tainted love [ xavier plympton ]

four

Camp Redwood was beautiful. Lush green woodland surrounded a massive lake, and the cabins hugged the edge. There was a serene atmosphere to the place, it sounded- and looked- dead empty.

When they arrived, a short blonde woman was chopping wood. She looked up when the group jumped out of the van, and approached them.

"Welcome to Camp Redwood." She smiled, "I'm Margaret Booth. I'm the owner."

"Boss lady chopping her own wood." Montana nodded, "Choice."

"Well, we'll all have to wear multiple hats. We are short-staffed, and the kids arrive the day after tomorrow."

"Yeah, are we the only counselors?" Chet asked, putting his elbow on Laurie's shoulder.

"Well, the Olympics create thousands of temporary jobs, and my pool of potential employees was limited." Margaret shrugged.

"Is there a medic or a nurse here?" Brooke called from inside the van. "We have a situation."

"What happened to him?" Margaret asked, striding towards the van.

"Uh, he was by the side of the road." Xavier said quickly.

"Yeah, he was already messed up." Laurie said in a light-hearted tone, forgetting to wipe the soft smile she permanently had from her face.

"Okay, well, let's get him to the infirmary." Margaret said. Once again, Chet and Ray carried the man, following Margaret to the infirmary. The seven of them, including Margaret, entered the infirmary with the man.

"You say you found him in the middle of the road?" The nurse asked, whose name was Rita.

"He was by the side of the road." Xavier corrected, "He's been pretty out of it, saying weird things, not making much sense."

"He's severely dehydrated. Probably went for a hike and got lost. Couldn't find his way back. Panicked." Rita said, crossing the room to get supplies, "People don't realize just how deep these woods are. Hikers get lost in them every year. End up dead of hypothermia or falling into a ravine or just disappearing altogether. He's lucky you found him."

"Is he gonna die?" Ray asked.

"Not on my watch. Don't worry, I work in the E.R. at Hawthorne Hospital the rest of the year."

"Why don't we give our nurse a little space. Come on. I can show you all a tour of the camp." Margaret said, so they all followed her out of the infirmary.

They followed her down the path to the river, Brooke at the front, and Xavier and Laurie at the back. He made little comments to her on the way down, making her giggle.

"We have canoes and rowboats. All children must have a buddy to go into the water. The lake is allegedly bottomless, and drowning is the number one cause of death for U.S. campers." Margaret explained as they reached the lake.

"What's second?" Xavier asked with a smirk. Margaret didn't answer, but instead turned around and continued.

"And this is Chef Bertie, a Camp Redwood veteran." Margaret introduced the group to a short woman as they continued their tour.

"Dibs." Xavier joked.

"You wouldn't know what to do with it if you got it, handsome." Chef Bertie said, and Laurie snorted at the look on Xavier's face. "Put those scrawny arms to work and help a lady fill her pantry." Bertie handed Xavier a crate, "All of you, grab a crate. This heat is a killer."

All of them grabbed a crate and carried them inside. "Chef Bertie worked here when I was a counselor. We are so blessed to have her with us." Margaret explained as they did so.