Canyon Walls by Julie Jarnagin Read Free Book Online Page A

gash.
    â€œI’m okay. I’m okay,” Cassie said. “It’s not that bad.”
    Beth pulled Cassie’s hand out of the water and examined it, but again, blood came through the skin. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you have the knife, especially while you’re so upset.”
    Cassie pulled her bleeding finger away from Beth. “What do you mean?”
    Beth wrapped a dishrag around her finger. “You know I love you, but you’ve been acting kind of out of it these last few days.”
    Cassie let her head drop. “I thought I was hiding it pretty well.”
    Beth took a butterfly bandage out of the old metal first-aid box bolted to the wall. “I think you’re going to get by without stitches, but you should know you can’t hide that kind of thing from me, not that you’ve been doing a very good job at it.”
    Cassie was too tired to protest as Beth squeezed antibacterial ointment on the wound and pulled the bandage around it. Cassie squirmed. “I know. I don’t know what’s going on with me. My sister has always driven me crazy. I knew when I took this job it was meant to be temporary and the camp was struggling. None of this is new.”
    Beth dipped her chin to her throat. “You know that I’m worried about you.”
    Cassie slid the onion she had been chopping from the cutting board to the trash can. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a little stressed out. I’ll be fine.”
    â€œYou already said that,” Beth said with a grin.
    â€œI know. If I say it enough times, it will be true.”
    â§
    After dinner Cassie mopped the floor and helped Beth with the dishes. It felt good to lose herself in the rhythms of work. Cassie sent Beth home early and put the last load of dishes through the industrial dishwasher. She turned out lights in the dining area and rolled the mop into the storage closet. The cafeteria door slammed, and she poked her head out of the closet. “Beth?”
    Will stepped into the light of the kitchen and pointed to the mop. “I see you got a promotion.”
    She dusted off the front of her shirt and pants. “Funny.”
    â€œHow were the girls today?” Will asked.
    â€œGreat. We had fun.”
    â€œIf that was fun, I would love to see your idea of hard work.”
    He lifted his arm and scratched the back of his head. “It seems like I’m asking you for help a lot, doesn’t it?”
    â€œWhat now?”
    He chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s not serious.”
    The closet door closed behind her with a click . “What is it? What happened?”
    He rubbed the stubble appearing on his chin. “There is a boy walking around camp without any underwear.”
    â€œSomeone lost his underwear,” she said.
    â€œNo,” he said. “It’s more like he had his underwear stolen.”
    Not knowing what else to say, she said, “Like some sort of animal came in and took them?”
    â€œNot unless there are bears around here that take boxers and string them up on the flagpole,” Will said with a stern expression.
    A laugh burst out of Cassie’s lips. She walked to the window. Sure enough, a strand of boxers, one tied to another, fluttered in the breeze. She loved that things really hadn’t changed much from when she was a camper.
    â€œAnd what’s the problem?” Cassie asked. “Deciding who’s going to touch them to get them down from there?”
    He wrapped a hand around her shoulder. At first she tensed, but the moment was so light, she couldn’t help but relax under his arm. “This is where you come in. Apparently whoever did this was a Boy Scout or something because none of us can figure out how to get the weird knot he tied undone. Do you mind if we cut the rope?”
    â€œLet me take a look at it first.”
    A crowd gathered underneath the flying boxer shorts. Cassie inspected the flagpole.