"Hey. Wake up."
Someone was shaking her shoulder. Jenny Dunn came back to herself and realized it was Dan Myer, the foreman of the tree-planting crew she had signed on with for the summer.
They had been travelling through Northern Ontario for what seemed like weeks. From Toronto to Sudbury, and then into Canadian Shield country. Until the sun set, it was an endless sequence of jack pines, rocks, and lakes that made her think of the Group of Seven paintings she'd studied in her art history classes.
Jenny slung the oversize backpack over her shoulder and prepared to get off the train. "What time is it?"
"About two a.m., unfortunately," Dan said. "But we're getting close to where we need to get off, so ..."
"Where are we again?"
"Manossa Lake is where we're getting off. There's a few houses here, and there's a place we can crash until sunrise. Then, it's four hours hike to the camp."
"Looking forward to it," Jenny said in a flat voice. Dan chuckled.
As the conductor helped them off the train, he clapped Dan on the shoulder, saying "Have a good summer, Dan. And you're heading up country too, miss?"
"Yup."
"Be careful up there... if they get a chance at you they'll sink their teeth into you and carry you off."
"You mean bears?"
"Hell no. Blackflies!" Dan and the conductor laughed uproariously. This was apparently a well-rehearsed routine for the newbies.
As they trudged from the train to the "crash pad", as Dan called it, Jenny and Dan were too tired to say much to each other. The stars overhead, though, had never seemed so numerous. With no light pollution drowning them out, Jenny could see masses of stars that she had never even realized she missed. A sliver of moon was the only other source of light, but Dan walked steadily ahead without a glimmer of indecision.
"How many years have you been doing this, Dan?"
"This is my fifth. Got in the summer before I went to York for first-year, and now I'm starting grad school at Waterloo."
"Is the money really as good as they say?"
"It can be. You'll have to work on your planting skill, and the money will start a bit slow for you. But you'll be okay. And besides, what can you spend it on?"
"True enough."
The walk brought them to a tumbledown cabin. No light showed, and Dan got his flashlight out. "Where's that key ... ah."
He opened the door, and they stepped in. Dan walked over to a kerosene lamp and lit it, just bringing the flame up enough to not walk into anything.
"Jenny, there's a bedroom over there. I usually hit one of those couches over there. It's up to you – you can grab the other couch or you can grab the bed."
Jenny thought about her options. Dan had been flirting with her, and while he was cute enough, she didn't really find him that attractive. But she would be working and living with Dan for three months, so it might be bad form to take the bedroom. They were likely to see each other in all manner of situations over the summer. But this might be her last chance at a real bed for a while...
"I'll take the other couch." Where did
that
come from?
"Cool. Don't bother changing. Just a waste of time."
"Is there water?"
"There's a handpump by the sink. But I have some bottled here."
"It's just for my face." Jenny walked to the sink and got some water, splashing her face. By the time she turned around, Dan was lying on one of the couches, his pack leaned against the couch's back. His glasses were on the coffee table, and he was lying on his back, eyes closed. He was a little cute, she thought.
She walked over to the other couch, got a thermal blanket out of her pack, and lay down. Although she thought the disruption of the train might have stopped her sleeping, it seemed like she was asleep on the way down to the pillow.
Sun streaming in a dirty window woke Jenny up. Dan was waking up as well, rubbing his eyes and staring vacantly at the ceiling.
"Hey. Sleep well?"
"Yeah. This couch knows me better than I know myself, I think. It's like a family reunion when I come in and out of the woods."
The pair made a quick breakfast and tidied the cabin. By 7:30, it was time to start hiking.
This is it
, Jenny thought.
Into the woods
. She had never been this far north in Ontario, and never this far from civilization. Her self-confidence, borne of hours spent in the gym and running the streets and paths of Toronto, was in contention with pangs of nervousness, about the work, the isolation, and the crew she'd be working with for the summer.
As Dan and Jenny moved up a logging road, she tried to put her doubts aside and enjoy what was turning out to be a hot, beautiful day. The silence of the forest struck her, just as the starry sky had last night. The two chattered a little, and then settled into a companionable silence as the heat gathered and they began to work their way uphill in earnest.
After about an hour, Jenny called a halt. "Dan, I've gotta visit the woods."
"Do you have any toilet paper with you?"
"Yup." Jenny had read and re-read the pack list that the forestry company she was working for provided, and besides, she figured, most women would be unlikely to forget that particular item. She walked off trail a few yards, dropped her pants and squatted to relieve herself.
As she was finishing up, she momentarily lost balance and leaned to the left, putting down a hand to steady herself. As she did that, she glanced back, and saw Dan watching. Intently.
Gross
, she thought. Jenny moved back into balance, wiped up, and thought about her options – make a big deal of this, or let it go. With a long summer ahead, she thought it might be better to let it go.
As she rejoined Dan on the trail, he said "Better?"
Jenny nodded, and they moved on.
They started to hear human noises around noon – not that they were keeping time, but the June heat was already intense enough on them, and Jenny could feel sweat trickling down her back. The last hour or so had been almost entirely uphill, and her calves were starting to tighten up. She had put her long blond hair back in a ponytail, but even that felt moist.
Dan yelled "Hallooo!" ahead, and the answering shout "Dan the man!" came back quickly. Dan looked at Jenny and said, "We're about a half-mile from camp. You up for a run?"
Part of her thought "Are you crazy?", but she felt an unspoken challenge in his eyes, and her competitive spirit kicked in. She took off at a trot, and as she stepped into the pace, said "Let's go, Dan the Man."
Dan could run. But Jenny was smart enough to keep some of her energy in reserve. The additional exertion of running with her heavy pack immediately broke her out in a sweat. Dan pulled ahead, but she let him get out in front about 10 yards, biding her time. She could hear some of her new coworkers soon, and when she judged it was close enough for a kick, put the hammer down. She could feel her energy surge, and she began to gain on Dan. Dan heard her feet slapping the ground behind him faster, harder, and tried to kick himself, but didn't get enough energy, and as she pulled alongside, she mustered enough energy to look to her right and smile.
They pounded up a slight rise, and saw three people standing in a camp, facing their way. Cheers erupted as the threesome realized what was underway. A guy in dreadlocks and a bandanna who must have been the one who returned the shout earlier hollered "Go Danny boy!!!"
The other two were women, and they immediately took Jenny's side. One, a redhead with a Tilley hat, long sleeves and pants on despite the heat, yelled "Come on, girl!" The other was a petite East Indian girl. Her hair was short, and a little spiky, and she was wearing long shorts and a grimy white tank top. "Beat him!"
Both Jenny and Dan, egged on by the sudden audience, went into top gear. Dan began to gain on her, but as they got to the camp, Jenny was able to stay ahead by a few feet. When she got to a big red tent, she grabbed on and declared herself victorious with a shout. Then she dropped her pack and dropped to the ground, her chest heaving.
Her cheering section ran over. "Way to go!" She looked over at Dan. He was bent over, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. She rolled onto her side and got up, walked to Dan, and held out her hand.
"Good race, boss."
"Thanks," he panted. "You're a strategic thinker, eh?"
"I like to win."
"Uh-huh," he panted, and shook her hand. "Fuck. I'm gonna do a test run with the next girl I race to camp," he said.
The redhead high-fived Jenny. "You're the first girl to beat Danny. You're a legend already!"
"You mean he does this to everybody?"
"Yeah – it's a tradition. He's been beaten a couple of times by guys, but never by a woman – until today." The girl began to sing "Sisters are doin' it for themselves" in a voice that was only slightly acquainted with the melody.
"Don't listen to Siobhan sing or you'll turn to stone," said the East Indian girl. She put out her hand. "I'm Amani." Jenny shook, and Amani said "Congratulations. That must have been quite the run."
Jenny wiped her brow. "I don't have to work today, do I?"
Dan responded. "Nah, we'll show you the ropes a little today, and get to it tomorrow. What are you guys doing here anyway?"
The guy with dreads responded. "We wanted to make sure there was a welcoming committee for you, Dan-O. Besides, we needed to do a little work on camp today too."
"How come?"
"Had some bears around last night, knocked some pots around and stuff, so I wanted to make sure we were secure and that we didn't have anything that was going to attract them to come back."
"Jenny, this is Marley." Marley stuck out his hand.
"My real name's Bob. They call me Marley 'cause of these," he said, shaking his dreadlocks.
"That, and the grass you always bring up here," said Siobhan. Laughter rippled through the group.
"You guys ready for some lunch?" asked Amani.
"Some water first?" said Jenny. "Then lunch. For sure." She was starting to relax. So far, the people seemed cool, and the flies weren't so bad.
