despite the steamy airlessness of the tent, she could relax for a moment and blot out the frenzied activity of the festival.
Her brief shorts and singlet were sopping wet from Suzy's bear hug and she felt damply muggy and suddenly exhausted.
Slumping down on a bench, she closed her eyes, envying Suzy her poise, wishing she were back by the lake at home.
Alexander asked solicitously, "Want me to get you a coffee, Uncle Logan?"
Logan dragged his gaze away from the closed tent flap where Karena had disappeared and said, "Yeah, that would be great." He dug change out of his jeans pocket, automatically adding enough for two large cherry Cokes. He understood Alexander's tactful methods very well.
"I'll come and help you carry," Liz decided. "I have to dry my hair off. That stupid water splashed all over me and it smells bad."
Logan was left to stretch out his long legs until they nearly touched the fence, luxuriating in the sun beating down on the back of his neck like a soothing massage, the humming of the crowd around him and the vivid mental picture of Karena Carlson.
Now all he had to do was figure out a way to meet her.
Karena was fantasizing escape as she rested inside the tent. She imagined checking out of the shabby motel, driving northwest on Route 71 past the village of Northome to her turnoff and taking the bumpy gravel road three miles through the forest to the clearing on the shore of the small lake where her cabin waited. But the fantasy was interrupted by music from the midway, laughter just behind the tent, a girl's voice raised in delighted excitement.
Damnation. Why had she let Danny talk her into coming to Bemidji for this competition in the first place?
She smiled ruefully at that. She knew why. She even knew exactly how he'd managed it.
Danny's methods of persuasion were simple and direct. He simply went on and on about what he wanted, not whining—she could have dealt with that—but impossibly reasonable, and endless.
Days, weeks, at every opportunity since Christmas, when he'd spied the advertisement for the World of Nature wildlife encyclopedia in the newspaper.
"That's what I want for my birthday," he'd stated.
"They're far too expensive," Karena had said dismissively.
"Not if we win logger sports, Mom. We could afford them easy," he'd insisted.
Last January, and this was July.
Six months full of pleading, reminding, cajoling. She'd agreed more to shut him up than anything, and wouldn't experts in child management have a field day with that?
Danny had all the finesse of an earthmover, she mused, and he was just as hard to stop once he got rolling.
"They're offering big money prizes this year, Mom, and you and I could both win easy. You know we could, Mom. I've got fast feet, you said so yourself, and the other kids my age who compete in logrolling and ax throwing haven't had two champs like you and Gabe on their case all the time. Right?" Big, respectful, admiring blue eyes watching her calculatingly. He was good, no doubt about it.
"Spare me the soft soap, Danny, I don't do competition anymore. It isn't as if we desperately need the money for food or dental bills."
She might as well have saved her breath.
"But we do need the money. I need those books more than ever, now we got Mort. It's only for four days, then we could buy the books and there'd be enough left over for you to get something you want, too," he'd pleaded. "Say we'll go, Ma, okay? I need those books. It isn't as if I can watch nature shows on TV like all the other kids at school, right?"
TV was a luxury they couldn’t afford, along with the cell phones and I pads many of the kids at school had. Libraries were still free, Karena reminded Danny whenever the subject came up. But he didn’t nag for electronic devices. Weird kid that he was, he lusted after the set of encyclopedia.
Morning, noon and night, with a ridiculously expensive set of books luring him like a beacon, and a single parent with guilt
Her brief shorts and singlet were sopping wet from Suzy's bear hug and she felt damply muggy and suddenly exhausted.
Slumping down on a bench, she closed her eyes, envying Suzy her poise, wishing she were back by the lake at home.
Alexander asked solicitously, "Want me to get you a coffee, Uncle Logan?"
Logan dragged his gaze away from the closed tent flap where Karena had disappeared and said, "Yeah, that would be great." He dug change out of his jeans pocket, automatically adding enough for two large cherry Cokes. He understood Alexander's tactful methods very well.
"I'll come and help you carry," Liz decided. "I have to dry my hair off. That stupid water splashed all over me and it smells bad."
Logan was left to stretch out his long legs until they nearly touched the fence, luxuriating in the sun beating down on the back of his neck like a soothing massage, the humming of the crowd around him and the vivid mental picture of Karena Carlson.
Now all he had to do was figure out a way to meet her.
Karena was fantasizing escape as she rested inside the tent. She imagined checking out of the shabby motel, driving northwest on Route 71 past the village of Northome to her turnoff and taking the bumpy gravel road three miles through the forest to the clearing on the shore of the small lake where her cabin waited. But the fantasy was interrupted by music from the midway, laughter just behind the tent, a girl's voice raised in delighted excitement.
Damnation. Why had she let Danny talk her into coming to Bemidji for this competition in the first place?
She smiled ruefully at that. She knew why. She even knew exactly how he'd managed it.
Danny's methods of persuasion were simple and direct. He simply went on and on about what he wanted, not whining—she could have dealt with that—but impossibly reasonable, and endless.
Days, weeks, at every opportunity since Christmas, when he'd spied the advertisement for the World of Nature wildlife encyclopedia in the newspaper.
"That's what I want for my birthday," he'd stated.
"They're far too expensive," Karena had said dismissively.
"Not if we win logger sports, Mom. We could afford them easy," he'd insisted.
Last January, and this was July.
Six months full of pleading, reminding, cajoling. She'd agreed more to shut him up than anything, and wouldn't experts in child management have a field day with that?
Danny had all the finesse of an earthmover, she mused, and he was just as hard to stop once he got rolling.
"They're offering big money prizes this year, Mom, and you and I could both win easy. You know we could, Mom. I've got fast feet, you said so yourself, and the other kids my age who compete in logrolling and ax throwing haven't had two champs like you and Gabe on their case all the time. Right?" Big, respectful, admiring blue eyes watching her calculatingly. He was good, no doubt about it.
"Spare me the soft soap, Danny, I don't do competition anymore. It isn't as if we desperately need the money for food or dental bills."
She might as well have saved her breath.
"But we do need the money. I need those books more than ever, now we got Mort. It's only for four days, then we could buy the books and there'd be enough left over for you to get something you want, too," he'd pleaded. "Say we'll go, Ma, okay? I need those books. It isn't as if I can watch nature shows on TV like all the other kids at school, right?"
TV was a luxury they couldn’t afford, along with the cell phones and I pads many of the kids at school had. Libraries were still free, Karena reminded Danny whenever the subject came up. But he didn’t nag for electronic devices. Weird kid that he was, he lusted after the set of encyclopedia.
Morning, noon and night, with a ridiculously expensive set of books luring him like a beacon, and a single parent with guilt
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