Lawrence Looks for Treasure

Part 2 Chapter 24

After another hour of biking, we reached the camp ground. The heat was waning but our hunger was waxing. In other words, we were starved. Thankfully, the campsite had a canteen—a wooden cabin which stood in front of the grounds like a guard on duty. We locked up our bikes and walked in.

The canteen was small, and its wooden walls were fuzzy and smelled warm. By the entrance, there were shopping baskets. We took two and filled them with beef jerky and marshmallows, chips and chocolate bars. It was the only thing around. We also bought this kind of space food—a bag of dried dinner to which you add hot water and, like magic, it grows into something barely edible.

We bought food to last a couple days. That was more than enough to get us to Camp Okanagan. And even though we were close, it didn't feel that way. There was too much to do between us and our goal.

As the cashier rung our purchases, as we stuck our hands in our pockets to fish out our fair share, a group of kids walked in. There were three guys and one girl, just like us. But they seemed older by at least a few years. I glanced at the first guy who entered. He was tall and handsome and walked confidently. As soon as he saw me, I turned away. I didn't want to stare.

Another one of them walked straight to the cash, and stood next to me. This one was tall too, but scruffy and thin every which way. His face, his hair, his physique—all scruffy and thin. His scruffy thinness was accentuated by the oversized, knit hoodie he wore. How one wore such an article on the hottest day in human history I couldn't understand.

'Hey, dude,' he said to the cashier. 'Do you have any more of those dried dinners?'

'Just sold the last one,' the cashier said. Unfortunately, I was the buyer.

The dude sighed, bought beef jerky instead, and then left with his friends. I hoped they weren't camping on the same grounds as us. I hoped they were leaving, and that we had the grounds to ourselves. My hopes, alas, were dashed. They were staying where we were staying.

The camp site was smaller than the previous night's—about the size of a baseball diamond. The group of other kids had set up their tent at the near end, close to the entrance. We set up ours at the far end, as far from the entrance, and more importantly them, as possible. As we crossed the grounds, it became clear that their set up was more elaborate than ours. They had coolers of food, air mattresses, musical instruments and several tents. It seemed they planned to stay until winter. Even if not, it was a sign that the campsite was theirs; we were just visiting.

Once we pitched our tent, lay down our sleeping bags and changed clothes, the sun began to set and our stomachs grumbled loudly. We walked to the fire pit to boil water, and turn our dry dinners into a moist feast. There was only one fire pit, right in the middle of the camp grounds, so that is what we used.

We ate our food and kept the fire going. Sure enough, the other kids, like fleas to a lightbulb, came to join us by the fire pit. By that time, we had finished eating our dinners. I was in a better mood to entertain. At least, I thought I was.

The skinny scruffy dude sat right next to me. So close I could smell him. You know when someone's in your space so much you can smell em? It could make Jesus wanna kill. And let me tell you, the dude didn't smell so fresh, either.

He and his friends started making conversation. They were on a bike trip, too. But they weren't hunting treasure. They were just friends who wanted to bike, camp and have a good time. This was the third time they'd done it, and they'd mastered the art—they kept food, alcohol and other choice items at the campsite, and made day trips. Thankfully, they shared. We made burgers over the fire, drank beer, talked and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. One of them had a guitar. He played this fingerpicking music. He didn't even sing. It was real nice. Relaxing. They all seemed pretty cool, besides the stink-bomb sitting next to me.