Dan was in his office.

He was not alone. Standing, or rather slumping across the desk from him, was a sad sack of a guy, midforties, brown hair and eyes, medium height, medium build, with a chin and a waist that both showed distinct signs of regular meals. His chin also bore trace evidence of having tried to grow a beard but it just wasn‘t in the cards. His Carhartt overalls were worn at the elbows and knees and looked as if they had begun life on a far smaller man. His boots were used, the toe of the right boot having been punctured with what might have been the claw of a hammer, or maybe a hatchet. He carried threadbare musher gloves leaking down feathers that when donned would reach to his elbows and a flapped cap with the right earflap missing. He was arguing with the chief ranger. Any Park rat could have told him that was a lost cause. You want to hike up to Bright Lake? Dan said. At this time of year? With the snow still twelve feet deep in some places? Why?

I like the name, the guy said.

Dan was rendered momentarily speechless.

It doesn‘t matter where I want to go, the guy said. You told me to come back when I got geared up. Well, here I am, all geared up.

Dan surveyed said gear, which looked like it had been excavated from the nearest trash pile, and didn‘t bother to hide his contempt. Mr. Davis, you said you wanted to spend a month covering a hundred miles in the Park. I‘m telling you that, uh, gear you‘ve managed to scare up from god knows where won‘t last you fifty feet. You saw my tent, the guy said, it‘s a good one.

It was a good one, Dan said.

And I‘ve got an emergency locator transmitter. This last was said with a good deal of pride.

Yeah, Dan said, well, I‘m not signing any permit for you just so I can come haul your ass out when you stumble into trouble, which sure as shit you will, and set off your ELT, which also sure as shit you will. Now get out of my goddamn office, and don‘t come back until you‘ve got a fucking clue as to what you‘re doing! Kate thought of Maggie. Happy Memorial Day, everybody.

Davis, red-faced and sullen, clumped past Kate and the Grosdidiers without speaking. His boots weren‘t laced and they must have been too big because one of them almost slipped off his foot. He tripped on the threshold and the Grosdidiers might have had their first Kate-related case of the day then and there if Pete and Matt hadn‘t caught him and set him upright again. He yanked his arms free of their grasp and clumped off without a word of thanks.

Dan looked around and acquired Kate as a target. And what the hell do you want? A little over medium height, thickset without being fat, red hair cut in a buzz, and bright blue eyes glowering from beneath a shelf of a brow, the chief ranger of the Park was not to be trifled with in this mood. She told him what the hell she wanted without excess verbiage. The Grosdidier boys kept their mouths shut. It seemed safest.