Back of Beyond полностью

Jed shook his head. “No, ma’am. We’ll be seeing and riding through country very few people have ever seen, including me. But according to my topo maps, the elevation rise isn’t much more severe than what we were going to do anyway, so I’m not worried about that. What I can’t guarantee is that we won’t have to stop from time to time and scout out ahead, which is something we haven’t had to do today. We’ll want to avoid black timber that may have trees down in it our horses can’t navigate through. And I’ll want to ride ahead from time to time to make sure we don’t get into a situation where we get rim-rocked.”

“Rim-rocked?” she asked.

“It means riding or climbing up into rocks and boulders but not being able to get back down,” he said.

“Great,” D’Amato said.

“But there’s an upside,” Jed said. “We may discover some thermal activity and see vistas and wildlife we’d never experience any other way. There are over ten thousand thermal features up here in this park, and who knows what we might find in the kind of virgin territory I’m talking about.”

“I’m from Brooklyn,” D’Amato said. “I do not know of this virgin territory.”

Which got a laugh out of Donna Glode, if no one else.

“The other thing,” Jed said, “is we’re likely to get to our next camp even earlier than the normal route, since we’re kind of cutting the corner. We might even discover a shortcut.

“Of course,” he said, “we don’t have to try this new route at all. We can stay on our trail and give it our best shot despite the mud and the potential of washouts. I just want you all to know there is an option available.”

He stopped talking. Jed knew one sure way of killing a sale was to oversell it. He wanted the group to come to their own consensus without him appearing to force it.

No one, it seemed, wanted to speak first.

Then Russell said, “We’d be like the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We’d be going through a part of Yellowstone Park practically no one has ever been through. That appeals to me, at least. I like being an explorer.”

D’Amato cracked in a bad pirate voice, “Beware, there be monsters.”

Knox said, “‘Back of back of beyond,’ we’ll call it. I like the sound of that.”

“Me too,” Donna Glode said. “Bring on the adventure!” She rubbed her hands together in what Jed thought was an overplay designed to show the Wall Streeters-D’Amato in particular-she was with them.

Walt said, “Is there still good fishing this new route?”

Jed said, “It looks like it, anyway. Those creeks I mentioned earlier, Phlox and Chipmunk, plus Badger Creek. One thing for sure, they haven’t been fished much. So you and Justin might be in for a rare treat-native cutthroat trout that’ve never seen an artificial fly.”

Walt nodded and smiled. “I like that idea,” he said.

“I think I’m in,” Sullivan said. “I think my girls would like the idea of seeing country no one has seen for a long time. I know I would. Go big or go home, I say.”

Jed noticed that Rachel Mina shot Sullivan an approving look.

Tristan stood up, and turned away from Jed to address the group. “I feel it’s my obligation to bring something up,” he said, the back of his shoulder to Jed. “What Jed is suggesting is kind of radical. We don’t have radios or cell phones. The only thing the Park Service knows about us-or our families at home-is where we’re supposed to be from day to day. So if we don’t show up at the end they know where to look. If we deviate from the trail and get lost or ‘rim-rocked,’ no one will know where to find us.”

Tristan said, “I’ve had a lot of success in my life by determining where I want to get to and staying the course. It’s when my partners convinced me to deviate from the plan that I failed. What Jed is suggesting here is trading in a sure thing-even though it might be unpleasant for a while-for a flier filled with unknown variables. I’d rather stay the course. It’s what I-and all of you-paid for.”

Even Jed conceded to himself Tristan was persuasive.

“Oh for Christ’s sake, Tristan,” Donna said, “didn’t you just hear him? You are such a tight-ass. This isn’t a product launch. I thought the purpose of this trip was for us to experience high adventure. Isn’t that what you said?”

Tristan didn’t answer her, but even in the firelight Jed could tell his face flushed red. She had embarrassed him, cut his feet out from under him. And his argument. Jed felt the momentum shift back.

“I’m in,” Knox said. “The worst that could happen is I never make it back to the firm to be at my desk when I get laid off.”

“Damn right,” Russell said. “Me, too.”

D’Amato covered his face with his hands as if horrified, then squeaked, “Me, three.”

Jed looked around. All in favor, one opposed, one not heard from.

“Mr. Wilson?” he asked, expecting it to go five-two.

Wilson said nothing, but his glare was intense.