Read Online Alaska Adventure by Cynthia Baxter - Free Book Online Page A

awkward metal fish traps she was carrying, “Look, Trip. There’s one thing you and I had better get straight from the very beginning. I’m here to learn—and nothing more.”
    “Hey, you know what they say—’All work and no play ...”
    “Read my lips. I came to Alaska to work, not to socialize.”
    “You know, Laurel, there’s something I can’t quite figure out.” Trip took a step backward, his blue eyes narrowing as he looked her up and down.
    “What’s that?”
    “Any girl as pretty as you is bound to have a boyfriend. And why this boyfriend of yours would ever agree to let you go away for practically the whole summer is beyond me.”
    Laurel could feel her blood starting to boil. “In the first place,” she said as evenly as she could, “my personal life is none of your business. In the second place, I would never let a boyfriend—or anybody else, for that matter—stand in the way of something that really mattered to me, something like this trip. In the third place, the idea of a boyfriend ‘letting’ me do anything is so—so primitive that I can hardly believe you actually had the nerve to bring it up. In the fourth place—”
    Trip chuckled. “I get your point.”
    “I’m not sure about that.”
    “Sure I do. You’re one of those girls who likes to play hard to get.” Trip threw back his head, his hollow laugh echoing through the woods.
    Laurel opened her mouth to reply, then quickly snapped it shut. What was the point? Arguing with Trip would accomplish nothing besides convincing him that he was right in believing she was simply “playing hard to get.” The best thing to do, she decided, was simply to ignore him.
    “Okay, everybody,” Dr. Wells announced once the group had reached the shore. By that point, Russ had joined them, with Cassie straggling a few paces behind. “We’re going out in three canoes today. That means two people per canoe.”
    “Oh, goody,” muttered Mariah. She smoothed the stylishly baggy white jeans she was wearing with a Hawaiian print blouse and large enameled earrings shaped like lush tropical flowers. “The buddy system.”
    “There are a few things I want to mention,” Dr. Wells continued. “Since this is our first day out, I’ll be coming along with you to make sure there are no complications. After I’m confident you can manage on your own, I’ll often stay behind and process the collections, analyze data, or just plan our work.
    “Before we start, I want to make sure everyone’s clear about what it is we hope to accomplish. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking an inventory of the plants and the animals in and around Wolf Lake. Even though our main goal for today is to get fish traps in the water in all the different sections of the lake, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start collecting a few water samples. Russ has a lot of experience in that area. He and I will show you how to use the Van Doren sampler.
    “Aside from setting fish traps and collecting water samples, begin looking out for different varieties of birds and insects. The same goes for herbarium specimens.”
    “He means plants,” Trip interjected.
    Mariah rolled her eyes.
    Dr. Wells ignored them both. “We’ll make a full-scale effort to take cuttings and get them in plant presses later on. For now, you can start collecting specimens as you come across them. That way, you’ll already have a head start when we start our routine surveys—what we call transects.”
    Dr. Wells looked around at his research team, standing around him in a loose circle. “Okay. If there aren’t any questions, let’s get started.”
    He’d barely gotten the words out when Cassie rushed over to Laurel. “You’ll share a canoe with me, won’t you?” she asked anxiously.
    Looking at the outfit she’d chosen to wear that day, it was all Laurel could do to keep from bursting out laughing. Cassie was covered from head to foot. With her jeans she had on a long-sleeved shirt, the cuffs