The Camp (9 page)

She marched across the tiny room to a small writing desk, opened the drawer and pointed out the pens, pencils, envelopes and letter-size paper. “I will expect you to write to your mother at least once each week. Drop the letter off at my office. I’ll stamp it and see that it goes out with the day’s mail.”

Ellen waited until Jane left then looked around the tiny room. Someone had brought her suitcase up and placed it by the desk. She dragged it to the foot of the bed, climbed under the covers, curled up, and cried herself into a restless sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Rye entered the kitchen, walked past his wife, and placed a box on the counter. He looked over to where she sat at the table, totally engrossed in several letters and a brochure. He picked up the box and set it down again with a little more gusto and gave a groan.

“I see you.”

He turned around and with a hand on either side of himself, hopped up on the counter. “What do you have there that has you so engrossed?”

“Requirements for the river rescue course. We’ll be working out of Agness at the confluence of the Rogue and Illinois Rivers.”

He slid off the counter and began unpacking the box. “I found the blender, salad bowl, and utensils.”

The announcement of his discovery of the kitchen items didn’t get a response, so he walked over and sat across from her.

“Any surprises?”

When he sat down, she raised the letter she’d been reading up in front of her face. At his question, she dropped it, revealing a broad grin.
 

“I thought you’d never ask. I’m a victim in the final scenario.”

He reached over and slid several letters and the brochure to his side of the table. “What, pray tell, is the victim’s plight?”

Her voice softened and became dramatic. “I’m paddling down the river when my raft hits a rock and catapults me into a category Five hole.”

Rye looked up from the brochure. “How exactly are they going to simulate that?”

Her grin widened. “I haven’t the faintest, but it sounds like fun.”

He frowned, then held up the brochure for Lucas Lodge and looked at her with a questioning squint.

“Big doings. I’ve booked our room for four days, as well as one room for Paul for two days, and a cabin for Amy for five.”

Rye pulled up the letter that listed the equipment requirements. “How’s that going to work? What about school?”

He noticed that she was looking very pleased with herself. “She just passed her brown belt test. It was grueling, if I do say so myself. So I called Paul to make sure that she’s still maintaining a 4.0 grade point average while also being the president of the women’s fencing club. I convinced him that she needed a reward. When I mentioned that we were headed for Agness, he jumped at the chance to spend some time with her there.”

Rye rapped his knuckles on the table. “Problem. I happen to know that he’s working on a case that will probably run into the weekend.”

He was always pleased that he could point out some of the smaller details that she might otherwise miss, and that it never seemed to press any buttons for her when he mentioned them.

Claire continued as though he hadn’t said a thing. “Long story short: we’ll drop Amy off in Gold Beach at the jetboats. She’ll ride to Agness on her own and arrive at the Lucas Lodge where her cabin will be waiting. She’ll be on her own sorta for two days, then Paul arrives, although he’ll be staying at the lodge. He’ll be celebrating the successful end to a complex case, and we’ll be kicking back after an exhausting four days of river rescue training. Amy will be basking in the glow of no school. Problem solved.”

Rye listened to her plans and tried to anticipate her next thought, but caught himself being a less than good listener. Hmm, he thought, so she has a knack for solving problems.

“Isn’t Amy a little young to be left alone that much? Especially in an unfamiliar place?”

He could see by Claire’s look of self-satisfaction that she probably had that covered as well.

“We drop her off at the jetboats and drive into Agness and the Lucas Lodge to check into our room. The jetboat should reach the lodge just after we do. We help her check into her cabin and break bread together that evening. At the end of each day of training, we’ll meet up for our evening meal. The last two days of our training will be the toughest; we’ll probably just want to go up to our room and crash. But at that point, Paul will have arrived.”

Claire stood and bowed. Rye clapped. “I’m impressed.” But he couldn’t resist throwing in one last doubt. “Amy’s up for all this adult commandeering of her time?”

“Paul’s going to surprise her with it tonight.”

Paul was thrilled
that he’d be spending two days with his daughter and was hoping that she would share his excitement. When he got home, he wanted to rush into her room and blurt out his plans, but thought better of it. He knew that she had broken it off with Ed and wasn’t sure how she was taking it.

When he rolled into the carport he remained in the bus for a couple minutes, trying to mentally prepare for Amy’s reaction to his plan and at the same time script a scenario. Among her peers at school, in the fencing club, and at the Karate studio, Amy was known to be grounded and calm under pressure. But he had seen her other side when the hormones surfaced and whatever he said was wrong and he was just her father, so what did he know?

With a sigh of trepidation, he slide out of the Volkswagen bus and entered the side door into the kitchen. No Amy—she must be in her room. He rattled around, opening and closing the fridge, then thumped into the living room where he dropped as noisily as possible onto the couch and turned on the evening news using the remote to crank up the volume just a bit. No Amy.

With a heavy heart, he walked down the hall to his daughter’s room and knocked.

“Can I come in?”

But as he knocked, the door opened a crack. Tentatively pushing, he peeked in, relieved that she was sitting at her computer desk working on homework.

“Door’s open.”

 
He walked over and stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders.
 

“Everything alright?”

She leaned her head back and looked up at him. “I heard you banging around.”

He pulled over a metal folding chair and sat next to her. “I have something to discuss with you.”

Her heart sank. She knew he was going to ask her about Ed and she was just holding it together. She knew she’d lose it if he asked her if they’d slept together.

“As you know, I’ve been working on a big case.”
 

She nodded. “I know.”

There have been some breakthroughs that will bring it to a close soon. There was a considerable bonus promised if I solved the case, and pretty soon, I will have. I know you passed your brown belt test and have been keeping up your grades.”

She could see that he had something to say and by the way he was struggling, she was certain it would be about Ed.

Paul gave his head a shake. “What I’m trying to say is that I need a break and am going to spend a couple days at a place called Lucas Lodge. It’s not far from Gold Beach. Your Aunt Claire and Uncle Rye will be there for some river rescue training. If you’d like—and only if you want—they could drop you off to take a jetboat to the lodge. I’d reserve a cabin for you and you’d be on your own for a couple days, but I’d take a room at the lodge itself as soon as I could make it down.”

Amy sat dumbstruck and Paul was sure he was about to hit a wall with her.

“What about school?”

He could feel his heart soar. “I’ll take care of that. What do you think?”

“Is the lodge close to anything? I mean, is there a town nearby?

“There’s the small town of Agness, and I mean it’s really small. I don’t know if it’s walking distance from the lodge or not. I’m not trying to push you, but I need to know right now so I can call Aunt Claire and make reservations.”

With a sudden squeal, she jumped to her feet. “Would I have to share the cabin?”

He just shook his head in the negative.
 

“What about money for food and, you know, other stuff?”

He could feel her feel his excitement growing with her excitement. It was intoxicating and contagious.
 

“This is my celebration and I want to share it with you. You’re going to be on your own, so I’ll want to make sure you have enough spending money to be comfortable.” Amy lurched forward and wrapped him in a hug, something he wasn’t expecting. Together they fell out of the chair, laughing.

When the moment passed, they stood and returned to their usual roles.
 

“I think you’d better finish your homework. I’ll go call Aunt Claire and make those reservations.”

Amy sat facing her computer, feeling her heart race and wondering how she would ever finish her homework.

The river rescue
instructor, Larry Gill, walked between the tables, picking up ropes and examining knots. “It seems we can all tie knots now, so put the rope away. “Claire.” He cleared his throat as he formed the question. “You’re aggressively moving down river, feet out in front. Why not swim on your stomach, head up?”

She took a moment to look down the long table at the other trainees. “If you’re swimming head down stream and something hooks your Personal Flotation Device, your head would be pulled under. Feet down stream also allows you a better view of what’s ahead.”

Gill walked to the chalkboard and pointed at several wavy lines that symbolized the river. “You’re here.” He made a dot in the middle of the river. “You want to swim to shore here.” He made another dot forward and diagonal to the first. How will you reach that desired point? Please come up and show me.”

Claire walked up to the diagram. “I’d swim diagonally back this way.” She drew a line showing that she’d swim back.

Gill looked at the class and then at Claire. “Why?”

“The current is pushing me forward. If I swim directly toward my desired point on the shoreline, by the time I reach land, the current will have pushed me past the point I’m aiming for.”

“Exactly.”

Claire walked back and sat down.

Rye was watching from his seat at the end of the table, totally impressed with her cool ability to talk to a group.

“We’ve discussed the bag throw, Z-Drag for getting a raft off the rocks, a shallow water crossing with four or more people. How to cross river strainers and aggressively swim to an eddy. Tomorrow, we’ll take these principles to the river and see if they work. We’ll meet at the rafts at 8:00 tomorrow morning.”

Rye carried the bucket of gear except for the drysuits that Claire had folded and slung over one of her shoulders.
 

“What did you think?”

He took the opportunity to set the container with all the rescue equipment down and flex his arms. “This is too much like moving boxes.”

“So?”

“It was a good recap, including a couple procedures I’d forgotten about.”

“Like what?”

He picked up the bucket and they started walking again. “Some of the knots and the correct way to cross a strainer. How about you?”

“Honestly?” She said. “It felt good to review.”

The river rescue class was held in the Lucas Lodge Hall. As they left, the cabins were on the right. They stopped in front of Amy’s cabin and Rye set the container down again.

Claire peered around at the front porch. “Looks like she’s home.”

Rye laughed. “Or left the lights on and is out haunting the streets of Agness.”

She elbowed him and headed for the lodge.

He picked up the gear and jogged a little to catch up.

“Change and head back to pick her up?”

She looked over at her husband as she fished in her pocket for the key. “I’d like a quick shower first.”

Twenty minutes later, they stepped out of their room and looked over at the cabins. Hers was dark,

“What do you think?”

Rye pointed to the lawn in front of the cabin. “I think she’s enjoying the evening.”

Claire jogged up and sat next to where Amy was laying. “How’s the cabin?”
 

“Small, but just right.”

“You ready to get something to eat?” But when she looked back over her shoulder, Rye was nowhere to be seen. “I think we’d better get going before the big guy eats it all.”

The two could have been sisters, or perhaps mother and daughter. They were the same five foot five inches and both were slim and both moved with a sense of purpose, thanks to the martial arts.

When they reached the door to the lodge restaurant, Amy gave a short bow with the nod of her head and let her sensei go first. When she followed, Claire put an arm around her. “Thank you for that.” Then she gave her a quick hug.

Claire was right. Rye had found a table and was already looking at the menu. All three ate light—fish and salad without desert. An hour after they’d sat down, they were all headed back to Amy’s cabin.
 

“Would you like to come in?”

Rye gave a loud yawn and the two women looked on in mock disgust.

“Sorry, they just seem to come out that way.”

“Maybe another night, I’d better put the big dog to bed or he’ll drown tomorrow.”

Amy used her key and Rye and Claire waited until she was through the door.

“Good night, then.”

Claire gave a quick bow. “Goodnight, Amy.”

Eight o’clock came early, but when they got to the rafts, they were all firm. Rye gave one a thump with his fist. “At least we won’t have to cart over the compressor.”

Each member of the eight-man team had to demonstrate how to coil the rope into the bag for the bag throw, so that it would come out without tangle. Then one of the members waded out into the river and allowed himself to be moved down by the current. Waiting downstream, each member threw the victim their bag and watched the rope uncoil.

Shallow water crossing seemed easy. Rye was the biggest, so he took the paddle and the lead.

The idea was to move single file with each person hanging onto the PFD being worn by the next in line. It was Rye’s job to probe the river rocks with the paddle and choose the route so that there would be as little chance as possible of anyone getting a foot trapped.