Boys Camp

by Kitson Jazynka

  “Leading the line,” all the boys chimed in at once.

  Jamie held her paddle straight up in the air. “If I hold my paddle like this, it means …”

  “Go,” the kayakers chorused.

  Next, Jamie held her paddle horizontally. “And if I hold it like this?”

  “Don’t go any farther.”

  “You guys are good,” said Jamie. “Okay, so if I’m Point, who’s Sweep, bringing up the rear?”

  “Yo, Sweep, that’d be me,” Carlos called from the back of the pack where he paddled along just behind Zee.

  After a while, they passed a small island with a bunch of pine trees in the middle of it. Suddenly, Nate shouted out, “Wait!” He grabbed for the small binoculars held on a cord around his neck. “There’s a … I don’t believe this!”

  “What?” said Kareem. “What do you see?”

  “It’s a bald eagle’s nest,” said Nate, “and it’s occupied.”

  “Where?” the boys shouted and looked, their kayaks bumping into each other as they tried to spin around to see.

  “Here, take my binoculars,” Nate handed them to Zee.

  “How can you be sure it’s an eagle’s nest?” asked Zee.

  “Well, for one I heard the eep eep eep sound that eagles make,” said Nate. “Two, it’s a live tree, and bald eagles only nest in live trees. Three …”

  Just then, a pair of huge black wings emerged from underneath the green canopy of leaves. As the bird flapped up into the sky, Zee could just make out a bright white head and a yellow beak.

  “Awesome,” breathed Kareem as the eagle passed overhead, casting its shadow on the water.

  “Wow! That was cool,” said Yasu. “And we were the first to see it! Wait’ll we tell the rest of the guys back at camp.”

  “Birch Cabin Eagle Spotters,” said Erik. “That’s us.”

  They all paddled quietly for a while, thinking about the eagle, until Vik, who was just behind Jamie, called out, “Land ho! Shallow water!”

  “Yeah, thanks for the warning,” joked Zack. “I think I’m stuck on a log.” He strained to get his kayak moving, laughing as he said, “I am paddling forward but going backward!” As soon as he managed to move the kayak forward, a small log bobbed up behind him.

  The boys pulled their kayaks up onto the shore and carefully wedged their paddles and life vests inside them. They helped Jamie beach the supply dinghy and carried the bags and boxes to the cleared campsite. When everything had been unloaded and packed in, Carlos said, “Okay, guys. It’s time to explore Spikey Island.”

  Nate, Vik, Zack, and Yasu chose to follow Carlos toward the woods in the center of the island. Jamie led the rest of the boys in a different direction, down to the marshy, muddy shore that ringed the island. Zee, lingering near the back of Jamie’s group, watched the guys ahead of him and thought about how wolves travel in a line, stepping in each other’s tracks to get through snow swiftly.

  Hmmm, speaking of wolves, Zee thought. When no one was looking, Zee pulled his wolf print block out of his pocket. He liked the weight of it in his hand, and he liked how his fingers had to stretch to wrap around the block with the large, life-sized paw print on it. He had carved it with a special gouge and then sanded it for hours until his fingers wore through the sandpaper, all the way to the grainy part. Should he use the block, or should he continue his break from trickstering? Zee turned the block over in his hand. He remembered Will saying, “This is Camp Wolf Trail, after all.” Remembering made him kind of miss Will; maybe the reason he didn’t feel like pulling any tricks was that it wasn’t much fun to do them alone. Yeah, Zee though, but it was Will who killed Will-n-Zee, not me. It was Will who’d been all do-it-my-way-or-no-way.

  Out of curiosity, Zee bent down to make a track in the soft dirt. It looked great! So genuine. He wondered how many tracks he’d have to make. One track alone didn’t make sense. But a bunch of tracks together could go somewhere, do something, even leave a message behind for someone else to follow. The trick was just too good not to do—even if he did have to do it solo. So, Zee went to work making tracks in the muddy swath of shore that circled the island, lagging behind Jamie’s group so no one would see. The shoreline was damp and muddy, which helped. Zee couldn’t wait to see what happened when someone spotted the wolf prints.

  He could hear the other Birch Cabiners getting farther and farther ahead of him as they were looking for turtles. A mosquito buzzed by his ear. As he moved his hand to slap it, something in the lake back behind him caught his eye.

  It was a little dark spot on the flat water. Had it been there a minute ago?

  Was it a duck, flapping on the surface? No. Could it be a swimmer? No. What was it then? Zee took a step toward the water. He used his hand to shield his eyes from the late afternoon sun.

  A dog? It looked like a dog. He squinted. Wait—was that Cookie? How would Cookie have gotten so far out in Evergreen Lake—halfway between the camp dock and the island?

  “Cookie?” Zee whispered. Then he yelled the dog’s name, “Cookie!” Just then the little head on the water lifted its nose. That’s when Zee knew. It was Cookie. Why was he in the water? Had he swum all the way from camp? Could he make it to shore?

  Cookie seemed to be struggling to stay afloat. Zee didn’t know what to do. Frantic, he hollered to the group ahead. “Guys! Jamie! It’s Cookie! He needs our help!”

  But no one answered. They were too far ahead of Zee to hear his calls. The only reaction to Zee’s shout was the sound of the birds, flapping out of the trees at his disruption. Zee’s heart raced. Desperately, he tried to think. What should he do? There wasn’t time to chase after the group. Cookie needed help fast.

  Zee’s eyes darted to the kayaks pulled up onto the beach. He turned back around and scanned the water, but he couldn’t find the little bobbing head on the surface of the water. Maybe the dog had gotten some sense and turned back. Or maybe …

  From that moment on, Zee felt as if his feet and hands didn’t belong to him. He shoved the wolf print block into his pocket, raced to his kayak, flipped it right-side up, slipped his arms through the holes in the life vest, and fastened it tight, hands shaky. Zip, snap, snap. He pushed the kayak into the water, hopped in, and fitted his legs in the cockpit, hardly noticing the lurching, splashing, and bobbing as the kayak lunged afloat. Using all his strength, he dug his paddle into the water and strained to move. He could hear a voice—his own, he realized—yelling to the dog, “Hang on, Cookie!”

  Zee worked hard. Paddle left. Paddle right. Paddle left. Paddle right. The kayak skimmed the water. Squinting against the glare of sun-on-water, Zee found the little brown bobbing head and then never took his eyes off of it. Zee chanted to himself, “Paddle left. Paddle right.” And again and again he called, “Cookie! Just hang on, boy. I’m coming to get you.”

  Zee’s lungs burned from yelling and from tension and from breathing hard. His arms were numb. He wouldn’t let himself think about what would happen if he didn’t get to Cookie in time.

  All of a sudden, Zee was close enough to see Cookie’s eyes, which were wide with fear. The dog locked his gaze on Zee and struggled toward the kayak. Then he slipped under the gurgling, cold water, and all Zee could see were bubbles where Cookie had been.

  “Cookie!” Zee shouted as loud as he could.

  A second later, Cookie surfaced. He whimpered and whined, but valiantly fought toward the kayak, his short legs thrashing the water.

  “C’mon Cookie, you can do it!” Zee called. Cookie swam to the side of the kayak. Zee stowed his paddle lengthwise in the cockpit so his hands were free. He reached for Cookie, trying to keep his balance. It wasn’t easy. Cookie scrambled and clawed at the hard plastic boat. Zee leaned forward and grabbed the dog’s collar. The boat tipped dangerously and rocked wildly from Cookie’s weight. Panicked, Cookie clawed at Zee’s life vest, shredding the orange fabric cover. Zee’s arms began to tremble from the strain. He knew he only had one chance to get the dog onboard bef
ore they were both in the water. I can do this, he thought.

  Zee reached down, grabbed a fistful of loose skin around the dog’s neck, and tried to heave Cookie up onto the boat. He had a good hold, but he had leaned too far and … splash. The kayak tipped and Zee fell into the water on top of the dog. The paddle catapulted out of the boat and knocked Zee in the back of the head. Then the boat flipped over on top of Zee and Cookie and pushed them both under the water.

  Chapter Eight

  Cold, dark water closed over his head as if it were solid. Lungs burning, Zee fought his way up and his head burst above the surface. He coughed hard and wiped the water out of his eyes. Zee couldn’t see Cookie, though he could feel the scratch of the dog’s claws on his shoulders behind him. The weight of Cookie’s paws pushed Zee under again. But Cookie was no match for the life vest and Zee bobbed back above the surface of the water. Quickly, Zee turned, flung one arm around the tip of the boat, and grabbed Cookie with the other arm. For a moment, they were face to face in the water, with Cookie’s front paws hanging on Zee’s shoulders. The dog acted determined to get out of the water.

  “It’s okay, Cookie. We’ll figure this out. Just stay calm, boy,” said Zee. But the dog seemed to have an idea of his own. With a great heave, he clawed onto Zee’s shoulders and launched himself up and over Zee into the boat. For a moment, Zee was a human ladder. Cookie’s burst of force to kick and climb over Zee pushed Zee right back under a third time.

  Zee popped up just in time to see Cookie settling himself in the cockpit of the kayak. Cookie’s expression had changed from panic to goofy happy. He was a grinning wet mess wriggling on the padded seat, his tongue stretching out a mile. The boat shook from his hundred-mile-per-hour panting.

  Zee had to grin. The look in Cookie’s eyes seemed to say, “Oh, there you are! Thanks for the lift!”

  As soon as Zee got a hold of the side of the boat, his teeth started to chatter. He looked at the dog and shook his head. “Nice, Cookie,” he said. “So why don’t you celebrate by howling or something? This’d be a fine time to show off.”

  Cookie seemed to think that was a great idea. He threw back his head and let out a throaty, Aroo-oo!

  “Perfect,” said Zee. “Good dog, Cookie. Okay, now stay put. Remember, we’re in this together.” Zee grabbed the rope attached to the front end of the kayak and swam a few feet away to grab the paddle and then toss it back into the kayak. Cookie whined as Zee moved away from the boat. “It’s okay, boy,” Zee reassured him. “Don’t worry. I’m here, and I won’t leave you.”

  Zee actually had no clue how it was going to work out. He was hoping that if he could just swim forward while hanging onto the rope, he could tow the kayak back to the island. As he gathered his strength, they drifted for a moment. Zee let the life vest carry his weight. He tilted his head back and watched the clouds. Where was the sun? Zee could feel a cold current of water running past his feet. His gaze drifted. All he could see was sky, trees, water, water, and more water. Upright again, Zee looked far across the lake to the camp dock. As he scanned the coast far to the left of the distant camp dock, past O’Mannitt’s Cove, he noticed something.

  White water.

  A bubbling stream fed into the lake. Zee knew he’d never seen that stream before. Of course, he’d never looked back at the dock from so far away before, either, or hiked past O’Mannitt’s Cove.

  Woof! Cookie was letting Zee know that he was ready to get back to land. No more resting.

  “Okay, Cookie, I hear you,” said Zee. He felt calmer now, ready to get going. Zee wound the rope securely around his hand, took a deep breath, and began to swim one-handed back to the island.

  He was concentrating so hard on swimming, and he was breathing so hard from towing Cookie in the kayak, that at first he didn’t understand what he was hearing. Then he realized it was someone calling his name. Zee hooked his elbow over the side of the boat so that he could lift his head and chest out of the water and look around.

  “Hello?” Zee’s voice came out softly at first. Then he yelled, “Help! Over here!” Cookie’s head popped up as he struggled to stand in the wobbly kayak and bark an S-O-S, Woof, woof, woof!

  Just then, Zee looked around the bow of the kayak and saw a wonderful sight. It was Kareem, paddling toward him. “Kareem!” Zee hollered. “It’s me.”

  “I’m coming to get you!” shouted Kareem. He paddled so hard that his kayak seemed to fly over the water. “Don’t worry!” But in fact, Kareem was going so fast that his kayak collided with Zee’s and Kareem capsized himself. He came up sputtering. “Sorry, Zee,” Kareem choked out as he righted his kayak. “I got a little excited when I saw you and Cookie. Are you two okay? Man, the water is cold!”

  “I know!” said Zee. He felt as though his fingers were frozen around the rope that anchored him to his kayak.

  “How come Cookie’s in the kayak and you’re not?” asked Kareem, hooking an elbow over the side of his kayak to hold on.

  “Long story,” said Zee. That’s when he saw the red and yellow of Carlos’s kayak. Behind Carlos were Jamie and all the Birch Cabiners, in a colorful flotilla of kayaks headed straight for them. Relief filled every inch of Zee’s body.

  “Am I glad to see you guys!” said Carlos.

  “Not as glad as we are to see you!” said Zee.

  Carlos came alongside the kayak with Cookie in it, took the rope away from Zee, and tied it to his stern. Then Carlos grabbed Zee by the top of his life vest and hoisted him aboard his kayak and into the cockpit. With help from Jamie, Kareem scrambled back into his own kayak.

  “Let’s go!” commanded Jamie. “Everybody, back to shore. Now.”

  As they approached Spikey Island, Cookie could hardly stand all the excitement. Fully recharged, he leapt out of the kayak, belly flopping into the shallow water. Ker-splash.

  “Way to go, Cookie!” cheered Erik. “Plungiferous!” All the kayakers slapped the water with their paddles to applaud Cookie.

  There was so much splashing and laughing, they almost didn’t hear the urgent whine of the motorboat approaching. “That’s going to be Skeeter,” Jamie said to Zee. “We radioed for backup when we realized you were out there on the lake.”

  The motorboat’s engine stopped abruptly in the shallow water. Skeeter jumped out of the boat, still wearing his apron from the kitchen. “What happened? Is Cookie okay?” he asked. The wet dog bounded through the water and greeted his owner with splashing enthusiasm, wet paws, and slurpy licks.

  “Cookie’s fine, thanks to Zee,” said Sean. “And Zee’s fine, too. Zee saved Cookie from drowning.”

  “Say what?” croaked Skeeter.

  “All I knew was that Cookie was in trouble,” said Zee. “I had no choice.”

  “Thanks, Zee,” said Skeeter. “How can I ever repay you?”

  Zee grinned. “How about a sky-high pile o’ pie?” he suggested.

  “You got it,” laughed Skeeter. Then, as all the boys pulled their kayaks out of the water and collapsed onto the bank, he continued, “Well, now that I’m here, the least I can do is help make lunch. I’ve got my apron on and everything!” Everyone laughed, and Cookie punctuated the laughter with a happy, Aroo-oo!

  “Hey, Cookie, is that how you say bacon cheeseburger in dog?” asked Zack.

  “Maybe that’s why Cookie followed us,” said Zee. “He knew we had bacon. Plus, you know dogs are like wolves; they can smell much better than humans. Cookie must have been smelling that bacon all afternoon.”

  “Wait, I almost forgot!” exclaimed Sean. “Zee, we found a wolf trail.”

  “What—wolf tracks?” said Zee, pretending to be surprised. It seemed like a year ago that he’d planted those tracks. “So, that means that there are wolves on Spikey Island?”

  “No wolves,” said Erik. “Just a trickster trying to pull the wool-ff over our eyes, we think.”

  “Zee! We know it was you who faked those wolf prints,” said Jim.

  “Who, me?” Zee asked. He
dug into the sodden pocket of his swim trunks, pulled out the wood block, and tossed it to Jim. “Think fast,” he said. “Hot potato.”

  Jim snagged the wood block mid-air and looked at the wolf print. He shook his head. “Nice work, wolfman,” he said. “Once a jokester, always a jokester, I guess.”

  “Yeah, man,” said Zee.

  Jim handed the wood block back to Zee. As he looked at it, Zee knew that Jim was right. He was glad to be back on land—and back to thinking of himself as the jokester. But he also knew that something was missing: Will.

  I bet if Will had been in on this, he’d have figured out a way for the wolf prints to fool the guys for longer, Zee thought. When he got back to camp, he had two things he must do right away. First, find Will and figure out how they could be friends again, and second, find the source of that white-water stream that fed into the lake, the stream that he had spotted when he was rescuing Cookie. Sometimes at the source of a stream there were falls.

  Thinking about both Will and the stream cheered Zee up. He balanced the wood block on his wet head and said to the guys, “I’m just getting going with the jokes and tricks, sports fans. So, watch out. You never know what I may think of off the top of my head—my block head.”

  The guys guffawed and Zee thought, Maybe pretty soon Will-n-Zee will be back in business and there’ll be two heads at work. Then Zee smiled. Or, better still, maybe there’ll be a new, improved, multi-headed monster trickster team and anybody who wants to be a funnyman can join in. I hope so.

  Chapter Nine

  Camping out on Spikey Island was fun, although everybody was so beat from the Cookie Rescue Adventure that they all conked out just after sunset. They were still pretty ragged the next day as they paddled their kayaks safely and expertly back to camp. The boys dragged their kayaks ashore, sloshed them clean with buckets of lake water, and then loaded them onto the trailer behind Jamie’s truck.

  “Bye, guys,” said Jamie. She waved from the truck window. “It’s been real.”