by Amy C. Blake
Trevor cast a glance over his shoulder at the pair. “Have you noticed how much those two look like you?”
“A little, I guess.” Levi shrugged. They were short and skinny like him. They also had his coloring—pale skin covered in bright red-orange freckles—but their hair was more strawberry blond than red. Plus, it was stick-straight and spiky, while Levi’s curls were the bane of his existence, especially in humid weather when he looked a lot like Ronald MacDonald with his finger in a light socket.
“’Course, they’re younger,” Trevor said with another backward glance. “And they look sorta like rejects from the ’hood.”
Levi peeked at the two and nodded. It wasn’t so much the crotch of their jeans hanging between their knees with their boxers poking out the top or the thick gold chains around their necks. It was something about their eyes—especially Braden’s—that said it wasn’t wise to turn your back to them. Brock’s expression was fuzzy, like his twin had punched him in the head too many times when they were toddlers.
Levi hadn’t said anything to anybody, but he suspected the twins were the practical jokers in the boys’ cabin. Last night, he’d entered the otherwise empty cabin to find them on the wrong side looking guilty. When he went to bed later, something like a water balloon burst under his pillow and soaked his bunk. Yells from all around the cabin told him the other boys had the same presents under their pillows. The problem was he couldn’t prove Brock and Braden had anything to do with it, especially since there weren’t balloon remnants in anybody’s beds. He had no idea how they’d managed the trick, but he’d been relieved to have his suspicions diverted to the twins.
Before that, he’d wondered about Trevor. Under the influence of a new friend at his private school, Trevor had really gotten into practical jokes. During one of the weekends he’d spent at Levi’s house, he’d hidden rubber roaches in Levi’s underwear drawer. During another visit, he’d stolen Levi’s towel while he was in the shower, so he had to dry off with his dirty clothes. At Christmas, he’d given Levi a huge, gorgeously wrapped gift box filled with sand from Lake Erie. Annoying, yes. But Trevor had never done anything to cause a serious mess like the culprit in the boys’ cabin.
Right then, their chunky roommate Steve pushed between him and Trevor. “I can’t wait to sleep in my old bed at the castle.” Sweat plastered his dark blond hair to his forehead despite the fact they’d been hiking only five minutes.
Trevor stretched his muscled arms above his head, rubbed both hands through his brown hair until it stood on end, and let out a yawn that popped his jaw. “Yeah, my feet hang off the end of those little cardboard things they call bunks.”
Levi bit back a laugh. He knew full well the snoring duet those two put on every night hadn’t lessened any in the cabin, but he was looking forward to his cushy castle bed, too.
Their other roommate Tommy squeezed his thin frame between Steve and Trevor. “I still don’t get why we stayed down there so long.” He hooked a thumb toward the camp they’d left at the base of the hill.
From her position further up the path, Monica sent them an imperious glare. “Sara already informed us of the situation. And of the necessity of keeping silent about it.” She cocked her chin toward the other campers then turned forward with her nose in the air.
Tommy rolled his eyes. Lizzie, walking next to Monica, glanced back at the boys and moved her glossy pink lips in mocking imitation. Levi and Trevor exchanged a grin. Sara’s roommates always grated on each other’s nerves. Though Sara didn’t turn around, Levi saw her mouth twitch with suppressed laughter.
Levi chuckled. His friends hadn’t changed much over the school year. He sure was glad they weren’t mad at him anymore.
As they climbed, the hardwood trees and underbrush squeezed the dirt path into a narrow trail. With no room to walk in a clump, his friends paired off, and Levi walked alone behind Sara and Monica. The nearer they got to the cliff, the queasier he felt. What if the castle didn’t appear today? What if the trail ended in the same sheer drop to the lake? What if Mr. Dominic decided Terracaelum wasn’t safe after all?
When only one bend remained, Sara dropped back beside him. She didn’t say anything, just fell into step with him, offering the support of her presence. Or maybe she was seeking support from him. Either way, he appreciated the gesture.
As they rounded the curve, his stomach jolted—this time with joy. The castle stood before them with its glittering gray stones and thick wavy windows. High on the four tower rooftops, red pennants fluttered in the breeze. Waving her welcome, Mrs. Dominic stood in the doorway, enveloped in the soft multicolored lights of the stained-glass windows.
In front of Levi, campers clustered beside the extended drawbridge, the waters of the moat smooth as mirrors on either side. Birds twittered in the surrounding oaks, but there weren’t any seagulls screeching. The new kids’ gasps mingled with the excited chatter of last year’s campers as a smile tugged at Levi’s lips.
They were back in Terracaelum.
“Come on in, everyone,” Mrs. Dominic called.
Even from across the drawbridge, Levi could see the deep wrinkles and bluish tint to her nearly transparent skin. He knew she was one hundred and forty-three years old, so he shouldn’t be surprised at how ancient she looked, yet it worried him a little because she was the Princess of Terracaelum. Her kingdom needed her. Not to mention Sara, who needed her mom. He glanced at his friend, but Sara looked perfectly content. As Levi returned his gaze to the castle, Mrs. Dominic smiled, transforming her face into that of a much younger woman. Her wispy, pure-white hair shimmered in the sunlight like an angel’s wings. Relief trickled through him. She was fine. Had to be.
As Mrs. Dominic turned to speak with someone inside the castle, Lizzie and Tommy started across the drawbridge with Monica and a waifer-thin new girl, who kept casting nervous glances at the moat. Steve and Trevor flanked Levi and Sara, and the four stepped onto the weathered planks together.
When they reached the midpoint, a commotion drew Levi’s attention behind him. Braden and Brock had apparently shoved through several campers and now pushed their way onto the thin slats on either side of the bridge, their arms outstretched as though on a high wire.
He frowned. What were they thinking? The moat could be dangerous.
With his fox-like face contorted into a sly smirk, Braden jostled Trevor, who yelled, “Watch it, man.”
Monica made a disapproving noise in her throat. Sara sucked in a sharp breath.
Levi called out, “Hey, you guys don’t wanna fall into that moat—”
Before any of them could react, Braden scooped up the scrawny girl beside Monica and flung her out toward the water as if she weighed no more than a feather. Trevor belly-flopped onto the wood as he grabbed for her, and Braden scampered toward the castle, snickering like a little rat.
At the same moment, Steve let out a bellow. Brock rammed into him as if to shove him into the moat on the opposite side of the bridge. Only Steve, much larger than the girl Braden threw in, didn’t fall so easily. Brock tried again, grabbing onto Steve’s neck and hurling himself toward the edge of the bridge. Steve wobbled, tripped over his own boat-sized shoe, and dropped to his knees. Brock splashed into the water, still latched onto Steve’s head like an octopus. Steve’s upper body went underwater while he scrabbled with toes and fingers for a hold on the slick drawbridge.
Levi dove for Steve’s legs and got kicked in the chest. Air left his lungs in a whoosh, but he managed to hug his friend’s ankle. Tommy snagged Steve’s other leg, and they yanked. Slowly, with plenty of grunts and groans, he and Tommy dragged Steve onto the bridge with the twin still clutching his head.
Steve shoved Brock off and flopped against the wood, sucking in air. “What’s wrong with you? Why’d you try to push me off?”
Brock blinked stupidly then sputtered, “I . . . I . . . what’re you talkin’ about? It was your fault, loser.”
As Steve’s face reddened in fury, Levi reme
mbered the new girl and wheeled around to see if she needed help. But Trevor had rescued her. His roommate hunkered next to her, awkwardly patting her back. Water flowed from her blue-black braids, and tears streamed from her eyes.
Monica and Lizzie knelt beside her.
“What’s your name, sweetie?” Lizzie smoothed a strand of hair from the girl’s forehead.
She sniffled a few times. “Yasmin.”
“Don’t you cry now, Yasmin.” Lizzie’s voice soothed like warm honey, even as her eyes flashed fire. “We’ll get you inside and dried off right quick.”
Lizzie and Monica helped her stand. Trevor jumped up and squeezed out his t-shirt, clearly relieved the others were comforting the girl so he didn’t have to.
At that moment, Mrs. Dominic reached them, a hand on her chest. She stooped to Yasmin’s level. “What happened, dear? Was the wood damp? Did you slip?”
An angry snort drew Levi’s gaze to Sara, who stood with her fists on her hips, glaring at the twin who’d thrown Yasmin off the bridge. Still perched on the slat, the twin grinned across the crowd at Hunter, Levi’s least favorite person. Surrounded by his cackling friends, the bully saluted the twin.
A groan worked its way through Levi’s lips. So the twins were Hunter’s new pet thugs. Perfect.
“Excuse me, what’s the holdup?” Mr. Dominic skirted the big pine tree and squeezed through campers clogging the trail. When he pushed between Hunter and Martin, his gaze shot to the sopping-wet Steve and Yasmin. “What happened here?” His shoulder-length white hair flapped around his tanned face as he strode onto the drawbridge.
Levi scowled. The Dominics hadn’t seen a thing. That meant Hunter and his buddies probably wouldn’t even get a slap on the wrist.
Sara stomped over to her dad and tapped his arm. He leaned down and she whispered in his ear. After a moment, he questioned her quietly. She pointed at the twins, one dry, the other dripping. Levi’s eyebrows shot up. This was new. What happened to Sara avoiding the Dominics so no one would suspect her of being their daughter?
After a moment, the director straightened to his full height of well over six feet and stalked to the twins. “Come with me, you two. You’re about to receive an education on how to behave at Camp Classic.” He took each boy by the arm and marched them into the castle.
Good. Maybe Mr. Dominic would keep Hunter and company under control this summer.
But he knew his nemesis too well to count on it.
3
Rules and Regulations
Later that morning, Levi sank onto the lush grass of the castle courtyard and drew a relaxed breath for the first time in days. Months, really, but now that he was back in Terracaelum, he didn’t have to worry about all that. He could simply enjoy a guilt-free summer with his friends.
Leaning back on his elbows, he let the sunshine and soft breeze warm his face. On either side of him, Trevor and Sara waited for Mr. Dominic’s welcome-to-the-castle speech. Beside Sara sat Monica and Lizzie. On the far side of Trevor sprawled Tommy and a now-dry Steve.
A shadow fell over Levi. He looked up, squinting against the sunlight at a small form.
Morgan again. And she had that same sappy smile fixed on him. “Hi, Levi.”
“Uh, hi.”
“Can I sit here?” She pointed at the spot between him and Sara.
“Um, I, well . . .” He glanced around the courtyard. Maybe it was a little too hot in the sun after all. Maybe he should find a spot in the shade.
“Of course you can.” Sara scrunched up to Monica and patted the grass beside her. “Levi would love that. Wouldn’t you, Levi?”
He tried to nod, shake, and shrug all at once. Trevor’s snort told him he looked as ridiculous as he felt, but Morgan bounced into the open spot, grinning like she’d been offered a throne.
Levi decided it was a good time to study the new wooden platform that stretched the entire north side of the courtyard. As he peered over the other campers’ heads, he pretended he couldn’t feel Sara, Lizzie, and Monica staring at him. Please, Mr. Dominic, start now.
Within seconds, the director stepped onto the platform, drawing all eyes. Thankfully. When the campers quieted, a broad smile played on Mr. Dominic’s leathery face, making him look far more like an old sea captain than a prince. Or, with his purple-flowered Hawaiian shirt, more like a retired surfer.
“Welcome to my home.” He extended his arms in a gesture that took in the huge castle. “The staff has prepared a short play both for your amusement and to help you understand the rules here at Camp Classic. Before they begin, I will pray and ask the Great Sovereign’s blessing on each of you. Oremus.”
Latin for Let us pray. Levi bowed his head.
“Holy Lord of all things on, above, and under the earth,” Mr. Dominic prayed in his unique way. “I thank you for giving us safe passage into this place. I beg your blessing on each of these young people as they learn and grow this summer. Help them grasp the importance of the rules put into place for their wellbeing. I praise you with every portion of my humble being. In the name of your precious and holy Son King Jesus, amen.”
Levi looked up.
Mr. Dominic’s eyes twinkled. “Now, enjoy the show.” He waggled his eyebrows, bent low in an exaggerated bow, and stepped from the stage.
Giggles and murmurs turned to full belly laughs as a stern-faced Miss Althea stalked onstage, dragging a scarlet-cheeked Dr. Baldwin. The petite pixie woman (dressed in a frilly pink gown) and the stumpy, stodgy dwarf (in gym shorts and a tank top) carried a large sign between them: “Boys and girls must stay out of each other’s dorms.”
Because Dr. Baldwin was his friend, Levi tried to keep a straight face. But the sight of those knobby knees and the hair sprouting around that awful orange tank top made him burst out laughing along with the rest of the audience.
When a scream silenced the laughter, Levi rose to his knees for a better view. A snorting creature with a bull’s head and a man’s body ran across the stage in pursuit of Mrs. Drake. The elf woman waved a red cloth with one hand and clutched a poster in the other: “Don’t tease the minotaur.”
The two disappeared from the stage before the screaming died out, but Levi’s gaze flew to Mr. Dominic, propped against a pillar at the far end of the stage with a nonchalant smile on his lips. Throughout the crowd, people whispered together. A few laughed hesitantly.
Tommy leaned around a slack-jawed Steve and caught Levi’s eye. “What’s he playing at?”
Levi shook his head.
Lizzie whispered, “Sara, I thought this stuff was a secret.”
Sara shrugged. “It is.”
“Who cares?” Trevor grinned. “That was totally sweet.”
Levi cared. Did Mr. Dominic actually want the whole camp to know about this place? Wasn’t it his job as Prince of Terracaelum to keep his kingdom secret? To protect its inhabitants? How could he be so irresponsible?
Then a new boy in the row ahead of Levi said, “That’s gotta be the best mask I’ve ever seen.”
The girl beside him shivered. “Yeah, and did you hear him snort? You’d almost think he was real.”
In the clamor over the minotaur, Levi almost missed the next tableau. The dwarf Mr. Austin, his face and hair dyed pure white, stumped along dragging a ratty door with another rule painted on it: “Stay out of the cellar . . . or else.” Levi remembered that rule from the previous year, but it hardly compared to the minotaur or to what came next.
A woman he’d never seen before, but who was so willowy she had to be an elf, strolled onto the stage carrying a plate of pink cupcakes in one hand and a sign in the other: “Don’t feed the harpies . . . They’re dieting.”
“No way,” Levi murmured.
A plump creature with flowing black hair and small blue wings swooped in and snatched the entire plate. The elf’s marble-like face didn’t even twitch as she strolled from the stage, but the campers squealed louder than they had when the minotaur passed.
“Cool animatronics,�
�� a kid near the stage hollered.
Watching the bird-woman scarf the cupcakes in mid-air reminded Levi of his Papa Levi’s story about the harpy that stole his lunch one hundred and fifty years ago when he attended Camp Classic. He couldn’t stifle a grin. So that was what a harpy looked like—a long-haired pig with hummingbird wings.
After she devoured the cupcakes, the harpy shot the campers a sour look and chucked the plate. Kids shrieked and backpedaled. The plate shattered near the edge of the stage—just a few feet from Levi’s pixie friend Albert, who bellowed “Watch it!” and swatted at the sky with his poster. The harpy released a giggle so shrill Levi had to cover his ears. She soared away as Albert stomped across the stage with a dunce cap on his head. He carried a blackboard with the scrawled words, “No cheating.”
Trevor elbowed Levi. “Look at Albert. Ha!”
Levi doubled up with laughter. “I can’t wait for him to show up in our room tonight.” Albert had a habit of planting himself on the boys’ beds, chowing down on chips and sodas, and playing cards for hours on end. It drove Levi crazy.
Steve giggled until tears streamed down his cheeks. “It’ll be so easy to beat him at Spades after this.”
“Yeah, all we have to do is squawk and flap around and—” Tommy flailed his arms and fell onto his back cackling.
Mr. Drake came on stage at that moment, carrying a sign that read “No swimming or boating without a staff member present.” He walked alone, wearing his Camp Classic polo and khakis. He looked completely normal.
“What’s the trick?” Trevor said into the silence.
“Don’t know.” Levi scanned the sky. Seeing nothing, he looked toward the shadowy wings right and left of the stage.
Just as the other campers started muttering, a huge green creature with purple spots appeared stage right. A couple of girls squealed, but most people chuckled at the ridiculous, rubber-suited thing that hobbled a few feet then fell on its face. Mr. Drake hauled it from the stage by a flipper.