by Renee Marski
Clara pointed to each girl, stating their names as she did.
Katy hugged each girl, making them all smile. "It's so good to have you all here. Getting counselors is becoming harder and harder. The local girls don't want to stay around town to work during the summer. We're lucky to have you. Let me show you around." She led them into the big house, a wooden structure with a tin roof-something Clara hadn't seen since she'd lived in Florida, where her next-door neighbor had put one on his house. Katy looked up at it. "It's soothing when it rains." The girls nodded and followed her into the main entrance.
The front door led directly into what had most likely been the living room of the house before it had been converted. Now, instead of couches and coffee tables, a foosball table sat in the middle of the room, while a dartboard hung on one wall.
"This is the recreation room, where the kids can do any kind of activities they like. We like to give them a couple of hours in the evening to unwind after a day full of activities. We have card tables we can pull out so that they can build puzzles or play games together." Katy walked through the room to an adjoining room that ended up being a kitchen. At the counter, chopping up vegetables, stood two girls. They looked similar to one another, making Clara think that they could be sisters, although one girl was several inches shorter than the other. The taller girl's brown hair was also a shade darker than the shorter girls'. Both had stunning green eyes, while the shorter girl's freckles stood out on her pale face. They smiled as Katy led the girls into the kitchen. "Ladies, these are some more counselors, here to help us. These two lovely gems are Maddy and Savannah." Katy indicated that the shorter girl was Maddy, while the taller one was Savannah. Savannah wore her hair loose around her shoulders, while Maddy's was braided away from her face.
The girls gave small waves, then went back to cutting. Clara nodded to them, then followed Katy through the rest of the house as she showed them some of the other rooms. One was a movie room set up with a projector to play movies like in a theater. Upstairs were the counselor's bedrooms, although Katy mentioned that the counselors also took turns sleeping in the cabins with the girls.
Denise looked around the first bedroom, with twin bunk beds and a small dresser shoved against a wall. "Is this an all-girls camp?"
Katy nodded. "For underprivileged youth. We get a lot of girls here who just need some extra help. Everything is run on donations and grants. The girls don't pay anything to attend. It gives them a couple of weeks to just be kids, without having to worry about their lives out there in the real world." She indicated that they could claim their beds, mentioning that because there were eight counselors( altogether, everyone would have a roommate. Hannah and Tracy snagged one room, Stacy and Denise another. Katy smiled at Clara and pointed to the last room. "Looks like you get to share with Maddy. Savannah and I share the room over there." She indicated the room across the hall. Clara nodded and noticed that the bottom bunk already had a colorful sleeping bag on it. Assuming that Maddy had claimed that bed, Clara tossed her bag on the top bunk. After setting down their stuff, the friends followed Katy back downstairs as she explained that this first night would be for just the counselors. "The campers will show up first thing tomorrow morning. This gives us a chance to get to know one another and get settled in before they arrive."
The girls went back to the kitchen and offered to help the two sisters with dinner. They both smiled and shook their heads. "We got this covered. Food will be ready soon. Beef stew. Go sit in the movie room and relax." Maddy gave the girls a wide grin as she said this. They nodded and headed into the movie room as one.
Sitting in the cushioned red chairs, they leaned back and waited to talk until Katy had left to help the sisters. "Everyone is so nice here," Tracy said in wonder, like she'd expected to be treated poorly.
"Is it odd to anyone that we're all about the same age?" Denise sounded slightly worried by the fact that they were the oldest ones there.
Clara shrugged. "Maybe Katy is very responsible for her age. Who knows?"
The other girls nodded and looked around the room. "I love that we get rooms here in the big house."
Hannah snorted. "Yeah but we still gotta rotate sleeping in the cabins. By the way, not it."
As the others girls scrambled to call not it, Clara smiled. "I'll do it first. I don't think it will be a big deal."
They all exchanged looks. "We'll see about that when the kids show up." Hannah tried to smile to lighten the words. Clara could see that everyone was nervous about meeting the campers. Who knew what kind of lives these girls had been living?
Shortly after, Katy and the sisters came in with the stew and handed bowls out to everyone. Katy turned on the projector and gave them all a big smile. "My mom put together a little orientation video of sorts. It gives a history of the camp and what we do here. We can watch it while we eat." The other girls nodded and settled in for the movie, scooping the stew out of their bowls as quietly as possible. Clara took her first bite of the stew and savored the meat as it practically melted on her tongue. Those sisters sure could cook.
The movie started with a shot of the camp as a woman's voice narrated. "Camp Summerville, a place for girls to come to relax and escape the hardships of life. A place to build lifelong friendships." She went on to explain that the camp had been established by her own mother, Katy's grandmother, and that it had been up and running for over forty years. The narrator detailed the activities the camp offered, some of the traditions it maintained, like polar bearing, and how things had changed over the years. The girls all shivered when polar bearing was mentioned. That was going to start off the morning on a chilly note. Katy's mother ended the video by thanking the counselors for volunteering and wishing them a happy camping summer. As it shut off, Katy raised the lights and clasped her hands in front of her as she smiled at everyone.
"And that's Summerville, you guys. I hope you enjoy your time here."
The girls all nodded and leaned forward so they could talk. "How long have you worked here?" Hannah gave Katy an appraising look.
Katy's cheeks reddened. "I look young, don't I?" The girls nodded, Maddy and Savannah joining in. "I'm actually older than I look. It's just good genes. I've been working here since my teens, but I've been running the camp myself for the last five years. Mom has moved on to other hobbies and left the camp in my care."
Clara's eyebrows shot up. "That's pretty awesome that she trusts you so much."
Katy shrugged. "It was no big deal. I've been groomed my whole life to do this." She looked like she wanted to say something else, then shook her head. "I think we've had enough fun for the night. Time for bed. The campers are going to be here bright and early tomorrow morning." The girls followed her up to their rooms and said goodnight to each other in the hall. Clara followed Maddy into their room and watched as she slipped into her bunk, then pulled a bag from the foot of the bed.
Clara went to the dresser and unloaded her duffel bag into the top two drawers. "I took only the top two drawers. You can use the bottom ones."
Maddy gave her a huge smile. "Thanks. I hadn't really unpacked yet. Katy put us to work the minute we got here."
Clara scratched at her forehead, feeling bad that she and the other girls had just sat around. "I'm sorry. We would've helped."
Maddy shook her head and reached up to undo her braids. "It's not a big deal, trust me. Savannah and I have been coming here for years. We used to be campers." She glanced around the room with a look that made Clara feel like she was encroaching on someone's space. "This is like our home away from home. So, we know what to do the minute we get here."
Clara nodded and leaned against the door, her pajamas clutched in her hands. "This place is really that great?"
Maddy nodded. "The campers who come here have a rough life. Poverty, among other things, makes their day-to-day lives difficult. Here at camp, they get to be just campers, just kids having a good time." Maddy's shoulder slumped slightly. "The first couple days are going to
be rough. The new girls are going to be suspicious about everything. They'll question everything we want them to do. It takes time for them to open up."
"I can understand that. We'll just have to be patient."
"The returnees will help them transition. We're just here to make sure they don't kill one another in the process." Maddy hopped off the bed and carried a bag out into the hall. "I'll get changed, then you can, okay?" Clara agreed and stepped over to the bed to lay out her sleeping bag and pillows. Maddy returned before Clara had even finished smoothing out her sleeping bag. Once changed and with her teeth brushed, Clara returned to the room and climbed onto the top bunk. Maddy reached behind her head and flicked off the light. Clara was lying in the dark, wondering if she should say anything else to Maddy, when she heard soft snoring coming from the bottom bunk. Rolling over, Clara whispered, "Good night," then closed her eyes, hoping the next day would go smoothly for all involved.
3. MEETING THE CAMPERS
T he girls were all waiting outside the big house when the yellow school buses pulled up the next day. Katy had gotten everyone up extra early so they could eat and be dressed and ready to go by the time the campers arrived. All the girls had helped make breakfast and left the kitchen looking like a disaster zone when they finished. They had promised to clean up once the campers were busy getting settled into their cabins. Each of the girls had been paired together, two to a cabin. Katy had decided to pair them up based on sleeping arrangements, so Clara had been paired with Maddy.
As the girls piled out of the buses, Clara shielded her eyes from the morning sun to get a better look. What she saw made her heart hurt. The girls were all different ages, ranging from twelve to eighteen. Most wore ill-fitting clothes, with nothing more than a backpack strapped to their backs. They jostled each other for position, the older girls standing behind the younger ones, pushing them forward. The younger girls looked annoyed, even put out, to be here. The older girls, the ones Clara assumed had been here before, looked excited. One girl, her dark hair formed into many little braids, leaned forward to whisper excitedly in a younger girl's ear. They looked so similar, with the same dark skin, matching hazel eyes, and oval-shaped faces, that Clara assumed they must be sisters. The younger sister looked annoyed that the older sister was talking to her, as she shooed her away with her hand. Clara hid a smile, as that was exactly what Jasmine would've done to her.
Once all the girls were off the bus, Katy stepped forward and clapped her hands for attention. "Alright, ladies, welcome to another summer at Camp Summerville. I trust you all are excited to get settled and get started?" Many heads nodded, although Clara noticed the younger girls just looked at Katy in suspicion. "Okay, well, let's pick cabins then. Remember, there are twelve girls to a cabin. So, get going." A mad dash ensued, the older campers heading to their preferred cabins, leaving the younger campers to watch them in confusion. Realizing they were being left with whatever the older campers didn't want, the younger girls followed and looked more uncertain.
Clara stepped up next to Katy and watched as the girls raced away. "You let them pick their own cabins?"
Katy nodded, her eyes flitting from cabin to cabin. "The older campers, they've built up a relationship with the other girls here. This gives them a chance to get to bunk with their friends from last year. And it gives the new girls a chance to make new friends by being stuck with the girls who are left. There will always be the few outliers who have to be placed by us, but that's never really been a problem. It also tells you who your least confident girls are, the ones who will need extra coaxing. They're the ones you have to assign to a cabin because they aren't brave enough to join one themselves."
Clara noticed several of the younger girls standing outside the cabin closest to the big house's right side. They stood away from each other and glanced around with worried looks on their faces. Katy smiled and walked toward them. Clara followed, the other counselors trailing behind her. Katy stopped before the girls, hands on her hips. "No rooms, ladies?"
The girls looked at each other, then back at Katy. "We don't know where to sleep."
Katy placed a hand on the shoulders of two of the girls and turned them toward the next cabin. "Well, let's go see what's available, shall we?" The girls nodded and followed her to the next cabin. In each cabin, Katy found a bed for the girls. The older girls welcomed them with open arms, while the new girls who had managed to get their own beds looked at them with suspicion. Clara sighed, knowing that for most, this had to be a nerve-wracking experience.
Once all the girls were placed, Katy gave them a couple of minutes to get settled in and unpacked before she pulled out a bull horn and called them out of their cabins. Once they'd gathered before her in a group, she gave them a quick rundown of the rules, informing them of the two hours of free time after dinner, the chores everyone would have to perform, and that the big house was off-limits except for meals and game time. The older girls nodded like they'd heard these things before. The younger girls looked up at the big house, curiosity glinting in their eyes. Clara could just imagine the thoughts that tumbled through their heads. These girls thought the counselors were hiding something in the big house.
Katy clapped her hands, breaking up the girls to do whatever chores needed to be done. She assigned each pair of counselors to lead the girls in the various tasks. Savannah and Katy took a group to the kitchen to clean up and prepare the next meal. Maddy and Clara were assigned to the barn, to clean out stalls and brush out the horses with the group of girls from their cabin. Clara noticed that the two sisters she'd seen earlier were in her group and she smiled. This was one young camper who hadn't been abandoned in the mad dash. Even now, the older sister gripped the younger's hand tightly.
In the barn, Clara handed out tools and helped the girls start cleaning out the stalls. They removed the old hay and replaced it with fresh hay. Clara climbed up to the hayloft and tossed the clean hay down to the girls. Maddy had taken several of the girls and spread them out among the stalls, where they were brushing down the horses. One of the younger girls wrinkled her nose at the dirty hay and looked over at Maddy. "When do we get to ride the horses?"
Maddy glanced around and noticed the girls all watching her for a response. Clara leaned against the wall of the loft, interested in the answer. "Probably tomorrow after morning chores. Today is just for you all to get accustomed to being here and get the lay of the land." The older girls nodded but the younger ones looked disappointed.
When they'd finished with the barn, they moved out to the chicken pen, where they gathered eggs and fed the chickens. Maddy handed Clara the basket of eggs. "Go ahead and take this inside. I can handle the girls for a minute alone." Clara nodded and headed to the big house.
In the kitchen, she found an even bigger mess than when they'd left it this morning. Katy and Savannah were trying to explain a recipe to the girls surrounding them, but several had already grabbed bowls and were mixing things, not even listening. Katy kept glancing at them like she wanted to say something, but ended up just pressing her lips together and going back to the recipe. Clara set the basket of eggs on the counter and gave them a small smile before heading back outside. Lunch and dinner were definitely going to be interesting if the campers were the ones cooking.
The morning passed quicker than she expected. Lunch consisted of a simple soup and salad, the soup being spicier than Clara had thought it would be. Several of the girls pushed away the soup, eating only the salad. Clara noticed that some of the girls managed to trade their soup for salad from the campers who liked the spiciness. Clara looked over at Katy, who shrugged. After lunch, everyone carried their bowls into the kitchen. The girls who had cooked now started cleaning up while the other groups headed outside for a little fun. Katy directed the other counselors to have their girls get into bathing suits and head to the lake. Clara led her group to their cabin and waited outside for them to change. As they trooped out, she realized several girls were in shorts and t-shirts, with no su
its in sight. She stepped up to one of the older girls, her gut churning with worry. "Do you guys not have suits?"
The girls exchanged looks. Then one of them, the older sister she'd noticed earlier, stepped up. "Not all of us swim very often." Clara bit her lip, her heart hurting for these girls. She looked at Maddy, who gave her a sad smile.
"We have extras in the big house just for this reason. I'll go grab them." Clara nodded and waited with the girls while Maddy disappeared into the big house. She reappeared moments later with enough suits for every girl. She handed a suit to whoever needed one, then they waited while those girls got changed. Once everyone was suited up, they made their way down to the lake, whose water sparkled in the afternoon sun.
At the lake, Clara noticed a dock set up near the back of the big house, a small boat tied to it. Someone had carted in sand, so the lake had a small beach surrounding it. The sand warmed their feet as they walked across it to the dock. Katy stood on the dock, her feet spread, her hands hanging at her sides. She waited until all groups were present, then pulled out her bullhorn. "Okay, ladies, this afternoon starts our first swimming lesson. Who here can't swim?" She watched as no one moved, the girls all glancing at each other. Katy grinned, winking at Clara. "So, all of you can swim? I can toss you all off the end of this dock and you won't sink to the bottom like a stone?" Again, no response. Clara sensed this was normal, that none of the new girls, whom this was obviously for, wanted to be the first to state that they couldn't swim. Katy scanned the sea of faces and finally pointed at one of the younger girls in the middle of the group. The girls' face flushed a deep red when Katy pointed at her. "You wanna give it a shot? Show us what you got?" The girl squared her shoulders and stepped out onto the dock amongst whispers and giggles. The older girls seemed to know what was happening. Because they'd been here before, Clara figured this was a normal occurrence. Katy walked the girl to the end of the dock, one hand on her shoulder. She pointed to a floating pier several yards out in the lake and told the girl to swim to it. The girl nodded and jumped off the dock without hesitation. Clara ran to the end of the dock, her gut clenched. If the girl drowned, they'd all be in big trouble.