Beth Carpenter - An Alaskan Proposal

Survival skills? Wasn’t that like making huts from tree branches and eating bugs? No, thanks. Surfer-dude Erik talked for a few minutes about a course they’d set up a little farther along the trail, where they were going to be giving the lessons in orienteering. Sabrina didn’t know what that was and wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. When Walter asked for volunteers to stay behind and cook lunch, Sabrina’s hand was the first one up.

“Great. Thanks, Sabrina, Will and Amy. The rest of you follow Erik and Leith.”

Will was one of the few people in the store whose name Sabrina remembered, other than Clara. He looked like a high-school student, but when he’d sold Sabrina the hiking boots yesterday, he seemed to know all about them. He’d steered her toward this slightly more expensive pair. It pained her to drain her anemic checking account for ugly footwear, but she had to admit, the boots he’d recommended kept her feet dry and comfortable despite the rain and rough trail.

Will introduced Sabrina to Amy, the pregnant lady, who seemed to be his supervisor. “You’re the management trainee, right?” Amy asked.

“That’s right.”

“So, you’ll be working in Seattle once you finish up here?”

“Yes, assuming I make the cut. They only plan to move the top half of trainees to the next level, based on evaluation scores.”

“Walter will take care of you,” Will said.

“He’s right,” Amy said. “I’ve been with the store for seven years. Once you’re part of his team, Walter treats you like family. Although, I don’t know why you’d want to live in Seattle. I was there last year, and I couldn’t believe the traffic. There are some nice hikes in the area, though.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.” The other management trainees wouldn’t shut up about the trails during breaks in the orientation meetings. Sabrina had just smiled and nodded. “I hope I get the chance to try them out.”

Amy gestured toward the van. “We’d better get started if we’re going to have everything ready by the time they get back. Will, can you get the cooking crate out, please?”

Will carried a yellow-and-black plastic case from the back of the van. He opened it to reveal various pieces of equipment that looked as though they might belong in a science lab. Huh. Maybe Sabrina should have gone to the survival demo after all.

Amy pulled out a rolled bundle and, through some feat of origami, turned it into a table. “I’ll cut up the veggies and make the dip. Can you two build the fire, heat the beans and handle the grill?”

“Sure,” Will volunteered before Sabrina could say anything. “Where do you want the table?”

Sabrina had to admit, Will was a nice kid—he moved Amy’s table and equipment under the canopy and arranged everything for her so she could sit while she worked on the vegetables. Meanwhile, at Amy’s suggestion, Sabrina unloaded a bunch of logs from the van and stacked them near a circle of stones in a clear area not too far away. A few minutes later, Will returned, shaking his head. “I wish she’d have that baby. I keep thinking one of these days it’s going to pop out in the middle of the shoe department.”

“When is she due?” Sabrina asked.

“Yesterday. Walter told her she didn’t need to do the team-builder this year, but she didn’t want to miss it. You want to build the fire, while I get the rest of the wood?”

“Why don’t you build the fire, and I’ll haul the firewood? You shouldn’t be stuck with all the heavy lifting.”

Will gave her an odd look, but he didn’t argue. Of course, as a management trainee, she technically outranked him. Probably.

She tried to watch how he built the fire, but since she had to make a couple of trips for firewood, she missed a few steps. She was pulling the last of the wood from the van when her finger got pinched between two logs. “Ouch.” She shook her hand. “Cielos!”

“What’s wrong? You break a nail?”

Sabrina spun around to find the survivor guy with the blue eyes pulling something from the back of his truck. Leith Jordan, according to Walter. She looked down at her hand, where a big scratch ran across her polish and the ragged edge of a fingernail hung by a thread. She grimaced. That was going to take some time to repair tonight. “As a matter of fact, I did. Don’t you have anything better to do than sneak up behind people?”

“Sorry.” He looked more amused than apologetic. “You’re new with Orson, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Why? Do you know all the people from the store?”

“No, but I’m in there a lot and I haven’t seen you before.” He looked down at her boots and shook his head. “I’d remember you.”

What did that mean? There was nothing wrong with her boots. They were exactly like the ones Clara was wearing. Besides, he wasn’t with Orson, so his opinion didn’t matter.

“I’d better get these logs to the fire.” Sabrina gathered up the wood she’d dropped and returned to the fire ring without looking back.

Whatever Will had done in her absence must have worked, because flames were licking at the wood. He stepped back. “I’ll light the grill and handle all the meat and veggie burgers and stuff. Okay?”

“Sure. What should I do?”

“Uh, well, I guess you just need to watch the fire and heat up the beans.”

“Sounds good.” Surely she could manage that. “Thanks, Will.”

He set up the grill close enough that he could talk with Amy while he cooked. Bushes and boulders partially blocked the view between Sabrina and the other two. That worked out well for her, because it allowed her to paw through the chest Will had brought and try to figure out what everything was without him watching.

The fire seemed to be burning nicely, so she threw a couple more logs on. The flames died down. Oops. Using a stick, Sabrina raked one of the logs toward her and the fire jumped up between the two logs. Okay, that looked good. Digging through the crate, she found a metal box labeled camp stove . Better and better. But when she opened the box, the contents held no resemblance to any stove she’d ever seen. She put it aside for the moment.

The crate held a dozen big cans of baked beans. Probably half of them were for the group tomorrow. Sabrina dug a little more and found some sort of metal circles surrounded by rings of silicone—trivets maybe—and something that looked like a manual can opener, except it didn’t have any handles. How was she supposed to heat beans without a pan? Eventually, she found some tongs but still no cooking containers.

She peeked around the rock. Will was whistling as he unpacked a bunch of stuff from an ice chest. She could ask him how the stove worked, but then he’d know she was a fraud. And if one person in the store knew, soon the whole store would, including Walter.

She picked up one of the cans. It was a metal cylinder, right? Just like a small pan. Why not just put the cans into the fire and let them heat? Once they were hot, she could take them out of the fire with the tongs. Yeah, that would work. And she wouldn’t have to deal with the camp stove. Problem solved.

She added more wood to the fire, careful to leave spaces between the logs for the flames. Then she set the cans of beans onto the coals near the heart of the flames. The labels caught and burned away, but the cans seemed stable. Now all she had to do was wait.

It wasn’t long before the main group returned, laughing and joking. Clara trotted over to Sabrina. “Sorry you missed out on the fun. Those Learn & Live guys are great. I’ll tend the fire and you can go do the equipment tryouts.”

“The what?”

“You know, where we try out all that shiny new equipment we’re going to be selling this season. Walter said to send you over. You’ll be working in one of the departments, so you need hands-on experience more than I do.”