“Why do we need to go to the bathroom here?' Jane asked suspiciously. 'Can't we go when we get to the camp? Shelley, are you hiding something from me? We
They left the interstate, took a nice four-lane highway for thirty miles, then turned off on a two-lane for another twenty. They missed the turnoff for the county road and had to backtrack a mile or two. This led them into a lushly wooded area. The road curved, dipped, and occasionally crested a rise, revealing tantalizing views of hills brilliant with autumn coloring and the fleeting impression of sun on sparkling little lakes. Out of deference to both Jane's nerves and the beauty of the landscape, Shelley actually slowed down to a normal driving speed.
“About another mile,' Shelley finally said. 'Watch for a sign on the right.”
Jane was encouraged by the sign. It said CAMP SUNSHINE and was large and freshly painted. She'd imagined it would be an old wooden plank with the words scribbled in charcoal and leading to something that looked like the Bates Motel.
They crossed over a picturesque wood-slatted bridge and onto a road, freshly graveled and recently traveled, judging by the haze of white dust drifting above the surface. 'Who else is coming?' she asked.
“I'm not sure,' Shelley said. 'There were a couple of last-minute changes. The Wilsons, who run the bakery, were signed up, but she had to have emergency gall bladder surgery last week, so somebody will have replaced them. And the Youngbloods had to cancel because he's changing jobs and they had to go look at houses in Buffalo. The Claypool brothers and their wives are coming, I think.'
“Who are they?'
“Oh, Jane. You know them. They have that huge car dealership.'
“I recognize the name, but I don't think I've ever met them. They're not going to try to sell us cars, are they?'
“It wouldn't be a bad thing if somebody sold you a car,' Shelley said. 'That station wagon of yours is starting to sound like a blender with a walnut inside when you start it.'
“True, but it still starts. Most of the time.”
Shelley just shook her head. 'You should know Marge Claypool. She does a lot of volunteer work. She was on the committee for the Well Baby clinic.'
“I wasn't involved in that as much as you were. I don't remember her.'
“Well, you wouldn't, I guess. She's a worker bee. Never speaks up, never has any fresh ideas, but will do anything she's assigned and do it well and without seeming to want any recognition.'
“What a paragon!'
“Yes, but she's very nice. I ran into her last week in the grocery store and she was all bubbly about this vacation. Apparently neither family has had any sort of vacation for years. The brothers have very difficult, demanding, elderly parents who should be in a retirement home, but refuse to go. The parents have an old house, both need constant medical care and a housekeeper and cook. According to Marge, they treat everybody she and Sam hire for them like medieval serfs and can't keep anyone more than a month or two. She didn't put it in those words, but it was easy to read between the lines. So her husband and his brother — and of course, their wives — are constantly on duty, having to replace people. I guess one of them finally put his foot down and decided they'd take some time off — no matter what.''So who are the brothers?'
“Marge's husband is Sam. I think he's the older one. He seems more like a college professor than a car dealer. Kind of prissy. The other is John, who's a glad-hander. I've only met him once and wasn't crazy about him. Cheerful, but real brash and loud.'
“Who else?' Jane asked.
“I'm not sure. Somebody from the school board and somebody from the city council. Ah, here we are.”
They turned at another freshly painted sign. The drive was narrow and wound through a thick stand of pines. Autumn wildflowers bloomed at the side of the road. As they rounded the last curve, they saw a large building that resembled an overgrown log cabin. It was two stories high and had a porch across the front with some ancient rocking chairs set about in companionable groupings. The building looked old — as if it had been part of the landscape for decades. The logs from which it was constructed were covered with bark. Lichen and moss grew on the logs, and tender-looking ferns clustered close to the building.
“Golly!' Jane said as Shelley pulled the van up in front of the entrance. 'What a neat place.' As they stepped out of the car, Jane breathed deeply. 'Real pine scent! And there's a campfire somewhere. Can you smell it?'
“Take a look around,' Shelley said, rummaging in her purse for her paperwork. 'I'll get us checked in.”
Jane strolled along the porch, testing a couple of the rocking chairs. 'I could sit here for hours just drinking this air,' she said out loud, startling a woodpecker who'd been tapping furiously on the building. This struck her as appropriately rustic, even though a woodpecker at her own house had once driven her nearly to frenzy.
Shelley was back in a minute. 'Nobody at the desk,' she said, 'but I found this on the bulletin board.' She'd removed two keys and a map from an envelope. 'Hop in the van.'
“We're not staying here?'
“No, there are cabins down the road. We're looking for Happy Memories.'
“Sure we are. Isn't everybody?'
“Jane, don't be a smart aleck. That's the name of the cabin.'
“The name of the cabin? Happy Memories? That's so horribly cute I don't think I can stand it!'
“It's on the right, but not for a bit,' Shelley said, putting the van in gear and heading down a narrow, pine- shaded drive that ran at right angles to the road they'd come in on. Little rustic signposts identified the driveways to cabins, some of which weren't even visible from the road. SUMMER'S END, HOME AGAIN, DEER RUN VIEW, and finally HAPPY MEMORIES.
“Oh, Shelley!' Jane sighed at the sight of the cabin. It was a tiny version of the main lodge building — neatly fitted logs with rough bark, a beautifully mossy wood-shake roof hugged by overhanging branches, spots of bright
