Page 46 of Lady and the Camp
“Ah. Good thing we’re on this mission.”
A grumble emitted from Lucas. I took that as a cue to move on.
The path widened past the ropes course with trees further cut back. Ahead, a large building loomed. An indoor facility of some type.
A sign readingTraining Centerwas posted in front of the building. A paved walkway leading from its front door headed the other direction, uphill. Lights posted above the door lit the entrance. I kept to the shadows. “This sure puts our rain shelter to shame.”
“Ourrain shelter?” Lucas glanced at me.
“What? I’ve assimilated into camp life, haven’t I?”
A low grunt was my only response.
“What’s that up there, beyond the trees?” I asked.
“The lodgings.”
I squinted through the dark. “Those look like apartments. It’s two stories.”
“They’re closer to dorms than cabins.”
The facilities at Camp Junebug were definitely of the cabin variety and definitely built before the millennium, unlike this modern structure. “Let’s take a closer look.”
Lucas sighed but didn’t argue. We took the long way around the Training Center, away from the lights, and approached the lodgings from the back. Small pine trees nestled in groups around the buildings in contrast to the scraggly mass of trees and bushes at Camp Junebug. This landscaping looked professional.
We crept closer. A dim light shown in the window of one room.
Lucas crouched beside me. “Have you seen enough?”
A thrill rushed through. “I want to see the big lodge.”
He covered his face with his palm. A shame. I liked that face. I was growing to like it even when he was exasperated by me. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”
He pulled his hand away. A determined look bore into me. “Don’t tellmeabout adventure. I’m the one trained in survival skills.”
“Like backpacking in the woods?”
“I’ve hiked challenging terrain with elevation changes. I’ve done week long excursions in difficult climate. I’ve spent a week alone in northern Wisconsin.”
Impressive, though I had no interest in doing any of those things. “I can’t imagine any of this intimidates you. Two story dorms and training facilities aren’t needed for true survival.” Cheap bait, but I couldn’t help it. He could have turned away at any time and hadn’t.
“I’m not intimidated. I don’t want to get caught.”
It was doubtless viewed as unprofessional for a camp director to lurk in the dark on a competitor’s property, but honestly, I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. “So, let’s not get caught.”
I moved ahead to the next grouping of trees, angling to see up the incline toward the big lodge.
Lucas followed. “Turn off your torch.”
“Torch?”
“The flashlight.”
I clicked it off and hunkered down. “The last time I sneaked around at night like this was with my college friends,” I whispered to him. “We used to dumpster dive behind an outlet mall. Your very own cousin Marcy played lookout.”
“You? Dove into a dumpster?”
“Usually, I stood and looked through the top layer in the dumpster. Only the adventurous—that would be Noah—physically entered the dumpster.”
