The Governor's Bluff (Jayne's Nature)

by Jayne Louise

  The sleeping bags were set up, three side-by-side, mine closest to the road, Angel closest to the parking area, and Jules in the middle, with all our feet towards the rest rooms, and Jem’s was across our heads. The summerweight sleeping bags have screen hoods to keep out bugs, so we just spray them a little in Off and keep ourselves zipped up. So far the evening hadn’t been too hot and bugs hadn’t been a problem anyway.

  We all took our turns in the ladies’ room and got tucked in by about 10:30. Jules and Angel initiated the hymn– we sang ‘Abide With Me’ –and Jem recited from memory the blessings from Compline.

  ‘Lord, You have now set Your servants free to go in peace as You have promised.

  For mine eyes have seen the Savior, whom You have prepared for the whole world to see, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and glory of Your people Israel.’

  Then we all said together, crossing ourselves, ‘Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.’

  Then Jem said the blessing, ‘Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.’

  And we all said, ‘Amen,’ and said good-night to each other, and for a while we all just lay there awake, still excited over the busy day to fall asleep too fast.

  * * *

  * * *

  III

  Spy chicks

  Thursday, July 6th

  I was not the first one up. I rolled around to my side inside the sleeping bag, realizing Jules was not in hers. The sun was just up and the shadows from the bushes along the road were still long across the damp grass. I squinted. There was Jules, strolling aimlessly around the lawn between us and the road, one cute little girl all alone amidst the dewy grass glittering in very early-morning sunlight. If I’d had a camera at that moment–!

  I watched her shuffling a little, kicking up splashes of dew like fairy-dust all over her feet. A car went by and she looked up only for a moment, totally secure that no one would even look towards her to see her and stop to investigate what a single naked girl was doing at a state facility that was supposed to be closed. Then I unzipped my bag and sat up.

  Angel rolled over and looked over at me. ‘Good morning,’ I whispered to her.

  ‘Mm,’ she sighed, and unzipped her screen hood too. ‘My God, this is beautiful.’

  ‘It is,’ I said, folding my legs over and peeling back the sleeping-bag. ‘Smell it.’

  We both inhaled the deep sensuous scents of the grass and dew and perfectly clear air around us. ‘I could get high on this,’ Angel whispered.

  ‘I’ve been high on it since we got here.’

  Angel smiled. ‘Me too.’

  We let Jem go on sleeping and got up to take our turns in the ladies’ room. I came back and carefully uncovered the backpacks in the trash can, setting out a few things on the bench for us to choose for breakfast. Jules came sauntering back then, stretching a little and then stepping up onto the porch with us. ‘It’s only like six-thirty,’ she said.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘So what’s wrong with getting up early?’

  Jules inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, and then let out a long sigh. ‘Nothing.’

  The three of us sat together on the bench, staring at the lump in the sleeping bag that was Jem asleep, and nibbled on bagels and Capri Sun orange drink. Cars went by, maybe one each minute. The casinos were closed too– part of the governor’s ‘temper tantrum’– and so I assumed most of the commuters were going to the boat factory, the only other big employer in the area. ‘We need to get cleaned up soon,’ I said. ‘Some ranger could come here any minute.’

  ‘The rangers aren’t working,’ Angel said. ‘It’s just the state police. And because of the shutdown they probably have a lot more to do than check up on a low-security historic site that’s already closed.’

  I nodded. She was right. I wondered who the guy with the white SUV had been last night.

  We rolled up the wire and stashed it with the stakes into one of the backpacks. Then we got our sleeping bags rolled up. By that time Jem had awakened, but she only unzipped her bag and lay there on her back with her eyes closed and her arms over her head, smiling at the early sunlight and sighing in the fresh morning air. ‘All right,’ Angel teased her, ‘you can pack up your own stuff.’ ‘Mm,’ Jem sighed, and didn’t get up for half an hour at least.

  While waiting for her I took the opportunity to scout around, going down the path to the ticket booth and then out along the hedgerow towards the chained entrance. Exactly two cars went by, going south on the country road, and I just stepped in closer to the bushes till they passed. The forest road at the end of the driveway was totally deserted. For a few long moments I just stood there, fifty yards from anywhere I could hide, relishing the feeling of being so unprotected and free. I believe it takes great faith in a loving God to be able to do what we do. If we had any malicious or selfish intentions, surely He would have shown His displeasure by now. But we do not displease Him. We cast ourselves entirely at His mercy, like me doing this now, and the God who loves can cares for us rewards our faith with safety and happiness. How then could I not trust Him so completely?

  * * *

  Our plan today was to explore the woods beyond Batsto, into which we have never gone more than a few minutes’ walk. Somewhere way back along the lake, we would find something interesting and make an adventure for ourselves. So we packed up our backpacks, put on our sneakers and socks, and struck off on the path that leads down along the side of the lake.

  Angel had on her sunglasses, looking like some gorgeous movie star on vacation in the Riviera. She’s the tallest one of us, but 5’5" is enough for that. She also has a really terrific figure, a little more than Jem and a little less than me which means she’s about perfect. Her deep, thick blonde hair bounces down around her shoulders, unless she pulls it back into a ponytail that only exaggerates the curls. From just this season she is already beautifully tan, an elegant light bronze all over that makes her look Italian or Greek. Most people find her the most beautiful of all of us, and it’s easy to see why.

  Jules led the way for much of the early hike. She’s always eager to do things instead of talk about them, but she doesn’t like taking the initiative unless we’re all in agreement about what to do. Once we get going, though, she will assume a leadership role with great enthusiasm. A few times she got pretty far ahead of us and I actually lost sight of her white Thunder hat in the woods. About an hour into this hike we discovered a pretty little sandy area, close to the shore of the lake, that was perfect for sunbathing. This spot was all new to us, and being naturally cautious and inquisitive I ventured a little farther along the path just to be sure we were not a dozen yards from some campsite or something. But it was fine, completely isolated. The sun was just coming over the trees behind us and we had all just started getting thirsty. So we spread out the big white blanket and refreshed ourselves with water from the refilled Dasani bottles before sharing the sun lotion and lying down.

  I guess we were there about an hour. Angel and Jem, both concerned about the perfection of their tans, actually took off their sneakers and socks. Jules lay down for a little but got bored and actually knelt in the sand trying to make a sand-castle or something. I helped her a little. But the sand was not very smooth and there were creepy bugs a little below the surface. The sand-castle ended up looking a lot more like a rounded Egyptian pyramid.

  Jules wandered off up the path to pee in the woods. I didn’t want her to go too far and was relieved when she only knelt in the middle of the path and then pushed sand over it. Just before she came back I heard voices.

  ‘Shhh!’ I urged her, and squatted down.

  Jem and Angel sat up, looking for their shoes. Jules came scampering back, part of the way on hands and feet. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Canoers,’ I said. ‘Across the lake.’

/>   ‘Kind of early for them, isn’t it?’ Angel wondered.

  ‘It’s after eleven.’

  ‘Is it? Wow.’

  The canoers couldn’t hear us. They were all on the other side of the lake, along that shore, about 12 people in 4 or 5 boats. I actually stood up beside a slender shade tree and watched them negotiating shiny aluminum canoes that mirrored the sun on the water as they paddled up the lake.

  ‘Good thing we brought the bags with us,’ Jem said, standing up beside me.

  ‘Yes,’ I said.

  ‘Hey,’ Jules said then. ‘Why don’t we follow them? See where they go.’

  ‘Cool,’ Angel said. ‘A spy mission.’ She giggled.

  ‘Shhh,’ I said. But they wouldn’t hear us.

  * * *

  We hurriedly got our stuff back together and Jules, most eager of all of us, led us down along the path, under some low-hanging foliage, and up again to a kind of bluff about three feet above the lake. At one point the trees fell away and left us with only some tall but sparse pond grass to hide behind. The canoers had gotten a little ahead, but not much. ‘One at a time,’ I said, ‘and we’ll sneak ahead to those bushes.’

  Jem, always willing to try anything, nodded and went first, bent low with the sleeping bag atop her tan-and-brown pack almost the same pale green as the grass. Deliberately to be dramatic, she hurled herself up the slight incline like a soldier and dove behind the bushes fifty yards ahead of us, tossing up a little flurry of sand as she tucked herself behind the farthest bush I could see, where she had a vantage point on the canoers.

  Angel laughed. ‘That looked so cool!’

  ‘Shhh!’ Jules and I said together. But the canoers were over 100 yards across the lake and did not turn around. Angel went next, bent low like Jem had been, and then Jules followed with me right behind her. The hiding had been unnecessary, but Angel had the right idea because the theatrics made it all more fun. We were able to stand up behind the bushes and watch the canoers go around the bend, where the lake got wider to our right. There were more trees ahead, so we took up hiking along the path again.

  The path left the lake for a while and we weren’t sure if we were ahead of the canoers or not. Then at one place the path came very close to the water, on a bluff about 3 or 4 feet above, where tree roots were exposed and getting wet. ‘Shhh!’ I said, and we listened.

  Most people in the woods make too much noise. The canoers are no exception. The voices, coming from directly behind us, were crystal-clear. ‘Here they come!’ Jem half-mouthed at us, and we all crept backwards behind the foliage we had just left.

  Exactly at the moment we were out of sight from the little bluff, one of the canoes passed by us, barely 15 yards to our left. Jules, lying almost flat on the sandy path ahead of me, turned around and giggled silently. I put my finger on my lips. Like covert spies we all remained frozen, counting the canoes as they glided by.

  ‘There’s a path up there,’ one girl said.

  We held our breath. I was half on top of Jem, with Angel breathing against my shoulder. As a clump I am sure we would not have been recognizable as three separate people with no clothes on and with packs on our backs. But none of us wanted anyone to have the chance to figure us out. The canoe with the two girls in it glided by, almost beneath us. Through the dense foliage here I could see they were about our age, one of them in a bright red tank-top. The one in back seemed stronger and was pulling harder on her paddle. It looked fun– I might have wanted to be canoeing with them.

  Three of them had gone by in the first two minutes, but two were still missing. Without words Jules asked me the question, and like the sergeant I nodded. She slithered out of the pack on the sand and crawled– actually crawled, like the guys in the army movies do– forward on the path, past the clearing where they could have seen us from the water and up to the next cover of foliage. There she turned around on her bottom and got a look back behind us. ‘Anything?’ I mouthed at her.

  She held up a finger, like Wait. Then she was pointing frantically. We all turned our heads, and then Jules had scampered farther on and got behind the foliage.

  The other two canoes went by, a man and a young boy in one and women in the others. The chaperons. NOT people we’d want to have seen us!

  Fortunately none of them even looked up at the path the girl had noticed. Jule’s pack lay directly in front of us, the pale green sleeping bag just covering the unnatural navy-blue color of the pack itself. With the second canoe past, Jule’s head popped up above the rise in the path ahead. Nodding, she beckoned us on.

  I scooped up her pack and skipped onwards, ducking behind the bushes she had found. Ahead, the canoes were going around another bed, to the right again. I presumed we had to be pretty close to the campgrounds off Route 563, but who could tell? We took up after the canoes, all of us without speaking agreeing to continue following them.

  ‘This is so fun!’ Angel whispered behind me. ‘I want to do the next sneak, okay?’

  I laughed, not making noise. The canoes were only 150 yards ahead and paddling hard. They were against the current of the next waterfall. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Just remember to take it seriously. And keep quiet.’

  ‘Quiet didn’t help us last summer,’ she reminded me.

  ‘I know. But it’s the best defense we have.’

  ‘We’re not camouflaged enough?’ she giggled. ‘I thought I was getting pretty dark, here.’

  Actually she was. I don’t think she’s ever been this tan this early in the season.

  * * *

  In another ten minutes we were so far behind the canoes that we were probably going to lose them in the next turn or two. When the foliage broke away again we decided to sit and have lunch. The sighs were all sincere as we unstrapped the backpacks.

  We didn’t spread the blanket but just sat cross-legged in the shorter grass, shooting ourselves with Off as soon as we’d done eating. The stuff IS poison– no use using it till licking your fingers is done!

  Angel asked, ‘Well, are we going to see where they’re going?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jem said. ‘It’s pretty far back now…. I could just lie here.’

  We all looked at her. She did seem perfectly comfortable, reclining back on her elbows with her legs apart, soaking up sun. Angel giggled a little. It’s all still new to her, you know. ‘I could do that,’ she said. ‘And I could keep on spying. I guess I don’t really care.’ And she giggled again.

  Jules crawled across the grass and peered past the bushes at the canoes up the lake. ‘They’re almost gone,’ she said in a normal voice. ‘If we ran we could catch them.’

  ‘We don’t even know if this path follows them,’ I said.

  ‘True….’

  ‘Shhh!’ Jem said suddenly, disturbing her own reverie, and she spun around in the sandy grass.

  We all heard it then. Male voices were coming up towards us. Were they in canoes? –or on the path?

  A soft splash, followed by the distinct sound of water slapping against an aluminum boat, settled our immediate fears. But the next second’s fear was that we were completely in the open here. We’d never be able to get far enough ahead to hide before they came past the bushes, and running back the way we had come would be too obvious for them to not notice us. Were we trapped?

  ‘This way!’ Jem urged in a whisper, and we dragged the packs, some of them not even zipped closed, away from the water, and dropped to our tummies up in the grass there. As a last resort I pulled the light-green sleeping bag around in front of my blonde head and then lay down flat.

  The four men in the two canoes never even looked up. I dared to raise my head once– who could have resisted that temptation? But they were on their way past us, going in the same direction as the other canoers, up towards Oswego. I even got up on my knees in the grassy sand, staring after them as though I’d been left behind against my will.

  ‘Good idea!’ Angel said to Jem, as we a
ll got ourselves back to the path where we’d had lunch. ‘So, now what?’

  ‘I say we go back,’ Jules said at once. None of us would argue.

  I guess the hike back to Batsto was just as long, but it was less exciting and seemed to take only half the time, even not including our stops before. We were all sweaty and hot, in desperate need of water, and dropped all the packs on the lawn as soon as we emerged from the path. I went in for the ladies’ room, leaving Jem standing guard. The other two had gone across the lawn and were lying in the grass just inside the bushes along the road, since that’s where the sun was. Jem and I spread the blanket and we all shared sun lotion and just lay out there for however long it was. Jules fell asleep and Jem had to wake her up for her to turn over. Then Angel fell asleep on her stomach, looking like a small child with her head turned towards me and a sweet smile on her face. I wouldn’t wake her at all and covered her backside with a beach towel when I got up.

  * * *

  * * *

  IV

  Caught in the lights

  It was about 4:00 and I started to worry that we’d have visitors. Though the place was supposedly closed, we’d been able to come here, and that meant anyone else could too. I took a drink with me as I strode up to the gift shop, peered in to ensure nothing had changed, and then went around to the ticket booth. The parking area was still empty– but for how long?