Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks—John Muir
David
Though he’d been present the entire time, David still wasn’t quite sure how he’d wound up walking from his original tent back toward the only one that now resembled a bee skep far more than it did a tent.
Why look a gift horse in the mouth?
A truer question had never been asked. Still, as Tula slept in her sleeping bag across the tent from where he was lying in his, he couldn’t help contemplating that gift anyway.
The only thing he was absolutely positive of was that Sadie and her fellow Bees might be very enthusiastic, but none were going to win any Grammy for their acting skills.
Something was definitely up with these three.
“Master David?”
“Hmmm?”
“Are you awake?”
He was turning to look across the darkness when he was blinded by a beam of light. Lifting his arm to block it, he said, “I am now.”
“Oops, sorry.” Tula lowered the flashlight. “I didn’t mean to wake you, but I need to potty. I can go alone, but wanted to let you know my destination like you said.”
He was already unzipping his bag before stating, “While I appreciate you wanting to follow the rules, what I said was no one goes anywhere alone. The destination part applies to getting permission from either me or Master Travis before both you and your buddy leave the camp area.”
“But you’re already asleep.”
“Otter, unless I suddenly started talking in my sleep, I assure you I’m wide awake.” As if to prove his point, he clicked his own flashlight on, making sure to aim the beam at the tent’s door. “Hold up and let me check your shoes.”
“That’s okay, I brought flippy-flops specifically for this purpose.” Tula’s light’s beam waved erratically across the canvas as she wiggled out of her bag without benefit of lowering the zipper.
The “flippy” part of her chosen footwear had him smile, but his chuckle came from watching her antics. “Instead of otter, maybe I should call you wiggle worm.” As she looked up at him, he added, “Then again, you’re rather good at impersonating a snake shedding its skin.”
Her nose scrunched in distaste. “As much as I do love nature, neither of those are my favorite animals.” Accepting the flippy-flops he handed her, she slipped them on and then looked up again. “I get why they came to mind, but why otter?”
“Because you reminded me of one when you swam earlier.”
Thankfully, the campers had spent a portion of their free time before dinner swimming in the river, so he felt pretty safe using that as his reference rather than the image of her sleek, naked body slicing through the river as if she were born to water.
She smiled. “That makes so much more sense than elephants.”
Elephants?
Before he had a chance to question where that had come from, she asked, “Where are your boots? I can check them for you.”
“No need.” He grabbed his backpack and was attempting to unzip it and hold his flashlight when her beam of light focused on it for him.
“Thanks.” He set his light aside and removed the binder and bag of lollipops before setting some clothing on the sleeping bag in order to reach his goal.
Pulling out his shoes, he held them up. “Not my first campout either.” He pulled on his sandals and asked, “Ready?” When no answer came, he turned to look over at her. “Tula?”
“Oh, right, um, yes, Sir, I’m good to go.”
Loving the “Sir,” he unzipped the door and pushed it up so that she could exit. Once outside, he turned to rezip the tent.
“Aren’t we coming right back?” she whispered as if afraid her voice would wake up the other campers.
“Better safe than sorry,” he whispered right back. “Sadie was right. Three would be a crowd. Even if that third is a raccoon.”
He liked her soft giggle even more than the “Sir”.
They made their way across the camp to where a makeshift bathroom had been erected way before they’d even loaded into their canoes that morning.
David, Travis, Derek, and others had plotted out every inch of the trip they would take in advance.
The sinks and chemical toilets would be removed and taken to tomorrow’s campsite before their campers arrived.
So far the only thing that had not been meticulously planned was the fact that David was smitten by one of those campers.
Smitten?
David had to grin at the rather archaic word.
His mother had always said he might look like a hippie but he possessed an old soul.
He couldn’t exactly deny her words either.
He’d always preferred reading over bar-hopping and he’d rather be out in nature than inside with some electronic gadget.
So smitten worked just fine though he suspected he was already well on his way to infatuation.
After Tula had used the facilities, she held out her hand to take her flashlight back. They’d not needed one once they’d reached their destination as battery-operated lanterns had been left burning to assure campers would have light. Instead of offering her the flashlight, he offered her his hand.
“Walk with me?”
She looked up at him. “No trick?”
“Nope. Just thought you might enjoy a stroll. If you’d rather, we can—”
“I’d love a stroll.” She slipped her hand into his.
They didn’t speak as they left the camp behind.
Even when they were far enough way for conversation, neither seemed to feel the need to break the silence.
The lanterns’ lights weren’t necessary as the orb of the moon was almost a complete circle, providing all the illumination they needed.
Conscious of her footwear, he made sure the path he took wasn’t difficult.
Once he found a spot he remembered, he said. “You’ll need to be a bit careful here. The footing might be a little slippery in flippy-flops.”
“Easily solved.” She smiled and simply kicked them off. When she became aware of his stare, she added, “Bare toes are more flexible in case I need to grip a rock or something.”
He couldn’t exactly deny that but had a better idea. “How about gripping my neck instead?”
“Your neck?”
“Why walk when you can ride piggyback?”
“Why indeed,” she said and after he’d turned to face away and squatted a bit, she climbed on his back.
With her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist, he stepped from the bank onto the first of the rocks that led out to a larger boulder in the water.
Once he’d reached it, he turned again to allow her to dismount onto the rock.
By the time he’d followed, she was lying on her back, staring up at the sky.
He smiled and joined her, feeling his heart well when her fingers slipped to twine with his.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she whispered.
“Indeed.”
When she turned her head to look at him, she caught him staring at her and not up.
Her fingers tightening around his and the soft smile she gave him told him more than any words she might have said.
He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but reminded himself that she might not be as charmed if she knew this wasn’t the first time he’d admired her beauty.
“I need to confess something.”
“Unless you’re going to tell me that you really are a serial killer, then, no, you don’t.”
Her statement threw him off his game and it took him a few moments attempting to decipher the words before he simply gave up. “Sorry, I think you’ve lost me.”
“I hope not, since I just found you,” she said softly and then broke into a fit of giggles that had her slapping her free hand over her mouth. When that didn’t prove enough to keep the giggles at bay, she pulled her hand free of his to strengthen the barrier. Still the delightful sound seeped out.
He didn’t have to understand to grin. The sound of her laughter was infectious.
He chuckled and simply memorized the look of a Little in complete surrender of emotions that were too big to keep inside.
Only when she began to hiccup did he sit up and again offer her his hand.
With a huge hiccup, she took it and allowed him to haul her to sit.
“Hold your breath,” he instructed. She took a huge inhalation, a hiccup causing the attempt to fail and more giggles to erupt.
He waited for them to subside and then repeated, “Inhale.” This time she was successful and he nodded.
“Good girl, now hold it for a count of eight.” He counted down the seconds. “Release but inhale again and hold.”
She followed every instruction as if he were offering her a lifeline. When her breathing became easier with each inhalation and less shaky when exhaling, he nodded. “Gone?”
Tula’s nose scrunched up in that way he’d already come to love and then it smoothed out as she smiled. “I think so. Thanks.”
“My pleasure,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Your laughter is lovely. It’s how I imagine a star’s giggle would sound.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Men who wax poetic so eloquently can’t possibly be bad.”
David shook his head. “On the chance of ruining your belief, I’m pretty sure there are men who can spout poetry while doing some very bad things.
And speaking of bad, may I ask where the serial killer reference comes from before I start drawing conclusions that have me needing to hunt someone down who’s hurt you? ”
Her gaze locked on his and her mouth dropped open before it closed slowly. “You’d actually do that wouldn’t you?”
“I would, though I’m pretty sure I’d have to stand in line to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because, little otter, you’re not only Moses’ niece, you’ve got an entire Ranch full of men who’d lay down their lives to keep you safe.”
This time it was her smile that lit the night. She squeezed his fingers and then surprised him by asking, “May I sit on your lap?”
“Of course! I should have thought of that. You can’t possibly be warm enough in those pjs.
” The boy shorts and tank top might be sufficient when tucked inside a sleeping bag, but not near enough when sitting on a cold boulder in the middle of a river.
He patted his lap and when she was settled in it, he wrapped his arms around her.
“The giggle fit? It’s because when I said I’d just found you, right after mentioning serial killers, I realized it sounded like I was just as icky as he’d be. Like I was a stalker or…”
When she cut off rather abruptly, he had a pretty good idea of where she’d been going. “How did you know?”
She didn’t bother to deny her intelligence. “When I saw you looking for your sandals. I mean who actually folds their clothes that neatly when stuffing them into a backpack?”
Evidently he wasn’t connecting the dots fast enough because she patted his chest and giggled. “When I saw your folded tightie-whities, they reminded me of my undies. The ones you—”
“Folded,” he offered as he made the connection.
“Exactly.” She smiled. “In the spirit of full disclosure, I actually gave you the nickname of Mr. Laundry which is a compliment to your abilities as I’m not exactly known for my clothes-folding skills.”
David chuckled. “In the spirit of complete honesty, I can’t say I’m sorry for watching you swim because it was wonderful to see someone who looks as if they were born to play in water, but I will say I’m sorry I didn’t stay around to make my confession at the time.
I’d like to claim I didn’t want to scare you, but the truth is, I felt like one of those bad men for doing so without your knowledge. ”
“As long as we’re confessing, and since she can’t do it herself, I’ll be Sky’s proxy and say she’s sorry for spying on you.”
“Sky?”
Tula laughed. “Sky Dancer, my horse. If she could, she’d apologize for stealing your shoe, but in her defense, I think that was totally accidental. It got stuck on her hoof when she was eating strawberries.”
He chuckled. “Can’t blame her, they were quite tasty.”
“They were and when you think about it, she did us both a favor. Without that shoe, you wouldn’t have found me and if I missed your footsteps, I wouldn’t have found you.”
“I love your thinking, otter, but maybe we can agree that your uncle doesn’t need to know every detail?”
This time her peal of laughter rang out louder to echo off the water. “We can try, but if he ever asks, we’re going to need more than a verbal agreement to keep that secret.”
“Like what?”
Her answer was given as she held out her hand with her pinky crooked.
“Of course, only the most sacred oath of all times will suffice.” David hooked his pinky with hers. As they shook to seal the deal, he lowered his forehead to rest against hers. “May I kiss you?”
“Please,” she said and before the last sound left her mouth, his lips were covering hers. She tasted of light and water and what he imagined the sound of giggles to be. In other words, she tasted like heaven.
Forget smitten or infatuated. He was falling head over heels for Tallulah Rivers.