Hunted Past Reason Read Online Free PDF

but—"
    "—true," Doug broke in. "I'm not a sentimentalist, Bob. To me, nature is a challenge. Something to conquer."
    "You really feel that way," Bob said.
    "You bet." Doug nodded. He looked at his wristwatch. "We'd better get on our way. We want to set up our campsite before dark."
    "Right." Bob took off his green corduroy cap and scratched his head. "Move on, Macduff."
    He groaned as he stood, the pack still feeling like an anvil fastened to his back.
    Doug made a sound of amusement. "Good thing we're on government land," he said. "Don't have to be prepared to make a dash from the hunters."
    "Hunters?" Bob looked surprised.
    "It is hunting season," Doug told him. "If this wasn't government land, we'd be wearing bright red jackets and track shoes."
    "Well, I hope the hunters know it's government land," Bob said uneasily.
    "Sometimes they don't give a damn whose land it is," Doug replied.
    4:21 PM
    As they started on, Doug picked up a twig and after rubbing it off, started to move one end of it inside his mouth.
    "What are you doing?" Bob asked.
    "Brushing my teeth, nature style," Doug answered.
    Bob grunted, smiling slightly. "I'll use my toothbrush," he said.
    "Well, so will I, dummy," Doug told him. "This is temporary."
    "Ah." Bob tried not to take offense but barely managed it.
    "Just remember it in case you lose your toothbrush," Doug said.
    "Yes, sir. I'll remember." He was sure that Doug could hear the edginess in his voice.
    They were approaching a meadow now. As they started to cross it, Bob said, "Odd-looking grass."
    "Not grass, Bobby, sedge." Doug's tone was friendly now. Is he sorry he called me "dummy"? Bob wondered. It would be the way Doug would indicate an apology: not in so many words but in attitude. "All kinds of sedge," he went on. "Short-hair sedge, black sedge, brewer's sedge, alpine sedge, beaked sedge."
    "Whoa," Bob said, accepting Doug's tone of voice as apology. "A lot of sedge."
    "They look like grass," Doug explained, "but they have triangular stems and leaves in groups of three."
    "Uh-huh."
    "If this was spring, you'd be seeing lots of flowers too. Purple owl's clover. Larkspur. Paintbrush poppy. Lupine. Meadowfoam. Popcorn flower. Baby blue eyes."
    "Jesus, how do you know all these things?" Bob asked, too impressed by Doug's knowledge to hold a grudge against him.
    "You forget, I've been coming up here for years," Doug said. "And I can read, you know."
    Oh, God, here we go again, Bob thought.
    The thought vanished as something big buzzed past his head. "My God," he said, "that bumblebee's enormous."
    "Not a bumblebee, a rufus hummingbird."
    "Ah-ha." No point in fretting about Doug's manner, he thought. He was here to learn and Doug was teaching him. What more could he ask?
    He started to say something, then broke off at a noise in the distance— what sounded like someone blowing across the top of an enormous pop bottle. "What the hell is that ?" he asked, fully expecting that Doug would know.
    Which he did. "Blue grouse," Doug said, "I've never seen one but I've heard them many times."
    As they started back into the forest, Bob asked about the trees up ahead. They hadn't run across their like before.
    "Live oak, blue oak," Doug told him. "Deciduous, of course."
    Bob repressed a smile. Of course, he thought. "What about those trees?" he asked, pointing. "They look black."
    "They're called black oak," Doug said. "They grow really fast after a fire."
    Bob nodded. "What kind of trees are mostly found up here?"
    "Oh, pine, of course," Doug said. He does enjoy letting me know what he knows, Bob thought. "Ponderosa, sugar, Jeffrey, white, Douglas, and white fir. Ponderosa knows how to protect itself from fires too, its bark is real thick."
    Bob was about to speak when Doug stopped and raised his right hand. Bob stopped abruptly, looking at him. Trouble? he thought.
    "What is—?" He broke off as Doug whispered "Shh" and pointed upward with his right index finger.
    Bob looked up and caught his