Witch of the Wild Woods

Chapter 6 - The Late Greats

Their hike back from the staff parking lot took nearly fifteen minutes running at full sprint. Turns out that the left fork in the road at the driveway to Trillion Pines Camp did lead to private residences; the guest speakers' cabins and the on-site Abidalli Family residence. Off to the right of those three single-family cabins, was an open gravel lot surrounded and shaded by thick pines. Lane and Luna backed their Jeep into an empty space beside the half-dozen or so other cars already gathering dust. There was no signposted, but they eventually found the small dirt path that wound its way through dense overgrowth back to the main camp.

After a quarter-mile or so, the thin tree-lined path opened to a dried-up lake bed. It was easily a half-mile in circumference, but if it had once been a beautiful man-made lake before, it was a red clay pit now. A cracked asphalt jogging track still outlined the perimeter. That path and a series of wood-carved signs led the Twins through another grove of trees that created a sort of arching tunnel of branches. They found themselves running along the base of the sloped football field, past the girl camper's two-story bunkhouse, and at last up an inclined hill to the Main Lodge.

"There's a set of stairs down to the amphitheater behind the Great Lodge," Lane panted out breathlessly.

Their boots kicked up the gravel as they turned sharply toward the Lodge and stood at the top of the stairs. Three flights down, the thin staircase led to a concrete amphitheater built into the grass-covered hillside that looked out over the beautiful Spirit Lake. There were five rings of stone benches that encircled a rectangular stone stage about half the size of an average basketball court. Above the bench seats, several tan canvas sails were stretched out from the trees by cables, angled to provide shade from the setting sun. The dozen or so councilors were reclining on the stone seats facing the stage, facing Jude.

"Everyone, give a round of applause to the Woods' Siblings for finally joining us here at orientation," Shouted Jude as he clapped his hands together with an overabundance of glee.

The other councilors clapped along at various degrees of disinterest.

Lane and Luna descended the wooden steps in silence as the other counselors watched on.

"Why don't you come on up here for introductions," Jude said, not particularly as a request. The Twins obliged and once at the base of the stairs, walked up the five stone steps to join Jude on Stage. "Now, it's kind of a tradition, that... Wait, we've got one more newbie with us here. Where's Nina Montgomery?"

"Don't we wanna wait for a resident space case?" One of the male councilors shouted. "What happened to Alice?"

"I'm present," Floated Alice's voice down from the opposite staircase. She was dressed far more modestly than Lane had seen a few minutes earlier. In fact, he could hardly recognize her. "Just making my way from the lavatory. Not that it's any of your business."

Lane caught the look Alice shot him from across the aisle; devastating, sinister, and lustful all in one sideways glance.

"Let's remember our PROPER names," Jude encouraged the councilors. "Sitka, please take your seat. With the others. Our traditional baptism is about to begin."

Lane scanned the faces of the other councilors: bored, disinterested, and listless. One face, in particular, sent a bolt of lightning down his spine. That ferocious gaze, fiery red hair, and freckled porcelain skin. It couldn't be her. Could it?

"Ah, there she is," Jude continued. He pointed out a shy girl cowering behind the woman Lane hadn't forgotten about since that day more than a decade ago. She'd grown some, or perhaps shrank some, but it was definitely her.

Jordan Breathnach.

Lane felt the trauma of what had happened in the bathhouse covered by a sudden wave of memories. A smile turned up at the corner of his lips. That girl, the ghost of her grandfather, and the aftermath of that whole encounter flooded his mind. Like any wave, however, the cool waters of treasured memories quickly receded. The look in those eyes that met Lane's did not hold the same amount of coveted nostalgia.