Chapter 2
I dragged her outside and to our car. "Which one of these is our cabin?"
She nodded at the row of cabins. "There's twenty cabins, so it's near the end."
We packed into the car and I drove down the numbered cabins to fourteen. The space between the cabins was enough that there were small natural lawns around three sides. I pulled into the gravel driveway beside number fourteen, and we stepped out with our bags slung over our shoulders. The cabin was a square twenty-by-twenty foot building with a smaller second room on the back for the bathroom. Windows were on every wall, and a small wood porch covered the front door. As we moved toward the cabin the door was opened by a young woman of eighteen.
She had a bright smile on her face and the prettiest blue eyes I'd ever seen. They suited her long blond hair that was pulled back in a braid. Her complexion was fair-skinned but for the tan, and she had a name tag on her white blouse that read 'Linda.' She wore black pants with matching shoes, and walked with the lithe gait of a gymnast.
The young woman met us on the porch and held her hand out to us. "Hi, you two must be Susan and Abigail. I'm Linda, your attendant."
Susie being the more friendly of us stepped forward and gave Linda's hand a good shake. "You can call me Susie, and this is Abby," she introduced us.
Linda bowed her head and stepped aside. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, and I hope you'll find your stay here comfortable. I've prepared your cabin, but tell me if you need anything changed or moved and I'll be glad to do it."
"If it's anything like my last trip then it'll be perfect," Susie replied.
Susie stepped inside, and I followed her. The large main room had a real wood floor and the wood walls were smoothed and polished to a bright shine. At the back wall was our beds, and on the far left of that wall was the door to the bathroom. There were two dressers on the right-hand wall, and on the left front wall was a small living area complete with two chairs and a coffee table, but no TV.
Susie strode over to the bed closest to the bathroom and tossed her bag and herself onto the soft, hand-quilted covers. She bounced a few times and her eyes swept over the room. "Not bad. I like the extra dresser. There wasn't another one in my last cabin."
"That's because you were alone. I made sure to have two when I heard you were bringing a friend," Linda explained.
I walked over to the other bed and sat down. The mattress was bouncy, but not too bouncy, and there was a softness in it that made me drowsy. "But no TV," I noted.
Linda smiled and shook her head. "No, TVs and most other electronics aren't allowed in the cabins. We like to emphasize exercise, and we have some wonderful paths to hike and a large lake to swim in."
"What about cellphones?" I asked her.
"There are no cellphone towers for reception, so the only phone that works here is a land line in the lodge and-well, an emergency one elsewhere," she informed me.
I pulled out my phone and looked at the reception bars. Nothing. Not even a one little one. I cringed. "I was joking about the serial killer thing," I mumbled.
Susie whipped her head to and for and her smile broadened. "But isn't this great? No phones, no TV, and-"
"-no hope of outside help if a forest fire happened," I added.
Linda shook her head. "Oh, we don't have those. Scott-um, Mr. Young keeps very good care of the property and thins the sick and crowded trees. He's the manager and owner of the Gardens, you know."
"What about those golf carts near the lodge?" Susie spoke up. "I don't remember them being here last time."
"They're new, and used to only to help the more elderly of our guests to the hot springs," Linda explained.
Susie's face drooped. "Damn," she muttered.
"But if you'd like I could drive you up to the springs one day. The keys are left in the carts for easy use," Linda added.
Susie sighed and shook her head. "It just wouldn't be the same as driving it myself."
"Yeah, less collateral damage," I teased.
My friend stuck her tongue at me and returned her attention to Linda. "So when's dinner?"
"Anywhere between four-thirty and seven, but tonight you're asked to attend at five-thirty for the initiation ceremony at six," Linda told us.
While Susie asked about the dinner options I wandered into the bathroom. It was a spacious area with a large counter and a combined shower and tub. At the far back was a window to the rear of the cabin and the woods that lay beyond it. I opened the sliding window and peered out. The trees were thinned to several feet apart as Linda had said, and trails wound between them and out of sight into the woods.
Movement caught my eye and I noticed a man jogging along one of the paths that ran parallel to our cabin. I couldn't help but gawk at his handsome appearance. He was tall, about six feet, with short blond hair and a tanned complexion. He wore a thin, sleeveless white shirt that showed off his abs, and his black shorts showed off his tight thighs and leg muscles. Nothing was too bulky or too thin on him. He was just the right bit of porridge for a desperate girl in need of male companionship.
"What ya doing?" I jumped and spun around to find Susie peeking her head around the door.
"Don't do that!" I scolded her.
She narrowed her eyes and opened the entrance. "You look like I just snuck up on you with your hand in the fridge. What were you doing?"
"What? Nothing. I was just looking out the window at the-um, the scenery," I replied.
Susie moved to stand at my side and peeked out the open window. Fortunately the jogger was gone, lost to the trees and his own life. "Nice view, but you can't see the lake from here," she mused.
I snorted, but was secretly grateful for the change in conversation. "So there is a lake? I thought maybe you'd made it up," I teased.
"Nope, and I'll show you." Susie grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the bathroom. We entered the main living quarters and I noticed Linda was gone.
"What'd you do with Linda?" I asked her.
"I ate her, so let's go for a short walk so I can work off some of this extra weight," Susie retorted.
"Uh-huh, but seriously, where'd she go?" I persisted as she pulled me outside.
"She went to get our table ready and help out with that dinner thing. They don't usually have everybody eating at the same time so it's going to be busy," she told me.
We stepped outside and took a sharp left along the front wall of the cabin. Susie pulled me to the rear of the cabin and toward the paths I saw from the bathroom window. I wrenched myself from her grasp and slowed our steps from a brisk hike to a saunter.
"I wish you wouldn't yank me along like a doll. The lake's still going to be there," I commented.
"Yeah, but I really want you to see it. It's a really neat place," she replied.
We traveled along a serpentine dirt trail that was two-people wide and bordered by scraggly brush and trees. The tree branches were thick enough to blot out most of the clear late-afternoon sky that lay above us, but there was enough light to create shadows from the brush and limbs. Birds scurried hither and thither and squirrels chattered their complains about our intrusion from their tree-top homes. The trail connected with a dozen other paths and sign posts marked the intersections and pointed the way to different locations. We stopped at one of the intersections to examine a sign.
Other signs had pointed out aptly named trails like Violet Path and Wildflower Trail. They were also all upright and without a hint of damage. This one was eschew to the point where Susie and I leaned our heads at a a severe angle just to read the signs. There were also what appeared to be claw marks etched deeply into the wood.
"This way to hot springs, one mile. This way to lake, half a mile," I read aloud. The path to the hot springs led up a rock hill with a gentle incline off to our left, and the right-hand path toward the lake was flat, but continued the winding ways of the trail. "Did somebody get mad because they were
hoping for a spa?" I wondered.
"I don't know, isn't it cool that they have a hot spring? There's some sort of a natural geyser underground and that's where the heat comes from," Susie explained to me.
"Sounds uncontrollable," I commented.
Susie smiled and gave a firm nod at the sign. "Yep, and that's just what you're going to get on this trip. Lots of lack of control and a lot of relaxation."
"Those don't really go together for me," I told her.
My friend grabbed my hand and tugged me along down the lake path. "Well, here they do, so just leave everything to me and enjoy yourself," she insisted.
"That sounds terrifying," I quipped even as I let her pull me after her.
"Just relax. What could happen?" she countered.
"The mind boggles."
Susie didn't get a chance to reply before we rounded a corner on the trail and fifteen yards down came a light at the end of the shadowed tunnel. In a few moments we reached the opening and the trees parted to reveal a large, crystal-clear lake. The calm, reflective water lapped at the white-sand beaches that edged the entire shoreline. Near the mouth of the trail and at the shore was a long dock that stretched thirty feet into the water. Ropes with buoys bobbed in the water and roped off a portion of the lake to the left of the dock, and there was a lifeguard chair ten feet from the shore and in front of the roped area. A half dozen canoes lay upside down near the edge of the water.
There was twenty yards between the edge of the trees and the shore, and wild grass and rocks abutted the ten yards closest to the forest and slowly transformed into the beach. The backdrop for the lake was the stunning peaked mountains and treetops. On the nights of the full moon the view of the sky would be spectacular. The woods surrounded the lake on all sides, and the waters stretched into the distance for two miles and ended at a point in the distance.
"Well, what do you think?" Susie asked me.
I grinned. "I think you finally hit my soft spot," I replied.
She beamed with pride and led me down to the water's edge. I knelt at the edge of the lake and dipped my hand into the water. It was cold, but not cold enough to cause me to shiver. "It get some warmth from the springs, but not enough to kill any of the native fish," she told me.
I stood and swept my eyes over the shoreline. At the far point of the lake there stood more buildings similar to the small cabins. I nodded at the buildings. "What are those?"
Susie squinted her eyes. "I think those are the cabins where all the employees stay. We're not really allowed to go over there so I don't know what it looks like up close. I couldn't even find a trail that leads to there."
I raised an eyebrow. "Were you supposed to be trying to find one?"
She sheepishly grinned at me. "Not really. We were told not to go over there or we'd be expelled."
I snorted. "Do they also give detention here?"
Susie rolled her eyes. "Expulsion is pretty serious business here because that means they can boot you out without a refund."
I frowned. "I don't remember that in the contract."
My friend inched away from me. "That's because I took that page out before you looked at."
My eyebrows crashed down and I stalked toward her as she made a slow retreat backwards. "What else was in that contract that you didn't want to show me?"
"Oh, just a few odds and ends," she replied. Her back hit the bottom of the lifeguard seat. She was trapped.
I stood in front of her and crossed my arms over my chest. "'fess up. What else aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing!" She paused and tapped her chin. "Well, nothing important."
"I'll be the judge of that, now spill it," I demanded.
She shrugged. "It's just some of the quirks of the place. You know, no going out on the trails at night or you'll get expelled, no bringing your own food and radios or you'll get expelled, stuff like that."
"Any expulsion rules I might break?" I questioned her.
Susie tipped her head back and I saw the cogs in her eyes work overtime. "Nope, nothing I can think of except for the whole trails thing."
"You sure?" I persisted.
She straightened and crossed a finger over her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."
I sighed, but the corners of my mouth twitched up. "All right, I guess I'll believe you, but no more hiding stuff from me, got it?"
Susie stood at attention and saluted me. "Yes, ma'am!"
I rolled my eyes and turned back toward the lake. There went that moonlit walk along the shore. "Well, let's get back before dinner starts without us," I advised.
"Yes, ma'am!" Susie shouted.
I snorted. "At ease, soldier, but get marching back to the cabin."