"Well, Hiya girl—uhh excuse me, Hi boy!" she laughed. It was a gorgeous day. The town was quiet and peaceful, about as far removed from the noise of New York City as possible.

"Hey, can you speak English?" she said, laughing and ruffling the dog's fur. "How far is it to Camp Crystal Lake?"

It was the most attention Winslow had received in months and he whined in appreciation.

"That far, huh? Okie dokie, see you later!" Annie groaned as she hoisted the backpack onto her shoulders. She had hiked in all the way from the interstate and had hoped there'd be more traffic around town so she could hitch a ride to the camp, but there wasn't a car in sight. The town looked quite dead.

"Well, you wanted peace and quiet," she said to herself, "I guess you got it." She passed several buildings and turned onto the main street of the town. She saw a number of cars parked in front of a general store and a coffee shop. She decided to take a chance and stop in to ask directions. Perhaps someone would volunteer to drive her. The radio was tuned in to an AM station playing "Sail away, tiny sparrow" as she walked in, causing a small bell mounted over the door to tinkle. There were several people in the shop, seated at the counter. Small town folks, an older woman dressed in a white uniform with rhinestone glasses stood behind the counter, a couple of New England types in red and black Buffalo plaids, jeans, work boots, and truckers caps perched on the stools.

"It's 7:01 on Friday the 13th of June!" The radio announcer said in that obsequious DJ voice that sounds like a cross between a game show host and Woody the Woodpecker. "This is Big Dave and it's time for you lazybones to get out of bed! It's Black Cat Day in Crystal Lake."

"I must have seen that cold track 82 times," the woman behind the counter said to one of the coffee drinkers in response to a comment Annie hadn't heard.

"Uh hi, excuse me," she said to be heard over the radio, but the woman behind the counter had turned down the radio at the same moment so Annie's voice suddenly sounded unnaturally loud.

"How far is it to Camp Crystal Lake from here?"

Everyone turned to stare at her. For a moment, she thought perhaps the fly on her jeans was unzipped or something because they simply kept staring but then the woman behind the counter broke the silence.

"What is it, Enos?" she said, "About 10 miles?"

"About that," replied Enos, a heavyset man in a plaid shirt and baseball cap.

'Terrific,' Annie thought. She didn't relish the thought of hiking another ten miles.

"Camp Blood?" one of the other men said, "Don't tell me they're opening that place up again."