Page 51 of A Little Campfire Blues

“Gonna get you this time!” I declared to a grinning Axis as Roman rose out of the water with Axis on his shoulders again.

Ro and Daddy Mack were almost the same height, which made the battle harder, until Axis wiggled and stuck out his foot, trying to reposition himself. Instead of shoving, I caught it and tickled him until he rocked and flailed and finally fell off Ro’s shoulders and back into the lake.

“And now it’s all tied up!” Daddy said as Axis popped up laughing.

“One more round, one more round!” I chanted as Ro woofed along with me, then ducked so Axis could climb back up.

“If no patty cake, then no tickles!” Axis declared, sticking his tongue out at me.

Roman backed up a little, forcing Daddy to wade in deeper, bobbing a little as he found his footing. When we were close enough, Axis and I tried our best to dislodge the other, squealing and shoving, rocking, wiggling, and laughing until we both fell in again.

“Still tied,” Daddy said, sticking a finger in his ear and making a funny face as he wiggled it around, trying to get the water out.

“Again! Again!” I declared.

“I don’t know, Sparkle Butt, you two might be too evenly matched.”

“Again!” I demanded, already trying to climb up, so Daddy helped me.

Up I went and down I tumbled, but Axis fell too, so we were still tied, and tied we would stay, after four more tries, until Daddy waved the white flag and declared us the winners and himself too tired for another round.

“Are you too tired for sharks and minnows?” Axis asked.

“I think I can manage that,” Daddy declared.

“Yay! You’re the shark!” Axis declared.

“Should have seen that coming,” Daddy muttered, chuckling as we backed away from him.

Then he let out the biggest, fiercest roar and charged after us, forcing us to scatter to avoid getting caught.

Squealing, I dove under when Daddy Mack got close to me and swam until I saw spotted swim shorts and hid behind Ro just as he got caught. He spun around, roaring, with his arms opening and closing like he was trying to chomp on me. When I dove again, I ran right into Axis, bumping heads and coming up rubbing them. Ro was chasing Daddy, so I grabbed Axis’ hand, and we backed away so we could maybe see them coming if they headed our way.

Axis wrapped his arms around me and laid his head on my shoulder, clinging as we watched Daddy Mack evade Roman several times before Ro finally caught him and then dove, swimming straight for us.

“Torpedo puppy,” I declared as we jumped apart, evading him and Daddy.

Round and round we went. Under the water, whirling and frantically searching every time we popped up, trying to keep to our own little section of the ball pit so we didn’t interrupt the others’ games. I went under and swam as far as I could while holding my breath. When I broke the surface, I was well away from the three of them as Daddy advanced on Axis, who ducked under and vanished.

Daddy Mack whirled around, looking. Ro barked, dogpaddling away from Daddy, who was still looking around, confused, when Axis popped up right in front of me.

“I swam through Daddy’s legs,” Axis declared, looking rather pleased with himself.

Until Daddy spotted us, roared, and took off after us again. I was so tired by the time he caught me that I leapt into his arms, laid my head on his shoulder, and blinked dripping lashes at him.

“I surrender, Daddy,” I declared. “I tired.”

“Me too, Sparkle Butt,” Daddy said as he turned and carried me towards the shore. “How about we find a snack and maybe take a little nap while we wait for them to finish tiring themselves out?”

“Gonna take a long time, Daddy,” I declared as we neared the shore.

“No worries, Sparkle Butt, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

Chapter Twenty

Mackenzie

Between the snacks I’d packed, and the dinner buffet served lakeside by the camp’s kitchen staff, my boys were stuffed. Axis let out a burp so loud it echoed, making Ezzy giggle and Ro crack an eye open and woof at the sound.

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