CH47

Their campground had a swimming pool enclosed by a black iron fence. They left the dogs hooked up outside which pissed Midas and Maggie off as they watched Alexis walk away leaving them at the end of their leashes whimpering.

It wasn't an Olympic-sized pool so regulation laps weren't possible but there was room to swim and it was deeper on one end though it didn't have a diving board. The girls wasted no time and jumped in and started swimming around. "CANNON BALL!"Rick yelled as he ran and jumped in swamping the girls who promptly splashed him back while laughing as he retaliated.

He finally gave up and just swam around. He was watching Oscar coat Johanna's back with sunscreen that was revealed by her one-piece swimsuit. That was until Kate stepped up and pulled her t-shirt over her head followed by slowly pulling down her shorts while wiggling her ass for Rick's benefit. She was smiling widely as she saw Rick with his mouth hanging open. She had him. 'And we're keeping him,' her dragon told her. 'Damn right we are,' Kate responded. She took a couple of quick steps. "CANNON BALL! "She landed not far away from Rick swamping him big time with her splash, and since his mouth was hanging open he was soon coughing up water. She wasted no time in wrapping her arms around him "You still love me?" she murmured. "More than you'll ever know, Kate. More than you'll ever know." And gave her a quick kiss.

It took some time but Johanna and Oscar were finally in the pool and mostly keeping track of the girls. When it was time for lunch they all went back to their campsite and absolutely had to pet the dogs since they weren't given a choice by their canine friends.

The site had a few large communal grills so they brought everything out to one and grilled hamburgers and chicken for their lunchtime sandwiches to go along with chips and milk. Johanna had put a cold salad together using oranges while Rick set down a bowl filled with chopped fruit.

"Having fun girls?" Rick asked them since it was terribly important to him that they all have fun. "Yep!" was the response from most of them. "It's great!" Samantha announced. "Can we do it again?" she added knowing they were going home tomorrow."Come back here?" he asked. Samantha shook her head. "Well, it needs to be a place close enough so we can take Kate with us. I suppose I can think of something. The next holiday is Labor Day in September. Don't your parents have something planned? Maybe taking you on vacation with them somewhere?" he asked her. Samantha shook her head again. She knew her parents didn't have any plans to go anywhere. She didn't really understand why, but they didn't. She also knew her parents didn't have a lot of things other people in town did. It was why she was having so much fun on this trip. She didn't want it to end and wanted to do it again so very much. "I'll think of something and I'll give you another piece of paper for your parents to sign on Labor Day. How does that sound?" Rick asked her and watched her smile and nod enthusiastically. It was a dream come true for her.

The adults slathered the girls from head to toe with sunscreen then made the girls wait an hour before going back in the pool.

XXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxX

All the girls were sitting outside talking while most of the adults were inside working on dinner, half in the motorhome and half in the trailer. "This has actually been a lot of fun," Kate commented smiling. She'd never thought having 5 kids to take care of could be like this. "The location, me, five girls, or just having time off?" Rick questioned. "Yes," she answered grinning. "But I have you to thank for it," she added and kissed him.

They were interrupted by her cell phone ringing and vibrating. "Beckett," Kate answered even though she had seen who it was. "I'm really sorry to bother you again ma'am, but we have a big one. We had a report that there were explosions so I sent Matt out to investigate. He reported back that he has found the sheriff's, the former sheriff's that is, home has been destroyed. Matt says it looks like it blew up," she was informed. "Any casualties?" she asked him. "Hard to tell ma'am. He says the house is mostly kindling," Sloan replied. "Who's on duty?" Kate knew but wanted a reminder. "Just me and Matt ma'am. Robert is scheduled for night duty with Melissa. Plus Matt will be at the courthouse Monday," Sloan added knowing that today was Saturday.

"Oh, and there's more ma'am," Sloan warned her, which made Kate groan. "On his way to the house he came across a crash site just off the road. It was recent and still smoking. He thinks it was a military helicopter due to the color he could see on what was left of it," Sloan told her.

Kate sighed heavily and let her head hang for a moment while she thought about what to do. She was just too understaffed to handle this and that wasn't going to change likely for weeks if not longer. She lifted her head back up. "Okay. I want you to call the state police and see if they have anyone they can send. Text me Dahl's home address and the number for the military base over near Rapid City. I'll see if I can find out if they're missing a chopper and a pilot and if they'll send someone. I'll be there as soon as I can," Kate told him and hung up. Her vacation just came to a wrenching end.

"Was that what it sounded like?" Rick queried. "I need to go back tonight. Something big has happened and I'm understaffed. I'm really sorry babe, but I need to go home." She knew she shouldn't have come in the first place, but she let herself think she wasn't needed. She should have known better.

"Do we at least have long enough to eat?" he asked since they were about 30 minutes from being done. "Yeah, I suppose another hour isn't going to matter," she relented and went outside so she could tell them. "I'm really sorry girls but I need to go home. Something has happened and since I'm the acting sheriff I need to be there to find out what's happened and find the bad guy who did it," she told them. "I really am so sorry. We need to leave right after dinner." She felt bad but she had a job to do.

"What do we do tomorrow?" Samantha asked. Coming out here with them was her one big trip likely for the entire year and maybe the next one as well. "You leave that to me, I have an idea." Rick went inside the trailer to retrieve his satellite phone.

Everyone else packed up while Rick made phone calls, making plans for his idea to work out.

Alexis was standing just behind Kate while she drove them home with Rick going the wrong way saying he wanted to get something in Rapid City before they closed. "Why did Dad go a different way?" Alexis wanted this vacation almost as much as Samantha did. "I don't know sweetie. You'll just have to wait and ask him. And Alexis, I'm really sorry about having to leave but I need to do my job." Kate was still bummed about that "Okay," Alexis barely whispered and retreated to sit down on the sofa alone.

Rick was driving in a silent truck with four girls in the back and Oscar up front with him. His glances into the rear view mirror told him he had his work cut out for him since what he saw were four sad little faces.

Johanna couldn't take it and got up to sit with Alexis and hold her close. "I'm sure your dad has a plan. Just give him a chance." Johanna hugged her, kissed her head, and prayed that she was right.

Rick meanwhile had stopped at Scheels All Sports, parking way out in the north 40 of the parking lot so he could get his truck and trailer in then get out again. "Okay, everyone stay here and I'll be back as fast as I can." He exited the truck and jogged to the entrance where he grabbed a cart and headed for the camping section.

Wenzel Blue Ridge 7 person tent. Wenzel Pine Ridge 4 person 2 room tent. Two large ground cloths, collapsible water containers, Igloo 54 quart cooler, Yeti tie down strap, 3 Hello Kitty backpacks, 1 Spiderman backpack, 1 Star Wars backpack. Rick had never roughed with a woman before let alone 5 little girls so he didn't get them anything.

That left Rick wandering around to see if there was anything else he needed. He had the food, a cooler to put the food in. "Something to cook it all in," he said to himself. Texsport cooking set along with cooking utensils and a grate to cook on. "I have paper plates, cups, and plastic silverware." He tried to think. "Lights!" That had him pushing his already full cart to another section.

A Coleman lantern with carrying case, 5 LED headlamps with adjustable elastic bands worn on the head. "Sleeping bags for 3 adults." He pushed his overflowing cart to another section.

Hundreds of dollars later he was pushing his over full cart back out to the trailer where he threw everything inside. He ignored the looks Oscar was giving him. His idea was a surprise and he wanted to spring it on them.

Kate naturally got home long before Rick did. 'Where are you?" she asked him. 'About an hour out. Have your mom and Alexis meet me at home with food for breakfast and lunch, and clothes for tonight and tomorrow,' he told her.

Kate was just reaching the site and meeting up with Matt and two members of the State Police. She had already called the base and they were sending a car though they admitted to nothing.

Rick was starting his first of six attempts to back his trailer into place.

"Girls your sleeping bags should be by the front door. I want you to go get them and come back down here," Rick told them then opened the garage door so he could get the quad out and ride it over to the door of the trailer. "What are you doing?" Oscar was curious, though he had seen Rick pushing a cart that was filled to overflowing.

"We're going camping, real out-in-the-woods camping. Put the cooler on the quad and wait for Johanna to put food in it while I get the ice. There are backpacks for the girls so have them put their sleep clothes inside along with clothes for tomorrow. Have Johanna divvy up the dry food in their backpacks."

"I'll be back with something to put our clothes in. …Damn, call Johanna and have her bring clothes for you, too. Strap that and the tents to the back of the quad along with everything else." And he ran inside just as the girls hurried back down the outside front stairs carrying child-sized daytime sleeping bags.

He gathered up all the comforters he could find, took them outside, and threw them at Oscar shortly before Johanna drove up then he ran back inside to get the ice out of his bin and prayed it would be enough for one night.

The girls and Johanna were missing when he came back and dumped all the ice he had into the cooler seeing she had put food for tomorrow's breakfast and lunch inside it then he strapped it to his quad. Johanna and the girls came out carrying their new backpacks. "You two put some clothes for tonight and tomorrow in this while I get mine," Rick told them and disappeared into the trailer.

He checked everything and made sure the girls were wearing their backpacks and holding onto their sleeping bags. "Okay, we've been camping in a trailer. Now we're going camping in tents. OUT THERE!" He pointed to a place out past his little valley.

The girls had their headlamps on their heads with them turned on. Rick was riding the quad going really slow while Oscar and Johanna were carrying flashlights that Rick had gotten out of the house along with another bag that had other things they were going to need like matches, bug spray, a first aid kit, hand wipes, and toilet paper.

It was really dark and the girls were looking tired when they finally got into the tree line, going a little farther until they found a small clearing. Rick had the girls look for rocks to make a fire ring with while the adults set up the two large tents. Amazingly, even though she was a bona fide city gal, Johanna knew what she was doing and the tents only got set up because of her. "Now we need firewood. Everyone spread out and gather what you can carry," Rick instructed them. They actually did it three times. "We need 8 long sticks," he informed them and took out a bag of marshmallows and held it up for all to see. They didn't have chairs this time so everyone sat on the ground, however he saw smiles on the girls' faces again, so he counted it as a win.

The girls were crashing fast; there were lots of yawns and eye rubbing. Johanna got their sleep clothes out, spread out the 5 sleeping bags, and helped them get undressed and into their pajamas. After making sure each was snug in their sleeping bag, she kissed their foreheads good night.

"You're a good man Rick." Johanna was amazed at what he'd done and kissed his cheek. She sat down next to Oscar as the three of them went back to roasting marshmallows. "What did Kate say?" Oscar was curious. Johanna shook her head. "Not much actually, just that there was an explosion of unknown cause." She shared with them what little she had gotten out of her daughter.

'Are you there yet? What did you find?' Rick asked her. 'Yeah I'm here and it's dark. There are only my car lights and the state troopers' vehicle's lights. It looks like it used to be a house. It really is gone Rick. Blown-to-pieces kind of gone,' Kate told him. 'Gas explosion? Scratch that. He would have propane like the rest of us. TNT maybe?' he suggested. 'The debris is everywhere so an explosive is possible, but it would need to be a big one. I'm going to be here all night so don't wait up for me,' she told him.

A quick phone call into the state to see about getting an investigative team out here to determine how this house blew up and if anyone was in it at the time.

xxxxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxXXXx

Jenny was the first of the girls up and found Rick already outside trying to get the fire going again. "Bathroom?" Jenny asked him. "Number one or number two?" he asked her. She started to blush and held up one finger. "Pick a bush way over there somewhere and squat down. We don't have real bathrooms way out here," he told her and watched her walk away. "Or maybe sit on the end of a log."

Johanna woke up just in time to hear Rick's voice, but her mind wasn't operational enough to figure out what he was saying. She did find herself curled up next to Oscar in their half of the tent Rick had bought. "Jo, I know you're awake and while I would really like for you to stay right where you are, but I've got to pee," Oscar was forced to tell her. "Me too," she added and soon both of them were outside.

"Jenny went that way," Rick told them guessing why they were up and out of the tent just as he got the fire lit and began adding wood left over from last night.

Jenny was pointing out places for the other girls to go when she got back. "Breakfast?" Jenny asked. "I'm just getting started so it will be a few minutes this time," Rick informed her.

Johanna was back and helped the girls all get dressed for the day. After breakfast they would use up some of the water they had to brush their teeth, followed by herself, Oscar, and Rick.

"I wonder what Katie's doing?" Johanna started helping Rick. "The satellite phone is on my side of the tent. Kate said it looked like the explosion was of what used to be a house," he told her, though he didn't get it from using the phone. "Was there anyone inside?" Johanna wasn't sure she wanted to know and her question got out before she could stop it. "She said there wasn't enough left of the house to tell," he replied. Johanna tried to think how a house could blow up that spectacularly. Gas explosion was out since everyone out here, outside of town, had propane not natural gas. That didn't leave much else. She came walking out of the tent with his satellite phone at her ear. She hung up. "It went straight to voice mail," she informed them.

It took time to cook everyone breakfast followed by feeding the dogs some of Midas and Maggie's food since that was all Rick brought with him. Then he put some water in a bowl and watched the four of them drink it dry. He refilled the bowl before leaving the campsite on their adventure.

After the adults were dressed Rick announced, "The first thing we're going to do before lunch is a scavenger hunt! Alexis, Paige, since you two are the oldest, I believe, you two are going to team up. The rest of you pick an adult." Rick had faith in Alexis not to do something stupid.

Johanna ended up with Sara, Oscar got Jenny, and Rick got Samantha. "Now the rules: each team has until lunch. The first team back with each item is the winner. You need five different leaves from trees. Not five leaves from the same tree, but five different ones. You need two pine cones, one all closed up that's green or brown and the other one large and all opened up. You need a stick that looks like a slingshot meaning it has to look like a large 'Y.' Also you need to find two pieces of trash. Not our trash but a piece of trash that's been out here for a long time. The longer it's been out here the better. One has to be paper and one has to be metal," he briefed them.

"Everyone got all that?" He looked at everyone and down at Samantha. "Everybody ready? Get set and…go!" He took Samantha's hand and they started running while looking for what they need to find.

Rick found the two different pine cones almost immediately and gave them to Samantha to hold onto. They split up a little bit to cover more ground but he never let her out his sight. He soon had 2 leaves that were different and joined Samantha when he heard, "Mr. Rodgers!" Samantha held up her hand to show him what she had found.

"Our piece of paper trash. We are so going to win this!" he exclaimed as Samantha grinned and nodded. "We need three more different leaves and one more piece of trash," he informed her. "Mr. Rodgers!" Samantha yelled when she found an old campsite with a fire pit. She reached inside and pulled out a yucky, burnt beer can that actually had a bullet hole in it. "NICE GOING SAM!" He knelt down to hug her and felt her melt into him like he expected her to.

"We need three more leaves. Maybe that way?" he suggested trying not to get too far away from camp. They were walking mostly looking down at the ground yet again.

"Missterr Rodggerrrss?" The terror in Samantha's voice immediately got his attention. He looked for her; she was a little off to his right and was staring out into the woods. He started running towards her and looked out past her to see what had her attention.

Several hundred feet away he saw two very large Kodiak bears that were on all fours just standing there side by side staring at the two of them. 'OH SHIT!" Rick thought.

'What babe!?'