Klutz cocked his head as he tried to envision what I was imagining. “Not a bad place at all. Looks like we need to find a space for the veterinary.”
“Build that closer to the road. That way, the public can have easy access, but the sanctuary is off limits if we enclose it,” I suggested.
“Yeah, that’s doable. We want that bit,” Klutz said to Calamity, who laughed.
“No shit!”
We rode back towards the peninsula. It was known locally as The Peninsula and didn’t have a name. It wasn’t far from Ortonville and was a jut of land that was surrounded on three sides by water. There were a few houses there, but not many. Riding around it, I knew the old ladies were falling in love like me. It was big enough for what we wanted.
Roads had been built, although they needed repair. As we followed Main St onto Greenwood Ave, which fed into Saratoga St and finally linked up with Park Ave, we noticed that they encircled a plot of land.
“That would be a great spot to build the clubhouse,” Ghost mused, and Calamity nodded.
“I want a house on the waterfront,” Demi demanded.
“Me too, with a dock for a boat,” Grace agreed.
“Whatever you want, you’ll get,” Savage promised her.
“There’s plenty of room for you all to have a large house and a huge yard,” Apache said as his brain worked overtime.
“Do we need to vote on building the homes and clubhouse here?” I asked.
“Nope, we’re all in agreement,” Falcon replied after looking around.
“I like the fact as well that we can build a gate across the bridge over the creek and shut the peninsula off. Maybe have a guard hut for deliveries or something they can drop stuff off at?” Carmelle suggested.
“Would that make you feel safe?” Calamity inquired.
Carmelle nodded.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he assured her.
I smiled at Carmelle for reassurance. The woman had been kidnapped and held hostage; her first husband, a good man, was killed in front of her. Another victim of Fury. Carmelle’s shoulders were slightly tense, but they relaxed with Calamity’s words.
“Is everyone okay with the clubhouse being built near our homes?” Calamity asked.
“No skin off my nose. At least you’ll be nearby if something happens,” Demi said.
“Agreed, rather have you guys close, and it works for Unwanted Bastards and Hellfire,” Penny approved.
“Let’s meet back at the hotel, and we can decide what to do about the campsites,” Calamity ordered, shaking his head.
I knew he was disappointed in the state, but I’d predicted it.
Calamity
The condition of the cabins and camping sites had been a major blow. This was going to be a bigger undertaking than I’d expected. Once we got back to the hotel, we all met in the private dining room we’d hired.
“Gotta ask, what did you aim to do with that land?” Apache asked as we sat down.
“I was planning to run the RV park and tent campsite and rent pitches out. I was hoping the cabins would be rented and that fishing would be allowed. The land already has fishing permits. With the lake, we did want to have water sports, canoeing, and the usual things. There are hunting licences in place, too, so maybe open it up to seasonal hunting,” I said with a wary glance at Rosie.
“Judicious hunting is fine. We can monitor the licences allowed on our land to hunt,” she replied.
“So, the concrete pitches to park on in the RV site need to be torn up and replaced. I’m also betting the electrics and the water mains require updating. In fact, I think both the RV and the tent camping fields need modernising, end of story. The cabins are wrecks; they have to be demolished and new ones built,” Apache agreed.
“What I was thinking of was having several camps on the land. The site closest to Ortonville, I was considering opening a kids’ wilderness camp. Maybe build walls around it to secure it, a bit like the wooden gates in the Jurassic films. Enclose the space so strangers can’t get in, and instal motion-sensor cameras for added security.
