Chapter Three: Golf Cart Conversations

(Hackett's Quarry Forever, Part 3)

***

Nora found Abi where she should have guessed she'd find her—at the cabins the campers and counsellors had stayed in circling a tree, the picnic tables campers and counsellors could sit at and the quad and an information signpost, sitting on the steps and drawing in her sketchbook, utterly absorbed in it, so zoned out she probably hadn't noticed it was almost time to leave.

Nora smiled, shaking her head fondly. Classic Abi.

Walking up to the tattooed girl, Nora leaned against the stair rail and asked, "How are you going, Abes?"

Abi startled, whirling to Nora, eyes blown wide in an expression that always reminded Nora of a scared deer.

"Oh my God, Nora, you scared me!" she exclaimed, hand to her heart. 

Nora cracked a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

Abi gave Nora a look that might have been trying for intimidating, but this was Abi Bylg—the girl couldn't be intimidating even if her life depended upon it.

"Mind if I sit?" Nora questioned.

"No, not at all," Abi said, scooting over closer to the stair rail and narrowing her eyes at Nora. "Unless you want to scare me again?"

"That's not gonna happen. And besides, I didn't mean to," Nora said, sliding into place beside Abi. She gave the curly-haired girl another look before returning back to drawing, the scratch of pencil on paper adding to the peaceful atmosphere of the camp.

Looking at the sketchbook, Nora questioned, "What're you drawing?"

"Oh, just some... faces. Practice for, um, drawing people," Abi explained, still hunched over her sketchbook.

Nora arched a brow, but decided to let it go. "Okay. Though, we should probably start getting ready to head back to the lodge. You seen Emma or Ryan or Allison?"

"Uh, no. Sorry," Abi answered.

Nora shrugged. "It's cool. Guess we can wait for one of them to show up."

That earned a smile from Abi before she refocused on drawing, which Nora now noticed was of a woman's face and hands and the woman sitting down. She didn't comment, instead looking out in the distance and enjoying the peace. 

It didn't last long as a new voice popped it.

"Hey there party bear!"

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," Nora muttered as she looked at Emma strutting up to them, a smile on her face that quickly turned into a dramatic pout.

"Wow, Nora. Hi to you, too," Emma remarked, blonde ponytail swishing behind her.

"It's my new greeting, just for you. Pretty special, right?" Nora snarked, offering a sardonic smile up at Emma.

The blonde scoffed, rolling her eyes before turning to Abi, the smile back on her face again as Abi asked, "Status report?"

"We are officially empty nesters," Emma revealed.

"And that means we can fly the nest as well," Nora added pointedly.

"Yup. High five! Up top!" Emma exclaimed, ignoring Nora's barbed comment.

Abi acquiesced and after a second, Nora did so with a huff.

After the high fives were exchanged, Abi questioned, "Oh boy. You're about to get your phone back, aren't you?"

"I knew you looked disgustingly peppier than normal today," Nora commented as Emma shot her a glare which Nora returned with a sardonic smirk.

It was well known that since the first day of camp, Nora and Emma had rubbed each other the wrong way. It's not like Nora hated the other girl—in fact, she quite liked her and admired her surprising core of strength and determination she hid under that perky, superficial personality—and Nora was pretty sure it was mutual. But though they respected and liked each other, their personalities just clashed too much for them to be truly friends and instead just tolerate each other's presence while firing barbed comments back and forth. Sarah knew, of course, and didn't expect them to be magically buddy-buddy because Nora was dating Sarah. Guess it showed that not everyone can get along in a friend group even after two months and that they'd still be snarky towards each other.

Like now.

Emma didn't confirm or deny both comments, instead saying as she walked up the stairs, "Let's go collect our bags and away from this mosquito infested backwoods dump."

"For the first time, I think I agree with you, Emma," Nora piped up, even though she ignored the sting at what Emma said about the camp. Mosquito infested it may be, but this was still her second home.

Fortunately, karma came swiftly when Abi revealed, "Door's locked. Bags inside."

At that, Emma groaned, "Fuck me."

"Yep."

"I was wondering why the bags weren't out here and you weren't at the lodge, Abs," Nora admitted, looking at the cabin. The cabin being locked explained it.

After a minute of silence, Emma declared, "Well, it's obvious what we have to do here."

"Find someone with a key?" Abi questioned.

"Break and enter a summer camp cabin and break Mr. Hackett's trust in us just to get our bags?" Nora deadpanned.

Emma grinned. "You read my mind, Nora."

Nora blinked. "Wait, Emma, I was kidding."

"Still, you read my mind."

Nora looked heavenward. "Oh my God."

"We shape our destiny," Emma continued, ignoring Nora burying her face in her hands and contemplating her life decisions. "And by shape our destiny, I mean shape our way through this crappy lock and get our bags."

"That's the worst idea ever. I vote we do what Abi said and get a key," Nora offered. She turned to Abi. "Abi? You with me here?"

Abi looked conflicted, before she sighed and said, "Okay. Let's do it. We'd better not get in trouble."

Nora stared at Abi in shock as she walked up the stairs to join Emma as the blonde said, "I won't tell if you won't tell and Nora doesn't tell."

"This is a terrible idea," Nora insisted, before she sighed and climbed up the stairs and leaned against the rail with crossed arms.

"Mr. Hackett's gonna find out," Abi worried.

"And kill us for doing this," Nora agreed.

"So what? He'll just think it was a bear or something," Emma argued.

Nora snorted. "Sure. Mr. Hackett's totally gonna believe that."

"Yeah, have you ever seen a bear in these woods?" Abi asked drily.

"No, but that doesn't mean they're not out there."

Nora looked heavenward. "We're gonna get kicked out before we can officially leave."

"Fair point," Abi conceded as she and Emma turned to the door. Looking back, she asked, "Nora?"

"Oh, no. I'm staying out of this as much as I can," Nora said, giving Emma a flat look.

The blonde ignored her as she said, "Alright. Let's do this. On three. One... two... three!"

On three, Abi and Emma pushed the door in, opening it as they tumbled inside on the ground in the process.

Nora raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that lock is really crappy."

"All about the power of positive thinking," Emma said as she and Abi stood up.

"And in positive falling," Nora quipped. Emma threw her a glare over her shoulder.

"Why do I ever listen to you?" Abi muttered.

"Because I'm always right?"

Nora laughed. "In your dreams, maybe."

Emma threw Nora another glare as she stepped forward to stand in the doorway while Abi questioned worriedly, "Are you sure they're gonna think it was a bear?"

"Oh my God, relax. It's not like we killed someone," Emma muttered as she picked up the bags.

"I'm feeling tempted right now to kill someone," Nora commented, giving Emma a look of who exactly she was talking about as she stepped fully into the cabin to stand beside Abi.

Emma noticed. "I thought you didn't want to break in?"

"Oh, you guys did all that by yourselves. I'm the witness who'll exonerate Abi," Nora countered, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh my God..."

She shoved past Nora, heading down the stairs. Nora watched her go by before she turned to Abi and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Abi answered, though a worried look lingered in her eyes.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine. Emma's plan sounds ridiculous, but it might work out. And if not, I'll just say Emma broke in by herself," Nora assured, winking at Abi.

The partially magenta-haired girl smiled. "Thanks, Nor."

"Any time, Abes," Nora replied.

Abi smiled before she turned to the door and said sarcastically, "Alright. Well, Nora and I are just gonna take another look around, make sure we didn't miss anything."

"Go nuts," Emma responded.

Nora rolled her eyes. "Could have helped us look around. Not like this was your idea or anything, Emma."

Abi stifled a laugh before they decided to look around the cabin, Nora checking the bunk beds while Abi walked around. She was looking underneath a bunk when Abi called, "Hey, Nor, look at this."

Standing up, Nora joined Abi, and saw what looked like a newspaper scrap in her hands.

"Shit, I didn't know they still made newspaper anymore," Nora commented, leaning over Abi's shoulder.

"Nor, look at the headline," Abi insisted.

Nora did, and confusion grew. "'Freak show goes up in flames'? A fire at Hackett's Quarry?"

"Yeah. Why would this place be in the news?" Abi questioned.

Nora frowned, studying the headline. "Judging by the headline, that sounds serious enough for it to be. Especially if there were lives lost."

Abi bit her lip, brows creased before she put down the newspaper scrap. And while Nora felt her own confusion, it didn't seem like something they needed to worry about. After all, the date read it happened six years ago. What happened was an awful tragedy, no question about it, but it happened in the past. It wouldn't be something that would affect them now.

"Come on, let's continue our sweep," Nora suggested, and they did, scanning the cabin until Nora's eyes landed on something.

"Hey, Abi, I found something," Nora said.

Abi joined her, and like Nora she recognised the teddy bear resting on the shelf.

"Aw. This was little Izzy's," Abi reminisced as she picked it up.

"Yeah. She must have left it behind when she left," Nora realised, her heart hurting thinking of the little girl realising she'd left her teddy behind and being unable to go and get it back.

Abi nodded, realising it too as she pulled the string on its back, and from the teddy a voice exclaimed, "I wanna play a game!"

"Those things always creeped me out," Nora muttered, eyeing the teddy.

Beside her, Abi laughed before saying, "Let's get you back to Izzy."

Nora didn't bother to ask how—it was a nice gesture. And who knows, maybe they might—as she unzipped Abi's backpack for her and helped her put the teddy inside.

Once it was inside, they two left and walked out of the cabin, heading down the trail. It didn't take long for Abi to notice something else lying next to a cabin and point it out to Nora.

Again, she wondered why there was an old recorder as Abi picked it up and commented, "Dylan is not gonna be happy that the kids just left it here."

"'Not happy' is an understatement," Nora stated, thinking of the rage her vintage-tech loving friend will have at learning about this as the recorder let out a garbled attempt at a campfire song Nora knew by heart. If this was one of the horror movies she and Sarah loved, then that would be terrifying to hear.

As the song died out, Abi decided, "I'll tell Chris about it when we see him."

"Yeah, and hope Dylan's not in hearing range," Nora quipped, making Abi snort again as she put it down.

As they cut across the quad and past the picnic tables and swing, Abi stopped as she noticed something—something that Nora also noticed as well.

"Oh," Nora said, wincing in sympathy.

"Ouch," Abi agreed. "Let's hope Jacob hasn't seen this."

Nora was about to agree when she noticed something in the bough of the tree. "Abi. Come check this out."

Abi headed over to her, seeing the thing Nora had noticed as she pulled it out—an empty vial.

"What is that?" Abi questioned, peering over Nora's shoulder.

"I have no idea," Nora replied as she unstoppered the vial.

When she did, the most vile, repugnant odour Nora had ever smelled wafted out, searing her nose and burning her throat as it elicited a hacking cough from her lungs. She hurriedly shoved the vial into Abi's hands as she bent over and coughed, trying to clear away the stench of the vial. Nora had no way to describe it, other than it was the worst thing she had ever smelled in her entire life. The closest she could describe it was spoiling meat, garbage and wet, rotting fur left out in the sun at the height of summer had an unholy lovechild, and even that couldn't do it the unholy justice of the odour.

Regret of opening it warred with revulsion, especially as Nora heard Abi spit out, "Eugh! Eugh!"

Turning, Nora saw Abi put the now-stoppered vial back into its place as she whispered, "What is that? Is it Dylan's?"

Nora shook her head. "I have no idea, only that was the most fucking awful thing I ever smelled. Oh my God..."

Taking in a lungful of summer air, Nora straightened and gave an apologetic look to Abi. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'd do the same," Abi replied, and that caused a small smile on Nora's face.

"Come on. Let's get away from that vial," Nora suggested.

"You read my mind."

Together, they walked away, now intent on heading straight to the lodge. Stopping at the information signpost, Nora studied its directions before pointing to the left.

"Okay, according to that, the lodge is there," Nora observed. "Looks like a long walk. Hope you got your walking shoes on."

Abi stifled a groan as Nora chuckled and they started to walk. As they did, Nora was suddenly grateful she decided to wear her runners today. The black, hot pink and white shoes tread across the rocky dirt path with ease, the same shoes she'd worn all summer when she taught the campers rock climbing, canoeing and lead them on hiking trails in the woods. A walk in these would be a piece of cake.

Besides, today was a lovely afternoon for a walk. If only Nora had her phone and earbuds to listen to music or one of her horror podcasts...

As she and Abi walked through the sun-spotted woods, birds chirping and the gurgle of a small river providing natural music, Nora bit back a groan when she realised they wouldn't be walking for long as they walked over a bridge and to what waited on the other side.

Emma, waiting for them by a golf cart.

"Ready to roll?" Emma asked.

"Let's do it," Abi answered enthusiastically.

Emma looked to Nora. "Nora?"

Nora weighed up her options, before sighing. "Fine. Whatever. This seems quicker."

At her answer, Emma exclaimed, "Finally!", as they all got in.

It was a tight fit, with Abi at the wheel and Nora between Abi and Emma, but Nora didn't complain as Emma said, "Time to let loose and vamoose this caboose!"

Maybe I should have stuck to walking.

But it was too late to exit as the golf cart trundled off toward the lodge, so Nora sighed and decided to just endure it, telling herself it would be over soon, that they'd be at the lodge and she could cuddle up close with Sarah when they left.

Not even a few seconds into the drive, Abi questioned Emma, "How are you so...?"

"Dramatic?" Emma filled in.

That's an understatement.

"Annoying?" Abi finished, making Nora look at Abi in surprise as Emma frowned, before she added, "Confident."

"Eh... it's just acting. It's what the people want," Emma answered.

Nora frowned. What did that mean? Had it all been an act?

Apparently, she wasn't alone as Abi asked, "So you're faking it?"

"I mean, in a way... 'faking it' is just being yourself, but louder," Emma replied.

"No, I don't think that's how it works," Nora said, frowning.

"Of course it wouldn't for you. You're always yourself, Nora, no matter what," Emma said, catching Nora totally off-guard by both the compliment and the genuineness behind it. "It's really amazing. I know we haven't seen eye-to-eye, but I... really admire how  you're so totally yourself, Nora."

Nora blinked, still stunned. "Uh, thanks, Emma."

Emma smiled, before she turned to Abi. "You should try it sometime. You never know who you might impress."

At that, Nora looked at Emma sharply as Abi scoffed.

"Nah. It's too late now, anyway," she said.

"For what? You and Nick? You'll never know unless you put yourself out there," Emma pressed.

"Yeah, but it isn't mutual, Emma. Everyone can see he has had eyes on only one girl all summer, and it isn't Abi," Nora pointed out, wincing at what the words implied as she apologised, "Sorry, Abi."

"it's okay, Nora," Abi replied. "I've known tha—"

Before she could finish, Nora's eyes widened and she yelled, "Abi, watch out!"

Thankfully, Abi caught on and she swerved out of the way of the rocks, causing the golf cart to bump and Nora to cling on for dear life as it rightened and they continued on their trundle to lodge.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nice steerin', Tex," Emma complimented. "Good spotting, Nora!"

Nora glared at Emma while Abi commented, "Jinkies."

A beat of silence lasted before Abi said, "Anyway, like I was saying, I've known all summer that Nick likes Allison. It's pretty stupid to have a crush on a guy who's never going to like you back."

"It's not stupid," Nora said softly, leaning against Abi.

"Nora's right. It's not stupid, and I walked right into that one about you and Nick," Emma agreed, stunning Nora yet again. "Okay, forget what I said about Nick. If it was some other cute guy you liked, then what I said still stands. You never know until you put yourself out there."

Abi mulled over the words, before asking, "Okay, so, hypothetically. If I were to 'put myself out there', what if whoever that guy is ends up being a dud? Kinda like you and Jacob."

"That's a really good question," Nora remarked, looking at Emma and wondering how she was going to spin that.

"Well, he's actually really sweet," Emma murmured.

Nora and Abi frowned in unison as the tattooed girl asked, "Then why'd you quit it?"

"Summer fling! We're going to school like four states away. It's not like what you and Sarah have, Nora. I-He gets it," Emma explained.

Nora frowned further. "Does he, Emma?"

Emma didn't respond.

Beside Nora, Abi said in a disbelieving tone, "Yeah, sure."

"But, that's us. You and that hypothetical guy... could be different. Could be like Nora and Sarah," Emma pointed out.

"She has a point, Abi. That guy could be waiting for you, somewhere. You never know," Nora agreed.

Abi was quiet, before admitting, "You guys both have a point. And thanks for the advice, Em."

Emma smiled, before saying, "I'm really gonna miss you, Abi. You too, Nora."

Neither Abi or Nora responded, but Nora was the same—no matter that they hadn't got along, she was going to miss Emma a bit.

"Oh hold up!" Emma exclaimed as Abi braked and Emma pointed to the left.

"Emma, what the hell are you doing?" Nora questioned.

"Yeah, the lodge is that way," Abi agreed, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Go right here," Emma said.

In unison, Nora and Abi asked, "Why?"

"C'mon. Scenic route. One last victory lap around the camp," Emma prompted.

Nora wanted to get back to the lodge and get some relief for her pain, but this was Abi's call—she was the driver.

And she picked the scenic route.

"Yes!" Emma hissed, grinning as they turned to the right.

"Sure. What's the victory?" Abi asked sardonically.

"I'd like to know that as well," Nora commented.

"Two months, no technology!"

Okay, Nora could agree with Emma there—especially since she was itching to get back to her engineering and robotics projects waiting for her back at Cornell.

"I kind of thought it was nice to be offline," Abi remarked.

"It was, but I miss not being able to access my online projects," Nora admitted.

"Ugh, I didn't. Plus, my subs need me," Emma responded.

"Sure they were fine without you dealing out new content for two months, Emma," Nora snarked.

Before Emma could fire back, Abi cut in, "You know what? I actually believe you."

Nora and Emma both looked at Abi in shock as Emma asked, "Abi... was that a compliment?"

"Sure sounded like it," Nora muttered.

"Your charm is infectious, what can I say? I mean, Nora's obviously immune to it, but I'd subscribe," Abi explained.

Nora frowned as she admitted, "Not entirely. Sure, you can be annoying and a bit superficial, but... you are genuinely nice and well-meaning, Emma. And I admire your tenacity, determination and inner strength. I mean, I doubt we'll ever really get along, but I respect you."

Emma stared at Nora, before saying, "Wow. Thank you, Nora."

"Don 't mention it. Seriously, though, don't. I'll just deny it," Nora said.

Emma laughed. "Don't worry, I won't."

Turning to Abi, she added, "And you better. Subscribe, that is. As soon as you get home, sub, share, smash that like button! The holy trinity!"

"Okay, well now, I'm really regretting it," Abi muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, no. You love me," Emma said, laughing and making kissing noises as Abi and Nora both smiled. That, in regards with Nora and Emma, the frenmity between them faded for a moment.

As the lake and fire pit where they hosted campfire sing alongs came into view, Abi halted the golf cart as Emma breathed, "My favourite spot."

"The fire pit?" Abi questioned.

"The lake?" Nora inquired.

"The island," Emma clarified, as the girls looked back, with Nora now noticing the island. And she could admit, this was a good view of the island that, after pulling away from the mainland when this place was a working quarry and re-wilded itself, had become a spot beloved by the kids for the treehouse and ziplines running across it. Nora had spent many days on it supervising and teaching the kids how to zipline, their screams of enthusiasm and terror now echoing in her ears like ghosts. Nora smiled fondly at the memory.

"Mad secluded, right?" Emma questioned, and Nora nodded in agreement. It really was, without the kids running about it and canoeing or swimming to and fro from it.

But as Nora looked at the island, something didn't seem right about it, until the answer came glaringly obvious.

"Hey, what is that?" she questioned, pointing to the grey plume rising steadily upward into the fading blue sky.

Abi and Emma instantly noticed, as Emma questioned, "Is... is that smoke?"

Nora bit back a sarcastic comment, her concern over the smoke outweighing it as Abi inquired, "Should we tell someone?"

"Yeah, what if it's a forest fire or something?" Nora questioned, staring at the smoke.

"Hmm... it looks pretty contained. It's probably just Mr. H burning some stuff before, you know, he closes camp for the summer," Emma reasoned.

Nora frowned, but she didn't push it. Like Emma said, it looked contained and if it was a fire, then it wouldn't spread past the water.

Still, something about the smoke didn't sit entirely right with Nora.

"Yeah. Speaking of which, we should probably, you know, get back," Abi reminded.

"Yes, definitely," Nora muttered.

"Oh, yeah. Worried Nick's, y'know, gonna leave without you?" Emma teased.

Nora threw a sharp look at Emma as Abi reasoned, "Well, no, they're probably, like, all waiting for us."

"Mmm hmm."

"Everyone's waiting for us."

"Everyone, yeah. Nick, waiting for you. All. Everyone. Same."

"Shut up, Emma," Nora hissed.

Fortunately, the silence remained as they drove back to the lodge and left the island—and the weird smoke—behind.

Like Emma said, it was probably Mr. Hackett burning some stuff off. That could be why.

And yet, Nora didn't think that explanation was right, that something was... off, about the smoke.

But what? That, Nora had no answer to, like with the vial and its pungent stench. Though, maybe she shouldn't be worried about it.

After all, they were leaving today. And once they were on the road, islands with mysterious smoke and vials with ghastly smells would be the last thing on her mind.

***

You sure about that, Nora?

Listen, I wasn't planning for Nora and Emma to be snarky frenemies who do like and respect each other/admire each other, but I low-key love it a lot, especially since I think it's more realistic since not everyone in a friend group would gel—there's bound to be some who clash personality-wise, and Nora and Emma serve that purpose (that said, I love Emma and think she's awesome. She's so final girl coded, especially on the island with werewolf!Max)

Anyway... yeah, Nora and Abi found some things and Nora discovered the teddy and the empty vial of werewolf's blood instead of Abi. And the convo around Nick... Emma is just joking here, since they all know Nick likes Allison a lot and Abi's trying to accept that with her crush on Nick (don't worry, though, there will be no love triangles here) And that mysterious smoke... >:)

Next chapter should be soon—and have things happening >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!