Stella mediated a deal between the four of them so they could each get a bit of what

they wanted without being too greedy. She glanced at Mister and Mrs. Morgan. They

watched the conversation but didn’t interfere.

“All right,” said Mark. He sipped on his cola. “This is great.”

“Thank you for helping me,” said Melinda. She held out a bag of candy for Stella to

take one piece.

“Everyone got something?,” asked Marty. He had secured a bottle of soda and a moon

pie for himself. He offered a bite to his wife, but Finch declined with an upraised

hand blocking it from sight.

The chorus of yeses made him smile. He took a bite of his moon pie and a sip of soda

from the bottle while gesturing for the kids to head back to the van.

Finch patted him on the cheek as she passed.

“In the back, Ruff,” commanded Mark. “We’re headed up into the woods.”

The dog jumped in the van and made its way to its spot. It loomed over the seat to

watch the girls eat their treats.

“No, Ruff,” said Melinda. “Candy is bad for dogs.”

Ruff barked before settling with his head on his paws.

“She’s right, Ruff,” said Marty as he got behind the driver’s wheel. “Candy is bad for

dogs.”

One bark answered that.

“Don’t be a trial,” said Marty. “I have steak we can cook tonight over a roaring fire.”

Ruff jumped up to to look over the seat. His ears were pointed at the front of the van.

“Yes, steak for us,” said Marty. “Everyone else is getting vegetables.”

Ruff barked. He dropped down. His tail started beating the seat again.

“And you said steak was bad,” Marty said. He glanced at his wife. She shook her

head.

“Everyone buckled in?,” asked Marty. He looked over his shoulder at the kids.

Everyone nodded back at him. “Let’s head up to the camp site. We want to set up our

tents before nightfall.”

The van pulled away from the store and headed down the road. Stella looked out the

window on her side. The trees encroached on the road as they rolled along.

“There’s our turn,” said Marty. “We’re going to have to park and walk up the rest of

the way.”

“Walking?,” said Mark.

“Not walking,” said Melinda.

Ruff barked.

“Yes, walking,” said Marty. “The exercise will do you good.”

“I don’t think so,” said Mark.

“And that’s why we don’t pay you to think,” said Marty. “There’s our spot.”

Marty pulled the van into the slot reserved for vehicles like his. He cut the engine and

got out. He walked back to the rear of the van and opened the rear door. Ruff sat up.

“Coming, or going?,” Marty asked.

Ruff jumped down to the gravel parking lot.

Finch herded the kids out of the van. She checked them visually before sending them

to the back. She pointed at the dog. It sat where she pointed. It grinned easily at its

surroundings.

“All right,” said Marty. “We’re going to take our things up to the camp site. Stay

together and don’t wander off the trail. There’s still some dangerous animals that like

to hang around and eat a kid. Here we go.”

Marty opened a cargo space in the rear section. He took out two backpacks, and

handed them to Mark and Melinda. He pulled out two bags with long sections of cloth

and rods in them. He handed one to Mark, the other to Bond. He pulled out a case of

canned drinks and handed those to Melinda. He pulled out three big coolers last. He

handed one to Stella, one to his wife, and put the last on the ground. He checked to

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

see if he missed anything before closing everything up and locking the van down.

“Let’s go, guys,” said Marty. “We want to set up our tents and cook dinner before the

night comes.”

“Do you think there are bears?,” asked Melinda.

“I’m sure there are,” said Marty. “That’s why I brought your mother along. No bear

is going to get in our camp with her around.”

“Don’t be a scaredy cat,” said Mark. “No animal is going to get close with Ruff on

duty. He’s a good dog.”

“Don’t underestimate the scavengers and bugs,” said Marty. “Even with a dog around,

that doesn’t mean it will stop them from foraging. And larger predators may attack

if they are having problems. Again that is why I brought your mother along.”

“I suppose that’s okay,” said Mark.

“I’m so glad you agree with me,” said Marty. He kept his eyeroll down to one turn.

The group trooped into the woods. Marty sang songs from his youth off key and

annoying to the kids, and his wife. He didn’t care. He had a cooler on his shoulder

and a place picked out where they could take it easy for the whole weekend. He didn’t

plan to do anything more than petting his dog, and napping under the shade of a tall

tree.

“The singing is bad, Dad,” said Mark.

“That’s the sound of the men working on the chain gang, son,” said Marty. “Your

mother will explain it to you when you’re older.”

Mrs. Morgan shook her head. There would be no explanation from her.

“All right, guys,” said Marty. “Take a left off the trail there and look for a clear spot

next to a small pile of rocks.”

“Should we be going off the trail like this?,” asked Bond.

“That’s why we brought the dog,” said Marty. “Don’t go anywhere without him. Ruff

will always return to me.”

“Always?,” asked Stella. She glanced at the hound sniffing trees as they walked.

“That’s what his nose is for, hon,” said Marty. “He can sniff a trail for almost a week

before it gets old. Take him with you wherever you go, he’ll always bring you back

to camp.”

“And he’s a good pillow,” said Melinda. “He likes that a lot too.”

Ruff barked in agreement. He loved the laying around and reading over people’s

shoulders.

“There’s our pile of rocks,” said Marty. “Let’s see what we got to work with as far as

putting up our tents and getting ready to eat.”

The clearing was an oval surrounded on all sides by bushes and trees. A pyramid of

rocks had been set up in the center. Stella noticed someone had cut an hourglass in

a circle on one of the stones.

How many times had Mister Morgan camped in this spot?

“All right,” said Marty. “Melinda, Mark, gather firewood. Stella and Bond, we want

something where we can just drape the tent halves over and then spike them to the

ground. If you don’t mind getting the fire started, Honey, that should get most of what

we need going.”

Mark and Melinda vanished into the surrounding undergrowth. Ruff went with them.

He didn’t bark as he kept an eye on the younger Morgans.

Marty took all the camping equipment out of the storage bags. He set all the tents up

with a minimum of effort. He gave directions to the kids as he let them help out.

Finch turned the pyramid into a circle of stones. She gathered up some twigs and

piled them in the center. She took a dry piece between her thumb and index finger.

In a second, it was burning. She put that on top of the pile of wood.

“Wait until the kids are adults before you show them how to do that,” said Marty.

Finch smiled. She breathed on the flame to keep it going. Mark and Melinda pushed

out of the trees with armloads of wood. Ruff panted behind them, wagging his tail.

Finch and Marty took the wood and set it up to burn without too much smoke.

The last thing they wanted was trouble with the park rangers.

“It looks like all we have to do is cook our food, and then decide what to do before

we go to bed,” said Marty. “Tomorrow, we’re going hiking and taking in the great

outdoors.”

“How far are we going, Dad?,” asked Mark.

“I thought we could walk up to the Peak,” said Marty. He placed a grill on the flames.

He opened the coolers and placed small steaks on the grill. He looked inside. “Need

to slice the potatoes.”

“Kids,” said Finch. She pulled two knifes and handed them to the siblings. She began

throwing potatoes at them. Quartered potatoes dropped on the grill. Stella sat back at

the display.

“Not as bad as the last time,” said Bond. He had a pack of candy orange slices in his

hand. He opened the bag with a twist of his wrist. “The last time I got splattered with

mashed potatoes in my hair.”

“I don’t think Melinda could do that on purpose because she knows what would

happen if she did,” said Marty. “We can’t really punish people for accidents, can we?

Excitement at the use of a new skill sometimes causes things to happen that the

person using the skill knows shouldn’t happen.”

Stella felt the trace of guilt from the younger girl. She had splattered Bond on purpose

and made it look like an accident. No one had been fooled by her act.

They had just given her punishment and made that look like regular work.

Stella didn’t think Melinda knew she was getting punished for bad behavior. Maybe

she had, and it had sailed through her mind as something she could deal with without

thinking about it.

Stella supposed that having a brother like Mark would make any punishment worse

than it was. He was the type to rub things in from what she could see.

Bond offered her some of the orange slices. She took one of the candies and chewed

on it. It was like a jelly bean with a spark of sugar and orange tasting on top.

“Are they any good?,” asked Melinda.

“They’re really chewy,” said Stella. “But I think I like them.”

“Would you like one, Melinda?,” asked Bond.

“Yes,” said Melinda. She glanced at her mother. “Please.”

Bond stretched out so she could reach into the bag and pick out her own slices. She

pulled out three. She popped them in her mouth and started chewing.

“You’re supposed to eat them one at a time, Lind,” said Marty. “Otherwise, they get

to be too sweet.”

“They’re okay,” said Melinda. She chewed the rest in her mouth and swallowed.

“They’re pretty gummy.”

Marty flipped the steaks with a knife. He nodded at the coloring on them.

“Did we bring any plates with us?,” he asked.

Finch pulled out a small stack from a bag. They were wrapped in plastic to protect

them.

“Let’s divvy up the spoils and eat,” said Marty. “Then we can sit back and relax a

spell.”