Royal Ransom (8 page)

“His father is of the belief,” Nigel added, “that this trip—being forced to work and fend for himself—will help to mature his son. Perhaps have a positive influence on his behaviour and attitude.”

“So, you
don't
want me to take it easy on him?” Ray asked.

“Not in the least. Make him be responsible, drive him to do what's expected of him. We ask only two things,” Albert said.

“And they are?”

“Please don't put him in positions that could expose him to physical danger beyond the normal expectations of this trip,” Nigel said.

“And the second thing?”

“No matter how tempting it may be, refrain from clocking him,” Albert said.

“Clocking him?”

“I think it means like throttling him,” I said. “You know, smacking him.”

“Regardless of how obnoxious he becomes.”

“I've never hit one of my customers,” Ray said.

“Ray …,” I prompted, trying to remind him of some thing that happened a couple of seasons ago.

“Okay. I've only ever hit
one
of my customers, and he took the first swing, and he was bigger than I was, and believe me, he really,
really
deserved it.”

“How are we supposed to treat Victoria?” I asked.

“I suspect that will not be an issue,” Albert said. “You have probably already discovered that she is a very different type of person.”

“Very different,” I said.

“She is almost always hard-working, conscientious, polite and will do more than expected.”

“I'll vouch for that,” I said. “We had a really good talk last night.”

Albert gave me a questioning look.

“After you two went to sleep,” Ray explained. “They must have sat by the fire for more than an hour, just the two of them.”

“I was not aware of that,” Nigel said.

“You two were sleeping pretty good, judging by the snoring coming from your tent,” I said.

“It's nice the kids get along,” Ray said.

“Yes … nice … very nice,” Nigel said, although the look on his face and his tone of voice didn't match the words.

“We appreciate that you have befriended the Princess,” Albert said. “But it is extremely important that you understand the parameters of the relationship.”

“I don't even understand that sentence,” I said.

“That makes two of us,” Ray agreed.

Albert and Nigel exchanged a look.

“Let me try to explain this,” Albert said. “You must be aware that your interaction with any member of the Royal Family is governed by very specific protocols and—”

“You're losing me again,” Ray said. “Do you understand what he means?”

“No idea,” I agreed.

Albert looked as though he was struggling to come up with the right words. “There are constraints … limitations … restrictions … actions that are prohibited.”

“Oh, I understand,” Ray said.

“Excellent!”

“You don't want us to clock her, either.”

“Of course I don't, but that is not what I am referring to in this instance!” Albert was beginning to sound frustrated.

“Then maybe you'd better just spit it out in good plain Canadian English,” Ray snapped.

Once again Albert and Nigel exchanged a long look.

“Let me handle it,” Nigel said. He turned to me. “You cannot kiss the Princess.”

“Why can't he?” Ray demanded.

“I haven't … I won't … I don't want to!” I sputtered.

“Why don't you?” Ray asked. “She's a pretty little thing, and you two are the same age and all.”

“Regardless,” Albert said, “it would not be appropriate.”

“I won't! Honestly!”

“Thank you so much. We appreciate your co-operation in this most delicate matter,” Nigel said.

“Can I ask a question?” Ray said.

“Certainly,” Albert replied.

“If she kisses him, is he allowed to kiss her back?”

“She would not do that,” Albert said.

“Why wouldn't she? Don't you think my cousin is good enough for her?”

“No, I was not implying that!”

“So you
do
think he's good enough for her then?”

Albert looked flustered and confused. He took a deep breath. “It is not a question of who is good enough or not good enough, it is simply a fact of life that she is a princess and must be treated as such. Understood?”

“That's no problem for me,” I assured him.

“And for you?” Albert asked Ray.

Ray shrugged. “I'm not planning on kissing
any
of you. Now, if you don't mind, how about if we get them up and get on with our day.”

I
FOLLOWED RAY
'
S LEAD
and started to angle in toward the shore. Although it was hidden from view around a slight outcrop of land, I knew there was a river just ahead. It was a short stretch connecting this lake to the next.

“Are we heading to shore?” Victoria asked.

“Have to. We're running out of lake. We'll portage around some rapids.”

“Are they big rapids?” she asked.

“Not too bad. I've been down them before.”

“Do you think you could navigate those rapids with me here in the bow?” she asked.

“Probably.”

“Then why don't we try?”

Up ahead, Ray and Andrew had disappeared around the little point of land.

“Lots of reasons.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“For one, you're still not very experienced.”

“But you've been telling me how well I've been doing all morning!” she protested.

“And you are. Second reason, Ray didn't say we could.”

“And if I could convince him?” she asked.

“That would still leave us the third reason.”

“And what is that?”

We rounded the point and the river opened up right in front of us.

“And the third reason is that the river flows
into
this lake and I've never met anybody who could paddle up a rapids.”

She turned around and scowled at me and I started to laugh. She took her paddle and splashed water up at me, spraying my face.

“Hey!” I yelled.

She splashed me again.

“Cut it out!”

“And if I don't?”

“Well … Hey, stop it!” I yelled as she hit me with another blast of water.

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked again. “I'm going to do this!”

I put all my weight on one side of the canoe, practically pushing it down to the waterline and then quickly shifted to the other side, almost causing the canoe to tip. Victoria screamed.

“You going to stop? Or are we going in?” I yelled.

“Never!” she hollered, and she splashed me.

I cupped my hand and tossed up a handful of water that hit her in the back of the head. She turned away and I splashed her again, and again, and again!

“I surrender!” she screamed.

I splashed her once more for good measure.

“You win! I quit … honestly!”

“The person in the back of the canoe is always going to win,” I pointed out.

“I believe you. Maybe
I
should paddle in the back tomorrow.”

“You need a little more experience before that can—do you hear something?”

She perked up her ears and looked around. “Just the sound of the river. Wait, I do hear something. It sounds like a motorboat.”

“Not a motorboat. A plane.” I scanned the sky but I couldn't see anything.

“Do you think it could be your father?” Victoria asked.

“There's a good chance. There aren't that many pilots who fly into here.”

“Over there!” Victoria said, pointing.

Coming up behind us, still far off over the lake, was a plane. It was too far away to see much about it, but it certainly wasn't orange, so it wasn't my father. It was coming in fast and low, almost straight toward us.

“I don't recognize the plane,” I said, over the increasing noise of the engine.

What I could tell was that it was a large float plane. It looked as though it could probably hold eight or ten
people. As it passed overhead I could see there were two canoes secured on the top of the floats. Victoria waved up at it.

I wasn't sure who these people were, or where they had come from, but I was willing to bet the plane was going into the bush to drop off some fishermen who didn't want to have to paddle in.

“That was a big plane.”

“Bigger than my father's. A plane that size could have come from as far away as Calgary … maybe even farther.”

In the distance the plane began to bank. I watched as it started a long, slow circle back. It seemed to be circling right around us.

“He's checking us out,” I said.

“Why would he be doing that?” Victoria asked.

“Probably making sure we're okay. When you waved he might have thought you were trying to get his attention.”

“I was just trying to be friendly.”

The plane completed a full circle and then broke off and headed in the direction it had been going before it saw us. It got smaller and smaller, and the noise from the engines became just a gentle buzz and then faded to nothing. Finally I lost sight of it.

“That's certainly a faster way to move,” I said.

“I greatly prefer our method of travel.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I do,” she said firmly.

“In that case, how about you put that paddle in the water and we start travelling again.”

“Yes, sir!” she said, and saluted me. “Right away, sir!”

“That's more like the kind of treatment I deserve. It's about time you showed me a little respect.”

Something told me it was no accident when her next paddle stroke skimmed the surface and soaked me, but good!

Chapter Eight

T
HE PORTAGE AROUND THE RAPIDS WAS SHORT
and sweet. Ray made darn sure that Andrew took his share of the load, and Albert and Nigel demonstrated that they didn't just look strong. I couldn't believe how much they could carry.

We put the canoes back in the water and paddled less than a kilometre before we put in to make camp for the night. It was a beautiful spot, slightly up on a hill where a breeze kept the bugs away, with a supply of wood close by, a little stream flowing in and a very gentle beach, where we could wash up and even take a swim. Finally, when the camp was set up and supper was ready, we sat down to eat.

“How many kilometres did we do today?” Victoria asked.

“Close to thirty,” Ray said. “We could have done more if I wasn't carrying so much dead weight,” he added looking pointedly at Andrew.

“I tried hard today … much harder than yesterday,” Andrew protested.

“Unless you were dead you'd have to work harder than yesterday,” Ray said.

Andrew looked hurt.

“But you are learning,” Ray conceded. “By the end of this trip you might be halfway good.”

Andrew perked up. “You really think I could be good?”

“I said halfway good. The other half I'm not so sure about. But who knows, with enough practice you might make it all the way.”

“Speaking of practice,” Victoria said, “could I have a turn paddling in the back of the canoe tomorrow?”

“Not without more instruction,” Ray said. “When you paddle stern, you're responsible for steering the canoe. But there's still more than an hour of light left. Do you think you could handle some more time on the water?”

“Sure!” she said.

Ray stood up. “Good. Jamie, take her out on the lake for a short paddle and give her some instruction.”

“Perhaps I can go as well,” Albert said, rising to his feet. I knew he didn't want me to be alone with Victoria.

“Why?” Ray asked. “You're doing okay, but you're not good enough to be teaching anybody.” He turned to Andrew. “You want to get better than halfway good?”

“Sure.”

“Then you go too. Vicky can be in the stern, you'll be up in the bow, and Jamie will be in the middle, where he can tell you both what you're doing wrong. Is that okay with you, Al?”

“Well …”

“It's not like they're going anywhere. Jamie will just take them out a bit and then bring them on back. It's
a good way to develop a little character, don't you think?”

“T
RY TO MAKE YOUR STROKES LONGER
,” I said to Andrew.

“If you don't like the way I'm doing it, maybe you should take the paddle,” he offered.

“Not me. I'm just a passenger—and it might be a little bit easier if you put down that can of bug spray.”

“No way.”

“How about my paddling?” Victoria asked.

“I'm sure my precious sister is doing just wonderfully,” Andrew chipped in.

“Actually, her J-stroke should be more the way I showed you. If you did it right you wouldn't have to switch from side to side to keep us going in a straight line.”

“I have to switch because my brother combines a lack of effort with a lack of skill,” she snapped. “I'm having to canoe for three people.”

“Shut up!”

“No, you shut up!” she said.

“Both of you shut up! If you want to fight, go back to camp! If you want to learn to canoe better, then stay here and stay quiet!”

They both closed their mouths.

We started to move a little better and rounded a point, putting us out of sight of the camp. I was having them keep us fairly close to the shore, following the ins and outs of the land to improve their paddling technique. I could just picture Albert and Nigel standing on the shore, peering into the distance, panicking because they'd lost sight of us.

Of course I didn't know what they were more afraid of—something terrible happening, or me kissing Victoria. What a joke that was! I'd never kissed anybody except my mother or grandmother. It wasn't like I was some sort of dangerous serial smoocher. There was one girl at school— Fiona was her name—who wanted me to kiss her … at least I was pretty sure she wanted me to. She didn't actually ask me to kiss her or anything, but I could tell … I guess.