S That night John lay on the couch and tried to fall asleep But he kept imagining what lay ahead Fishing swimming campfires Bugs bad weather bears He tossed and turned then finally fell asleep to the rhythm of his grandfather's snoring Ho Time to get up called Etseh No use
sleeping till noon today We need to pack the canoes and get going The weather's good and the water's calm The three cousins followed the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs to the kitchen Eat up These will be your last eggs for a while teased Etsi Later that morning as they finished loading the canoes friends and relatives came down to the dock Even the chief came to see them off He said a prayer and made an offering of tobacco to the water for a safe trip Everyone waved and wished them good luck as they paddled
John sitting in the middle of his
grandfather's canoe began paddling quickly Slow down John You won't have any strength left if you keep paddling like that laughed Etseh Nora turned around and laughed too She was just two years older than John but she had been on trips with her grandparents before Peter the oldest cousin paddled the canoe behind them while joking with his grandmother about eating too much
