It happened so fast! One minute, I was flailing in the lake like I was drunk or something, and the next, from out of nowhere, I felt a powerful pair of hands grab me by the waist underwater. “HE’S GOT ME!!” I shouted at the tops of my lungs. I waited for the Ghost of Ontario to pull me underwater.
I heard Dad yell my name one last time. “Kylie! What’s got you?!”
“THE GHOST OF ONTARIO!!” I shrieked, “IT WAS NICE KNOWNG YOU, CAMP JUNIPER! AHHH!!” From underwater, the hands moved up to my arms and grasped them. “THIS IS IT!!” I shouted, “MY LIFE IS OVER!!” Warm tears streamed down my cheeks, “OH, GOD! OH, GOD! OH, GOD!”
Nonetheless, just when I thought for sure the Ghost of Ontario would drag me underwater, from it burst out a wet, non-ghost head, and a male voice shouted, “Don’t yell! I’ve got you!”
“What the?!” I screamed, “Who are you?!” I turned my head and gasped. It was him! It was the beautiful, teenage boy I saw at the first portage!
His soggy, scraggly, brown hair flopped down over his shoulders, and to me, he yelled, “Stop panicking! You can trust me!” He looked even more smoking with wet hair. I knew it wasn’t a hallucination! I knew I saw a boy, and here he was!
My entire face turned red. I knew it did. I almost forgot that I was floating in the Death Lake.
The boy grasped my arms and kicked his legs. He started to drag me through the water. He actually was a really skilled swimmer. Stupid me! I thought it was the Ghost of Ontario that grabbed me! But it wasn’t! It was a boy, and he definitely wasn’t a ghost. He wasn’t dead. He was very alive. He swam like a professional through the water. He soon stopped, and still holding me, he peered up to the floating orange light. I looked up with him. I gulped. Maybe the light was the Ghost of Ontario? It wasn’t. It was something else.
The boy called up to it. “Ro, lead them to the island!” Even his voice was sexy! I was confused. There was “Ro” again. Who was Ro?
The light started to move again. The voices of my family members started to fade the further I got away from them.
“Where are you taking me?!” I asked the boy. My teeth chattered from both fear and cold.
The boy didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to drag me.
While he did so, I studied him very carefully. He definitely was around my age, either fifteen or sixteen, and he definitely had a Native American-like appearance to him. “What are you doing?” I asked him, “My family is back there!”
He again didn’t answer.
Suddenly, my feet hit sand. I felt the bottom of the lake. I gasped and peered into the water. By this time, the fog was starting to lift. Since the water was so clear in the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, I saw my feet. I peered forward and gasped again. In front of me stood an island. The boy had dragged me to an island.
He pulled me up onto a small beach and sat me down. Immediately, he tended to me. He unbuckled my life vest and pulled it off. He plopped it down next to me and next took off my green jacket, plopping it down on top of it.
I shivered and wrapped my arms around my body. I was speechless. I had no idea what to say.
Momentarily, the boy left me and vanished around a small point on the island. He soon returned, and I saw that he was carrying an old blanket over his shoulder. Now where he got the blanket, I had no idea, but he definitely had one.
I stared. The spotlight again shone on only the boy.
He stopped in front of me and kneeled, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders.
I pulled it close to me.
The boy soon held his left arm over his right knee, and he asked me, “You all right?” in his kind voice.
Still speechless, I just nodded. I could not bring myself to words here. I was in shock.
Next, the boy held out to me...my flowers and added with, “You dropped these.”
I reached one hand out the blanket and took the flowers. I couldn’t even bring myself to say, “Thank you.”
What he did next was remarkable. After he made sure I was all right, he reached behind his back and pulled out two, random stones as if by magic and an unlit, wooden torch.
I watched as he fell to his hands and knees in front of me and smacked the stones together. Immediately, there was a spark, and the boy started to blow. Within seconds, his torch was lit, and he stood back up. I saw the light in the sky again. It was starting to fade. I gasped and realized what it was. That light was another torch. Apparently this boy loved torches.
He started to wave his torch to the floating one and yelled, “Ro, over here! Tell Dempsey that he and his friends should keep pushing! Get them off the lake! It’s way too foggy!” However, just as soon as he appeared, he disappeared. I heard a flapping sound, and it came closer and closer. The mysterious hermit next turned on his heel, and he stumbled towards the island’s point again.
“Wait!” I called. I reached out to him.
The hermit stopped and peered over his shoulder to me with his torch still clutched tightly in his hand. He suddenly looked very frightened.
I stood up and opened my mouth to speak, but I struggled with my words. When I finally caught them, I asked him, “Who are you?” in a desperate tone.
“A friend,” was his answer. With that, he blew out his torch and dove behind the point again.
Keeping the blanket wrapped around me, I went after him. I looked around the point, and I saw him. Ihaan was swimming away. Yeah, I think I already mentioned this, but I’ll mention it again... This mysterious boy was Ihaan, the boy who changed the trip forever. I called to him, “Come back! Just tell me who you are!”
Ihaan peered back to me. He kind of looked like a merman with the way he was swimming. “I’m the only kid!” I yelled, “I’m the only kid! I need you!”
He didn’t come back. He just took a deep breath and dove underwater.
I groaned and stomped my foot. Ihaan was a very shy boy, audience, so don’t be surprised that he refused to stay with me.
Soon after he vanished underwater, I suddenly heard, “Kylie!” behind me. It was Mom. I turned, and my jaw dropped to the ground. Camp Juniper’s canoes had pulled up to the beach, and Mom approached me. Crying, she pulled me into a hug and sobbed, “Don’t scare me like that! Are you all right?!” She took my shoulders and peered down on my blanket, “Where did you get that blanket?”
“Oh.” I stammered, “Long story, Mom. Don’t worry, I’m all right.” Mom continued to hug me, but I didn’t hug her back because I was still in a bit of a bad mood. My eyes rolled over to Dad who leaped out of his canoe.
“Well,” he said, and he placed his hands on his hips, “we’re not going to try that again. Camp Juniper,” He gestured with his hand at the island, “welcome to the first campsite.”
Uncle Macon did an investigation of the island’s campsite to make sure it was big enough. While he did that, the rest of Camp Juniper tried to recover from the experience with the fog. We all had to comfort Aunt Lydia because she was still crying.
I stayed wrapped in my blanket and watched as the fog lifted from Red Squirrel Lake.
Very faintly, the rays of the setting sun started to scan it and us. It was like a light from the heavens coming down to tell us something. Since the fog was lifting, it wasn’t as dark on Red Squirrel Lake anymore. My mind could not leave two particular things: the Ghost of Ontario and the mysterious boy who saved my family and I. Who was he? I already said, but if you didn’t catch it, then just keep listening. He will be back. He’s the deuteragonist of this story.
Uncle Macon was gone for a long time. I started to grow worried. What if the Ghost of Ontario caught him?
“That’s it!” I shouted, and I hurried towards mine and Uncle Bart’s canoe, picking up my paddle, “I don’t want to be here! I want to go back to Lake Anima Nipissing!”
Uncle Bart stopped me from pushing the canoe out to the lake. “No, Kylie!” he said, “I don’t want you to fall overboard again!”
After a bit, once we managed to calm Aunt Lydia down, a shadow appeared from the top of a hill on the island, and I screamed. It turned out to just be Uncle Macon. Ha, ha, go ahead and laugh again. Share with the world that Kylie Juniper’s a chicken.
Uncle Bart turned to me and laughed, “Ho, ho! This is hilarious! I haven’t seen you this scared since that time at the petting zoo!”
I gasped and pointed my index finger at him. “I told you we would never talk about it!”
From the top of the hill, Uncle Macon gave us a thumb’s up. “It’s perfect!” he announced, “There are plenty of sites! I even found a good place to set up the latrine!”
Camp Juniper cheered, except me, and Uncle Macon added with, “We have to thank that mysterious light! If it wasn’t for it, then I don’t know if we would’ve made it here!”
Camp Juniper all announced, “Thank you!” out to Red Squirrel Lake. We then started to unpack.
I picked up my life vest and jacket, and Uncle Macon took my hand, lugging me up the hill and onto the campsite. My eyes caught a fireplace, and I shooed a mosquito away. It was still rush hour for them. I was also still wet, so that meant that they would definitely come to me. Dad soon climbed up the hill after me. I jumped at every sudden sound. Yelling, I leaped behind his back and asked, “Is it a bear? The Ghost of Ontario?”
Dad pulled me off like duct tape because I had been holding onto him for so long.
There was a nice view of Red Squirrel Lake from the island and campsite. It was progressively getting chillier, and you know what it means when it gets chilly. A ghost was in the area!
I decided to wander deeper into the forest and explore the site. To the left of me was a large hill, and I soon stood on a cliff. I peered out to Red Squirrel Lake and lifted my hand, holding it up to the rays of the setting sun. I then lowered it and turned my neck. I found a perfect place to set up my tent. I put my life jacket down on the spot to indicate that that was where it was going to go. Mosquitoes circled me, and I quickly dropped the blanket on top of it and put my bug net on.
“Kylie!” Mom soon yelled at me.
I turned, and my eyes landed on her. She gestured me towards the canoes, and I called back.
“In just a sec, Mom! I’m just checking out the site!” I was just about to return to her when I heard another crack in the forest. My eyes widened, and I looked into the trees. “Is that you, boy?!” I asked. Nothing answered. Terrified, I backed up, and I crashed into Dad. Gasping, I whirled around and yelled, “Daddy!” at the sight of him.
Dad took my shoulders and said, “Kylie, stop being so jumpy! Don’t worry. We’re going to make sure nothing happens to you. Help us unload the canoes, and then we’ll set up your tent so you can change out of those wet clothes.” He turned and started to walk away, but I temporarily stayed behind because I was curious about the crack in the forest.
I headed towards it. Soon, I stopped, for I had discovered a small, forestry path. I didn’t follow it, though. I didn’t know where the path led to, and something told me that I didn’t want to know. I searched the forest for the boy, but I didn’t see him.
I heard the voice of Mother again, “Kylie!”
“Okay, okay!” I yelled, and I rolled my eyes. Turning on my heel, I scrambled towards her and the canoes.
I helped unpack the canoes, but I stayed a bit moody. I jumped at every sound. Dad just laughed his head off at me. He was having a blast. I wasn’t. I wanted to see that boy again, so I could at least spend a few minutes with someone my age and someone who probably was strong enough to fight off the Ghost of Ontario. He rescued me so he could fight the ghost, right? I stayed silent and lost in thought as Dad and I set up my tent. After doing so, he handed me my clothes bag, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, dry bag, blanket, and Annie. With my arms full, I disappeared inside my tent for a bit to set it up. I set it up the exact way how I set it up at Finlayson. I kept it zipped shut the entire time I got organized, just because of the mosquitoes.
Dad spoke to me from outside. “Do I not get a thank you?” he asked.
“Ah, stuff a pillow in it.” I grumbled, “You were the one who forced me to come along in the first place, Dad! You were also the one who got us lost on Red Squirrel Lake!”
“I guess I don’t get a ‘Thank you.’” Dad said, and I heard his feet begin to leave, “Stuff a pillow in it, Kylie. This is an adventure.”
I didn’t care. I just wanted to get this stupid trip over with and off the lake. Inside my tent, I changed my clothes. My previous clothes were wet. I had to let them dry. I changed into turquoise pants, brown, tall boots, a green, long-sleeved, patterned top, and a new jacket. Next, I brushed my red hair and put the pink flowers back behind my left ear. All right, I felt a lot cleaner now. I decided to go out and hang up my wet clothes so they could dry. That was the next thing on my agenda.
Grabbing my bug net, I tucked my wet clothes under my arm and unzipped my tent. I crawled outside, with my long, red hair hanging and Uncle Bart’s whistle dangling, and zipped it behind. I left the mysterious pouch I found behind in it. I wanted to make sure it was safe. I didn’t want to lose it. It would dry in my tent.
Outside, I stood up and searched for a tree I could use as a clothesline. I found one. It was the perfect tree, and it was located on the cliff. I carefully set my wet clothes down on some branches and stretched them out so all of them could air out and dry.
While I worked, Aunt Jessie and Uncle Macon came to me. When they did, it was starting to grow dark, so rush hour for mosquitoes was over. There weren’t as many anymore.
“Yo, Kylie!” Uncle Macon called.
“Hm?” I asked. I dropped my hands from the limbs where my clothes hung and turned to him and Aunt Jessie.
“Oh good,” he said, “You changed.” I saw that he held the bucket that we used for the latrine under his arm, “Do you want to come with us to set up the latrine?”
I raised my eyebrows. That was kind of an awkward question, but I went ahead and said, “Uhh, sure.” Camp Juniper always came to me on the trip for advice of where we should set up the latrine. I don’t know why. They just did. Uncle Macon’s headlamp was hanging from his wrist, but it wasn’t turned on.
He led Aunt Jessie and me to the path that I hesitated to check out before. You know, the path where I searched for the mysterious boy?
Uncle Macon stepped onto it, but before I could, Aunt Jessie passed me. She looked very uncomfortable.
Jumping up and down, she yelled, “Gotta go! Gotta go! Gotta go!” Crazy Aunt Jessie. She’s never going to lose her craziness. She hurried onto the path and next passed Uncle Macon.
He stopped and peered back to me, asking, “Aren’t you coming, Kylie Wylie?”
I still stood outside the forest. I remember, I was shaking in my bones. I didn’t know where that path led to. I was scared. What if the Ghost of Ontario flew out and grabbed us? We were on Red Squirrel Lake after all. I gulped, “I guess,” and I slowly lifted my foot. I set it down on the forestry path but quickly pulled it back. It looked like the first portage all over again. I lifted my foot again, and this time, I actually did start to follow the path. I followed Uncle Macon and Aunt Jessie.
The path was short, but even during the short walk, I was still terrified. I hated being tormented by Canadian rangers! I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice!
I heard rustling in the forest, and I gasped. I couldn’t stay another minute on that path. It was too intimidating! Immediately I whirled around and sprinted out of the forest. Turning, I called to Uncle Macon and Aunt Jessie, “It’s too intimidating!” They turned and faced me. “There’s something on this island!” I added with, “I can feel it! How about we move on to Lake Temagami? That lake won’t be as terrifying!”
“It’s already too late!” Uncle Macon called to me. “Everybody is exhausted, Kylie! We’ve had a very rough day, and we need to sleep it off! We’ll leave early tomorrow! I promise! It’s going to get dark soon, and it’s also still a little foggy! Now come on!”
I refused to go back into the forest. “I’d rather not!” I called, “You guys go on without me! I feel safer here!”
Uncle Macon sighed, “As you wish,” and he patted Aunt Jessie’s back, “Come on, Aunt Jessie.” They disappeared on the other side of the trail.
Sinking to my knees, I placed my hands on my thighs and waited for them. Uncle Macon wasn’t gone for long, only because Aunt Jessie had to use the latrine. He soon reappeared on the path, and he approached me. I looked up and peered into his eyes.
Here, Uncle Macon gave his lecture about the latrine. He just had to. “Now here are the rules with the latrine,” he told me, and he lifted his finger. “Only use it when you really have to go. When you just have to pee, go in the forest. When you’re done, take the shovel and pile dirt on top of it. Put the bucket back on top of it, and make sure you wash your hands. We’re not going to have anybody get sick on this trip. Are we clear, young lady?”
I groaned, “Clear,” and I looked away from Uncle Macon. He started to walk away. Under my breath, I mocked him. I was very rude again. “‘Are we clear, young lady?’” I mocked.
Uncle Macon actually heard me. You see, he has very good hearing. He turned and glared at me.
I chuckled nervously and placed my hands behind my back.
Before he took off again, Uncle Macon explained one last thing about the latrine. “Oh yeah!” he said, and he pointed at the forest. “The latrine is located at the end of the path in a wide open area next to some rocks. There is a very nice view of the lake, so it won’t be desolate but beautiful when you go.”
I rolled my eyes, “Whatever, Uncle Macon,” and I shooed him away.
He glared at me again.
I scoffed and crossed my arms, turning away. Stomping my foot, I said, “Humph!” and closed my eyes.
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