Without waiting for an answer, the man turned and headed up the trail toward their camp. Dany shook the water from his hair, pulled on his boots, his shirt over his head, and quickly followed with teeth chattering.

SHRIEK! THE coffee pot screamed and shouted its warning over the campfire. Brad grabbed it with a gloved hand and poured the cups. “I’m sorry, we only have two cups, but you can have mine.”

“It’s okay, I’m not thirsty, thank you,” the visitor declined with a smile.

Dany pulled the sleeping bag a little tighter round himself as he took the second cup from Brad. “So you’re out here alone?”

“Yup,” the hiker answered, looking from one boy to the other. “My life was getting monotonous in the city so I thought I’d challenge myself to a survival month.”

Brad recoiled as his lips brushed against the steaming cup. “Survival month?”

As if in response, the man reached down and grabbed a tool with pliers, knives, screwdrivers and an assortment of other functions from his belt. “Me and my Leatherman for a month.”

“No tent?” Brad asked incredulously. “No food?”

“Nope. I know, it sounds crazy. I got the idea watching one of those eco challenge shows,” he explained as he pushed a little pile of dirt together with his boots. “Figured hey, if those guys can do it, why can’t I?”

Dany studied the guy over his steaming cup. “How long have you been out here?”

The man smiled at Dany’s innocent curiosity and answered, somewhat secretively, “A while now. I’m used to it, getting to know the woods around here pretty good.”

“Do you, like….” Brad struggled to find a polite way to say it. “Kill animals and stuff?”

“When I get the chance.”

Dany shot Brad a concerned glance and quickly surveyed their surroundings for anything that could be used as a weapon if the guy proved to be crazy. “You were watching us swim yesterday. Why didn’t you answer when we called up to you?”

“I went to climb down to meet you guys.” The hiker shrugged. “But when I got there, you guys were already gone. It’s quite a climb down from that cliff.”

Dany’s brow furrowed as he looked the guy over. “So you tracked us last night?”

“Wasn’t too hard, not many people around this time of year,” he explained nonchalantly as he picked up a stick and poked at the fire. “You guys aren’t exactly quiet at night.”

“You heard us?” Brad asked, a flush of embarrassment rising in his cheeks. The man just raised an eyebrow at them and smiled. “So, where you headed?”