If Only She'd Loved Him

Chapter 54

Saturday 1:30 pm

With a groan, Sean pulled his duffel bag out of the back of his car.  It was heavier than he'd remembered.  The strap cut into his shoulder, so he shifted, trying to align it comfortably.  Getting the bag adjusted, he headed into the woods.  Cameron Lake and its summer camps grew further and further behind him.

Snagging his duffel bag on yet another tree, Sean yanked the branch off with a snap, freeing his book and not caring at all about the tree.  He had begun to really regret bringing the book he had stuffed inside his bag.  It had to weigh five pounds and was a hardback to boot.  Again he shifted his duffel, looking around for some landmark to judge where to go next.  But all the trees looked pretty much alike.  Except for the one whose branch he'd snapped. That gave him an idea.  He could mark his trail by breaking off a branch every few feet.  I would have made a great scout, he thought to himself.  More and more pleased with his plan, he began to whistle as he walked.  He hoped Erik would be glad to see him.  Maybe they could even get in a little pre-season hunting trip?  The Game commission wasn't going to be roaming the woods looking for law breakers two weeks before hunting season, would they?  Sean checked the compass, he'd inherited from his grandfather, south by southeast.  Last time it was north by northwest, and they'd been going towards the lake, not away from it.  So assuming his memory held up, he was on the right track.  He frowned.  He hadn't been able to remember if Erik's cabin was accessible by car, and he had wanted to surprise him, so he had left his car parked by the lake.  Erik would give him a ride back if he needed it.  Of course if Erik wasn't there, then he was screwed.  

At least that's why he told himself he was walking to Erik's cabin, but he knew he was really walking and not driving because he didn't want Erik to just come out and tell him to get in his car and go.  Sean touched his neck.  It had begun to throb as he walked, uncomfortably reminding him that Paul had kicked his ass the night before.  Well, Paul wasn't around now.  Now it was just Sean vs. nature and last time he'd kicked its ass.  He smiled, remembering the dead deer in the brush.  That reminds me, snapped another branch off a tree, leaving it hanging like a flag.  Sean looked behind him.  If he peered real hard he could just make out his car, an old white Honda.  He'd left it parked safely under a pine tree and near a dingy building which had a vacancy sign swinging from its front.  A hunting we will go, A hunting we will go, Sean began to whistle merrily.  Re-shouldering his bag, he marched deeper into the woods.