Free Goated by the Gods by Sheri Lyn Page A

he supplied as the kids whooped and hollered their excitement.
    “Come on, gang, let’s go get settled in. There is so much to do, you guys will be begging for this week to never end.” Jared winked and led his campers away.
    “That’s my cue I think. I have to get my kids set up as well.” Marguerite called her group forward and headed off.
    Zach turned to look at Quentin. “So…”
    Quentin shrugged and stared off in the direction Jared had just gone. “Guess I will get things set up for the roast tonight. You wanna check the firewood and get the pit ready?”
    Zach nodded, “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”
    ***
    The long winding road through the woods calmed Gareth, as nothing else had been able to accomplish it over the last week. Being called in to work, as much as it sucked since he was on vacation, might have been the best thing to happen for him. Besides, he was going to be camping in the woods, close to nature. He was getting the best of both worlds.
    He pulled up next to the main building and turned off his car. Camp Kid looked just like he would expect a camp to look like. Guess the movies got one thing right in this instance. He climbed out of the car and stretched, feeling the soothing presence of the wilderness fill him and soothe the never-ending urge to be with nature.
    Gareth walked to the main office and rapped on the door. After a few minutes, he gave up and walked down the couple of steps to look around. Someone had to be close by to give him directions to his cabin to unload.
    A curse from the blue cabin to the right drew his attention. He didn’t see anyone, so he called out. “Anyone here?”
    “Yeah, inside,” a vaguely familiar voice called out. Gareth couldn’t hear the voice well enough to place it, for some reason it was muffled and garbled. He climbed the three steps and entered the dim cabin. Gareth frowned and looked around in puzzlement. “Hello?”
    “Back here,” the voice answered. “Don’t let the door…shut,” the voice called just as the door slammed of its own accord.
    “Shit, sorry. It kinda closed on its own,” Gareth said as he turned and pulled on the door handle. “What the fuck?” Gareth mumbled as he pulled harder on the handle.
    “The door gets stuck. It’s why we leave it open,” the voice said as it drew closer.
    Gareth froze as he finally recognized the voice he should have known. His body had been trying to tell him his mate was close, but he had been too preoccupied to pay attention. He turned slowly and faced the man who kept rejecting him.
    “What are you doing here?” Gareth asked in bewilderment.
    “That’s a better question for you. My brothers and I own this place. What are you doing here?” Zach demanded in shock.
    “I’m a counselor with the group here this week,” Gareth trailed off as he laughed in spite of himself. “I swear if I didn’t know better, I would think the gods had a hand in this, but since all their endeavors end up backfiring, this has to be a major coincidence.”
    “I don’t believe in coincidence. Are you sure this wasn’t set up by one of your brethren?”
    Gareth shook his head, “No, I was on vacation and wasn’t even supposed to be at this camp. It was a last minute request when one of the others had to leave town for a family emergency.”
    Zach sighed and sat down on one of the empty cots. “Might as well get comfy, we could be here awhile.”
    “Why is that?” Gareth asked in confusion.
    “Cause no one knows I am here. We don’t use this cabin except for storage for the winter. No one has reason to come to this cabin to look for me. I just happened to come in because the axe I was using to chop fire wood broke and I knew we had an old one in storage.”
    “Won’t one of your brothers come looking for you? Surely they will need you for something before long. You run this camp after all.”
    “Nope, when I was done I told them I was going to get cleaned up and run into town for a few necessities