This was a single Ultimate, a man who’d come alone. But when Mara and Simone reached the waterfall, there was nobody there. Simone found the wool blanket folded neatly by a tree, with a cup and a knife beside it. It wasn’t uncommon for clients to go walking, but normally they brought their knives.

“What do you think?” said Simone. “Wait or go?”

“Let’s go,” said Mara. “I don’t mind coming back.” If they didn’t set eyes on a client, they had to return an hour later. If the client was still missing, they called Bjørn. He always had his phone.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s no problem.” Mara felt oddly restless. She didn’t want to wait.

Back at the van, Simone put her feet on the dash. There were cots in the back, but during the day they liked to sit up front and eat Red Vines. Usually Simone complained about her boyfriend, in the way people complain about someone they really love. He was an aspiring playwright who worked at a drag bar downtown. But today Simone seemed thoughtful.

“Are you nervous?” she asked.

She meant about Civilization.

“It’ll be fine,” said Mara. “It’s nothing new.”

“Not the nature part. The television part. How many people will watch it? Millions? I’d be freaking out.”

“I don’t really care either way.”

“I don’t believe that,” said Simone.

“Can we not?”

“Jeez,” she said. “Sorry.”

Mara felt bad for snapping. She opened the snake bag and found the snake curled tight in the bottom. It was heavy and cool and she put it on Simone’s lap. Simone liked snakes.

“We could name it,” Mara said.

“What letter are we on?”

“W, I think.”

“Wes. Walt. Willow.”

“I like Wes,” said Mara. “It’s simple.”

“Maybe you have ideas.”

“No, I like Wes.”

They were both trying to be nice. Mara was glad when an hour passed and she had an excuse to leave.

When she got to the waterfall, the newts were having a party. The water’s surface was dimpled with their heads. But there was no sign of the client. Mara braced herself and called Bjørn. He got irritable when they lost people in the woods.

Bjørn was chewing when he answered the phone.

“Oh, him,” said Bjørn. He swallowed. “He left first thing this morning. Just walked out. I thought I told you. He wasn’t fucked up or anything. He said, I forget, something positive, though. That he realized this wasn’t where he needed to be.”

Mara could tell that Bjørn knew exactly what the client had said. He kept track of what clients said when they were happy. If they changed their minds, he could remind them.

The next morning, Mara and Simone gathered the remaining duos for a breakfast bonfire and presented them with their bracelets. The couple held hands the whole time. The man kissed his wife’s hair, shyly, like he couldn’t resist. Like the world was theirs alone. The dad kept asking about the guy who left. Mara said she couldn’t share details, but he stayed on it.