Lake Rescue

by Annie Bryant

  But Charlotte was way too tired to care what her bunk looked like. A sleeping bag on top of rocks would look good right now, she sighed as she tossed her bag onto one of the lower bunks. Barely awake, she foraged in her backpack for her prison-striped pajamas and tugged them on. Her eyes were almost closing as she brushed her teeth. She felt oddly comforted by the sound of raindrops on the old wooden roof. It made for good sleeping, Charlotte thought dreamily.

  The next morning, sun streamed into the dusty cabin windows. Everyone began to stir. As Charlotte sat up to stretch, she noticed that Avery, who had bunked across from her, was already gone. But she had propped Happy Lucky Thingy against her pillow to remind herself of Marty. Avery must be at cooking duty, remembered Charlotte.

  “I don’t know if I’m more hungry or more tired.” Isabel rubbed her eyes. “At least we don’t have to get up and start a fire and cook bear.”

  “Bear?” Charlotte laughed. “For breakfast?”

  “Some people still eat bear,” Katani insisted as she poked her head in the cabin door.

  “I’m sure bears are tasty when you are in the Alaskan wilderness and you have run out of mac and cheese, but—otherwise, I’ll pass.” Charlotte shuddered. “Besides, bears have a right to wander around the forest and eat berries and vermin and fish, without worrying about someone looking to eat them for breakfast.”

  “You’ve been reading again, Charlotte,” Isabel teased.

  Charlotte nodded. “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know what bears ate.”

  “Did you hear that loon at dawn?” a girl named Tanya asked.

  Charlotte shook her head slowly.

  “That one bird went on and on with that spooky cry. It almost sounded like a moan. Don’t tell me you didn’t hear it.” Tanya looked incredulous. “It woke me up really early. Those birds were talkin’ up a storm.”

  “I’ve learned to sleep almost anywhere.” Charlotte dragged her bag into the small bathroom, took out her face towel, and laughed when she looked at it. Did loons steal towels? She soaked it in cold water and pressed it to her face. The shock of the cold helped a little. She was so tired. A thought that maybe the outdoor trip was going to require a little more energy than she originally planned whizzed through her brain.

  Suddenly, there was knocking at the door. Charlotte poked her head out. She was surprised to see four girls impatiently standing in line with their towels and cosmetic bags.

  “Sorry, I’ll be out in a minute,” Charlotte said with a smile, and closed the door again. She needed to finish brushing her teeth. Exactly one minute later, there were two sets of fists banging on the door. “Come on, let us in!”

  Charlotte swung the door open and hurried out. “Sheesh,” she muttered to Isabel.

  Isabel laughed. “You don’t have any sisters. Pounding on the door is an everyday occurrence when a group of girls shares a bathroom.”

  Much of the time Charlotte wished she had brothers and sisters, but she suddenly realized there were some great perks to being an only child.

  Charlotte and Isabel were among the last to arrive for breakfast.

  “Did you think we were going to bring you breakfast in bed?” Avery laughed when she looked at Charlotte and Isabel. “Here! Have some cocoa. It’s really, really good. Tastes homemade. Not that nasty stuff that tastes like you are drinking chemicals. No, if I’m gonna drink cocoa, give me the real deal—chocolate, caffeine, guaranteed to wake you up and get you really ready to roll.”

  With that Avery stood up on her chair and waved her arms back and forth rhythmically like she was at a rock concert. The whole dining room burst into clapping, except for the girls at Anna’s and Kiki’s table. Anna rolled her eyes. “Avery Madden is so immature,” said Kiki. Anna and Joline nodded in agreement. Avery overheard her and stuck out her tongue at Kiki. She kept dancing until Jody told her to stop standing on her chair.

  “Hey, Avery!” Billy Trentini shouted.

  “You better give me some of that cocoa,” Isabel said.

  Charlotte warmed her hands around her own cup. The air was damp and nippy, but not really cold. Her woolly fleece jacket felt good for this early. Once the sun was out, she could probably change to a light jacket—not her lucky writing jacket, though. She had backed out on packing that at the last minute. Too risky. She wanted that jacket to last a lifetime. It had been her mother’s and she hoped to wear it until it was as worn as her favorite stuffed, plush pig, Truffles. Maybe, if she was extra careful she could pass the jacket on to her own daughter someday.

  Right then, Nick Montoya interrupted her reverie by handing her a plate of bacon, toast, and scrambled eggs. “Room service, just this once,” he said and sat down at the table. “Did you dudes sleep okay? I managed to sneeze most of the night myself.”

  Charlotte laughed. Nick was so funny sometimes. “I was so tired I went to sleep the minute I crashed onto that bed. If you can call it a bed.”

  “No kidding.” Nick nodded in agreement. “That creaky, metal-framed cot is definitely not something you would find at the Ritz,” he said, crunching on a piece of bacon.

  “Yeah, it was about as comfortable as sleeping on rocks,” Charlotte said in between bites of toast.

  “Well, you better finish your green eggs and ham,” Nick smiled at Charlotte. “In exactly half an hour, we’re going to be climbing the wall.”

  Charlotte looked up from her bacon. “You mean a real wall…or a climbing wall?” She liked to hike but the idea of hanging upside down from a harness was a little daunting.

  “Looks pretty real to me,” Nick answered as he leaned back in his chair. “Dillon and I went for a walk this morning. This place is pretty wild. We saw the birds that make that spooky sound. They’re pretty cool. You should see them dive for fish. They can stay down there for a really long time.”

  Charlotte vowed to get up early the rest of the week. She didn’t want to miss a minute of what Lake Rescue had to offer.

  Each camper was required to wash his or her tin plate and fork. But a whole team was assigned to kitchen cleanup. Charlotte was relieved it wasn’t one of her jobs this morning.

  Jody motioned for the green and blue teams to line up. The other teams had followed Mia to the lake. Jody handed out new name tags to everyone, explaining that there were only six counselors and a whole lot of campers. Katani whispered to Maeve, “We should draw flowers and pine cones on these tags. These are so boring looking.”

  Maeve agreed, and they both decided that they would decorate theirs when they got back to their bunks.

  Jody wore jean shorts and a jean shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Not one goose bump graced her muscled arms. “OK, you city dwellers. Our first exercise is called Trust Your Neighbor.” She winked. Jody talked as she walked, motioning for everyone to follow her. She stopped in front of a solid rock wall not far from camp.

  “People, time to choose a partner. Here’s the deal. One person hops into the harness, the other spots and holds the rope below. If the person on the wall slips and falls, the person below is responsible for guiding the climber until he regains his footing. Now watch me and Nash here.”

  Even though she was a big girl, Jody had no trouble adjusting the harness to fit herself as Nash readied himself to belay her rope so that she would be safe. As she began to climb, Jody shouted directions to the campers below. “If you’re on the wall, swing back and try to find a foothold so you can continue climbing to the top.”

  Everyone was riveted as Jody pulled her way up the wall. At one point she demonstrated what happens when a climber loses footing.

  “The climber starts to bump against the wall. However, with the help of your partner—in this case Nash, who is manipulating the ropes—you can find a place to put your foot.”

  Jody made it to the top quickly and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to Nash.

  Maeve was biting her nails the whole time. Her near accident in gym class was still fresh in her mind.

  Avery tried to reassure h
er. “Look, Maeve. You can’t really fall. The harness will protect you, and whoever is on the ground can pull the ropes to tighten everything.”

  Maeve breathed a big sigh of relief. She could see that Avery was right. The big challenge would be the climbing, but she wouldn’t really be in danger at any time.

  When Jody landed back on the ground she gave a few more safety instructions, warned against any horseplay on the wall or when being fastened into the harness below, and then announced, “I only ask two things from everyone. First, give it a try, and second, give it your best shot. You will be really surprised at what you can accomplish when you give it your all. And remember, you are not doing this alone. Your teammate on the ground is with you all the time, and Nash and I are here to help. Helmets are required. Now, who’s first?”

  Avery partnered with Katani and Billy T. with Sammy. Charlotte watched with interest, remembering that Avery and Billy had made a bet on who was fastest. Both Billy and Avery had rock climbed before so their friends were expecting an exciting race.

  Avery looked at Billy as both stood at the bottom, waiting for the signal to climb. Billy was taller than Avery, but everyone knew that Avery was a speed demon.

  At the signal, Avery flew up the wall. “Go, Avery, go Avery,” the rest of the BSG chanted.

  Charlotte couldn’t even see where Avery was putting her hands and feet. But on closer inspection, she could see these little grips for your feet and hands to hold on to. Avery beat Billy to the top by a couple of seconds. Avery turned, “Say good-bye to your dessert, Billy.”

  Both swung back to the ground, but Billy wouldn’t even look at Avery as she did a little victory dance. His face was still red, but not from the effort of climbing.

  Nash joined them at the bottom. “Campers, were you racing?” he asked. Pause. “Well, yeah,” Avery said hesitantly. “Is that against the rules? Nobody said anything,” she said hurriedly.

  Nash answered firmly, “We don’t race on the wall at Lake Rescue, Avery. I can see that you and Billy have had training, but most of our climbers are inexperienced and racing is too dangerous for them. So concentrate on technique and keep safety first, people. No more racing,” he admonished. Avery looked a bit sheepish and went to say something to Billy. But he had turned and walked away.

  “I guess I can’t win your dessert now, Charlotte,” joked Nick.

  “I don’t bet on things I have never done before,” Charlotte answered. “And this is my first time climbing for real.”

  “Well, good luck then.” Nick flashed her a smile and began climbing.

  Surprising herself, Charlotte made it up the wall fairly easily. She had never done anything like that before. Pushing aside her fear, she just inched up and up and up, not looking down, until she touched the top ledge where Nash knelt waiting for her. She slapped Nash’s hand, then rapelled back down to solid ground.

  “Wasn’t that fun?” Avery patted Charlotte on the back. “I wish we could do it again. What’s next?”

  “Sitting, and waiting until everyone else is finished,” said Charlotte. She then settled onto a big rock, letting the sun warm her face.

  When it was Chelsea Briggs’ turn, no one was willing to spot her. Charlotte felt just terrible for Chelsea, whose face was unreadable. When John, one of the other counselors, realized that none of the campers was going to offer to help Chelsea, he quickly stepped in. Most of the kids probably thought that they wouldn’t be able to belay someone her size. Charlotte knew there was no way she could help Chelsea out.

  With John below guiding her, Chelsea climbed slowly and carefully. She was clearly strong. But lifting her own weight as she reached and grabbed for the grip, then pulled herself up, was turning out to be difficult.

  After three missteps where she swung away from the wall, then back, trying to find another place to hold on, she called down. “I can’t do it; I just can’t.” Charlotte could see that she was right on the verge of crying, but was doing everything in her power to hold it in. Katani, who had been watching Chelsea intently, felt for her classmate. Katani thought she would have died of embarrassment if that had been her.

  Slowly, John lowered Chelsea to the bottom and helped her unhook her harness. Chelsea’s cheeks were stained bright red. After pulling off her helmet, she went to lean on a big rock. Charlotte saw that her legs were shaking.

  Maeve leaned into Charlotte. “That was awful. Chelsea must be so embarrassed.”

  “Good try, Chelsea,” Isabel called to her. Isabel was the only one who dared approach Chelsea. “I almost gave up after falling once. I would have totally given up if Nick hadn’t cheered me on.”

  Nick Montoya was helping everyone, and he really seemed to like doing it, thought Charlotte. Nick would make a great camp counselor—he almost looked like one because he was so tall.

  When the Yurtmeister looked down and began freaking out at how high he was, Nick yelled up to him, “Hey! President Yurt…got a minute?”

  The Yurtmeister broke out laughing and made it all the way to the top.

  Nick caught Charlotte watching him. She was sure her cheeks turned bright pink, but Nick just gave her a wave and turned back to a girl he was coaching. He hadn’t made her feel dorky at all.

  “Okay, fifteen-minute break,” Jody called. “There’s lemonade, water, and oranges under the tree. Got to keep your energy up.”

  “Energy up? Miss Drill Sergeant is going to kill us all off on the first day,” Katani whispered to Isabel.

  Charlotte chewed some orange slices, then sat on a flat rock where the BSG had all sprawled. “Did anyone bring sunscreen? I left mine in my bunk.”

  Maeve handed Charlotte a big tube of sun block. “Without it, I’d look like a big tomato by evening…with about a thousand more freckles.”

  “Does anyone know what’s next?” Avery tossed back the rest of her water.

  “Who knows?” Katani grinned. “Just try not to embarrass Billy again, Avery. I think you might have hurt his feelings.”

  “Hey, he’s the one who always wants to race, and I’m already up by one dessert,” Avery defended herself. Then she ran to get a handful of the orange slices to take with them as Jody signaled the end of break.

  “Isn’t it great not to be sitting in school right now?” asked Avery as they all walked to the next activity. The BSG nodded in agreement.

  “What?” Betsy Fitzgerald had heard Avery’s comment. “You don’t miss school?” She looked at her watch. “We’d be in Ms. O’Reilly’s class right now,” she moaned. “But I suppose we are learning…”

  “Wow, look at that.” Maeve pointed. “I saw something like that on ‘The Amazing Race,’ although it was a lot higher and longer.”

  Between two platforms was a natural ravine. The idea was to grab hold of a trapeze bar, hold on for dear life, then slide to the lower platform.

  “This is called the Flying Fox. I’m sure what you’ll be doing here is obvious,” Mia, the blond, peppy counselor explained. “Besides, it’s not as hard as it looks, and falling off will be worse than holding tight and enjoying the ride,” she joked. There really was no way that anyone could crash into the ravine because they were so securely fastened into a harness. Even if the harness broke, a second line would kick in. Still, it was a long way down.

  “It does look like fun, doesn’t it?” Charlotte got in line, close to the beginning.

  “Speak for yourself,” Chelsea murmured. She stationed herself next to the platform, ready to get some action shots. Suddenly, she decided the other side would be better, since she could see the faces of those coming toward her. So she hurried over the small bridge to the far platform, two camera cases dangling from her shoulder.

  “She’s going to take photos and hope no one notices she’s not on the torture device,” Isabel whispered.

  “Good idea.” Maeve grimaced. “I wish I’d have brought a camera.”

  As soon as Charlotte saw how much speed Billy Trentini picked up, she was ready to go ask Chelsea
if she needed someone to hold her camera bag. She pushed Avery in front of her.

  Avery waited until Nash placed a harness around her. If you slipped off the bar, the harness would catch you, but you’d have to be pulled slowly back to the top platform. Betsy had done that twice, then begged off, close to tears. She might get an E for effort, but no A for achievement on this activity.

  Avery looked at Charlotte and grinned. “Watch this.” She leaped off the platform, swinging her legs in front of her for momentum. To her surprise, she came way short of the far platform. What had happened? Was she too short to gain any speed?

  Avery looked down, which had to be scary. She wasn’t going to fall because of the harness, but the view was enough to make even “Her Braveness” swallow quickly a couple of times. Charlotte was breathing hard just watching. Billy Trentini stood at the far platform and looked on.

  “Hang on, Avery. Hang on. Go back, try again. You can do it. I know you can.” Well, that was a switch. The “competition thing” was gone. Billy was actually trying to help Avery.

  After being pulled back on the other platform, Avery took a deep breath. She had to try again. Avery straightened her shoulders and took another leap. She swung her feet forward, but kept them still. This time she landed on the far ledge. She almost fell backwards, but Billy and John grabbed the bar to steady Avery and help her off just at the right moment. Billy raised his hand for a high five. Charlotte couldn’t see Avery’s face, but she slapped Billy’s hand and slinked away.

  From watching Avery, Charlotte knew this would not be easy. She got rigged up, grabbed the bar, and swung off the platform, not hesitating, not looking down. The wind swept her hair back. Her knuckles turned white. Her heart pounded as she picked up speed. Forcing her legs to stay ahead of her, she landed, leaned forward, and grabbed John’s hand.

  “Well done, Charlotte. Want to go again?” John asked.