by Daphne Greer
Derek scrolls up and down on his phone. “I have to make some calls,” he says, standing up abruptly. “I was supposed to be back tonight.” He walks out of earshot.
“We have a single bed in the infirmary you can use,” Ben says to Mom. “And Derek could sleep in the boys’ cabin with Max. It’s the only one with an extra bunk.”
I almost choke on my hot chocolate.
“You okay there, bud?” Ben asks.
Mom raises her eyebrows.
“Ah, yup. Just not sure Derek will like our cabin. It’s a little um….well, you know…loud.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Max. It’s not as if we have a whole lot of choices here.” Mom glances over at Derek leaning against the wall with one hand covering his ear.
“Okay, well, that settles it,” Ben says, standing up. “Max, I’ll get you to make a bed up for Derek. There are extra sheets over in the infirmary.”
Having to go back out into the rain for Derek sucks. When I walk past him, I overhear him saying, “Hopefully, I’ll be out of here first thing in the morning. I don’t want to stay any longer than I have to.”
I knew it! He’s only pretending he likes being at camp. Why can’t Mom see through him?
“I can’t believe he’s spending the night,” I say to Ian later as I’m making up Derek’s bunk. “You should have heard him on the phone. He’s so full of crap.”
“Well,” Ian says, grinning. “We could make it entertaining for us.”
“How?”
“Let’s short-sheet his bed, for starters.”
“What?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never had that done to you! It’s the oldest gag ever. Here,” Ian says, grabbing the top sheet. “I’ll show you.” He spreads it out on the bed but instead of tucking it in normally, he folds the bottom half up and tucks in the sides. Then places the blanket over top, hiding the evidence. “See? So when he goes to crawl into bed, his legs will get stuck halfway. His knees will be up by his ears. There’s no way to get into bed. It’s too funny!”
Before I have time to think about our prank, Ben pokes his head through the door to check on us. “Are you good for pillows?” he asks.
“Ah, yeah. We’re good,” I say, trying not to sound like we’re hiding something.
“Sweet. Thanks for helping out. Catch you guys later.”
Chapter Twelve
The lights in the dining hall flicker on and off. At first I think it’s Philip doing his light-switch thing, but then lightning streaks across the window, followed by the loudest crack of thunder I’ve ever heard. Everything goes black. It’s not Philip.
“Power’s out!” Sam announces.
Another lightning bolt flashes in the sky, and there’s another clap of thunder. Jen grabs my arm and screams. The counselors scramble for flashlights. Once my eyes adjust to the darkness, I notice Ainslie is holding both of her brother’s hands. She glances over at me. I feel like a dork with Jen hanging on to me tighter after each boom of thunder. The rain pounding on the roof sounds like a million rocks.
“It’s hailing!” one of the counselors says, motioning for us to all come for a look.
Jen and I run to the window. Sure enough, frozen pellets the size of golf balls are bouncing on the grass.
“I want Dad,” I hear Duncan say.
I turn around to see Duncan standing on the other side of the room with his hands over his ears. I start to make my way over to him, but Mom and Derek reach him first. I’d forgotten they were still here. Duncan calms down almost immediately. I stop when I see him rest his head on Derek’s shoulder.
“Okay! Listen up,” Ben says. “I want everyone to find the members of their cabins and stay together. Once you’re with your counselors, we all sit down and make one big giant circle.”
Some of the campers have found flashlights and are making the lights dance on the ceiling and all around the room, which makes it hard to see. Ben places a couple of flashlights in the middle of the circle and before long all of us are sitting on the floor. He then leads us in camp songs, the thunder rumbling in the background.
I completely forget about what we did to Derek’s bed until I hear him come into the cabin later on. I glance at my watch. It’s eleven thirty. I lay perfectly still and pretend I’m sound asleep. The mattress creaks when he sits down. I hear him let out a big sigh as he removes his shoes. He sounds really tired. His bunk creaks and groans as he tries to get into the bed. I can hear him wrestling with the sheets. I’m starting to regret what we did to him, even if he is a jerk.
“What the…?” I hear him say before he whips the sheets off.
“Funny, real funny,” he mutters.
Crap.
The next morning I can’t look Derek in the eye. I know he knows it was me. But he doesn’t say anything, not in the cabin or later at breakfast. In fact, he’s super quiet. It is more than a little awkward when I run into him when I race back to the cabin for my bathing suit.
“Oh, sorry!” I say. And then, because he doesn’t reply, I add, “So I guess you’ll be glad to get out of here.”
“Don’t you mean…you’re glad I’m getting out of here?”
This totally throws me. “Ah…no. I never said that. It’s just…I overheard you saying to someone on the phone that you didn’t want to stay here any longer than you had to.”
“That’s right, Max. For your information, I was supposed to pick up my daughter last night. So yes. I’d like to get out of here.”
A daughter? What’s he talking about? Mom never mentioned that before. I bet he’s keeping it from her too. “So, um, does Mom know you have a daughter?”
Derek shakes his head and sighs. “Yes, Max. She knows. I was married. I have a daughter. Her name is Rose, and she’s sixteen. But I hardly ever get to see her because she lives with her mother in Ontario. Any more questions? Because if you’re done with the third degree, I’d like to get my car and head home.”
Just then Mom knocks on the cabin door. “Can I come in?” she asks.
“He’s all yours,” Derek says, grabbing his sheets and blanket and heading for the door.
“I’ll meet you in a minute,” she says to him. Then she turns to me. “What’s going on with you two?”
Where do I begin? I can’t tell her what I did to his bed. She’d kill me. And now that I know about his daughter, I feel bad, but I can’t say that either. “I guess he’s had enough of camp, maybe?” I say with a lame shrug.
“Well, he’s got a lot on his plate. I hope you didn’t say anything to upset him. It was awfully kind of him to come with me yesterday.” She glances out toward the field. She looks worried. “And heaven knows what the damages are to his car.”
She sits down on the nearest bunk and sighs. “I just wish you could be nicer to him, Max. Or, at the very least, accepting of him, like Duncan is. He’s a good guy.”
I’m so mixed-up right now, I don’t know what to think, but being compared to Duncan hits me in the gut. “Are you kidding me?” I say. “I know all about accepting! Do you see who I’m camping with? I had to accept from the get-go that this trip was not about me. It was all about giving Duncan a fun time. I’m just here for the ride, so you can be alone with Derek. Let’s be honest here.”
I’m on a roll. “It’s always Duncan this or Duncan that, and now it’s Derek this and Derek that. Did it ever occur to you that I’m not ready to have someone take Dad’s place?”
Mom looks so hurt, but I keep going. “No one cares what I want! Don’t worry, Alison said, the counselors will look after things. Yeah, right! Who do you think gets Duncan to use the outhouse? No one but me can get him in there! And how do you think it feels to get stuck in this cabin with all the weirdos?”
I point to my bunk and wave my hands in the air. “Every night I have to listen to Ainslie’s brother grunt and groan like an animal. I can’t even sleep because he rocks back and forth so much the whole bunk shakes!” I yell. “Maybe I’d like to have a break. Maybe I’
d like to be normal for once. When is it going to be my turn?”
That’s when I notice Ainslie and Bella standing in the doorway. Oh my god. How long have they been there? They both look shocked.
“You’re mean, Max. I don’t like you anymore,” Bella says. “I’m telling Sam!” she says, storming off.
Ainslie glances back at me before chasing after Bella. The look in her eyes says it all. To make matters worse, Mom looks like she did after Dad died.
Empty.
Like everything has been sucked out of her.
Chapter Thirteen
“You’ve got to snap out of it,” Ian says. “Your mom will get over it. That’s what moms do. And Derek…well…he’s a big boy. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about the sheets by now.”
I’m not so sure Ian is right. Besides, it’s not just about the sheets. I haven’t wanted to admit it up to now, but I know Derek hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s not his fault Dad died. And I shouldn’t take things out on everybody else. I was a total jerk saying all that stuff about my cabinmates, and now I’ve blown any chance of Ainslie liking me back.
“Oh, now I get it,” Ian says when he notices me watching Ainslie pack her canoe. “Just go talk to her. Explain that you didn’t mean what you said.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
The canoes are jam-packed with everything we need for our trip. The weather is finally on our side. It’s windy but sunny. Our cabin and Ian’s have buddied up for the trip. Heather and Jen run down to say goodbye to us. I’m secretly relieved they’re not coming with us, but I don’t tell Ian this. He’s got it bad for Heather. Jen shoots Ainslie a jealous look.
“Okay, gang,” Ben says. “So you’re going to head out to the last point on your left, the one that juts out.” He shows Cole and Rick the map. “It should take you about two hours to paddle there, maybe less if the wind is on your side.”
There are six canoes in total. Ian and I end up being the last to leave the cove because of Duncan. He was supposed to go in another canoe, but he refused. Now he keeps dipping his paddle in the water for two strokes, then dragging it back so he can watch the ripples.
“Duncan, you can’t do that,” I say. “You’re making us turn. I’m the one steering. Cut it out.”
“I’m paddling,” Duncan says.
“Yeah, I get that.”
Ian and I both try to explain to him how to paddle properly, but it’s useless. He’s determined to do it his way. But then he suddenly lets go of the paddle and says, “I’ve learned enough good things about canoeing.”
After retrieving the paddle we try to catch up with everyone by paddling super fast. Duncan loves it and makes his swishing noises. Every once in a while he dips his fingers into the water, which causes us to tip slightly. But he soon figures out that he has to sit perfectly still if he doesn’t want Ian or me to freak out.
Little Cove disappears as we head out into the open water. The sun’s rays sparkle on the water, making it hard to see without squinting, but the wind is behind us, so we’re moving fairly quickly.
Ainslie is two canoes ahead of us. Philip sits perfectly still in the middle of the canoe. I didn’t think he was capable of not rocking. Ainslie sings songs with some of the other paddlers, like they don’t have a care in the world. I wish I could feel like that.
The farther away we get from camp, the choppier the water gets. It’s getting hard to paddle. We’re trailing behind everyone. Duncan keeps getting sprayed with water. “The water tastes like salt,” he complains. I stop paddling for a second to rummage through my bag to find him something to eat.
“Here, have this. It will take the taste out of your mouth.” I pass him a chocolate bar Mom packed for me. He gobbles it down in two seconds and then returns to whining about getting wet. So much for that idea.
Ahead, Cole has everyone wait for us. By the time we catch up, I’m exhausted. I didn’t realize how far we were from them. Ian and I grab hold of the nearest canoe. The water laps against the canoes, causing them to bob up and down and scrape against each other.
“Is it my imagination, or is it getting a little rough out here?” Ainslie asks.
“It’s a little rougher than I’d like,” Cole admits. And then I hear a blood-curdling scream coming out of Duncan. I can see that his hand is jammed between the canoes.
“Oh my god! Push away!” I yell to Ian.
I hold on to both sides of the canoe, trying to steady us, but Duncan is flailing his hand in the air, which makes us rock even more. “Duncan! Stop moving!”
Ian turns around and tries to help. “Here, Duncan. Let me…” The canoe wobbles. “Oh NO!” Ian yelps as he loses his balance and falls into the water.
SPLASH!
I frantically try to rebalance the canoe, but Duncan gets scared and stands up. “Don’t!” I yell as we both fall out of the canoe. We are underwater briefly, and then our life jackets force us above the surface. Duncan coughs and slaps his hands in the water.
“I’m drowning!” he sputters.
I try to swim closer to him, but a rope is wrapped around my foot. My heart pounds as I frantically try to get untangled from the canoe, but the life jacket is keeping me above water. “My foot is caught!” I yell.
Everyone’s shouting as we bob up and down in the waves. Our supplies float away. Ian has managed to swim to Duncan and pulls him toward Ainslie’s canoe. Cole jumps in and swims toward me. “You okay?”
I nod as I catch my breath. “It’s my foot. I can’t untangle it from the rope.” I try to stay calm, but I’m freaking out inside.
“Okay, let me look,” Cole says, shaking his hair out of his eyes. His feet kick and splatter water in my face as he dunks underwater, but his life jacket won’t let him go deep enough to get it. “I need to use my knife,” he says, sputtering as he comes up for air. He treads water while he wiggles out of his life jacket and removes his knife from his belt loop.
“I’m drowning!” Duncan keeps yelling.
“You’re going to be okay,” Ainslie reassures him. “You’re Spider-Man, remember?”
“I’ve got you,” Ian says, holding on to Duncan’s life jacket with one hand and Ainslie’s canoe with the other. “You’re not going anywhere.” Duncan seems to settle down. Thank god he loves the water.
Cole manages to cut the rope tangled around my foot. I shake it off, and the two of us grab hold of my overturned canoe. He slings his life jacket back on, and together we kick to push the canoe toward the next nearest one so we can flip it over.
We had practiced the canoe-over-canoe rescue in the cove dozens of times, but it is much harder in rough water. After a few failed attempts, eventually we manage to do it, but getting Duncan back into the canoe is no easy feat. I’m not quite sure how we have the strength to do it, but we do. It is such a relief to be back in the canoe. My entire body feels weak.
“I need something for Duncan. He’s freezing.” I don’t realize my lips are chattering as well.
Cole passes me a sleeping bag to wrap around him. “Here you go, Spider-Man.”
“My hand hurts,” he whimpers.
I glance at his hand. It’s the same one he hurt last winter. His fingers and wrist are swollen.
It suddenly hits me. It’s so much easier for me to be in Duncan’s world than for him to be in mine.
“I’ll make it better,” I say.
“How?” he whines.
“It will be a surprise.”
I have no sweet clue what, but right now that’s the best I’ve got.
“I like surprises,” he whispers.
“Let’s head over there.” Cole points to the nearest island. “We’ll take a better look at Duncan’s hand and then regroup.”
Ainslie paddles near us and throws me her pink sweatshirt. “Here. Put this on.”
“Thanks,” I say. “I owe you one.”
“Yeah, this is getting to be a habit,” she says, smiling.
I grin back.
I stand next to B
en while he talks to Mom on the phone. He tells her that two of Duncan’s fingers were badly jammed and that one of them is probably broken. His wrist is sprained too. When I hear her voice in the background, I suddenly want to talk to her.
“Hang on, Annie. Max wants to talk to you.” Ben passes me the phone.
“Are you okay, honey?”
As soon as I hear her voice I get all emotional, but I try not to show it. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Oh, I’m so relieved. You know, I had this funny feeling all day in the pit of my stomach, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Ben said you were out in pretty rough water and that you handled things really well. I’m so proud of you.” She laughs when I tell her how Duncan thinks his finger splint has superpowers.
Before I hang up, I say, “Um, about the other day…I’m sorry I said all that stuff.”
Pause.
“And that I was such a jerk to Derek.”
“Oh, Max.” She pauses. “I’m sorry that this is so hard on you.” Her voice cracks as she adds, “I miss your dad too. So much.”
I don’t say anything. I can’t. She continues. “I love you and Duncan more than anything, but I also have loads more love in me to share. Derek is a really good guy.” She’s quiet for a moment and then says in a softer voice, “I want you and Duncan to be happy, but I deserve to be happy too. Dad would want that.”
“I know, Mom. It’s just hard.”
Chapter Fourteen
The night is full of stars as I trudge down to the path toward the waterfront for our last campfire. Mom is coming to get us tomorrow so she can take Duncan to the doctor to make sure his finger is set properly. Ian and I have been trying to figure out how I can stay longer, but I know I can’t. Mom doesn’t have the money.
Tin cans with candles line the path, just like on the night of the first campfire. I sit on the log next to Bella and Sam while we wait for everyone to join us.