She carried her coffee and a slice of toast that she had no real appetite for over to the clinic, unlocked the door, and then sat on the porch. For the last two weeks, her early morning clinic hours had been pretty quiet. The campers had all acclimated to the various challenges of living in the mountains, had become accomplished, almost despite themselves, at wildland lore and procedures, and rarely fell prey to the common injuries that seemed to beset so many day-trippers who flooded the trails and lakes all summer. She’d already updated all her pertinent records and entered them into the statewide medical system for reference. Should one of the campers have medical difficulties in the future related to anything that had happened at camp, her treatment would be documented.

At a little before seven, Marty and Ford walked down the trail from the cabins, saw her, and waved.

“Morning,” they called in unison.

“Headed to breakfast or a swim?” Lily called.

“Food first!” Ford called back.

“We want to be ready for the simulations,” Marty said, their grin quicker and easier the last few weeks. “Do you happen to know our assignments yet?”

Ford gave them a playful push. “Will you relax. You know you’re going to get to be one of the medics.”

“Maybe I want to get airlifted into a helicopter,” Marty said archly.

Lily laughed. “I’m not sure that’s going to be a volunteer position.”

“It will be if Marty has a say.” Ford snorted. “Come on. I want a Coke.”

Marty groaned. “When are you going to start drinking coffee like a grown-up?”

“When I’ve lost my sense of taste or the stuff stops tasting like stewed tennis shoes.”

“You just haven’t had good coffee. The coffee here…”

Amused, Lily watched the two teens amble off, arguing about the caffeine benefits of Coke versus coffee, weighed against the taste or lack thereof, and thought how glad she was to have watched them both, especially Marty, grow strong, confident, and happy over the summer. At her first meeting with Marty after she’d received the anonymous note about the bullying, she’d been struck by Marty’s resilience and maturity but had sensed their loneliness too. Over the course of the summer, they’d changed. Marty laughed more easily and had connected with quite a few of the other campers. Ford’s friendship no doubt had a lot to do with Marty’s happiness, but Marty’s natural wit and subtle magnetism drew others to them too.