Camp Mansfield - Chapter One

The raindrops rhythmically falling each in their own time cluster together in the corner of the outdoor pavilion. The breeze is gentle but the air is chill enough to need a jacket in the damp temperature. Once under the shelter, Faith shakes her hair to release the excess moisture and smiles appreciating the fresh glow on all of nature surrounding her.  She stomps her creased dusty boots against the geometric stone flooring looking at the wet trail left behind her. 

“There you are!” Faith gently admonishes her favorite pet, Sampson, an older yet still in denial Labrador who has dreams of puppyhood.  She nuzzles with him a moment nose to nose giving him a good scratch behind each of his floppy ears. Looking down at his muddy paws “Looks like you’ve been chasing a few of the geese around the lake again! You don’t want them biting your nose like last time!”

Sampson loyally follows her around the empty pavilion as she checks the stage to make sure that all the items from the previous rental group have been removed. She opens the storage closet to place the one lone chair that was left by the water fountain. She imagines a young boy of about 5 needing it for a moment’s refreshment from a warmer day before.

Picking up leftover candy bar wrappers and small remnants of spiral notebook paper accidentally left behind, Faith wonders what memories were created that past weekend that some will carry for a lifetime.  Camp is one of her favorite places to be.

When her parents passed away as a senior in high school, she was given a position as a Guest Services associate and has been living on the campgrounds for over ten years managing different areas as needed or assigned. Mansfield Park, a historical premier camp nestled in the woods of the Northern Territory, personifies all that is whole and good to her.  To Faith, the camp is more than a home it has become a place of healing from grief and a promise of good things to come.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a scratchy sound from the radio that almost feels permanently attached to her hip, and hears a gruff low voice “Faith, what’s your location?  We need you in the barn as soon as you can get here”.

“I’m on my way Thomas! I’m leaving the Pavilion now” immediately answers Faith jumping into her golf cart that she has decorated with a laminated portrait of Jane Austen tightly taped to the steering wheel, with the words “This cart belongs to Faith or Jane if she comes to visit”.  Too many times before without a posted sign, she would walk away from a building only to find that her cart had disappeared into the unknown driven by a friendly guest.

Driving through the mud and rain, Faith finally reaches the chipped paint barn where the horses and some cattle reside along the trenches. “Mr. Thomas I’m here!” announces Faith entering the barn enveloped in the smell of wet hay and other farm animals meandering in the air.  Her haggard boots shuffle through the scattered hay and feed that has aimlessly drifted along the floor of the barn.

Among the permanent staff, Thomas and Mary Bartram have been the caretakers of the large rural property and have raised their four lively children in the organized wilderness. Their children are no longer kids hanging randomly from the trees, but are now adults each finding their own place in the world.   

“Oh Faith, I’m so glad you’re here!” anxiously replies Thomas, “It seems Apple Dumpling is not doing so well today.  We need to take her to the vet, but she is refusing to move. You’re the only one who can convince her to go anywhere other than my Ted.  She’s so stubborn, but she has been around forever and has a mind of her own.”

Faith grabs an apple from the metal bucket beside her stall, gently stroking her forehead she leads Apple Dumpling by her muzzle to the trailer.  Apple Dumpling softly nods his head near to Faith and comfortably neighs in acknowledgement that she will be safe in Faith’s hands.

In a fatherly way, Thomas reminds Faith “You know, Apple Dumpling may not be with us much longer.  There will be a moment when it will be kinder to let her rest than to suffer in any more pain.”

Dropping her eyes Faith sighs and giving Apple Dumpling a reassuring pat on her side, “Yes, I know.  I want to do what I can for her right now though”.

“Mr. Thomas, when will Ted be back in town?” asks Faith wanting to change the subject as they head towards the vet about twenty minutes away in the nearest local community.

“Mrs. Bartram is so excited.  All the kids will be back for Thanksgiving and spending a couple of weeks with us” explains Thomas feeling rather nostalgic for his family “You and Ted will be glad to see each other.  I remember as children the two of you hanging out at the lake and fishing when you were ten years old.  Such good times ….” 

“Yes, we did have a lot of fun together” agrees Faith giggling as some adventurous memories pop into her thoughts of laughter and other comedic antics of childhood. “It will be good to see him again.  He was my very best friend.  It’s been a few years since I saw him last other than for a meal at your house or something like that.  I hope he is doing well!”

“Sure, you know Ted.  He always studying or traveling.  He talks about wanting to be an officer someday.  We’ll see.  As far as all my kids go, I think he is the one with the most likely heart to make a difference” reflects Thomas “He’s a good man but he needs to find some direction.  Maybe you can help him with that.  Perhaps you could introduce him to some of your friends and help him find a wife, but that might be better for my daughters to do since they might be more his type or at least my wife’s type.”

Listening to his words, Faith nods her heading in agreement.  Mrs. Bartram was not terribly excited when they dated for a short time as teens. It was only for a summer after graduation and ended with Ted left for college on the coast.  But it seemed Mrs. Bartram interfered as much as possible to keep them separated.  Her eye had been on the commissioner’s granddaughter who didn’t seem to have the slightest acknowledgement of Ted at the time but on every other cute boy with any type of status in the territory who seemed to willingly ignorantly follow her like a row of puppies as if they each felt like they were the only one in her life.

However, Ted didn’t seem to notice the other girl and kept his attention focused on her.  It didn’t matter who was around, Ted was always kind to her and made her happy. “It will be so good to see him again” silently reflects Faith to herself “I wonder if he is the same or if he has changed over the years.”

A loud line of a song reverberates from the phone sitting next to Thomas on the bench of the truck, “I’d gladly walk across the dessert with no shoes upon my feet”.  Faith hears Mr. Thomas “Uhh unh, yes, oh really?  When? Mmmm.  Good as far as I know. Yeah, that will be all right. See you then!”

“Guess what Faith?” interrupts Thomas as he lowers the music on the radio “Seems like the angels must have heard you.  Ted is coming to visit tomorrow and officially added another month to his vacation in November.  He has to do some consulting work for the divisional headquarters and asked if he could stay at camp with us.  He even asked about you!” shares Thomas rather surprised that his son would ask about her rather than his mother “Mrs. Bartram is going to be ecstatic. I better head home to tell her or she’ll be mad if she doesn’t have everything ready in time.  Do you mind if I drop you off at the office, so I can head back to the house?”

“No, not at all” replies Faith knowing that her small cottage is across the camp grounds from the caretaker’s home “I think that I left my cart at the office anyway.”

“No you left it at the barn” correctly answers Thomas “But it’s not too far of a walk from the office.”

“Yes, I don’t mind walking” replies Faith knowing that the office is at least a good half mile away on the property from the barn but a walk seems like a good idea at the moment.

“You’ll have to come for supper once Ted arrives tomorrow” kindly offers Thomas remembering that Faith doesn’t have much family and viewing her as somewhat of a daughter “I’m sure you’ll have many stories to catch up on or remember from when you were kids together.”

“Thank you!  That would be wonderful!” loudly states Faith to be heard over the diesel engine as she jumps out of the utility truck “I’m looking forward to it!”