“How was lunch—better still, how was your cycle ride?” I tease Lydia and Millie when they step inside the motor home.
Lydia’s cheeks are pink, her eyes wide and vibrant. “It was magnificent.”
“Really?”
“I told you that you would like it,” Millie says, her face matching Lydia’s flush for flush.
“We went to the nicest shops, Dee. Jewelry, clothing, books, you name it. What a wonderful town,” Lydia says.
“You should see the Stanley Hotel,” Millie says, breathless.
Sounds as though the Biker Boys treated Lydia and Millie well. “The guys took you up there?”
Lydia nods. “That’s where we went to lunch.”
“Wow, that’s really nice. I’ve heard about that place.”
“There was a Red Hat group having lunch together there,” Lydia says, eyes twinkling.
“They were having a great time, I can tell you,” Millie adds.
“I told you they’re a fun group to be in.” Lydia turns to Millie. “Oh, we forgot to tell DeDe about the hauntings.”
I laugh. “What?”
Lydia swivels to me. “I don’t believe it, though.”
“Believe what?” I ask.
“Don’t be too quick to discount it, Lydia. Those testimonies sounded pretty convincing,” Millie says before turning to me. “They say the Stanley Hotel is haunted. They even have books about it.” Millie reaches into a package and pulls out a book. We browse through it together.
Lydia looks up at me. “How about you, Dee—did you have a nice walk?”
Settling onto the love seat, I look at her. “It was life-changing.”
“Whoa.” Millie stops her walk toward the bedroom and turns back around to join us. “This I’ve got to hear.”
I tell them about my walk, my talk with God, everything.
Lydia comes over and hugs me. “That’s wonderful news, DeDe. I’m so happy for you.” Tears fill her eyes.
Millie lifts a tentative smile. “Hey, I got your birthday pictures developed.” She pulls them out of the package, and we carefully go through them, laughing and talking about them along the way. Once Millie files them, we decide to walk around the camp and see how everything looks before the district board comes tomorrow.
A fresh wave of pine scent hits me the moment we step outside. I have to admit it’s been great to be here again.
“I sure hope the powers that be give this place another chance. So many memories,” Millie says as we glance around the camp. “I can’t bear to lose it.”
“We’ll just keep praying,” I say, feeling wonderful that I can mean it this time.
Millie and Lydia head toward the kitchen while I walk to the dorm. I’ll just push the rags and paint things over to one corner so it doesn’t look quite so unkempt when the board comes. When I step inside, Steve is already in the room straightening the area.
“I’m sorry, Steve. I didn’t mean for you to do that.”
“It’s no big deal. Just straightening a little,” he says with a smile.
Picking up one of the rags, I toss it in with the rest of the pile. “I enjoyed your message this morning, Steve.”
He brushes his hands together and turns to me. “Thanks.”
“Um, in fact, I thought about it a lot on my walk.” I look up at him, wondering if I should tell him what happened.
He waits a minute. “New beginnings?”
Smiling, I nod, thinking of the butterfly.
“I thought so. I could see it on your face when you walked in.”
We talk about what happened to me on the trail, and before I know it, an hour has passed. A deep friendship is forming between us, and I’m enjoying it.
A lot.
After dinner we go back to the motor home to prepare for our evening gathering around the campfire.
“I just don’t know what to wear. None of my clothes fit,” Millie complains. “I’ve put on too much weight out here.”
“Tell me about it,” I say.
“Sorry, girls,” Lydia says, obviously meaning it. “I don’t mean to mess up everyone’s diets.”
“Oh well, it’s a great way to go. Besides, we can go back to our diets and exercise routines when we get home.” I smile at Millie, who doesn’t smile back.
“My things are in such disarray,” she says, lifting clothes from her storage compartment. “How can I find anything in this mess?” She dumps everything from her bin and starts refolding.
“Millie, what’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing is wrong,” she says in clipped tones.
“Oh, yes, there is, Millie,” Lydia joins in. “When you go on an organizational binge, we know something is amiss.”
She stops folding and looks up, tears pooling in her eyes. “I called the library. I think they’ve replaced me.”
Lydia gasps. “Replaced you? Not possible.”
“Why would you think that, Millie?” I ask.
“They’ve hired a new lady to help out. We don’t need anyone else. What other reason would they have for doing that?”
“Maybe she’s there to help with the computer transitioning,” I encourage.
“So they say. I don’t buy it. They think I can’t handle the computer, that’s what. They’ve hired some young thing to take my place.”
My thoughts flit to one new chocolatier in town, and I feel Millie’s pain.
“I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Lydia says. “You’ve been there too long.”
“Precisely,” Millie says.
“No, no. I mean, you’re valuable to them.” Lydia dabs on some perfume.
I smile.
“What? Just because I’m not interested in anyone doesn’t mean I have to smell like a moose,” Lydia says.
“Agreed.” It’s great to see Lydia enjoying herself. This trip has been good for her.
“I don’t think they care a twit about me,” Millie says, bringing us back to our discussion.
“Do you think you need to go home so you can check things out at the library?” Lydia asks, looking worried.
Millie’s back stiffens. “I will not do that. I don’t bail out of a job once I’ve committed myself to it. I will see the camp through to completion.”
“One thing for sure, now is not the time to think about it. You have enough on your mind just managing this project. You can deal with the library when you get home. For now, enjoy your time at the camp. Tomorrow will take care of itself,” I say, smiling inwardly at my sudden burst of wisdom.
Lydia and Millie must notice it too, because they both stare at me.
“What?”
“Since when did you get so smart?” Millie wants to know.
“Some things we don’t learn through books, Millie. We can also learn by experience.”
Twigs snap and pop in the campfire as we enjoy another great time of bonding over hot chocolate and coffee.
“Did you know that researchers have decided that the special sense of well-being that comes from eating or drinking chocolate has more to do with the experience itself rather than anything actually in the chocolate?” I take another drink of my chocolate. “Isn’t that interesting?” When I look at the others, they’re staring at me. “Okay, maybe not.”
A couple of comments are made about my candy addiction, but I ignore them and change the subject to our progress at the camp. Our enthusiasm is almost electric as we discuss the improvements we’ve made so far and the things we hope to do.
Beverly joins us, and we finally get down to business.
“I’m afraid I need to talk to you about something,” she says.
“What is it, Beverly?” I say.
“I’ve been going through our finances, and it’s taking far too much of the donation money just to keep things afloat.” She flips through her notebook. “We had to repair the plumbing—”
Eric clears his throat.
“We’ve had to buy supplies, food. The list goes on. I just don’t know how much longer the funds will last.” She looks up at us.
“It’s all right, Bev,” Steve says. “If the Lord wants the camp to survive, it will. All we can do is offer our best. The rest is up to Him.”
“I know that’s true, but it’s so hard not to worry,” she says. “This is not only my job, but it’s been my home for years.”
Lydia nods.
“I know.” Steve reaches for my hand and Beverly’s hand on the other side of him. “Let’s join hands and pray,” he says.
We all grab hands, and Steve leads us in a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving and surrender.
By the time we finish, we’re all a little teary-eyed and much lighter than before. I don’t know what the future holds for any of us, including the camp, but one thing is sure—after going through this adventure together, our little group will never be the same.
About four o’clock the next morning, the storm raging outside my window wakes me up. I’m thankful that last night before we went to bed we closed the windows enough to keep the rain out of the motor home and that the duct tape is still holding. I look over at Lydia’s bed and see that it’s empty. Soft voices sound from the front room.
“You couldn’t sleep either?” I ask, dragging my sleepy self into the living room.
“Who could sleep with all that racket going on?” Millie wants to know.
“Anyone want some tea?” Lydia is up and fixing it before Millie and I get our “yes” out.
A sharp crack of thunder sounds close enough to split Waldo in two, then a loud crash causes us to shiver right along with Waldo.
“What was that?” Lydia asks, her eyes wide, her breathing shallow.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good.” Though I’m not given to fear, I have to admit that right now “a dark and stormy night” conjures up more than Snoopy’s attempt to write novels.
“Should we check it out?” Millie asks.
Separating the blinds, I peek out the window. “We’d better wait until the storm settles down a little.”
When our tea is ready, we settle down to drink it and talk awhile, waiting for the storm to subside. Once the rain slows to a steady fall, we put on raincoats and step outside. Others from the camp are already surveying the area.
Beverly is wringing her hands when we find her.
“What’s happened, Bev?” I ask.
“A tree has fallen over dorm one. The trunk missed the building, but branches have broken through a couple of windows.”
I put my arm around her. “It will be all right.”
“That’s not all.”
“What else?” Lydia asks.
“Bears have broken through the back door of the cafeteria, made a mess of the kitchen.” Beverly lifts her hands to her face and breaks out in heavy sobs. “We may as well give up. It’s a lost cause.”
Everyone has gathered around her by now.
“If you think I’ve come all this way, at the risk of losing my job, just to turn tail and run, you are sadly mistaken, missy,” Millie says, her nose hiked. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy when we started this venture, and we were right. But nothing worth having is easy. The way I figure it, we have a few hours before the board gets here. I aim to get to work.” With that, Millie turns on her heels and goes back to the motor home to get dressed.
By the look on everyone’s face, I’d say her little speech has encouraged the hearts of all of us. We quickly set to work, not knowing if it will do any good or not.
Beverly sure knew what she was doing when she put Millie in charge.
By the time the board comes, some of the mess the bears made has been cleaned up, but it’s obvious the toaster, blender, and bread machine will have to be replaced. The bears swatted them across the floor and sent them reeling.
The guys had to wait for someone from the church to bring saws, and now everyone is working together to cut the fallen tree into chunks of firewood.
Beverly placed orders for two new windows, and soon the world is set right on its axis once again.
The only problem is, the concert is tomorrow night and the electricity is out.