Page 49 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
Since it was an off-site activity, we’d piled into my truck and Robyn’s van. There were ten of us, including everyone from our villa except for Dana and Helena. Among the other participants, I didn’t remember any of their names.
The drive to Waunakee Village Park was short, but I relished being behind the wheel again. We’d kept our windows down and enjoyed the breeze. I would have preferred to keep driving, but kayaking awaited.
“This is such a pretty area,” Annie said as we hurried behind the man leading us to our kayaks.
When he got to the water’s edge, he glanced at the kayaks and then frowned. “I thought there were eleven of you.”
“There was,” Emma said. “But Helena couldn’t make it.”
“Hey, yeah, what happened to her?” Katlynn asked.
I couldn’t help but smile at her outfit. She’d ditched the flowing skirt for a pair of shorts but still wore her signature bandanna. Her beaded top didn’t seem practical for kayaking nor did her enormous round sunglasses. When the sun hit them, they sparkled green and blue. She could have stepped out of the sixties.
“Helena had a flare-up of her fibromyalgia,” Emma said.
Katlynn’s response was cut off when the man began giving us instructions on our kayaks.
Once he finished, he said, “I’ll be waiting for you down around South Woodland Drive.”
Katlynn’s eyes widened. “You’re not coming with us?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“But which way are we supposed to go?” she asked.
“Only one way to go,” he responded with a twinkle in his eye.
“But what if we get lost?” she persisted.
He chuckled. “If you get lost, then you’ve accomplished some feat.”
Before Katlynn could protest, Emma raised her hand and waved it.
The man motioned to Emma. “You got a question?”
“How long will it take us?”
He nodded. “My apologies. I forgot to tell you that part. It takes about three hours if everything is clear. My sources say it is, but that can change.”
“Back the train up.” Annie raised her voice. “What does that mean?”
“Sometimes you could run into a shallow spot or downed trees or debris blocking the flow.”
“What do we do then?” I asked, not liking what I’d heard.
“Ya clear the stuff out or you carry the kayaks around it.” His expression told me he questioned my IQ.
“We’re not experienced kayakers,” I muttered, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.
Robyn moved up beside me and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
It took a while to get accustomed to our vessels, as we crashed into one another like bumper boats. Thankfully, nobody capsized. Our first half hour, we spoke little.
I enjoyed the ripples as my kayak sliced through the water. The gentle gurgle and whoosh of my paddle breaking the surface soothed me. It was a gorgeous summer day without a cloud in the sky. In the more heavily wooded areas, birds tweeting in the trees broke through the sounds of the creek.
To start, we’d gone single file down the narrow waterway, but once we’d gotten the hang of it, we’d doubled up. I’d ended up at the rear, paddling beside Robyn.
“I know you’re out of your element, but you seem to be a natural at kayaking,” Robyn said.
