give us a call. We’ll back you if you need it.”
I was stunned. Jake was usually more than ready to let people solve their own problems. But here he was, volunteering us for something that really wasn’t any of our business.
Lane Tucker held out his hand. “I may do that, son. I just may do that.” He motioned to his men and the three started back towards the town.
“Tucker!” Jake called.
Lane turned back. “What is it?”
“Should I have killed Casey?”
Lane thought about it for a moment. “ Yes, ” he said as he walked away .
Jake nodded and we got back into our canoe, pushing off and heading down the canal towards home.
Chapter 13
We were quiet for a long time, passing under the bridges that led to the other side of the river.
Finally Jake spoke. “If I don’t see the capital again for a while, I won’t be too sorry.”
“I would agree with that, ” I said, angling the canoe to hit the swifter currents of the shallows.
Julia spent the next few minutes relating to Jake what had transpired after the delivery of the goods. Jake listened quietly, and looked back once to nod after hearing my part in it.
“Place needs some changing. Don’t know what, though, outside of a good fire.” Jake paddled a bit more, speeding us towards the spillway and the generating station.
“Yup.” I matched his strokes and together we moved towards home. We wouldn’t get there until morning, home being over sixty five miles by water away, but we’d make good time and spend the night at one of our stopping places. It didn’t matter too much where we were, no one was waiting for us at home anyway.
We paddled and drifted until the sun began its descent, and we found ourselves at Goose Lake Prairie Preserve. I moved us across Heidecke Lake and headed for the docks.
“Good call, Aaron, ” Jake called out. “My arms were getting tired.”
“Me, too, ” Julia said.
“What?” I yelped. “You haven’t done anything but keep our packs warm and stick your fingers in the water!” I directed this at Julia.
“Someone had to do it. It’s a tough job.” Julia tried to say this with a straight face, but failed miserably.
I slapped the water with my paddle and managed to slice a bit of water over the side of the canoe. My aim was of and I hit Jake in the head.
“Hey!” Jake yelled while Julia giggled.
“Sorry!” I called, trying to correct the boat as it started to swing in the current. The docks were actually behind a couple of breakers, and getting into the harbor without a motor was tricky.
Jake growled and slapped the water with his own paddle, sending a decent wave up and behind him.
It would have been very effective had Julia not been in the way. As it was, she took the brunt of the wave in her face, leaving her sputtering and cursing. I laughed, and she would have gone for water to hit me with if I hadn’t threatened to tip the damn canoe over and drown the both of them.
We slipped into the harbor laughing, and it was good to get the tension out of ourselves. Leport had left a bad taste in our mouths, and we needed to release it somehow.
Docking the canoe, we tied it off and walked over to the grassy area which used to be a picnic area, by the looks of things. The grass was about knee high, but we could still see the old tables, and the pavilion was still standing, although the roof was starting to slew to one side.
I walked around in a small area, checking for rocks, before I put up my little one-man tent. Jake and Julia did the same, and as the sun started to set, we talked about the trip and about what we were going to do next.
“Ever think about doing something else?” Jake asked.
“Like what?” I replied. “We weren’t raised for much else.”
“ Maybe, ” Jake said. “Maybe we were raised for something else, we just haven’t figured out what it is.”
I looked at Jake as if he was nuts. “We were brought
I was stunned. Jake was usually more than ready to let people solve their own problems. But here he was, volunteering us for something that really wasn’t any of our business.
Lane Tucker held out his hand. “I may do that, son. I just may do that.” He motioned to his men and the three started back towards the town.
“Tucker!” Jake called.
Lane turned back. “What is it?”
“Should I have killed Casey?”
Lane thought about it for a moment. “ Yes, ” he said as he walked away .
Jake nodded and we got back into our canoe, pushing off and heading down the canal towards home.
Chapter 13
We were quiet for a long time, passing under the bridges that led to the other side of the river.
Finally Jake spoke. “If I don’t see the capital again for a while, I won’t be too sorry.”
“I would agree with that, ” I said, angling the canoe to hit the swifter currents of the shallows.
Julia spent the next few minutes relating to Jake what had transpired after the delivery of the goods. Jake listened quietly, and looked back once to nod after hearing my part in it.
“Place needs some changing. Don’t know what, though, outside of a good fire.” Jake paddled a bit more, speeding us towards the spillway and the generating station.
“Yup.” I matched his strokes and together we moved towards home. We wouldn’t get there until morning, home being over sixty five miles by water away, but we’d make good time and spend the night at one of our stopping places. It didn’t matter too much where we were, no one was waiting for us at home anyway.
We paddled and drifted until the sun began its descent, and we found ourselves at Goose Lake Prairie Preserve. I moved us across Heidecke Lake and headed for the docks.
“Good call, Aaron, ” Jake called out. “My arms were getting tired.”
“Me, too, ” Julia said.
“What?” I yelped. “You haven’t done anything but keep our packs warm and stick your fingers in the water!” I directed this at Julia.
“Someone had to do it. It’s a tough job.” Julia tried to say this with a straight face, but failed miserably.
I slapped the water with my paddle and managed to slice a bit of water over the side of the canoe. My aim was of and I hit Jake in the head.
“Hey!” Jake yelled while Julia giggled.
“Sorry!” I called, trying to correct the boat as it started to swing in the current. The docks were actually behind a couple of breakers, and getting into the harbor without a motor was tricky.
Jake growled and slapped the water with his own paddle, sending a decent wave up and behind him.
It would have been very effective had Julia not been in the way. As it was, she took the brunt of the wave in her face, leaving her sputtering and cursing. I laughed, and she would have gone for water to hit me with if I hadn’t threatened to tip the damn canoe over and drown the both of them.
We slipped into the harbor laughing, and it was good to get the tension out of ourselves. Leport had left a bad taste in our mouths, and we needed to release it somehow.
Docking the canoe, we tied it off and walked over to the grassy area which used to be a picnic area, by the looks of things. The grass was about knee high, but we could still see the old tables, and the pavilion was still standing, although the roof was starting to slew to one side.
I walked around in a small area, checking for rocks, before I put up my little one-man tent. Jake and Julia did the same, and as the sun started to set, we talked about the trip and about what we were going to do next.
“Ever think about doing something else?” Jake asked.
“Like what?” I replied. “We weren’t raised for much else.”
“ Maybe, ” Jake said. “Maybe we were raised for something else, we just haven’t figured out what it is.”
I looked at Jake as if he was nuts. “We were brought
Similar Books
