“Like, a couple of decades from now,” Bob added wistfully.
“God forbid they really have to fend for themselves,” John said with resignation.
Dani twisted her face into its most serious expression. “Of course we could fend for ourselves.”
“What does fend mean?” Caitlin whispered.
“It means you have to be good at outdoor fending,” Dani said out of the side of her mouth.
“Oh, right.”
“This isn’t the city,” Dani’s dad huffed as Nikki sniffed and snorted. “Out here you have to do things for yourself, act decisively, be in harmony with your environment.”
“Well… well… we know how to fend just fine, right, Caitlin?” Dani huffed right back.
“Uh-huh.”
“In fact, me and Caitlin were planning to camp out all night by ourselves, right, Caitlin?”
Her friend managed to send her thoughts far, far away as the two dads stood grinning in front of their daughters.
Dani frowned. “Earth to Caitlin, remember our plan to camp out all night all by ourselves?”
“Oh, sure,” Caitlin answered, as if the possibility were as remote as spending a night on the moon.
Dani fumed as her face scrunched into her Pekinese expression. “Caitlin and me are as capable as adults!”
John deepened his voice as he stroked his chin. “Now, Dani, you don’t have to get upset. You know you shouldn’t be camping out alone before you’re ready.”
“Watch yourself, John,” Bob warned.
With arms folded so tightly they threatened to meet around her back, Dani searched for words and ideas. From her pocket she removed the crumpled map of Canoe Lake they had picked up at the Portage Store. Her eyes widened. “We… we’ve been planning to camp out at Tom Thomson’s favourite campsite—right here.”
Caitlin glanced at the map and didn’t see any washroom markings.
Thumbing her overalls straps and standing on her toes, Dani said, “So can me and Caitlin—”
“That should be ‘May Caitlin and I,’” her father replied, finally unable to resist correcting his daughter’s grammar.
Dani came down off her toes and enunciated slowly. “May Caitlin and I camp out at Tom Thomson’s campsite?”
“We’re all camping out, Dani.”
“We could all check it out this week,” Bob suggested.
Dani tried to keep her voice steady. “I mean, camping all by ourselves.”
John frowned. “Girls, do you really think that’s a good idea at your age?”
Dani levelled her most serious expression in her dad’s direction.
“Okay, I get it. Well, I suppose gaining camping experience is the reason we’re here. Hmm…”
“Come on, John,” Bob urged, “what do you say? They both seem so determined!”
Dani placed a victorious hand on Caitlin’s terrified shoulder.
Caitlin’s look of terror melted into a frown, and she simply said, “Great.” Then, as Dani crossed her arms and beamed, a thought occurred to Caitlin. “Just when do we have to camp out all by ourselves?”
With her fists clenched deep in her overalls pockets, her shoulders hunched, and her face contorted with determination, Dani said, “Tonight.” She liked the sound of tonight and continued convincing her audience and herself. “Yeah, we’re going to have fun and camp out tonight. Come on, Caitlin, let’s go have a man-to-man talk about our plans.”
Caitlin skipped along, always a stride behind her friend when there was serious business to attend to. “Dani, are you sure this is a good idea?”
Dani slowed down, her face less Pekinese than pensive. “No, not really.”
“Then why did you volunteer us on our first night camping outside ever?”
“Well, what would you like better, facing up to a challenge or having our dads think we don’t know how to fend for ourselves?”
Caitlin tugged on her braid while humming softly. “I guess I’ve never worried too much if Dad thinks I can fend well.”
Dani frowned and gave her friend the silent treatment.
Exhaling a big gust of wind, Caitlin said, “Okay, a challenge it is then… I guess. Hey, I just thought of something!” Dani turned slowly and stopped, buoyed by her friend’s enthusiasm. “Maybe our dads will think about it and say no and we can pretend we really wanted to camp and fend and stuff like that.”
Caitlin grinned triumphantly while Dani jammed her fists into her overalls pockets and strode headlong into the challenge of a lifetime.
3 But Not My Daughter
Each stroke of the paddle sliced into water still and resplendent with summer calm. Snakelike ripples seemed to coil with anger as if to pull the intruder into the depths. Two solitary canoes tentatively glided across black open water. After several minutes’ hesitation, the green canoe followed the red into a channel at the north end of the lake. The canoes’ tentative approach to their destination belied the determination of their fearless leader.
“This way,” Dani called over her shoulder from the stern of the lead canoe.
Perched between father and daughter, Nikki surveyed the lake, looking every bit the captain of the vessel.
“I really don’t know about this,” Dani’s dad said.
Dani sighed. “Dad, you’re not really helping.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Dani. It’s just that I’m a bit worried.”
“Dad, you’ve been encouraging us for a long time to learn outdoor skills—you know, independent stuff,” Dani said, never turning her eyes from the distant shore, never wavering in her determination.
Caitlin, in the bow of the green canoe, never wavered in her thoughts about cherry-chocolate gelato.
“It’s true, John, their enthusiasm for the outdoor experience is kind of our fault,” Bob said.
“Yes, I’m quite happy you girls have decided to take a lesson from the great outdoors and become skilled out-doorswomen, independent and self-reliant. It’s just that…” John’s voice trailed off as he recited the same objection for the umpteenth time.
“There!” Dani’s shout echoed as the canoe rocked and water from
