Chapter 9: The Ranger Station

I rented a gray sedan with the last of my savings and drove south until the road turned to gravel.

The Carbon River ranger station was a brown wooden building with a flag, a map under glass, and a woman in a green fleece behind the counter.

"I'm looking for a man named Calvin Ostrow," I said. "His sister is Polly."

The woman looked up from her crossword.

"Cal? He's up at the burn pile, past the trailhead. Pickup truck. You can't miss him."

I stood there with my mouth slightly open.

"He's up at the burn pile," I repeated.

"Clearing the downed branches before the snow." She tilted her head. "Are you press?"

"No."

"Good. Last one wanted a picture of the ravine."

I thanked her and went out to the car.

For two days I had pictured a hospital room, a bed, and a man too sick to sit up.

I had thought of a quiet and terrible reason for the lie.

Now I was about to walk up a trail to ask a man who was supposed to be dying how he liked his firewood.

The path began behind the station and climbed through cedar and fern.

It had rained the night before, and the air smelled of wet bark.

I had my new inhaler in my coat pocket.

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