Adirondack Audacity Read Online Free Page A

passport to summer freedom and new
beginnings.
    The sign along the roadside reads Inlet in carved gold
letters poised above a painted loon. The bus turns into a
parking lot and comes to a stop with a hiss of air brakes.
    “Good bye, Vera.”
My voice muffled as I bend over
tying up the laces of my hiking boots.
“Whattt?” Vera blinks with bleary eyes.
“This is my stop. I have to get off here.”
“Here, dearie let me move so you can get out.” She
stifles a yawn. “Goodness, I fell into a dead sleep. Now
you have a good summer.”
“I will,” I assure her, wedging myself into the narrow
aisle of the bus. “I hope you enjoy your stay in the
mountains.”
She gives my shoulder a motherly pat before settling
back into her seat. “Honey, don’t you worry about me. I
know how to have a good time.”
Taking a deep breath, I head for the stairs. With a
wave good bye, I turn to exit the bus and snag the toe of
my boot on the ragged edge of rubber mat covering the
steps, lose my balance and crash with a thump into the
arms of the surprised bus driver. Ouuu!
“Whoa, little lady, you’ll get there soon enough, no
need to fly off my bus.” He says with a chuckle helping
me to my feet with his strong arms.
“I’m so sorry,” I say to him, pushing myself off his
chest. Oh God. While the driver retrieves my suitcase from
the luggage compartment, I survey the parking lot hoping
no one noticed my precarious flight down the stairs.
“Good luck, little lady.” The driver gives me a salute
as he boards the bus. “Enjoy your summer!”
The door closes cutting off my last link with home,
leaving me in the cool Adirondack evening. My last sight
of the bus is Vera wildly waving good bye from the
window.
In the west the setting sun outlines the pines behind
the town hall in streaks of orange and pink. Shading my
eyes against the glare, I look around the parking lot for
my ride to camp and stop dead in my tracks….. it can’t be?
Chapter 2
Summer Friends
    Placing my belongings on the blacktop, I stop and
stare, shaking my head in disbelief. Am I hallucinating?
The man striding toward me could pass for Vera Watts’s
twin brother…. minus the mole. How is this
possible…did they leave her behind…. did she mutate
into a man? Oh shit….
    “Ellen,
come over here.” The man gestures for me to
join the group of teenagers lounging against a van in
various states of boredom. I say a quick prayer, please tell
me they missed my grand exit from the bus,
unfortunately it looks like they had…nothing…else…to
do.
    “I’m Morris Erhart, Director of Camp High Point
;
we spoke on the phone last April for the interview.
Welcome to the Adirondacks.” Rocking back on the
worn heels of his cowboy boots he continues, “You can
call me, Morris, unless my wife is around, then it’s Mr.
Erhart. She likes a little respect between staff and
management, but for me, I’m more of a down to earth
kind of cowpoke.” Morris Erhart is a large man weighing
at least 270 pounds with a broad face, dark brown eyes
that tend to vanish into the little folds of fat surrounding
his eyes when he smiles. Faded blue jeans are held in
place by a turquoise belt buckle and his plaid cowboy
shirt strains against a spreading paunch. Atop his head is
an honest to goodness Stetson cowboy hat. Not exactly
attire for a mountain man. Vera Watts gone Texas style?
    According to the camp information Morris sent me,
the Erhart family was originally from Texas and involved
in the oil industry. His grandfather fell in love with the
Adirondacks while on a business trip to New York in the
1920’s, and purchased a mountain retreat for his family to
escape the dust and heat of Texas summers. Due to
economic reasons in the 1950’s the family converted their
vacation property into a summer camp for children.
Morris and his wife are the second generation of Erharts
to manage the camp.
    “
Ellen, you’re the last to arrive but before we