Page 211 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

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Or they don’t care.

And I don’t know which one pisses me off more.

Aspen stays glued to my side.

Exactly where I told her to be.

But I can feel it in her.

The way her breathing isn’t steady.

The way her hands tremble just slightly when she thinks I won’t notice.

“He gets like this sometimes,” she says suddenly.

Her voice is quiet.

Too quiet.

I glance at her.

“What do you mean?”

Her eyes are fixed ahead, scanning the dark.

“Grandpa,” she says. “When he gets confused… he wanders.”

A pause.

“But he doesn’t come back on his own.”

That lands heavy.

“And if someone grabs him…” she continues, her voice starting to shake, “he won’t understand what’s happening. He won’t fight. He won’t—”

Her words break.

I stop.

Turn to her.

“Aspen.”

Her eyes meet mine—and there it is.

The guilt.

Already eating at her.

“This is my fault,” she whispers. “They came here because of me. Because of us. And now—”

“No.”

Firm.

Sharp.

She flinches slightly.

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