by Annie Bryant
“You will be engaging in activities that will help you build bonds with new people. You’ll be learning to challenge yourself, help others with their own challenges. All of you will have brought some level of skills with you, but you will leave with many more. I think you’ll be impressed with what you can do when you try and when other people support your efforts.
“We’ll be outside most of the time. We hope you nature-deprived city kids will also leave with a new respect for your environment. If you have always lived in a city, you will be surprised at our rich and fascinating outdoor world—how many creatures live here, how to get along with and live side by side with them.”
“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my…” Dillon had sneaked up behind Maeve and whispered the warning. She giggled and shoved him away.
“Now, the first thing we have to do is assign you to teams. Please line up. With this many people, maybe two or three lines. We’ll help you divide up.”
Everyone lined up, and Jody and the other counselors made them count off.
One, two, three, four. When people caught on and started moving around, they were caught and put back to where they first stood.
“Number ones are the blue team.” Jody separated them out. Charlotte, Isabel, Joline, Betsy, Sammy, and Nick were all number ones. “You will be working with John.” Jody grabbed Anna as she tried to trade with Sammy, who was perfectly willing to get off a mostly all-girls team. “No trading. I’m almost ready to hand out demerits, which translates to extra kitchen duty. What are your names? Josh and Pete—you are blue teamers.”
Charlotte looked at Isabel and shrugged. At least the two of them were still together. But how did the three other BSG get on the same team? Avery just smiled and waved, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.
“Blue team, start sweeping bunk rooms.” Jody hurried the first group away. Charlotte turned and waved at the rest of the BSG.
“You mean no one has cleaned, knowing we were coming?” Sammy complained. John handed Charlotte a broom, smiled, and made a sweeping motion.
“You are the green team,” Jody said, pointing to Maeve, Avery, Katani, Anna, Dillon, Billy, Henry, Kiki, and Chelsea. “Your group is bigger because you’re the fire builders. Tonight you’re in charge of building a fire and cooking dinner. That takes some prep work. And we eat early here at Lake Rescue. Go drop your bags off in your cabins, and meet back here. Just follow the path.” She clapped her hands. “Hop to it.” Jody pointed toward the fire pits and the dining hall.
“I’m on the green team,” Henry Yurt said, carrying his bags to his bunk. “How totally logical, since I ran the Green Food campaign for class president.”
“We’ll all be green if we have to eat something you’ve cooked, Yurt,” Dillon said, following him.
“Ditto that.” Maeve hurried behind the two boys, carrying her bags. “I’ve never cooked on a campfire, but I’ve had to help out at home more lately. We’ll probably just throw everything in one pot and set it on the fire. How hard could that be?”
Everyone was back in a flash. No one wanted to keep Jody waiting.
Meanwhile, a thin fog that had crept in gave the campground an eerie feel. Some of the campers looked knowingly at each other. As the minutes passed, the fog thickened and things began to feel damp.
Jody gave a short explanation of how to look for the right kind of kindling and then sent them off.
Katani shivered as she picked up kindling. She hoped that it wasn’t going to rain. Her sisters’ warning that rain made Lake Rescue “sheer misery” had stuck in her mind.
When the gatherers returned, it soon became apparent that the mist and fog had dampened the wood they’d picked up. Starting the fire was going to be difficult. Jody demonstrated a few safety precautions, and showed them how to build a little nest of twigs to get things started. Then she stood back.
“Isn’t anybody a Boy Scout?” Dillon asked, singeing his fingers on another match that refused to get the fire started.
“Don’t look at me,” Anna said. She was sitting on a log in the fire circle, watching.
“Good grief.” Avery ripped off three name tags, wadded them in a ball, and put more small sticks in a tent over the paper. “Now, give me a match.” She took the book of matches, struck one, held it to the paper, and blew very slightly. Then stepped back. Within a few seconds, a cheery flame leaped a couple of inches high. “Now, let’s put a few logs on the fire.”
“I might have known you could start a fire, Avery.” Maeve laughed. “Score one for girl power.”
Jody gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Chelsea snapped a photo of them, blowing, adding small sticks, keeping the flames building until they could tent logs around the fire pit.
Kiki stepped up to the group and looked at Chelsea. “I guess Jody assigned you to cooking, Chelsea.” Then she paused and added, “It’s kind of obvious why.”
Maeve sighed inwardly. Kiki Underwood, true to her name, was famous for her sneak attacks.
“Take it back, Kiki,” Katani, defender of the underdog, said. “Leave Chelsea alone.”
“Excuse me.” Kiki shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “Chill out, Summers—this is none of your business.”
Chelsea stepped in front of her. “I can take care of myself.”
“This is ridiculous,” said Maeve, and she took Katani’s arm and pulled her away from both Chelsea and Kiki. She knew Katani always sided with the underdog, and she liked helping people, but they didn’t need a full-out war on their first day at camp.
“Chelsea, come on. Leave Kiki to her own happy self.” Maeve urged.
Neither girl budged. The other campers were all waiting to see what happened next.
Suddenly Jody appeared. “Why is everybody standing around? Get busy. Chelsea, you’re on kitchen duty. Meet me in the kitchen. I’ll show you tonight’s menu and where things are located. Go along now,” she directed firmly.
Chelsea stared at Kiki, her eyes flashing fireworks. Reluctantly, she turned and headed toward the kitchen. Maeve and Katani looked at each other with relief and went back to warm themselves at the fire.
Jody took an unrepentant Kiki firmly by the arm and walked a short distance away from the fire. No one could hear what she was saying. But everyone could see the flush on Kiki’s face.
Katani looked at Maeve. “Kiki Underwood needs a major attitude adjustment. She acts like a bully.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Maeve. “I just don’t get why she has to be so insulting all the time. I mean, it’s like what Mrs. Weiss always says, “Live and let live.” Katani nodded in agreement. The owner of Irving’s Toy and Card shop always had the best advice. Simple and easy to follow. She also had great toys, comic books, and candy. It was a winning combination for the students at Abigail Adams.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Jody said as she entered the kitchen.
Chelsea, who was leaning against the long metal table, hoped Jody had not come down too hard on Kiki. She didn’t want an enemy at camp.
Chelsea had been contemplating her showdown with Kiki. She knew that she never would have done anything to Kiki, but she was surprised at how angry she had felt toward her, and also how strange it had felt for Katani to actually stand up for her.
Chelsea said nothing as she waited for more directions from Jody. The counselor motioned for her to pick up a big bag of potatoes and bring it to the table.
“How are you doing?” Jody asked, getting down pots and pans and opening the sack of potatoes.
“What?” Chelsea knew what Jody meant, but she didn’t feel like talking to some stranger about the way Kiki Underwood, Ms. Size 1 Mean Girl, had spoken to her. Maybe if she feigned non-interest, Jody would change the subject. “Kiki was not very nice to you out there.”
No such luck, Chelsea shrugged. “I can handle it…Kiki’s a lightweight.” Good joke, thought Chelsea. She wondered if the counselor would get it.
Jody s
miled but kept on with her “agenda.”
“You know, name-calling is unacceptable. It’s really harassment, even if there is a ring of truth in it.” Chelsea was suddenly confused. Was Jody talking about her or Kiki?
“I think I know how you handle situations like that.” There was a long pause. Chelsea stopped breathing. “You eat,” Jody added.
Here it comes, thought Chelsea. You would be such a pretty girl if you lost weight. Why don’t you try eating healthier and exercising more and then life would be perfect, blah, blah, blah.
“I did the same thing. When I was your age, I weighed even more than you do.”
This was new. “You did?” Chelsea found she was curious in spite of herself. Jody looked really fit. She wasn’t thin, but she looked pretty good.
“Yeah, I was a really overweight kid, and got bullied—people called me names all the time. But then I went off to this outdoor camp…one much tougher than this one. And it got me started in a new direction with my weight and with myself. If you ever want to talk about it sometime, I’m around.
“Now, camper, pass me another bag of potatoes, will you, and grab one of those peelers. I could use some help.” She grinned at Chelsea.
“I’m the trip photographer,” Chelsea said. “I probably won’t have a lot of time to talk.”
She grabbed a potato and started peeling. Real fun, she fumed. I get to peel potatoes and talk about how much I weigh. Maybe if she stopped talking, the counselor would just change the subject. But then, after a few minutes, it occurred to her that if she talked with Jody, maybe she could get out of some of the hikes or the rope climbing. Might be worth a try, she thought.
And Jody wasn’t being pushy anyway. She didn’t seem like some do-gooder, nosy type.
“Sometime I’ll tell you how I went from being a heavy, out-of-shape weakling to this wilderness goddess you see standing before you.” Jody lifted up her arms and made a muscle. Chelsea couldn’t help but laugh. Jody made the weight issue seem manageable.
“But now we’d better go get dinner started. Help me carry some of these things and I’ll send some other kids in to help you finish peeling.”
In a few minutes, Nash walked back in with a group of kids. Soon lots of hands got busy peeling, chopping, and throwing ingredients into a big pot for the famous Lake Rescue campfire stew. The smell of braising meat, then onions, and finally the herbs made the green team hope they could be first in line for their own cooking.
Maeve and Katani made buttered bread sandwiches and cut them across into triangles. Both girls laughed as they raced to see which one of them could make the most sandwiches in one minute. S’mores, the favorite BSG sleepover dessert, were also on the menu tonight.
After everyone settled down on the ground or a rock with a plateful of food, the conversations became quieter. Having to work for their food had made them hungry, and everyone concentrated on the stew for a few minutes.
Suddenly, something mushy hit the back of Avery’s head. As she turned around, another ball of stew-soaked bread sailed right into her bowl.
“Heyyy!” she yelled. “Who did that?”
She caught Josh giving his brother Billy a low five.
Avery balled up a piece of her own bread, dunked it in her stew, and before Billy knew what was coming, hit him squarely in the forehead with the gooey mess. Luckily, Chelsea had her camera ready. The picture of a shocked Billy with goop on his face would be a winner.
That was all it took. One side of the campfire against the other, the food began to fly. Henry Yurt picked up a carrot that hadn’t been chopped and ran in circles, shouting, “I have a carrot, and I’m not afraid to use it!”
Jody jumped up and blew her whistle. “Enough! If I get hit with a piece of somebody’s chewed-up dinner, I will NOT be a happy camper! Besides, you’re wasting good food, which is just plain wrong. Pick up everything and put it in the trash…NOW. We don’t want any creatures visiting us in the middle of the night because you were all acting like a bunch of hyenas.”
Chelsea thought she saw a hint of a smile on Jody’s face, even though she was acting really strict. Something told her this wasn’t the first food fight that had happened at Lake Rescue…and it wouldn’t be the last.
The night air grew even more foggy. Everyone was eager to huddle around the fire after dinner.
Avery spoke, breaking the unusual silence. “Remember, the ghost really likes foggy evenings. Tonight looks perfect.”
“Avery!” Isabel scolded. “Did you have to spoil my dinner?”
Ooo, oooo, ooo, oooo, ooo, oooo, ooo, oooo.
A single, throbbing note floated through the fog, across the campground, then became a trembling wail.
“OMG! What’s that?” Charlotte was sitting next to Nick and didn’t think twice about grabbing hold of his arm.
“Who else?” Avery said. “It’s Marie Darling calling us to come and find her. Any volunteers for a midnight hike?”
Part Two
Mountains to Climb!
CHAPTER 11
Underfabulous
You’re kidding, right?” Isabel hugged her knees tighter. “Please, tell me Avery is kidding.” She glanced over at Jody, then at the other counselors, all huddled around the fire.
“It sounded like a ghost, a real ghost.” Maeve looked scared. Charlotte couldn’t tell if Maeve was acting or she really was afraid.
Jody laughed. “That, all you nature-deprived city kids, is a loon. These birds live on the lakes and ponds all around Lake Rescue. They are known for their haunting cry.”
“A real bird made that noise?” Chelsea looked skeptical.
“Creepy, isn’t it?” John, the counselor, joined in on the conversation. “Quite a few mysterious legends have grown up around the loon. The Cree Indians believed the loon’s strange and eerie cry was that of a dead warrior forbidden entry into heaven.” You could hear a pin drop around the campfire.
Then Nash issued a soft warning. “The Chippewa Indians believed the loon’s cry was an augury of death.”
Suddenly, the night filled with the lonely cry of the loon.
There were gasps…then giggles from the campers.
Maeve grabbed Katani’s hand.
Charlotte had to admit, the timing of the loon’s cry was unnerving. But the writer in her just had to know. “What does augury mean?”
“A prediction, an omen, or a warning. The Chippewa thought the loon might be predicting someone’s death.”
“You mean one of us is going to die out here?” Dillon asked. No one could tell if he was teasing or serious.
Nash opened his mouth to answer but Avery jumped to her feet before he could say a word.
“Okay, okay, all you Abigail Adams campers, story hour is over.” Avery was either getting scared herself, or she really was tired for a change.
“Great idea,” echoed Jody. “Now, let’s all get a move on it. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.” She motioned for all the campers to head back to their respective bunks.
All the BSG jumped up. They were ready to put their heads on the pillow and sleep for twelve hours. Last week had been so busy.
“I hate it that we aren’t all in a cabin together.” Katani took Maeve’s arm. “But, at least, you and I are together.”
“I’m in the bunk with you and Isabel, Char. Cool, huh!” Avery high-fived her friend. “Yeah, they put some of us greenies in with some of you bluies. Must be some kind of social experiment, like the Star-Belly Sneetches from Dr. Seuss.” Avery laughed heartily at her own joke.
“Did you see Anna try to change teams and cabins?” Maeve laughed. “She’s so mad she’s stuck with us. Such a tragedy to have to sleep in the same bunk as Katani and me.”
“Or—” Avery didn’t get to finish her sentence.
“Be nice, Avery. We’re here to work together.” Katani laughed.
“Give me a break, Kgirl. I was going to say that Anna is an awesome athlete,” Avery blurted. “I’d choose her for my team
.”
Avery categorized people by athlete/nonathlete. That would be obnoxious, thought Charlotte, if Avery wasn’t so willing to play sports with anyone who felt like playing.
“I don’t know, Ave,” Katani said, shaking her head. “I just don’t have a lot of trust where the Queens of Mean are concerned. You remember the talent show?”
Avery shrugged her shoulders. “You’ve got a point. But I have to let stuff like that go when I’m playing sports. I really like to win, so I’d still have to go for Anna for my team.”
“Over me, Ave?” Katani asked, her hands planted on her hips. There was a twinkle in her eye, however. Katani had no pretensions regarding her own athletic abilities.
Maeve shook out her ponytail. “Can we please just go to bed now? I’m so tired and I know I’m going to have to make like a wilderness woman tomorrow.”
Avery picked up a pinecone and threw it toward Maeve.
“Catch this, ‘Maeve of the Jungle.’”
To everyone’s surprise Maeve caught the cone with one hand. The look on her face was one of such shock that the BSG began to laugh hysterically. With that Maeve threw open her arms dramatically and pleaded, “Group hug!”
The BSG rushed together and shared an enthusiastic Hollywood-style hug as if they wouldn’t see each other again for the entire week.
Once inside their cabins, the girls were reminded that Lake Rescue was no plush Hollywood spa. While the bunks were relatively neat, grass sprouted up in between the cabin’s floor cracks. There were spider webs in the top corners of the room, and dust bunnies everywhere. “Somebody must have forgotten to sweep this cabin,” said Isabel, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Luckily, there were no spiders—at least not crawling around in plain view. However, if you blew into the air, the dust bunnies rose from everywhere and floated in front of your face. This was definitely roughing it.