Yellowstone Standoff by Scott Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

telling the girls that, after what you’ve led them to believe. To them, it’s the biggest thing ever.”
    Chuck’s face flushed. “Yes, it’s a site survey. But it’s a survey of what might prove to be a truly significant discovery.”
    â€œThen stick to your guns. You just told Carm and Rosie we’ll be fine out there as long as we stay in a group. That’s exactly what we’ve planned to do all along.”
    â€œYes, but...” Chuck looked at the patch of willows.
    Janelle waited until he turned back to her before she spoke. “Were you telling them the truth?”
    â€œYes, I was.” He took a deep breath. “But I have to tell you about something else, something I saw last night.”
    He described the video of the Territory Team attack, leaving nothing out. “Lex thinks the grizzly might actually have been hunting the team,” he concluded.
    â€œThere were two team members?” Janelle asked.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œGrizzlies don’t attack large groups, right? Just ones or twos. And we’re going out there with forty or so people, verdad ?”
    â€œ Sí .”
    Janelle looked Chuck in the eye. “All of this might give me second thoughts if we were going camping on our own. But we’re heading out there with an army.” She stuck out her chin. “The girls and I are going with you. I want them to experience the world, your world, and I want to experience it, too.”
    Chuck hid the start of a smile. “Did I know you were this stubborn when I married you?”
    â€œYou didn’t know the first thing about me when we got married.”
    â€œI thought the learning curve would be over by now.”
    â€œYou thought wrong.” She hesitated, searching his face. “We will be safe out there, won’t we?”
    He looked at the ground. The cold ache of responsibility gripped him with icy fingers. He’d promised his family the adventure of a lifetime. All this was his doing.
    He’d been ecstatic two years ago when Janelle had agreed to marry him. Like Lex, he’d never been happier than the last twenty-four months, as a family man.
    He settled himself on the soles of his feet. He was in Yellowstone with his family by choice, and he was heading intothe backcountry with them today by the same choice. No need for mental histrionics.
    He raised his eyes to Janelle. “Any bears in the vicinity of Turret Cabin will want nothing to do with our busy camp. That’s why Lex is requiring everyone to base out of the same place this summer. As long as we’re in camp or in a group, we’ll have nothing to worry about.”
    â€œYou’re sure about that?”
    He took her in his arms. “Absolutely.”
    His eyes strayed to the place where the grizzly had risen on its hind legs to observe the tourists gathered at the side of the road. Though only medium-sized, the grizzly had been tall and striking, and it had shown no hint of fear.

8
    T hey ate their sack lunches at a picnic table on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake, down the hill from the porticoed front entrance to historic Lake Yellowstone Hotel with its vibrant, yellow-and-white paint scheme. Afterward, they drove on around the lake’s western shoreline to Bridge Bay Marina.
    Yellowstone Lake stretched fourteen miles from the mouth of Bridge Bay to the foot of the Absaroka Mountains, the swath of forests, tundra, talus fields, and barren peaks that continued eastward out of the park to form one of the largest roadless areas in North America. Beyond the mouth of the bay, a cold, hard breeze piled waves into whitecaps. The wind rushed across the harbor, up the concrete boat ramp, and through the marina’s gravel lot, lifting dust in tight, spiraling dervishes.
    Chuck put a protective hand to his nose and mouth as he crossed the lot while Janelle and the girls waited in the truck. A wooden dock, gray and weathered, extended a