Authors: Annie Bryant
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 smiled 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?”
Y
ou’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.
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 her. “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.”