by Rich Wallace
“I’ll buzz-saw your head in a minute if you don’t shut your face. Hey, look, the wanderer is back.”
Riley knew Barry was referring to him.
“Where’d you go?” Barry continued.
“The bathroom.”
“What’d you do, fall in? You were gone like an hour.”
“Just hanging around,” Riley said.
“Like a night crawler.”
Then Barry started talking about Cabin 3.
“As long as we’re up,” he said, “let me tell you why you all might think twice about venturing outside by yourself at night. I’ll tell you what went down in this very cabin last summer, but it happens all over camp. The ghostly stuff, I mean.
“What happened in here wasn’t any violent haunting or anything like that,” he said slowly. “Just this feeling of being watched, of being an intruder in this spirit’s domain. One guy told me he woke up at about two-thirty and saw this phantom floating above his bunk—a misty, glowing shape with wide, dark eyes looking right at him. The guy had to go to the Larry, but he held it until the next morning, too scared to even move. The thing just drifted away or dissolved, but the kid said he never slept more than fifteen minutes at a time the whole rest of camp.
“Other guys had similar experiences. They swore it was true. I believed ’em.”
They fell into silence, and within a minute Barry was snoring again. Riley lay awake for quite some time, staring straight up with his hands behind his head.
He’d been hoping everyone would be sleeping when he got back and not aware of how long he was gone, but obviously they’d noticed. Then again, that was probably better than if they hadn’t.
He was safe now, but that had been a pretty cool adventure.
The Wanderer. The Night Crawler.
Having a nickname or two was a start toward fitting in, at least.
CAMP OLYMPIA BULLETIN
Sunday, August 1
LATE BASKET LIFTS FIGHTERS TO VICTORY
Wonders and Fortunes Also Win
Danny Avila’s baseline jumper at the buzzer capped a furious comeback Saturday night as the Cabin 5 Fighters edged the Cabin 6 Sixers, 33–32, at the Olympia Arena. Trailing 27–20 after three quarters, the Fighters utilized a patient inside game to whittle away at the lead. Avila finished with 13 points.
Other scores: Cabin 1 Wonders 38, Cabin 2 Tubers 25; Cabin 4 Fortunes 37, Cabin 3 Threshers 35
Practice That J Stroke; Canoe Race Is Coming!
Two-man teams from every cabin will vie for the first major championship of this camp season on Monday afternoon in the 600-meter canoe race. Each cabin can enter three teams.
Sure, It’s a Sport! Karaoke Contest Is Tonight
Camp Olympia athletes are known for their powerful biceps and quadriceps, but who has the camp’s strongest vocal cords? We’ll find out tonight at the All-Star Karaoke and Dance Contest. Each cabin can enter two teams of up to four participants. Judging will be by camp staff.
Where: Olympia Center for Music and Culture
When: 8 p.m.
What’s at Stake: Team points toward the Big Joe
Trophy!
Some Rules to Live By
—No visits to the lake unless a counselor is present.
—No seconds on anything unless you’ve eaten everything on your plate.
—“Lights-out” means go to sleep!
CHAPTER THREE
Below the Surface
Riley plunged off the wooden dock into the murky green water and let himself sink. Underwater, the visibility was near zero; just a few rays of sunlight broke through and turned streaks of the lake a paler green.
Riley’s left foot reached the bottom of soft, slimy vegetation and he pushed off, breaking the surface and inhaling.
The water felt great: warm on the top layer and much cooler a few feet below. Riley started swimming, headed for the small floating dock about fifty yards out. Several campers and a counselor were already there.
The swimming area was marked with ropes and floats. A second area for water polo was on one side of the main dock, and the camp’s canoes and rowboats were tethered to the other.
Riley quickly reached the floating dock and hauled himself up. He had about fifteen minutes before the water-polo match. Cabin 3 had already played its softball game, managing a 9–6 win. Riley had been stuck in right field the whole game, but he hadn’t made any errors. He hadn’t had any hits either.
“You’re supposed to have a buddy,” the counselor on the floating dock said.
“A what?”
“A buddy. No camper is allowed off the main dock unless he’s buddied up with someone. Next time you swim out here, you need to have someone with you.”
That was news to Riley. He loved to swim, but most of his cabin mates were doing cannonballs off the main dock or just splashing around in the shallow water. Riley wanted to swim laps.
“Does it have to be somebody from my cabin?” he asked.
“No. Anybody. Any buddy.” The counselor laughed as if he’d said something hilarious.
Riley would have to find someone. He’d been on a competitive swim team for the past two winters at the YMCA. Most of the races were short—25 or 50 meters—but the training was rigorous. Swimming nonstop for a half hour or so wasn’t a big deal for him. He enjoyed it.
He looked across the water toward the main dock. “Can I swim back alone?” he asked.
“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
So Riley took his time heading across, stroking out to the middle of the swimming area before curling over to the dock. It gave him a few minutes to think about the other nine guys in his cabin. Would any of them want to be his “buddy”?
—Fat Barry Monahan. Great storyteller and a great sense of humor, but Riley could tell that he looked down on him as a scrawny little kid.
—Patrick Monahan. Sarcastic and fidgety. Who’d want to be his buddy, anyway?
—Vinnie Kazmerski. Too old for Riley to hang out with. Too big. Too full of himself.
—Hernando Valenzuela. Funny and strong. And a lot like Vinnie.
—Tony Maniglia. Part of the Barry-Vinnie-Hernando crowd, but a nice kid when he was on his own.
—Eldon Johnson. Quiet. Almost a year older than Riley, but he seemed like a good guy.
—Kirby Lincoln. Didn’t seem very bright or athletic or talkative or friendly.
—Colin Dugan. Tried hard to be part of the Barry crowd. Didn’t seem to be succeeding at it.
—Diego Martinez. Vinnie’s shadow.
Riley never minded being a loner back home. There were lots of kids around to play football or street hockey with, and he was always getting into a game. When it was over, nobody took much notice when he went his own way. Here at camp it’d be different. “Going home” meant back to the cabin with nine other guys, not the easy feeling of being home with his parents.
Instead of reading a comic book in his own bed at night or just looking out the window at the New York City skyline across the river, he’d have to deal with Barry’s mocking and Vinnie’s bragging and anybody else’s showboating.
Still, he was glad to be here. Sports were his passion. That’s why he’d signed up for this camp.
Riley climbed onto the dock. The rest of Cabin 3 was warming up in the water-polo area, throwing the ball around. Shawn, the counselor, waved them over.
“Listen up,” Shawn said, addressing the team. “You all got your headbands?”
Riley had his orange band looped three times around his wrist.
“Okay,” Shawn said. “We play seven at a time—four forwards, two defenders, and a goalie. You can only dunk the guy who’s playing the ball, so no jerking around or it’ll be a penalty. And no two-on-one dunking either. That’s illegal.”
The water in this area was about six feet deep, so they’d be treading or swimming most of the time. The goalie and defenders could hang on to the dock when the ball was down at the other end.
“Signal with your hand or something if you get a cramp and need to come out,” Shawn said. “Or you can rest on the bottom if you want,” he added with a smile.
Their opponents from Cabin 1 had green headbands and some big players. “They’re from Brooklyn,” Barry remarked. “They think they’re pretty tough.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Vinnie. “Let’s go!”
The Cabin 3 Threshers went on the attack immediately, with Vinnie and Hernando both taking hard close-range shots in the opening minutes that were blocked by the goalie. The Brooklyn team had some less disciplined players who fired shots at Tony from well back. Tony easily caught them and tossed the ball to Barry near the center.
So Riley calmly treaded water for several minutes as he and Eldon hung back on defense, not getting any action. Finally a Cabin 1 player came racing toward the goal on a breakaway, churning through the water with the ball skimming between his arms.
The guy was big. He already had the faint beginnings of a mustache.
“Need help!” Riley called.
He darted forward, but his arms were much shorter than his opponent’s, so the other player managed to dunk Riley with one hand and continue stroking with the other. Riley flapped his arms to drop lower in the water, getting free from the guy’s hand and popping up a few feet away.
He spit out a mouthful and took another stroke toward the ball carrier.
Eldon had come over, too, and between the two defenders they managed to stop the attack. With Vinnie and Barry converging, the Cabin 1 player threw an off-balance shot that went wide of the goal. Tony grabbed the ball and looked around.
Riley backstroked a bit and caught Eldon’s eye. He motioned with his head, and Eldon swam back to his side of the defensive zone. Two Brooklyn players had moved into that area. If their teammate had passed instead of shooting, they would have had an unguarded path to the goal.
“Nice work!” Tony said. “Good D.” He threw the ball ahead to Vinnie, who immediately turned and shot.
“Too far out!” Tony yelled as the ball was caught. “Do some passing, boys.”
The scoreless battle continued for several more minutes. Another long, easily blocked shot came flying to Tony from the Cabin 1 end, and Tony quickly tossed the ball to Riley.
It was his first touch of the game, and there were several yards of open water ahead of him. He stroked toward the middle, keeping his head up as a mob of opponents swam toward him.
Riley treaded his legs hard, lifting the ball with one hand and rising up as if to shoot. Just as two opponents were almost upon him, he tossed the ball to Barry, halfway to the goal and wide open.
Barry feigned a shot and flipped the ball to Vinnie, who had a dead-on angle at the goal. He threw it high and hard, past the reaching arm of the goaltender and into the net.
“Yes!” shouted Barry, smacking the water.
The Cabin 3 players swam back to their end.
“Great pass, fat boy!” said Vinnie, punching Barry on the shoulder.
“Two great passes!” said Tony. “Smart work!”
By halftime, they were exhausted. Riley climbed onto the dock with the others and sprawled flat on his back.
“You’ll be out for now, but stay ready,” Shawn told him. “You did a great job.”
Cabin 1 started to dominate in the second half. Patrick Monahan had taken over Riley’s spot on the defensive end, and he was not a strong swimmer. Vinnie had moved into the goalie position, and he got bombarded with shots. The score was soon tied.
Midway through the half, Shawn sent Riley back into the water. “Sub for Eldon,” he said. “Keep up the strong defense, but don’t be afraid to attack. We need another goal!”
So Riley watched for an opportunity. Hernando took a long shot that was deflected and spun to an open side of the Cabin 1 defensive zone. Riley reacted quickly and raced toward the ball. Barry, Hernando, and two defenders were in pursuit as well.
Straining with every stroke, Riley reached the ball first, but he knew he’d be going under. He hugged the ball tight as a strong pair of hands pushed his shoulders down. Riley kicked to try to get free, but the buoyancy of the ball prevented him from going deeper.
Suddenly the defender let Riley go, and he scrambled up to see that Hernando had dunked the guy. Riley stroked toward the center as two more opponents swam toward him. Tony, now on offense, was open to the right of the goal, waving his arms.
Riley faked left, then threw the ball to Tony. His shot bonked off the side of the goal and fell to the water several feet in front. As the goalie lunged toward it, Barry swooped in and flicked the ball over his head and into the net. Cabin 3 had taken the lead!
“How much time?” Riley called to Shawn as he swam back.
“About three minutes,” Shawn called. “Defense!”
With a big surge of energy, Riley moved toward the Cabin 1 player who was bringing up the ball. Barry got there first, putting the guy under and taking control of the ball.
On the attack again, Cabin 3 finally got some teamwork going and passed the ball effectively. The ball came to Riley, then back to Hernando, then over to Tony.
Clearly frustrated, the Cabin 1 players chased after the ball. They seemed more tired than Riley’s team, and time was running out. Tony fired a high, hard shot toward the corner of the goal, and the ball landed solidly in the back of the net.
Fist up, Riley let out a deep breath. This game was theirs now, and he’d played a big role. The whistle blew, and they climbed out of the water with a victory.
The sun was overhead, and there was barely a cloud. Dinner was several hours away.
“Into the boats!” shouted Barry. “Time to catch some bass.”
Several of them had brought fishing gear. They hurried to the other side of the dock and signed up for boats. A lot of rowboats and canoes were already out on the lake, with pairs or trios in orange life vests.
Riley stood aside as the Monahans and Vinnie climbed into one boat; Hernando, Kirby, and Eldon into another; and Tony, Colin, and Diego into the third.
The boats shoved off, with the campers whooping and laughing about their big win. Barry slapped the lake with an oar and sent a splash of water into Tony’s boat, but nobody cared. They were already wet from the game.
Riley sat on the dock to watch them go, hanging his feet in the water and feeling the warm sun on his shoulders.
He’d played well. He knew that much.
CAMP OLYMPIA BULLETIN
Monday, August 2
THRESHERS SPLASH TO WATER-POLO WIN
Cabin 3 Snares a Softball Victory, Too
The Cabin 3 Threshers racked up a pair of wins Sunday, dunking Cabin 1 in water polo and edging Cabin 6 in softball. The Threshers were the only cabin to win games in both sports.
Tony Maniglia smashed a home run and a double in the Threshers 9–6 softball win. He also had a goal in the 3–1 water-polo victory.
Other softball scores were Cabin 4 Fortunes 8, Cabin 2 Tubers 5, and Cabin 5 Fighters 11, Cabin 1 Wonders 4. Danny Avila—the star of the camp so far—had two home runs for the Fighters.
In water polo, it was Sixers 5, Fortunes 3, and Tubers 7, Fighters 5.
Tuber Talent Forges Early Lead in Points Race
A rousing rendition of “My Sharona” by Cabin 2’s Phillip Lopez and Ryan McDonald capped an energetic and wildly entertaining karaoke competition Sunday night. The duo rang up a perfect 30, getting scores of 10 from each of the three judges. That result put the Tubers in the lead for the Big Joe Trophy with 6 points.
Burrrrrrrrrp alert: Hot-Dog-Eating Contest Is Tuesday night!
More Rules to Live By
—No food in the cabins. (Let’s not feed the mice.)
—Three people in a rowboat is the max. Two is the minimum.
—Do not carve your name into your bunk
or the walls.
—Obey all rules!
CHAPTER FOUR
Bad Blood
Riley froze in his tracks, gazing skyward as the softball sailed high into the outfield. The arc would take it beyond where he was standing, so Riley started running, trying to keep his eye on the ball.
This could be bad. The Cabin 3 Threshers were protecting a one-run lead in the bottom of the final inning, but Cabin 5 had two men on base and that ball was heading for the fence.
Riley pushed harder, opening his stride and lifting his glove. Suddenly Vinnie’s voice stopped him cold.
“I got it!” Vinnie yelled. He’d run over from center field to make the catch for the third out, securing the victory. Riley ducked out of his way and went sprawling onto the grass.
Vinnie leaped into the air and threw the ball wildly toward the infield. The rest of the Threshers met him behind second base and mobbed him. Riley caught up and smacked gloves with Diego and Kirby.
“We’re number one!” shouted Hernando. His teammates picked up the chant.
“We’re number one! We’re number one!”
“Get a grip,” Shawn said with a laugh as they reached the bench. “There’s a long way to go before anyone gives us a trophy.”
“They might as well start engraving our names on it,” Barry said. “We’re the best team in camp.”
Riley nodded. He’d had a good day—no errors again (he’d fielded several grounders and caught one pop fly) and he’d hit the ball twice (for outs) and struck out once.
“Looks like you guys got lucky,” one of the players from Cabin 4 said to Barry. Cabin 4 was warming up for the next game. That was the team that had beaten the Threshers in the opening-night basketball game.
“Not as lucky as you guys were,” Barry said. “We’ll see you in a few days for water polo. Hope you like the taste of lake water.”
“I’m scared,” the guy said. “Look at me; I’m shaking.”
Barry just turned and started walking toward the cabin. Most of his teammates followed.