Darwin Expedition by Diane Tullson

Copyright © Diane Tullson 2007
    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage
and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
    Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
    Tullson, Diane, 1958-
The Darwin expedition / written by Diane Tullson.
    (Orca soundings)
    ISBN 978-1-55143-678-4 (bound).--ISBN 978-1-55143-676-0 (pbk.)
    I. Title. II. Series.
    PS8589.U6055D37 2007    jC813’.6      C2006-906611-6
    Summary: Following an accident on a remote logging road, Liam and Tej must call on all their resources to survive the elements and escape the bear that is following them.
    First published in the United States, 2007
    Library of Congress Control Number: 2006938694
    Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
    Cover design: Doug McCaffry
Cover photography: Getty Images
    Â Â Â Â Orca Book Publishers                   Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 5626, Stn. B                                PO Box 468
    Victoria, BC Canada                         Custer, WA USA
           V8R 6S4                                       98240-0468
    www.orcabook.com
    Printed and bound in Canada.
    Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper.
    010 09 08 07 • 5 4 3 2 1

Acknowledgments
    Thanks to Andrew Wooldridge at Orca Book Publishers for having the right words, and to Shelley Hrdlitschka and Kim Denman, always, for their help with the manuscript.

To R.J. and R.J., with love
.

Chapter One
    Rain is a sheet of water on the windshield of the pickup truck. Lead gray, the sky appears in brief arcs as the wipers slam back and forth. The forestry road clings to an old avalanche slope, and the roadbed is under what must be a foot of mud. Tej’s truck wheels spin and the side windows disappear in a spray of mud. Tej white-knuckles the steering wheel.
    â€œMight be too early in the spring to be on this road, Tej.”
    â€œWe’re almost through,” he says, his teeth clenched.
    â€œWe could turn around.”
    Tej throws me a look. “We’d waste hours going back, Liam. We do not want to do that.”
    Through the mud on his side window I peer down at the stump-strewn slope. The truck fishtails, and suddenly I’m getting a good view of that downhill run.
    â€œYou’re too close to the edge!”
    Tej cranks the steering wheel. Plumes of mud plaster the side of the truck. I feel the back end slew, then drop, as a wheel catches the crumbling shoulder. I’m pushed into the seat, like I’m in a dentist’s chair that’s tilted. Tej mats the accelerator. The engine whines as the back wheels start to spin. Then the truck lurches backward. I cram my foot against the floorboards, as if that will make the truck hold the road. Tej mutters a curse and the wheels grab, and then they slip again. The truck tips and I lean toward Tej, who is flattened against his side window. We’re bothswearing now. As the truck starts to roll, Tej’s Coke can leaves the cup-holder and hangs in the air an instant before erupting on the dash. Coke runs up the inside of the windshield, and then it streams sideways as