Camp Rewind by O'Brien Meghan

Author:O'Brien, Meghan [O'Brien, Meghan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626397941
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2016-10-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Rosa awoke to an odd sensation. A soft, cool pressure slithered across her ankles, then tickled the bottoms of her feet. She frowned without opening her eyes, stretching one leg to nudge at the nuisance—probably the sleeping bag, she decided, having gotten wound around her legs while she slept—before unmistakable movement against the top of her foot convinced her that whatever had woken her up was alive. Her eyes shot open and she bolted upright, dumping a still-unconscious Alice onto the sleeping bag beside her as she yanked her feet up in sheer panic. At the sight of the freakishly long black-and-white snake that had been cuddling with her toes only seconds before, she let out a mighty, high-pitched scream.

Alice jolted awake with a start and looked around the sunlit room with wide, unfocused eyes. “Rosa? What’s wrong?”

Rosa grabbed Alice’s arm and pointed. “Snake!”

All the tension drained out of Alice’s body when her gaze landed on their unwelcome visitor. “Oh, dear.” Still naked from the night before, she crawled down and carefully grabbed the snake around the middle of its horrifically slithery length. Using both hands, she gripped it carefully in a position that kept his head well away from her body. Then she stood and took a few steps away from the sleeping bag before turning to face Rosa. “It’s only a California king snake. He’s harmless, I promise.”

“How the fuck did he get up here?” Rosa shuddered as she reached for her discarded shirt and bra and pulled on her clothing as hastily as possible. “We’re indoors! And upstairs!”

“Hard to say.” Alice examined the snake carefully, turning him this way and that, almost in admiration. “He could have hitched a ride with us—maybe he came from the boat?—or it’s possible he made his way up here on his own. Snakes can be excellent climbers, given the right surface.”

Rosa shuddered even harder as revulsion rolled through her body. “I hate snakes.”

Alice turned away, blocking Rosa’s view of the reptile, and glanced over her shoulder with a sympathetic smile. “I gathered.” She scanned the storage area, apparently trying to decide what to do with her scaly charge. “I’d take him outside, but I would want to put some clothes on first…” Her eyes appeared to widen in alarm as her attention drifted to the window. “Rosa, the sun is up!”

“Yes.” Eager to speed up their escape from the snake pit, Rosa finished dressing and began to collect Alice’s clothes. “I noticed that when I traumatized myself by seeing every detail of that creature molesting my ankles.”

“I mean it’s all the way up.” Alice paced nervously back and forth a few steps, still holding the unhappy-looking snake in her outstretched hands. “Everyone is probably awake by now. What if they’ve already noticed the boat is missing?”

Cursing under her breath, Rosa knelt to roll the sleeping bag while she took multiple nervous peeks out the closest window to study the sky. Alice was right. Somehow, they’d managed to sleep in until well past sunrise, something Rosa really hadn’t anticipated needing to worry about.

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