Okefenokee

Junior woke, not wanting to sleep in the warm sun. He got up and climbed partially down the bluff taking a coastal trail that gave a pinhole view of the dock through the trees. He stopped and thought, then looked again. What he saw was additional boats. Something was wrong, where did they come from. Who brought them he thought. He was close enough to see clearly when he started thinking about Bart and the things he said. “It’s the kids from town, it has to be,” he said quietly to himself.

Dread rushed over him like warm water pouring on his head and finding its way to the ground, soaking every square inch of him. Fear came next, they must be going after his Mom and Dad. What could he do. He thought for a minute what his Dad would do in this situation. It came to him. He hid one boat in the reeds while lowering the rowboat and one canoe into the water and tied the pull rope from the canoe to the rowboat. He started rowing away from the shore as his plan was to tow each canoe away and hide them stranding whoever they were. His mind was still working, chopping wood for what would come next.

He wasn’t completely sure what he was going to do with the canoes but thought taking them from the kids gave him a certain unknown leverage. From this point on he would be working for more leverage. He knew this would anger the kids but he could not allow fear to over take his thoughts. He was his family’s only chance if the camp had fallen. As he rowed he went in a direction to the left which they never used because it went toward the bluff and there was no accessible beach.

After rowing for some time his arms tired and he stopped and looked toward shore. It was the rear side of the bluff where the swim pond was. He got out and pulled the rowboat through the grass up and onto dry land. He was hot and perspiring which made the insects more aggressive. He continued with the canoe. It was much lighter to lift. He would return later for the other canoe.

Now the question was what to do next. He had his revolver, but they had guns too. He couldn’t shoot them because they might retaliate and shoot his parents. It was best for him to hide the gun for now, so he did right near the canoes under a piece of dead wood.

Now he was going to go in for a closer look at camp. He crawled through the forest right up to the camp clearing not making a sound or moving a blade of grass. He saw two of the boys sitting behind the tent as seen from entering camp from either of two directions where the paths intersected. They were clearly hiding so he would enter thinking everything was normal. He could hear voices from the tent. It was Bart, he was loud and a girls voice, Surfer. He didn’t hear his parents which worried him. What had they done to them he wondered.

Bart stepped out of the tent and said to Beach and Yancy, “Will you bring our supplies from the dock? I’m getting hungry.”

Junior observed and knew that they would know about the boats soon. He thought about what to do. Bart alone with the girl would be easier to deal with then all four but they would be armed. He felt fear for what would happen to his parents and his world.

They followed the path and Beach said, “Are you getting tired of Bart?”

Yancy, “Yeah, always telling me what to do. I know he is injured but he could ask and it would make things a lot nicer around here.”

“I know.” Beach was startled when his first glance of the dock revealed the canoes and the rowboat missing. “What the heck. Our supplies?” He was in disbelief. They had been waiting for Junior to show at camp thinking he was unaware of their arrival.

Yancy, “Apparently the kid knows we are here now,” grinning because Bart’s plan wasn’t going well and he found it amusing.

Beach, “This isn’t funny our food is gone.”

“I’m sure they have something in camp. Probably fish,” said Yancy.

“Yeah, but we had good canned fish that tasted good.” The kids never had the kind of meals that their parents made them when they were young. Everything they ate was processed and packaged and usually cold. “We better get back.” they went back along the trail to camp where Bart was standing hear the fire.

Yancy blurted out, “The boats are all gone.”

Bart, “Gone, what do you mean?”

Beach, “They are not where we left them at the dock. There is no sign of them. The kid must be up to it.”

Bart, “The kid?”

They all went into the tent where Beach removed the mouth gags, “No need for this anymore. Your kid knows about us being here. Are you OK?” They nodded.

Rob and Cyndi were relieved that was all the news. Junior was still safe out there.

Yancy being slow witted finally realized that no boats could mean, no way to return to the mainland. Living out there would be a sentence of its own. Like being prisoners themselves. “Don’t you see he has us captive now. We need to trade his parents for the boats so we can leave.”

Beach, “He’s making sense now. Why are we here in the first place? Look what you got us into.”

The gang’s spirit was fracturing in front of Rob and Cyndi. It became clear to them that this was about Bart, not the other three who were just going along like dogs in a pack to the alpha.

Bart said, “OK outside,” looking at the prisoners and they stepped out into the open along with the gang. He shouted “Listen up kid. I know you are out there and can hear me.”

Junior slowly crawled backward away from site. He was getting ready for what was going to come.

Bart made his revolver visible and shouted, “If you don’t surrender to us I am going to shoot your Father.” The other three all looked at each other in surprise.

Junior moved further out of site but stayed within audible range. He couldn’t believe what he heard. He wondered what would happen if he gave up. They might kill the whole family. What would his Dad do now he thought.

Beach said, “We are not going to shoot anyone that is not trying to harm us and they are not a threat at the moment.”

“Shut up. Just listen. We are not going to let some kid get the best of us. Do you hear me?” Bart grew angry.

Yancy, “How can you be so sure that he is out there hearing what you said. One of us should contact him and let him know how important those boats are to us and that we must have them returned immediately.”

Bart, “I don’t care about the boats I want him to surrender.” The gang could see that he was no longer in control of his faculties and it was scaring them. “Yancy, if you want to venture out to talk to him go ahead. Tell him what I said.”

“Well, I’m not sure I want to go. He has a gun.”

Bart, “Are you afraid of a twelve year old boy?’

“No, but I'm am afraid of a boy with a gun though and he knows how to use it.”

Surfer, “I will go. He won’t shoot me.”

Beach concerned, “Are you sure?”

She walked out of camp alone as they watched, but Beach alone knew she had protection.

Bart said to the parents, “OK, back inside,” pointing toward the tent. “Yancy, are you afraid to keep an eye on two old folks who have their hands tied behind them?”

“No.” He followed them inside and gestured for them to sit on the cots.

Cyndi looked at Rob and then spoke to Yancy, “Why is he doing this? You know I shot his foot because he was kidnapping us when Rob needed medicine. It was entirely his fault that he was shot.”

Yancy replied, “He is very angry you shot him but it is not the only reason he came. He did not know Rob was here, you never mentioned him. In fact you said you two where alone here. You lied.”

Junior could only hear what Bart shouted. The normal conversation was unheard by him. He saw Surfer walk out of camp when he pushed some limbs aside for a moment. He then paralleled her position hidden by the trees while she slowly walked along the path.

She was nervous about Junior but she was also worried that Bart would elevate the tension if somebody didn’t step in. She didn’t want any harm to come to him or his family. After she got a ways out she called out, “Hello.”

Junior came out of the greenery from her side with speed and tackled her taking her into the bushes on the far side of the path wrestling her down. She tried to fight back but he was stronger then he appeared. He held her down, clasped his hand on her mouth and sat on top of her. Then he looked around to see if it was a trap but there was no one else around. He was breathing hard from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He said to her, “Don’t scream, OK?”

She nodded her head and he removed his hand covering her mouth. Then he said, “Why have you come here and why are they holding my parents hostage. My Dad is not well you know.” He helped her up from the ground and brushed her off.

Surfer gathered herself, “I am not sure really. It was Bart who talked everybody into joining him. He said you would go after us because of the way we treated you. So we needed to get you first.”

“We were not going to come after you. We were afraid of being around you. You survived the death plague. If you still carry the disease it would be a death sentence for us to be exposed.”

“My name is Surfer,” she held out her hand.

Junior shook her hand finding her quite attractive at that moment. “My parents call me Junior and that is OK for them but I would like to be called Rob or Rob Jr.” He had never spent anytime with any woman outside of family. It was magical to him to be holding her hand.

Surfer, “Rob, I like that name.”

Junior, “I don’t feel safe this close to camp. Would you come with me and we can discuss how to end this mess?”

“Lead the way,” she was feeling very comfortable with him and he seemed more mature then a twelve year old.

Junior took her hand again and led her up the hike to the swimming pond. When they arrived she was out of breath from the steep climb “Wow, this is really cool. It’s beautiful here.”

Junior, “It’s the cleanest water around. Look how far down you can see. It’s not like the black swamp water. Would you like to go for a swim?”

“I would love to but I can’t swim.”

“What, are you kidding? Your name is Surfer.”

She shook her head no, "They nicknamed me that because of my looks and the movies we watched."