(Thanks to jamesss for the review. Nothing much to say, but read on!
The 'road trip' took a week, in the end. We travelled in practically a straight line through New York, Pennsylvania, all the way to Illinois, where Timothy turned to Iowa and went through Nebraska, Wyoming, and the finally Montana where we hit the Canadian border. As we travelled through Canada, the snow started to fall in thick white blankets. By the time we reached Alaska a week after leaving New York, it was a winter wonderland.
Throughout the trip, it was very... relaxed. Tim and Ben swapped driving after every night, and we stayed in the motor home when night hit. With the mini-bar and a selection of movies, time passed quickly. You don't really realise just how big America is until you travel the width. I mean, in Geography at school you learn about it, but it isn't put into perspective until you are actually there.
When we planned the Trip to Camp Hill, Ben, Lucy and I were going to take in the sights, but... y'know, things just didn't turn out as planned. By the time we were rolling along the roads of Alaska, Ben and Timothy appeared to be best friends, while Lucy had retained her 50 winning streak against me in chess.
"Hope you brought winter clothes." I said to Lucy, playing yet another game of chess. I moved my pawn forwards.
"Of course. I'm prepared for all weather." Lucy said, taking the same pawn with her Queen. "Checkmate."
I looked at the board in disbelief. "You are way too good at this!"
Lucy just smirks at me, and reaches down for her I-Pod.
I take the chance to look out of the window, and see that we are on a thin road, hardly big enough for the motor-home to get through. The snow is thrown aside as the wheels tear through it, leaving white dots in the window.
I make my way to the front, and interrupt Ben in the middle of his joke about a nun and a rabbit.
"Tim, it's just occurred to me. Can't we just stay here instead of the cabins?"
Tim shakes his head. "Nope. Nuh-uh. Once we get to Camp, I'm keeping her under lock and key. We all planned to enjoy ourselves at Camp Hill, and that does not include my motor home. Enjoy the comfort while it lasts. Which isn't long." Tim points out a half-rusted sign sticking from the stone, saying: Camp Hill, with an arrow pointing up a trail. It seemed to be loose, and was rattling slightly in the wind. Tim drew the motor home to a slow and we turned into an even smaller lane, so much so one side of wheels were going across mud and snow rather than road.
After twisting and turning through the road, Tim hit the brakes and came to a stop in front of a stone building, around half the size of the vehicle. He reversed and put the motor home in what could have been a parking space for a bus, and turned the engine off.
"Come on then." Tim said. "Let's go see this Camp then."
When we got out and got our luggage, we made our way through the snow, which literally reached up to just under our knees, to the stone building.
Tim placed his luggage on the floor, and peered through a plexi-glass window. Inside was a mess. Papers were scattered among pencils and pens, while there was an ugly brown stain on the roof. An old fuzzy sandwich sat next to a computer monitor.
Tim frowned and rapped on the glass window, and waited.
There was no answer.
"Hello?" Tim called out.
"Wha d'ya want you damn kids!"
The gruff and gnarled voice caused all of us to jump and swirl around, where we saw an old man. He had a beret tilted on his head, a metal brace on his leg, and over his left shoulder a dead rabbit, and in his right hand a rifle.
Tim gulped back his surprise and produced a piece of paper from his pocket. "Are you Mr. Desmond?"
"Who's askin'?" The man asked in his odd accent. It seemed Scottish, but much more tough, if that was possible.
"We are part of the group of ten for Camp Hill." Tim said.
Mr. Desmond squinted and spat at the ground. "Already eight o' them there. And here four of you are. I didn't get any news of two more."
Tim cursed under his breath, and I caught: "Damn, Thomas." Before he looked up. "They are with Jake and me."
"They can only stay if they pay up front." Mr. Desmond said. "Leave the cash on the tray." He pointed at a small gap in the window. "You'll find me here at most times. Don't cause no trouble or I'll kick you out." At that Mr. Desmond limped through a side door, and slammed it behind him. Through the window we sure him throw the rabbit down on the desk, and move into a smaller room.
"All right then." Ben said, after the money had been put in the slot, crossing his arms. "Can we go to the Camp yet?" `
As it turned out, the Camp was further away than expected. We walked up a slightly rocky trail, and recognised bike tracks.
"Probably Thomas'." Tim commented.
After about two minutes, we finally came to an arch which said: Welcome to Camp Hill.
The first thing I noticed as the sun started to set was the large mound towering over the trees. Evidently that's where the name hill, came from. Directly in front of the gate were Thomas' motorbike, and five cabins. They were old fashioned log cabins, snow piled up on the rooftops.
A set of giggles drew our attention to the side, where two women stood, hand in hand. Both wore fur clothes with thick scarves around their necks. "So, which one is Jake?"
"I am." I said, trying to figure it out. The hands gave me the clue. "Are you two Fiona and Elliot?"
"I'm Elliot," The woman with blonde hair said. ", and this is Fiona." She pointed to the other woman with raven coloured hair. "You look more handsome than expected."
"I happen to know." Lucy spoke up rather stiffly. "I'm Lucy Black, his girlfriend." The way she said it was clear she viewed them as opposition. One thing was for sure though; I wasn't planning on cheating on Lucy.
Elliot raised her hands. "Don't worry, we're... ah... oriented the opposite way."
"Lesbians, if you want to be blunt." Fiona added.
At that, Lucy seemed to look a bit happier. "Oh, okay."
"You must be Timothy, right?" Fiona asked Tim, who had a small smile on his lips.
"Yep. Call me Tim." Tim coughed into his hand, before glancing around. "Where are the others?"
"They are all in the main cabin." Elliot pointed to a slightly larger cabin with two doors. "You might want to watch out for Harriet though. She speaks more French than English and it gets a bit... irritating."
At that, Elliot led us towards the cabin.