In Limbo (4 page)

              “Oh sure, I got that SPF 8 stuff.  I do want to get a little tan this weekend.  Why?”

              “Well, you look awfully puffy and red.  You want to try some of mine?  It has a higher SPF.”

              “Red?  Puffy?  Please, say you don't mean that.”

             
She searched through one of the bags in their canoe and produced a small mirror.  Leave it to Marty never to leave home without one. 

              “Oh no!  Do you think I've got a sunburn already?  My face feels so tight.  Are you sure I can use some of your sunscreen?  Damn this stupid trip.” 

              “Gladly.”  I handed her the bottle and even helped her rub some on her shoulders and her back. I couldn't believe that she had been this careless.  We all learned a long time ago never to get on the river with minimal sun protection.  On the water the sun just gets too intense. 

             
The skin on her back felt hot and leathery.  Tough, like an old glove.  Must be from all those sessions in the tanning salon, I thought. 

             
“Marty, honey, are you drinking enough?”  I asked her and she nodded.

“Well I think so, I brought some of that flavored water along and I must have had three bottles so far.  I just really don't feel so good, Chris.”

             
She sounded funny, not quite right.  Her voice was different, trembling, sort of.  Sam was still talking.  “Like I said, the official story is just some training for some special troops, but the scuttlebutt in town is that it's top secret stuff.  There have been some local fishermen who have been out here during the week and then were escorted back by MPs.  Course, they swore they never entered the military reservation, but nonetheless they were still booted out.  They mean what they say with their “No Trespassing” signs.  And then there was this little piece in the paper about agricultural research and testing being done out here. 

              “Well, ahead of us, I think around the next bend, is another little creek.  I can't remember the name, but at that point we are more than halfway done with Camp Crowder.  After that, be on the lookout for a big flat topped rock in the middle of the river.  It should still be a little ways
ahead of us.    And that's where I thought we might spend the night.”

              “That's good.  I think Marty and I are ready to call it a day,” I said.

              “
Don't get too excited.  It's still at least another hour or so.  I just think we will be better off if we can get a camp site set up before dark.  The bluffs block out the sunset and it will get dark rather quickly. Besides, we can find more firewood that way.”

              A vision of snakes entered my mind as I thought of gathering firewood after dark; and I had to agree with Sam that it was probably better to stop before it got dark.  I rummaged through my camping first aid bag and found some aspirin.  I passed two tablets to Marty.

             
“Take these, it might make you feel a little better.”

              “I really don't feel good at all.  My left shoulder is sore and so is my neck.  I think I must have pulled something.  And I'm achy all over.  Do you think I could have sunpoisoning?”

              I had to think a moment.  What did she consider sunpoisoning?  Was she talking of heat or sunstroke?  Well, she certainly was a candidate for that.

             
“Weelll, could be a possibility.  Keep on drinking as much as you can and cool off.  There's plenty of water around us, just splash some on.  That will help.”

              I turned to Sam.  “Hey, pal, your wife is getting too much sun.  Let's get moving so we can get her cooled off.”

             
He looked surprised at me, as if he had not even noticed Marty.  “Honey, are you okay?”   Marty nodded and swallowed.  “Oh, I think I'll be fine.  Chris just gave me a couple of aspirin and I'll drink some more and I think I'll be ok with that.”

             
She may have thought so, but I had my doubts, I've seen a couple of cases of sunstroke.  If that's what we were dealing with here, then Marty was in big trouble.  I couldn't figure out how to explain my concerns to the others.  The only answer was to keep an eye on her, keep her drinking, and remind her to splash river water on to cool off.  It would be better to just get her off the river, fast.   

             
The trees on the right shore got taller and the underbrush denser.  I kept thinking about what Sam had said about top secret testing, and I wondered what was going on behind that dense
vegetation.  My colorful imagination was in overdrive.  But I couldn't see anything unusual or mysterious, just lots of brush and big trees.  It did strike me as odd, though, that we didn't see any more animals.  There were no more little turtles sunbathing on the logs and it was quiet around us.

Chapter 5

             
Once again Tom and I were in the middle between the other canoes.  Sam had pulled well ahead of us.  I suppose it's part of his entertainment on these trips to be the one to yell,  “We're here”.  He can have his fun.  I like to go slower and so do Ralph and Sandy.

              I turned slightly to the right, wanting to ask Tom how far back Ralph and Sandy were, when movement on the shore caught my eye.  For one brief moment I saw a person in camouflage fatigues holding what seemed like a gun of some sort.  But, when I raised my hand to wave, the figure was gone.  I was baffled.

              “Hey honey, I think I just saw one of the little green men Sam talked about this morning.”

              But Tom was unimpressed, “Babydoll, the river and the heat are playing tricks on you, probably was just an ugly tree stump.”

             
“A tree stump with a gun and wearing a helmet?”  

              Tom just laughed in response.  “Oh, come on now, babe.  You probably did see one of those guys, and now he's all distraught because his camouflage did not work.  You, a mere mortal, spotted him and waved at him.  His life won't be the same!”

              Oh well, I thought, I like it when my husband is impressed with my observations.  I was still certain that what I saw had been a person.  Maybe Tom was right and the military didn't like it when a mere mortal could see them in camouflage?  I couldn't answer that, and it really didn't matter to me anyway.  I was relaxing and I was not about to let some snob in a green suit ruin this weekend for me.

             
I started looking for the dragonflies.  I may not like them, but they are impressive to watch.  This afternoon there were none.  Strange, I thought.  Did they all siesta at the same time? 

              We must have passed some tributaries, as the river had gotten wider.  Behind me, Tom was humming some tune I did not recognize, and it sounded way off key.  Tom can't carry a tune, you know.  But humming is always an indicator that he is content with life at the moment.  So I pulled my hat down over my ears, leaned back, and closed my eyes for a while

             
I must have dozed off a little because I suddenly realized that the rocking motion of the canoe had changed.  I opened my eyes and looked around.  We were in a section of shallow, fast moving water.  Not white water, just fast moving shallow stuff, sometimes so shallow the bottom of the canoe scraped across the gravel. I sat upright and almost tipped us over. 

              “What happened?”

              “Whoa,” Tom shouted, “Just sit tight; we'll be through this stuff in a minute.”

I didn't dare turn to ask him if he needed help, I didn't dare do anything, I just held on to the sides of the canoe and hoped he was doing as good a job as he thought.  Well, Tom had been right, of course.  A few minutes later the river widened and once again became the gentle, slow-moving body of water I had gotten used to.  Up
ahead I could see Sam.  He was against the left bank.

              “What's Sam doing?”

             
“I don't know.  Probably just waiting for us.  Maybe he had to pee.”

              “He wouldn't stop for that; he'd just pee in the water.”

              Tom was cracking up. “While he's paddling?  He isn't that well endowed.”

              I grabbed a paddle and was just beginning to dip it into the water, when I heard Sandy's shrill laughter from behind.

             
“Out of my way slowpokes.” 

             
That's all it took!  We paddled furiously.  There is no way I would let Sandy and Ralph beat us.  We reached Sam's canoe first, but just barely. 

              Sam had tied up to a thick branch, leaned back against it and had his pipe in his hand.  Marty had her oversized sunglasses on and the big yellow hat.  She seemed to be awake, but when I looked closer I could clearly see that her face was badly sunburned.  She looked puffy, red and uncomfortable.

              “Our big rock is just up ahead, around the next bend,” Sam smiled. “ And I want you to know I have a little surprise for everybody.”  He chuckled, “I was down here a couple of weeks ago.  Thinking we would be back this way, I stashed a bunch of good firewood.  So, my friends, please don't be bashful.  Grab these here pieces of wood yours truly has left, so that we may have us a good fire tonight.”

             
We were only glad to oblige, dry wood already cut up and ready to go is a gift from heaven on one of these trips.  As I looked around though, I was baffled by the vegetation.  The  undergrowth was really dense, more so than it had been earlier.  Everything looked bigger, oversized, abnormal.  I tried to get Tom's attention to tell him about it, but he was so preoccupied he didn't listen and so I let it go.  Probably just my imagination anyway. 

              Grass and weeds could not possibly be the size of bushes, and leaves on the trees could not yet begin to turn color.  Much too early for it.  No.  I wrote it all off to optical illusions after a long day on the river.

              Well, we loaded up on firewood, all the while teasing Sam about having too much free time on his hands and we'd be happy to share with him a few suggestions on what to do with his
free time!  He took it as it was intended.  Sam is good people.  I did ask Marty if she felt any better, just to get a conversation going with her.  She took off her Christian Dior sunglasses and looked at me strangely. 

             
“I'm just sooo tired.  I'm sure it’s just being out in the sun too much today.  Could be the medication, too.  My doctor has me on something new.”  She was slurring some words.

              “Oh.”  I couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say.  “What are you taking?”  

             
“Well, I've been a bit depressed lately, you know how that is.  When you feel down, you tend to eat too much.  Well, I didn't want to put on any more weight than I already have with this pregnancy.  So, I talked to the doctor and he gave me some pills to take, and they have really helped.  He said it was okay; it wouldn't hurt the baby.”

             
“Marty, you're pregnant?”  I was stunned.  I couldn't believe my ears.  Marty pregnant ?  She had gained a ton of weight with her first pregnancy, had been really distraught about it, and then had worked hard to lose it.  Bless her vanity!  And then she got pregnant again and again she gained weight.  I don't know how much she gained.  I doubt it was a lot.  But to her it was a ton, and before the baby was born she had Sam go for a vasectomy threatening no sex unless he got fixed.  Never again did she want to get fat.  I had to repeat my question:

             
“Marty, are you pregnant?” 

              She looked at me startled.  “Why yes, can't you tell?  This baby is due in 3 weeks and I am absolutely hideous.  I can't believe Jack is making me go on this trip.”

              There was no way on this earth that Marty was nine months pregnant.  No way!  She was sitting in front of me in a skimpy hot pink bikini.  And who the hell is Jack?

             
“You're looking gorgeous!  But tell me about this new medication.  You know me, I'm always curious about things like that.”

              I wanted to ask her who Jack is, but I didn't dare.

             
“Oh, it's nothing special, I can't remember the name.  It's a mood elevator and it also suppresses your appetite.  I like it and I think it's helping me.  Of course you can't talk to Sam about anything like that.  His cure for feeling down is going out and chopping wood.  And that's just not my way.  I've been working too much in the shop lately too.  You know, taking care of all those little blue haired old ladies that seem to wander in, and they all have to have bright red nails.  If I see one more head of blue hair and red nails I am going to puke.”

              “What about your pregnancy?”

             
“What pregnancy?”

              “You just said you're pregnant, didn't you?”

              “Me?  Chris, really, you should know better.  No way, I'm done having babies.  Let somebody else get fat, not this body.  How did you come up with that?”

             
I was confused, I knew I had clearly heard her say that she was pregnant.  Hmm, weird.  “Marty, who is Jack?”

              “Jack?  I only know one Jack, Jack Brittenstein.  We were in high school together and dated before I met Sam.  I almost married him.  Sometimes I wonder.”  And with that she slipped
those damned headphones back on and leaned back, her eyes closed.  I stared at her.  Her face was bright red and swollen, blisters forming on her cheeks, lips, chest and belly.  I had told her to put on a T-shirt or something, but she hadn't.  I reached over and touched her upper arm.  Her skin felt dry and hot and hard.  Marty never reacted to my touch.  I called to Sam and waved him over to us.

             
“Listen, Marty has had way too much sun.  She's too hot and she's also badly burned.  We need to find a way to cool her off.  Let me have one of your T-shirts.  We'll get it wet and slip it over her.  Maybe that will cool her off just a little bit.”

             
He handed me the faded blue one he had been wearing, and I dipped it in the river while Sam woke up Marty.  She was giggling with him and denied feeling ill and just couldn't figure out why he would be worried.  And so he left us, rejoining the others to get everyone supplied with wood and back on the way.  Without so much as a fuss, Marty slipped into the wet shirt and took two more aspirin from me with a big gulp of water.

             
“Jack is just such a hunk,” she said as she slipped her headphones over her red ears and closed her swollen eyes.

             
I just stood there staring at her.  She is hallucinating, I finally decided and that spelled big trouble.  You just don't spend time in the sun and then start hallucinating without having a heatstroke or something like that.  And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Tom's attention.

             
I was also bothered by something else.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but everything around us looked strange.  Okay, I told myself, enough of this, your imagination is now working overtime.  Go take a break and regroup.  And so I walked a little inland, away from the group, in hopes of being able to sort out why I felt so nervous.  Normally I relax when we're out and about like this.  Can't get me worked up!  But this trip was different.  I hadn't felt comfortable about it from the beginning.  I found a quiet spot and just stood still, inhaling deeply and letting sunshine, slight breeze, scents, everything soak into my skin. 

             
Suddenly it became much clearer.  Yes, I said out loud.  Yes, the vegetation was different and it was too quiet.  There should be noises all around me, bugs, birds, squirrels and stuff, but there wasn't.  I heard nothing.  Aside from the noise we were making, there was no sign of life.  Weird, I thought, as I made my way back.  And, as I kept looking around, I noticed more and more clearly that what I had thought were bushes looked an awful lot like oversized weeds.  And everywhere I looked were dead insects and birds.  I didn't see any dead larger animals, but still, this was upsetting enough.  My heart was pounding as I rushed back to our group, back to Tom.

             
“Where were you?” he asked when I burst through the bushes.  “ I was beginning to worry.  I'm a little too old to take on a whole army of little green men, you know.” 

              Before I could say anything he had me in the canoe and we were back in the water.  “Tom,”   I finally managed turning slightly and carefully toward him. “There is something very, very wrong.  I know what you're gonna say, you're gonna say that I'm reading too much science fiction, but there is something very, very wrong here and I am really scared.”

             
He stopped in mid stroke.  “OK, you have my undivided attention, what has you so spooked?”