Ava squeals and bounces me up and down. “We dare.”
I hold my breath for a beat, waiting for what’s to come. Imogen counts us down and on three we start singing the Camp Alpine Lake alma mater as loud as our voices can go.
Welcome all to Alpine Lake,
Where our bonds shall never break!
By the shore, the hills around,
We make Stu and Mellie proud!
Even Levin, who’s standing at the front of the aisle, gets into it, busting out the next verse.
Climbing rocks and swimming laps,
From reveille all the way to taps!
Alpine Lake is full of friends,
Who’ll be with you till the end!
Ava cracks up and hugs me closer to her. We pull into the traffic circle at upper camp but no one gets off. Howie, the ancient bus driver who’s been here since the early 2000s, groans, but he knows how this works. We won’t get off until he sings, too.
Finally, after we get to the last chorus, he clears his throat. Ava holds me tighter and laughs into my back.
Camp Alpine Lake!
We love you oh so dear,
And if you don’t accept us,
we’ll kick you in the rear!
He pauses for a second while the whole bus claps. Then the door opens with a loud hissing noise. “Now get out of here!”
Ava pushes me to stand and we rush off the bus and run to our cabins.
“That never gets old.” Imogen tilts her face to the sun.
“I love us,” Ava says.
“I do, too,” I say, wondering how in the world I could ever think that anything was wrong.
---
Since it’s Thursday, as per tradition, it’s time to head to West Lake, the sake bomb spot outside town.
Meg senses my unease as I drag a dark pencil across my eyelid.
“Are you, Goldie Easton, in desperate need of a breather?” she asks, setting down a ratty old paperback.
The kids are changing for dinner, wringing out their towels from the clothesline and giggling at something that happened at rest hour. The prospect of staying here, with them and Meg, and the cuddles they dole out like candy... it’s tempting. Mostly because I’m afraid of where my brain will go when they’re not here to occupy it.
“I guess so,” I say. “You know how these nights get.” I glance at Meg and she’s looking away, her usually cheerful face sallow. “You okay?” I ask. “Things still good with Levin?”
Meg turns to me and blinks a few times before smiling, wide and fake. “Oh yeah,” she says. “Despite the wholeI found a dead body at my workplacething. Other than that, everything is great.”
I flinch. The image of Heller, lifeless, soaked to the bone. It’s too much. Too brutal.
