6 Maple Leaf Hunter (6 page)

“Susan, wake up. We’re almost there.”

It took a moment to come fully awake from the deep sleep. I looked around to see Nate was now driving. Alex had taken the seat beside him, and Darby was sitting at the table working a crossword puzzle. I sat up and snuggled next to Mick.

Darby and I had searched the entire RV on the premise of looking for a misplaced book, but we didn’t turn up any gold. We made pizza snacks for Mick and Nate before playing several rounds of gin rummy. After I won every game but one, I grabbed a book out of my bag and sat on the sofa to read. An attack of the yawns kept me from reading for very long, and I slipped under a lightweight blanket to grab a catnap of my own. I had obviously been asleep for a couple of hours if we were already to the campground.

“I’m surprised I slept so long. Why didn’t you wake me sooner?” I asked.

“You’ve had a busy weekend and an exciting morning,” he said. “You slept through it when I was pulled over for speeding about an hour ago. I figured you needed the sleep if you didn’t wake up for all of that excitement.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t wake me,” I exclaimed. “How fast were you going? Did you get a ticket?”

Darby snickered.

“I was doing twenty-seven in a twenty-five,” Mick said with a grin. “I guess it wasn’t fast enough for the officer to use his siren. He only used his lights, but he did let me off with a warning.”

I smiled. There plainly wasn’t any real excitement.

“Where exactly are we?” I asked.

Darby looked out the window and said, “We just went through the town of Silver Run. The turnoff for the campground should be in about ten minutes.”

“I thought you might want to get awake and get your wits about you before you meet Dan and Emily,” Mick said.

I scrambled to my feet and looked around for my purse. I definitely wanted to use the RV’s bathroom to wash my face and brush my hair. I leaned down to give Mick a kiss and said, “Thank you.”

Darby called after me as I headed for the bathroom, “Other than Mick speeding, it’s been smooth sailing, and we haven’t seen much traffic at all.”

I
turned around just in time to catch his wink. I knew he was letting me know we hadn’t been followed.

A few minutes later, I came out refreshed. Nate was slowly navigating a loose-gravel road leading to the campground. The forest was heavy here, and there wasn’t any sign of water.

“What’s the name of this place again?” I asked.

Nate called over his shoulder, “The sign said Big Bear Hunting and Fishing Lodge and Campgrounds.”

“That’s a mouthful for the receptionist,” I said.

“I don’t think there will be a receptionist here,” Mick said. “Dan gave me the impression it’s only him and his wife running the place.”

How could just two people run a lodge and campgrounds? I couldn’t imagine they wouldn’t have a full staff. Mick must have misunderstood his friend.

“I’m starving,” Alex said. “Will there be any food there?”

“They were expecting us to arrive between five and six,” Mick said. “Dan said they’d have dinner waiting.” He looked my way and smiled before saying, “Even though we’re running late, I think they’ll still have dinner for us.”

We crested a hill to see the Ottawa River in the distance before us. The view was breathtaking with the semi-setting sun glistening on the water and the lodge peeking through an opening in the trees.

The descent to the campgrounds was steep, but the road made a couple of long sweeping curves back and forth to accommodate the incline. Nate continued to drive cautiously as he made his way to the parking lot below the lodge.

When we exited the RV, we were f
acing the river. A freshly mown grassy area led down to the water. Beyond the grass, a small sandy beach was to our left, while a long wooden dock ran parallel to the land on our right. The temperature was comfortable, but there was a definite chill in the air, and I suspected it would be cold when the sun set.

After surveying our surroundings for a few moments, Mick led the way across the lot to the steps leading up to the lodge. A man appeared at the top of the stairs. I guessed him to be Mick’s friend, Dan. A short, plump woman stood by his side.

Mick ran up the stairs and gave his friend a bear hug. He then hugged the woman, and I heard her say, “Mick! I haven’t seen you since our wedding. You look fantastic. How are you?”

Mick’s smile had taken over his entire face. I knew he was happy to reacquaint with his friends. “I’m great,” he said. “Emily, Dan, this is my wife, Susan. Susan, this is my old buddy, Dan, and his wife, Emily.”

Emily stepped over to give me a hug me. Dan followed by embracing me in a bear hug so tight, it felt as though my lungs momentarily collapsed.

Mick introduced Alex, Darby, and Nate, but other than Emily hugging Alex, which he didn’t seem to mind, the remaining greetings consisted of handshakes.

“How was your trip? Are you hungry?” Emily asked. “We held dinner for you.”

The lodge wasn’t as large as I had envisioned. The exterior was attractive and made from logs. The lobby was rustic with a crackling fire in the fireplace. It seemed out of place to have a fire going in August, but it was comfortable and gave the room a welcoming appeal. A bearskin rug spread out in front of the hearth looked inviting as well. I knew it was bearskin because the head was still attache
d. Taxidermy of large fish and forest animals adorned the walls. The largest mounted item in the room was a moose head above the fireplace.

“Wow, this is amazing,” Darby said.

“Pretty cool,” Alex said, nodding his head in agreement.

Nate wasn’t quite as enthusiastic, and I knew the mounted animals played against his sensitive nature. He looked around and commented, “There are a lot of stories here, aren’t there?”

Someone behind us said, “Sure are, and I’d be happy to tell some of ‘em to ya if ya’d care to listen.”

We all turned to see an elderly man in green overalls shuffle slowly into the room.

Emily asked, “Dad, do you remember Mick Raines? He and Dan attended college together. You met him at our wedding.”

The man looked Mick up and down and said, “Can’t say that I do.”

Dan stepped over to stand beside me and said, “This is Mick’s wife, Susan.” He pointed to Alex. “This is his son, Alex, and these two men are their friends, Darby and Nate. Everyone, this is Emily’s dad, Beau.”

The old man smiled all around and said, “Nice ta meet ya.” He then shuffled toward the front door.

“Dad, do you want to have dinner with us?” Emily asked. “There’s plenty, and you’re welcome to join us.”

“No,” he said. “Not hungry.” He grabbed a fishing hat from a hook on the wall and plunked it on his head before walking out onto the porch. Through the window, I saw him settle into a rocking chair.

Emily appeared despondent and said, “He doesn’t eat much anymore, and he sits in that rocker all day long.”

“How old is he?” Nate asked.

“Dad will be eighty-seven next month,” Emily said. She realized she had cast a gloomy pall over us and said, “Where are my manners? Come on into the dining room and have a seat.”

She led the way to another comfortable room with dark wood paneling and smaller animals mounted on the walls. A large wooden table was already set. While we all took seats, Dan went into the kitchen and returned with a huge pot of stew. He ladled large, steaming helpings into bowls and passed one down to each of us. Emily set in motion a basket full of toasted and buttered English muffins.

The stew was hearty with meat, potatoes, carrots, and peas in a thick brown sauce. We all behaved as if we hadn’t eaten in days, and we ate with gusto. Alex and Nate helped themselves to seconds. Emily served a pecan butter-tart for dessert, and everyone showered her with compliments on the delicious meal.

“We have a freezer full of moose, so I make the stew at least once a week,” she said. “Everyone seems to like it.”

Color drained from Nate’s face. “Moose?” he squawked. “I just ate a moose?”

I tried to hide my smile, but Alex laughed raucously and said, “You didn’t eat a whole moose, Nate. You only ate some of it.”

Dan was perplexed and asked, “You’re not a vegetarian, right? And you liked the stew, yes?”

Nate’s voice was a little high as he said, “I know it probably seems silly to you guys, but I have an aversion to eating cute animals. You know, the whole Bambi, Thumper, Secret Squirrel thing.”

“Secret Squirrel?” Alex asked. He was still laughing. “Who’s Secret Squirrel?”

Nate smiled and asked, “Don’t you ever watch old cartoons? He was only the best spy squirrel ever. Agent triple zero, and he had a machine gun cane. Anyway, today I ate Bullwinkle. I might never be the same again.”

“Bullwinkle wasn’t cute,” Darby said with a grin.

I think Nate realized how foolish he sounded, and he let the subject slip away with some humor and laughter. But Nate really was the type of person who tried not to step on ants and would become teary-eyed if he accidentally ran over an animal in the road – even an already dead one.

After dinner, Emily and I washed and dried the dishes. The guys went into the lobby to sit around the fire, and laughter would occasionally ring out from the room. When our kitchen duties were finished, we carried a pot of coffee, cups, and a plate of butter cookies into the room to join them.

I noticed Beau wasn’t on the porch or in the lobby. I wondered where he was, but it was none of my business, so I refrained from asking. I sat down next to Mick on the sofa. When everyone had
coffee, I asked, “Were you telling fishing stories?”

Darby laughed and said, “Mick and Dan were reminiscing about their college days.”

Mick reached for a cookie and said, “Dan lived on campus, but it was a hectic time for me with Alex being a baby. I still managed to have fun between classes though.”

I didn’t press for any details of the stories they had just told. It was a time in Mick’s life we didn’t talk about very often. He had married right out of high school, and his wife became pregnant soon after. Instead of growing together as a family, they had g
rown apart over the years. When Alex was fourteen, Mick and his wife entered into a non-contentious divorce. I met Mick at that time, and when he didn’t tell me he was still married, I slightly freaked out and almost stopped seeing him. I smiled thinking about it now, but it certainly wasn’t anything to smile about at the time.

“What about the fishing stories?” I asked, changing the subject. I pointed to the largest fish on the wall. “Who caught the fish with the sharp teeth?”

“That’s a muskie,” Dan said. “I caught it two years ago. It was cold and raining that day, and I had a good feeling about catching a muskie, but I never dreamed I’d land one that big. Talk about a rush.”

The guys all made appreciative noises, but I wanted to fish for cute little fish like bluegill, not big ugly fish with sharp teeth.

“What did you use for bait?” Darby asked.

He lit up and said, “I had a spoon on.”

The next several minutes presented an animated Dan as he recounted his experience with the fish. I looked around at all of the guys and saw they were enrapt by his storytelling. I glanced over to Emily, and we exchanged smiles.

After Dan finally had the muskie mounted and hung on the wall at the lodge, Alex excused himself to use the restroom. Emily went to the kitchen to refill the cookie plate, while Darby and Nate walked the perimeter of the room to look more closely at the animals on the walls. I leaned my head against Mick’s shoulder. The atmosphere in the lodge was peaceful and comfortable. I wished Lizzie could be with us, but I knew the animals would terrify her, and it
was the right decision to leave her with Grandma and Grandpa.

“Emily,” I said when she returned from the kitchen. “None of us have cell phone signals here. Do you have a public telephone?”

She shook her head and said, “It’s by choice we don’t have telephones or televisions on the property. We handle all of our business online on an old dial-up computer in the office. It’s not the most modern setup, but it’s served us well over the years.”

Dan said, “If you need to make a phone call, you can walk to the general store and use their pay phone. There’s a path heading east out of the parking lot. If you take that, it
will lead you to the main road. It runs right by the store, and it’s only about a half hour walk.”

Nate looked aghast. “What if you have an emergency?” he asked.

“We’ve had a few emergencies,” Dan said. “We send an email. Emergency emails are constantly monitored, so the response time is pretty close to the same as a phone call.”

It didn’t sound like a good emergency plan to me, and I didn’t like it that I couldn’t call home to say good-night to Lizzie. I would have to talk with Mick’s mother tomorrow and let her know I might not be in touch as often as I had anticipated.

Alex came out of the restroom and asked, “Where is everybody? Are we the only ones here?”

Dan and Emily both seemed uncomfortable. Dan finally said, “There are four hunters in two of the cabins. No one is staying in the lodge, and we don’t have anyone in the campground.”