Now, slapping Maya five, I couldn’t agree more. But as I settled onto my bunk, though I tried every position to get comfortable, I couldn’t quite relax.
One mystery solved, a little voice in the back of my head said. But the bigger culprit is still out there. . . .
After our meeting, I reported the incident with Harper to Deborah. Deborah gave Harper a stern lecture before dinner, but she was going to let her stay.
“So I guess . . . that mystery is solved?” I told Deborah at dinner. “We know she was behind the flooding.”
Deborah nodded slowly, looking around the mess hall. I’d cornered her by the doorway while the runners from each table went to get trays of food for their bunkmates. “And she does seem sorry,” she said.
“Yes,” I said. She seemed a lot happier after she read to the bunk. And I noticed she was chatting a lot with Cece and Katie on the way over here. Maybe she’s finally made the friends her parents wanted her to make.”
Deborah glanced over at my table. “Okay. I would like to meet with her privately tomorrow as well to just make sure this doesn’t happen again. But it sounds like you’re right, Nancy. . . . Small mystery solved, larger mystery still . . . lingering.” She frowned.
“At least you don’t have to call off the campout,” I said.
Deborah nodded again. “That’s good,” she said, but she sounded a little uncertain.
I felt a little uneasy too, as I settled down to eat dinner. But over pizza and lively conversation with my campers, my worries dissipated. Everyone was in such a good mood! And talk soon turned to the campout itself, which everyone was super excited about.
“Will we all be in a tent together?” Nina asked, looking around the table. “It won’t be as much fun if we have to split up!”
“I think everyone’s together,” Maya said.
“Yup,” I confirmed. “Each tent sleeps eight—so it’ll be just like our cabin, but smaller and outside.”
The girls chuckled.
“Can we go swimming after everyone goes to sleep?” Kiki asked eagerly. “One of my friends said she swam at night at her camp. It sounds so fun!”
As several girls chimed in with enthusiasm, I shook my head. “It’s really dangerous and against the rules to go swimming without a lifeguard present,” I said seriously. “So unless you guys can work on Sandy . . .” I glanced across the mess hall to where Sandy was eating with Sam and Taylor. She sensed us staring at her, and when she shot me a questioning look, I just smiled and waved. All my campers started cracking up.
“We’ll start working on her tonight,” Winnie announced. “During Night Frisbee.”
Night Frisbee was one of the more popular nighttime sports at Camp Cedarbark, and the camp-wide play-offs were tonight. It was basically just Frisbee golf with glow-in-the-dark Frisbees, but somehow the darkness made it a million times more fun.
We finished up our pizza and topped it off with lime Jell-O for dessert. As Cece went up to get our desserts, I noticed Bella slipping out the front door of the mess hall. Where’s she going? I wondered. I figured she must have left something in her bunk. Harper, Kiki, and Nina got into a debate about which was the best Jell-O flavor, and while it got a little heated, I was just thrilled to see Harper getting so engaged in a conversation with her bunkmates. I found myself wondering whether she would come back to camp next year. And will I be here? Well. That was something I hadn’t considered up until that point . . . but I was really enjoying my week as counselor.
When dinner wrapped up and the campers began slowly making their way out the front door, my campers were laying out a plan for convincing Sandy to take them night swimming during the campout. Part of me was wondering whether I’d created monsters by giving them the idea . . . but the other part was really enjoying their ridiculous plans and hoping that Sandy would say yes! Swimming under a starry sky sounded like the ultimate camp experience. And didn’t I deserve to get to try it too—especially if this would be my only camp experience?
Well. It will be fun . . . if no one gets pulled under.
The thought sent a shiver down my spine. With the cheerful conversation, it was easy to pretend like all the scary things that had happened this week were over. But were they over?
Just then a scream came from just outside the mess hall. “Oh my gosh! FIRE!”
My bunk and I were waiting for the crowd to make its way outside, so we couldn’t see what was going on. But looking toward the front door, I could see the campers reacting with horror to something they were seeing on the lawn, and I could see the reflection of something bright and orange in the mess hall windows.
I ran to the doors, pushing my way through campers and counselors to make my way outside. “Excuse me. I’m sorry. Excuse me!”