The campers woke after their first night out on the trip. The night was wearisome for all but Amy who was most tired from the work and since she was accustomed to sleeping on a hard tent floor, she slept deeply and woke well rested, ready for another day. Michael had troubling dreams. Normally he rarely remembered any dreams but there was something foreboding about these, as though they were warning him of something but he had no clue what. Lisa's thoughts while sleeping were all about planning, imaginations of effectuating her ambitions and making her goals come true. Phillip woke miserable and sore with thoughts of Ross annoying him. Colleen slept well but memories of what she had witnessed outside the cabin window chased all other ideas clear our of her head. Phillip was given to muttering in his sleep, just loud enough that only Colleen who lay beside him would be able to hear. He would toss and turn without waking and be uttering something about a will and that when there's a will there's a way.
When Lisa looked in her knapsack, she realized that it was not hers. While Lisa was away her mother was going to visit a friend. Lisa's mother had packed a bag for herself and a bag for Lisa but put the contents for each in the wrong knapsacks. Fortunately Lisa's mother and Lisa were the same size and the clothes were items Lisa had bought, so she wouldn't mind wearing them. Her mother's insulin was also in the bag Lisa took with her, both fast acting bolus insulin and slow acting basal insulin. Her mother would notice the mistake made first thing in the morning before leaving to visit her friend because that was the time she normally took an insulin dose but it would not be a problem because there was a plenty of insulin in the fridge at home. Lisa was obsessing about Phillip who attracted her and diminished her feelings for Michael. An evil idea inspired Lisa which reminded her of a murder mystery she had recently read.
Breakfast done and it was decided to move to a more remote area of the lake and set up camp there. Amy would make however many trips it took in her canoe to move their possessions and Michael insisted on helping her using his canoe. Phillip, Colleen and Lisa would make one slow easy trip and fish along the way, Lisa in Phillip's canoe as Michael's was loaded with supplies helping Amy.
The surface of the lake was like a mirror, totally calm. Black flies hovered around the canoes, no matter how fast anyone paddled, they were always there. Some people are more bothered and bitten by the flies than others are. Those fishing were silent so as not to scare the fish away because sound travels and popular legend had it that fish could hear and understand when humans were near. Colleen paddled steadily. Phillip sat on the front seat, Lisa in the middle and those two faced each other, Lisa's back to Colleen blocking the view Colleen may have had of Phillip's face. The lovers were looking at each other, making communicative, flirting, facial expressions to one another. Colleen sensed their intimacy and Phillip's fury over the bugs. Now and then he waved his clenched fist trying to punch them. Amy had given Colleen instructions about the direction to paddle and pointed out the landmarks to keep heading towards. Amy and Michael passed the fishing canoe and could see Colleen was staying on course. Loons were abundant, often surfacing with fish in their beaks. Mother Loons were followed by their young in single file. Large fish would come up close to the surface and gulp down the last baby loon in the line, sometimes until there were none left. Both Phillip and Lisa caught plenty of fish which Amy would clean and cook for dinner. Amy paddled her canoe close to that of the fishing couple and took what had been caught so that she could get a head start on meal preparation.
It was late, dark and silent. Michael was asleep beside Lisa. Amy and Colleen were asleep in their respective tents. Phillip was brooding and drifting in the state between wakefulness and sleep. Lisa had strange emotions and was reasoning with herself, although her true feelings were beyond her understanding. For her the continuing goal of life, the very reason for living, was to better oneself. Not to realize ambition would be to stagnant and she had a religious aversion to that. The conclusion Lisa had reaped from her church experience was that God expected a greater return on the gifts he bestowed on each individual. Jesus told a parable about that. Another conclusion was that God did not care about death, which made sense, if it's all true what religion professes and there is an afterlife. The commandment 'Thou shalt not kill" didn't hold water for Lisa. God let his own son be killed, and what about the hundreds of years of religions warring against one another? Lisa had a plan she would not fully admit to herself. She had her mother's insulin and the amount in the prefilled pen was more than enough to kill a man. Compared to Phillip, Michael bored her. At the beginning she was attracted. He was her ticket into a good place in the company. That was the attraction. As she got to know him better, the physical desire diminished. The needle of the insulin pen was very small and contained rapid-acting insulin. If she were careful, Michael wouldn't even feel it in the deep slumber he was in. Lisa thought about the lives and deeds of successful people she admired. Crime lurked behind every advancement made by her heroes. She thought about Michael and he seemed so pathetic now. She dozed.
