away from where he grew up. Maybe that’s it.” Jane wasn’t so sure.
She was sitting on the dock, her towel wrapped around her after a swim, when Jess came back down to his boat about four o’clock. She had been watching two climbers scaling the massive wall of rock which dropped steeply into the lake, west of My Blue Heaven. The rock was a landmark on Sky Lake, the only feature to distinguish this lake from a thousand others nestled in the granite landscape of the Canadian Shield.
“You ever been up to the top?” Jess asked, shading his eyes to look in the same direction.
That he even spoke to her surprised Jane, let alone that he had initiated the conversation. “No, have you?” she asked.
“Sure. All the kids around here have.” So he just wanted to brag. He bent to untie the rope which held the boat to the iron pipe.
“You must have some pretty good mountain climbers around here then,” Jane said, matching Jess’s earlier tone. For an instant, he looked as though he might even smile.
“Oh, they don’t go up the hard way,” Jess admitted. “Only the real climbers go up the face of the rock. There’s an easier way to the top, a trail hidden in a little cove on the other side. It’s pretty steep, but at least it’s not sheer rock.” Dropping the rope into the boat, he held the vessel against the dock with his foot.
“So what’s up there?” Jane asked.
“Not much. Foundation of an old house. But the view from up there is really cool. So long as you’re not afraid of heights.”
“I’m not,” said Jane, amazed at the length of the conversation.
“You ought to get someone to show you where the trail is then,” said Jess, stepping down into the boat.
Jane got to her feet, tucking her beach towel into itself across her chest. “Nice boat,” she remarked. After what Nell had told her, she felt she should say something kind.
“Yeah, well, it’s not mine. My dad lets me use it, but I can’t mess around.” Jess lowered the motor into the water. His eyes met hers briefly. “See you,” he said, looking away.
Jane watched while Jess maneuvered the boat away from the dock, waiting to see if he’d turn and wave. He didn’t, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. She found herself smiling, warmed by a feeling that it might be an okay summer after all.
On Sunday night when the rates were low, Mary called to talk to Jane. “Wonderful news, Janey,” she announced. “I asked Carol if Corrie would like to spend a few days up there with you, and she jumped at the chance. I guess, since this is the first summer she hasn’t spent at camp, she must be feeling a little lost. I can’t imagine why you didn’t tell me Corrie would be home all summer.”
When there was no response from Jane’s end, Mary went on. “I understand how much you wanted to stay here this year, Jane, but since that wasn’t possible, with my Open Houses and everything, maybe having Corrie there will be the next best thing. You’re awfully quiet, Jane. Aren’t you happy at the idea?”
“Sure, that’s okay, Mom. I just thought you might have asked me first.”
Jane remained on the bench under the telephone after the conversation was through. She was still sitting there, picking at the threads on her cutoff jeans, when Nell returned to the room.
“Problem?” she asked brightly.
“Just Mom,” Jane sighed, looking up. “She makes all the decisions for me. Did you know about Corrie coming?”
“She asked me first,” said Nell. “Isn’t it a good idea?”
“It’s not that, really. There’s lots of stuff here I can show her, I guess.” She chose her words with care. “Corrie really isn’t used to cottage life, Nell.”
“I thought you said she went to camp every summer.”
“Not real camp, Nell. Riding camp. Where everyone stays in a lodge, with a dining room and a Jacuzzi and everything. Or computer camp. Where they all stay in the university residence.”
“I see.” Nell drew a carton of milk from the fridge and poured herself a glass, part of her bedtime routine.
“What really bothers me,” Jane continued, “is that Mom never lets me make my own choices. She decides everything for me.”
“She needs to let you grow up a little, you mean,” said Nell. “Milk, dear?”
“Exactly,” said Jane, taking the glass. “Do you know she has even decided I don’t need to go and see my dad?”
“I think she’s trying to spare you, dear. You didn’t have a very good time the last time you visited him.”
“I know. But maybe things are different now.”
“Perhaps,” said Nell quietly.
There seemed to be nothing more to say on that subject, and Jane clumped upstairs to lie on her bed a while, study the familiar brown stains on the ceiling and think about Corrie coming. Without even knowing it, Corrie could spoil everything.
It wasn’t only that her friend wasn’t used to lumpy mattresses or musty pillows or outdoor toilets. Certainly, she would never understand why Nell put up with the garter snake which chose to sun itself on the flat stone at the back door; or all the spiders, whose webs caught you by surprise and which you sometimes wore in your hair all day. Corrie would be totally grossed out. No, it wasn’t only that. Now there was Jess.
Jane didn’t have much to say on the trip around the lake on Tuesday to meet Corrie’s bus. Nell took a hand off the wheel long enough to give Jane’s knee a pat. “It’ll be fine, dear,” she promised. “You’ll see.”
Jane returned a weak smile. Back in the city, Corrie Ottley was Jane’s closest friend. But that was at home; Sky Lake was different. Sky Lake belonged to her.
When Corrie stepped down off the bus, she looked like an ad for an outdoor store—new hiking boots, khaki shorts and matching blouse with barely a wrinkle, even after a long, hot ride. A gold clip held her hair off her face. Corrie’s fine brown hair was perfectly straight and shone like silk. In contrast, Jane’s blonde mane only got frizzier with the heat and humidity, and her clothes were rumpled and comfortable. After a week, most of them were still in her knapsack.
“I just didn’t know what I was going to do till you got back, Jane,” Corrie bubbled, letting Jane take one of her two matching suitcases. “I’m so glad you and Nell invited me.”
“We’re glad too, dear,” said Nell warmly. “Now, I must warn you that My Blue Heaven doesn’t have all the creature comforts. But as Jane and I always say, who needs them when we have nature right at our back door. Right, Janey?”
Jane slid the luggage onto the seat and ducked
