"Yeah," said Brenda. She turned his head and opened his mouth, putting one hand on his jaw and clamping the other over his nose. She checked to see if there was any obstructions in his mouth or if he had swallowed his tongue, took a deep breath, and placed her mouth over his, then exhaled slowly.

"Come on, Neddy," said Jack, bending over and staring head-on with concern.

"Come on… come on…"

Suddenly, Ned's arms came up to embrace Brenda and she felt his tongue enter her mouth as she pulled her down on top of him. She pushed away, slapping at him.

"Oh, Neddy!"

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" said Jack.

Marcie shook her head and rolled her eyes at Alice. Ned stared up at Brenda with a pouting expression on his face and she stared down at him, hands on her hips, angry with him, but also trying to suppress a giggle. She turned away so he wouldn't see her starting to lose the battle and just for a moment, she thought she caught another flicker of movement on the far side of the lake. 'There was someone watching them,' she thought, not really certain if she had glimpsed at a dark figure ducking back into the trees or if it was only a trick of the light or her imagination. Maybe it was nothing.

Maybe it was one of the Townies, hoping to catch them all skinny dipping and get a cheap thrill.

She looked back at Ned. The others had all gone back to change and Ned just sat there looking at her uncertainly. With that little boy-I-hope-she-isn't-really-mad expression on his face. She sighed.

"What do I see in this guy?' she asked herself. Now she was a little sorry she had pushed away from him so soon. It had been sort of nice. He got up, looking contrite. She shook her head.

"Oh, come on," she said, heading back toward the cabins. As they left the dock, she looked across the lake once more. She didn't see anything, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something there, watching; watching and waiting.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back inside her cabin, Alice stripped off her bathing suit and slipped into a robe. Steve still hadn't returned from town. So far, he'd spent the whole day running in every direction at once. He seemed more concerned with how things were going for the camp than how things were going with them.

'Give me a week,' he'd said. She wondered if a week would actually change anything. What could happen in a week? Well, maybe a lot could happen in a week if they really had a chance to talk. But then, they'd had a chance to talk last night and nothing had been settled.