The Cabin on the Lake

The Adventure Begins

“Great!  We’ll pick you up tonight in two hours,” Toni declared.  “See ya!”  Toni hung up.

Two hours!  How can I possibly pack enough stuff for a camping trip in two hours, I thought.  I would have to start right away.  Skittering down stairs to my room, I ripped my purple backpack out of my closet, yanked open the dresser drawer that contained jeans, and started hurling my pants on the floor.

“One pair for tomorrow,” I muttered to myself, “one pair for the next day, and one extra pair.”  Suddenly I froze.  Maybe I’ll need two extra pairs.  Toni said we would get muddy, especially on the way out there. I chewed on the corner of my lip.  But I’ll be wearing a raincoat and rain pants over my clothes on the four wheeler ride to the lake. “One extra pair is enough,” I said.

Two hours later, Toni drove up the driveway in her husband, Rocky’s, pick-up.  “Are you ready, Miss Cora?” she inquired.

“I think so,” I answered, then asked, “Are you sure I won’t need a sleeping bag?”

“Yup.  We’ll all be sleeping in a cabin, and there are beds, blankets, and a wood stove,” she explained.

I exclaimed, “Great!  I’m finally done packing.  It took me that whole time to get ready!”  Toni laughed, then said, “We have to go pick up Heidi.”

           

Heidi has been my best friend since babyhood.  She even came to my second birthday party with a diaper bag.  So as one can imagine I was excited that she could come.  Once we got to Heidi’s house I leaped out of the car and practically flew to the door.  Knock knock knock.  Heidi answered the door promptly. 

            “You ready?” I asked.

            “No, I still have to pack.”   I groaned thinking of the two hours it took me to pack.  How little did I know.

            I offered, “I could help you pack. It will go faster.”

“Sure!” Heidi agreed, “You can help me not forget anything!”

In her room, Heidi yanked a knapsack, one just big enough to hold a small throw pillow, out from under an avalanche of stuff and set it on her bed.  How is she gonna fit every thing in there?  Fifteen minutes later I knew.  Heidi only packed her clothes, bathroom stuff, two books and a small hatchet.  I, on the other hand, stuffed two bags full with things like pixie cups, pocket knife, a towel, first aid kit and card games. ‘Ready for anything’ is my motto, while Heidi’s is ‘if I don’t have it with me, Cora will’.

            Back in the car, on the way out, we bombarded Toni with questions about the trip.

            “Where’s Rocky?”

            “He’s driving out with his friend, Curt.”

            “Who’s Curt?”

            “Rocky’s friend from grade school.”

            “Where’s your dog, Lady?”

            “She is also riding with Rocky.”

           

“How are we getting out to your cabin on the lake?”

            “We’ll be driving four-wheelers for about eight miles.”

            ‘What’s the name of the lake?”

            “Caribou Lake.”

            Toni patiently answered our endless questions.  I could hardly contain my excitement!  We were all on an adventure and I could hardly wait to find out what would happen next.

 

A Rough Ride

            “Are we there yet?” I asked. 

“Yes!” Toni announced.  “We’ll park the truck in this parking lot and unload the four-wheelers.  The trail to the lake starts right there,” she pointed. 

            Heidi observed, “Looks like the boys beat us here.”  I nodded.  Rocky and some other guy, who I guessed to be Curt, were loading their bags onto the four-wheelers.

            “It’s about time we got here, `cause it’s 10:01,” commented Toni.

            “No it isn’t,” I argued, “I’ve been watching the clock and it’s been 10:01 for five minutes.”

            ‘Yeah, I noticed that too,” Heidi chimed in.  Toni laughed and remarked, “I wish I knew what time it was. I don’t suppose you guys brought a watch did you?”

            My head snapped up and I cried, “Oh! I did!”  Heidi fake-groaned.  “Of course you did,” she teased.  Toni laughed again then asked, “What time is it, Cora?” 

            “10:15.”

“Come on,” Toni said, “let’s unload our bags.”

            Whirrrrrrrrr!  The sound of the four-wheelers droned.  Seated behind Rocky, I could hardly see a thing in the dark, except for Rocky’s hunter safety orange hat and what was in front of us, thanks to the four-wheeler’s headlights.  I glanced behind us.  The headlights on Toni and Heidi’s four-wheeler blinded me.  I had wanted to see how Heidi was doing; she had to hold Lady on her lap.  It’s a good thing Lady is a small dog.  Glancing back again, I thought just because I can’t see them doesn’t mean they can’t see me.  So I decided to put on a little show.  Flailing my arms, I acted like a disco dancer with an ice cube sliding down my shirt.  “Flail them left!  Flail them right!”  Suddenly we hit a bump and my arms locked around Rocky’s stomach.  I thought I heard Rocky make an “oomph” sound, but he kept driving.

The middle of the trail was littered with huge mud puddles.  They were more mud than puddle, actually, and Rocky seemed to have this urge to plow through every one in front of him.  Whoa!  There’s a big one!  He’s driving around it, right? I thought, as I tensely watched Rocky make his decision.  He gazed down at the muddy “lake” for a few long seconds.  He shrugged his shoulders.  He pushed the accelerator and we lurched forward.  Aagh! We’re tipping!

            “No we’re not,” I muttered, in reply to my thought.

            Yes we are!  Wait a second… we are!  Code red!  Code red!  Suddenly I made a heroic leap off the tilting vehicle and landed, making a full-body print in the mud.  I heaved myself up and yanked my foot out of the muck. Then Rocky and I scrambled up

to dry land.  Inside I was laughing like a maniac.  I’m alive! I’m alive…boy am I wet. I slid one of my gloves off and wrung it out.

            “Sorry, Cora,” Rocky said sheepishly, “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” I replied.  Toni and Heidi pulled up next to us, laughing.  Toni was gasping for air.

 “I was watching you guys and suddenly you disappeared!” she exclaimed.  “Then I saw your tail lights pointing strait up!”

            “That was awesome!” Heidi congratulated.  Yes, it was awesome.  Scary, but awesome.

            Once we convinced the mud, with a few masculine pushes and pulls, to cough up the four-wheeler, we continued on our journey.  “We’re two thirds of the way there,” Rocky informed me.  Great! We’re almost there!  But what’s gonna happen next?  I would have to wait until morning to find out.   

 

“Lady” Like Manners

Click, clack, click, clack.  The sound aroused me from sleep.  Where’s that noise coming from? I mused.  Cracking open my eyes, I scanned the small cabin room Heidi and I shared.  Click, clack.  The sound was getting closer.  Click, clack.  Two glowing eyes floated by the open bedroom door.  Oh no!  It’s going into Toni and Rocky’s bedroom!  It’s gonna eat them!  I yanked the covers up over my head and waited for the screams of agony.  But they never came.  Instead I heard the clacking coming back

toward our bedroom!  The eyes floated in, attached to the shadowy figure of some beastly animal.  Clack, click.

Oh, I wish I were on the top bunk with Heidi!  Then it turned its eyes on me and…whimpered?

        “Lady!” I exclaimed under my breath.  Hearing the sharpness of my voice, Lady took a step back. Her claws tapped the floor.  Click.  I groaned.  “Have you been in all night?” I questioned.  I glanced at my watch.  Seven o’clock.  Knowing I probably wasn’t going to fall back asleep, I got up and got myself ready for the day.  Then I snuck into the living room, so as to not disturb Curt, who was sleeping in there.  “We’re the only ones up, Lady,” I whispered.  I began to tiptoe out when I happened to glance down to where my foot was to step.  I sucked in a gulp of air and leaped back.  In the middle of the living room was a pile of, well, poop.  I stared, mouth agape, disgusted.  Lady sauntered over and stood proud and tall, delighted that someone had discovered her “treasure”.  Do I clean it up?  What would I clean it up with, a shirt? Oh, this is gross. And thus I decided to leave a note for Toni and take Lady for a walk.  

I inhaled the crisp morning air as I gazed around the area.  Behind me was the woods with four-wheeler trails that sprawled out from the cabin and wove around the pine trees and alder bushes.  Ahead of me the trees suddenly stopped at a tree line, and moss, mud, and small twiggy bushes took the woods place, all the way down to Caribou Lake.  At my feet a single trail led down to the water’s edge.  Lady and I traveled down it.  I watched as Lady skipped along, daintily setting her paws down in the mud.  With her head held high, she would take after Rocky and, though in a more feminine manner,

waltz through every puddle.  When thirsty, she’d stick her nose in them and take delicate little sips from the puddles as if they were cups of tea.  I watched a moment, fascinated, then looked at my watch and declared, “We need to walk back to the cabin and see if any one else is up yet.”  Lady cocked her head as if to say ‘not now!  I’m having fun!’             “Fine, but I’m going and that will make you want to come in,” I declared.  I started marching back up the trail.  In a few minutes Lady pranced ahead of me, paused, and glanced back as if to say, ‘You didn’t make me; I decided myself.’  I rolled my eyes.

              Still nobody up, I thought, as I glanced around the cabin.  Lady skipped up beside me.  “Looks like it’s just you and me,” I muttered.  Just then I heard a noise coming from Toni and Rocky’s room. 

            “Mmmmff.” 

            Turning to Lady, I whispered, “That would be the sound of a very sleepy and hungry Rocky.” 

            “Good morning, Honey.”

            I whispered again, “and Toni.”  I raced to their bed- room and peaked in.  “You’re awake!” I congratulated. 

            “We are,” Toni laughed. 

            “We are?” Rocky asked.

            “Yes,” Toni confirmed, and then asked, “How long have you been up, Miss Cora?”

            “Seven o’clock,” I stated, as I sat on their bed.  O. K., maybe I crawled on.  Alright I admit it; I jumped on and snuggled up to Toni.

“What time is it now?” she questioned.

            “Seven-thirty.” 

Rocky groaned and pulled the covers over his eyes. 

            Toni inquired, “Anybody else up?”

            “No,” I sighed, “just me and Lady.”  Suddenly remembering something, I leaned over Rocky and added, “Oh, uh, speaking of Lady, she pooped on the floor.”  

            Rocky sat up with a jolt, suddenly awake.

            “She didn’t,” he protested.

            “She did.”

            “Poor little dog,” Toni sympathized.

            Rocky groaned as he lied back down, mumbling something about “Lady…poop…clean up later.”

            Toni chuckled.  “Come on, Miss Cora, let’s fix breakfast.”  With that, Toni and I hopped out of bed and hustled to the kitchen.

 

Canoeing, Kissing, and Caterpillars

            “It’s pretty here on the lake,” Heidi remarked.  Heidi, Toni, Lady, and I were sitting in a canoe on the lake.  I looked over my shoulder at the cabin.   Miniature versions of Rocky and Curt stood on the cabin’s unfinished deck.  They were hard to miss because Rocky was wearing his orange hat again.  They were looking at us through pint sized binoculars. 

           

 

Beep, beep, beep!  The walky-talky in Toni’s pocket buzzed.  She pushed a button and Rocky’s voice broke through the static. 

            “See any moose?” he asked.  Toni laughed.  The boys had been obsessed with hunting a moose ever since we got here.  They went hunting for an hour and a half after breakfast. 

            Toni answered, “No, no moose.”  The walky-talky crackled.  “Ugh,” Rocky replied, distressed.  Toni turned the walky-talky off and picked up her paddle. 

            “Cora, you’re in the back, so you’ll steer.” Toni directed.  “Do you know how?”

            “Yeah, I learned at summer camp.”

            “Great,” Toni replied.

            Heidi, in the front with Lady asked, “What should I be doing?  I’ve never really canoed before.”

            “You and I just keep us going forward,” Toni said.

We paddled toward a little stream where Rocky and Curt claimed to have seen fish.   We had brought fishing poles with high hopes of catching some fish.  As I steered the canoe I daydreamed of catching one, a huge salmon!  No. Salmon wouldn’t be in this lake, or would they?  Well, I’ll catch some sort of big fish in that stream.  Furrowing my brow I tried to concentrate on steering the canoe straight ahead.  It was getting hard to just go straight.  I’ll never catch anything thing if we can’t get to the stream though.  Good grief, what’s the matter with this thing?  Glancing ahead to see if the others were having the same trouble, I noticed that Heidi kept switching sides with her paddle.  Ah-ha! I thought, When I paddle on one side to go straight, Heidi switches sides back and

forth so we are fishtailing!  Or something like that.  Before I could speak up, Heidi informed me, “Hey, Cora, are you steering back there?  We’re going crooked.”

I groaned.  Glancing back, Heidi asked, “Something wrong?”  I told her of the dilemma.  “Oh, sorry!” she apologized.  Things went smooth for a few minutes and then we were fish-tailing again.

“Heidi…” I called.  Heidi peeked over her shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Oohhh.”

“Why?”

She peeked back again, this time with a puzzled look on her face.  “Why what?” Heidi inquired.

“Why do you keep on doing it?”

“It’s boring up here when I can’t switch sides!” she confided. 

“Well it’s hard down here when you do switch sides.” I informed her. 

We were quiet a few moments, and then Heidi, easy going as usual, asked, “What if you sat up here and I sat down there?”

“O.K.” I agreed.  Toni, glad that we had smoothed things out, suggested, “You two can switch after we get to the stream.”

“And I catch my big one,” I added, still stuck on the big fish thing.  Toni and Heidi gave me funny looks but I just smiled mysteriously. 

  “You’re back!”  Curt greeted us girls and a muddy Lady as we burst through the door from our canoe trip. 

“Are we having fish for dinner?” Rocky inquired, hopeful. 

“No,” I moaned.  My hopes of catching a gargantuan fish were bashed.

“No?” Rocky repeated, “What do you mean ‘no’! Didn’t you catch anything?”

“We didn’t catch anything ‘cause there wasn’t anything to catch,” I sighed. “We didn’t see any fish.  But we saw a muskrat!” I said, perking up.

“But there was a ton of fish when me and Curt drove down after lunch,” claimed Rocky. 

“Well then you probably scared them off with that orange hat of yours,” Heidi joked.

“Hey, I like orange.  It’s my favorite color,” Rocky defended himself.   We’ve noticed, I thought.

“Do I look scary to you?” he questioned me.

I answered truthfully, “You looked pretty scary this morning when you got up.”  Rocky pretended to be offended.  “I’m not scary in the morning, am I Toni?”

“No, Honey, you’re very cute in the morning,” Toni replied, kissing him…on THE LIPS!!   Heidi and I exchanged a look that clearly said; let’s leave these two love birds alone. 

“Uh, I’m gonna go to the, uh, play house and read…see you later!” Heidi stammered. 

“Oh! Me too!” I chimed in. “See you later!”

Snatching her book off the counter, Heidi raced out the door.  I scrambled to our bedroom, gathered Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader for Kids Only, a pencil, a book of Mad-Libs, and made a mad dash out the door to the play house.

I clomped up the steps to the play house, the small, two story shack which Toni had introduced to Heidi and me after breakfast that morning.  Sucking in my gut, I squeezed past the pile of unused planks of wood that inhabited the lower level.  I made my way to the ladder, and climbed to the upper level.  Peering around I saw no sign of Heidi.

“Heidi!” I called.

“I’m on the deck.”

Ducking through the small doorway, I stepped onto the deck.  Heidi was lying on her stomach, fully engrossed in her book.  There was a long thin leaf on her back.  I casually bent over to pluck it off her shirt when it wiggled. 

GYAH! What is it?  I leaned closer.

“Oh,” I sighed with relief, “it’s a caterpillar.”  Heidi turned her head as far as it would go.

“What’s a caterpillar,” she questioned.

“On your back.”  Heidi’s eyes widened.

“What does it look like?” she demanded.  Her voice had an edge to it. 

“Uh,” I stuttered, “Its small, green, and…well it’s a caterpillar, Heidi!  Aren’t all caterpillars in Alaska small and green?”

Heidi relaxed and said, “No, actually.  There’s this one kind in Alaska that’s big, brown; its head is orange and it has this long spike coming off its rear.”

I guessed, “And this kind scares you?”

She nodded and her eyes shifted down to her back.

“Hey,” she murmured softly, “what are you doing there?”  Gently, Heidi peeled it off her shirt and held it in her hand.

“I’m not scared of this kind though.” 

We huddled together for a closer look and watched the caterpillar crawl up Heidi’s arm. 

 

What’s Brown All Over with an Orange Head?

The walky-talky in my hand beeped.  I pushed the talk button.  Heidi’s voice buzzed with the static.

“Cora, are you still alive back there?”

All of us were walking on a trail back to the cabin after hiking for a mile to visit the nearest neighbor before dinner.  I had allowed myself to lag behind to snack on some blueberry bushes since I had one of the walky-talkies.  Heidi had the other one. 

 Because I had too many blueberries in my mouth, I couldn’t answer Heidi right away, so she repeated herself.

Buzz, crackle.  “Cora! Are you still alive back there?”

“Nooo,” I moaned, teasing her back.

“Is Lady with you?”

After glancing around for her I heard panting by my feet.  I looked down.  Lady was rolling around in a mud puddle.  Her head swiveled side to side with dainty gestures.  Her legs flitted through the mud, flinging it everywhere.  Lady paused long enough to smile up at me, sweetly, and then went back to embracing the mud with more vigor. 

“Yeah,” I replied, wondering how Lady managed to

combine such lady-like manners with typical dog behavior.

“What’s she doing?” Heidi wanted to know.

“Well, she’s sort of…just being Lady.”

“Oh.  Hey, how close are you to the cabin?”

“Why, are you there yet?”

Crackle.  “Yeah, I’m in our room.”

“Oh, wow,” I said, surprised.   Squinting ahead through the trees I caught a glimpse of a tall object topped off with bright orange.

“I’m really close,” I added, “I can see Rocky’s hat.”

Heidi laughed through the static of the walky-talky and exclaimed, “Cora, you better hurry!  We’re having hot-dogs and roasted marshmallows for dinner!”

I let out a whoop and was booking down the trail with Lady, who was yipping excitedly as we crashed through the woods, before Heidi could get in another word.

I pursed my lips as I tried to hack a long, thin alder branch off the alder bushes with my pocket knife.  One more hack ought to do it, and I’ll have my hot-dog stick, I thought, examining the cut made in the branch.  Hack!  The branch snapped off.  I picked

up the stick and walked over to Heidi, who was sitting on the play house steps whittling her stick to a point. 

“How many more do we need?” questioned Heidi, as I sat next to her. 

After calculating in my head, I replied, “One more for Curt, after these two.” 

Heidi remarked, “I’ll do that one, since I finished mine.”  And with that, she skipped over to the alder bush and began cutting a branch.  She looked over the deep gash she had made, then grabbing the branch, Heidi forcefully bent it to the ground; twisting it mercilessly to break it.  The whole bush shook in the process, so that the higher branches dropped leaves into Heidi’s hair and onto her sweatshirt.  I could almost hear the bush crying out for mercy.  Heidi returned to the steps, with a victorious look on her face.  Setting one foot on the steps and holding the branch high in the air, she declared in deep voice, “I have conquered…The Stick.”

We laughed.  Heidi sat down, and carved the stick to a point.  Then she began picking the alder leaves off her sweatshirt.  Then, at the same time, we both caught a glimpse of a small, brown, thing poking out from under a leaf that was stuck to the front of her sweatshirt.  Suddenly, it ducked back under. 

“It’s a caterpillar!” I exclaimed.

“Ugh, what is it with me and caterpillars?” Heidi muttered.  And from there, ladies and gentlemen, everything happened in slow motion.  Heidi reached down; thumb and forefinger extended.  Her fingers made their seemingly-slow decent.  Reaching the leaf, they locked around the stem.  Lifted the leaf.  Exposed what was beneath it.  A

caterpillar!  But not just any caterpillar.  This one was enormous.  It was all brown except for its head, which was orange.  A long spike was growing off its butt. 

As Heidi took in all this information, her eyes seemed to expand in their sockets.  They traveled down the caterpillar’s body. All the while, Heidi was opening her mouth, wider and wider, gasping in this on-going breath. When her eyes fell on the caterpillar’s spike, all that air came streaming out, in a blood-curdling scream!  By now, Heidi’s mouth was open so wide, I could see her tonsils vibrating in the back of her throat.  Suddenly I couldn’t help myself. I laughed!  I was hysterical!  Hastily, before I lost complete control over myself, I flicked the grub off Heidi’s sweatshirt.  It landed in the abyss under the play house steps, never to be seen again. 

            Heidi slouched on the steps, limp with relief.  I made myself sober long enough to ask if she was O.K. 

            “I’m fine,” she breathed. 

I giggled.  “That was hilarious!  You just kept screaming!  I was waiting for you to breathe in.  I almost thought you were gonna pass out!  And you should have seen your face!” I jabbered.  Now that the drama was over, Heidi saw the funny side of things.  We both laughed.  Finally, after a few re-inactions of the funniest parts, we were calmed down. 

            “Hey Heidi,” I said, “That caterpillar kind of reminded me of someone.”

            “Who?”

            “Rocky.”

Heidi, puzzled, asked, “Rocky?  Why?”

            I explained, “Orange hat, brown coat--he looks like the caterpillar!”

            “Oh yeah!” Heidi giggled, then she exclaimed, “Hey, we better take these hot dog sticks to Rocky and Toni and Curt and explain all the screaming before they worry.”

We gathered up the hot dog sticks and ran to the cabin.  Boy did we have a story to tell!

 

We’ll Be Back!

Brrrraaaaaaaaa!

            Rocky and Curt had started all the four-wheelers.  We had been out at Caribou Lake for two nights and a day and now it was time to load up the four-wheelers and head out.  Toni strapped down the last of our luggage to the back of her four-wheeler, and Curt tossed Heidi and me our helmets.  Neither of us caught them.  I forced my helmet onto my head and pulled the straps lightly, leaving plenty of slack so I could breathe easily.  I’m a big fan of breathing. 

            “Hey Cora, your helmet is too loose.  Let me tighten it before we go,” Rocky called.  Darn, I thought.  Rocky yanked my helmet straps tight.  Rocky isn’t a big fan of breathing. 

            Toni walked over and asked, “Who are you riding with, girls?”

Without hesitation, Heidi and I answered at the same time.

Me: “You!”

Heidi: “Rocky!”

Toni laughed.  She knew that Heidi was hoping to get dumped in the mud as much as I was praying not to.

“O.K., everybody on!” Curt called.  Heidi and I turned to look at the cabin.  I knew we were both thinking the same thing.  I want to stay!  We were quiet a few moments, trying to tattoo the cabin on the lake onto our memories.  Turning to Toni, Heidi broke the silence.

“Will you bring us back?  Soon?” 

“Of course Miss Heidi!” exclaimed Toni, “And maybe next time we can stay longer.”

“Great!” I jabbered, “When are we coming back?”

Toni laughed, “I’ll call you guys.  Right now though, we need to head out.”

“Alright,” we sighed.  Then as everyone was piling on, Rocky marched out of the house carrying Lady.  He was walking toward me.

 Uh-oh, I don’t like the looks of this. 

“You’re gonna have to hold her on the way back,” Rocky said, “I don’t want her on my four-wheeler.”

Oh well.  I’ll manage.  Heidi did it. 

            “Are you ready, Miss Cora?” Toni asked.

            “Yep!” I exclaimed as I grasped Lady on my lap with one arm and squeezed Toni’s waist with the other.  Toni pushed the accelerator, and we were off!  Before the cabin disappeared from sight, I craned my neck as far as it would go for one last glimpse. 

Good by!  Until next time!  And I could hardly wait to find out what adventures the next time would hold.  And the next, and the next.