Читать книгу Tom Thomson's Last Paddle - Larry McCloskey - Страница 8

After several false starts, the dads managed to build a campfire that didn’t immediately go out. The two skinny men slapped each other on the back, coughing and rejoicing at having created a steady source of smoke.

“How come they didn’t put the bark and kindling under the logs an hour ago?” Dani asked.

Caitlin shrugged. “Let’s face it, dads are weird.”

“Yeah, I know, but my dad always tells me how important it is do something right the first time.”

“And my dad always tells me how important it is to do research for school projects,” Caitlin added.

Nikki’s delicate howl cut into the conversation and through the forest.

“I wonder if our dads researched bringing a dog to Algonquin Park when we talked about leaving Nikki in the kennel,” Dani said, pointing to a sign on a wooden post Nikki was leaning against to support his afternoon siesta.

The girls looked up at a large X through a happily bounding beagle.

“Oh-oh!” Caitlin said as Nikki planted his chin in the dirt and snorted satisfaction at his lot in life.

“Dad!” Dani cried.

Dani’s dad pivoted, a perplexed look on his face, something he always had whenever his daughter used that tone of voice.

The two men walked away from their smoky source of pride and stood for the longest time, slowly moving their heads from Nikki to the sign and back.

“Oh,” John simply said.

“Well, what should we do?” Bob countered.

“Um, well, the right thing to do is… that is…” Dani’s dad scratched the side of his face while balancing first on one leg, then the other. “Of course, in fairness to park rules, and then again, there is Nikki to consider…”

“How about if Caitlin and I take care of hiding Nikki?” Dani offered.

John scrunched his face, mulling over various options, then exhaled. “Okay.”

After that the dads stepped back to the source of smoke and said something about perfecting the fire before going on their run.

“Why do you think our dads take running so seriously, Dani?” Caitlin asked.

“’Cause if they don’t run, they feel guilty for a week.”

Caitlin made her face and neck tense. “‘If we don’t run today, civilization will cease to exist!’”

Dani giggled. “‘But, of course, girls, if you’d like to do something special, well, then, darn it, I can miss a run. Really, I don’t mind!’” But Dani’s laugh soon disappeared. “I guess Dad forgot about taking us swimming. He’s a great dad…” Dani rubbed her chin. “But sometimes he kind of has the same thing he says Nikki has. You know—ADD, attention-deficit-dog order.” She pouted as Nikki howled a truly piercing beagle serenade, which echoed through the pines and across the lake.

Caitlin sniggered. “Well, it’s nice to know Nikki’s opera lessons are paying off.” Then she sighed. “My dad’s the same. The world would come to an end if he didn’t run, but if the world was really coming to an end, he’d probably just go for a run. Oh, well, maybe they’ll relax this week and smell the pinecones, or something like that.”

“You know,” Dani’s dad said as he came up to the girls with Bob in tow, “you should pay attention to some of the things we’re doing in case you ever have to fend for yourselves.”

“Like, a couple of decades from now,” Bob added wistfully.

“God forbid they really have to fend for themselves,” John said with resignation.

Dani twisted her face into its most serious expression. “Of course we could fend for ourselves.”

“What does fend mean?” Caitlin whispered.

“It means you have to be good at outdoor fending,” Dani said out of the side of her mouth.

“Oh, right.”

“This isn’t the city,” Dani’s dad huffed as Nikki sniffed and snorted. “Out here you have to do things for yourself, act decisively, be in harmony with your environment.”

“Well… well… we know how to fend just fine, right, Caitlin?” Dani huffed right back.

“Uh-huh.”

“In fact, me and Caitlin were planning to camp out all night by ourselves, right, Caitlin?”

Her friend managed to send her thoughts far, far away as the two dads stood grinning in front of their daughters.

Dani frowned. “Earth to Caitlin, remember our plan to camp out all night all by ourselves?”

“Oh, sure,” Caitlin answered, as if the possibility were as remote as spending a night on the moon.

Dani fumed as her face scrunched into her Pekinese expression. “Caitlin and me are as capable as adults!”

John deepened his voice as he stroked his chin. “Now, Dani, you don’t have to get upset. You know you shouldn’t be camping out alone before you’re ready.”

“Watch yourself, John,” Bob warned.

With arms folded so tightly they threatened to meet around her back, Dani searched for words and ideas. From her pocket she removed the crumpled map of Canoe Lake they had picked up at the Portage Store. Her eyes widened. “We… we’ve been planning to camp out at Tom Thomson’s favourite campsite—right here.”

Caitlin glanced at the map and didn’t see any washroom markings.

Thumbing her overalls straps and standing on her toes, Dani said, “So can me and Caitlin—”

“That should be ‘May Caitlin and I,’” her father replied, finally unable to resist correcting his daughter’s grammar.

Dani came down off her toes and enunciated slowly. “May Caitlin and I camp out at Tom Thomson’s campsite?”

“We’re all camping out, Dani.”

“We could all check it out this week,” Bob suggested.

Dani tried to keep her voice steady. “I mean, camping all by ourselves.”

John frowned. “Girls, do you really think that’s a good idea at your age?”

Dani levelled her most serious expression in her dad’s direction.

“Okay, I get it. Well, I suppose gaining camping experience is the reason we’re here. Hmm…”

“Come on, John,” Bob urged, “what do you say? They both seem so determined!”

Dani placed a victorious hand on Caitlin’s terrified shoulder.

Caitlin’s look of terror melted into a frown, and she simply said, “Great.” Then, as Dani crossed her arms and beamed, a thought occurred to Caitlin. “Just when do we have to camp out all by ourselves?”

With her fists clenched deep in her overalls pockets, her shoulders hunched, and her face contorted with determination, Dani said, “Tonight.” She liked the sound of tonight and continued convincing her audience and herself. “Yeah, we’re going to have fun and camp out tonight. Come on, Caitlin, let’s go have a man-to-man talk about our plans.”

Caitlin skipped along, always a stride behind her friend when there was serious business to attend to. “Dani, are you sure this is a good idea?”

Dani slowed down, her face less Pekinese than pensive. “No, not really.”

“Then why did you volunteer us on our first night camping outside ever?”

“Well, what would you like better, facing up to a challenge or having our dads think we don’t know how to fend for ourselves?”

Caitlin tugged on her braid while humming softly. “I guess I’ve never worried too much if Dad thinks I can fend well.”

Dani frowned and gave her friend the silent treatment.

Exhaling a big gust of wind, Caitlin said, “Okay, a challenge it is then… I guess. Hey, I just thought of something!” Dani turned slowly and stopped, buoyed by her friend’s enthusiasm. “Maybe our dads will think about it and say no and we can pretend we really wanted to camp and fend and stuff like that.”

Caitlin grinned triumphantly while Dani jammed her fists into her overalls pockets and strode headlong into the challenge of a lifetime.