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movement. I rolled backward, leaped
     to my feet, and took two more big steps back. Bess put her arms around me. I leaned
     against her, shaking, with my legs like rubber.
    I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. George came around to join us,
     her face pale and glistening with sweat. I slowly turned my head back toward the tent. I
     had to force myself to look at the snake again. I imagined it lunging at me, then pushed
     the thought away.
    I cleared my throat. “Suggestions?” My voice sounded
     funny.
    We all stared at the snake. George said without enthusiasm, “On the
     wildlife TV shows sometimes they use a forked stick …”
    “I’m not going near that thing,”
     Bess said firmly. “We get Kyle. He’s in charge; he can deal with the
     snake.”
    Felix was tidying up his cooking gear, so we asked him which one was
     Kyle’s tent. The flap was open, and when we called his name, Kyle sat up yawning.
     “Do you need something?
    “Advice,” George said. “How do you get a rattlesnake out
     of a tent?”
    Kyle frowned as if pondering a riddle. “How do you—” His
     eyes popped open. “What? Do you mean—are you serious?”
    I managed a smile. “Sorry to disturb you, but we could use some
     help.”
    “Yes, sure.” He crawled out and stood up. “You’re
     sure it’s a rattler?”
    “Well, it was rattling,” I said. Just the memory of the sound
     made me shiver.
    Kyle nodded. “We’d better get Tom.” He collected Tom and
     they borrowed one of the giant plastic tubs Felix used for food storage. Back at our
     tent, they peered inside.
    “Boy, that’s a rattler all right,” Kyle said. “A
     big one too.”
    “It’s a beauty,” Tom said.
    George whispered, “A beauty?” and rolled her eyes.
    “Well, thank goodness it wasn’t an ugly
     one,” I muttered.
    Tom put the tub on its side against the tent entrance. “Rattlers
     like dark, enclosed spaces. If we annoy it, it will go into the tub for
     safety.”
    Kyle peered through a side vent to keep an eye on the snake. Tom went to
     the back of the tent and pounded his hands against the nylon.
    “Nothing yet,” Kyle said. “He’s just hunkered
     down.”
    Tom grabbed the tent poles and started shaking the tent.
    “Why don’t you just dump the tent out?” George
     asked.
    “We don’t want your gear to go into the tub with the
     snake,” Tom answered.
    “Good plan,” Bess whispered.
    Tom shook the tent and stomped his feet for a couple of minutes. Finally
     Kyle called out, “He’s moving! He’s heading for the tub. … Just
     another foot … He’s in!”
    Kyle and Tom rushed around the sides of the tent and flipped up the tub.
     They peered inside. “Boy, it’s not happy,” Tom said. We could hear it
     moving and rattling, but didn’t get close enough to watch.
    “Let’s put him in the Land Rover, and I’ll drive him a
     couple miles away,” Kyle said. He picked upone end of the tub
     and Tom grabbed the other. “Sorry about this,” Kyle added.
     “We’ve never had a snake in camp before.”
    “It was probably just looking for shade,” Tom added.
     “Make sure you keep your tent flap zipped when you’re gone. That should
     prevent any more nasty surprises.” They headed off to the Land Rover.
    I looked at my friends. “Does anyone think that snake got in there
     by itself?”
    Bess shook her head. George said, “No way. That tent flap was
     zipped.” She tipped her head to one side. “Tom sure was good with the snake.
     You could tell he’d handled them before.”
    “He knew what he was doing, all right,” I said. “But
     would he let us see his expertise if he was responsible?”
    “He couldn’t refuse when Kyle asked him to help,” Bess
     pointed out. “That would have made Kyle suspicious. Kyle didn’t seem fazed
     by the snake either. Maybe they find snakes all the time on these digs.” She
     shuddered.
    I frowned. “Tom was at the dig all morning.”
    “He might have slipped away for