Therefore, we declare all-out war. Starting from the second this envelope is opened. In return, we want respect. From all of you!
Signed,
Holly, Shauna, Andie, Joy,
Amy-Liz, Paula, Kayla
Andie was champing at the bit when she signed—no, scribbled—her name. Kayla could hardly write her name, she was so angry.
After we had all signed the document, I added a P. S. at the bottom: The Bible says, “There is a time for everything. A time for war and a time for peace.” Well, guess what time it is!
I folded the paper and put it into one of my stationery envelopes. “I’ll deliver this,” I said grimly, waving it in the air.
On my way to the camp post office, I ran into Todd.
“Holly!” he called to me.
“Oh, hi,” I said. Perfect timing! “Could you give something to someone for me?” I said sweetly, then realized how perfectly insensible that sounded.
“Sure,” he said, glancing at the envelope in my hand. “Like who?”
“You know Jared Wilkins, right?”
He nodded.
I handed Todd the war letter. “Thanks a lot,” I said, dying for Jared to read it and spread the word.
He frowned. “What’s this about? You two are really fighting, aren’t you?”
“Uh, not just him and me,” I explained. “The girls in Cabin B have had it with the entire male camp population.”
He looked stunned. “Why? What happened?”
I turned to go. “It’s a long story.”
“Wait, Holly, about the Talent Night…” He looked serious. “Have you decided on anything yet?”
No way was he going to fit into the scheme of things. Not this summer.
“Maybe you should ask someone else,” I said. “Sorry, but thanks for delivering the letter. See ya.” I waved and was off before he could pursue the matter. I wasn’t too thrilled about conversing with the enemy, polite—and cute—or not. As far as my sisters and I were concerned, there was no neutral ground in our battle plan.
It was all-out war, beginning with water balloons to be administered during quiet time, right after the noon meal. Over lunch, we drew up our strategy.
Andie wanted to blow a trumpet or something and march around the boys’ cabin, Jericho style.
“You’ve gotta be out of your mind,” I said.
“Yeah,” Amy-Liz agreed, fooling with her bandanna. “We’ll attract too much attention.”
“Okay, then, what?” Andie asked, looking too eager to embark on the first attack.
I made a quick sketch of the boys’ cabin area, showing the route we could take—down the steep slope, through the pine forest, around the amphitheater, and up the hill.
“Masterful,” Kayla said, tracing the imaginary path with her well-manicured finger.
Instead of Joshua’s army, we were the SOS battalion.
Our initial attack was so fabulous! We never even looked where we were throwing. Just opened the guys’ cabin door and pelted those boys good!
At first they yelled. Then their shouts turned to enthusiastic hooting as some of the balloons came flying back in our direction.
Shaving cream, too.
The cabin was filled with white foam, spilling out through the doorway, hissing through the screened windows. What an unexpected counterattack!
Kayla screamed. Some of the shaving cream caught her in the eye, and Paula guided her away from the chaos, toward the girls’ rest room.
“Retreat,” Andie shouted, and all of us followed.
Our quiet time before devotions officially ended with our explaining to Rhonna why we were angry at the guys and that they deserved any prank we might play on them. Of course, we left out the part about a zillion water balloons and where we’d been. Fortunately we’d rinsed off the shaving cream before returning.
Paying attention to Rhonna’s devotional and her prayer wasn’t easy with my mind on our next strategy conference. Even so, I heard snatches of words like overlooking wrong deeds, forgiveness, getting along, etc.
Later, Andie had the bright idea to ask permission for us to take a short hike. Without Rhonna. It was free time, anyway.
Rhonna agreed. She looked worn out, probably from all those early jogging sessions. Surely it had nothing to do with keeping track of seven conniving females.
When we were far enough away from the cabin, our meeting began under the covering of the pine forest.
“What happened back there?” Kayla asked, referring to the guys’ ammunition.
“Yeah, where’d the shaving cream come from?” Shauna complained.
I shrugged. “They must’ve planned to launch an attack of their own.”
“Well, we beat ’em to it!” Andie cheered.
Paula touched her damp hair. “What’s next?”
“Tomorrow morning—early—we get ’em good,” I said.
Andie grinned. “Yes!”
“We’ll get up really early. When the guys take their showers, we’ll be hiding outside, around the back, waiting to turn off the hot water.”
Joy looked uneasy. “Do all of us have to?”
“We’re in this together, right?” I said.
“SOS,” said Andie, “SOS.”
Eagerly, we picked up the chant, heading to inspect the pipe system outside the girls’ rest room. Afterward, I sneaked through the trees behind the guys’ rest room and studied the plumbing there.
Perfect! They were identical.
Monday morning, Rhonna was long gone on her morning jog when my watch began to play its wake-up tune at six-thirty. Ten minutes later, Andie and Paula were on either side of me, ready for mischief! We stared at the network of pipes and spigots outside the boys’ shower area.
“That’s not it,” I whispered, searching for the hot-water pipe.
“Where is it?” Andie hissed. “Remember where we found it behind our rest room? Think!”
I envisioned the identical setup behind our rest rooms.
“We’ve gotta find it,” Paula said, glancing at Kayla.
My eyes scanned the pipes once again. “There, I think that’s it,” I pointed toward the hot-water spigot.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Amy-Liz said, crouching down.
“Who’s going to stand post?” I asked.
Shauna volunteered. Silently, she headed to a clump of aspen trees around the side of the log cabin structure. It was the perfect hiding place, especially in the early morning light.
Jared and Danny headed inside the small building first, followed soon by Billy and Stan. We’d assigned numbers to the boys so that whoever stood post could flash the appropriate fingers to the rest of us behind the building. Jared was number one, Stan number two, and so on.
The gentle rumble of pressure pushing through the outside pipes told us the water was on. We could hear the guys talking their easy-going, boring nonsense. Probably soaping up…
We waited a few more seconds.
“Ready…set…now!” Andie said.
I turned the hot-water spigot all the way. Hard.
Off!
Howling followed. Loud, freaking howls.
“Let’s go,” I whispered.
Shauna dashed over to catch up with us.
“Outta here!” Andie said as we flew up the dirt path, across the log bridge, and into the safety of our cabin.
“Listen,” Amy-Liz said, standing in the doorway.
“Can you hear them?” I strained, listening.
“It’s most likely your imagination,” Paula said.
We stood by the window, grinning.
“What a horrible thing to do,” Joy said.
Yet we were still grinning long after the deed was done.
NO GUYS PACT
Chapter 19
The guys sent a delegation—Jared and Stan—to talk to Andie and me during lunch. The four of us moved to a vacant table with our trays. It seemed strange having an extended conversation with the guys like this.
<
br /> Jared got things started. “If it’s respect you girls want, let’s talk.”
“So, shoot,” Andie said. She wasn’t making it easy for the guys’ first attempt at a peace conference.
“Okay,” Jared said, winking at me. “For starters, how about Holly and me spend a little time together, for old times’ sake?”
“Focus, Jared,” Andie piped up. “This isn’t about past friendships. Don’t you guys pay attention at all?”
Stan looked puzzled. “We’re here to talk peace,” he reprimanded Jared. “The thing about Holly can wait till later.”
“Just a minute!” I said. “Are you saying this peace thing hinges on certain people being your girlfriends?”
Jared ran his fingers through his dark waves. “You could say that.”
Andie stood up. “Well, then, just forget it!” She motioned to me, and we picked up our trays.
“Hey, Andie, you want your makeup or not?” Stan taunted.
“Keep it!” Andie called over her shoulder.
But Jared and Stan didn’t return to their table. They followed us to our table, focusing on Amy-Liz now.
“I need to talk to you, Amy,” Jared said, shooting a sly glance at me.
Amy-Liz turned to look at me. “What’s this about?”
“Why don’t you just go away, Jared,” Andie said. She was as nervous as I was about Jared wanting to talk to Amy-Liz.
Jared stood his ground. “We have to talk, Amy-Liz.”
“Leave me alone,” she said, turning her shoulder to him.
Jared’s eyes narrowed. “It’s about your camp scholarship.”
No, not that!
The SOS gasped in unison.
Amy-Liz frowned. “What about it?”
Jared leaned closer to her. “Let me be the first to tell you where the money really came from….”
All of us squirmed while Jared enjoyed himself to the hilt. Amy’s face turned white. She looked first at Jared, then at Andie and me. “What’s he saying?”
Before I could respond, Jared took her by the arm. “I think you’d better come with me,” he said.
Horrified, we watched as Amy-Liz left us to go sit with the archenemy at a table near the dessert window. “The war rages on,” I said, worried about the consequences of Jared’s deed. This would surely be the demise of the Sisters of Silence. And Jared knew it.
“We might as well kiss Amy-Liz good-bye,” Andie said mourn fully.
“You can say that again,” Paula said. “Remember how she freaked when we tried to give her money for her SOS T-shirt?”
Kayla sighed. “Do you think she’ll leave camp?”
Joy looked wistful. “I hope not.”
I shook my head. “Amy’s probably so upset right this minute, who knows what she’s thinking or saying.” And I had no doubt Jared would worm the secret society information right out of her.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Andie said, gawking at them. “Check it out.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Amy-Liz was marching back to our table, and her face literally shone with delight. Jared, on the other hand, sat alone with a dejected look on his usually cheerful face.
“Interesting,” I said.
Amy-Liz started hugging us. First Andie, then me. “You two did that? You baked all those cookies so I could come to camp?” She was blubbering all over us about what we had done. Whew, what a relief.
Once again, the guys’ attempt to destroy our unity had failed. We were stronger than ever!
Hours after lights-out, the SOS found some bowls in the camp kitchen. After filling them with warm water, we tiptoed to the boys’ cabin area.
Since Jared was my main target and Stan was Andie’s, the two of us crept inside first. If all went well, Paula would dish out the hand-in-warm-water trick to Billy. Kayla’s target was Danny, and the rest of the girls would stand guard outside.
We were so good, we never even made a sound. Silent sisters, all right.
Jared’s limp right hand went willingly into the bowl. Quickly, I left the cabin and hid behind a tree with Paula, waiting for Andie.
Soon she emerged. Victory!
One by one, the girls administered the prank. Miraculously, we pulled it off.
I wrote in my notebook by flashlight when we returned. Monday, June 27: We did it! We pulled off a major, I mean MAJOR, attack tonight. I still can’t believe we didn’t get caught.
Wednesday morning’s the jeep trip. We’re going to experience hairpin turns and switchbacks. After that, we’ll come back to camp for a wiener roast, and then…Talent Night.
I still don’t know what I’m doing for my talent. Todd Stillson wants me to sing a duet with him, but that’s impossible. Too bad things turned out this way.
How I wish I could be a little mouse hiding somewhere in Jared’s cabin tomorrow morning. Man, I’ll bet those boys will be ticked. When they see the bowls of water, they’ll know the truth. The SOS doesn’t mess around!
More later.
Sleeping bags were hanging out of every single one of Jared’s cabin’s windows Tuesday morning! We honestly tried not to giggle about it on our way to breakfast. It was mean, what we had done, but a powerful message had been sent. Maybe as strong a message as we’d ever sent.
After lunch we swam in the pool, just the girls. The guys had gone into Ouray to the hot springs.
So…it was a complete mystery when a white truce flag found its way onto the ground beside my beach towel.
“Hey, look at this,” I said to my dripping, shivering sisters. Reaching down, I read the note pinned to the makeshift flag.
Andie peered at the note as I read it. “Looks like the guys bit the dust,” she cackled. “They want an end to the war.”
“And check this out,” I said, laughing. “They’re calling for ‘a time of peace’! They actually want to meet and have a talk.”
“Cool, a powwow,” Amy-Liz said, and we cracked up.
“So, when do we talk?” Joy asked.
“The note suggests we meet the guys after the campfire, in front of the three pine trees,” I said. “Everyone agree?”
“Sounds fine to me,” Shauna said.
“Let’s wait for the guys to do the talking,” I suggested. “We’ll see how sorry they really are.”
We hurried off to the showers, wondering what would happen after the campfire.
After supper was a volleyball tournament—boys against the girls. We played Cabin D the first game. And then we had to play Jared’s cabin.
Groan.
“C’mon, girls, let’s show ’em,” Andie said.
The game turned out great. Strong competition. The works. Almost like a real war. Except for one thing: The opponents—especially Jared, Stan, and Billy—were being super nice. Giving us the benefit of the doubt during the game. Concerned when one of us tripped and fell. Stuff like that. They weren’t letting us win, though. I wondered why.
In the end, we got creamed—21 to 4. Jared and Billy came up afterward and shook hands, like in professional sports. Stan hung around Andie and me, behaving like a cool stepbrother…and friend. It didn’t even bug me when he turned on the John Wayne charm.
When it was dusk, we built a campfire and sat around singing. Rhonna passed out marshmallows, and our guys offered sticks to roast them. I accepted the offer from Jared and watched as he used his pocketknife to sharpen the end. I marveled at his change of spirit. He even looked repentant. Whoa!
During devotions, Pastor Rob talked about unity within the family of God. I wondered, had someone spilled the beans? Did he know about the guy-girl war?
“What kind of important info can we learn from Romans 12:16 today?” Pastor Rob asked.
Danny raised his hand. “That we should ‘live in harmony with one another.’ ”
Pastor Rob slowly made eye contact with each of us around the campfire. “What does that mean for you and me?”
Laina Springer raised her hand. “I guess we’re supposed to try and ge
t along.” She glanced sheepishly at me.
Pastor Rob nodded. “That’s right. Now jumping down to verses eighteen and nineteen”—he shone a flashlight on his New Testa ment “ ‘If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.” ’ ”
I could hardly swallow as I listened to Pastor Rob. What he was saying hit home. Hard. We had treated the guys—our own brothers in Christ—like enemies. The pact, and the war, too, were wrong. The boys had treated us poorly, that was true, but we’d carried things too far.
Long before the coals died out in the campfire, I was ready to talk peace. And talk we did. We met the guys at the pre-appointed spot. Silently, they piled the sports bags in front of us.
How desperately I wanted to erase the memory of my underwear rippling in the breeze. Could I forgive the boys for that?
“Okay, who wants to start?” Danny asked, looking around.
I took a deep breath, ready to speak, but Joy beat me to it. “I’m sorry for ignoring you guys all week.” She coughed nervously. “It was wrong.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Billy confessed, “about setting up Laina and her friends to raid your cabin.”
I couldn’t help it; I had to gasp. “Laina did your dirty work?” I was totally confused. Then I remembered the shiny glint in the moonlight; I had seen her braces!
Paula stepped forward, looking at Danny. “I’m really sorry about making you wet your bed.” She was sincere, but we girls burst out laughing.
Danny turned beet red. I could see it even in the fading light of dusk. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said softly.
“You’re supposed to forgive her, Danny,” I teased. “Practice what you preach.”
Jared turned to me and apologized for taking my hair tie. “And I didn’t mean it about your hair,” he said, moving closer. “I love your hair, Holly-Heart. Honest.”
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