Time to get up and move out., [ open ]

[Patricia McFarland]

"That was definitely voices," Trisha said aloud as she scrambled to her feet.

Slowly she turned away from the river and looked back into the woods, throwing her gaze in all directions. After a few moments she shifted her eyes back towards the tree and noticed the uniformed man was gone, but she no longer felt as if she was alone. Actually, she felt like someone--or something--was watching her.

Cupping her hands around her mouth she yelled, "Hellooo?"

[Chris Chambers]

"With a baseball cap on?!" Chris tried to keep his voice down but he couldn't help it once Gordie mentioned girl and baseball cap in the same breath. He figured he had given them away with his exclaimation and wasn't about to back down if the creepy figure they had been stalking was a girl.

Pushing out of the underbrush, Chris puffed his chest out and placed his hands on his hips. "Hi there." He thought he looked pretty menacing, except for the fact that the sleeping bag he had slung over his shoulder was falling around his body. He batted it back behind him and stood tall again. Yep, big bad Chris, you guys.

[Gordon Lachance]

Gordie had to stifle a laugh as Chris wrestled with his sleeping bag. With a smile still resting on his face, Gordie rose from his crouched position and made his way through thick underbrush until he stood within plain sight of the girl.

" Hello," he greeted. "Can we help you with something?"

The moment the words left his mouth Gordie knew they were lame, but what else could you say to a girl randomly walking around the Castle River woods? She had to be lost.

[Patricia McFarland]

"I knew I wasn't imagining that," Trisha mumbled to herself.

Squinting her eyes against the sun, she could just make out two sillhouttes standing atop the short embankment from the river. From the sound of their voices, she figured it was boys.

"Actually, yes. But could you come closer? I'm not going to sit her and scream just to talk to you guys," Trisha finished as she placed a hand on her hip.

[Chris Chambers]

Bounding down towards the river, Chris was careful not to let his old sneakers touch any mud as he moved closer to the water. They were his favorite pair and he wasn't about to mess them up now. Once he stopped in front of the girl, something in his mind told him that introducing himself would be the super polite thing to do.

Haha, right.

"Who're you?" He ended up blurting out.

[Gordon Lachance]

Gordie bumbled down the hill after Chris. He was nowhere near as fast or graceful, but he made it down to the river just the same. When he finally skidded to a halt, he glared at the girl in front of him.

Gordie tried unsuccessfully to shake the utter confusion from his face. . With a quick glance over at Chris, he silently shared his bewilderment. A girl. Wearing a baseball cap. In a jersey.

With his mouth hanging slightly agape, he waited for her answer.

[Patricia McFarland]

"Trisha," she answered politely. She was just about to ask him the same question when the other boy finally made it down the hill. Trisha immediately wrinkled her nose.

The second boy was nearly covered from head to toe in mud. No, he was caked in it. And the smell!

There were many questions Trisha wanted to ask these boys, but at the sight of this kid all of them left her brain except one.

"What happened to you?"

[Chris Chambers]

Chris chuckled and motioned to Gordie. "Twinkletoes here fell into the mud back by where we camped out."

Stifling a yawn, Chris covered his mouth with the back of his hand and looked around briefly, wondering if anyone else was hiding out in the woods around them. They hadn't heard anything else -- but this Trisha seemed to come out of nowhere -- so maybe there were more.

"I'm Chris." He figured he would be nice and introduce himself. This girl had to be some kind of tough if she had the nerve to be wearing a jersey and a baseball cap.

[Gordon Lachance]

Gordie glared at Chris, trying to sear the side of his best friend's head. Finally giving up the attempt, he shifted his gaze back to the girl. Trisha.

"Gordie," he introduced with a nod of his head.

He still couldn't get over the fact that she was wearing a baseball cap. For a moment it reminded him of his own Yankee cap that Ace had stolen from him a few months back. He was still sore about it. His brother had given him that cap.

Finally getting his thoughts together, Gordie returned to the present.

"So what are you doing alone in the middle of the woods?"

[Patricia McFarland]

"Well, nice to meet you," Trisha said after a while. "I was really afraid I wouldn't run into anyone around here and that's an experience I don't want to repeat."

She glanced down the river just as a silver fish surfaced and left behind a growing ripple on the river's surface. She didn't know the type of fish it was, and didn't really care. Trisha wasn't into the outdoorsy stuff. As far as she was concerned, it was for the birds.

After a moments she looked back at the boys.

"Well, I'm here alone," she emphasized with a glare toward Gordie, "because my family walked off and left me. Again."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, hoping to come off irritated rather than scared. She was a little bit of both, though the latter had her stomach tied up in knots. She would never forget that last nine day adventure that nearly killed her and the very thought of repeating that...

"But I guess I could ask you guys the same question. What are you two doing alone out here?"

[Chris Chambers]

"Again?"

Man, she seemed to be a regular Camp Cindy here. Chris could see her nerves though. She was hiding them well, but not well enough for him not to notice. The woods could be a scary place. Hell, look what it does to Verno.

Smirking inwardly at the memory of Vern keeping watch while they were camping, Chris crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the right slightly.

"We come out here all the time to camp and stuff. We're boys. That's what we do."