"Was that really a bear…?" Hank asked Shawn, still watching as Ian walked down the trail to the fire pit.
Shawn nodded.
"Yeah. It mangled his hand, too – and the cubs really did a number on his car…"
"Why would-"
"He got between the mother and her cubs," River said looking down at the little girls who were gathered around. Most of them looked a little scared, now, and were looking around at the woods. And the little girls weren't the only ones, since the little boys who had been listening in were looking just as frightened and nervous. River reached down and picked up one of the smallest girls, eliciting a squeal from her as he swooped on her. He gave her a broad smile, and tickled her. "So, if we see any bear cubs, we stay away from them, right?"
The little girl giggled, her fright forgotten with the tickling, and she nodded.
"Right!"
River looked at the other kids as he draped the little girl over his broad shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Right?"
They nodded, too, and some of them smiled as well.
"Right."
"Good!" He scooped up another one of the little girls, and draped her over his other shoulder. "Come on, guys, let's get to campfire."
The boys from Australia all ran down the hill after Ian, and Sierra – one of the other female counselors – smiled at River, who gave her an easy grin.
"You're good with them," she said, reaching down and picking up one of her girls.
"I have a ton of little sisters," River told her. "Although they're not as cute as these two!"
The girls in question giggled from their lofty positions on his shoulders, and River tightened his grip when the first one started to slip.
"I'm Sierra," the counselor told River, just in case he hadn't remembered her name from the circle of introduction.
He nodded. While he didn't have the memory that Ian did, he never forgot the name of a pretty girl.
"River."
"I know."
He grinned, especially when she fell into step beside him and walked close enough to practically touch, but they didn't say anything else, since there were kids listening, and they had reached the bottom of the trail and were close to the fire, now.
River swung both little girls down and sent them off to sit with their friends, while he looked for his own kids. He found them sitting by Ian – who looked extremely out of place surrounded by kids, all trying to talk to him at the same time. Off to the side, Shawn was sitting on the same bench that the rest of his cabin was, clearly amused at the attention his roommate was getting.
"I'd better go rescue Ian," River told Sierra.
She looked over, following his gaze.
"He doesn't like kids, does he?"
River shrugged, unwilling to discuss Ian's failings – even with a cute girl he wouldn't mind getting to know better.
"He's not so bad. You just need to get to know him, that's all."
Sierra didn't look convinced, but she nodded, willing to accept that for the moment.
"I'd better go find my girls… I'll talk to you later."
River's smile was warm.
"Definitely."
She blushed, and turned to search out her girls – and the other counselor in her cabin – and River turned and headed for his boys.
OOOOOO
"Did you really get attacked by a bear?" Brian asked.
"Did it hurt?" Wilson asked, at the same time.
"Was it a grizzly?" asked Chance.
"It was just a bear, guys," Ian said, scowling at the attention. "Don't worry about it."
"But-"
"Okay!" Everyone looked up when Gary Hines stepped to the front of the area, standing right beside the fire pit, which held a fairly large fire blazing merrily in it. Ian breathed a sigh of relief as the boys turned their attention to what was going to happen next and left him alone. River came over and joined him and Shawn, and the boys sat down on the bench around the three counselors.
Gary waited patiently until he was sure he had pretty much everyone's attention, and then held up his hands, gesturing to the fire area and the lagoon that was behind them all.
"Are you guys having fun, yet?"
The kids all screamed, clapping their hands happily, and Ian wished they had some kind of volume control button or something. He was probably going to be deaf by the time the week was over.
"Let's get to singing, then!" Gary told them, gesturing for a couple of his staff members who had been sitting on a bench close at hand to stand up. These two were holding guitars, and the kids quieted down immediately as one of the two started playing a very familiar camp song.
"Those of you who don't know the words, don't worry," he called out to the kids. "We'll sing it a lot, so you'll learn them."
Great… Ian thought. Just fucking great. He sighed, as everyone around him started to sing – although a lot of his boys just mumbled, uncertain of the words but wanting to make noise:
I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee,
I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see.
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death, Susanna, don't you cry.
Chorus
Oh! Susanna, Oh don't you cry for me,
For I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee.
I had a dream the other night, when everything was still;
I thought I saw Susanna dear, a coming down the hill.
A buckwheat cake was in her mouth, a tear was in her eye,
Says I, I'm coming from the south, Susanna, don't you cry.
I soon will be in New Orleans, and then I'll look around,
And when I find Susanna, I'll fall upon the ground.
But if I do not find her, then I will surely die,
And when I'm dead and buried, Oh, Susanna, don't you cry.
Ian already knew the words, and by the time they started singing the song again, he was more than ready to go back to talking about that stupid bear, because he knew immediately from the enthusiastic singing that he was going to be in for a long night.