Boots tied, Lacey jumped to her feet, and grabbing her backpack, exclaimed, "Alright, I'm ready."
"Okay," Richard said with a smile. "Let's go." Hand in hand, they left their campsite for the evening and headed back down the hill.
Arriving back at the pavilion, Lacey was pleasantly surprised that Don and SimΓ³n had prepared an entire hot camp breakfast. It was a Chuck Wagon style buffet (without the actual Chuck Wagon) that included scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, sausage links, and hash browned potatoes with fresh chilies. But what Lacey was the most excited about, were the Dutch oven biscuits. They were actually baked in cast iron Dutch ovens over campfire coals.
When the lid was pulled from the oven, the aroma of the freshly baked scratch-made biscuits filled the air and took Lacey straight back to the campouts of her youth. When her grandfather was still alive, her grandparents would take her and her sister on weekend camping trips to the mountains. Her grandfather was an absolute master of the Dutch oven, and his biscuits were one of her fondest childhood memories.
As SimΓ³n placed one on her plate, the sight of the fluffy white biscuit, with the perfectly browned crust on top, a tear started to slip from Lacey's eye. "Are you okay?" Lauren asked who was standing next to her in line.
"Yes," Lacey said. "I was just thinking of my grandfather. He was a fabulous outdoor cook, and this campout breakfast just reminds me of him." She started to add how much she missed him. But quickly thought better of it, considering the circumstance of her current activities.
As if a timer had gone off, at seven-forty-five, Nina honked the van horn several times. "Ladies, she announced. "It's fifteen minutes to eight o'clock. If you haven't finished your breakfast, you need to get a move on. The van leaves for the lodge at eight-sharp, and you will want to be on board. You have another full schedule planned today, and we need to stay on schedule."
"What about our backpacks?" Marcia asked.
"Oh, thank you, Marcia," Nina said. "Grab your backpacks as you may need your personal items back at the lodge. But if you don't need them, the boys are staying to cleanup and takedown the camp. They'll bring everything back and leave any personal belongings in your cabin for you."
As promised, the van was rolling at straight-up eight, and all eight girls were safely in the van. As they bounced down the rutted jeep trail toward the lodge, Nina said, "Ladies, once we get back to the lodge, you'll have about forty minutes to shower and get into your yoga clothes."
Bouncing around like Mexican jumping beans, Vicky asked, "Are we doing yoga naked today?"
"No," Nina said, as she fought the van's steering wheel to stay on the trail. "You can all go topless this morning, if you wish. And again, for the meditation. But we're not doing massages today. We'll be doing Self-Defense training this morning, and you'll need to be fully dressed." She paused for a second, and then added for clarification, "You'll need to wear both your tops and bottoms."
As the van pulled to a stop in front of the lodge, the girls all ran to their respective cabins. Lacey couldn't wait to get in a hot shower and wash her hair. Barefoot and holding her yoga top in her hands, she barely made it to the pool deck by nine o'clock. She wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't the only one there topless, and as the group of girls waited for the morning session to start, Lucinda seeing that she was the only one with her top on, quickly pulled hers off as well and threw it to the ground.
For maybe the first time, Lacey was actually looking forward to yoga. Though the air mattress wasn't all that uncomfortable, it still wasn't a bed, and she was a little sore. Lacey had grown accustomed to the early morning workouts, and she really needed this one. Lucinda started the same as every day, with several variations of the
warrior pose
, but then gradually began adding new poses that were tougher and harder to hold.
By the time they broke for meditation, Lacey was sweating profusely, as was just about everyone else, despite the cool mountain air. Sitting in the lotus pose, Lacey closed her eyes and reflected on the past three days. She had never been so focused on her life before. Though memories of her grandparents brought her a feeling of guilt. Her experiences here at Aristippus had convinced her that what she was doing was her calling. Lacey absolutely loved her experience with both Sam and Richard, as well as those of Will and Angie. But she felt no lasting attraction to any of them, and she was simply titillated by the thought of who and what was next.
As the gong sounded the end of the daily meditation, Lacey opened her eyes to see a man and a woman she had not seen before, setting gym mats out on the grass between the pool and the lodge. The couple were dressed in workout outfits, as if they were on their way to the gym or out for a jog. Lacey realized they were probably the self-defense instructors and quickly reached for her top and pulled it on over her head - as did the other girls.
Nina stepped to the front of the group, "Ladies," she said. "This morning, we are having a short introduction to self-defense. It is not to say that your chosen line of work is dangerous, but it is always best to be prepared. You never know when it will be necessary to defend yourself, or to escape from a potentially harmful situation."
The girls followed Nina across the lawn to where the couple was waiting for them. "Ladies," Nina repeated, "this is Tony and Michelle Vetrano. Tony and Michelle own the Pacific Avenue Gym in Venice Beach, California. Both Tony and Michelle are former Marines with over twelve years of combined military service. They opened the Pacific Avenue Gym eight years ago and specialize in self-defense training for women. So, would you please welcome Tony and Michelle."
The girls all gave their new instructors a polite round of applause. Lacey eyed them with a bit of apprehension, as she wasn't quite sure this training was necessary, but on the other hand, everything else the resort had scheduled turned out to be helpful, and maybe this would be also. Tony looked extremely well-toned. Not like a professional bodybuilder, but more like a Marine, crew cut, golden tan and all. Michelle was equally well proportioned. There wasn't an ounce of fat on her, and she had the stereotypical look of a classic California beach babe - straight off the beach volleyball circuit.
"Good morning, ladies. As Nina said, I'm Tony Vetrano, and this is my wife and partner, Michelle. Together, we are owners and operators of the Pacific Avenue Gym in Venice Beach. And, as Nina also said, we specialize in women's self-defense."
Michelle then stepped forward and said, "Though we all think we can control most any situation, there are always those unexpected circumstances in which we could find ourselves. Men, especially those under the influence of drugs or alcohol, believe that they have a right to control our bodies. That is never the case - never! We always have the right to protect and control our own bodies. Further, Tony and I firmly believe that it is better to be prepared than sorry."
Tony stepped on the closest gym mat and said, "Michelle and I are going to show you a half dozen standard defensive moves. I will attempt to assault her, and she will defend herself. Once we have demonstrated the move, we'd like each of you to come up, one at a time, and practice it on me. Michelle will help and coach you."
In each attack, Tony would either grab or attempt to strike Michelle, and Michelle would easily defend herself by either striking back or throwing Tony to the mat. The girls were mesmerized by how easy each defense looked, but Lacey realized these moves were well-rehearsed and that Tony was not fully countering Michelle's defense. But it was fun to watch her throw him to the matt like a rag doll, knowing he was probably more than twice her weight.
After six attacks and successful defenses, Tony said, "Okay ladies, who's first?"
In typical Marine fashion, Tony didn't wait long for volunteers. If no one immediately expressed interest in being manhandled, he'd point to a girl randomly and say, "You." Of course, he didn't know any of the girls' names. So, as soon as he selected his next Guinea Pig, Nina would call out their name, so there was no backing out.