Camping Tip Number Nine: Stay on the Trail
"Today we are going hiking," Luka announced with a determined tone. "I want to take the Muskegon Loop to Loop trail." Susan looked up from her newspaper and shook her head.
"Not this chick, Kovac," she said in feigned disappointment. "I forgot to bring my hiking boots." Chuck looked up from his tool box.
"You have hiking boots?" he said. Susan rolled her eyes and glared at him. Chuck snickered and went back to searching in his tools. Luka turned his face to Abby. She looked at him and then quickly looked away.
"Oh, please don't. I can't stand it when you use those eyes on me," she said. Susan laughed.
"Go ahead, Abby," she said. "Chuck and I will take care of Lauren for you."
"Can we come too?" Susie asked.
"It's a long trail," he warned. "Five miles." Abby's head dropped to the table.
"The attendant said it's an easy walk," he reassured her. "We'll pack a lunch and have a picnic along the way."
"Cool" Susie exclaimed as she and Heather high fived one another. Abby shook her head.
"Wouldn't you rather just stay around here and play a game or something?" she said. "You can teach me how to play poker. I'll even let you win."
"Maybe later," Luka said.
It was much later when Abby shifted the straw hat she wore on her head and looked around the wild flower strewn swamp that surrounded her. They were walking on a wooden walkway and Luka held her hand snugly as he led the way.
"Do you realize that we are standing in the middle of a bog?" she asked. "Aren't there...like...rattlesnakes...in bogs?"
"Not this one," Luka said as they stepped back on the hard packed dirt of the trail.
"At last..." Abby sighed.
Luka grinned at her as he kissed her and then they both looked up as Heather came crashing down the path ahead of them. She was crying as she stopped to catch her breath.
"We found a baby..." she choked. "Farther up the trail." She bent over and put her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"A what?" Luka asked in astonishment.
"A baby girl," Heather exclaimed. "It looks like a newborn. Susie didn't want to move her so she is staying with her."
"Abby," Luka said. "Go back to the campsite and call 911..."
"I can't find my way back alone!" Abby cried. 'You go back, call the paramedics and bring your bag back here. I'll go find Susie."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "You don't know what you're going to find." Abby rolled her eyes and shooed him toward the trail they had just come down. She handed Heather a water bottle.
"You stay right here and rest," she told the ashen girl. "They'll need you to help them find us." Heather nodded.
"Hurry..." she said. "Susie was scared." Abby nodded and took off down the trail at a jog. Luka watched her go, patted Heather and then began running back along the trail they had come on.
Susie was seated at the edge of the trail on a rock holding a big stick as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was wearing her bathing suit but no slacks. She looked up frantically as Abby approached her. She hiccuped and pointed down at the covered bundle on the ground. Abby recognized the pants Susie had been wearing earlier.
"What did you find here?" Abby asked gently as she knelt near the rock and carefully lifted the shorts. Her heart thudded as she took in the crying newborn baby girl. The umbilical cord had been tied off with a shoelace but was still attached to the baby and a bloody mass of placenta.
"There was a raccoon..." Susie cried and brandished the stick protectively. Abby nodded as she did a careful cursory exam.
"How could someone do this?" Susie choked. "We have to find them." Abby shook her head and carefully wrapped the baby back in Susie's shorts to keep her warm. She examined the drying placenta and sighed.
"Someone knew what they were doing, sweetheart," Abby said as she indicated the shoelace. "They tied the cord off to stop the circulation to the placenta."
"But why bother doing that and just leave her here?" Susie sobbed. Abby shrugged and jostled the baby in her arms a bit.
"Oh man," she sighed and shook her head as she realized what was happening to her. She glanced at Susie and then sat carefully on the rock next to her. Abby unbuttoned her blouse and slipped up the edge of her dampened cami top. She eased the nipple of her breast into the baby's mouth. The baby stopped crying immediately and began to nurse.
"Abby!" Susie cried. 'What are you doing?" Abby chuckled.
"We're lucky that I came after you and not Luka," she said. "She's dehydrated." Susie giggled through her tears and watched as the baby in Abby's arms struggled to suck.
"Tap her on the bottoms of her feet a little," Abby said. "She's exhausted but she needs to nurse." Susie did as she was told and then smiled as the sucking resumed. She traced a finger along the baby's ear and wiped away some sand that was caked there.
'We'll let her feed a bit longer and then we'll start back with her," Abby said. "Luka should be back some time."
"I didn't want to leave here...in case there were clues or something," Susie said.
"You did the right thing, Susie," Abby said. "You wrapped her up and kept her warm but we can't stay here much longer...clues or no clues. She needs medical care." Susie nodded. She kept her eyes on the baby and sniffed.
"What's going to happen to her now, though?" she asked. Abby shrugged and tucked the khaki pants closer around the baby and the still attached cord and placenta.
"If she checks out okay at the hospital, I imagine she will be adopted by a family that has been waiting for a baby." Susie sighed as Abby eased her nipple from the sleeping baby's mouth and pulled the cami down again.
"Are you ready to go?" Susie nodded.
"Can I carry her first?" she asked. Abby gently passed the baby into Susie's arms and stood up. She smiled and followed Susie as they headed back along the trail they'd come from.
The ambulance was waiting when Luka and Abby reached the trail's start with the two girls and the baby. Susie and Heather rode to the hospital in the ambulance. Chuck and Luka followed them in the car after they dropped Abby off at the camp site.
"Well, that was quite an adventure!" Abby said as Susan hugged her.
"Are the girls okay?" Susan asked. Abby nodded.
"A little freaked out but Susie really kept her wits about her."
"Naturally..." Susan sighed.
"Uh...Susan?" Abby tipped her head toward a pink splattered Cosmo. Susan shrugged.
"His mosquito bites were bothering him," she said. "We gave him a paint brush so he could paint them with calomine lotion."
"It looks like he decided to expand his creative horizon?" Susan looked at the blanket and shrieked.
"Cosmo!" she scolded. Abby laughed and picked Lauren up. She held her at arm's length and examined the 'paint' job that practically covered her face, arms and bare tummy.
"Nice going, Cos," she said. "I think you have her well covered." Susan shook her head and reached for the camera on the table.
"This one goes in both baby books!" she chuckled.
