June 14, Saturday 8:03 a.m.
On the north edge of the lake
The misty swirls of early morning fog shrouded the pale green saucer-size leaves of the many lily pads that lined the dew soaked shore of the man-made lake. The bright stalks of the aquatic flowers stood at attention in the stillness of the day's beginning. The cawing of distant crows, flying a predetermined course for their early morning meal, echoed faintly over the quiet of the peaceful terrain. The many forest animals, some returning from their nightly forage for food and others just starting on their daily treks for survival, felt safe in their environment. The opossums and deer, the raccoons and rabbits, the squirrels and armadillos, all found relative peace now that the big earthmovers and draglines, pickup trucks and work crews had left their forest. No longer would the early morning quiet be shattered by the screeching fan belts and the earthy roar of the large diesel engines. Peace had returned to the woods and only the sounds of nature and the subdued voices of nature lovers interrupted the relative quiet of the area.
Jack Backlin, his carrot red hair glinting in the early morning rays of the sun, bent over the well formed bank of the lake and thrust his make shift spear into the azure blue water. Quietly, not wanting to disturb the tranquility of the early morning, he pointed his stubby index finger at the still vibrating palmetto stalk and whispered to his friend.
“Hey Billy, I think I got one. Those bass on the bed make really easy targets but the water is so deep I think the water deflects my spear every time. I felt something hard when I pushed down but I don’t see anything but a big swirl of sandy water. Do you think the fish will swim off and die or do you think we could wade in and try to find it?”
“You really think you hit one Jack?" Billy whispered back. "Our dad’s would be proud of us if we brought home a big largemouth bass our first time out, huh. I don’t know about wading in the water though. These new short and shirt outfits our moms bought would probably stay wet for hours and we’d be murdered when we got back. If we can’t find your fish from the bank, we should probably go after another one. Just look how many we’ve seen in the short time we’ve been here. I just know we will see another easy target and maybe I’ll get lucky this time...
“Okay Billy. I know you’re always right even though you’re only one year older than me. It doesn’t matter though, you know the old saying, there are always more fish in the sea. Yuck, yuck.”
“Gee Jack. You’re a real comedian. Come on let’s get another fish. You never know the lake might dry up. Yea right.”
The two boys had been up since six o’clock and neither was the least bit tired after the long drive to the resort. They hurriedly gotten dressed and impatiently waited for the rest of their family members to get up. They spent the night in one motel room they shared with their older sisters while both sets of parents had adjoining rooms on each side of them. The two girls
had stayed up most of the night giggling and talking about boys and different clothes they bought but the two young boys had fallen asleep shortly after watching a sit-com on the motel room TV.
Jack and Billy finally woke up the protesting girls and while they were getting dressed the boys knocked on both of their parents’ motel rooms announcing they were more than ready to eat breakfast. The two boys were allowed to wait by the large swimming pool until their parents were ready and very excited about being able to spend the day playing around the grounds of the resort and the lake while their parents attended the grand opening. The girls after meeting the parents and the two little brothers had gotten permission to do whatever they wanted after eating as long as they promised not to elope with any of the local boys. The delicious breakfast in the
dining room gave everyone in the group a nice warm feeling in their stomachs and they separated into their own little groups after exiting the dining room.
June 14, Saturday 8:19 a.m.
Tennis courts
Darwood Mackenzie was a klutz. He had been a klutz as long as anyone could remember. His feet had grown a lot faster than the rest of his gangling body, he wore size twelve shoes when he was ten years old, and they seemed to be controlled by something entirely alien to the rest of his body. He could trip over an ant if he wasn’t careful and Darwood was hardly ever careful.
In grammar school he had been ridiculed by his classmates.
“Hey Dar, you will always go far but in the wrong direction.”
This harmless joking had no profound effect on Darwood because he took it as a form of adoration from his fellow classmates which, in reality it was. He was well liked but really funny to look at. His scarecrow appearance with ears too large and carrot colored hair with an ample supply of freckles, topped off, or in this case, bottomed off with clown size feet, brought a smile even to the most serious minded teacher at the school. If the children were reprimanded by a scholar to quit teasing Darwood, the children would break out in a series of giggles that would eventually cause even the teacher to start smirking. Yes, Darwood was a real trip but really an enjoyable voyage.
Darwood at age seventeen was still funny looking and just as awkward but, his warm friendly smile put even Dilford Bailey, the manager, at ease. Darwood was the one exception to the manager's strict employment regulations but, as happens in a lot of businesses, nepotism rules and Dilford Bailey was Darwood's uncle. No one, except the uncle and nephew knew this and Bailey threatened to fire Darwood on the spot if anyone ever found out. Darwood’s job, in the bright morning sunlight was to clean off the tennis courts at the resort. It wasn’t Dilford Bailey’s responsibility to have this done but with all the guest coming for the grand opening and knowing that the corporation had somehow slipped the ball on this task he had asked Darwood if he would mind doing this job for him and he had immediately volunteered to do it. Darwood knew he was clumsy and cleaning off the tennis courts with an air blower seemed like a perfect task. How could he screw up he thought as he had gotten the gasoline blower out of the maintenance shed where it rested on its own personal hook? He checked the gasoline and oil mix, decided if was full enough and started to walk towards the courts. He got around the edge of the swimming pool and had his first calamity. A water hose, lying in the grass, being used to top off the level of water in the pool would've posed no problem to anyone else, but Darwood was Darwood. He stepped carefully over the bright yellow hose, placing his large foot slowly down on the bright green grass. Unbeknown to Darwood, there was a sprinkler head, also bright green, hidden in the grass and it was still slippery from the early morning dew. His size twelve foot landed squarely on the head and slipped just as quickly off. This forward motion of his right foot caused Darwood to fall backwards and his arms went up and backwards as he tried to catch himself. Unfortunately, the air blower was in his hands and the sudden motion caused the air blower to shoot upwards out of his hands and backwards toward the pool.
Mrs. Wilson P. Farnham, of the Pennsylvania Farnhams, solid money and prestige for the last one hundred and seventy eight years in suburban Pittsburgh, was unfortunately walking her very expensive champion white toy poodle near the edge of the swimming pool, telling the dog what a delightful day it was here in sunny Florida, when the air blower left its orbit and splashed down, soaking Mrs. Farnham and her precious Princess Pia of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Farnham’s five hundred dollar summer outfit and Princess Pia’s one hundred dollar grooming couldn’t have gotten much wetter if they had both jumped in, which of course was ludicrous for someone of their social standing. Darwood, after regaining his feet, looked toward the pool just in time to see the mini tidal wave completely soak the lady and her dog. He went running towards the two apologizing in short clipped sentences as he crossed the concrete decking of the pool. Darwood’s large feet as usual got tangled up when he was trying to move too fast and he tripped over the end of the hose that was hanging over the edge of the pool. He tried to catch himself but wound up diving towards the frightened lady and he
r dog and tackled them so quickly that all three went flying over the edge into the very wet water.
Darwood surfaced, sputtering as he gasped for air and looked straight up into the eyes of Dilford Bailey.
"Young man. Could I please see you in my office after you're done with your morning swim?"
Dilford Bailey helped the elderly woman out of the pool and reached over and plucked up what looked like a very saturated mop head. When he set it down on the concrete it shook and soaked Dilford like a morning shower.
"You will hear from my attorney Mr. Bailey. I have never seen such foolishness."
Mrs. Farnham stalked off toward the resort, holding the wet dog in front of her like a soiled diaper and muttered in a tone so low that only the dog could hear her.
Dilford Bailey walked sternly towards his office in the main resort and looked back to make sure Darwood McKenzie was following like a soon to be punished puppy.
June 14, Saturday 10:34 a.m.
Poolside
Kathy Santos, wearing a not to modest florescent green bikini, stretched out on her stomach in the white vinyl chaise lounge and undid the small fastener on the back of her bikini top. She pulled her shoulder length raven colored hair forward off her golden brown neck to fully catch the rays of the midmorning sun. Her bronze colored back glistened with coconut oil she had hastily applied before she left her second floor room. Kathy, striking looking in her early thirties, was always considered a beauty. She won her high school homecoming queen title, was voted most attractive and most likely to succeed. She was constantly being harassed by her friends to enter beauty contest but, always declined. She felt beauty was only skin deep and it was superficial to elect people to different honors just because of their looks. She had above average intelligence and wanted to make it in life with her brains not her looks. Kathy went through many boyfriends during high school and many more when she went to college. They were always trying to claim her as a trophy girlfriend and once they found out she was smarter than they were they usually bowed out of the relationship with some feeble excuse. She wasn't interested in a serious relationship but, she would have liked more than one date with the same guy.
Mike Summers, standing at the opposite side of the gleaming azure blue Olympic size pool, winked at his twin brother Mark who was just coming out of the maintenance shed carrying a leaf net.
“Well Mark,” he whispered”, she certainly spices up the scenery around the old pool, huh.”
“You got it, buddy.” Mark replied in a hushed voice. “She could eat crackers in my bed any day of the week.”
“How old do you think she is?” Mike questioned. “Maybe thirty-five?”
“I don’t know." Mark stated. "It's times like this I wish we were a few years older. Eighteen just isn't appealing to a classy women like that."
"Oh, I don't know. Remember the Graduate. Dustin Hoffman was about our age in the movie and he nailed that older chick Mrs. Robinson."
"Yeah, but that wasn't real life." Mark answered. “No women that looked as good as that would have anything to do with kids like us, but we can sure dream, can't we."
"Well let's finish cleaning the leaves out of the pool and get back to reality with those two new girls that arrived yesterday. I got dibs on that cute redhead, Sally. She had nothing but admiration for these biceps of mine. I can tell we're going to get lucky tonight."
"That's fine with me, bro, I liked that brunette, Beverly, better anyway. I could feel her eyes on me as soon as she got out of the car with her mother and her little brother yesterday.
The way those girls acted I think you are right. We are definitely going to score tonight."
Mark and Mike Summers had been hired by the corporation to be part time lifeguards and part time maintenance personal. They were one year younger than Paul Zangallio and had just recently finished their first aid training. They graduated from high school in June and had planned to make some money working in the summer before they started college in the fall. Though Paul had a baseball scholarship, both of the twins had received academic scholarships to the University of Florida because of their high scholastic scores and they both wanted to major in criminal law. They came from a wealthy family and money was no object for their college educations but they were proud that they were able to obtain scholarships on their abilities. They both could have lazied around during the summer but making their own money instead of sponging off of their parents gave them a sense of responsibility that they could carry into their future. The twins were very hard workers and the corporation told them they would always be assured a job if for some reason their college plans did not work out.
Mark and Mike were well liked by their fellow employees and they both thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and freedom of movement working for the corporation. After they graduated from the University of Florida, they both planned to attend Stetson College of Law in Gulfport, Florida and open a partnership law practice in Tampa after they passed the Florida Bar. When their practice was in full swing they planned to invest in a resort similar to the one they now worked for and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air whenever time allowed. The boys in the meantime had what normal eighteen-year-old boys had on their mind and that was young women. Someone to enjoy the formative years together with. The twins had many girlfriends over their high school years but not any they had been serious about. These two girls from out of town might actually change that and Mark and Mike Summers thought, oh well, might as well have as much fun as we can before we have to bury ourselves in our books. You only live once.
June 14, Saturday 11:07 a.m.
Front entrance of hotel
The bright red convertible screeched to a grinding halt just past the ornate double doors at the front entrance and the acrid smell of the burnt rubber drifted from the three-month old Michelin tires past the assembled crowd of groupies and uniformed doormen. The entire group of people startled by the sudden noise all turned just in time to get a more than ample peek at a very tanned, very shapely female leg emerging seductively from the opened driver's door of a new Mustang. Tiffany Royal, star of movies and her own television series stepped slowly out of the car and left the door standing wide open. She turned toward the crowd, carefully removed her very expensive sunglasses, and flashed an Emmy winning smile. Hardly noticed by the excited throng of people, the passenger door had opened and an owlish looking forty-year old man had climbed out and had hurried around the back of the car.
"Justin, be a dear and grab my makeup bag out of the trunk. I have to definitely put on a new face before the flashbulbs start going off. Find out from that beastly manager Dilly Baleford or whatever his name is where I can freshen up before my fans completely surround me. I want to look especially radiant for Brandon Miles, my new co-star, in Desert Sweat. I haven't seen him since we finished filming outside Palm Springs last month and I think that handsome young devil has a really big crush on me, of course who wouldn't. I'm young, very gorgeous, with a sensational body and of course I am now filthy rich. How could anybody resist that? Now hurry up. I don't want to get all sweaty in this Florida sunshine, it might even cause God forbid, wrinkles."
The crowd of people standing outside stared as Tiffany Royal walked toward the front door. Justin Knowles, Tiffany's personal assistant, followed meekly in her wake pulling a large red suitcase on wheels. The two doormen, one on each side of the large ornate doors stepped back and stood at attention as the movie star strolled past. Once inside, the assistant hurried over to the front desk to obtain the location of the manager, Dilford Bailey. The desk clerk picked up the phone and after dialing several three digit numbers and having brief conversations with various individuals the desk clerk told the assistant that the manager was in the bar seeing to some little problem and that he would be out shortly. Justin Knowles nodded his thanks and walked briskly over to Tiffany and told her she would be taken care of very shortly. Tiffany, in her usual impatient
manner frowned and told her assistant to hand her a pen. She might as well sign autographs while she waited, she thought, at least she would make her fans happy.
June 14, Saturday 12:20 p.m.
Main room of lobby
The two ecologists, Kevin Backlin and Bill Forham, dressed in tuxedos for the grand opening, were sipping spiked punch and smiling at the many guests that were milling around. The crystal wine glasses that they were drinking from were of the finest quality and blended nicely with the elaborate decor. The lavishly dressed people that walked past the two, all looked genuinely impressed at the entire setup and many scattered bits of conversation floated back to the men from around the room.
"This place reminds me of the Astor but, much more modern."
"I saw the same type of floral display when I was in that plush hotel in Paris. This is simply breathtaking."
"Did you see all the video monitors? This place is extremely well protected."
"The manager was very gracious with my husband. I remember when he managed the Royal Titan in Chicago. Everything was letter perfect."
Kevin leaned over to Bill and whispered in his friend's ear.