Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday—A.A. Milne
Tula
“Home sweet home,” Tula said as she stood after pounding the last tent peg into the ground.
Sadie cocked her head, looked over at Wren and asked, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“If what you’re thinking involves this”—Wren pulled a roll of yellow duct tape from beneath her shirt—“then I’m already way ahead of you.”
Sadie turned to look at Tula. “You in?”
When Sadie grinned, Tula had the most incredible rush of acceptance she’d ever experienced. “Most definitely!”
Half an hour and many giggles later, the trio looked at each other, then began to buzz before collapsing into a heap on the ground.
“Amazing!” Waving toward their temporary home, which with just a few—okay, way more than a few—strips of yellow tape had completely transformed into a proper skep for their colony of Bees, Tula said, “I hereby amend my Home Sweet Home to Home Sweet Hive!” Giving credit where credit was due, she added, “How in the world do you come up with these ideas?”
“Experience,” Wren said.
“Lots and lots of experience,” Sadie agreed.
“Thanks for including me.” Tula gave each of her friends a hug. Sitting back, she smiled. “Since you two are far more experienced at this than I am, if you’re up to sharing a few tips on how to catch a Daddy, I’m all ears.”
“First requirement is to zero in on the target,” Sadie said. “Which, unless we are way off, is one very sexy counselor?”
“Make that the one unattached camp counselor,” Wren clarified.
“Girl code assures that goes without saying,” Tula said.
Sadie burst out laughing, then grabbed Tula and hugged her hard. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise.” Releasing her, Sadie sat back. “It’s just that this Ranch sort of operates on a whole different coding system.”
“Meaning, it’s not only common for a Dom to share a submissive, Littles often share a Daddy—”
“Or a pair of Daddies—”
“Or a Mommy and a Daddy—”
“Or—”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Tula said, throwing up her hands. “All this means is that I require more help than I’d expected. What I need is for you two to educate me on how to even know if our elephant might be interested in me being his peanut.”
Her fellow Bees just smiled. “Tula, you didn’t need our help to do that.
That man has been giving you googly eyes from the moment he spotted you standing in that clearing,” Sadie said while Wren pantomimed checking off a box on whatever list she was visualizing.
Sadie grinned. “Step two: more importantly is how do we get you and your dream Daddy some much needed alone time when said candidate pretty much assured that couldn’t happen without a bunch of Littles’ butts being blistered? ”
“No clue but if you’re thinking to ask our fellow campers to sacrifice their ability to sit comfortably, I’m not interested. Lord knows a canoe seat is hard enough without having to sit on a tender bottom,” Tula said emphatically.
“Though I have no doubt every single Little out there would volunteer to do exactly that, it’s not going to be necessary.”
“Because?” Though she didn’t doubt Wren’s confidence, Tula had no clue what garnered that level of assurance.
“Because she’s married to the only other counselor,” Sadie offered as if that explained everything.
Tula had never had a problem with either exploring new things or asking questions about how things worked, and she wasn’t planning on starting at the ripe age of twenty-four. Flinging her arms wide she said, “Consider me an open book. Feel free to write on my pages!”
“Can I interest you in some more s’mores, Sir?” Tula asked, waving her stick which had indeed stood up to skewering and roasting hot dogs as well as survived being repeatedly thrust into the flames to provide lots and lots of beautifully charred and deliciously gooey marshmallows.
“Only if you want to roll me to my tent,” Master David said patting his stomach.
Why that possibility hadn’t been written on one of those pages was beyond Tula as it was a most excellent idea.
She instantly pictured wrapping her arms around him as both of them rolled into his tent and right into his sleeping bag.
It would be a snug fit, but she was up to accept a bit of discomfort if it meant—
A shriek jerked her out of that fantasy and into one of her own making as she remembered her line.
“Mountain lion!”
If the length of time it took for Master David to leap to his feet was any indication, all it took was a scream to have him instantly recover from his chocolate-and-marshmallow hangover.
“That’s no cat.” Evidently he also had the skills of a bat because the shriek had only a nanosecond to echo before he’d locked in on the location. “Stay here!” he commanded as he took off toward the grouping of tents on the other side of the firepit.
Bees didn’t stay, they protected their queen! However, Tula took a moment to break her stick in half and toss it into the fire. That had been Sadie’s idea.
“Trust me, it’s always better to be safe rather than sorry,” she’d said with a giggle. “Not that anything should go wrong, but, you know, just in case.”
The just in case what had been left unsaid but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to make the leap from “marshmallow-roasting stick” to “bottom-burning switch”.
Already a little late to the party, Tula took yet another moment to simply take in the Littles pouring out of tents half-dressed in a combo of pjs and the clothes they’d been wearing all day.
Others dashed back from the “bathroom” that had been set up.
Some without even taking time to remove their toothbrushes from their mouths.
In the case of Blake and Payne, both were trying to juggle what looked like journals and colored pencils while hurrying toward the source of the distress call.
Wren had been right. These were exactly the type of Littles who’d lay down life and limb when it came to one of their own.
Properly impressed, Tula forced herself to act as uninformed as the others when joining her fellow campers.
Sadie stood actually wringing her hands as Wren took a deep breath and took her performance to an entirely new level.
“Daddy! I want my Daddy!” Wren cried, her hands flying around as if she was attempting to fight off some invisible force.
“It’s spiders,” Sadie explained. “She’s deathly afraid of them and thinks she saw one in our hive.”
“I’m here, babygirl.” Master Travis ran up and knelt before his Little. His hands began brushing over her from the top of her curls and reached her toes before he declared her spider free.
“Up! Up!” Wren cried, lifting her arms high above her head.
“I’ve got you.” Her Daddy scooped her off the ground and then onto his shoulder, making it clear any spider would have to climb the equivalent of Mount Baldy, the highest peak in the Sapphire Mountain Range, in order to reach his precious girl.
Seeing Wren being taken care of, Master David ducked down and disappeared into the tent. Tula had to slap her hand over her mouth when a sleeping bag flew out the tent door, followed by two more. Pillows and stuffies followed as Littles just stared in awe at the man’s thoroughness.
When the last backpack had joined the messy pile, their counselor stuck his head out of the tent and declared, “This hive is a totally spider-free zone.” He crawled out and stood. “I promise you, it’s safe to go in and—”
“Nope! Not happening!” Wren declared from her perch. “Tula said that spiders live in huge clutches!” She pointed at the pile. “And said they love clutter! I’m not gonna sleep a wink if you make me sleep alone!”
“You won’t be alone, sweetie,” Master David began only to have Wren wrap her arms around her Daddy’s head.
“Daddy! Save me!”
Travis ran his hand up Wren’s leg. “Shhh, baby, you can stay in the tent with me. Would that be okay?”
“Yes!” Wren declared and then went so limp that Tula was rather surprised she didn’t just pour off her Daddy’s shoulder. “Can we go now? I’m so tired.”
Okay, that exaggerated jaw-cracking yawn was definitely a bit much, especially seeing as how Wren hadn’t so much as dipped a paddle into the river, but then, Tula wasn’t the director of this little play. She was simply honored to have a part.
The two counselors exchanged a look that had Master David turning to his audience.
“New rule. Instead of having to stay with someone in your color group, you can choose another person from a different group to pair up with. But, if you and your buddy are going further than the bathroom, you must inform a third person of your destination. That does not mean you are free to wander about willy-nilly. It’s just giving you a bit more freedom when we are not all participating in an activity. ”
At the cheers his declaration garnered, he held up a hand. “You’re still under Ranch rules. Do you understand what that means?”
“Actions have consequences!” the group chorused.
From his expression, Tula knew Master David was a bit surprised while Master Travis looked proud of the campers.
“Um, okay then, lights out in thirty minutes,” Master David said and then looked at Sadie as she picked up two of the sleeping bags at his feet. His smile faded a bit when she turned to walk away.
“Where are you going with those?” Master David asked.
“To Master Travis’ tent, of course,” Sadie said as if that was the silliest question she’d ever heard. “Oh, can you grab our backpacks?”
“Honey, I promise I double-checked them. They are spiderless and so is your tent. There’s no reason why you can’t sleep in it.”
“Not to be disrespectful, Master David, but these tents aren’t exactly the Taj Mahal. The three of us could barely fit inside and we’re all way smaller than you! Don’t you think it will be a bit too cozy with you, Master Travis, and Wren sharing one?”
“She’s right”—Tula stooped to pick up her sleeping bag—“I don’t mind staying alone.”
Master David looked between them and over toward where Travis had already disappeared with his exhausted Little girl. “And where exactly am I supposed to sleep?”
“In the hive, of course. We’re just swapping spots. You don’t mind sharing the tent, do you, Tula?”
“Not at all,” Tula said, hiding her trembles by stooping to shove her bag into the tent’s interior.
“There’s plenty of room for you, Master David,” she called out as she tossed her backpack in as well.
“Besides, you’ll keep me from getting those consequences for not having a camp buddy,” she added, turning to stick her head out of the opening.
Master David seemed to hesitate but then nodded. “Fine, but come on out of there. You’ll need to go with me to get my stuff.”
Tula practically fell at his feet in her haste to exit the tent.
“Careful there,” Master David said, his eyes pinning her like a bug to a board as if he was on to their little game.
“Night-night,” Sadie called. “Oh, Tula, can you grab our pillows and stuffies, please?”
Saved by her friend, Tula picked up the items as she stood. “Lead the way, my queen.”
When her friend began buzzing, Tula laughed and joined her, leaving a very suspicious elephant to grab two backpacks and follow.