Honeymoon for Three

Idaho?
    They were cooking their dinner on the Coleman stove and contemplating camping here for the night. Gary was busy tending the stove and seemed to be as happy as a mouse sitting on a mountain of cheese. They had come through Spokane, Washington, in intermittent rain and then crossed into Idaho. At Coeur d’Alene they had purchased some groceries and then headed north through beautiful scenery—trees, hills, the occasional lake. One thing the U.S.A. had in abundance was beautiful scenery.
    It was cool but not cold. The sun would be setting in a while. Its rays were being filtered through the evergreen trees. The air had that fresh, foresty aroma, the aroma of an outdoors with clean air and no Los Angeles smog.
    The ranger in charge of the campground was being very attentive to them. He had the time to be attentive because they were the only people in the campground. He was middle-aged and mild-mannered. He wore glasses and a ranger uniform. He looked as if he wouldn’t hurt a mosquito.
    He was chatting with Gary at the moment, asking where they had come from, where they were going. Why had they decided to elope to Reno to get married? Didn’t they have family? Friendly questions. Nothing to be concerned about. Questions that anybody might ask. Questions that an ax murderer might ask.
    Since it was the end of the camping season, the chances of anybody else showing up at this campground tonight were slim. All right, the chances of the ranger actually being an ax murderer ranged from slim to nonexistent. He was no more an ax murderer than Gary was. Penny admitted to herself that her fears were completely irrational. But irrational fears destroyed many a night’s sleep.
    Maybe it was the ghost of Emily, coming to haunt her. Making sure that even when everything seemed idyllic, she had something to worry about. Things were going too well. That was a crazy thought, perhaps, but Penny couldn’t shake it.
    Before they put up the tent, she broached her fears to Gary. She didn’t say that she thought the ranger was an ax murderer. She said that the campground felt creepy since they were the only campers. He was surprisingly sympathetic. He didn’t tell her she was crazy. He said that if she felt this way they would go on and stay somewhere else. She got the impression that he felt the isolation too.
     
    CHAPTER 12
    The landscape was getting wilder and wilder. Alfred had not known that large portions of the United States were completely uninhabited. While driving across the country he had encountered the emptiness of the plains, but at least there had been scattered farm houses.
    He didn’t know where Penny and Gary were. He hoped he was ahead of them, because that’s what his plan called for. He had stayed the night at a motel in Sandpoint, Idaho, and gotten an early start this morning. Today, he knew that they planned to go into Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. They had talked about hiking to a place called Sperry Chalet where they would stay overnight. That was complete madness, and Alfred would put a stop to it.
    He ate an early lunch in Kalispell, Montana, because his map didn’t show anything beyond it that looked civilized. He had been picking up maps at gas stations as he went. Fortunately, most of them were free. As far as dinner was concerned, he expected to be back here by then, with Penny sitting happily beside him.
    He drove into Glacier National Park and alongside Lake McDonald. He knew that the trail to Sperry Chalet started from the lake. He drove carefully on the road that some halfwits might call scenic, looking for signs. With trees on one side of the road and the lake on the other, unbroken expanses of green and blue, it was almost impossible for him to know exactly where he was. He was afraid that he might have passed the trail when he saw the sign. He pulled into a parking lot at the trailhead.
    His heart sank as he spotted the green Volkswagen, sitting among a handful of other cars. Penny and Gary were nowhere to be seen. Alfred parked his car and walked over to the VW. It was locked. They were already on the trail.
    ***
    “Do you remember when we climbed Mt. Manual in the Big Sur?” Gary asked as they stopped to take a breather.
    “Do I ever.” Penny sipped water from her canteen. “It’s a good thing I had my hiking boots. If Grandpa hadn’t sent me the ten dollars to buy them… Do you know that you’re my first boyfriend he’s ever approved of?”
    “You