The Trip to Raptor Bluff Read Free Page A

worked her butt off to get where she is, and Lucy doesn’t do much of anything.  She never has.  She shows up at work when she feels like it, does absolutely nothing that Brenda can’t do better, and she treats the other employees like they are field peasants. Joshua bestowed the title of Chief Operating Officer on Lucy on her twenty-first birthday, gave her a big corner office, and made her an equal with Brenda.  I get why Brenda is so resentful, but Brenda is such a terrorist herself that I can’t feel sorry for her.  Even so, I would rather work for Brenda than Lucy.  Lucy makes decisions like she is an all-knowing supreme leader and you aren’t allowed to question her, even in areas where you have knowledge and experience and she has absolutely none.  She’s a joke to everyone but herself.”
    “How do you stand it?”
    “I work from home, my work is interesting, I make three times what I would anywhere else, and I love Joshua.  He’s a really good guy and one heck of a salesman.  He’s also even-tempered unless Lucy and Brenda bring their fighting to him.  That’s the only time he goes ballistic, and that hasn’t happened for a while.  Brenda and Lucy have learned to keep their war under wraps.”
    “It sounds like a horrible place to work.”
    “It would be for some people if it weren’t for the salaries.  All of the employees, me included, make too much money to consider going anywhere else.  And the perks are great, too.  This field trip is one of them.  Joshua is footing the bill for this whole trip to Raptor Bluff and giving Lucy, Brenda, Andrea, and me two weeks off to chaperone it.”
    “It still sounds horrible.”
    “We are just like any big dysfunctional family is all,” laughed Rick.  “And speaking of one of the dysfunctional members, here comes Brenda.”
    Brenda lumbered to the front of the bus pulling a rolling cooler of drinks and carrying a large backpack full of snacks.  She looked at Abby’s name tag and smiled. “Hi Abby, care for a snack or a drink?” 
    “I’ll take a sports drink, thanks,” Abby replied.  “Rick, what do you want?  I’ll get it for you.”
    “How about water and two bags of chips? Any kind will do.”
    Brenda handed the snacks to Abby and glanced at the sleeping Caleb under the seat.  “Thanks for taking care of the dog.  I was worried that he would be all over the place.  My son’s dog throws up every time he gets in the car.  Ugh!”  She laughed and patted Abby’s shoulder.  “Nice to meet you, Abby.  We are going to have a great time.”
    “She seems really nice to me,” said Abby after Brenda had moved back to her seat.
    “You aren’t a threat to her power and control.  The monster won’t come out unless Caleb misbehaves or Lucy tries to interfere with her game.  You will be fine.”
    “Is that her kid?  The curly haired girl sitting beside her?”
    “Yeah, that’s Shelly, Brenda’s thirteen-year-old daughter.  She’s a good kid.  The other kid, the one sitting beside Andrea, is Dakota, Lucy’s twelve-year-old daughter.  I don’t know much about her except that Andrea is her godmother.”  He glanced out the window and pointed down towards the coastline that was just coming into view.  “This is one of the most beautiful drives in the country.  I never get tired of it.  We will have these amazing Pacific Ocean views off and on until we turn inland towards Eugene.”
    “The trip info said the drive is about six hours.  That’s just long enough,” sighed Abby.  “I love this drive too, although I’ve never gone past Port Fortand.”
    “We are going to stay on the coastal highway until we get to Cooper’s Bay.  From there, we will travel inland to Eugene.  This drive along the coast takes a couple hours longer than the inland drive, but who would drive inland and miss this scenery?”
    “I agree,” Abby said as she stuck her head in the aisle and looked towards the back of the bus.  “But