Phillip and Lisa paddled swiftly away from the campsite after they got the supplies they would need for two days. Lisa was in the front of the canoe and Phillip in the back and she was surprised at the power she could feel in the thrust forward of the canoe due to the strength of Phillip's stroke. Soon after they were far enough away, Phillip began to slack off.'
"Crap!" he cursed, "We don't have our fishing gear. What an idiot that guide is." Without paying attention to it, being possessed by anger, an image of a very young woman, a teen, crossed his mind. It had happened quite often on this trip, a recollecting which wanted resolving that lasted a brief second, ignored.
"We need your paddling," Lisa responded, "if we want to get back as soon as possible." She didn't turn back to look at Phillip, the impression she had in her mind of him was more real to her than the man his actions actually revealed. What she had said was obvious.
Phillip did want to get back quickly and away from the insects. There were so many of them that the thick layer of repellent he was covered with did not provide enough protection. "What a nightmare of a fishing trip," he growled in a menacing tone, not directed to Lisa, but to fate at large, "I don't know why I agreed to come."
"And it's not over yet," Lisa said, "we've to face the coming consequences." Certainly there would be a looking-into the deaths of Michael and Colleen, she thought, but the conclusions would be accidental death. She was thinking more to herself of the positive consequences. With Michael and Colleen out of the way, she would be able to manipulate Phillip for the purposes of her own personal gain in power, status and wealth. Images of her childhood, life in an inhospitable, freezing environment, and the daily struggle contrasted with pictures in magazines of glamour, the stories in print of people she admired, and the underlying message that ambition was the highest of virtues that empowered those who manifested it in the pursuit of achievements most admired by the prevailing culture. Her mother admired Lisa's ambition more than any other character quality. Without ambition, Lisa would still have been living in her home village and the idea of that made her shudder.
"What are you saying?" Phillip asked, "Consequences? What consequences? Those were random accidents, pure coincidence, nothing we would have to pay for. We are victims. Our spouses were taken from us traumatically." Then he thought of Lisa and him together and what greater benefit Lisa would be for him than Colleen ever was. One side of his upper lip flicked upwards in a deprecating, snarly smile that pushed a black fly off his skin. "How I hate it out here." he exclaimed. By now he simply held his paddle firm in the water and used it as a rudder. "Paddle harder," he said to Lisa and she did, sensing how he was taking a prolonged break. Phillip reached forward and pulled out a sandwich from the food bag Amy had given them, all prepared, so they would not have to do any cooking.
"The company head office could be moved to the city," Lisa said, "that would suit you more. There are no bugs there except maybe some in the parks, but nothing at all like here." Phillip liked that idea but said nothing.
Lisa did nearly all the work at the portages, even carrying the canoe. She set up the tent for the night and did all the campsite work. She could not understand Phillip's laziness. Work and effort, she knew, were manifestations of her ambition and gave her the sense her goals were that much closer. The physical and mental vitality results from effort pleased her. For Phillip, it was all about what he could make other people do for him - the one at the top of the status pyramid, was the one who didn't have to do anything.
The Mayer island cottage was on the way to Sunshine Resort where the canoe would have to be returned.
"We could stop at the cottage and let them know what happened," Lisa said, careful to leave the final word to Phillip. She intended to manipulate him but not to incur unnecessary wrath.
