The hunter's promise

The hunters promise

The summer camp by lake Flatbottom was rather famous, it was old and there were many who had spent every childhood summer there. These days it wasn’t that popular anymore but they still had at least four weeks of visits and the camp had many employees, it did give the local kids the chance at learning and earning some bucks each summer and these days the clientele was usually kids from the better off families. The camp had to change a bit to better cater to the differences in demands now, the families would no longer accept that their kids were housed in huge sleeping halls. These days the rooms housed no more than four at a time and there were soft beds and bathrooms for every room.

The rules of the camp were strict, no cell phones and no games, the kids had to participate in the activities and to some it was akin to severe punishment but they usually adapted rather well. Some moaning and complaining for a few days and then they forgot about their usual routines and learned to enjoy the kayaking and trekking. The camp even had some horses and mules and the number of activities had increased by the year. They had zip lines, climbing parks, fishing and canoes and hiking, the camp owned mountain bikes, ATV’s and many other vehicles, no kid ought to be bored there at all.

The leader was a woman in her late fifties who had been the boss there for almost twenty years now, she knew all the tricks and then some and she had seen a distinct change in the kids over the last decade, from facing few problems to facing them every day. The food was boring, the beds weren’t soft enough, they ought to be allowed to use their phones, the camp teachers were bitches, the list was as long as a bad year. The camp was in a very remote area, driving to it from the main road took two hours and it was just lakes and forest all the way. Some kids had tried to run off to get back home and they didn’t really understand how dangerous that was. It was just blind luck that they all had been found before it was too late. The area had a population of Grizzly bears and black bears and also quite a few mountain lions. The guards were always armed due to this and the rules around garbage disposal rock solid and strict. Once a bear had made its way into the cantina and it had mauled a girl since it didn’t want competition to all the delicious food.

This year the bear population had declined due to some sort of virus and instead they had an unusual number of rats and voles, they were everywhere. The camp leaders were in despair for the little bastards gnawed upon everything, including the electronics within the motorized vehicles. Mrs Grey was also facing some other problems, three of the camp leaders had quit the year before, two were women who were expecting and one of the guys had to move to another state. She had sent out word to the cities in the area to let everybody know that they were looking for manpower. They had managed to get two guys and a lady, one of the guys came from the national park to the north, the park had a sort of cooperation with the camp and the man was there to tell the kids about the wildlife and the conservation work the park was involved in. The park ranger was the type of guy who made most women and some men almost drool and Mrs Grey had anticipated trouble from the moment she saw him. Not that he was a bad guy, the park couldn’t praise him enough but the camp guests were about sixty percent girls, age fourteen to seventeen. The huge guy was beyond gorgeous and Mrs Grey knew that the girls would act like starving black bears at a buffet. She was right, they were all over him and even the gruff manners and lack of interest didn’t manage to ward them off. So he only stayed there when he had to give a lesson, Mrs Grey was grateful since the hormonal girls could become rather hard to control, she didn’t want any scandals.

The lads were in awe of the guy, they saw an idol there and he did manage to teach quite a few of them some real manners. The lads often lacked masculine influence of the positive type and Ty was the kind of guy even the toughest and most resilient lads would listen to. He had this humongous wolf hound which followed him everywhere and he was very quiet and also very polite towards Mrs Grey and the other teachers. She liked that, he was a man of the old school the way she saw it, too bad such guys were rare these days.

The camp lasted for four weeks, one week with each group and then one week which was referred to as “Hell week” by the employees. One week each summer the camp was open to kids and parents, and if the kids could be hellions the parents were a hundred times worse. Mrs Grey was dead tired of entitled parents who sort of steam rolled over everybody else to make sure that their “Special” little crotch spawn was given privileges. It was the same each year, some would ruin it for everybody. She could no longer count the number of times she had to call inn people from the other parts of the camp to help restrain some dad or mom who blew a circuit trying to ensure that their little devil was treated as if they were freaking royalty. When had this changed? She could no longer remember. When someone came home with bad grades when she was a kid the kid would be scolded, not the teacher. These was odd times for sure.

The camp had prepared for several days, Mrs Grey had a small reservoir of good scotch, hidden in a closet. Sometimes that was all that kept her going through the days. And the chef had been spinning like a top for days, trying to create a menu which did please everybody. That some kids had food allergies were of course inevitable, and they tried to make sure that they were kept safe. But the last years had been horrible, now almost all the kids were “sensitive” and it left the kitchen staff with huge dilemmas. Most of it was simply due to the fact that it was “inn” to have a delicate kid, they weren’t really allergic but god help the poor server who gave the kids the wrong dish. The camp had been on the verge of being sued many times.

One of the teachers had gotten sick all of a sudden and Ty had agreed to step inn, he was intimidating and Mrs Grey knew that few parents if any would dare to oppose to his rules and he had promised to keep the kids safe, no matter what. He seemed to have an almost sixth sense which allowed him to see if a kid was going to do something stupid, like the girl who once tried to pick up a skunk to bring it inside of the dorm. Disaster had been avoided but just in the nick of time, the skunk had been a docile one, that had saved them all from a very stinky existence.

Mrs Grey was convinced that this year would be a true challenge, the weather had been wonderful for two whole weeks and if this lasted into the family week they would face some rather interesting challenges the way she saw it. Good weather always meant that some idiot would stray off to admire the view or take some Instagram worthy shots or something like that. The lake was called Flatbottom but the bottom wasn’t very flat at all, the gods alone knew where the name came from since the lake was a true maze of islands, peninsulas and bays. The currents were crazy too, there were some places where bathing was absolutely forbidden since the currents were invisible and could drag people out into the middle of the lake really fast. And even in summer it was cold below the surface, there were a few bays where it was safe to bathe and they did always have at least one life guard on duty.

The big day arrived, the families would arrive before noon and the staff was ready to greet them. Most came by bus from the nearest city but a few came by car. Many were very excited and looked forwards to a week with bonding with genuine enthusiasm, some were not that happy and you saw it the moment they stepped forth. Mrs Grey knew the signs, the bored looks, the flat empty glances. The hands reaching for a cell phone which wasn’t there. Ty was there, standing at the back of the group of teachers and leaders, he did stick out like a sore thumb, not the least since he was close to seven foot tall and so beautiful some said he couldn’t be human. The parents did gawk at him, both the men and the women and the kids stared, he just stood there, looking as easy to impress as a glacier.

Mrs Grey had developed a keen instinct over the years, she saw three families which could cause problems, she was almost always right in her predictions. One was a girl of perhaps twelve, she was followed by her dad, a man who did look both strict and demanding, the girl was looking down the whole time, her entire body language told of someone who had huge problems. She was probably being held back by her dad, Mrs Grey didn’t hold anybody above suspicion, she had seen too many cases of child abuse to think that everybody was innocent. The second family was a mom and dad with their two twins, girls too, probably fourteen and they just reeked of spoiled privileged brats. The clothes, the manners, everything. Both girls carried handbags made by Louis Vuitton and if Mrs Grey wasn’t half blind the clothes were Prada. Perfect, just what she didn’t need this week.

The third family was also a mom and dad and they had a son, the kid was somewhere in his early teens but it was hard to tell for he was humongous. Not only because he was very tall and wide but he was fat, absurdly so, he had triple chins and his pants could easily have been sewn into a sail for a large boat. He was waddling more than walking and the face was bright red and covered with sweat. Mrs Grey checked her phone, yes, the nearest hospital was available on speed dial. Kids like that was the worst thing she encountered, they didn’t give a rats ass about the rules, all that mattered to them was finding food and she made a mental note to warn the chef. This could get ugly. The parents were stick thin though, and appeared to cater to the kids every whim, as the leader of the activities stepped forth to welcome everybody the kid reached into his pockets and hauled forth an entire chocolate bar of the xxxl variety.

The leaders stared at each other with huge eyes and Mrs Grey hid a grimace, this was going to become…interesting. The families and kids were brought to their rooms and showed to the cantina and that was when things started to go awry. The parents of the twin girls were almost shrieking at one of the leaders claiming that their daughters couldn’t eat with everybody else, they were too sensible for that. The kids did actually look embarrassed so perhaps all hope wasn’t lost for them. The girl who came with only her dad was walking behind him and Mrs Grey happened to catch her gaze. It was empty, as if this kid was a mere puppet, with no soul. Mrs Grey felt a cold shiver running down her spine, she just knew it, something was terribly wrong there. The father saw her and walked towards her, she gathered her courage and managed to smile, a rather fake smile which didn’t really reach her eyes. The man grasped her hand a little too enthusiastically and his smile was that of a used cars salesman who has managed to sell a piece of junk for ten times its worth. “Mrs Grey, how pleased I am to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am reverend Holt and this is my little angel Angelica”

Mrs Grey just blinked, a reverend? Oh wonderful, she had no warm feelings towards organized religion, she had seen that there were whole armies of skeletons hidden within the closets of most such organizations. “Pleased to meet you too Mr Holt”

The girl kept her eyes low and Mrs Grey saw that she was shaking a wee bit. Some kids are just terrified of strangers, it could be social anxiety but she had her doubts about Angelica. Something about the kid reminded her of a wounded deer, trapped in front of the hunters. The man bared his teeth again. “This was my wives idea, she thinks that the kid is too shy but girls aren’t supposed to be out going, anyhow, it is a chance to relax for a few days, I couldn’t say no to that”

Mrs Grey knew she hated this man already. She excused herself and walked over to where Ty was standing, he was explaining to one of the parents that they couldn’t leave anything edible outside, the bears would smell it from miles away and they didn’t particularly enjoy competition for their chow. The woman didn’t seem to understand what he was speaking about at all and Mrs Grey saw that glimpse within his eyes, he was getting rather annoyed. She had no doubt that Mr Hunter could be a very dangerous man, there was something about him which reminded her of army veterans and she just hoped that they wouldn’t have to witness him getting mad.

The first evening was uneventful, they had a trip with the canoes and since it was such a lovely weather everybody were enjoying themselves, or everybody…the kids shunned the fat guy whose name was Justin, and the two twin girls couldn’t be separated for even a second, also, they acted like Barbie dolls, even a fleck of dirt was responded to with utter shock and disgust. Mrs Grey did silently pray for a few days of intense rain, that normally turned the area into one huge bog and there would be mud absolutely everywhere. She managed to get Ty on her own for a few moments, the man stared at her and she saw that he had his doubts. She took a deep breath. “I need you to do me a favour, I cannot be there the whole time and…”

Ty nodded. “I know, the girl who is alone with her dad? And the fat kid?”

Mrs Grey nodded slowly back. “Yes, and the twins, those two, something about them and their parents give me the heebie jeebies”

Ty grunted. “Me too, but the little girl, Angelica was it? She is scared witless, I can almost smell it”

Mrs Grey looked down. “Yes, keep an eye on her for me? I don’t like that she is here alone with her dad. I have never liked his type of man, the holier than thou type are usually the worst ones”

Ty bared his teeth “Consider it done Mrs Grey”

She put a hand on his arm,. “Thank you my friend, and Justin, I fear that he may raid the pantry”

Ty snickered. “Don’t worry, I will keep my eyes open, I have seen kids like him before”

She took a deep breath again. “Excellent”

He touched the brim of his hat and walked off and Mrs Grey closed her eyes. It would be a long week for sure.

The trouble started the next morning. The parents of the twins were worked up into a frenzy, the camp didn’t have a certain type of cereal which was the only thing good enough for their precious angels. Justin did raid the breakfast table and carried almost all the food off to his own table to feast upon it and his parents denied that he had a problem, he was just “big boned” and “ a growing lad needs his calories”. Mrs Grey had seen a hippo once with a lower BMI than that kid.

When breakfast was over the programme said that they would go hiking and then learn how to build a bonfire and make knots. The twins acted as if it was the most boring subject ever and Justin made it exactly half a mile before he had to return to the camp, he was simply exhausted. The parents said that the leader had started off “too hard” and that such a delicate kid as their son ought to be allowed to choose which activities he was to join inn on. Which meant eating the whole day long probably.

As the others tried to learn something new the twins did their best to sabotage by constantly complaining and asking stupid questions and the reverend and his daughter just stood there, the girl looking ashamed and the father looked as if he viewed everybody there as the spawn of Satan. Nobody tried to interact with them. Angelica looked at the other kids with sheer yearning in her eyes and the leader said that he did pity the girl. She wasn’t allowed to even try since her father was convinced that she would screw up no matter what.

The normal procedure would be to have two activities, one before lunch and one after, then there would be dinner and some social hours by the bonfires. Lunch became a spectacle since Justin yet again tried to claim all the food to himself and his parents did yell at the others for not granting their poor son everything he needed. The parents of the twins were shouting at the chef for not having prepared a “special” meal for their daughters and Mrs Grey was eying the closet with the scotch already.

The activity after lunch was the zip line and the kids were excited and at least they did enjoy themselves. Some of the parents were a bit nervous but even they tried and the line was very safe, it was made to standard and beyond and everything went well until Justin insisted on using it. The reverend got angry for he didn’t like Justin, obviously an example of gluttony in his eyes, and he claimed that the fat kid would break the cable. It became a bit of a fight between the man of the cloth and the parents of Justin who defended their son rather viciously. But Justin hooked himself up to the line and kicked off and set off and the operator of the ride was pale as a sheet. He had asked the kid for his weight and there was no way in heck that Justin was just a hundred and fifty pounds, more like three hundred and fifty. The line was pulled down into a V shape and he lost momentum for a moment but luckily the line had such a steep angle he kept going until he reached the opposite platform. He hit it with the force of a panzer grenade hitting a warship and the entire tree shook violently. Justin grinned and climbed down and wanted to go again and the operator at that end did radio his friend at the other end warning him. The line couldn’t take that much pressure again, the attachments were groaning like a cow in labour and the wire could be frayed for all they knew.

Mrs Grey got aware of something odd that evening, the dinner was being served outside and she saw that Ty was up in one of the great pines which surrounded the area with the tables. It was hard to see him and she realized that he wanted her to see him, if not she wouldn’t have been able to spot him at all. He was indeed keeping an eye on everybody.

The evening was peaceful enough, Justin had found some bushes with ripe berries behind the dorm and ate them all and it kept him busy for some hours, the twins were sitting there on their own chatting and their parents were hovering in the background like the helicopter parents they probably were. The families had stared to mingle and get to know each other, the reverend was talking to some of the dads, most of them looked as if they had bitten into something nasty when he walked off. He never spoke to the moms and Mrs Grey started to understand that this man was a misogynistic bastard, women to him probably had only two functions the way he saw it, pushing out babies and making food for him.

The only thing which happened that evening was that two boys decided to take a dip in the lake by the pier, it was relatively safe to bathe there but rather deep and the leaders more or less hauled them out. When the camp got quiet that night Mrs Grey let out a huge sigh of relief, just six more days…

The next morning the chef had learned, he had prepared a whole table with food just for Justin and the kid attacked it like the Mongolian armies attacked cities back in the days of Djingis Khan. The twin girls got their “special lunch” which was just the same as the others got, it was just made a bit more fancy looking with some food dye and pieces of fruit. The world wants to be deceived as he said. The group was divided into two groups this day, they would either go horseback riding or learn how to wash for gold and after lunch they would switch. Justin refused to do any of those activities, the twins didn’t want to wash for gold for dirt…duh!! And the reverend and his daughter did also cause some trouble for he refused to let his daughter ride astride a horse, he didn’t think it was decent that a woman did that. The leader in charge of the horses just sent him a cold grin and hauled a side saddle from the shack, she had prepared since they owned a few of those. A few years ago they had two kids visiting who had CP and needed special saddles to be able to stay on. The reverend looked as if he had sucked on a very sour lemon but the others there did secretly give each other a high five.

Ty was there, he was helping with the riding and he had brought his own horse, an absolutely massive silvery stallion which looked as if it could outrun just about anything else on four legs. The kids were staring at it in awe and some of the dads were fishing to find out how much he had paid for that animal. They sort of assumed that he was a person of low income since he was a park ranger but that horse spoke of a huge fortune. The park leaders had prepared a different activity for Justin, he was to go driving an ATV around a track they had built for that and for once he was actually enthusiastic about something, although his parents weren’t. They thought it was way too dangerous for their precious little one.

The twin girls were used to riding and caused no problems at all, they were actually acting like perfect little ladies and the leaders used the opportunity to teach the kids about the different birds they saw along the track. The horses were all very calm and experienced and you didn’t really need to know how to ride, you just sat there and the animals would move along the track by old habit.

Angelica was obviously having a good time but she tried to hide it from her father and the leaders did pity the girl even more. The reverend wasn’t really that bad of a rider and he tried to chat with the other dads yet again.

The lunch was very peaceful and Justin did yet again consume enough food to feed a small army. The chef was convinced that the lad really had Prader Willy’s syndrome for darn! After the lunch he was to go fishing with one of the leaders, he didn’t want to pan for gold and he didn’t really enjoy the idea at all. He hated fish as he said.

Ty wasn’t needed with the riders now, they had two others who could follow the group around and so he stayed at the camp. He helped out at the site where they did pan for gold, there was actually some gold in that little creek and most of the kids enjoyed this a lot. They found a few nuggets and it became sort of a competition. The leaders told about the gold rushes and the history of the Klondike and the kids were fascinated. Even the Barbie twins which was what everybody was referring to them as now showed some interest in the end since they could keep the gold and that could of course be turned into fancy jewellery. The one who was the most eager was however the good reverend, he became extremely competitive and sought to claim all of the gravel to himself, for once he didn’t hover around his daughter like some vulture. The reverend clung to the nuggets he found with zeal and some of the other parents were a bit aghast by the language he used if someone came too close to his little stretch of the creek.

Ty was heading back to the cantina when he saw that Justin and his parents were exiting, they were obviously very angry and he hurried inside. The chef was in tears, two of the waitresses who worked there were white and shivering and Mrs Grey was storming inn, looking rather shocked. Ty frowned. “What is happening?”

Mrs Grey stared at the chef, who was trying to get it back together, he was visibly shaken. “The…oh mon dieu, I have never witnessed such…idiots.”

Ty placed a hand on his shoulders and the man relaxed visibly. “They claimed that I was poisoning their son, that the food isn’t good enough, they want to sue”

Mrs Grey gasped and the two waitresses were wringing their hands. “They just sauntered inn here and demanded that that goddamn glob of a kid was given yet another meal, out of schedule.”

Ty tilted his head. “Can they do that? Sue?”

Mrs Grey bit her lower lip, her eyes were haunted. “Yes, if they find a ruthless lawyer they can do that. Even if their claims are bullshit”

The chef rolled his eyes. “The food is excellent, I use only the best produce damn it, and I do work at a very high end restaurant normally, this food is just as good as the one we serve there.”

Ty nodded. “I will see where they went, maybe they can be talked to”

Mrs Grey got a nervous expression within her eyes. “Please, don’t…uhm…intimidate them too much”

Ty grinned. “Don’t worry”

He exited and walked in the same direction as the couple and their son. It didn’t take long before he caught sight of them, they had sauntered off to the lake shore and he stopped and his expression changed, to one of hidden glee. The kid had found some berry bushes and was gorging himself yet again but these berries were not the ones he had eaten the day before, these were different. He made a decision, sometimes karma is a wonderful thing indeed. He just walked past them as if he was on his way to the pier with the canoes and he touched the brim of his hat gently. “Ma’am, sir”

The two parents just glared at him, they were obviously in the middle of a discussion and didn’t like being interrupted. He pointed at the kid who was eating like a Grizzly just who’s just exited its winter den. “I wouldn’t eat those berries if I was him”

The parents just stared at him. “You have no business telling our son what he can or cannot eat!”

Ty just shrugged. “Of course not, I am just saying it”

Justin was pouting with a face full of berry juice. “They are delicious, and I want them all”

Ty smiled to himself. “Of course, go ahead, I warned you though”

He touched his hat again and walked on, snickering to himself. Mrs Grey would have one problem less come the morning.

The dinner that evening was to be based on the food the natives used and also the sorts of food the local farmers and hunters had used. It was hearty food and healthy too but a few of the kids were complaining and even if the dads sort of enjoyed it the moms were just picking at their food. It was too fatty for their liking and not fancy enough. Most of the kids however enjoyed it a lot, they were allowed to eat with their fingers and to some it was probably the first time they had eaten corn directly off the cob. They served a sweet cider along with the food and the dads did ask for beer but the camp didn’t allow alcohol at all.

They had managed to get hold of a few local musicians and they had a little concert after dinner, with dancing. Many were enjoying themselves a lot but the reverend refused to dance and his daughter sat there looking sad like before. The twins were dancing though and they were actually very good at it too. But they were as close as if they were Siamese so nobody managed to dance with them. The parents enjoyed the atmosphere too and everything was fine until they heard a scream from one of the buildings there. It was a building which housed a rather large bath and also several toilets and Justin’s mom came running, she was pale. “Is there a doctor here, my son…I think he is dying!”

Ty was hiding a very wry smirk, the camp had a doctor and she followed the woman to the building. Mrs Grey stared at Ty who winked at her. She frowned and he sauntered over, sat down. “I caught the kid eating berries again, but not blueberries”

Mrs Grey moaned. “Oh no, not those?”

Ty nodded. “Oh yes, those”

After a while the doctor exited and made a call, an air ambulance was to come and fly Justin out of there. He had a severe case of the runs and was groaning and panting like a beached whale. Mrs Grey knew that the berries he had eaten wasn’t poisonous, as a matter of fact you could eat them, but not many at a time. They were used as a laxative by the natives and could also cause some bad cramping if they weren’t fully ripe.

The helicopter came half an hour after and Ty walked over to the parents and had a small chat with them and now they did see that he indeed was intimidating when he wanted to be. There was little doubt that he had told them a few very well chosen truths about their kid and his behaviour and there would be no lawsuit. Justin had been warned, and had chosen to ignore it. Mrs Grey was ready to kiss the tall blonde when he returned to her and told her the good news. That was one problem less to worry about. This little incident did lift the mood considerably and the festivities did last for several hours.

The next morning came with bright sunshine and it was already rather hot when people gathered for breakfast. Everybody were chatting about Justin and his embarrassing departure and the leaders were rather glad he was gone for he had ruined their plans since someone had to stay and watch him all the time, that had left them with one person short most of the time. Ty was there too, with the huge hound by his side. This day was to be filled with a boating trip around the lake, they were to look at some beaver dams and then there would be some bathing and those who wanted to could go water skiing. Everybody were looking forwards to that. But as they prepared for departure one of the parents came running, looking confused. “Have anyone seen my daughter? She was here just moments ago?”

The leaders stopped what they were doing. “Maybe she has returned to your hut for something?”

The woman was there with her daughter and she wasn’t followed by a husband so it was just the two of them. She shook her head. “I have checked, Ana wouldn’t just run off”

The leaders looked at each other. “Okay, how long is it since you saw her?”

The mom looked very nervous. “Ten minutes? Fifteen? ”

The leaders looked a bit less worried. “Have you checked the toilets?”

The mom shook her head and looked a bit sheepish. “Ah, no? Oh I am so sorry, I am sure that…”

She turned around and ran off and the leaders shrugged and grinned, some parents were more easy to get out of balance than others. The kid had probably needed to use the bathroom and didn’t bother to tell her mom where she was. The groups were being created and the leaders were busy when the mom returned, with her daughter in tow. But Mrs Grey saw that something was off, the kid looked terrified or something and she was staring at the ground all the time. The mom was red in the face and stopped by Mrs Grey, kept her voice low. “Ah, I am sorry to bother you but…are there any sanitary pads available here? I don’t have any and…Ana has gotten her first period, all of a sudden”

Mrs Grey just smiled, that had happened before, they were prepared but the kid looked as if she was in misery, there was genuine pain in her eyes and something more too. “We have lots of those, do not worry. Just wait a moment”

Mrs Grey turned around and went to the office building, they had a small apothecary there and she found a packet of pads and returned to the two. The girl was almost crying and Mrs Grey handed over the packet. “Here sweetie, you know how to use them?”

Ana nodded slowly, the girl was rather skinny and she didn’t really have any shapes yet, odd that she got her period before she had even started to grow breasts. But such things do happen, and Mrs Grey had seen how girls started their periods at earlier ages than before. Ana swallowed and looked as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t, it had to be the embarrassment of having this happen in such a manner.

Mrs Grey smiled at the mom. “If she has bad cramping we have painkillers too, and she can skip the boat trip if she likes to?”

Ana shook her head, there was fear in her eyes yet again. “NO, I want to…go!”

Mrs Grey nodded. “Okay then, let me know if you need anything”

The groups were almost ready to board the boats when the reverend and his daughter came running, he looked a bit sheepish. “I am sorry we are late, Angelica overslept”

The girl looked very embarrassed but Mrs Grey felt that there was something else there too, guilt. Mrs Grey tilted her head. “Have you eaten?”

The reverend showed her a lunch box. “We stopped by the cantina and got some”

Angelica looked uncomfortable and her eyes were distant.

The leaders got everybody into the boats and Ty was in the front boat, his voice could be heard from afar. The lake was beautiful this day and they enjoyed themselves a lot. Half ways through the trip they would stop to eat, the chef had taken a larger boat to the site where they were to stay and were preparing a meal there, they would have a barbeque.

Mrs Grey was glad Justin was gone but something about that little incident with Ana was gnawing at her. Girls these days are usually well prepared when they get their first period and the mom appeared to be a very modern woman who probably had told her kid everything she would need to know. So why the shame? It was eating at Mrs Grey.

The groups returned before dinner and afterwards there were social interactions as usual. Some of the leaders taught the kids camp songs which some of the boys turned into rather obscene tunes instead and got scolded by their parents. The adults gathered in groups and sat there chatting and the kids ran around with their new friends. Ty was always there, not always easily spotted but he sort of hovered around the site. Mrs Grey was rather good at picking up things, she could clearly see that the reverend didn’t like that Ty was moving around that way. There was something akin to frustration within his eyes when the tall blonde was near.

Mrs Grey walked by and smiled at Angelica, the girl just looked down and looked miserable. Mrs Grey tried to smile “So, how do you like it here?”

Angelica tried to smile too, it was a very pale and not very real smile. “It is great”

The voice was flat and her father sort of scoffed. “It is good enough, the food is great though. Why is that big guy here all the time?”

Mrs Grey cocked her head. “He is one of our employees? Why? “

The reverend just made a grimace. “Oh, he is just…look at him, he tempts the women here, and I bet he isn’t even a good Christian”

Mrs Grey felt a need to sneer at the man. “He is a person who comes with the greatest praise from the national park, he is a true gem”

The reverend still looked sour and Mrs Grey wondered why, was the reverend jealous? Ty was infinitely better looking than him, that was for sure.

The evening was a very lovely one and Mrs Grey was happy that things were peaceful yet again. She kept her fingers crossed and hoped that the days remaining would be good too. The next morning they were all awakened by loud shouts, it was the parents of the twins, they ran around screeching and the reason was obvious, the girls were nowhere to be seen. The two had spent the evening before mocking the other girls, Angelica in special since her clothes were boring and ugly and none of the other kids did really like them when they were like that but it seemed as if the girls could be nice if they just forgot about being posh and privileged. Now they were missing and the leaders went into disaster mode immediately. Two kids could not have gotten all that far but why would they run off? It was strange.

Mrs Grey tried to calm the parents down, the girls hadn’t been in their beds when they woke up that morning and they usually never left the cabin before their parents. The camp had a procedure to follow if someone went missing, they gathered all the others in the cantina and then they followed the paths and the Sheriff was called and asked to bring a K9 unit.

Ty was waiting for orders, the huge wolf hound by his side and he didn’t look very happy at all. He wasn’t there during the night and Mrs Grey was sad this was needed, he could have kept an eye on the girls. He did sleep in his horse trailer but had parked some miles from the camp, simply because Mrs Grey didn’t want anyone to go snooping around it, it was to protect both Ty and the camp’s reputation.

The police arrived, as did some of the other rangers from the national park who were available. Before long a huge group of people were out there looking and they communicated with satellite phones. Mrs Grey was terrified, there were many dangers there and she remembered with horror the kids who had discovered a nest of drowsy and rather irritated rattle snakes under a log. That none got bitten was an epic miracle.

The K9 units were efficient, the police had three of them and all were there, two huge German shepherds and a bloodhound which looked as if all the sorrows of the world rested upon its shoulders.

A little more than an hour went by, then the call came, the girls were found and Mrs Grey was almost in tears with relief. The girls were by some huge boulders not very far from the camp, it was several small caves there and they claimed that they had seen a cute squirrel and had followed it and forgotten about the time. One of the girls had fallen and gotten a cut on her knee and the other one had hit her tailbone, otherwise they were fine.

The parents were hysterical when the girls returned to camp with more than a dozen of the volunteers, it was understandable but the girls refused to say why they had left the cabin in the first place. The cut on the knee had bled quite a lot and they did look like a mess. Both had been crying and they were clinging to each other even closer than normal. Mrs Grey was suddenly feeling rather odd, something was most definitely off.

The girls insisted on getting back inside and they wanted a shower and no mom, we don’t need help. The parents were of course relieved but the leader of the search party came to Mrs Grey afterwards and she had an odd expression on her face. She had interrupted the parents by entering the room they were inn and the dad had been scolding the girls for having “ruined his plans”. She had a feeling that these two had some sort of dark motif behind the visit and she told Mrs Grey to be careful. Mrs Grey knew she was right, her hunch had been correct. There was something odd going on with that family.

Mrs Grey sent the volunteers and the rangers back home, gathered the leaders and thanked the Sheriff for his help. She had a feeling of being in a vacuum, this situation was not a good one at all. Ty was nowhere to be seen and she wondered where he was, he had been out there looking too. The leaders started to prepare for the day’s activities when Ty returned, he was acting like normal but Mrs Grey could see that he was angry for some reason. When the groups were prepared he went over to her and sat down, the grey eyes were colder than the great glaciers. “Mrs Grey, I checked the place the girls were found”

She frowned. “You did?”

He nodded. “Yes, something about this feels…fishy. And I was right, they weren’t alone there”

Mrs Grey froze. “What?”

Ty just stared straight ahead, didn’t turn his head. “At least one more person, I saw foot prints, an adult and a child I think. “

Mrs Grey swallowed hard. “But…why?”

Ty turned his head and stared at her. “The girls need a doctor ma’am. There was blood there, and not from a simple cut”

The world stood still and Mrs Grey just stared, her mind was reeling. “Are you telling me….”

Ty got up again. “They are too scared to tell the truth, I bet they were lured out there somehow and then forced to cooperate, if someone threatens one of them the other one will comply to protect her sister”

Mrs Grey closed her eyes. Ana, now she realized what had happened to her. “Oh gods, who? I want to tear that bastard’s heart out!”

Ty grinned, a very vicious grin. “Who do you think? I could smell him there, I have a very good nose and he uses this expensive aftershave. “

She took a deep breath. “The goddamn reverend!”

Ty nodded, “Yes, I bet he uses his own daughter as bait, I fear he had his way with both those girls, and with Ana too. He probably used Angelica to lure her into the bathroom and he didn’t need much time at all to do what he wanted.”

Mrs Grey felt nauseous, what was she to do now? Rage and horror were fighting for dominance within her and she gulped, had to sit down. “What are we to do?!”

Ty grasped her hand, his voice became very low, almost hypnotic. “Can you keep it up for the rest of the day? That bastard will not confess to anything and I bet Angelica is too scared to say anything which can incriminate her dad. She is his witness, his alibi. “

Mrs Grey took a few deep breaths. “I can handle it…but what…”

Ty held her hand. “Trust me Ma’am, I have a plan”

She shuddered. “You aren’t gonna kill him?!”

Ty shook his head. “No, but he’ll wish he was dead!”

She had her doubts and he sent her a swift grin. “Do not worry, I will take care of this. I promised to look after the kids didn’t I? And I intend to do just that, those girls will be avenged”

He just got up and sauntered off, rather relaxed and Mrs Grey sat there, feeling her heart race. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide her knowledge if she came face to face with that bastard so she found the leader who was second in command there after her and told a small white lie, she claimed to be having a migraine attack and would need some hours of peace and quiet in a dark room. The other leader expressed worry and sympathy and Mrs Grey walked to her cabin feeling horrible. If anyone saw her they wouldn’t doubt that she was ill for she was pale and shivering.

Inside she found a bottle of wine she had hidden and had a glass before going to bed. She felt that she ought to call the police but that would ruin it for the other kids, there would be so much happening at once and she just knew it, Mr Holt was way too clever to go down easily. No, she trusted Ty, there was something about him which told her he was very capable of handling this. She had to trust him, there was no other way. If they tried to arrest the reverend there and then God alone knew what would happen, the other parents would panic and what about the poor girls? Having their nightmare exposed to the world like that was not anything she wanted to put anyone through.

Ty was walking away from the camp, there was a meadow a bit away from the main paths and he entered it slowly. It was warm and sunny and he could feel the life there, it was ancient and rich and natural and he smiled slowly. There was a tree there, it was extremely old and he felt its presence and bowed his head in reverence. He touched it gently, ran a hand along the bark of a low hanging branch. “Ancient one, I wish to speak to your mistress”

The tree made a groaning sound and he sat down in its shade, waiting. It didn’t take long, a tall woman did emerge from the woods, she wore a dress made from flower s and her hair was very long and bright green. He looked down. “Lady Yavanna”

The valie sat down next to him, she tilted her head. “So, you need my help ha?”

Ty nodded slowly. “I do.”

She stared at him, he knew she saw what she needed to know within his mind and she made a grimace. “Oh by Morgoth’s….this is bad, this is very bad. That man is more orc than human!”

Ty had to snicker. “No doubt about that. But he needs to confess, so the human law can act upon his crimes. And his daughter ought to be protected”

Yavanna smiled slowly. “I know, the child is innocent. Do not worry, I have got this. The forest will make sure that he is stopped”

Ty put a hand over his heart as a sign of gratitude. “That is wonderful my lady. But spare his life”

She snickered and looked naughty for a moment. “Yes, I won’t let anybody kill him, but his sanity on the other hand?”

She got up and winked at him before she faded into the forest again, he took a deep breath. He could have called for the hunter but Oromë would not be able to control his wrath and the creep was not to get away with an easy way out. He was to suffer, not just die. Ty walked back to the camp, things would happen soon, he felt it.

The groups were supposed to have either archery or drive the ATV’s and the camp leaders were already in full swing instructing the families. The archery demanded that there were several adults there for even if the bows were not all that heavy they were still dangerous weapons. Ty was helping out, he was of course an expert archer but didn’t shoot at all, he didn’t want to show that he was better than all of the leaders combined. Angelica was shooting a bit and she did in fact manage to hit the target rather often, She had talent but her father was just scoffing and looked bored and disinterested. He didn’t manage to hit anything with his bow and then he just tossed it aside and went to have a smoke. He sat down on a wooden bench and lit a cigarette and relaxed. He wanted to drive the ATV’s, that was more of a manly activity the way he saw it.

He was sitting there with the cigarette and ignored the no smoking signs, he was almost finished when the bench he sat on suddenly made a movement, as if it was a bucking horse. He was tossed off the seat and landed on his butt on the ground, it didn’t really hurt but what in God’s name was going on? Benches don’t move!

He got up in a hurry, brushed the dirt of his pants and got splinters in his hands, he sort of hissed and several of the others there stared at him with confusion. He sent them a stiff grin, he had to have put his weight too far out on the seat and managed to flip the balance of the bench. He sauntered off, the lake was calm and it was a bit cooler by the shore. Some other dads had gathered there discussing fishing and he plucked splinters from his hands and walked over to them. They looked less than happy but managed to smile, the reverend started bragging about how he run his parish and he didn’t notice that he was in an area with lots of exposed tree roots. As he stepped to the side to explain something he tripped in a root and went down, rather brutally. It was as if the root had grasped his ankle and thrown him off his feet. He got up again, rather pissed and confused but the root wasn’t really that visible, just another root.

The men were laughing and he got angry right away, walked off. They were idiots who didn’t realize what a great person he was. He walked to the pier and sat down to wash his hands, the water was refreshing and he calmed down a bit. The sounds from the camp could be heard from afar and he looked at the forest around the beach with narrow eyes. Was he hearing somebody calling his name? That wasn’t possible? He was sure he saw something moving ahead of him and he stopped and stared with confusion in his eyes. It was a girl, a very young one at just that age when he found them irresistible. She was skipping along the path and singing and she wore only a very thin summer gown. His mouth went dry and he tried to remember if he had seen that kid before? No, she wasn’t among the other guests but maybe she was the kid of one of the camp leaders? Yes, that had to be it.

There were nobody else there and the girl was grinning and dancing around, he got up. This would be easy, she was tempting and he followed her into the forest. It was odd but she kept her distance, even if he was speeding up to catch her. And he was sure he heard someone chanting something? It did sound ominous and he got a bit confused. What sort of deviltry was this? He stopped, the girl hadn’t left any footprints in the dust, this was the work of Satan for sure. He turned around, but the path was gone. There was just thick forest there and now he saw movement.

He stared, unable to believe what he was seeing. The trees, they moved! He heard creaking and groaning voices and they were angry, and the ground started to move. Roots were moving around like snakes and some lashed out after him. He tried to say a prayer but it had no effect, no wonder, he had never really been a man of faith. He had chosen this career since he loved to tell others how utterly useless and lost they were, it was all for the power trip. He had no belief in anything but himself. The trees were reaching for him, it was impossible but they were and he heard voices clearer now. They spoke of him, of the things he had done, of the punishment which awaited him. He wanted to claim that he was above such things, that he was in his right when he had those girls for they were temptresses and needed to be punished but the words died in his mouth. He was being chased along invisible paths by trees and now snakes and deer and other animals too joined inn on the chase. The reverend ran, but the voices did follow him everywhere, told every little detail of what he had done with cold determination.

His cries were for nothing, he could claim to be innocent until the cows came home, the forest knew it was a lie. He was tripped by roots, smacked across the face by branches, thrown aside by trees and bushes and he had no idea of where he was.

In the camp they noticed that the reverend was missing and some of the leaders went out to look for him but they saw no sign of the man, it was as if the ground had swallowed him up, A search party was created and they spent the entire day looking for the man, but no sign of him was found. The next day they started looking very early, the Sheriff had asked for a helicopter and more volunteers and everybody were shocked. He couldn’t just disappear into thin air like that? It was impossible!

The dogs found no tracks and the lake was very clear so if he had fallen into the water and drowned they should be able to see the body from above. Angelica was oddly calm, almost unnaturally so. Mrs Grey was sitting with her and the girl looked almost hopeful. Ty was with the search party and he had winked at Mrs Grey as he rode out of the camp, she knew that things were happening, but she had no idea of what.

It took three whole nights before the good reverend was found, he staggered into the camp one late evening, his clothes torn and dirty, he was bloody and pale and it was very obvious that he had seen something which had quite literally scared him half out of his mind. He kept babbling about a tall goddess and wolves which had chased him and living trees. He claimed to have been in the forest for just one night but that was impossible. He had bruises and cuts everywhere and as they tried to put him onto a gurney to drive him to the hospital he had some sort of seizure and started screaming, he was confession to raping more kids than just the girls at the camp, oh there were many. The Sheriff was aghast and so were the rest of the search and rescue team. He was quickly pushed into an ambulance and on the way to the hospital he didn’t shut up at all. He told everything and it was no short tale.

The camp leaders weren’t told of this , they were just told that he was found and that he was injured so he was taken to the hospital. Nobody were too sad about that, nobody had liked him. Mrs Grey was relieved that he was stopped but she had no idea of what had happened to him and Ty didn’t answer when she asked about it. Something had clearly given the man enough of a scare to force him to confess his horrible acts.

Mrs Grey told the police about the incidents there, specialists were sent to Ana and her mom and to the two twins and the girls did tell it all, with the reverend being put behind bars they did dare to open up. He had been very clever and threatened the kids with their loved ones and others he had lured inn using Angelica. She was afraid to say anything at first but one of the therapists managed to make her open up. Mr Holt had abused her too, but she got too old for him and then he used her to get to younger girls. He had told her he would kill her mom if she didn’t obey and Mrs Grey was almost in tears when she heard of all the horrors he had created.

But Angelica did also tell them something else, the twins had sort of teased her and talked about how they were to fake injuries and sue the camp, their parents had done such things before and Mrs Grey was aghast. She had felt that the parents had been hiding something and now their plans were exposed. She was rather sure that the couple would face some rather angry insurance companies whence things calmed down, they had tricked them for huge amounts of money and the girls had been willing participants since it meant that they could enjoy great luxury. But fate had sort of intervened and sometimes the wicked will punish the wicked.

The reverend was of course being interrogated thoroughly and he was kept under constant surveillance, the police officers who had to stay with him hated the job for he was suddenly not so very arrogant anymore, rather whiny and pathetic.

He tried to talk his way out of it, claimed that he had been psychotic when he was found and that it was all hallucinations but the examinations of the girls did confirm that they had been raped. He was not able to talk his way out of this one. Countless others came forth and confessed to having been abused by the man and the case became very famous. Mr Holt was sent off to a high security prison since his life would be in danger if he was put into an ordinary one. Two years after he was placed there the prisoners were to be moved to a new facility since the old one was to be renovated. On the way to this new prison the bus broke down in the middle of a forest area and by some strange quirk of fate a bear broke into the vehicle and killed the reverend. The other prisoners weren’t even touched, it was truly strange. The guards didn’t even see the animal until it was too late, one could almost think that someone helped it get inside of the compartment reserved for the reverend but who the heck commits murder by Grizzly bear?

Mrs Grey kept an eye on the girls, they all overcame it but they had their struggles, she was glad they had all the help they needed. Angelica was taken care off by her mother who had been under the reverends heel too but now they did thrive and they moved to another state and got a new name, Angelica would need some hefty therapy to overcome her feeling of guilt and shame but it would solve itself, in the end.

The parents of the twins lost everything, they were sued by those they had sued and the twins were sent off to a relative who was way more down to earth and an honest person. There would be no more Prada and Gucci but maybe that was for the best. Ana also got over it but she had some real problems since she was a rather naïve and protected child, the mother found new strength and helped her daughter get stronger too. So some good did come from the whole misery.

The next year Ty returned to help out with the camp and Mrs Grey was glad he was there. She knew that they had a protector when he was there, one who could do things others couldn’t. She had no idea of what powers he could summon but she was old enough to know that there is more between heaven and earth than most people are aware of. She didn’t ask any questions, she just accepted that this was the way it was and was grateful he had made his promise. If he couldn’t prevent bad things from happening he could surely as heck make the culprits regret their evil deeds.