Chapter 167
"I've changed my mind, " declared Grace. "I no longer nominate Jodi as the best packer of the trip. My head feels like it is going to explode."
It was dawn and the girls were really feeling the whiskey from the night before.
"Oh God!" yelped Jaz as she ran away from the camp and got sick. "I just remembered why I don't drink whiskey, or hard liquor in general."
"I hate my life." said Tess. "I hate all of you. I could have been waking up in Finn's arms after a night of passionate lovemaking, and instead I'm waking up on the ground in the arms of a shitty hangover after a night of whiskey drinking."
"Whatever girls, I had a blast with you ladies last night. I'll take the hangover in exchange for a good night bonding with my girls," Jodi said optimistically.
"Coffee? Does anyone have coffee on yet?" asked Regan.
"I'll get the fire built back up and we can boil the water for tea and coffee." said Charlotte, looking annoyingly chipper.
"Charlotte, how are you so alive right now? You were drinking along with the rest of us." Grace questioned.
"I mean I don't feel great, but I'm okay. I woke up and drank some water about an hour and a half ago and went back to sleep for a bit. I woke up feeling better," Charlotte explained.
"Girls, don't you remember what it was like to drink in your teens and twenties? The hangovers get way worse once you hit thirty. Charlotte has youth on her side," Jodi reminded everyone.
"Well guess what ladies, they get even worse when you hit forty. Forty will hit all of you faster than you think. Just you wait, you young thirty-somethings! It's coming for you." Tess had managed to get out of her sleeping bag, and had gotten her canteen out.
"Tess is right." grumbled Grace. "Every decade, the hangovers get worse, listen to your elders."
"Tess, I feel you, I'm staring forty in the face in just a couple months." Regan groaned. "I don't even like saying that. Where did my youth go?"
"Did anyone bring any Paradol? I need some help," admitted Jaz as she returned to the area they had camped in.
"Check the first aid kit, Kate packed it, and she is generally over prepared. Oh, and bring me some too please," requested Jodi.
"I love you so much. You just make everything better, you make life bearable," Tess said as she sipped from a camping mug.
"Who is she talking to?" asked Charlotte.
"Tess? Oh, she's talking to her coffee. Yeah, she has two loves, Finn, and coffee. One is the new relationship, but the other is the one that's always been there. I'm not sure how much they know about each other yet," Jodi laughed.
Charlotte had built up a fire and the girls were starting to return to human form.
"Alright girls, we have tinned corned beef hash and granola bars for breakfast!" Regan announced. She had a frying pan out over the fire and was warming up the hash.
"I hope it's nice and greasy. Greasy breakfast is the ultimate hangover cure." said Grace.
"It's tinned corned beef cooked on an open fire by me, possibly the worst of the McLeod cooks. I hope your expectations aren't too high, Sis. I'm not the chef of the family, or even the line cook," Regan responded.
"I don't care if it sucks. I just need something in my stomach." said Jodi as she packed her sleeping bag back into the saddle bag.