A Kayak for One

by K. L. McCluskey

  This final section of the drive to the resort through the village was not the prettiest first impression for Charlie's guests, after the first part of the drive, along the two km. section of roller-coaster hills and turns cut into the side of the towering hill of quartzite rock in hues of white, pinks, burgundies and grays. On one side of the road was the steep rock face. The other side bordered a steep drop-off, with only one small section of guard rail and a bit of shoulder with room for one car to pull over. The view of the lake and surrounding hills and forest was magnificent, so it was usual to see a car parked there.

  Charlie walked the 20 or so strides from the house to the dock, being careful to step over the exposed tree roots, and stepped onto the pontoon boat. It would be good to warm the motor a bit this morning, so Charlie started the motor first, then got busy at the white stacking chairs. They should have been resting upside down against the railings along the sides of the boat. They had been moved and not put back, so Charlie had to wipe them down again. A wet bum would teach them a lesson, she thought, but knew she could never do that to them.

  No sooner had Charlie dried the chairs and set them four to a side along the 32' pontoon boat, which was really a deck on pontoons, when the drake and his ducklings came walking along the shore to the boat.

  "Good morning Charlie," said Professor Bowen as he led his charge up the dock and onto the boat. "It's going to be a great day!"

  "Good morning. Hi everyone!" answered Charlie, first smiling at Dan then looking at the five sullen-looking students.

  A mix of "morn'n" "hi" "hey" and mostly mumbling meant the students were bagged from a late night of drinking instead of studying, or maybe just shy. Probably drinking, thought Charlie, remembering the loud voices by the fire the night before. Well, well, love is in the air. Charlie saw that Haiden moved his chair closer to where Ashley was sitting. It wasn't a real surprise since he did the same thing the past two days on the boat trip to and from the landing. It wasn't a big surprise, either, to see the look that quickly passed between Ashley and Lori, who sat across from her. It seemed Ashley was not as keen on Haiden as he was on her.

  Peter and Greg chose to stand, facing the front, setting their legs apart to keep their balance for the five minute boat ride across to the resort parking lot. Neither would give the other the pleasure of seeing them hold onto the railing. Charlie's eyes rolled at the absurdity of this male competition.

  The professor sat in his usual spot, as close to the front of the boat deck as he knew was allowed. There was no railing across the front and Charlie didn't like anyone up too close to the end. Charlie had once seen a little pontoon boat go under the water when too many large people were sitting on the deck at the front, feet hanging over the edge. A large wave from the wake of a passing boat caught the top of the deck and tipped the boat under, people included.

  The professor's chair faced the front. When he first met Charlie he explained by saying he liked to “feel the full wind in his sails". Charlie sensed it would take more than that to perk him up today. He had a bit of a mood about him this morning and noted the tone of his voice didn't match his jubilant words. He looked a bit pale and tired, and older. Well, Charlie was older too since they first met three years ago.

  Maybe he's tiring of this trip Charlie thought, but hoped not, since the university money came in handy when there wasn't as much money in the bank at the start of the season. By September, the money wasn't as big an issue since the resort still did well through the summer. It didn't really matter when the money came in, as long as it came in, so Charlie agreed to the September trip. It meant, though, the fall solitude would be broken with the students on the property. There would be no sleeping in either, after the busy summer. Charlie would have to be ready to boat the group over to their van every morning at 8:00 am and be there to pick them up at 5:00 pm Charlie was stuck working around their schedule for the remainder of their stay.

  Chapter 5

  Bob

  He watched Charlie on the boat. He saw the students come out of the cottages, the girls out of cottage #2 and the boys out of cottage #1. He wondered again why Charlie didn't come up with something more original on the signs on the cottages thinking that people would like something other than a number. Either way, he didn't like that they were there. A few quiet guests would likely come on the last few week-ends of the season. He noticed the couple in cottage #5 who came on Sunday were still there, probably for the peak of the fall colours, but Charlie was usually alone through the week this time of year. The groups of fishing guys would come a bit later, toward the end of September and into October for Thanksgiving, when the bass would be bigger and tastier as the lake turned with the cold fall nights. Then no one would come until May next year. That's what he liked.

  He watched the girls come down the steps from the screened porch. They looked like city girls wearing tight tops, little jackets and tight jeans. They looked like they were heading to a bar and not going traipsing around the rocks They were wearing hiking boots at least, he noticed, and one was wearing a cap. He watched the one with the long dark hair look over her shoulder at the boys walking along from cottage #1 up behind them. Two of the boys called out something making both girls turn and laugh. He saw the laughter die on the dark-hair girl's face as she looked at the other boy. He didn't seem to notice or care though. He ran ahead and walked close beside her. He saw that she moved her arm away from him to hold onto the knapsack she had slung over her other shoulder. He watched the boy's hand brush the girl's hip as they came to a narrow part of the path along the shore between the two old cedar trees. He could almost feel the soft hip.

  He moved the binoculars back to where Charlie was putting the last chair into place on the boat. Charlie looked over suddenly. He put the binoculars down.

  Chapter 6

  Dan

  Dan stopped to look at the view from the landing across the 400 metre stretch of water to the resort he had come to love. The lake returned to its flat state after Charlie dropped them off headed back. The last of the wake from the boat was hitting the shore with a sucking sound, the splash back taking some of the earth with it. He liked to walk in the water along the shore and look under the little caves created, but he was also pleased to see that Charlie had let the grass and weeds grow long along the shores as much as possible. In the last years he could see the progress of the shoreline going back to a natural state. It meant being startled by more water snakes coming out of the tall grasses to the sunny spots where they would sit coiled up for hours, sometimes with a noticeable bulge, digesting a mouse, but Dan preferred this to the grass being mowed right to the edge of the shoreline like many lakefront property owners did.

  He noticed that Charlie made sure to slow the boat well in advance of docking it to help prevent further erosion. He remembered the previous owner operating the boat at full throttle and jamming the motor into reverse just shy of the dock, probably to give the students a bit of a jarring after a late-night knock at the office door for a deck of cards or something. Charlie was more careful mooring the boat, he thought with a smile, knowing there was a sign attached to the front of the dock, "No Mooring." Though meant to detract the boaters that would otherwise take up the longest dock reserved for the pontoon boat alone, the sign only piqued the question, "What does mooring mean?" from almost every student he has brought to the resort since Charlie hammered in the sign.

  Will this be my last trip? Dan wondered, until Haiden called to him from the side door of the van where he was seated beside Ashley.

  "Are you coming? We're not going to get anywhere without a driver."

  Dan thought he knew why Haiden was in such a hurry. He was probably hoping to get some alone time with Ashley like he did yesterday when they had their first field trip. Dan caught Haiden trying to get Ashley out of sight of the others, motioning to her to "Come and check this out Ash" more times than he cared to hear. He knew Ashley did not like Haiden. The rest of the group laughed about his dogged attempts
to seduce her when they met in the university pub to discuss the trip up north. Haiden laughed too. He didn't seem daunted by her rebuffs.

  Dan thought about that last pub night when he and Ashley were alone at the table for a few minutes while the others got their beer order in. He was sure that Ashley preferred him. No, not just preferred, but wanted him. She drank more than usual that night, he remembered. Perhaps she didn't remember flirting with him and brushing her arm up against his and making those almost lewd comments about younger women and older men having sex. Shit, thought Dan. He will have to get Ashley alone and talk her out of reporting him when they get back to the university. That was the only way out of this mess now.

  Chapter 7

  Charlie

  Charlie went upstairs to the kitchen and put some oatmeal on to cook before going into the bedroom and getting changed out of the long underwear and wind pants into canvas work pants and a tee-shirt. While at the dresser Charlie saw a flash of something reflected in the mirror above. It seemed to come from the front bedroom window, almost like the flash of light that caught Charlie's eye from across the lake just before the students boarded the boat. Charlie looked out the window but only saw waves of sunlight reflecting on the water.

  After breakfast and clean-up, Charlie went back down the stairs into the office. The retired couple that were staying in cottage #5 all week, Jack and Edna Porter, were coming in the office door just as Charlie opened the interior door that separated the office from the private portion of the main floor and entered the room.

  "Hi Charlie," said Edna. "We thought we would take the fishing boat down the lake and have a picnic on one of the islands. Can we have a map of the lake to take with us? So you don't worry, we will be gone most of the day. If we need to get across to the car we'll take the fishing boat over ourselves so we won't bother you."

  "Do you have any worms in? I saw the bait fridge on the front porch was empty," asked Jack quickly with a defiant look at Edna, before Charlie had a chance to answer Edna.

  "Sure Edna, here's the map," said Charlie, pulling one from the counter drawer.

  Looking at Jack, Charlie said, "It's that time of year. There's no need for me to keep that fridge plugged in for the few guests here until I close up for the season. I have some upstairs in my fridge in the kitchen. I will get you some. One, or two tubs?"

  "Two," said Jack, his face a picture of hope at his fishing chances.

  "One," said Edna at the same time, sensing her picnic time shortening and the fishing time lengthening.

  "One it is," said Charlie, going upstairs, leaving Edna pleased that Charlie took her side and Jack chuffed.

  Charlie came back down with a container of worms and a brown paper bag.

  "I'll add it to your tab," Charlie said, and gave the worms and bag to Jack. "It's that fishing book you let me borrow last year. I set it aside for you."

  Edna, not the slightest bit interested in anything to do with fishing, walked out of the office ahead of Jack, ready to get going to spend time on the water with her camera and sketch pad. Jack peaked inside the bag, saw the second container of worms, gave Charlie a wink, and followed Edna.

  The landing phone rang, startling Charlie.

  "Hello?"

  "Hello. I am waiting for a pick-up so I come over to check on the water system," said a man with a strong Scottish accent.

  "Okay. I'll be right there," said Charlie and hung up. There was a phone at the parking lot that rang into one of the office phones to let Charlie know when the boat was needed. It used to ring on a loud speaker system that could be heard all along the 1500' of shoreline and back and beyond. If Charlie was at the other end of the property from the office, that meant the ringing was non-stop until Charlie walked back to the office to pick up the receiver. That annoyed Charlie and the guests, so after the first season, Charlie had the phone line switched to ring only inside the office. The portable phone could then be carried all around the property and be answered from anywhere.

  At the landing, a man emerged from an older, black, pick-up truck parked near the dock. He wore a kilt of green, blue, and yellow tartan with a cream coloured wool sweater under an expensive-looking black wind-jacket. Gray wool socks with a red and white stripe showed above his worn and scuffed Kodiak work boots. He carried a tool box. He walked to the dock, jumped aboard the front of the boat, pulled a black, wool watchman's cap from his jacket pocket and put it on his head that was sparse of gray hair but neatly cut short. He planted his feet apart, and stood near the railing. His face lit up with a smile that started from his light blue eyes and ended in a wide grin, accenting the deep lines around his eyes and mouth.

  "Hello Charlene," he said.

  Chapter 8

  Bob

  He rinsed out his coffee mug and took his toast to the table by the window that he used as a desk. He moved the binoculars aside, opened his lap top, found the file, opened it, and looked at the pictures slowly, one at a time.

  He heard the boat motor and saw Charlie docking the pontoon boat. He watched the man follow her up to the house. He smiled, knowing what would come next.

  Chapter 9

  Dan

  "I'm sorry Ashley. I misread what I thought was interest in me. You were all over me at the pub before the trip!" Dan said when he finally had a chance with Ashley alone out of earshot from the other students.

  "What! You've got to be kidding me!" said Ashley, her whisper not masking her tone of disgust. "I have no interest in you whatsoever!"

  "Look, it was inappropriate and I'm really sorry. It was just a hug, not that I'm saying that it was okay to do that," Dan added quickly when he saw that Ashley was about to retort.

  "Please Ashley, I'm begging you! Don't report what happened. Nothing like that will happen again."

  "I guess not! Once this course is over I won't have to be near you again. I've already graduated, but you know how important this course is for my resume! That's the only reason I haven't said anything to anyone yet," Ashley said. "And I mean yet. You can't get away with touching students!"

  "Please Ashley," he said.

  "No way Professor Bowen! You need to be held accountable." Ashley picked up her tools and knapsack and walked quickly away, not looking back when Dan said, "You bitch! You're going to regret your decision."

  "What?" she asked over her shoulder.

  The professor said nothing more, and Ashley walked away over the rocky trail to join the others. He saw her jump back as she almost bumped into Haiden who jumped down in front of her from a rock overhang.

  Chapter 10

  Charlene

  "Is that appropriate attire to check on my water pump?" Charlene asked.

  "It's not the pipes I'll be looking at," said Joe.

  "You know the saying," Charlene said as she took Joe's hand and led him up the stairs to the house. "Let's see what's under that kilt sir."

  "Are you saying you got me here to check on my Scottishness?" asked Joe.

  "I didn't ask you here at all," answered Charlene

  "No, but now that I'm here..." Joe picked up Charlene and carried her down the hall of the house and took her to the bedroom.

  Chapter 11

  Bob

  He left his desk and walked down to his dock. He carried his life jacket, paddle and fishing rod that he stored in the shed beside the cottage. He checked that he also brought the box of fishing line he bought at Walmart when he went to Sudbury last week. The Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate 10 pound line may come in handy soon. It better, for $14.00 a box. He usually bought 20 pound line for only $3.00 for almost as many yards when he used to go fishing with the guys from work out on Ranger Lake, but the line on his rod was old and probably wouldn't work for what he had in mind.

  He remembered to get the worms from his fridge on his way out. There were still a few worms left in the container he bought at that little bait shop he found one day while driving around Espanola. He knew it would be much easier to buy his worms from Charlie but he
was not ready to be that close to her yet.

  He flipped the bright yellow kayak over and bent down and looked inside it. Not much bothered him, but a water snake or dock spider coming up at him from inside the kayak would. It would not be a good start to what would be a pleasant paddle along the shoreline with his fishing line in the lake behind him with hopes of a nice bass lunch.

  He put his life jacket under the tension cords on top of the kayak. It was going to be too warm to wear it. He pulled the kayak to the dock and put it in the water and tied it to one of the cleats, noticing the end of the rope was getting frayed. He would have to remember to put a match to it to melt it. He should also remember to get marine rope next time he was in Canadian Tire, he thought. The cheap blue rope from the Dollar Store wasn't holding up. He was new to all this boating stuff. He was a city dweller, living in Sault Ste. Marie, aka the Soo, all his life, until he bought his cottage. He got it for a good deal from an old guy who had it for about 50 years before it got to be too much for him to keep up. It came with an old 14' fishing boat and a pretty good, but old, 9.9hp Johnson motor. He wrote his boating exam and passed and now just had to learn how to dock the boat better. He found it tricky in the wind, and it was almost always windy in front of his place.