Two           The detour took much longer than anticipated, for the area was extremely rugged and the travel was slow, making it apparent why Bob Carver had never developed this area of the property.  It was pure wilderness, and for a while they had wondered if they would be forced to stop for the night without reaching their destination.           Finally, shortly after six o�clock, they started seeing flashes of sunlight on water through the forest foliage, and they knew that they were finally nearing the pond.  The horses seemed to realize this, for their step became more brisk as they picked their way through the woodlands.           A few minutes later, they left the tree line and emerged in the open, a large grassy meadow with gently sloping ground and a large pond, fed by a runoff stream that trickled down from the higher elevations, stretched out before them, reflecting the clouds and hills.  On their right, much of the ground was low and marshy from the overflow caused by the runoff.  It and the stream would dry up as the summer progressed, but now it was its own unique eco-system with long-legged water birds wading contentedly in the shallow water.  The hills and trees rose up behind the pond in a beautiful backdrop.           Riding side by side instead of nose to tail, they rode right up to the edge of the pond near the stream and stopped the horses.  A frog, disturbed by Midge, leaped into the water with a �plop�, but the tired and thirsty dog was less interested in the frog than she was the water, and she rushed into the stream, lapping the cold water with her tongue.           �It�s even better than Bob described it,� Street said, quietly, breaking the brief silence that had settled over them as they observed the beauty and tranquility of the location.           �I bet its brimming with fish,� T. J. added, eagerly.           Chief pricked his ears toward the stream and took a step forward, eager for a drink of water, but Luca knew not to water it until it was cooled off from the long ride, so he drew back on the reins, stopping it.  The gelding snorted in protest and pawed a striped hoof at the soft earth.           �That stream will be a good source of fresh water for the horses,� Luca said.  �Look how clear it is.�           �Yeah,� T. J. agreed.  �Nature does a good job filtering the water.  Too bad humans have polluted everything to the point where it isn�t safe for us to drink.�           Luca looked over his shoulder toward the western sky, where the sun was slowly sinking behind the trees.  �Guess we�d better set up camp before we lose the light.  Where�s a good place?�           Jim had already been scanning the area for the best location, and he pointed to an area to their left.  It was a level spot up from the bank just inside the tree line where they would be out of the sun.  �I think we should set up camp over there, and then have a quick supper and go to bed.  We can get an early start in the morning.�           T. J. looked at the area that Jim had suggested, and nodded his approval.  �Sounds good to me.  It�ll be good to be out of the saddle for a few days!  I don�t know about you guys, but I�m sore!�           �Amen to that!� Luca agreed.           They turned the horses around and rode to the spot in which they would set up camp.  There, the trees were spaced well apart, allowing the meadow grass to grow tall and lush between them, a good spot for the horses.  They dismounted, and stretched their legs to work the soreness out.  Then they removed the bridles and tied the horses to a tree while they removed the saddles.           The pack harness was removed from the packhorse and placed on the ground near the spot where they would set up their tents.  Then, the three men attended to the business of setting up the high picket lines for the horses, as Bob had instructed them to do.  Before leaving the stable, the former cop had schooled them thoroughly on the proper method for securing the horses.           The high picket line was a length of sturdy but lightweight rope which was securely tied between two trees about seven or eight feet off the ground, high enough for the horse to move comfortably beneath it.  To that, a shorter lead was attached with just enough length to allow the horse to lie down or move about to crop grass, but was short enough to prevent it from becoming tangled in it.  They set up two separate picket lines, with two horses on each line and positioned far enough apart to prevent nipping or kicking but near enough for companionship.  (See picture below)  The two mares occupied one line; the two geldings were tethered on the other.           Grateful for the rest, the tired horses stood quietly in the shade on their picket lines and dozed or nibbled the grass while the humans set up camp.  First, they removed all the gear from the pack harness and spread them out on the ground to select the items they would need first.           �They look content,� Luca commented as he removed a small camp shovel from the supplies and selected a spot away from the trees for a fire pit.  He cleared away the dead leaves and debris, and began digging a shallow pit.           Seeing what he was doing, T. J. began gathering dead wood and twigs while Jim looked for suitable stones to form the fire ring.  �We�ll have to feed and water them after they�ve rested for a while.�           �You said that you hunted with your father,� Jim said as he dumped an armload of stones near the pit.  �Did you ever hunt with horses?�           �Sometimes, when Dad was younger.  One of his hunting buddies had some horses, and he�d go with us to the mountains to hunt.  How �bout you?�           �Nah.  I went quail hunting with my uncle a few times, but we just went on land belonging to acquaintances.  I�m afraid I was never much of a hunter.  I always preferred fishing.  How �bout you, Dom?  Did you ever go hunting or camping with your dad?�           �Naw.  Our family was too big for that sort of thing,� Dom replied as he leveled the pit.  �There was never any time for going hunting and camping.  Pop worked six days a week with few vacations, which were usually spent visiting relatives back in Jersey.  There, that should do it.�  He set the shovel aside, satisfied with the size and depth of the fire pit.           Together, he and Jim arranged the stones around the rim of the pit, and then T. J. placed the wood and kindling inside the pit.  Then they lit the fire with the long wooden matches they had brought for that purpose.  A comforting blaze crackled and popped in the dry wood as T. J. placed a long metal grill over the pit to hold their pots and pans.           While the fire settled, they unpacked the three small, lightweight A-frame tents and erected them in a circular pattern around the campfire, with the openings facing the pit.  Then they blew up the air mattresses on which they would place their sleeping bags.           �All the comforts of home,� Luca said as he placed his mattress inside the open flaps of his tent.  �Well, almost, anyway.  Better than rolling over on sharp rocks in the middle of the night.�           T. J. smiled, amused.  �When I was a kid, we just slept out in the open on the hard ground.  We�ve come a long way since those days!�           With the tents in place, they unfastened the horses from the picket lines and took the thirsty animals to the stream for a drink, then returned them to the picket lines and placed a portion of grain in the feed bags that were hung on the picket lines.  The horses immediately slipped their muzzles into the bags to eat.           The chores had taken longer than anticipated, and since they were late arriving due to the landslide at the pass, there was no time to get in any fishing before the sun slipped over the western horizon and darkness settled over the camp.           In the light of the campfire, T. J. withdrew a large can of pork and beans from the rations they had packed, and emptied it into the cook pot and placed it on the grill over the fire.  Within minutes, the smell of beans drifted over the meadow, a tantalizing aroma.           �I don�t know why things like this always smell better in the wilderness over an open fire than it does in an apartment,� T. J. commented as he stirred them with a spoon.  �I hardly ever eat pork and beans at home.�           �Same here,� Luca said.  �I usually eat out or at Mama�s house.  I�m tellin� ya, Pop knew what he was doing when he asked her to marry him!  That woman can cook!�           �That�s a fact,� T. J. agreed.  �When are you going to invite me over for spaghetti again?�           Luca smiled, pleased.  He often grew weary of his mother�s attempts to get him married, but he was fiercely proud of her.  She was a fine woman, a wonderful mother, and an excellent cook.  �I�ll mention it to Mama when we get back.  She�d love to have you over for dinner.  You�re welcome too, Jim,� he added.  �Mama�s used to cooking for lots of people.  One more won�t even be noticed.�           Jim, who was known as a bit of a loner, had never accepted an invitation to Mrs. Luca�s house for dinner, but he had heard T. J.�s high praise about her good Italian cooking.  �I may take you up on that,� he replied, noncommittally as he knelt beside the supply sack and rummaged around.  �I love a good bowl of spaghetti.  Anybody else want some Vienna sausage with your pork and beans?�           �I�ll take some,� Luca said.           �Me too,� T. J. agreed as he removed a small bit of fatty pork from the pot of pork and beans and tossed it into the grass nearby.  Midge pounced on it, eagerly.  �Its funny how little pork is actually in a can of pork and beans.  Just that little chunk of fat that I always throw out.�           �I always wondered about that,� Luca said with a smile.  �I guess it�s just enough to put it in the name, or something.�  He accepted the small can of Vienna sausage that Street tossed to him.  He opened it, drained the juice, and emptied the can onto his lightweight stainless steel plate.  Beside him, he heard Midge lick her muzzle in eager anticipation, and he moved his plate away, protectively.  �Eh-eh!  Don�t get any ideas there, little lady!�           She thumped her tail a couple of times on the ground and tried to look innocent.           �Don�t look at me with those sad brown eyes,� Luca told her, his resolve weakening.  �What is it about a pair of big brown eyes that makes it so hard to resist?�           �I�ll feed her while we�re eating,� T. J. promised.  �I don�t like for her to beg, but I think Mom�s been slipping her some table scraps when she comes to visit.�  Taking up the spoon that Street had stirred the pot with, he gave it another stir, watching as the steam rose from the beans.  �I think these are heated enough.  If you guys want to start, I�ll go ahead and get Midge�s supper ready.�           While Luca and Street helped themselves to generous portions of steaming hot pork and beans, Vienna sausage, and a few slices of bread from the bag they had brought with them, T. J. dumped a can of dog food into Midge�s bowl and added a scoop of kibble.  At the sound of the can being opened, she leaped to her feet expectantly, tail waving happily.           �There ya go, girl,� he said, placing the bowl on the ground near his tent.  Then he returned to the fire and served himself.           The three young men ate their simple meal with gusto.  It was the kind of meal that a bachelor might occasionally make at home, but for some reason it never tasted quite as good as it did over an open fire in the wilderness.  All three went back for seconds, then, while T. J. and Street settled back on their elbows to relax, Luca wandered down to the pond, drawn by the sounds of the crickets and frogs.           It was a calm, peaceful evening.  The moon had thrown a silvery sheen on the surface of the water, and the hills and trees were silhouetted against the starry sky.  As he approached the edge, he heard a �plop� as a frog jumped into the shallows, apparently thinking him a predator.           Luca smiled, contentedly.  Nearby, he could hear the gentle trickling sounds of the stream as it meandered over the rocks before emptying into the pond.  On the far side of the still body of water, he could see the tranquil glimmer of moonlight on the marshy overflow.           Squatting down, he picked up a pebble and cast it onto the water, watching as it skipped and bounced on the surface before sinking into the quiet depths.  Bats flitted to and fro in the moonlight, chasing insects over the pond, and on impulse, Luca tossed a small pebble high into the air.  A bat instantly dove at it, and he quickly realized that he hadn�t tossed it high enough.  Following the downward plunge of the pebble, the bat fluttered right at Luca�s face in a flurry of beating wings.  Ducking quickly, he backed up a few steps until the bat abandoned the pebble as inedible and flapped its leathery wings to gain altitude again, apparently as startled by the encounter as the human had been.           Grinning to himself, Luca watched the bat soar away, grateful that neither of the guys had seen that.  In the distance, he heard the screech of an owl, but was unable to locate it.           A few minutes later, he heard a snuffing sound at his feet, drawing his attention to the dog that was inspecting the ground for interesting smells.  This was probably a watering hole for many different species of wildlife, and Midge was taking it all in.  He knew that T. J. would not be far behind.  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his friend walking toward him.           �Beautiful, isn�t it?� T. J. asked as he stopped beside him.           �You don�t see stars like that back in the City,� he replied.  �I�ve never in my entire life been to a place as remote and peaceful as this.�           �You�ve never been camping at all?� T. J. asked with surprise.  �Not even as a boy scout?  No summer camp or anything?�           �Nope.  Well, once Dad took us to Yosemite on vacation, but we stayed in cabins at the campground.  There were always cars coming in and out of the area, kids playing, people shouting.  You know; the typical noises you hear all the time back in the city.  This is so perfect.  This would be an incredibly romantic place to bring a favorite girl.�           T. J. grinned, amused.  �Do you think about anything else besides girls, Dom?�           �I think about other things,� Luca said in his own defense.  �But you gotta admit, this is really a romantic setting.�           Jim came up behind and smiled at the topic of conversation.  �I don�t know too many girls who would be turned on by riding a horse all day long and then spending the night in the wilderness with no luxuries.  No bathrooms, no hairdryers, no soft warm beds; but plenty of things on which to break fingernails.�           �I�ve met a few who might enjoy this sort of thing,� T. J. said.  �But you�re right; most of the girls I know are city girls who wouldn�t enjoy this.�  He tipped his head back to look up at the sky just as a shooting star streaked across the heavens.  �I think all of them would enjoy a view like this, though.�           All three of the young men watched the shooting star until it burned itself out, then they turned and walked back to the camp.  Each one picked his spot and sat down on the cool ground, but they spoke little, preferring to listen to the sounds of nature.  Occasionally, they heard the stamping of a hoof from one of the horses.  In the distance, they heard the yammering call of a coyote.  Midge lifted her head, ears alert, as they listened to the lonely sound until it faded away.           Finally, Luca stretched out on his back and laced his fingers together behind his head.  �This is the life.�           �I�ll say,� T. J. agreed as he stretched out on his back as Luca was.  Midge lay down next to him and placed her head on his chest, and he began stroking her floppy ears.  �I love being away from civilization, where there are no other human beings around for miles.�           Sitting across the campfire from him, Jim was rinsing out their supper plates.  �It�s been a long time since I�ve been camping.  I�d forgotten how relaxing it is.�           They fell silent, listening to the peaceful sounds of the wilderness night, until finally they began to yawn.           T. J. was the first to succumb.  �I�m going to bed,� he announced.  With a low groan as his sore muscles protested the movement, he stood up.  �I want to get an early start in the morning.�           �Sounds good to me,� Jim agreed.  He inserted the plates into a sack to keep them clean, then crawled into his tent and pulled down the flaps for privacy.           T. J. moved toward his tent, then turned back to his younger friend.  �You turning in, Dom?�           �I�m so comfortable, I think I�ll just lie here until the fire goes out,� Luca replied.  �See you in the morning.�           �Okay.�            T. J. slipped into his tent and pulled the flaps down.  With her nose, Midge pushed aside the flap and slipped inside with him.             After T. J. had gone inside his tent, Dom lay quietly listening to the peaceful sounds of nature.  The fire crackled and popped as it struggled to find enough fuel in the embers to survive, and he felt himself growing drowsy.  With a contented sigh, he closed his eyes, allowing the drowsy warmth to embrace him.  On the picket line, he heard one of the horses give a low moan as it folded its legs beneath it and sank wearily to the ground to sleep.                                                            -()-           Luca was uncertain how long he had been asleep or what is was that had awakened him, but his first impression of awareness was the strange sensation of an unwelcome presence nearby, and for a moment he wondered if it was simply the after-effects of a dream.  There seemed to be a slight, barely perceptible sense of movement near the tent, the quiet whisper of someone�s clothes as he moved among the supplies, but before the sounds could register in his mind, he was jolted fully awake by an abrupt bark from Midge inside T. J.�s tent, and the bark was followed by the alarming clatter of a cook pot being dropped to the ground by a startled hand.           Luca�s eyes popped open just as Midge burst from between the closed flaps of T. J.�s tent, and he heard the disturbing sound of footsteps beating a hasty retreat from the camp.  Snarling and barking, the dog tried to leap over Dom just as he was sitting up, and she collided with him forcefully, sending them both to the ground in a tangled heap.  Disengaging herself from the startled human, Midge scrambled to her feet again and gave chase, but then seemed to think better of it, for she stopped just beyond the edge of the camp, her frenzied barking and baying ringing in the stillness.  On the picket lines, disturbed by the commotion, the horses clambered to their feet and shifted nervously on their tethers.           At the same time, Dom also jumped to his feet, and looking past the dog he saw a dark figure just before it disappeared into the trees.           Inside his tent, T. J. was thrashing frantically to free himself from the confines of his sleeping bag, and when he finally managed to get most of his body out of the restraining bedding, he literally fell out of the tent, dragging the sleeping bag with him by his ankle.  A moment later, Jim parted his own tent flaps and stepped outside, still looking perfectly groomed, almost as if he had stopped to comb his hair on the way out.  Luca heaved a sigh of envy as he tried to smooth down his hair.           �What�s going on?� Jim asked.           T. J. struggled to his feet and kicked the sleeping bag aside.           �Someone was in the camp,� Luca replied.  He pointed toward the darkest part of the wooded area.  �He went into the woods over there.�           For several moments, the three men stood still, gazing in the direction that Luca had indicated.  Midge was still trotting back and forth with excited, springy strides, uttering an occasional bark as if to remind the intruder that she was still there, patrolling the edge of the campsite.  All three men were Vietnam veterans and skilled police officers, but this midnight disturbance had left all of them with hearts thudding and their stomachs clenched with concern.           In the moonlight, they could see the horses all looking in the same direction, the direction in which the dog had been barking and where Dom had seen the figure disappear into the forest.  Their ears were pricked up, and even in the darkness, they could tell by the rigid postures that the horses were tensed to flee if danger presented itself.  Whoever it was, Dom suspected that he had stopped inside the tree line to see if they would pursue, and was probably watching them at that very moment.           Finally, Jim asked, �Did anyone see what it was?�           �I caught a glimpse of him just before he reached the tree line over there,� Dom said.           �He was rummaging around in the food,� Jim observed, noticing the dropped pot and the open canvas bag in which they had stored their rations.  �Could it have been a bear or something?�           �Not unless bears wear trousers and can run on their hind legs,� Dom retorted rather sarcastically.  �I saw him well enough to see that he was on two legs, and I heard his pants rubbing together just before Midge started barking.  When she barked, he dropped what he was doing and lit out of here like a scalded cat.�           Jim ducked back into his tent, and emerged a moment later with a flashlight.  �We�d better check the supplies and see if he took anything.�           With the flashlight to illuminate the supply sack, they emptied everything onto the ground and took an inventory of their provisions.           �Both loaves of bread are missing,� Dom noticed immediately.           �And two cans of Vienna sausage,� T.J. added.           �Everything else seems to be here,� Jim said, solemnly.  �Looks like Midge chased him off before he could take anything else.�           As if on cue, Midge returned to the camp and stood protectively beside T. J., who patted her affectionately.  The hackles were standing up all along her back and she kept her eyes and ears alert to the direction in which the stranger had fled.  �You chased him off, didn�t you?� he praised, patting his hand against her side.  �Good girl.�           Knowing that she had pleased him, she waved her tail happily, her ears still vigilant.           Luca�s eyes fell approvingly on the dog.  �Good thing you brought her with us,� he said, reaching out to pat her on the head.  �We might have lost a lot more than a few food items.�           �Yeah,� Jim agreed.  �I didn�t dream we�d need a guard dog up here.�  He looked around, as if trying to determine what to do next.  It was too dark and too dangerous to go after the intruder.  �Well, he knows we have a dog now, so maybe he won�t come back.�           T. J. was looking past him, observing the horses which were finally starting to settle down again.  Their ears flicked back and forth, still nervous, but no longer tensed.  �I�m worried that he might come back for the horses,� he said.  �I�d hate to have to hike out of here on foot.�           �I was thinking the same thing,� Luca agreed.           �I think I�ll sit up for a spell, just in case,� the sharpshooter volunteered.  �Tomorrow night, I would suggest we move the horses closer to the camp.�           �Good idea,� Jim said.  �Wake me in a few hours and I�ll relieve you.  Dom, I�ll wake you a few hours after that.��           Giving his friend a pat on the shoulder, Jim pushed aside the flap on his tent and slipped inside again.  Yawning, Luca went inside his own tent, and with T. J. keeping watch, the other two attempted to get some sleep.