by Jayne Louise
Well suddenly Jem and Angel felt creepy things crawling on their bottoms. Jem shrieked the loudest– the single loudest sound we had made all night. Then they were both hopping around, squirming and crying, ‘Ticks! Ticks!’ and the whole camp was in a panic. Most people were checking themselves, picking at their hair, bending over and pawing around trying to find where a tick could hide. Every single little twitch of sweat or dirt can feel like something crawling on you. Angel ran straight down to the water and plopped bottom-first into it. Jem followed her immediately. Neither one was very quiet, even on the water where sounds can carry a thousand yards.
I went down to sort this all out and see if they were okay. I turned them both around and bent down to inspect them, brushing away the water to see if there was anything I could see or feel in the dark. I got one between my fingers and got really weirded out, crushing it about six times with my fingertips. Then Arabella was strolling down towards us from the camp. ‘They’re ants,’ she said in a calm voice. ‘We saw them with the flashlight. Someone must have spilled something there and they’re all over the place.’
‘I don’t want ants up my butt!’ Jem cried.
‘Shh!’ I scolded her. ‘You don’t have anything on you now. They all drowned.’
You can drown ants. It takes about ten seconds. But you can’t drown a tick. Once they are hooked onto you they get more oxygen from your blood than they do from the air.
Naomi met them with towels and some words of comfort and Angel and Jem went back and sat down– on their blankets. No one else at the camp had ants– or ticks. That was good, because we know there are signs at the park bathrooms and information boards saying that deer ticks carrying Old Lyme Disease are present in this area. So there is good reason to be scared. I wouldn’t think anything of picking at my sister’s bottom for ticks if it’ll save her and our whole family from having to go through that. No one ever gets rid of Old Lyme Disease. It affects you for the rest of your life.
I was just praying that whatever from tonight affected us for the rest of our lives would be positive.
* * *
* * *
Confession
Arabella stayed behind, standing ankle-deep in the river staring off at the other side. Most of the houses were dark– the glow of that big well-lit mansion was the brightest light over there now. ‘This is beautiful,’ she said to me in a soft tone. ‘I never would have believed anything like this could be this relaxing.’
I smiled a little, stepping over next to her. She stood with her arms folded loosely across her stomach, looking much more confident and in control than I have ever seen her look. Like many people she probably never thought that getting naked in the woods could be so empowering.
‘You really outdid yourself, Jayne,’ she said. ‘This was a wonderful idea. I could do this every week now.’
I laughed. ‘Wouldn’t you get tired of it?’
She looked at me. ‘You’ve done it a lot. Are you tired of it?’
‘Lord no,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I think I could live like this. As long as there weren’t....’
But I stopped there. She looked at me. ‘Any boys?’
I nodded. ‘It’s more peaceful this way,’ I explained.
She nodded. ‘Yes. It is. You were right, Jayne. It’s not anything like what I was afraid it would be.’
‘You were afraid?’ I teased.
She laughed a little, which was good. Arabella doesn’t laugh easily, but when she does it’s a very good sign. I told her that before too many of us turned in for the night I wanted to ‘check the perimeter’, especially walking out the way we had come in to see how close we could be to being discovered. We returned to the camp to put on socks and sneakers, and Arabella got her glasses. She is nearsighted and wears them in class and for driving. They are plain old-fashioned thick black frames, very ‘retro’ and very chic. I don’t need glasses but if I did I’d want something like that.
I took a flashlight, though we almost didn’t need it. Shining a flashlight beam around the woods is about the easiest way to be spotted by rangers who are used to every reflection and glare the woods can make. It was bad enough we had the scent of a fire drifting through the trees. But strangely we couldn’t smell it much from halfway down the path. And the soft voices of eight girls playing hide-and-seek from the rest of the world faded away even sooner. Arabella and I strolled along side-by-side, keeping our eyes straight ahead to see in the dull copper-colored moonlight. ‘So,’ I said once, ‘why did you think you had to be afraid?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe because of how it sounded, at first. I just wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean when you said we’d all be naked, I thought one thing. Then when you said it would be only girls, I thought something else. But I’m glad it turned out like it did. It’s been very refreshing. I never thought a camp-out like this would be so... wholesome. I mean there hasn’t been one inappropriate thing.’
‘What could have been inappropriate about it?’
‘Well, a bunch of girls on their own in the woods, with no clothes on.... You know what someone could think they’d be doing. Together or alone.’
I blushed. I know I shouldn’t have. It was only what other people have thought... and always incorrectly. ‘Well, that’s not what we are about,’ I told her.
She said, ‘I know. That’s what’s so beautiful about it. Jayne, I honestly think you’ve never done anything inappropriate in your life.’
‘Well, I have,’ I said. But I blushed again
‘Okay. But not like other people have. Not like I have. And that’s what I was expecting this to be like tonight.’
I knew what she meant. I blushed again. I know I shouldn’t have this time either. But for a moment I had an inappropriate mental image of her then.
‘That’s why I’m glad I have you, Jayne,’ she said. ‘You make me want better things for myself. I really think I’ll never make those mistakes again.’
‘Good,’ I said, and then stopped walking. ‘Shh. It’s the road.’
We both stood there, still and silently, listening through the trees. We’d already heard one or two cars go by. Now we strained to find how far away we could hear them. From far off down 542 came the deep rumble of an engine.
‘That’s how they sound,’ I whispered. ‘You can hear them about a mile either way.’
In the darkness Arabella nodded. We stood there, waiting, for about three quarters of a minute till the headlights were illuminating the trees at the end of the lane. The engine never slowed down– it was not a ranger or late-night visitor. Five seconds later the car roared past.
Immediately I stepped out past the end and stood in the shoulder, watching it go around the curve. The red taillights winked through the trees and vanished.
Bravely Arabella stepped out beside me. ‘Wow,’ she said in a hushed tone. ‘Are we really standing in the middle of the street?’
I giggled and suddenly lunged away from her, skipping out to the center yellow line of the road and twirling on my toes. ‘Now we are!’
She laughed, taking a few steps towards me. ‘What if a car comes?’
‘I just showed you how you can hear them. You can’t hear bicycles or pedestrians. But no one like that is out this late.’
Arabella laughed again– one of those very welcome laughs. I just threw my hands up and pirouetted on the yellow line again. ‘I think now I see what you like so much about this,’ she said.
‘Well of course!’
* * *
* * *
Midnight
When we got back to the camp people were already sorting out where they would sleep. ‘Sleep!’ I teased. ‘It’s only twelve o’clock!’
But the issue was not because of being tired but because of being cold. The night had never warmed up and now with the fire mostly out it was really chilly. Jem warned them about three o’clock– the coldest hour of the night. People shivered jus
t thinking about it. Angel figured out how to lower the flaps of the screen room and went around making sure every crack big enough for a squirrel to get through was zipped or taped up tightly. The one cheap plastic cooler was drained of semi-melted ice and the other two were latched closed and stacked inside the screen room’s doorway. The three smaller tents were all arranged side-by-side facing the front of the screen room, pretty close together as though that made us all feel more secure.
Everyone took turns going round behind the bush to the potty, brushing teeth with a little of bottled water from the cooler, and applying Off inspect-repellent cream all over before turning in. It would be Jules and Naomi in one pup tent, Tina and Gretel in the other, and Arabella and me in the one Arabella had brought. Once we were settled in, though, no one was ready to sleep. There was warmth being close together and inside a cozy summer-weight sleeping bag, and we all rolled round onto our stomachs to face each other and went on chatting in whispers with our sleeping partners for another two hours. Tina had a cute cotton nightshirt on– I know it was because of the chill and not because she felt modest, but I wondered why she had thought to bring it. At first I thought Arabella had put her panties back on, but she got up for the potty once and proved that untrue. I can’t honestly think any of us was a total stranger to sleeping naked– I really believe every girl has done it a few times, and maybe gave up on it just because she didn’t see the point. At home I’ve done it even in the dead of winter– so long as I have a warm enough comforter on. It makes me feel brave and strong, like some pioneer woman, or the wife of the lighthouse-keeper or any other old-fashioned cultural figure I like to admire. Stepping out of bed on some chilly morning with your whole body waking up at once is a real reminder of what’s real and what’s not!
Sarah and Arabella, the two Girl Scouts, waited till we were all in our places before they caved in the fire pit. Jules and Gretel came up with the idea of shoveling sand against the side flaps of the pup tents to keep anything from creeping or flying under them, but of course that would not work for the end flaps. Fortunately we all had brought mosquito screens.
The four in the screen room had their sleeping bags arranged so that they were all, somehow, facing each other and were playing cards. Tina and Gretel were the first ones to fall asleep. Naomi crawled out, leaving Jules asleep, and sat cross-legged in front of our tent chatting with us a little. I was very impressed with Naomi– she seemed very comfortable and happy to be here. She and Arabella chatted a little about what they’d expected from this festival. Fortunately Arabella wouldn’t share any more details than she had with me. In fact I don’t think Naomi had any clue at all about how this could have been seen as inappropriate. She had already told me she’d been looking forward to it for two months. The three of us talked a little about what we’d do about holding another one. I said I’d want it to be an annual event. Naomi said it would be a shame to wait that long. Arabella said the same thing– but by now I wasn’t surprised by that.
I guess it was about 2:30 before Naomi crawled back to her sleeping bag. Arabella’s eyes were going heavy and I turned over onto my back and drew the mosquito screen. Actually because of the chill the bugs had not been so bad. I thanked God for that in my personal prayers.
* * *
* * *
Morning
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
In the woods I always wake up with the dawn, no matter what time I turned in. This morning it was at about 5.10. I pulled myself right out of the tent, leaving Arabella asleep, and tiptoed through the prickles of the undergrowth to the edge of the water. There was not a man-made sound or ripple for miles. Excited by the chance for an early-morning dip I waded into the water, and only after I had come out past the cover of the trees and into the new sunlight I lowered myself in to my neck. The water was cool, but not cold. I swam around, very quietly, using the head-up breaststroke because it makes the least noise. Halfway out to the channel I heard a bass boat– far down the river, heading out to the Bay– but I turned at once and paddled back in.
Hannah stood up on the bank, under the trees. She looked like an Amazon warrior in the dim grayness of the shade. ‘Hey,’ she whispered.
‘Hey,’ I said, content to stay in the water below her.
She folded her arms across her stomach and leaned sideways against a tree trunk, looking down at me. ‘You really love skinny-dipping, don’t you?’
‘Of course. Then again I like any swimming.’
‘Is it warm?’
‘More than last night.’
‘Good,’ she said, and in another moment she was wading down in to join me.
I led her out past the trees again, and with just our heads above the surface we went up the river, against the current, to where the creek spilled in, where we had anchored Dove, our boat, before. I told her about a few of those times and she said she was very envious of us. ‘Well, you’ll just have to come along sometime,’ I said.
‘Oo!’ she sighed. ‘I want to! I want to!’
So I think that makes three full converts for this festival!
Some people– I think only Angel and Gretel– were kind of eager to break camp and get dressed again. I wasn’t, and neither were my sisters nor Naomi and Hannah and Arabella. Sarah put the cooler outside the screen room doorway and sat on it, lifting one foot to file her toenails. She might have been totally at home like that anywhere else. Jules and Tina arranged a big blanket beside where the fire had been and invited everyone to breakfast. I swear that was no later than 6:30. To be on the safe side I wanted to check our perimeter again, and this time Arabella and Hannah volunteered to come with me. ‘But no dancing in the middle of the road this time!’ Arabella insisted.
It was fully light as we made our way out the lane towards the road. There was already plenty of traffic, people going to and from jobs at the casinos or the boatbuilders or the fishing spots. I stopped short about 25 yards from the end of the lane, having no reason to go any farther. At that moment a white park patrol Jeep went by, going north. ‘That’s him,’ I said.
‘Who?’ Hannah worried.
‘Our nemesis. We’re good for at least half the morning now. No worries.’
Arabella laughed. ‘I love how confident you are, Jayne,’ she said. ‘Like everything is an absolute for you.’
I thought about that. ‘Some things are.’
She thought about that one then. ‘I guess.’
Hannah stood there, hands at her sides, looking from one of us to the others in this mini-debate, and finally said, ‘With God, all things are possible.’
Arabella, the one non-church-goer in the whole bunch of us, looked at her then and said, ‘Including that that ranger might just turn around and come back down this path?’
Hannah shrugged. ‘Of course. But I have faith that he won’t.’
‘Faith in God? Does God tell that ranger what to do?’
Hannah only shrugged, not the least bit bothered by that question. ‘In a way, yes He does. He’s in charge of the situation. He makes it so we can do what we do here, and nothing bad will happen to us. If that ranger coming down here is bad, he won’t come down here. Or if he does, there won’t be any problem for us. I have faith in that.’ She smiled at me then. ‘And in Jayne.’
Then she turned, strolling back up the middle of the path towards the camp, swinging her arms as though she had not a care in the world.
* * *
* * *
Breaking camp
The clearing we had found was actually very sunny in the early morning. Needless to say everyone wanted the chance to get some sun color. We spread blankets on the sand, some of us very close to each other to share the available sunny spots, passed around the sun cream, and lay about like a bunch of pampered princesses sighing at every ray of sunlight. What little we’d brought for breakfast was eaten with our fingers, over our laps, off the towels, even off our own bodies. There was no radio– we’d already ruled it out,
for security reasons– so we concentrated on the birds, the squirrels and chipmunks, the occasional fish plooping in the river, and the passing cars on the road and the bass boats downstream.
I got bored with this soon and got up, wandering around the site. Sarah joined me and I showed her through the woods to the creek, near where we had anchored Dove. In fact I was just about to step down off that bank into the water when we heard voices upstream in the creek. And they were male voices.
‘Shh,’ I said, otherwise completely frozen. I’d never had to hide without cover in broad daylight before and was really counting on my early-summer tan to camouflage me here. But then I saw them.
Two boys and a man were pushing a canoe off a mudbank, mere yards down from the canoe-launching place. They were heading straight for me. They were not interested in anything so far down as I was yet, but if I didn’t move I’d be a spectacle within moments.
I whirled around, batting my hand silently at Sarah to step back, and dropped to a crouch. On hands and feet we both crept through the undergrowth back towards the camp. The pup tents were all army surplus dull olive-green, but the screen room was a stylish dark green, like teal– would they see that?
At full speed I ran on hands and feet into the center of the camp. All eight of them were still lying on their blankets, some with eyes closed. ‘Shh!’ I warned them all. ‘Stay low till this canoe goes by.’