A loud stage whisper woke Ian from what was already a fairly restless sleep.
"Ian…?"
He opened his eyes, and saw Sammy's head just peeking over the edge of the top bunk.
"What?"
"Are you ready to go jogging?"
"What?"
"Are you ready to go jogging?"
"What?"
He couldn't be hearing him right.
"Are you ready to go jogging?"
Yeah, that was what he was saying, all right.
Ian rolled a little, freeing the hand he'd been sleeping on, and looked at his watch, trying to get his eyes to focus on the glow in the dark hands. The cabin was faintly lit, although the bathroom door was closed, and when he finally managed to see what time it was he saw it was only a little after four AM. He looked back at Sammy, and for the first time saw that the boy wasn't the only one awake. Standing behind Sammy were Chance, Brian and Bruce. All of them were watching him, expectantly.
"It's still early…" he said, softly.
"You said we had to be ready early if we wanted to come."
"Not this early."
Ian shifted again on his mattress, and bit back a groan. He really ached, and honestly didn't even want to go jogging. Hopefully he could send the boys back to sleep and they'd forget about it – or even better, sleep through until breakfast.
"You promised," Sammy whispered.
Ian scowled, and rubbed his face, tiredly. He'd taken forever to get to sleep the night before. The mattress was uncomfortable at the best of times, and with all the bruises he had it had been impossible to get into a position that didn't hurt. Now he was being woken up way too early, and the worst of it was… he'd promised. Which obviously meant everything to the boys who were watching him, and unfortunately, it meant everything to Ian as well. A promise wasn't something you made unless you planned on keeping it, and he knew that.
"Fine…" he stretched under his blankets, feeling all his muscles protesting. They didn't want to wake up, either. "You guys need to get dressed…"
Which might buy him another half hour.
"We're dressed."
Damn.
He looked at the boys again. Sure enough, they were completely dressed and wearing shoes and everything. He sighed, and gestured for Sammy to move so he could get out of bed. And thought that he could hear his body screaming when he rolled off the bunk, lowering himself to the floor and banging his elbow painfully on the rail that he detested so much.
"God…"
"Are you okay?" Chance whispered.
"Yeah."
He just hurt like a sonofabitch. That was all.
The boys watched as he changed into running sweats and pulled on a t-shirt and his shoes, and then he led them outside, where there was just enough light coming from the east to light up the camp in a dull gray tint that gave the world a slightly monochromic feel.
"Start stretching, guys…"
They probably didn't need it. They were young enough that they were flexible by nature, and their little muscles were just as loose. But Ian needed it, and it was as good a way to keep them occupied as any – and better than some. They copied him, doing the same stretches that he did, and it was a good twenty minutes before he felt he was ready to move at anything faster than a slow walk. Even then, he felt like shit, but at least he was somewhat awake, now.
"Ready?" he asked them.
They nodded, excitedly.
"Stay close to me, but not right on my heels, and try not to wake anyone up…"
Again they nodded, and Ian started off down the hill towards the parking lot, going at a slow trot to warm up and to give himself an idea of just how far he'd have to take them before they'd let him go back to sleep. None of them seemed winded by the time they headed up the hill that led to the trail that led down to the fire put – unfortunately – so he led them that direction, and started down the trail, his shoes making very little noise on the dirt. He could hear the boys behind him, and now they were actually starting to puff a little. It wouldn't be long, now.
A flash of tan at the bottom of the hill drew his attention – and that of the boys – and a couple of bucks went tearing off into the trees towards the lagoon, startled from their early morning browsing by the sudden arrival of the campers.
"Wow!"
"Didja see them!"
"They were humongous!"
"Ian! Didja see them?"
"Yeah."
"That was awesome!"
"Wait'll the others hear! They'll want to come jogging with us tomorrow!"
Well, joy.
"Come on, guys…"
The bucks weren't going to come back so they could get another look at them, and Ian wasn't ready to stop running now that he was finally starting to warm up. All the aches and pains were still there, but he was in good shape, and the run was actually making him feel better now that he was doing it.
The boys followed him, still chatting about the deer, and Ian could hear their breathing starting to get ragged.
"Ready to go back?" he asked them about fifteen minutes later. Once he was sure they were all wearing out.
"Are you?" Chance asked.
Ian wasn't good with kids, but he knew immediately that if he said he wasn't, the boys would tell him they weren't, either. Even though Sammy was holding his side, and sweat was running off the rest of them. They were ready to go back, and he could cut short his run.
"Yeah. I'm a little tired."
He wasn't, of course, but they didn't need to know that.
"Me, too," Sammy said.
"Me, three," Brian agreed.
"Me, four."
"We'll walk back so you guys can cool off, but remember not to wake anyone else up."
He looked at his watch. It'd take them a good twenty minutes to walk back to the cabin, and then he'd need a shower – and so would they, whether they wanted one or not – and by then it'd be close to time for them all to wake up anyways. He wasn't going to get to go back to bed.
Damn.