Camped Out Read online

  “Um, I’m Max, and this is my brother, Duncan.”

  “I’m Spider-Man, not Duncan,” says my brother.

  “Good to know,” Cole replies. “We can always use a superhero at camp.”

  Duncan smiles.

  “You guys can have dibs on the bunks,” Ben says. “It doesn’t look like any of them are spoken for yet.”

  I glance around. The L-shaped cabin has white walls and green bunks with ratty-looking mattresses. On the ceiling, every spare inch within reach is covered with people’s names and different quotes. Duncan dumps his bag on the nearest bottom bunk. “I like this one,” he says.

  “Can I have that top bunk?” I point to one that has a window. It’s close enough to Duncan, but not right beside him.

  “Works for me,” Cole says. “Why don’t you guys start unpacking? I’ll crank us some tunes.”

  “Now might be a good time to let them get settled in,” Ben says to my mom. “I find it’s better if they do it on their own. If you’d like, I can show you around before you head out.”

  “Oh, okay.” Mom sounds like she doesn’t want to leave. “I guess if you think so.”

  Mom hugs me first, a little longer than usual. Then Duncan. Hugging him is like hugging a tree. He just stands there stiff as a board. Mom looks like she’s going to cry when Duncan says, “I love you, Mom. Take good care of the Batmobile.”

  “You’ll help him with his clothes and his sleeping bag, and at night you’ll remember to—”

  “We’ll be fine. Just go,” I say. I think she forgets that I looked after him twenty-four/seven after Dad died and she couldn’t get out of bed. Plus, I hate it when she cries.

  She reluctantly turns to leave, blows us a kiss at the door and steps out into the sunshine.

  “Hope you boys like Bob Marley!” Cole says, riffling through a CD collection.

  “I like Bob Marley,” Duncan says.

  “You be the man then,” Cole says, turning the music on.

  Bob Marley was Dad’s favorite musician. We used to listen to him all the time.

  I climb up the ladder and flop down on my bunk. Hearing the music caught me off guard. I roll onto my side and stare out the window, hoping to see Ian.

  By late afternoon our cabin is loud and crammed full of people. Bella’s friend Sam is in our cabin. He’s shorter than me, which is saying something because I’m already short enough. He’s wearing a polo shirt with the collar stuck up. He apparently loves to imitate Elvis Presley and does so at random times. Bella has been over to our cabin three times in the last hour. Who’s bugging whom?

  Then there’s Kenny, who constantly asks what you’ve just eaten and if you like Santa. After a gazillion questions he asks me if I want to hear a joke.

  “Sure,” I say.

  “How do you keep a turkey in suspense?”

  “I don’t know. How?”

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

  And then it hits me. I’m stuck with all the “special needs” campers. Great. This is going to be the longest three weeks ever.

  A few seconds later someone knocks on our cabin door. I turn around. There’s a girl my age with huge blue eyes and long brown braids.

  “Is Cole here?” she asks.

  For a split second I’m at a loss for words.

  “Um, yeah. He’s here. Come on in.” I step aside, practically falling backward into one of the bunks. I manage to catch myself by grabbing the ladder to the upper bunk, so I don’t look like a total loser.

  “Oh hey, Ainslie,” Cole says, turning down the music. “I was wondering when you guys were going to get here. So you’re still on for helping out?”

  “Yup. I just have to get unpacked.”

  “Sweet. Before you leave, this is Max.”

  “Oh hey,” I say, trying to sound like I wasn’t listening to their every word.

  “Hey,” she says.

  “I guess I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  I hear a clang, clang, clang in the distance.

  “Hurry up, Duncan. I think that’s the supper bell.”

  “It smells like poop in here. I don’t like it.”

  “Tell me about it!” I say, my shirt covering my nose. It had taken me fifteen minutes to persuade Duncan to go inside the outhouse. We both scramble out of there the second he’s finished.

  “That will make you into real men,” Cole says with a grin as he notices us gasping for air.

  “I’m not a real man,” Duncan says. “I’m Spider-Man.”

  “Right,” Cole says, snapping his fingers as if he really forgot. “You’re going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not on your toes,” Duncan says.

  I shake my head.

  “Come on, Spider-Man,” Cole says. “Let’s go join our cabin for supper.”

  The entire camp is lined up in front of the main pavilion according to their cabins.

  “Max!” shouts Ian. “Over here!”

  I’m relieved to finally run into him. I was starting to think a big joke had been played on me, and he wasn’t here at all. “Where have you been?” I ask.

  “Sorry. I tried to come find you but couldn’t get away.”

  “Where’s your cabin?” I ask.

  “I’m in Big Dipper.” Ian points to the far end of the field. Of course it would be really far from mine. Within a few minutes we’re filing into the dining hall. The noise level shoots up as everyone scrambles to find a seat with their cabinmates.

  “I’ll see you after,” Ian says. “I have to eat with my cabin.”

  I snag a spot at the end of the table. Duncan sits down right beside me. Across from him is Kenny, who is ready with another joke. “Hey, Max? What’s gold soup made out of?”

  “I don’t know. You got me.”

  “Fourteen carrots,” he says, beaming from ear to ear. “You get it, right?” He pretends to gnaw on an imaginary carrot.

  “Good one,” I say, then pass the macaroni and cheese. Great. I can see chopped onion and mushrooms in it. Two things Duncan hates. I search the table for ketchup, but there is none.

  “I don’t like this,” Duncan says, then pushes the food away. “I want to go home.”

  Ian is sitting at the next table. I turn around to get his attention. “Do they have ketchup here?” I ask him. “Duncan won’t eat anything unless I dump a big blob over everything.”

  “Yeah, you just have to ask for it.” He points toward the kitchen.

  Suddenly a chant breaks out. Dozens of voices are saying,

  “Max! Max! If you’re able

  get your elbows off the table.

  This is not a horse’s stable,

  but a first-class dining table.

  Stand up! Stand up!”

  “Oh man!” Ian points to my left elbow, which is resting on the table. “They got you.”

  “But I have to get some ketchup—”

  “You have to stand up,” he says, laughing.

  I feel my face turn a thousand shades of red as I glance around. It’s all a blur, but I know everyone’s staring at me.

  “Run around the pavilion three times!” they all shout.

  I look at Ian. “What about Duncan?”

  “I’ll watch him. You have to go.”

  “See you in a bit,” Cole says, laughing from the other end of the table.

  I dart out of the pavilion and zip down the stairs. I have to get back before Duncan totally loses it. My cabin has no sweet clue what Duncan’s capable of. I just hope he doesn’t throw himself down on the floor and pound his fists like he does at home. As I’m flying around the corner of the building, I practically run into Ben.

  “Where are you heading in such a hurry?”

  “Elbows. Table,” I manage to say, darting past him.

  “They’re starting early,” he says with a chuckle.

  By the time I make my second loop around the building I’m getting a stitch in my stomach, so I stop for a m
inute. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Ainslie on the verandah, talking to one of the campers. He’s pacing back and forth while shaking his hands vigorously. But she’s singing to him, and eventually his pacing slows to the point where he lets her hold his hands.

  Her back is turned, so she doesn’t notice me as I start running again. By the time I make my third trip around the building she’s gone.

  “He’s back!” Bella announces.

  The entire room breaks into applause. I slip back into my seat and stare at Duncan. He’s gobbling up his meal—onions and all.

  For the rest of the meal I keep my elbows glued to my sides.

  Chapter Four

  After supper Ian shows me the hasher schedule so we know who has to help set the table for each meal. I’m not on for a few days. The rest of the evening gets filled with a never-ending game of capture the flag. Bella keeps waving the flag when it’s supposed to be hidden. Duncan is on the verge of a stage-three meltdown in the middle of the field, because he doesn’t want to hide. When he throws himself on the ground, I sigh and come out of my hiding spot. I kneel down next to him.

  “I want to go home,” he whimpers.

  I help him stand up. “Come on. Let’s sit this game out.” I take him over to the pavilion, and we watch from the steps instead. He spends the whole time talking to himself. At the end of the game Ian notices me and comes over.

  “That was fun, eh?”

  “What part?” I say with a sarcastic tone.

  “Oh, did you sit out the whole game?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “OMG. Look! Look!” Ian says. “Over there by the arts-and-craft building. See? That’s the girl I was telling you about!” Ian jumps up. “Let’s go over. Her friend is there too.”

  I get up and am about to follow him when Duncan says, “I want to go home.” Sighing, I say to Ian, “You go. I’ll find you after.”

  Back at the cabin everyone is getting ready for the first campfire. I glance over at Duncan sitting on his bunk. I can tell he’s totally exhausted. He’s not used to the constant go-go-go activities. His head is buried in his hands. Kenny is asking him questions about stupid stuff. It’s all too much. I knew he wasn’t going to last a full day here.

  I tap Sam, who’s singing loudly, on the shoulder. “Can we turn the music down for a bit? My brother is getting upset.”

  Sam’s face falls. “You don’t like my singing?”

  “It’s not me. It’s Duncan. Look at him.”

  Snot hangs from the tip of Duncan’s nose as he cries quietly.

  “Oh no. That’s not good,” Sam says. He immediately turns the music off and hands Duncan a handkerchief from his shirt pocket. “It’s okay, Spider-Man. You’ll get your powers back.”

  Within seconds everyone is either kneeling by Duncan or standing around him, trying to cheer him up. I’m about to tell them to give him some space when Duncan starts talking into his hand about some rescue he’s about to go on. This causes everyone to clap.

  “Spider-Man’s back!” Kenny announces.

  “You guys ready for the campfire?” Cole shouts from the doorway.

  Everyone bustles out of the cabin, including Duncan. Thank god he stopped crying. Cole leads us down the path through the woods. Used coffee cans filled with candles light the path. Our flashlights flicker all around the woods.

  When we get to the bottom of the path, we can see a huge bonfire crackling and popping in the middle of the beach. The water is still as glass, and the sky is filled with a million stars. I spot Ian sitting on a log, sandwiched between two girls and grinning like a two-year-old.

  Sighing, I plunk down on a log next to Bella and Sam, who both start swaying to the music. Before long I notice they’re holding hands. Which makes me think of Mom and Derek.

  Then Bella startles the crap out of me when she leans over and grabs my chin. “You have to sing. We’re at a campfire, silly.”

  I pretend to sing for a bit, then zone out, staring at the fire and getting lost in my thoughts.

  “Look!” Bella squeals, pointing toward the water.

  Off in the distance the flame from a torch moves closer to shore. I can’t tell who’s holding it, but it looks to be the person in the middle of the canoe.

  “Shh,” the counselors say. “We have to be quiet so we can hear the message from the Spirit.”

  My cabinmates don’t say a word. The only sounds are the crackling from the fire and the paddles dipping in and out of the water.

  When the canoe reaches the shore, I can see that the person holding the torch is wearing a mask and a wool blanket around his shoulders. In a deep voice he says, “Welcome, fellow campers. I come to you in peace as the Spirit of Little Cove.” He raises his hands in the air and continues talking. I quickly clue in that it’s Ben, but the rest of my cabinmates act as if he’s really some sort of spirit. Sam’s mouth is hanging wide open. Even Duncan seems mesmerized.

  Ben walks around the fire pit, holding his torch. “While you are at camp I am asking all of you to dig deep within to find the parts of your soul that lead you to harmony, self-confidence and respect for yourself and those around you. Your time here will be filled with great joy and wonder. My hope is that your spirit will be filled with peace and a new sense of self by the time you leave.” Then, just as he arrived, he slips quietly into the dark and back into the canoe.

  One of the counselors stands up and says, “Let’s show the spirit our appreciation by singing the Little Cove song:

  Take off your shoes and stockings and let your feet go bare,

  because we’re the kids from Little Cove,

  catch us if you dare…”

  The singing continues. Before the last song of the night, a lantern gets passed around, and whoever’s holding it has to say what he or she thinks camp will be like. Everyone’s answers are different yet sort of the same, until Sam says, “It’s going to be epic!”

  Bella adds, “Yes. That’s because of me,” and kisses him on the cheek.

  “That’s gross,” Kenny mumbles.

  When it’s Duncan’s turn, he says, “My dad.”

  My eyes get blurry. I pretend smoke is in them and cough. Duncan never ceases to amaze me. One minute he seems clueless, and the next minute he says something really bang on. Dad did love to go camping, and we loved to camp with him.

  The lantern gets passed to me. I can’t think of anything to say that hasn’t already been said. I’m trying to come up with something good when Bella cuts in. “He’s going to learn how to sing!” Everyone laughs. My face turns red again, though maybe nobody can tell.

  We all stand up and hold hands in a circle around the campfire. One of the counselors starts singing, “Day is done, gone the sun…” I glance around. Duncan has a peaceful look on his face. Maybe he will be okay.

  Chapter Five

  When we get back from the campfire I’m surprised to find Ainslie in our cabin, helping some new guy get settled in—he looks like the guy she was singing to at the pavilion. I remember Cole saying something about her helping out.

  “Stop flicking the lights,” Sam says.

  “Just give him a second to settle in. You guys remember Philip, right? And how he likes to make sure the light switches are set properly?” Ainslie says.

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Sam says, putting the pillow over his head.

  “He’s funny,” Duncan says, pointing to Philip, who is now rocking back and forth and making loud grunt-like noises. Every once in a while he giggles.

  Could it get any worse? His bunk is right underneath mine.

  “Now you have to let Max get some sleep, Philip,” Ainslie says, unzipping his sleeping bag. “Come on.” She pats his bed, and Philip stops rocking and climbs straight into his sleeping bag. She zips him back up and says, “Are you going to be warm enough?”

  Philip makes a contented humming sound.

  “Okay,
good. I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiles at me before slipping out of the cabin.

  “Door’s knocking,” Duncan announces a few minutes after Ainslie leaves.

  I open the door. In the pitch dark stands a grinning Ian with the two girls from the campfire. “Hey,” he says.

  “Hey,” I say back, stepping outside. I’m a little miffed that he ditched me at the campfire, but I don’t let on. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Just walking these guys to their cabins.”

  “I’m Jen, by the way,” the blond girl says. “And this is my friend Heather.”

  Ian waggles his eyebrows.

  I know he’s trying to send me a message, but I play dumb. It’s fun to watch him act like a dork.

  “Are you going to do Rip ’n’ Dip tomorrow morning?” Jen asks.

  “I dunno. What is it?”

  “Ah, if you go swimming before breakfast,” Ian says, butting in like a know-it-all, “you get hot chocolate afterward.”

  “And if your counselor goes in as well, you get marshmallows in your hot chocolate,” Jen adds.

  I shrug. “Sure. Why not?”

  “K. See you then,” Jen says before turning away with Heather.

  “See?” Ian says, leaning in. “Easy as pie.”

  “You’re still a dork.”

  “Not for long,” he says, making a goofy face.

  The light from Ian’s flashlight bounces up and down as he darts off to join the girls. I glance up at the stars, take a deep breath and reluctantly go back inside the cabin. When I hear Sam say, “Why don’t you take your own socks off?” I know exactly who he’s talking to.

  At home Duncan has this weird habit of crawling into bed with his socks on. Then he pulls the blankets up so his feet stick out. He won’t go to sleep until either Mom or I pull his socks off and then cover his feet back up. I don’t know how it started or why—it’s just what he does. So the sleeping bag is causing a bit of a problem.

  “He’s complaining about his socks,” Bobby says, which only makes things worse.