Wolf Camp (Bear Naked 2)

Chapter 11, part 2

Amanda heard a soft chittering noise from the bank. She glanced up and for a split second saw an otter's face. She looked back, but it was already gone. Brianna set her paddle across her lap and spun in her seat to stare at Amanda. Apparently, she had seen the same thing and had the same thought.

Before either of them could voice it, a tan form appeared underneath their canoe. It rose, a paw swept out of the water, becoming a human arm as is went. The sunlight reflected off a hundred water droplets on Jay's naked body as he slid noiseless into their canoe. The water split the light, giving him an unreal sparkly appearance for a second. He rolled over on his back and smiled up at the two of them.

"Jay!" Brianna squealed in joy.

He sat up.

"Look, look," Tanner was shouting and pointing. Jay gave him a one-handed wave.

There was a loud splash and the sound of Courtney's laughter as she flung herself into Erica and Jonathan's canoe.

"Oh my god, what are you guys doing here?" Amanda said.

"We were just out for a stroll and thought, why not go check out the Boundary Waters?" Jay said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be visiting family or something," Erica said as she handed her T-shirt back to Courtney. Courtney gave her an arched look but put the T-shirt on.

"You guys are family," Jay insisted.

"Besides, Courtney's got family around here, right?" Amanda said with a look back.

"Yeah, I got a couple of cousins over on Oyster Lake, not far from here." Courtney said. "We stayed with them a couple of nights ago. But we didn't want to miss you guys."

"Uh, uh," Tanner said. "Human's don't live in the Boundary Waters."

"They are more on the otter side," Jay said.

"What, they live their whole life in otter form?" Erica asked.

"Not their whole life," Courtney explained. "They have a little wigwam sort of house and few human tools in it. But they've got a den too, and they spend more of their time as otters. Especially in the winter."

"Fur is easier than fire," Jay quipped. He stiffened.

"Others," Brianna said. Amanda could hear them too. Seconds later, they were rounding another bend in the river and there was not one, but two, other packs in sight. They were racing neck and neck.

Connor glanced back at Jonathan. Amanda smiled. Her plan seemed to be working. If those two could learn to communicate, to trust each other, then three quarters of the packs cohesiveness problem would be solved.

"Keep pacing them, I say," Jonathan said. "Let them wear each other out."

The packs had both noticed their arrival and they were both speeding up, trying to out run each other and out run them. Amanda glanced down. Jay had dropped onto his back, out of sight. She quietly told him about how they had been sabotaged. His face scrunched up in indignation.

"We are all clear," Brianna said as the others rounded a bend.

Amanda looked down to discover that Jay was back in otter form. With a single glance back at her, he slid out of the canoe and into the water. His tan form zig zagged slowly beside them. He could clearly have swam much faster in that form if he wished, but he did not.

With a graceful snap of his tail, he shot off into the murky depths of the river. He came back a few minutes later and rose up out of the water with a fish clenched in his jaws. He leaned over the edge of the canoe and spit his prize out.

"Jay caught us a fish," Brianna called back to the others. It was unnecessary news, Courtney had already caught her first fish and deposited it in Jonathan and Erica's canoe.

By the time they broke free of the river and set off across Lake Agnes they had encountered the others three more times. It was clear that Jonathan's strategy was paying off, the others took longer and longer to break free of them with each encounter. Just as the river widened into the lake, they spotted Mitch's pack. They did a double take when they spotted Connor's pack.

"Still in the game," Connor called to them, "and we are going to win."