, Zelli, we did find the History Tree, and it was wonderful. Let’s finish up and head downhill. I’ll tell you all about it while we walk.”
“Well, at least one of you is nice,” Zelli replied. “I see who my real friends are.”
“Poor Zelli, so picked on,” Jax laughed.
Heading downhill nearing the forest, they noticed that the stream had finally vanished, absorbed into the ground.
“That’s a shame,” Jax said. “I was hoping it would flow all the way down to the main stream.”
“Well, I could say, it’s all downhill from here… but I won’t.”
“Come on, guys, let’s keep going,” Chantel said, trying to get everyone to go a little faster. “I want to get home and see how Benji is doing, and what Gabby has been up to, of course.”
“Okay, then,” Piper said with a grin. “Ranger quick pace it is.”
“Whoa, no, hold on!” Chantel exclaimed, trying to keep up.
After jogging for a bit, they slowed to give Chantel a chance to catch her breath.
“You two remember what I said about paybacks,” she panted.
“Huge and Terrible!” Piper and Jax chanted as they took off jogging again. “Huge and Terrible!”
“I don’t even want to know,” Zelli said, walking with Chantel while she recovered.
“But if you come up with something good… I want in on it.”
It wasn’t long before Jax and Piper slowed to a walk, acting as innocent as possible.
Any thoughts of payback disappeared as Chantel contemplated returning to the village. So many new things were going on in her life since she left the Teacher’s village, her mind kept switching from one to another, though frequently returning to thoughts of a certain big cat with a deep voice and a warm smile.
“I hear running water!” Piper said excitedly. “That has to be the main stream.”
“I’m surprised you’ve never named that stream,” Chantel commented as she followed the other cats out of the forest. “It is central to the whole valley after all.”
“Just never thought about it,” Jax said. “I suppose someone will slap a name on it sooner or later.”
“It looks like we’re about halfway between the village and the Fishing Spot,” Piper said. “That puts the Green Spot well within our territory.”
“That puts the site of the History Tree closer to the Hungry Tribe’s territory,” Jax speculated. “I think it’s still on our side of the boundary line, though. We’ll have to make another straight-line trip like this one, from that site’s trailhead.”
“I wouldn’t list it as urgent, but I would like to be sure it’s on our side of the line.”
“Enough talk, we’re almost home,” Chantel said, turning upstream and picking up the pace.
“And she’s off,” Zelli said with a grin. “Hurry up, you two. You don’t want to be left behind.”