“JACKSON, YOU SEEN Ray?” I yelled over the bonfire on the beach. His eyes were glassy. Shit, the guy had been spiraling ever since the anniversary of her death. It was always hard on him, this time of year, but he’d never been this bad, drinking during the day, missing teaching some of his voice lessons with the students.
He shook his head no then jumped to his feet. “Shit!”
“What?”
“I think she’s going to try to steal the seal.” He ran toward me. Well, at least he had coordination under the influence, or maybe he wasn’t as drunk as he looked.
“Why the hell would she do that?”
“Because I may have told her about the favor thing…” He gave me a “whoops” look. “If she’s not in her cabin…”
“She’s not in her cabin period,” I said, not explaining further. Most her stuff was at mine, so she wouldn’t be in her cabin. She loved my coffee too much.
Hell, am I really getting used for my comfortable bed and coffee?
Do I care?
Not really, as long as she is beside me.
Two of the canoes made their way back to camp; another three were visible. Meaning, we were missing one.
“Let’s go.” I ran toward the canoe while Jackson jumped in. We had enough staff watching things, but still it made me nervous leaving everyone.
“Could you paddle any slower?” Jackson complained.
“Could you be any drunker?” I snapped right back.
He sobered and put his back into it. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, you look fine. You’d probably drown in your own vomit if I left you by the campfire.”
He rowed harder. “It’s been a shit week. It’s always a shit week during these seven days,” he said softly.
He didn’t meet my eyes. “I know you miss her.”
“She was a great human. You remember that. She just had… demons.”
“Don’t we all,” I said without humor.
And then silence enveloped us along with the inky black darkness of the sky, the stars shining over us, and the irritation that Ray had paddled across into enemy territory without saying anything.
It was not like anything could really happen to her. It was just that Jackson had neglected to tell her one specific detail.
The other camp fucking captured prospective thieves and staff members and then asked for something in order to return them.
The last time someone got kidnapped he’d been forced to swim across the lake naked, all the while being subjected to harmless hazing that still left him traumatized every time he heard the word pineapple.
Needless to say, it had been harmless. But I didn’t want to take any chances.
Screaming erupted from hip-hop camp.
Jackson gave me a wide-eyed look as we both started paddling in sync as if we were about to lose the Olympic gold.
We reached the beach just as the girls came running toward us, fucking seal in hand and legit pitchforks and torches chasing them — well, not just the objects, but the hands attached to bodies that were screaming and—
Holy shit, do they have war paint on?
Jen and Ray jumped into their canoe and started paddling toward us.
“Reverse!” Jackson roared.
We quickly changed directions and fell into sync with the girls as teens shouted profanities from the beach and some threw their torches onto the sand.
“Holy shit!” Ray yelled from her canoe. “That was intense! They have guard chickens!”
“You’re shitting us!” Jackson yelled. “You can’t train fucking chickens!”
“YOU CAN’T TRAIN FUCKING CHICKENS!” Jen repeated, flashing her arm.
“Are those peck marks?” Jackson looked ready to puke and then turned to me. “Dude, you know how I feel about chickens.”
“You got chased once, as a child!” I scoffed.
“IT WANTED MY SOUL!” he yelled, clearly drunk. “JEN!” More yelling. “YOU LIVED TO TELL YOUR STORY!”
Ray fell into fits of laughter. “Oh, we lived all right. We got the seal, and I got a pet!” She pulled something out of her jacket.
“SATAN!” Jackson screamed, dropping his oar and then scrambling for it and rowing away from them. “Marlo, tell her! Drown the thing or we’re sending her back!”
“No!” She held the chicken close. “It’s mine now!”
“And so is the seal!” Jen raised it in triumph.
But I was too focused on the way Ray held the possessed chicken as if it was the best thing she’d ever accomplished.
Stolen a pet chicken — guard chicken? — from the enemy camp and paddled it across the lake.
“That’s not staying with us.” I shook my head. “Not a chance in hell.”
“We’ll see.” She glared at me.
“Us?” Jen asked.
Jackson tilted his head at me.
“Let’s get back to camp!” I changed the subject.
And by the time I made it to the campfire, I was wiped.
Teens yelled and cheered with Jen as she lifted the seal into the air, and naturally, that was when Ray managed to hold the chicken out as if it was our annual sacrifice.
Jackson gave the chicken a wide berth. At one point, he made a cross over his chest and then mouthed what appeared to be a prayer.
And I was stuck watching the joy on Ray’s face as she truly held her first pet in her hands and showed everyone as if she was in first grade during show and tell.
And I fell more in love with her then.
When she showed people her chicken.
And smiled as if it was the most beautiful pet in the world.
I went to sleep that night with a grin on my face — one that mirrored hers — and a possessed chicken nesting on her bed, while I held her in mine.