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trip.
    Danny was surveying the vehicles, running through the checklist. “Everything’s here, but we still have room,” he said. “Might as well load the kayaks. There’s no sense in leaving them here—they’re going to have to go at some point,” he said.
    â€œLet’s take all those fishing rods too,” Ted said, pointing into one of the sheds.
    â€œYeah, we’ll get mine later too,” I said.
    Little Bit came out of one of the sheds carrying some inner tubes and pool floats. “Daddy, can we take these too?”
    I looked at her and smiled. “Sure thing, girly. Load ’em up.”
    The more we loaded, the more we found to load. Lanterns, camp stoves, camp toilets, Coleman fuel, camp chairs and tents kept getting uncovered in Danny’s buildings. Ted’s eye was constantly wandering over the contents of the sheds, and every time I looked up one of the girls was carrying something else over. Even Lee Ann was helping out, carrying what she could. Doc had cleared her to be off the crutches but had warned her not to overdo it.
    Danny was taking a tackle box out of his bass boat when Ted walked up and slapped the side of the boat. “Does this thing run?”
    â€œDon’t know, haven’t tried it since the shit hit the fan,” Danny said.
    â€œWhere’s the key?” Ted asked as he felt around the console.
    â€œIn the house. I’ll go get it.” He headed for the back door.
    â€œYou think it’ll run?” I asked Ted.
    â€œIt’s worth a shot to check. It could be a big help.”
    I looked at the boat. “Yeah, it’d open up the entire St. John’s to us.”
    Danny came back a few minutes later with the key and asked me to prime the fuel tank. I pumped it up and he opened the choke and turned the key. The engine spun, coughed and started. Danny immediately shut it down.
    Ted smiled. “Well, isn’t that nice!”
    With everything we needed and more loaded up, we all headed for the various rides. Mel and the girls would ride with me, Danny and Bobbie would take their Polaris and Ted was in the smaller of Sarge’s two buggies. As I went around to get in the driver’s seat, Taylor asked if she could drive. In the old days I often let her drive down the dirt road, even though she didn’t have a license yet. Sadly, now she never would.
    â€œSorry, kiddo, not this time. Pulling this trailer is gonna be tricky.”
    She put on her best teenage pout and got in the back, then said, “Well, I don’t want to be dropped off at home. I’m going with you guys to the cabins. I want to see them.”
    I looked at Mel and she raised her eyebrows at me. I agreed to Taylor’s request, which naturally meant that Little Bit demanded to go too. Lee Ann wasn’t interested, so long as there was an iPad at the house.
    I parked the truck and trailer on the grass in front of Reggie’s. Sarge and a couple of the guys walked up as I got out.
    â€œFor Pete’s sake, did you leave anything behind?” Sarge asked, shaking his head.
    â€œYeah, actually, but we’ll get the rest of it on the next trip,” Ted answered.
    I looked back at the trailer, which was mounded full of stuff.
    â€œWell, this might have taken longer than I thought, but those kayaks will be nice to have,” Sarge said, rubbing his chin.
    â€œWait till we get the bass boat down there,” Ted said.
    The old man raised his eyebrows and looked at Danny. “You got a runnin’ boat?”
    â€œYeah, we checked it. Started right up,” Danny said.
    â€œHot damn! We’re in business now! Let’s get this show on the road,” Sarge said animatedly.
    â€œHow about you? Your trailer ready to go?” I asked.
    â€œYeah, but there’s still some room. Let’s go by yer place and load up some more stuff.”
    Everyone piled back into the various vehicles and we headed down