Camp Spider

by Opal Jones

  Big mistake.

  Dirt, rock, and who knows what else flew into my eyes. I grimaced in shock. My eyes adjusted to whatever muck was in the water. I saw a figure. Was it Teri? Nope. Just a Coke can.Fish,Tree branch, Teri,Sprite can,

  Wait a minute! Go back one.

  I got closer to what looked like Teri's form. Sure enough, there she was. She looked lifeless in the whipping water, but that horrid thought wouldn't enter my mind. I grabbed her wrist and heaved her up to the surface. I gasped for air. It was incredibly hard going against the current. I ripped against the powerful tide and I dragged her on the other side of the large river and put her on her back.

  I was sitting there. Staring, thinking. I wondered how she could have possibly made it. I knew that cold water and a minute under could definitely knock you out. I wondered how she could've lived.

  I shivered as I put on my jacket; my skin was pale, and hers was even worse. I prayed. Please let her be okay. Please.

  Chapter 9

  We go spelunking.

  Thankfully, she started to come through after about two to three minutes. I helped her up, and this time, I remembered to untie her.

  We turned around and started laughing. Over at the water, Trent had climbed into Simon's arms and they had wadded maybe two feet in the water, in about eight minutes. I reminded of our current predicament, and we went off.

  About forty-five minutes later, I assumed that they were only now reaching the end of the icy river rapids. Teri drew my attention to an entrance to a shabby mine.

  “Look,” she said. “This must be what those two bandits were after. It's an entrance to a really old mine.” She looked at me smiling, “Since this is on the camp grounds, this could be worth a huge fortune, depending on what’s inside. That's why they took me to their camp! That's why they asked me, 'where is it, what do you know 'bout the history?' This old shaft will solve everything!”

  I went along with it. And we walked into the lifeless mine, not knowing what was going to happen to us.

  Kinda stupid, huh?

  Chapter 10

  I just about die twice in less than five minutes.

  I doubt any of you have ever been in a dark place without light and didn't freak out. We were no different. Teri grabbed my hand, and I'm pretty sure that it was my blushing that lit the way.

  I remembered I had brought my lighter, and there was an old, mossy torch in the distance. I could just make it out. It took a little while for the damp torch to light, but it finally lit. Teri and I almost passed out. If we had taken one more step, we would've plummeted about 50 feet or so, and landed on several sharp rock spires. Or we would have hit a small wall.

  “Look,” I said pointing. “A ladder. Over in the corner. It's a bit rusty, but, it'll maybe hold if we go one at a time.” She nodded in agreement.

  I went first. If you're thinking, 'Wow, he's so selfish! What happened to ladies first?' Well, unless you want a certain someone shish kabob-ed, I think it'd be better if I went first.

  It went smoothly for the first 25 feet or so. I looked down for a fraction of a second, and I just about plummeted another twenty-five feet. I barely held on. I took a DEEP breath, and continued on.

  After what seemed like years, I felt the chalky ground. I signaled Teri down, and struggled to see her. She came down in about half the time that it took me. I guess that she figured it'd be best if she'd get it over with.

  I reached for my lighter, only to find that I'd left it above where I'd lit the torch. Did I mention I left the torch up there to? I grimaced. The only way we'd find our way out would to be some sort of light source.

  “What's wrong?” she asked. I responded, “I left the lighter up, wait. How- how did you see me?” I got alarmed. Slowly, I turned around in fear. That's all I remember, because I blacked out right then and there.

  Chapter 11

  We become rich for 3 minutes.

  When I came to minutes later, I just about passed out all over again. Standing in front of me, like a giant statue, was a wall. But not just any everyday ordinary wall: this wall was filled with gems. Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, quartz, you name it! It was probably, no, defiantly on that wall.

  We were both staring in awe, (mouth agate) at it all. This would make us rich beyond our craziest dreams! We scrambled to the wall at the same time, each hoping to get a few gems. I grabbed several rubies, and she grabbed a few emeralds and a quartz. I smiled to myself. With this much money in gems, we'd never have to do anything again! We were millionaires! Billionaires! A-lot-of-money-airs!

  I hesitated. Why was this too easy? Wouldn't they have found us by now? I assume Teri was thinking the same.

  “Do you think we lost them? she asked. I didn't think so, but I didn't have to say a word. Why? The ignited stick of dynamite said it all for me.

  Chapter 12

  I learn to do track.

  I don't think that I have ever ran faster than I did that day. The fear of hearing that dynamite tick-tick-tick down was really just too much to bear. I'm sure you've watched at least one cartoon with the fizz of TNT. Well, that is nothing compared to the real thing.

  We sprinted faster and faster until we reached break-neck speed. Fifty feet back, I felt the warmth and power of the explosion. I certainly didn't want to feel that thing at full force.

  Chunks of rocks as big as flat screen TV’s fell from the ceiling. I realized that if we had any chance of escaping, we would have to be close to the exit.

  We stopped short, because a giant avalanche of rocks and debris caved in before the entrance. Then we ran back to only be stopped by another rock wall. Looking around, I realized there was no way out. We pounded on the walls, screaming for help. I'd rather die where someone might actually find us. We couldn't guess how much air we had left, but I knew it wasn't much. We were sealed in like a plastic bag.

  Teri sat down, visibly distressed. I followed the suit. Her head in her heads, she started to weep.

  I said to her, “Maybe we can try pulling some rocks out.” So we started pulling out rocks.

  After maybe a half an hour, we had gained little progress. My chest had gotten tighter and I began to take larger breaths. On the sort-of bright side, we had made a hole large enough to bring in air for a few minutes.

  My face was caked in sweat and mud. Teri wasn't much better, except for the fact she was also covered in tears. Our clothes were ton and Teri was still pretty wet. I peeked through the hole. We had been so close to the end: I could smell the dew of the fresh grass and, if I stuck my hand out, feel the inviting morning sun.

  I sat next to Teri, both of us extremely depressed. We were silent for several minutes. It wasn't that hard to realize that we were probably done for. Our eyes met, and we came to an unspoken agreement: we were in this together.

  As Teri got up to work on the hole, a heart-shredding BBLLAAMM knocked Teri off her feet and rendered her unconscious against the wall. Yup, you DO NOT want to feel an explosion full force.

  The blast was about to render me helpless, too. I felt my own consciousness slipping away. The last thing I remember seeing was a tall, hazy figure approaching me.

  Chapter 13

  I'm impressed we're still alive.

  My vision slowly returned as blurry as ever. Either I had grown four feet shorter, or something bad had happened. I went to lift my hand, but it wouldn't move, neither did my other one.

  Great, just great. I don't think we had gone more than an hour without being in some sort of trouble with these idiots. My feet were bound too, and I noticed Teri was bound in a similar fashion. From what I could make out, we had been dragged all the way back to their little camp.

  Once we were there, they hung us on two separate branches so we couldn't slide off with the others help. Teri, who was still unconscious, was hung opposite of me. Then my vision was completely cleared. I strained against my ropes, but those guys were pretty good at knots. I felt blood on my lip; the blast must have done it, I just hope it didn't d
o any more damage.

  Trent and Simon were oblivious to me being awake, so I could observe them closely. They were sitting on a fallen tree trunk.

  “Here's to us!” gloated a smirking Trent. “Now no one's talkin' 'bout anything.”

  He poured what I assumed to be wine or liquor. They toasted, and drank to their hearts content. Well, now we all knew what was in the small case.

  “Probably gonna get rid of 'em later, *burp*, right bud?” rambled Simon, who was most definitely full of himself, and alcohol.

  “Maybe, all depends on how they act.” said Trent.

  I was tempted to spit at them direction, but I bit my lip. They'd pay later.

  Teri started to stir. She opened her eyes, and opened her mouth to scream.“Shhhhh!” I whispered loudly, “Just keep quiet.”

  She swallowed and nodded. I strained hard against the ropes, but they were as tight as your own skin. I froze when I saw Trent and Simon move into the tents. I had no doubt they were now thoroughly drunk.

  As soon as I was sure they were out cold, I jumped up and down. I guess I assumed the rope would give in to the pressure. It didn't: the branch did.

  I hit the ground with a loud CRACK and a felt my left arm crunch in harmony with the branch. I stifled a scream and sat up. I didn't realize how high up I was. I moved my fingers to the front, and carefully undid my feet restraints.

  My left arm burned with pain, but I refused to succumb. I walked quietly over to Teri. Before I got there, I grabbed a pocket knife and cut my bonds.

  I took the knife and cut of my jacket sleeve and made a make-shift sling. Carefully, I cut Teri loose and she landed perfectly. She noticed my arm, and her eyes widened.

  “Your arm!” she whispered.

  “It's nothing, just a sprain.” I assured her. She looked at me still with concern, and finally agreed to get going. We ran as quietly as possible to the camp. It was around eight 'o clock in the morning, and immediately we went into the main office. Or building, whatever you wanted to call it.

  “Ms. Clare!” cried Teri.

  Ms. Clare turned around. Her hand went to her mouth.

  “My Lord, what on Earth happened to you two?” she whimpered vacantly.

  I looked at us. Between my sling, her torn pants, and both of our dirt covered features, she had all the more reason to be concerned.

  I improvised, “Um, we were just, um-”

  “Here to tell you they're being picked up.”

  We turned in horror. Trent was standing behind us. He put a filthy hand on Teri. She closed her eyes in horror and disgust.

  “I'm here to take these two home for the remainder of the summer. I'm their uncle.” Trent lied slyly. He motioned outside.

  “My friend will be driving us to our summer home.”

  I glanced over; Simon was sitting in a black, tinted-window Toyota. I gave a nervous 'gulp'. Ms. Clare hopefully noticed our uneasiness.

  “Sorry sir, but you have to show me some I.D. proving to me that you have the right to take these children. Camp policy.” she answered calmly.

  Simon came in. “Hi kids. Trent,” he said, sounding slightly agitated, “I thought we'd be on our way by now. Is something wrong?”

  Trent walked over and whispered something in his ear. Simon nodded. He slipped something into Trent's hand. He walked outside the door and popped open another bottle of liquor. Trent smiled and handed her an I.D.

  “This ought to do it.” he said quietly. Ms. Clare pushed back her silky black hair, took the I.D, and examined it. Then she pressed a small red button attached to the keyboard.

  “I just want to clarify something with these two real quick. Then you can take them away.” I was horrified. How could she fall for their trick? She took us around the corner and whispered to us,

  “These men are fakes, aren't they?” I smiled in relief. We were safe. Teri and I nodded.

  Ms. Clare returned the smile, “I notified the police with that red button. They should be here at any moment. Don't worry, I'll buy you some time.”

  We walked back to the desk.

  “These children have confirmed you're both their guardians. Lastly I need you to sign these papers.” she lied, handing them a decent size stack of papers.

  Trent cursed under his breath and walked over to the table. We sat opposite of him. In between us was a huge glass window. In the light, it looked so very fragile.

  Around 15 minutes later, Simon started the engine. I hadn't noticed that Trent had finished the papers. This was a lost cause, as far as I was concerned.

  As if on cue, I heard police sirens in the distance. I smiled.

  “Feeling lucky, Trent?” I asked mockingly. He looked out the window: three police cruisers.

  This time he swore out loud.

  Without warning, he grabbed Teri’s wrist and hissed at me,

  “I will kill both of you.”

  “Tell them that,” I replied, “If you have the guts.”

  The policemen broke down the door. Trent turned and smiled kindly.

  “Gentlemen.”

  Without warning, the socked my left arm, the broken one, and crashed out the window. I cringed in agony.

  “Freeze!” cried one of the policemen, “Or I’ll shoot!”

  I don't know what came over me that day, but something snapped inside. This guy had tried to kidnap us, shoot us, blow us up, blow us up again, kidnap us again, and now he was kidnapping us again. So yea, I definitely snapped.

  I whirled around, grabbed the officer's gun. I didn't give him any time to react.

  POW, POW, POW, POW, POW. The trigger bounced between me and the gun. But I was so stupid. Granted, Trent fell, but so did Teri. I dropped the gun, and ran. I sprinted. I didn't care really about what happened to Simon or if he got arrested, all I wanted was to know that Teri was safe and alive.

  I rolled Trent's lifeless body to the side. Teri was breathing. Good sign. I turned over on her side. She glanced up at me.

  “What on Earth was THAT?” she cried.

  I cracked a smile. “Defense mostly, you okay?”

  “I'm fine besides this.”

  She held up a bloody hand. Sure enough, I saw a small hole near the pinky. All the other blood was from Trent's wounds. But she was okay, she was okay.

  Chapter 14

  It's over: for now.

  Everything after that was really fuzzy. All I can remember is bits and pieces. Here's what I do know:

  1.Trent was killed by yours truly. They told me he didn't suffer, which is too bad. Okay, okay! I'm joking!2. They caught Simon two miles north of the camp. I'm not surprised he was drunk. He got three extra months for D.U.I. Oh, yea. 3. The camp split up the gems found in the mine with us and the officers, so now we're just a little bit rich.4. Teri was just fine, even after that hand shot.

  Hmm, what was I forgetting? Oh yea; I'm now in a hospital for the “mentally unstable”. They were just worried I’d go and shoot someone else. Even though it was in self-defense. Or, in this case, Teri's defense. I'm here for a few years. Sometimes this “justice system” of ours is kinda stupid.

  I haven't heard from Teri a lot. From what I can gather with her sparse letters, she's now in a private school, has A's, and has a pretty decent life.

  It'd be nice to have a visit from her, but both of us want to forget that stupid summer. So she probably doesn't want to see me. It'd bring back the memories. Simon is in jail for three years, which I think is completely unfair. They said something about being a “victim of Trent's actions against children” blah blah. Typical adult behavior.

  I was in the courtroom that day. Boy, did it feel good to see him being led away from my life.

  But then the judge decided my actions were too “unpredictable” and that I was “unstable” after what had happened, even after Teri testified how they kidnapped us (and quote) “that I probably wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him.” Thanks, by the way. That really did mean something.

  Thinking back on
it, Camp Spider wasn't all that bad. It's a nice place that's definitely here to stay. As long as it fixes its security. Let me tell you, it’s better than this stupid place. As I said, I'll be out of here around the same time as Simon. And who knows? Maybe I'll find Teri sometime later. I won't know until then.

  I guess this is it. Big “The End” So until I get out of here, I won't be very public. You'll just have to wait until then. Oh what the heck, I'll be a little bit cliché.

  THE END???