All ten Standing Chop competitors stood side by side, the heads of their axes positioned on the ground between their parted legs and feet. Upright logs approximately five feet high reached out of the earth in front of them. Their objectives were quite clear by the rules: chop two sections of upright timber off, one foot each; the first axeperson to accomplish these cuts would win the challenge.
Jasper Lake sat behind the contenders which looked like a picture-perfect painting: rippling green-blue water, two swans, a wooden raft floating in its icy center, a snow-covered gazebo on the opposite side of the lake.
Jack made up the far right end of the line, being the last axeperson in position. I helplessly studied him: jeans tight, two buttons open on his black-and-red flannel, broad should
