The B Girls by Cari Cole Page A

muttering under her breath.
    Lucy didn't blame her. Mid-August in the deep South
is hot, humid, and generally miserable even up in the mountains. Today seemed
especially stifling without a hint of a breeze. Pushing through the heavy,
still air was a chore.
    "How far was the fork supposed to be?"
Jane asked.
    "A little less than a mile from the parking
area."
    Jane stopped and slapped at a mosquito.
"Shouldn't we be there by now?"
    "We should be close," Mae said.
    Lucy's tee shirt was starting to stick to her body
and she had a sick feeling her deodorant was going to fail soon. She eyed her
companions.
    Jane didn't look any better, her blond hair was two
shades darker with sweat and plastered to her head.
    Mae didn't exactly look fresh but she didn't seem
to have as many working sweat glands. Her hair still had some shape to it and
her high-tech tee shirt wasn't sporting sweat marks under the arms.
    Chances were huge they were in way over their heads
but she didn't see that they had a choice. Waiting until Wednesday and relying
on the cops wasn't an option.
    Jane slapped at another mosquito. "What the
hell were we thinking using Skin So Soft instead of Off?"
    "We'll live," Mae said. "Aunt Belle
needs us and I'm tired of being boring and predictable."
    "Didn't you tell me you actually went deer
hunting and killed a deer?" Jane said. "I hardly call that boring or
predictable."
    "I was twenty-two and still trying to convince
Chip we were compatible." Mae paused, looking smug. "I'm still a
great shot. We go skeet shooting every once in a while. It makes Chip crazy
when I outshoot him."
    "So why not try out for Olympic skeet shooting
or something?" Jane slapped another bug and made a face as she wiped the
remains on the back of her khaki camp shorts.
    Lucy stepped on something hard and sharp and felt
it through the sole of her tennis shoe. No wonder they made hard-soled boots
for hiking. "I'm not sure they have skeet shooting in the Olympics. But
I've seen it on ESPN."
    Mae nodded. "I've seen those women on ESPN
too. They wear pretty cute outfits even if they are plastered with sponsor
logos."
    "So you think you might actually try some
competition shooting?" Lucy asked.
    "Who knows? A woman with a tattoo is capable
of anything," Mae said.
    Jane looked at Lucy. "What're the odds this is
a wild goose chase?"
    "I have no idea. I assume the map of the cave
is still hidden where Paul put it unless Belle already found it. Either way
we'll learn something."
    Jane didn't say anything.
    Lucy gave her a quick pat on the shoulder.
"We'll get through this. You'll see. Maybe we'll find Aunt Belle and the Declaration."
    Jane bared her teeth in the semblance of a smile
and kept trudging.
    They reached the fork in the track five minutes
later and stopped to look for the best way to head through the woods to the
creek.
    "Time for you to dazzle us with your compass
skills," Jane said.
    "I don't need skill. That's the beauty of GPS.
I'll just get it to remember this place." Lucy tapped the screen.
"And then find the homestead coordinates I put in earlier . . . And
presto, an arrow pointing the way we need to go. That way," she said. The
arrow pointing to the right.
    Jane walked to the edge of the track and looked
down. "This is such a bad idea."
    Lucy stepped up next to her and saw what she was
worried about. The land dropped off sharply for fifteen feet or so and then
rose again for twenty. The ravine or dip or whatever you wanted to call it, cut
across the direction they wanted to travel. The underbrush was so thick you
could hide an elephant. Of course you'd never be able to get an elephant in
these woods to begin with.
    "They aren't kidding when they call this a
wilderness area."
    "Didn't you ever play in the woods when you
were a kid?" Mae asked with determined cheer as she stepped up next to
Lucy and looked over the edge.
    Jane just stared for several seconds. "This is
crazy. I don't think this place is for amateurs. I'm not even sure we can