Very Private List for Camp Success

by Chrissie Perry

  The problem, as Penelope saw it, was that Oscar was totally distracted by whatever he was showing the others. So distracted, in fact, that he did not notice the bus driver putting both of his bags – his luggage and his backpack – into the underneath compartment of the bus (which would soon be locked up). They had all been told to put their lunches and water bottles in their backpacks and to bring them on the bus.

  Penelope hugged her mum tight. It was a Very Nice Hug and she would have liked it to go on for longer, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Oscar Finley having to go without lunch or even a drink. She felt a pang as she said goodbye to her mum and pulled away.

  Penelope went over to explain the situation to the bus driver, then she took Oscar’s backpack over to him.

  ‘Look, Penny,’ Oscar said before she could say anything. He showed her the bug on his hand.

  (Penelope had completely given up trying to get Oscar Finley to use her proper name. The strange thing was, she had actually started liking it when he called her Penny.)

  ‘It’s a praying mantis. It gets its name from the way it clasps its forelegs together, as though it’s praying. Would you like to hold it?’

  Penelope shook her head. The praying mantis was like a very tall, leggy grasshopper. It was quite nice to look at, but that was definitely enough for her.

  Penelope glanced over at the bus. The driver had just finished packing all the bags and was closing the door to the compartment. Oscar still hadn’t realised his backpack was missing.

  ‘The praying mantis is the only insect that can swivel its head a full one-eighty degrees,’ Oscar continued, as the other kids began to line up for the bus. Penelope felt a fluttering feeling in her tummy as she saw Bob (her very best friend) standing near the front of the line. The fluttering got worse when she saw that the line was moving.

  ‘Can you believe that, Penny? Isn’t it awesome?’

  ‘It’s a very interesting fact, Oscar,’ Penelope said. ‘But we need to get going. Here’s your backpack.’

  Penelope handed the backpack to Oscar and walked very quickly over to the line. When she looked back, she saw that Oscar was carefully putting the praying mantis in a tree, as if he had all the time in the world.

  Finally, much to Penelope’s relief, he joined the very end of the line.

  Oscar pointed to his backpack, and then he put his hands together. He moved them up to his forehead like a praying mantis.

  ‘Thanks, Penny,’ he said. ‘You’re the best.’

  In other circumstances, Oscar Finley mimicking a praying mantis would have made Penelope giggle. Just then, though, Penelope was too distracted by her fluttery feeling about not being next to Bob in the line.

  She should have joined Bob. Or asked her to wait. Or Penelope should have got to the front of the line herself, when she’d first arrived at school. Now it was too late!

  When she got to the bottom step, Penelope stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck, trying to see into the bus. But Bob seemed to have disappeared.

  Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she imagined a certain person whose name began with ‘R’ sitting (in a very determined way) right next to Bob. Now that Penelope (finally) had her very own best friend, it would be heartbreaking if she couldn’t sit with her!

  By now Penelope had reached the top of the stairs. She still couldn’t see Bob. She was a third of the way down the aisle when she saw two empty seats.

  As she reached the seats, Penelope saw that they were not actually empty. There was a hand planted on one seat. Someone was on the floor, rummaging through their backpack. There was no mistaking the head. The cocky’s crest was sticking right up.

  ‘Nope. That seat’s for Penelope,’ Bob said, not looking up.

  The fluttery feeling in Penelope’s tummy completely disappeared. There was nothing quite like the feeling of having your very own best friend save you a seat on the bus.

  As they travelled along the freeway, Joanna tried to start everyone singing a rude song.

  ‘We wanna, we wanna, we wanna wee.

  If you don’t stop for us, we’ll do it on the bus.’

  Quite a few kids joined in. Joanna might be the naughtiest girl in Penelope’s class, but she also had a very lovely singing voice. Soon after that song fizzled, someone else started up with some songs from The Sound of Music.

  Penelope was tempted to block her ears so she didn’t have to listen to Tommy Stratton singing. He did not have a lovely singing voice. If Penelope’s voice was anywhere near as terrible as his, she would never sing a single note in public. But Tommy Stratton didn’t seem bothered. He was VERY enthusiastic.

  After the fifth round of ‘Do-Re-Mi’, one of the teachers offered to put on a DVD.

  ‘Yeah,’ someone groaned, ‘spare us from the torture of Tommy Tone-deaf.’

  Penelope very much hoped that Tommy hadn’t heard.

  She suspected she knew who had made that comment. She looked behind her. Directly behind her, she saw Oscar. Penelope had never (not even once) witnessed Oscar being mean. Oscar wouldn’t harm a fly. (Literally.) But sitting behind Oscar, staring out the window and whistling as though it definitely wasn’t her, was the girl whose name began with ‘R’.

  Rita Azul.

  Penelope did not hate one single person in the whole world. But she would be happy never to see Rita Azul again. Rita had always been a little bit mean (most likely since birth). But she seemed to be getting better at it all the time. Penelope supposed that Rita’s meanness was a sort of skill that she had practised and improved on. Kind of like Joanna’s tongue poking, but nastier.

  ‘That was definitely her,’ Bob said, nudging Penelope. ‘She’s trying too hard not to look suss.’

  Penelope nodded. She and Bob were very different from each other in lots of ways. But it was very satisfying to have a best friend who was as good as her at piecing clues together.

  The DVD finished loading and Finding Nemo came on. Penelope and Bob rested their heads together. It seemed to Penelope that the same thought was jumping from her head to Bob’s and then right back again. It was like they were swapping brainwaves.

  We should stay right away from Rita Azul on camp.

  The funny thing about having a new best friend is that you are still learning things about them. A New Thing Penelope learned about Bob was that travelling on the bus put Bob to sleep. And when Bob was asleep, there wasn’t much that would wake her up.

  Joanna and Tommy singing ‘Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer’ didn’t rouse her.

  Bob’s head bumping (quite hard) against the window didn’t even do it.

  After the third bump, though, Penelope gently moved Bob’s head to rest on her shoulder. Although she had to sit very still to keep it there, Penelope didn’t mind. She figured this was the sort of thing you were supposed to do for your very best friend. Even if it did make the journey a tiny bit boring, and meant that enjoying the ride (as Grandpa had encouraged) was not really possible.

  When the bus finally pulled in to Camp Tribute, Bob woke with a start.

  ‘Eeew, dribble on Penelope’s shoulder much, Bob?’ Rita said.

  The way Rita swivelled her head as she walked past them reminded Penelope of Oscar’s praying mantis. Except that the praying mantis was probably nicer. Tilly and Sarah giggled as they followed Rita.

  Penelope felt her nostrils flaring. There was, in fact, a small wet patch on her shoulder. She would change T-shirts as soon as she possibly could. But it wasn’t nice for Rita to draw attention to Bob’s dribble. If it had been Penelope’s dribble on someone’s T-shirt, she would have been horrified. But Bob didn’t seem to care (really and truly, not in a pretending way).

  ‘Oh. My. God. This place looks awesome!’ Bob said, jumping out of her seat. Penelope and Bob grabbed their packs and followed everyone else off the bus.

  There were trees everywhere. Penelope could see several huts tucked away, and a pathway connecting them. In front of the bus, just a few metres away, was a
very large hall. The ocean glistened in the distance.

  Penelope felt her heartbeat quicken. Although she secretly thought the word ‘awesome’ was overused, she had to agree with Bob.

  Penelope sat cross-legged, her Camp Tribute booklet in front of her. She listened intently as the camp leader, Rachel, addressed them in the main hall. ‘You will take from this camp whatever you put into it,’ she said.

  Rachel looked very fit and outdoorsy. She definitely didn’t seem like the sort of camp leader who would be at all worried about a ridiculously high swing.

  ‘But it’s also about challenging yourself,’ continued Rachel. ‘It’s about developing your self-esteem, and supporting others to do the same. I really encourage you all to –’

  ‘Can you tell us about the challenge swing?’ Joanna called out.

  Although it was most certainly not polite to interrupt a camp leader, Rachel didn’t seem to mind.

  ‘Well, the challenge swing is eighteen and a half metres high,’ Rachel began.

  This was probably one of the first times in history that Penelope’s brother had been right about that kind of detail. Penelope urged her tummy to stay calm.

  ‘It’s always our most popular activity,’ Rachel continued, ‘so it’s likely you’ll each only get one turn. But there are many other activities, too. There’s a rope course, and a rock-climbing wall …’

  Just then, Bob pinched Penelope’s thigh. For a second, Penelope felt cross. But when she looked around, Bob was grinning. Perhaps pinching her thigh was a good, sharing-the-moment type thing to do, rather than an annoying, distracting one? Perhaps it was something that very best friends did in such situations.

  ‘There are also different kinds of challenges,’ Rachel was saying when Penelope managed to zone back in properly. ‘For instance, the competition for the best hut is also very popular with students. I suspect it’s largely because of this.’

  Rachel fished something out of a canvas bag behind her and held it up for everyone to see.

  Penelope pinched Bob (quite hard) on the thigh. Because this was a moment she definitely wanted to share. Penelope felt a little bit swoony looking at that medal.

  She glanced over at Eliza Chung. Eliza was Class Captain. Penelope had really wanted to be Class Captain, but she was pretty sure only two people had voted for her: Oscar, and, Penelope herself. (This was before Bob came to their school, of course.)

  Being Class Captain meant Eliza had a lovely badge she got to wear to school every day. Although Penelope had a whole wall of award certificates (and even more tucked away in her special box with a lock and key), she’d never owned a badge like Eliza’s or a shiny medal like this.

  But a best hut competition was totally and completely suited to Penelope’s talents. It was a better fit than bush cooking or even orienteering.

  Penelope’s mind immediately surged with excellent best hut-ish plans. Rachel hadn’t said anything about appointing a hut leader, but it was clear to Penelope that her group would have a huge advantage if she volunteered for the role.

  That way, while other teams were messing around discussing what to do, Penelope’s group could just follow her instructions. They’d be way ahead.

  She could already imagine how the medal would look on several of her (and Bob’s) favourite outfits.

  Most of the girls Penelope knew would probably think of it as a chore, since it would involve a lot of organising. But Penelope knew that leading her hut to victory would definitely not be a chore. In fact, she was super ready to find out who was in their hut, so they could get started straight away.

  ‘So, here are the hut groups,’ Rachel said, after spending a lot of time talking about far less important things.

  Penelope waited and waited and waited as Rachel read out the groups. It was extremely good to know that Bob was going to be in her hut, but it was still worrying to not know who else would be with them. She looked across the hall. Oscar smiled and gave Penelope a big wave. She responded with a smaller one, keeping her hand by her side so no-one else could see. Some of the kids could get very silly about things like boys and girls waving to each other.

  When Oscar’s group was read out, Penelope couldn’t help glancing over to see if he was happy. Personally, she couldn’t think of any other boys she would want to share a hut with, but she was glad to see Oscar looked pleased. She was going to keep looking, and sneak him a smile when he glanced her way again. But then he started picking at a scab on his knee, and she decided against it. Even Very Nice Boys like Oscar Finley could be exceptionally gross.

  As each group was called out, a camp leader took them off to their hut. It was hard having to wait, but Penelope sat up straight and tried not to fidget. When Joanna went off to her hut with Eliza, Alison and Sarah, Penelope couldn’t help feeling concerned about her chances of winning the best hut medal.

  Penelope knew that Joanna couldn’t help being naughty, most of the time at least, so she wasn’t really a threat. But Eliza Chung (Class Captain) and Alison Cromwell (who had collected twenty-five awards at school and was still coming second to Penelope’s forty-one awards) were quite focused. Penelope guessed that they would be her strongest competition for best hut.

  But there were still sixteen kids and four huts left. Penelope assumed that her group would be called last (mainly to help control her feelings of impatience).

  So when Rachel read out, ‘Hut seven! Penelope Kingston,’ Penelope got quite a shock.

  Bob pinching her again did not help.

  ‘Brittany O’Brien,’ Rachel continued.

  Bob’s hand (the one that was not pinching Penelope) shot up in the air. Penelope already knew what Bob was going to say.

  ‘I don’t go by that name, Rachel. Not ever. Just call me Bob,’ she said.

  Penelope waited as Rachel found a pen and made a note. It seemed to take a long time. Penelope estimated about eleven seconds, but if she had her iPhone she would have been able to measure exactly how long they waited.

  Finally, Rachel continued. ‘Tilly Fraser and Rita Azul.’

  The hut was quite bare and plain, with four bunk beds, a wardrobe with drawers at the bottom and a small bathroom down the end. Someone had put cardboard name tags into the little metal frames at the end of each bed. Penelope was pleased to see her name on a bottom bunk, with Bob’s on top. Top bunks were terribly overrated (and a little hazardous) as far as Penelope was concerned.

  Penelope put down her sausage bag on her allocated bed.

  ‘The weird thing is,’ Rita said, glancing around the hut as Bob crossed out Brittany on her name tag and wrote Bob instead, and Tilly climbed up to her top bunk, ‘seven is my lucky number.’

  Penelope tilted her head. ‘Really?’ she said. ‘It’s mine, too.’

  Rita smiled. It was actually quite a nice smile and not mean at all.

  ‘You know, I reckon we should really, really try to win the best hut competition,’ Rita continued. She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘But I think we need a secret weapon. We should have a leader. Someone who knows how to get everything sorted.’

  Penelope could hardly believe her ears. There was no doubt Rita was talking about her. Out of all the kids in her class, Penelope was the only one, for example, who put the books in her locker in alphabetical order. Quite often, students from other years even asked to see her locker. That was definitely proof of her of being super organised! In fact, she had a reputation for it!

  And having Rita supporting her would be great, because Rita was a Very Determined person.

  Penelope was just about to start outlining her plans when Tilly stuck her head (rather dangerously) over the edge of her bunk.

  ‘Guys,’ she squealed. ‘Check it out! I got a welcome postcard from the girl who slept on this bunk before me!’

  ‘Me too,’ said Bob. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit spooky? Kind of like getting a postcard from a ghost. Woooo!’

  Penelope would have preferred to continue discussing the best hut c
ompetition. Getting postcards from the people who’d stayed there before them was nothing like getting a postcard from a ghost (since, as far as they knew, no-one who stayed here had actually died).

  She assumed her postcard would be quite dull – something that the girl before her had been forced to write before she went home. But, since everyone else was reading their postcards, Penelope quickly snuck into the bathroom and changed into a fresh, dribble-free T-shirt. Then she checked her bed for a postcard.

  Penelope read the postcard three times. Even though it definitely wasn’t from a ghost, there was something spooky about it (in a good way). For starters, the writer shared Penelope’s initials: Poppy Katz/Penelope Kingston. And even though the advice to try everything was a little bit annoying, it wasn’t half as annoying as the other girls’ postcards, which were all about the challenge swing – complete with drawings. And Poppy’s advice about the best hut competition was actually quite useful. Penelope quickly checked the notes in the Camp Tribute booklet.

  WAYS TO GET BONUS POINTS

  • Arrange your boots and shoes outside in a creative way, e.g. smiley face.

  • Decorate your hut with posters and drawings from the library or with your own artwork.

  • Make sure the last person out of the hut checks that all lights are off.

  Penelope felt particularly excited about the middle point. She was excellent at art. She could already imagine the walls of hut seven decorated with her drawings of local plants and animals. She tried to get Bob and Tilly’s attention, but they were being a bit silly, putting their sleeping bags over their heads (in the top bunks!) and pretending to be ghosts.

  She was about to announce her excellent idea out loud – loud enough be heard through sleeping bags – when there came a knock at the door. A camp leader (‘Ramone’, his name badge said) opened the door. He took off his hat and bowed.