A Kayak for One Read online

  The three men and three women looked like couples, as they talked about who would go in what canoe with whom and for how long. The women were clearly in charge. Hopefully one of them drew up a schedule so they could switch canoe partners and get away from their spouses for a bit. They way they were rolling their eyes as the men talked about their paddling skills and how they could probably portage the canoes without the help of the women, made Dan almost laugh out loud. Wait until they see the steep incline and the length of the first portage into the park and up to the next lake! They are getting a late start too. No paddler in their right mind starts a trek in September at 5:00 pm They'd probably have to camp along the shore at the bottom of the portage, if they even got that far before dark.

  He watched Charlie size them all up for paddles and life jackets. The women gathered the safety kits, probably to tie up somewhere safe in the canoes, rather than leave it to the men to just throw them in. Dan had watched his own students when they took some canoes out for a break from studies and knew the women were almost always more organized then the men. The guys were apt to throw everything in the canoe and push off from the dock, often leaving safety kits or life jackets on the dock, not concerned about safety or the law. The girls would be kneeling or sitting on the padded life jackets comfortably, smirking at the guys' discomfort after a few hours on the lake. That reminded him, he better tell Greg not to take Charlie's kayak out again without asking permission. He saw him out on the lake Monday evening with it and saw the way Charlie watched him from shore and could tell she wasn't happy about it. That was for her own use and not for guests. He was surprised at the sense of entitlement Greg had, obviously going into the office when Charlie was not around and taking the kayak paddle from the rack of canoe paddles behind the counter. This was after he told the students not to take any boat or canoe without her permission. Dan meant to say something to Greg that night after dinner, but the situation with Ashley at the fire pit made him forget all about it.

  The group looked like they were ready to leave the office.

  "Do you need me up here Dan?" asked Charlene. "Can it wait until I get everyone settled into the canoes?"

  "Sure. In fact I will walk down with you if I may. It is too nice an evening to be inside," said Dan.

  Dan stood back and watched while Charlie had everyone inspect the three Nova Craft canoes already lined up along the shore in front of cottage #1, close to the large structure used for storing the canoes and Charlie's kayak. There would be no damages to the canoes. Dan knew she maintained all the boats, fixing anything as soon as it was needed. He had seen her tightening bolts and fixing sinew seats in the canoes many times.

  Once the canoeists were out on the water and paddling away from the dock, Dan asked Charlie about her taking his group to the landing for pub night and picking them up at 11:00 pm

  "Sure," she said, though by the look that passed in her eyes quickly, Dan thought what she would really have liked to say was, "Shit." He knew he better not ask for free use of a fishing boat now.

  "I'd like to rent a fishing boat for the day tomorrow. I'm thinking of sending the students out alone tomorrow. I'll see if I can drive Lori's car and have Peter drive the van and follow me to the field site. I'll come back about 10:00 am and be ready to use the boat for the rest of the day."

  "You'll have to take the fishing boat to the landing in the morning yourself then Dan. I have an appointment in Espanola around 10:30 am and will be gone most of the day, so I won't be here to pick you up in the pontoon boat. You can dock the boat and leave it at the landing when I boat the students over. If we do the paperwork up now and if I top you up with gas, you'll be set in the morning," said Charlene.

  "Would you happen to have an old fishing rod I could use?" Dan asked with what he thought was his most charming smile.

  "I have a rod, but no line on it. I have a box of 10 pound line in the office. You are welcome to thread it on the rod and use it and just bring it back when you are finished with it. Do you want to take a container of worms too?" asked Charlene.

  "Yes, thanks. I would have forgotten to take some worms," said Dan as they walked back into the office, and he waited while Charlie went upstairs to get the worms and return.

  She rummaged around in the drawers behind the office counter and gave Dan the box of fishing line.

  "Hmm. Spiderwire. I've never heard of this brand," said Dan.

  "I got an order in this spring and only have two more boxes left on the shelf. They are expensive but the guests were asking for it and it really sold well," Charlene said as she walked over to the small assortment of fishing tackle available for sale along the back wall of the office.

  "That's odd. I don't see them anywhere."

  "It looks like someone has written down on your tab sheet a box of Spiderwire line," said Dan as he wrote his name and a container of worms on the sheet of paper on the counter in front of him. He liked that Charlie asked guests to take what they wanted from the small store in the office and write their name, cottage number and the item on a tab sheet and settle the bill later. He guessed it was more convenient for her instead of having to be stuck in the office or having to stop what she was doing all the time to walk back to the office for every small transaction. The students especially were amazed by the trust she showed them and seemed reluctant to follow her request to just take and sign and pay later. They didn't grow up with small stores giving credit like he and Charlie did so they were not used to it.

  "It looks like Greg signed for a box. He likes to get out on the dock and fish when we get back from the field trips," said Dan, thinking again that he better talk to Greg about keeping himself and his fishing rod out of Charlie's kayak. "I can't make out the signature for the other box though."

  "Let's see that sheet."

  Dan noticed the look of surprise pass over Charlie's face when she looked at the signature.

  "Do you know who it is?" he asked.

  "Yes I do. It's a friend of mine. He was here earlier today to check on the water system."

  "Okay. We will see you at the dock at 7:00 o'clock. Thanks again Charlie for doing this for us," Dan said as he folded up his receipt and paperwork for the boat rental and left the office.

  Chapter 16

  Charlene

  Charlene found herself standing with the tab sheet in hand and thinking it odd that Joe didn't say anything about needing fishing line. It didn't really matter, she knew. He would never take advantage and would pay her. She could always trust Joe.

  In the first year Charlene bought the resort she had been looking for someone she could rely on to fix the boat motors and take care of the water pumps and any other small engines. She looked in the phone book and saw the ad,

  "It isn't dead until I say so."

  McFadden small engine and boat motor

  Repairs and maintenance

  "Bringing back the SPARK"

  705-861-7900

  Charlene couldn't believe it. Could this be Joe McFadden? It had to be. Knowing Joe as she did, the words in the ad could only be his. She made the phone call and it was answered by a man with a Scottish accent, belonging to the man she knew had come to Canada from Scotland when he was 18-years-old to become a student at McMaster University in Hamilton.

  She said, "Hi. Joe?"

  The long silence that followed hit Charlene so viscerally she thought she would drop the phone. She was glad she didn't though, because when she knew he recognized her voice as well, and the way he said "Hello Charlene" the 10 years that passed since they last saw each other no longer mattered. It seemed like it was just yesterday when they looked at each other over the dead body on the autopsy table.

  Chapter 17

  Wednesday September 23rd, 2015

  Bob

  He watched Charlie through the binoculars as she stood on the dock holding the pontoon boat by the rails close to the dock so the students could get on. He saw the professor get in a fishing boat and start it up and just one pull. Ma
ybe he would replace his motor with a nice new 9.9 hp Yamaha like the ones on all of Charlie's boats. It sounded smooth and didn't seem to cough or make faltering sounds like his motor did. He liked to watch her show guests how to work the little motor when they rented the boats from her. It even looked like the old lady in cottage #5 could start the motor easily. Maybe when I'm 65, he thought and the government could pay for it.

  He thought Charlie, no Charlene, if that's what she prefers to be called, would be tired today. He heard the pontoon boat go over to the landing about 11:00 o'clock last night and heard laughter and loud talking on the way back. That wasn't right. They shouldn't make her stay up so late and have to boat over in the dark. Where were the girls? he thought, as he noticed only the three guys on the boat.

  Chapter 18

  Dan

  "Just leave them," Dan yelled at the guys over the boat motors. "If they're too sick after a night at the pub to get out in the field today then they lose out. I don't want to keep Charlie waiting. Just get on the boat."

  Greg told him at breakfast that he was over at the girls' cottage earlier and they were both still in bed. He said Lori said she felt a flu coming on and Ashley said she might be getting sick too. Dan believed Lori, but thought for sure that Ashley was just hung over. She had even more to drink at the Black Cat then he'd ever seen her drink at any university pub night. She was punching them back, and not just beer, she was into shots as well. Too bad there was no chance to talk to her without anyone overhearing.

  He remembered that he saw Ashley and Haiden huddled in the pub hallway going to the bathrooms. When he walked by he overheard part of what they said. He heard Haiden say "What an old pervert" or something like that, and then he saw Haiden try to put his arms around Ashley. He watched her push him off and heard her say "You're the pervert!" before walking back toward the table with the rest of the group. Well not all them. Lori left their table after she and Greg seemed to be having words, too quietly for him to overhear with the din of the busy pub. She was the smartest of the group and perhaps she was losing patience with Greg who always seemed to be asking her questions about the assignments.

  Greg seemed sullen for the rest of the night as Lori moved to stand at the bar beside some local yokel. They seemed to be hitting it off, so she stayed there the rest of the night and seemed reluctant to leave him when it was time to head back to be in time to meet Charlie at the dock.

  Lori looked different he noticed. He was used to seeing her with her hair pulled back tight into a bun. When outside she always wore one of those funky caps, the kind that reminded Dan of a seafarer's hat with the little brim. Last night though, she wore her hair loose, and the curls flowed around her shoulders and the lights over the bar highlighted the brilliant red/orange colour. She had on a funky pair of glasses. She must wear contacts when outside and in class, because he couldn't remember seeing her wear them before. She looked radiant though, as she sipped on what looked like just water with lemon, laughing and flirting with the guy beside her.

  Ashley just looked drunk, her long hair hung without shape or shine over her eyes. He wondered what he ever saw in her.

  Chapter 19

  Charlene

  "Hi Sam. How are you today?" Charlene asked, as she veered the boat to the dock where Sam stood quietly waiting.

  "Okay. Windy eh?" he said in a quiet flat tone in which he said everything it seemed to Charlene.

  "Yes it is. I hope it calms down so you can get up the ladder and paint the trim on cottage #4 today," said Charlene. "I have to go into town soon so I won't be around to catch you when you get blown off. If you need first aid, I guess you'll have to get in a boat and drive it over here and drive to help."

  Charlene knew Sam would be okay. She was just trying to get a rise out of him and see him smile. It seemed he never did. He was handsome though. At 26 he was in shape and clothes fit his strong-looking body well. He was just under 6' tall, clean-shaven, with his black hair pulled into a single braid that hung half-way down his back, Charlene knew he would have a killer smile, and be a great catch for any young woman. He told her more than once, though, that not many women are interested in a long term relationship with a single Dad of two girls under five-years-old.

  She knew he would prop the tall extension ladder against the cottage built into a steep hill, and level it with a layer of rocks or logs. He could carry a paint can, brush, and rag up the ladder with one hand, cigarette in the other, and practically run up and down the ladder, no matter how high. He told her he wasn't nervous about heights at all and made some comment about working in New York on high rise structures as his other job.

  She was too nervous to tackle the high parts of the cottages herself. She had Sam now to paint the high window frames and stain the top sections of the log frame cottages. He was also good with the ATV and trailer. He came in the fall for a few weeks to head into the back woods to drop some trees to season and to cut up the dead fall to have on hand for the cool fall and spring days. Charlene had him just dump the wood beside the shed. She liked the work of the chopping and piling the smaller pieces according to dryness and size, kindling or real fire burners in the wood stove.

  She better top up the box of logs in the front porch of cottage #1 and take the wheelbarrow of punky wood for the students' outside fire pit. Otherwise they would burn the good wood meant for inside.

  She also better get moving so she would make her appointment, which was really just an appointment to get her hair cut then go to the library to get more books before going to Joe's house for a late lunch, and hopefully some dessert, and not the kind that would add inches to her hips.

  She had everything all planned and didn't want to change things so the professor could be picked up at the dock just to head out again in the fishing boat. It's better he has the boat now anyway, she thought. He can come and go as he pleases.

  Chapter 20

  Bob

  He watched Charlene cross the lake earlier and heard her car leave the lot. He could see Sam putting the ladder up on the far side of cottage #4. Maybe he should get him to do some staining for him while it is still sunny and warm enough before winter. He noticed the wall that faced the spot where he parked his car looked dull and flaky against the bright red of his little Elantra, bought new with his work buy-out money. He meant to stain the cottage last summer. The previous owner hadn't touched the outside with a brush for many years. That could wait for later though. He needed to get ready.

  He got his fishing rod already threaded with the new line he bought, and took everything down to the fishing boat. He noticed the rope on the boat and it reminded him of shopping he had to do next time in Espanola. He made sure there was plenty of fishing line left in the tackle box.

  He heard the motor first then saw the professor dock the fishing boat at the resort and walk up the stairs to cottage #2.

  Chapter 21

  Dan

  He motored the boat slowly along the shore of the lake. What was he thinking? Christ he was way too old to be with a woman Ashley's age. He could just imagine having to put up with all the shit that would come with the whole "more about me" time when she was in her 30s and 40s and then the menopause years, years when he watched his ex change into an angry bitch, always too hot or too cold, taking on an aggressive demeanour that scared him most of the time, and spending more time on activities that didn't include him. He didn't think he could take much more of it and was ready to call it quits. She didn't either apparently, since she left him while he was in class. He came home and she was gone, probably off to some yoga retreat with a bunch of other women in their late 50s.

  He was still bitter that she left him, not giving him the pleasure of being the one to end it. He had his whole speech planned out and it still sat in his head with no opportunity to come out. He found himself saying it over and over to himself when he was stressed, like now.

  She left most of their furniture though, surprised that she left her antique desk, but not surprised
that she left a sheet of paper on top of it with her lawyer's information and her demands. She was always organized. He met her demands but only because after consulting a lawyer he realized he would be harder hit if she took him to court. She couldn't touch the small inheritance he got when his Dad died last year, his emergency stash. Depending on how things went today, Dan thought, he may have to dip into that fund himself and go away for a while. His attention was drawn back to the front of the boat.

  Chapter 22

  Charlene

  She saw the girls in front of their cottage when she got back from town earlier than planned. The lunch date didn't take place, since Joe said he was working at fixing a motor for a young guy from town who was anxious to get out on the lake fishing as soon as possible. Charlene didn't mind. No, she did mind, but couldn't complain and wasn't mad at Joe. He phoned her cell while she was in town so she had lots of notice. Usually it was her job that prevented them from spending more time together.

  Lori waved to her from the steps as she went up into the cottage. Ashley waved to her too as she walked away from Lori and walked to the back of the cottage.

  It looked to Charlene like Ashley was heading for the trail system that Charlene marked along the deer run in the 50 acres behind the resort. She didn't look sick, at least not from that distance, she thought, as she watched her hike with strong strides to the woods. What were the girls playing at? she wondered. Oh, well, not her problem. With no date with Joe, and Dan and the Porters out on the lake with their own boat to get to their cars if needed, Charlene could get to work in the back bush marking trees for Sam to cut down in the next few weeks. She also had a mess to clean up at the shed behind the house along the tree line, where Sam helped her tear off old roofing shingles and replace them. She might as well get to it before winter so she wouldn't have to do it in the spring. Besides, it was a warm sunny day and she wanted to be outside. At some point she better go see how Sam was coming along with the painting.