Chapter 10: Tuolumne Meadows

I TOOK OVER DRIVING AFTER lunch. Oscar wanted his turn, but in his post-frolic with Mrs. D and post-tuna sandwich stupor he didn't put up much of a fight. Hebe took shotgun, and Oscar tilted the vehicle a little as he settled into the right rear passenger seat. He turned to Persephone and kissed her.

"Hey, Persephone."

Persephone edged a little away from him, just enough to signal, "Don't touch."

"Hey, yourself, big guy."

Oscar got the message. It didn't stop him from looking over to Rick, a little ruefully. Rick smiled. After a second, Oscar did, too. Five minutes later he was asleep, and Persephone took advantage of the warm mountain to lean her head on his shoulder, his upper arm, really, she was that small and he was that big. In a little bit she was sleeping as well.

I caught Rick's eye in the rear view mirror.

"Everything OK, buddy?"

He laughed.

"As long as they don't snore, yeah."

Hebe snickered.

"You're going to need earplugs with the big guy around."

That wasn't really true. Despite his size Oscar didn't snore. Both girls did, however. Ladylike snores, if there is such a thing, but snores nonetheless.

We were well into the Sierra foothills when Hebe, who'd been dozing along with two-thirds of the back seat, woke up and looked out the window.

"OK, Sam. What's the deal with Persephone's mom?"

I turned to look at her and quickly back to the road in front of us.

"She's worried, but I need to talk to Persephone first, Hebe."

There was a grunt from the back seat.

"OK, I'm here. What is it you need to talk about with me? What did my mom tell you?"

I decided to come out and say it straight.

"It's Harry."

A snort from Persephone.

"Like that's a surprise? What's new about that?"

"Your mom pointed out that your dad had passed us going out when we arrived," I said. "He had his usual rap about being worried about you, about this trip, and all the rest of it. But that wasn't the important thing."

I risked a quick glance in the rear view mirror. I had Persephone's attention, even if she had a sour look on her face.

"She said she knew he'd been talking with Harry that morning. I guess it was before he'd arrived at the farm. She didn't say so exactly, but I think it wasn't any kind of accident that we saw Harry waving at us on the way in."

The road demanded my attention as we climbed higher and the curves were sharper. No danger of exceeding the speed limit on this stretch, thanks to the ubiquitous RVs grinding up the hill. When we got lucky they pulled over at the first opportunity.