Nurse of the Thousand Islands — Audrey Johnson

I turned off the busy highway into the rest area with its thicket of shade trees that offered respite from the hot sun. A few campers were parked under the trees, and children played on the swings and slides. From the stone fireplaces rose the aroma of grilled hamburgers, and I realized that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was nearly four o'clock, and I had been driving north for hours.

The scenic route along the Hudson River with the brooding Catskill Mountains in the background had been pleasant, but now I had reached the flat farmland of central New York, and the traveling had become monotonous.

I put my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes. In less than two hours, I should reach Elm Forks on the St. Lawrence River, where Dr. Tate said I could catch the car ferry to Cory Island. I would spend the next eight weeks at Camp Shandelee as camp nurse for overweight adolescent girls.