Love, Lust 'n Geology (1ST DRAFT)

Chapter 61: Dying from Deet

This chapter is dedicated to ClaudiaSavoie for her encouragement and support via her votes and her tenacious sticking with the story :-)!

Thank you so much, Claudia - I really appreciate it :-)!

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Chapter 61: Dying from Deet

Samina looked down the giant slope of pink granite, fractured and shouldered apart by olive green dykes, to where it slid under the lake, then up to where its pink crest was a broad hump against the pale blue sky. Tom seemed happy just looking at Samina.

"Let's start up there," she said.

She dropped to her knees at the top, and pulled out her compass-clinometer and ruler from her backpack, Tom a field notebook and pen from his.

"You need to write down the date and the GPS coordinates."

"Yeah, Chris told me," Tom said, opening the flap of the side pocket of his pants and reaching inside for the GPS.

Samina took measurements kneeling, crawling from one dyke to another on her hands and knees. Tom was more active, jumpy even. He stood on one foot and rubbed the back of his calf with the other, pinched his pants near his hamstring and scratched himself there, slapped his forearm and the back of his neck, swung his hand back and forth through a nebulous—and to Tom, nefarious—black cloud hovering around Samina's head, and waved off another trying to form around his own. It was a wonder he still managed to write.

About half an hour into their work, he said, "Wait a second, baby!"

Samina looked up. "What is it?" she asked, her brows knit.

"There's a whole bunch of mosquitoes around your head. Some black-flies too, I think," he said, leaning down and taking a closer look.

Samina's eyes swung up, then swept from left to right. "I know."

"They don't bother you?"

"No." She shrugged. "I'm used to them. I don't even notice them now."

Tom looked saucer-eyed at her. "You, you don't notice them?" he stammered.

"Nope. I mean, I did, for the first few days." She chuckled. "There was like this swarm around Grant's head." She lifted an invisible beach ball to show Tom the extent. The cloud around her head undulated, appearing annoyed with her gesture. "They didn't seem to bother Grant, so I decided I wasn't going to let them bother me either. The trick is not to think about them," she added.

A few days? Shit! He'd been born and raised here; he still wasn't used to them!

His eyebrows rose. "I don't think I can just not think about them, baby. I told you, they really come after me! I need to put on some more bug lotion. You need some?"

"No, I'm fine. But pick up some spray today and try putting it on just your clothes tomorrow."

"Alright. But that isn't going to help the back of my neck." He reached for his nape.

"I know. You need a hat with a back flap. If you can't find one, I'll sew a handkerchief to the back, like I did to mine." Samina proceeded to flip her flap.

"No need. I should be able to find one in Bart's," Tom said, looking at her hat.

The notebook landed with a thap as he tossed it and his pen onto the outcrop and hurried over to his backpack.