CHAPTER 6 BREAKFAST BLUES

Penny awoke next morning to find the tent cold and damp. She rolled over on the hard cot and moaned with pain. Every muscle in her battered body felt as if it had been twisted into a knot.

Swinging her feet to the canvas floor, she pulled away the curtain to peer at her father’s cot. It was empty.

“Guess I’ve overslept,” she thought. “Hope Dad’s started breakfast.”

Penny dressed quickly, cringing as she pulled on damp shirt and shorts. Dew lay heavy upon the tent and the grass outside was saturated. She walked gingerly as she picked her way toward the parked car.

Mr. Parker had set up a portable table nearby and was tinkering with the gasoline stove. He was unshaven and looked very much out of sorts.

“Hi, Dad!” Penny greeted him with as much cheer as she could muster. “What are we having for breakfast?”

“Nothing, so far as I can see! This stove is on strike again. I’ve tried for half an hour to get it started.”

Penny climbed into the car to use the mirror. The sight of her face horrified her. One cheek was blotched with ugly red mosquito bites, there were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair hung in strings.

“If anyone ever gets me on another camping trip I’ll be surprised!” Mr. Parker exclaimed. He slammed the stove down on the table. “I’m through monkeying with this contrary beast!”

“Oh, Dad, such a temper,” Penny chided, giggling despite her own discouragement.

“Suppose you suggest how we’re to eat.”

“Well, there’s cold breakfast food with canned milk.” Penny burrowed deep in a box of supplies stored in the car. “Two soft bananas. No coffee, I’m afraid.”

“Wonderful!” Mr. Parker said grimly. “Well, bring on the bird food.”

Penny set the table and dished up the dry breakfast cereal.

“At least we have beautiful scenery,” she remarked as she sat down to the dismal repast with her father. “Just look at those grand old trees.”

“The place is all right. It’s camping that has me tied in a knot. Now at the Crystal Inn we could be comfortable—right on the beach too.”

“No,” Penny said, though not very firmly. “We’ll like it here after we get adjusted.”

“Need any supplies today?” Mr. Parker asked abruptly.

“Yes, we’ll have to have fresh meat and milk. I forgot salt too and bread.”

“I’ll drive down to Sunset Beach and get the things. May as well take the stove along too and try to have it repaired.”

“That might be a good idea,” Penny admitted, though with reluctance. “Don’t be gone long, will you? I thought we might explore some of the trails.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of time for that.”

Mr. Parker was noticeably cheerful as he stowed the portable stove in the car and drove away. Not without misgiving Penny watched him go. She remained somewhat troubled as she washed the breakfast dishes at the brook and struggled with the beds. The camping trip hadn’t worked out as she had hoped and expected. So far it had been all work and no fun.

“Dad was up to something when he skipped out of here so fast,” she mused. “Wonder why he doesn’t come back?”

The sun rose high above the trees, drying the grass and tent. Penny went for a short hike in the woods. She returned to find that her father still had not returned.

Just then a car rattled up the twisting road. Recognizing the same ranger who had caused so much trouble the previous night, Penny prepared herself for further blows. However, the government man was all smiles as he pulled up not far from the umbrella tent.

“Just dropped by to see if you’re getting along all right,” he greeted her in a friendly way. “Everything Okay?”

“I wouldn’t venture such a rash statement as that,” Penny answered, her face downcast.

Because the ranger, whose name was Bill Atkins, seemed to have a genuine interest, she found herself telling him all about her troubles.

“Why, you’ve not had a decent meal since you came here!” he exclaimed, climbing out of the car. “Maybe I can help you.”

“Can you wave a magic wand and produce hot food?”

“We’ll see,” laughed the ranger. “Gasoline stoves are more bother than they’re worth in my opinion.”

As Penny watched in amazed admiration he built a good fire which soon made a bed of glowing cherry red coals.

“How about a nice pan of fish fried to a crisp brown?” the ranger tempted her. “I caught a string of them this morning. Beauties!”

From the car he brought a basket of fat trout, already dressed and ready for cooking. Without asking Penny for anything, he wrapped them in corn meal, salted each fish and let it sizzle in hot butter.

“Do you always travel with your car equipped like a kitchen cabinet?” Penny joked. Crouching beside the fire, she barely could take her eyes from the food.

“Not always,” the ranger laughed. “I’ve been on an overnight trip. Usually have the fixings of a meal with me though.”

While the fish slowly sizzled, Bill put on a pot of coffee and fried potatoes. He accomplished everything with such ease that Penny could only watch dumbfounded.

“Guess you and your father considered me an old crab last night,” he remarked. “Sometimes we hate to enforce the rules, but we have to treat everyone alike. If we allowed folks to camp wherever they pleased the danger of forest fire would be greatly increased.”

“You’re right, of course. Have you had any fires this season?”

“Not here.” Deftly the ranger dished up the potatoes and crisply browned fish. “Plenty of them farther South. Not all caused by carelessness of campers either.”

Penny was quick to seize upon the remark. “Sabotage?” she questioned.

“That’s what we think,” the ranger nodded. He poured two cups of steaming, black coffee. “Fact is, enemy agents have made quite a few attempts to set fire to our forests. Nearly always they’re caught, but that doesn’t mean we dare let up our vigilance.”

Penny ate every morsel of the food, praising the ranger highly for his cooking ability.

“I wish Dad could have had some of this fish,” she added. “He went down to Sunset Beach for supplies and for some reason hasn’t returned.”

“I’ll have to be on the road myself,” the ranger declared, getting up from the ground. “I’m due in town at twelve o’clock and it’s nearly that now.”

“You’re driving to Sunset Beach?”

“Yes, want to ride along?”

Penny debated briefly. “Wait until I get my coat,” she requested. “It’s lonesome here alone. Anyway, I want to learn what’s keeping Dad.”

The park road had dried considerably, but even so the car skidded from side to side until it reached the paved highway. At Sunset Beach, the ranger dropped Penny off at the postoffice. Rather at a loss to know what to do with herself, she wandered about the half-deserted streets in search of her father. He was not at any of the stores, nor did inquiry reveal his whereabouts.

“Perhaps he’s sunning himself on the beach,” she thought.

A boardwalk led over the dunes to the water front. The tide was at ebb, revealing a long, wide stretch of white sand strewn with shells and seaweed. Penny paused to gaze meditatively upon the wind-swept sea. For a time she watched the waves break and spill their foam on the sandy shore. Then she walked slowly on toward the imposing Crystal Inn.

Approaching the private beach area, Penny met only a few persons, mostly soldiers on furlough with their girls. There were no bathers for a sharp, cool wind blew off the water.

“Sunset Beach is nice,” thought Penny, “but it’s lonesome.”

At the Crystal Inn there was more activity. Tennis courts were in use and so was the swimming pool. Penny circled the well-kept grounds, not intending to enter the building. However, as she drew near, her attention was drawn to the flagstone terrace overlooking the formal garden. Though it was set with tables there were not many diners.

Suddenly Penny stopped short, scarcely believing her eyes. At one of the tables near the stone railing sat her father with Mrs. Deline.