Every Summer Has A Story

Ch. 10 - The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Duke Stiverson

Zayne and Eve emerged from the lodge apprehensively, unsure of what damage the impressive summer storm had left behind. Eve's vision adjusted to the still falling rain and darted around, feeling rather unnerved from the emotional revelations she'd shared with Zayne minutes before. To say it was severely out of character for Eve to share such personal details would be a major understatement... but she felt inexplicably lighter.

"Shit," Zayne muttered under his breath, "this is a mess."

Leaves and twigs covered nearly every inch of the grass in front of the lodge. Some larger branches had been brought down, too, and mangled into a mess. She could see Zayne visibly cringe as he turned to survey the huge tree limbs that had fallen into the parking lot to their right, narrowly missing the parked vehicles.

"That was so close to landing on my car!" Eve marveled, mouth agape.

A strong evergreen scent reached her nose, prompting her to look toward The Whistling Pines. One of the proudest pine trees had been brought down by the straight line winds. The broken giant rested on the side of the lodge, splintered grotesquely at the middle. Something about the sight made Eve's heart ache as she realized that was probably the loud noise they'd heard when the power went out.

Zayne sighed heavily and unclipped his radio, clearing sharing her sentiment,

"Hey Maverick?"

"That's me!" Maverick shot back jovially.

"Rally the troops and meet us at the lodge. Wear your work clothes," he paused, "I'm calling Duke in."

~

"Everyone take a radio," Zayne instructed as the directors circled up on the front porch, "we need to do a full sweep of camp to assess damage."

"I have a feeling there will be some blocked trails," Maverick added grimly.

"Take Thor with you," Zayne replied, "and clear whatever you can without the tractor."

Eve turned a puzzled look to Auden,

"Chris Hemsworth?"

Auden rolled her eyes,

"Dare to dream, Evie. Thor is one of Maverick's knives."

"Machete," Maverick immediately corrected, "Thor is my machete."

Auden popped a hand onto her hip,

"Well excuse the hell out of me!"

Zayne clapped his hands, impatience etched into his usually stoic face,

"Come on guys, focus up please."

Auden's doe eyes widened and quickly dropped in shame, prompting Eve to shoot Zayne a dirty look, which he pointedly ignored.

"Maverick, take the Gator and go clear some trails. Check the creek, too," his gaze darted around the circle before coming to rest on Eve and softening a bit, "take Eve with you, show her how to get out there."

Maverick gave her an enthusiastic smile,

"Sure thing, boss man."

"Auden and Averill, do your best to clean up the lodge area. Maybe grab a rake and get some leaf piles made."

Auden's face continued to be cast downward, but she nodded her compliance.

"Charlie, you and I will get the tractor ready and dig out the chainsaws. Duke should be here soon."

As if on cue, an old black Ford pickup truck pulled into the drive, dodging debris and tree branches.

"He's here," Averill breathed, winking at Auden.