Dani came down off her toes and enunciated slowly. “May Caitlin and I camp out at Tom Thomson’s campsite?”
“We’re all camping out, Dani.”
“We could all check it out this week,” Bob suggested.
Dani tried to keep her voice steady. “I mean, camping all by ourselves.”
John frowned. “Girls, do you really think that’s a good idea at your age?”
Dani levelled her most serious expression in her dad’s direction.
“Okay, I get it. Well, I suppose gaining camping experience is the reason we’re here. Hmm…”
“Come on, John,” Bob urged, “what do you say? They both seem so determined!”
Dani placed a victorious hand on Caitlin’s terrified shoulder.
Caitlin’s look of terror melted into a frown, and she simply said, “Great.” Then, as Dani crossed her arms and beamed, a thought occurred to Caitlin. “Just when do we have to camp out all by ourselves?”
With her fists clenched deep in her overalls pockets, her shoulders hunched, and her face contorted with determination, Dani said, “Tonight.” She liked the sound of tonight and continued convincing her audience and herself. “Yeah, we’re going to have fun and camp out tonight. Come on, Caitlin, let’s go have a man-to-man talk about our plans.”
Caitlin skipped along, always a stride behind her friend when there was serious business to attend to. “Dani, are you sure this is a good idea?”
Dani slowed down, her face less Pekinese than pensive. “No, not really.”
“Then why did you volunteer us on our first night camping outside ever?”
“Well, what would you like better, facing up to a challenge or having our dads think we don’t know how to fend for ourselves?”
Caitlin tugged on her braid while humming softly. “I guess I’ve never worried too much if Dad thinks I can fend well.”
Dani frowned and gave her friend the silent treatment.
Exhaling a big gust of wind, Caitlin said, “Okay, a challenge it is then… I guess. Hey, I just thought of something!” Dani turned slowly and stopped, buoyed by her friend’s enthusiasm. “Maybe our dads will think about it and say no and we can pretend we really wanted to camp and fend and stuff like that.”
Caitlin grinned triumphantly while Dani jammed her fists into her overalls pockets and strode headlong into the challenge of a lifetime.
3 But Not My Daughter
Each stroke of the paddle sliced into water still and resplendent with summer calm. Snakelike ripples seemed to coil with anger as if to pull the intruder into the depths. Two solitary canoes tentatively glided across black open water. After several minutes’ hesitation, the green canoe followed the red into a channel at the north end of the lake. The canoes’ tentative approach to their destination belied the determination of their fearless leader.
“This way,” Dani called over her shoulder from the stern of the lead canoe.
Perched between father and daughter, Nikki surveyed the lake, looking every bit the captain of the vessel.
“I really don’t know about this,” Dani’s dad said.
Dani sighed. “Dad, you’re not really helping.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Dani. It’s just that I’m a bit worried.”
“Dad, you’ve been encouraging us for a long time to learn outdoor skills—you know, independent stuff,” Dani said, never turning her eyes from the distant shore, never wavering in her determination.
Caitlin, in the bow of the green canoe, never wavered in her thoughts about cherry-chocolate gelato.
“It’s true, John, their enthusiasm for the outdoor experience is kind of our fault,” Bob said.
“Yes, I’m quite happy you girls have decided to take a lesson from the great outdoors and become skilled out-doorswomen, independent and self-reliant. It’s just that…” John’s voice trailed off as he recited the same objection for the umpteenth time.
“There!” Dani’s shout echoed as the canoe rocked and water from her raised paddle soaked Caitlin’s head.
“Where?” John said anxiously.
Dani studied her map again. “Yup, I’m sure this is it.”
“Where?” John repeated.
Dani let the canoe drift to shore as a look of deep satisfaction spread across her face. “Tom Thomson’s favourite campground,” she said proudly.
“Oh,” John said, torn between continued objection and a sense of shared accomplishment.
The second canoe gently came to rest beside the first on sand and small stones. No one spoke or moved from the canoes. The wayward travellers took in the towering white pines, the sound of cascading water from a nearby stream, and the smell of ripe pine needles.
“No wonder this was Tom’s favourite camping spot,” Dani said, stepping from the canoe.
“Oh, it’s Tom now, is it?” John said with a raised eyebrow.
Bob grinned. “So just where is Uncle Tom’s cabin, anyway?”
“Look!” Dani cried. “There’s a fire pit already built. Come on, Caitlin, let’s grab our stuff.”
“Fire!” John leaped out of the canoe as if a fire had suddenly been put under his seat.
“Of course, we’ll need a fire to cook and to tell stories and to read…” Dani said in a rush.
“And to keep bears away,” Caitlin finished with a tad less enthusiasm as she brought up the rear.
John’s eyes widened and his Adam’s apple bobbed like a fishing lure nibbled by rock bass.
Bob smiled. “It’s a pretty safe-looking fire pit, built from stones, no roots showing.”
Nikki liked the fire pit, too. He sniffed furiously around it, his snout moving like a vacuum on a cleaning mission.
“We can pitch our tent here,” Dani said decisively. “The pine needles will make the ground soft for sleeping. These branches hanging overhead will give us cover in case it rains, and even if the seams of our tent leak, we’ll be okay. And we’re about the right distance from the fire, close enough to enjoy it, but far enough for safety. What do you think, Caitlin?”
Caitlin unceremoniously spat out one of her wet French braids and slurped, “Charming, I’m sure.”
Dani’s face reconfigured into a deep frown.
John saw his opening, put one arm around each girl, and said in a fatherly tone. “You know, girls, you really don’t have to do this. Twelve-year-old girls, after all…”
Bob winced and patted his friend on the back. “Good luck, buddy.”
Dani folded her arms in silent protest, while Caitlin looked around nervously for a washroom.
John peered at his daughter. “What?”
“Girls!” Dani stated emphatically.
“Washroom?” Caitlin asked in a softer voice to no one in particular. She vaguely wondered, If you said washroom in the forest and nobody heard it, did you really say it? But simmering campground discussion meant there was no more time for pondering philosophical questions.
“No, no, it’s your