Riding the Pause Read Online Free Page B

Riding the Pause
Book: Riding the Pause Read Online Free
Author: Evelyn Adams
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stopped moving or if the temperature had dropped, but either way she minded the cold. Digging around in her pack, she found her windbreaker, slides and the bag with her food and stove. She’d just have to steel her nerve and light the damn thing. If she let herself be afraid of her cook stove then she really was the newbie the man downstairs already seemed to think she was.
    Shoving her feet into the slides, she grabbed her toiletries and food bag and made the climb back down the ladder to the main floor. Apollo lifted his big black head in greeting, but the man was too busy with his own stove to do more than nod at her as she went past him on the way to the bathroom. It suited her. She didn’t want to make friends, and even though the bathroom was far up the hill from the shelter, it wasn’t more than knee walls around a porta potty, open at the top and covered with a roof. Once she closed the gate behind her, she couldn’t help but feel a little like a gopher with her head poking up over the top of the wall.
    She’d much prefer that no one else paid attention to her, although it was kind of nice to see Apollo sitting and waiting for her when she came out. He led the way back down to the shelter, looking over his shoulder every few feet to make sure she was still following. She gave his shaggy head a quick rub as she climbed up into the open area of the shelter next to the picnic table. Apollo’s owner was stirring something that smelled delicious, like cooked onions and tomatoes in a small enamel pot on his cook stove. Rachel’s stomach growled loud enough that she was sure he must have heard it, but he didn’t look up from his cooking.
    Pulling out her own stove and canister of fuel, she set it along with her instant mashed potatoes, a chunk of cheese, another beef stick and a tired looking apple. Her dinner didn’t look as good as his dinner smelled but she hadn’t wanted to be bothered packing too much food. She wasn’t that great of a cook when she had a full kitchen to work with. She’d rather leave the culinary accomplishments to her sister Bailey, the chef and restaurateur. The piece of dark chocolate she had squirrelled away for later would have to make up for any deficiencies.
    Apollo’s owner filled a collapsible bowl with food for the dog and turned off his stove, taking his own dinner to the picnic table to eat. It was silly that they hadn’t bothered to introduce themselves, but when she turned around to remedy that, he was watching over the rim of his mug. One eyebrow arched in a gestured that said he was sure she had no idea what to do with all the fancy new gear she had and he was waiting to see her screw up.
    She turned back around without saying a word. She might not know how to work her stove, but it wasn’t her first time hiking. She wasn’t one of those people who bought all new gear and set off to hike the AT without any idea what they were doing. The fact that she had brand new gear was a coincidence and not a statement about her skill set.
    Feeling his smug amused gaze on her, she hooked the fuel canister to the stove, praying she didn’t blow anything up. The guy who sold her the stove showed her how to make the connection but she hadn’t taken the time to try it ahead of time. Normally she would have checked and double checked to make sure she knew exactly how it worked, but there hadn’t been time. And how hard could it be. Willing her fingers to stay steady so Apollo’s owner wouldn’t see how nervous she was, she twisted the fuel to open, pulled the lighter out of her pocket and lit the stove.
    There was a hiss and then a whoosh and before she knew what happened the whole stove was on fire, flames dancing closer to the canister. God, she was going to set the shelter on fire. She tried to close the canister but every time she got close the flames shifted and she was afraid she’d burn herself.
    “Shit shit shit,” she said, jumping off the deck to grab handfuls of sand from
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