He laughed. It was the same sort of comment she used to make when he was younger. It had made him feel important then, that an older woman would flirt with him like that. Now, it made him feel nostalgic for his youth.

"Come on now, Sandy, you know what I mean."

She laughed.

"Okay. Two and a quarter."

He counted out three bills. She walked over to the antique cash register and rang it up.

"Here's your change, Steve."

"No, you keep it, Sandy."

"Thank you!"

"Sure."

He put on his slicker and headed for the door.

"You drive careful now," she said.

"I will."

"Goodnight!"

He put his hood up and ran to the Jeep, pausing briefly to check the trailer hitch before he got in out of the rain.

Stupid, he thought. He should have done all this before the storm had started. Driving back from town with a loaded trailer on wet country roads at night was a good way to get into an accident. A Jeep was not the ideal vehicle to pull a trailer. It was too light and its wheel base was too short. He'd have to take it real easy.

He wiped the inside of the windshield with his bare hand while he waited for the engine to warm up. Falling raindrops glistened in the glare of the headlights. They were all probably sitting around the fireplace in the main cabin, tearing through the beer supply and smoking pt. He grimaced. He'd have to make a point of warning them about that. With everything that was known about marijuana now, you'd have to be an idiot to smoke the stuff. He knew it didn't necessarily lead to harder drugs, but the effects of smoking it were even worse on the lungs than smoking cigarettes.

He didn't want to see any of that sort of thing around the kids when they arrived, and he knew that Dorf would dearly love any excuse to make a surprise visit to the camp and search for drugs. All he needed was for Dorf to find a stash and bust one of the counselors. He'd have to bail the kids out.

There'd probably be a lawsuit from the parents of the campers, and it would provide the town council with the perfect excuse to shut the camp down. Of course, Alice probably wouldn't see it that way. She'd tell him to lighten up.

He sighed and shifted the Jeep to first gear. It gave a lurch as it strained against the weight of the trailer and then slowly gathered speed. All he wanted right now was to climb into his cot and get a long night's sleep; just forget about his problems and sink into the darkness.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Brenda ran into the latrine, set her toilet articles on the shelf over the sink and tore off her slicker.