Lars gunned the motor and waved. “Well, so long. Have a good time.”
Russell Steele cast off the mooring line. “We will, Lars. And I promise to take good care of Prince.”
Lars laughed. “Prince take good care of you, I think. See you in couple of weeks.”
The boys watched until the boat was just a speck in the distance. “What a sweet outfit that is, Mr. Steele,” Jerry said admiringly. “I could spend the whole summer just cruising around the lake like that.”
Russ took out his pipe and filled it from a plastic pouch. “Before you go back to California, we’ll try and get some water skiing in.”
“Boy, that will be great.”
Russ led the way up the beach to the bungalow. “We’ll fill our canteens with fresh water from the pump behind the house and be on our way.”
They struck out through a grove of pines with Russ leading the way. The boles were thick around as a man and clean of limbs for about thirty feet up. A dim, soothing green light filtered down through the interlaced canopy of branches above them.
“It reminds me of a cathedral,” Sandy said.
The silence was eerie; their footsteps were almost soundless on the spongy forest floor.