"Man—" Hannah huffed, "we really are roughing it, aren't we?"
Shortly after Hannah trudged off into the brush behind us, Emma and Bonnie emerged from their tent. I was glad that no one other than me had apparently heard them frolicking last night, as they approached our group tentatively. I poured some hot water from the steaming pot on the fire into two empty mugs, then emptied two packets of hot chocolate mix into the water and stirred it with a small stick.
"Hey, you two," I said, handing them each a mug. "Welcome to the party. Did you sleep well?"
Emma took a seat on the log beside me and glanced at Bonnie out the corner of her eye.
"Yes," she said. "It was very...relaxing. Those air mattresses are surprisingly comfortable. How about you guys?"
I didn't think it would be proper to mention the suspected 'raccoon' invasion that disrupted the camp last night.
"Slept like a baby," I said.
I glanced at Emma's bare legs in her cargo shorts and noticed a pink glow.
"I think maybe you got a little too much sun yesterday, Emma."
I reached into my fanny pack and pulled out some sunscreen.
"You might want to put a little protection on. Lilly's suggesting we go for another canoe excursion today. You'll be fully exposed out there on the water."
Emma accepted the bottle and began spreading the lotion across the inside and top of her thighs. I tried not to stare, but her skin blushed and blanched as she pressed her fingers into her soft flesh.
"Actually, you might want to wear your cargo pants to cover up," Lilly said. "I can tell you from experience how easy it is to get a nasty sunburn spending the whole day out on the water."
Hannah suddenly interrupted us as she traipsed out of the brush.
"That was fun." She held the toilet paper roll up for everybody to see. "Anybody else need to take a go?"
We all shook our heads and Hannah placed the shovel and roll behind the log next to Bonnie as she sat down beside her.
"So what's the plan for today? More sexy stories and skinny dipping? What else can six girls do in the middle of nowhere?"
Emma and Bonnie shifted uncomfortably on their logs, and the group paused for a moment in awkward silence.
"Lilly suggested a little canoe excursion," I said. "We could explore the surrounding countryside a bit more."
Hannah peered around the lake as she listened to the sound of frogs chirping from the lily pond.
"Doesn't look like there's much more to discover out here than pine cones and bullfrogs."
"We can try to track down one of those bears if you're looking for a bit more excitement," Lilly said. "Or maybe some rattlesnakes. There's a lot more interesting wildlife out here than you might imagine. Don't be such a party-pooper, Hannah."
"Rattlesnakes?" Emma said, her eyes suddenly widening. "You didn't mention those before heading out."
"I didn't want to scare you guys away. I figured that might tip the balance. But don't worry. They'll give you plenty of warning if you get too close. You've got a better chance of getting hit by a car in the city than being bitten by a snake out here."
She reached behind her log and opened a cooler, then held out a couple of eggs and a pack of bacon.
"But first, who's up for a real woodsman's breakfast? Cooked up real authentic-like on the griddle?"
"Hell, yes!" Hannah exclaimed. "I could eat a moose right now."
After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and pan-fried Canadian bacon, we set out in our two canoes to explore the lake. There were lots of bays and gullies in the meandering shoreline, and I marveled at the quiet and serene beauty of the craggy landscape. Some of the girls tried trolling for fish behind our canoes, but no one caught anything and by midday, our stomachs were grumbling again. Lilly suggested we put in on a larger island to forage
for firewood since we'd already collected most of the loose driftwood on our own little islet.
We beached our canoes on the new island and decided to pair up to go exploring. The island was quite large with lots of tall pine, spruce, and fir trees providing ample shade from the hot overhead sun. But the trek was slow-going, with many fallen trees and lichen-covered rocks to sidestep. The girls had decided to pair up again based on their previous tent assignments, and I was beginning to despair of ever finding any alone time with Emma.