Revenge of the Happy Campers

by Jennifer Ziegler

  “Because there’s no manure,” I finished for her. “Normally you can smell it from half a mile away.”

  Aunt Jane took a big sniff. “Huh. You’re right,” she said. “I wonder what happened. Last time I was here, horse riding was one of the most popular attractions.”

  “So we walked out here for nothing?” I asked. On one hand, I was relieved that I wouldn’t get trampled, after all. But I could have spared myself the long, dusty trip out there.

  “I just don’t understand it,” Aunt Jane kept saying, shaking her head. Her eyes darted around the room, but her gaze seemed faraway — as if she were painting over the sight of the old barn with memories of how it used to look.

  As perturbed as I was, it made me sad to see her disappointed.

  Darby ran over and threw her arms around Aunt Jane’s middle. Aunt Jane blinked fast a few times, then she smiled.

  “I don’t mean to seem blue,” she said, mussing up Darby’s hair. “It’s just that I always felt this place was special, and I really wanted to share it and have y’all love it, too.”

  “I know I’m going to love it,” Delaney said. “I love everything you love.”

  “I love it already,” Darby said.

  Everyone looked at me. It made my cheeks feel tingly.

  I really wanted to say that I love it or that I was sure I would love it. I even started the sentence. I said, “I …”

  But then I started thinking about the stinky creek water and the lopsided camper and those lousy boys who didn’t know anything about being a president but thought they did and the dust and lack of horses and …

  I couldn’t see myself, but I was pretty sure my grumpy face was coming back. And even though Darby and Delaney made big eyes at me, I never did finish the sentence. I couldn’t lie.

  “You know what?” Darby said. “I think this old barn is great. Let’s explore, okay, Delaney?”

  “Okay,” Delaney said. “Maybe we can find clues. Or maybe some other animals have moved in, like raccoons. Or maybe plunderers and scalawags hid their loot here!”

  As they ran all around making phony “oohs” and “ahs,” I walked up to Aunt Jane and said, “I’m sorry I’m not more excited.”

  “No reason to be sorry, Dawnie.” Aunt Jane patted my shoulder. “I have to admit that the campground seems a shabby version of its former self. But maybe it will grow on you. There have been many places in my past that I didn’t realize I loved until later, after memories built up.”

  She grinned at me and I could tell she wasn’t mad. Aunt Jane hardly ever gets steamed. I guess Darby’s a lot like her in that way.

  “So let’s go make ourselves some good memories, okay?”

  “Deal.” I headed into the tack room where my sisters were romping around. I was determined to make the best of things. Aunt Jane deserved that.

  I had to admit, it was fairly interesting poking around the tumbledown barn. Darby and I found a rusty horseshoe and an empty burlap sack and an old rope bridle half hidden in the mulch-y floor. Aunt Jane called it a hackamore bridle. There were other broken pieces of tack — bits of leather and metal hinges — but we couldn’t tell exactly what they were. Meanwhile, Delaney tried to find evidence of animal life. She was pretty sure she found a mouse hole, but that’s about it. After that she went back to swinging on the creaky stall doors.

  “See, Aunt Jane? We can still have fun out here,” Darby said. “Watch this.” She ran out into the training ring, climbed the wooden fence, and started balancing along the top like a tightrope walker. Her outstretched arms wavered slightly as she went.

  A cold shiver went down my sweaty back. I recognized my uneasy feeling. I had it the day before when she was swinging from the rope over the creek. I didn’t listen to my nerves then and ended up sorry. This time I’d heed the warning.

  “Darby?” I hollered out to her. “Come back!”

  In the distance, a cow chewing its cud looked up at us. It looked annoyed — and kind of menacing. I could just see it losing its temper, breathing steam out of its big nostrils, and charging toward us, breaking through the fence and maybe stomping on Darby. I wasn’t sure if cows were strong or ornery enough, but it seemed like a dangerous possibility.

  “Hey, Darby,” I called out. “I really think you should get down.”

  “Why? This is fun.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  This time I saw Delaney and Darby exchange glances — which made me extra irritable because I’d been trying to exchange one of those glances with Delaney.

  “You’re going to get hurt,” I explained. “I’ve got an ominous feeling about that cow.”

  Darby looked down and gave me a comforting smile. “It’s fine. You should come up here.”

  I glanced at the cow. I really didn’t like the look in its eyes. It seemed to hate me. “No,” I said. “I’m not falling for that line again.”

  “I’ll try it!” Delaney shouted. And here I’d thought she was on my side. I figured after our emergency meeting she would be ready to help me stop Darby from putting us in danger.

  Like a short, pigtailed Benedict Arnold, Delaney scrambled on top of the fence and started walking along it behind Darby. The cow watched the whole time, its nostrils twitching.

  “Aunt Jane,” I said, pulling on the sleeve of her T-shirt. It went against our code of ethics — which was signed in ink and in a special file at home — for us to try to get another sister in trouble, but I couldn’t help it. I was anxious and worn-out and frustrated that no one was listening to me. “Make them get down. They’re going to get hurt.”

  “You’re sweet to worry, but you know better than I do that they are smart and steady and capable. And I’m right here if anything goes wrong.”

  “But … But …” It was betrayal all around. Something terrible was about to happen and no one was listening to me!

  “Fine!” I marched toward the fence where my sisters stood. “Fall and break your tails! Get run over by a cow! See if I care!” I hollered, stamping my foot. “It’s fine with me! Fine! Fine! Fine!”

  Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up my leg. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a thousand needles. Like raindrops of hot lava. Or an explosion of evil.

  Looking down, I saw something brown moving across my left sneaker. I shook my foot and the thing moved faster. It even seemed to spread out and get bigger. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just one thing — it was dozens.

  My lower leg was covered in fire ants.

  Delaney and I felt bad about laughing at Dawn. In our defense, we couldn’t see the ants. All we knew was that she suddenly started hopping around and stamping and shaking her left leg. How were we to know she was being eaten alive? We thought she was dancing the Cotton-Eyed Joe.

  Unfortunately, Delaney has a hard time stopping laughing once she gets going, so even after we discovered the ants and helped Dawn yank off her shoe and slap away the bugs that were still crawling on her, Delaney kept giggling.

  “I’m sorry,” she’d say, and then crack up all over again.

  Dawn sure was mad. She hollered at us, the ants, and even the flowers. “What are you staring at?” she yelled at a cow.

  I felt really bad for her, though. Fire ants hurt a lot. I’ve only had one or two stings at a time, but she had lots. Some people are allergic and have to go to the hospital if they get stung. Luckily we aren’t, but it’s still mighty painful.

  Aunt Jane said we should take Dawn to Camp HQ — a combination office and general store that had a first aid station. The walk from the pasture to HQ wasn’t as long as the walk back to our campground, but Dawn had to go super slow.

  Camp HQ was a wide wooden building near the lake. Part of it was a store that, according to the signs on the windows, sold things like bait and kerosene, and the other part was like a huge covered porch. The first thing I noticed when we came inside was how good it smelled. That’s because it also had a lunch counter. There was a lady in the back slicing potatoes, and
there were a couple of campers sitting in the big patio area, eating and looking out over the water.

  Delaney held open the door, and Aunt Jane and I shuffled inside with Dawn between us.

  “Well, hey there, Tammy!” Aunt Jane called out to the lady.

  “Jane! You’re back!” The lady ran over and hugged the side of Aunt Jane that wasn’t holding Dawn. “It’s been years!”

  Aunt Jane shook her head. “Too long. Girls, this is Mrs. Kimbro. Her family owns this campground.”

  “Hi,” Delaney and I said together. Poor Dawn could only whimper.

  “You got any first aid for fire ant stings?” Aunt Jane asked.

  “Oh, you poor thing.” Mrs. Kimbro went behind the counter again and ducked down. “I have some cortisone cream and antihistamine. Set the patient down and elevate that foot.”

  Aunt Jane and I helped Dawn stretch out on a wooden bench, and Delaney, who had been carrying Dawn’s still-squishy shoe, placed it under her ankle in order to lift up the foot. Mrs. Kimbro came back with her hands full of supplies. She gave Aunt Jane a tube of cream and told her to rub it on all the bites. Then she set down a bottle of Benadryl, a bottle of water, and a cold pack.

  Aunt Jane got right to work applying the cream. Dawn kept shaking her leg and sucking in her breath.

  “Sure hope that stuff works,” Dawn said. “It feels like my skin is giving off sparks.” There was a quiver in her voice and the dust on her face had stripes on it from where the tears ran down her cheeks. I went over and grabbed her hand. Dawn tries to pretend she never cries, so I knew she was embarrassed as well as hurt and angry.

  “So where’d you run into these rascals?” Mrs. Kimbro asked Aunt Jane.

  “We came with her,” Delaney said. “We’re her nieces.”

  Mrs. Kimbro laughed a husky laugh. “I meant the fire ants.”

  “Over by the barn,” Aunt Jane said, motioning her thumb in the direction we came. “The girls and I were hoping to go for a ride.”

  “But there were just cows,” Delaney said.

  “And ants,” Dawn added.

  “I’m afraid we don’t offer horse rides anymore. The liability insurance got too expensive.” Mrs. Kimbro shook her head and her smile turned sad. “People just don’t seem to do outdoorsy things as much these days. And when they do come, plenty of them bring their TVs and gaming devices. I don’t stop them, but I wonder — why even bother coming out here?”

  “Darby and I love outdoorsy things,” Delaney said to Mrs. Kimbro. “Don’t we, Darby?”

  I just nodded, feeling shy. Since this was my first time meeting Mrs. Kimbro, I avoided her eyes and looked past her at a metal sign on the wall that read UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN COFFEE AND A FREE BANJO.

  “Darby here is like Tarzan,” Delaney went on. “She can climb trees and jump high and isn’t scared of anything.”

  I ducked my head. My cheeks felt like they’d been stung by something, too, even though it was a compliment.

  “And I can run really fast, which is easier to do when you’re outside,” Delaney went on. “Plus, I love all animals. Even the poisonous ones and the ones who try to eat you. I just love them from far away.”

  “That’s exactly why I brought you out here,” Aunt Jane said. “People your age should spend lots of time outside. It’s good for you. Fresh air. Exercise.”

  “Allergies. Mass insect attacks,” Dawn muttered.

  Aunt Jane finished putting the cream on Dawn’s stings and patted her leg. “Aw, come on, Dawnie. What doesn’t kill you makes you tougher.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better,” Dawn snipped, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Mrs. Kimbro really did have a wonderful laugh — scratchy but tuneful, like a mockingbird with a sore throat. “I see a real resemblance, Jane. These girls are definitely related to you and Annie.”

  I decided that I liked Mrs. Kimbro. She had golden hair that reminded me of hay in the sunshine, and she grinned all the time. But it wasn’t always the same smile. It would be a small smile or a surprised smile or a gigantic happy one.

  “Thanks for your help, Tammy,” Aunt Jane said. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch prep.”

  “Nonsense. Anything for an old pal.”

  “That’s a shame about the horse rides. Annie and I spent many happy hours out there.” Aunt Jane stared out the window in the direction of the pasture.

  Mrs. Kimbro let out a heavy sigh. “Times are tough. If it isn’t finances and upkeep, it’s this dang weather. We only have the old causeway for fishing now. The drought we had these past few years dried up most of the south end of the lake where the dock was.”

  “Still got the swimming beach with the canoes?”

  “Sure do.” Mrs. Kimbro nodded. “They aren’t in the best of shape, but they’re there. Though it’s swim at your own risk.”

  “Not to worry,” Aunt Jane said. “I’ll keep an eye on the girls.”

  “Well, I better finish those wedge fries.”

  “Let me help. It’s the least I can do.”

  Aunt Jane followed Mrs. Kimbro over to the grill and started washing her hands in the nearby sink. Soon I could hear them chuckling and talking about old times. I wonder if Mrs. Kimbro ever saw Aunt Jane chase Mom with daddy longlegs, or if she’d heard about the bean incident. It was funny to think that people knew things about my family that I didn’t. I decided that I’d ask Mrs. Kimbro to tell me stories of Mom and Aunt Jane when they were younger, once the lunch rush was over.

  “I want to go home,” Dawn said as soon as Aunt Jane walked away. “This place hates me.”

  “No!” I exclaimed. “Not yet. We only just got here yesterday.”

  “Will you look at me?” Dawn gestured to her left leg, which was glossy from the cream. I could see the swelling and all the raised red dots from the ant stings. “If I stay here any longer, I’ll end up struck by lightning.”

  “But we still haven’t fished or boated or seen any wild animals or even explored all that much. And you’re the only one who’s gone swimming!” Delaney said.

  “I did not go swimming. I fell into creek water that was full of slime!” Dawn’s voice was becoming higher and squeakier. “I’m not like the two of you. You guys don’t mind risking your life, but I do. I’m telling you, this place has it in for me.”

  “But fire ants are all over the place. What happened to you could have happened to any of us,” I said.

  “Not me. I always keep a look out for …” Delaney finally noticed my big warning eyes. “I mean … yeah. It was random.”

  I felt awful for Dawn. She’d already suffered two debacles — even though we’d only been there a day.

  We always stick together. If one of us feels powerfully about something, the other two will usually back them up — after meetings where we debate, come to a decision, and hold a vote to make it legitimate. Only Dawn’s reasons for leaving the campground weren’t logical. She wasn’t up to deliberating, though; she was downright woeful. If she needed to leave, we would leave. I knew she’d do the same for us.

  “Okay,” I said. “We’ll talk to Aunt Jane.”

  Delaney gave me a pleading look. I raised my eyebrows and stared right back at her, silently reminding her of our one-for-all-and-all-for-one philosophy. After a couple of seconds, her shoulders sagged. “Fine. We’ll ask Aunt Jane if we can go home.”

  “Thanks,” Dawn said. She reached out and grabbed our hands. “You’re probably saving my life.”

  Right at that moment, the screen door creaked open and in walked Jay, Robbie, and Nelson. They were wearing long shorts and wide-brimmed hats and hiking boots. Jay also had on a big backpack.

  As soon as she saw them, Dawn turned away and her cheeks darkened to the color of a Coke can. She grabbed a napkin out of a nearby dispenser and began dabbing at her face, real slowly, so that from behind it wouldn’t be too obvious what she was doing.

  “Hi there!” Delaney called out. She didn’t seem to notice that
Dawn was all hunkered over in shame.

  “Hi,” Robbie called back.

  Nelson leaned toward Jay and whispered, “It’s those girls who were spying on us.” Jay nodded.

  “What’s up?” Jay asked us.

  “Dawn got attacked by a million fire ants,” Delaney said, gesturing toward Dawn’s outstretched leg. “Now she wants us to quit camping and go home.”

  Poor Dawn looked like she wanted a lightning bolt to hit her right then. “No, I don’t!” she said. “I was just kidding when I said that.”

  Delaney looked baffled. She knew Dawn was lying. I knew it, too, but it didn’t matter. I turned around so that Delaney could see me but the boys couldn’t and made my eyes extra wide as a signal. “Yeah, Delaney,” I said. “Even I knew Dawn was joking. Don’t tell me you believed her.”

  When you’re a triplet, sometimes you let yourself look foolish so that one of your sisters can preserve her dignity. And sometimes, if one sister is feeling particularly miserable, you make the other sister look like a fool. It may not seem fair, but it kind of is. Because one day you’ll be the miserable one.

  Again, it took Delaney a while to notice my big buggy eyes.

  “Oh. Right. Ha-ha-ha. I should have known it was a joke. You … joker.” Delaney gave Dawn’s shoulder a soft bump with her fist.

  I didn’t like contradicting Delaney like that in front of those guys, and I knew she was embarrassed. That’s called “losing face.” But I figured she could take it. Dawn had already lost a lot of face. Any more and she’d be just a head of hair.

  “So what are you guys up to?” I asked Jay, Robbie, and Nelson. Normally I’m not this chatty with strangers, but I felt a big urge to change the subject.

  “We’re going on an expedition and need supplies,” Nelson said.

  “An expedition? That sounds like fun!” Delaney started bouncing on her toes. “Can we come?”

  I had the very same words in my head, only I didn’t say them aloud.

  The boys looked at one another. “Um … Sorry, but I don’t think so. It’s already planned out,” Jay said. “You see, we have ways of doing things. It’s sort of like … a mini government. You wouldn’t understand.”