Dark Forest

2.Summer memories

After putting out several more fires in the campgrounds, Sam and Penny were unable to stop themselves from flashing back to the memories they had awakened as a result of the fires. Almost as soon as Jupiter's wheels came to a stop in his place in the fire station garage, they both started laughing.

"Remember how much time we spent at bonfires back in the day and nothing bad ever happened?" Sam asked jokingly once they had managed to calm down a bit on the way up to the common room.

"Maybe had it the safe way" Penny snorted dismissively. "I wasn't so lucky. Whenever I went somewhere with my dad, something always had to go wrong. As a rule, our tents burned down because someone didn't set up the firewood properly," she complained.

"You only rode with dad?" Sam asked out of curiosity.

"I think I'd be crazy," Penny joked teasingly. "Then my entire trip would last two days."

"Why two?" Sam asked confused.

"One for arrival, one for return," she explained briefly. "Besides, I was never looking forward to these trips because we went with the whole family and I couldn't find a place anywhere. I was either the oldest or the only girl. I could never find myself a place," she admitted with regret in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, looking down.

"There's nothing to talk about, Sam. This is how it was supposed to be and there's nothing I can do about it," Penny smiled encouragingly. "And how was it with you?"

"Every summer Dad would take some time off and take me, Charlie, our Uncle George to the forest in the Pontypandy Mountains. We needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city," Sam explained with amusement.

"City bustle?" Penny repeated in surprise. "Sam, Pontypandy may not be an oasis of peace, but it's still far from the hustle and bustle of the city," she noted.

"Maybe you're right," Sam admitted reluctantly. "But the amount of time spent outside also had its effect, wouldn't you agree?"

"How can I know that?" Penny shrugged. "It's not so easy to go outside in the city. I spent most of my time with my head buried in books," she admitted.

"I guess you still remember it today," Sam teased her, smiling cheekily at her.

"What can I do about it" Penny laughed. "That's just the way I am," she returned Sam's friendly smile. "I wonder what it would be like if we went somewhere on a small campsite. With our whole team," she wondered aloud.

"It might even be fun, although I wouldn't let Elvis near the bonfire," Sam joked teasingly.

"Especially if you can't light one yourself," she punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Luckily we have you," Sam smiled back at her.

Lost in reminiscing about old times, they didn't notice that they had almost finished their shift for the day and that Ellie and Arnold had joined them.

"Are you talking about Elvis?" Arnold asked, leaning over them.

"Not really," Sam replied in the negative. "We're kind of wondering what it would be like to go camping together as a team," he explained.

"It would certainly be more pleasant than putting out all these forest and meadow fires and extinguishing unattended bonfires," Ellie said in a complaining way. "Station Officer Steele's desk is brimming with the amount of reports. I'm willing to bet a new desk will need to be ordered before summer is over."

"You'll just get a chance to show off, Philips," Penny teased, smiling cheekily. "If you win your own bet, of course. The desk is solid. A few reports are not enough to break it in half," she added confidently.

"It's a special assignment desk, after all," Sam reminded, then high-fived Penny with a triumphant smile.

"Has anyone ever told you that sometimes you act like you can read each other's minds?" Ellie asked her teamleaders skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You only say that about once a month," Penny replied sarcastically.

"You can be sure I won't stop until at least one of you sees the light," Ellie assured, giving Penny a cheeky smile.

However, her friend did not answer and preferred to focus on the contents of her cup, silently praying that no one would notice her red cheeks. Especially Sam couldn't see them. They might have revealed too much to him, and she didn't want him to find out about her well-hidden feelings like this.

"Ellie, get off Penny" Sam defended Penny. "Because if not, once we manage to fulfill our camping trip plan, I will personally recommend you to Station Officer Steele as a volunteer to guard the fire station while we are gone."

"Very funny, Sam," Ellie muttered, forcing a dry laugh. "But it concerns you no less than... Ow," she was cut off by a sudden cry of surprise as Penny stepped on her foot.

Ellie looked up at Penny and their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes in silence, so stubbornly that neither Sam nor Arnold knew how long they will have to sit in silence, unable to make a sound, fearing that they will soon fall victim to the gaze of one of their female friends.

"Look what I brought!" Elvis's scream only successfully broke Ellie and Penny out of their silent rivalry.

"Please, no more reports," Ellie rolled her eyes. "It's not my turn. I don't know if I'm more tired of putting out all these fires or writing and correcting reports," she grumbled.

"These aren't reports, Ellie," Elvis joked. "It's a walking camping ticket," he explained, placing the ticket on the table so his friends could take a closer look at it.

"I've read about it. It's a type of camping where you sleep in a different place each time. You follow trails from one camp to another during the day, and at night you sleep in places created by nature," Arnold explained.

"And you know what's best?" Elvis asked with the little child's enthusiasm so typical of him. "You got one of those too."

"I'm sorry, Elvis, but we didn't get anything," Sam replied, confused.

"And what is hanging on your lockers?" Elvis said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The four of them exchanged surprised glances before getting up from the table and following Elvis downstairs to their lockers. Their surprise only grew when they noticed that their friend was actually right and there were indeed the same tickets pinned to their lockers.

"I wonder why we need this?" Ellie thought aloud. "With so many calls, there's no chance we'll go anywhere anyway."

Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing because no one spoke. They stood in silence, hoping that staring at the tickets in their hands would help them figure out what was behind them.

"Oh, Sam," Station Officer Steele's voice brought them all out of their thoughts. "I see you've already found the tickets," he rejoiced, rubbing his hands.

"You know about them, chief?" Sam asked surprised.

"Of course I know, Sam. Chief Fire Officer Boyce wanted to give them to you in person, but unfortunately something kept him in Newtown. So I had to come up with something to keep it a surprise," he explained.

"What surprise?" This time they all asked in one voice.

"You've been working so much lately that Chief Fire Officer Boyce and I decided to give you a chance to rest," he explained. "You'll go camping together, get some rest, and at the same time, you'll get along even better."

"But...?" Arnold clearly wanted to interject, but Station Officer Steele interrupted him before Arnold could say anything.

"Consider it a break from duty, firefighter McKinley," he said firmly. "After all, your trip won't count as part of your leave," he added consolingly, before walking away without a word, leaving the team with what they had learned.