Chapter 18
The Disagreement
“Shut up, Eugene,” yelled Cody. “You always think you know everything and that you are always the hero. Yes, it’s true Sarah Beth is still badly injured. It was my idea for Eugene to go looking for herbs,” Cody lied with his voice crackling as he ran his fingers over his fragile skin.
“That’s not true. I was already on my way, before you even got out of the tent,” said Eugene.
Determined to be heard, Cody continued, “Maria went looking for food and water. Charlie was walking around crying. Maria found this man, but then she just deserted us and went back to the main camp.”
“What? Maria is gone?” asked Cindi startled.
Jack told her the story and tried to assure her that Maria would be alright.
“I hope and pray she makes it back safely. It is totally against camp policy to leave a camper alone. Oh dear, I hope she is alright. Is there a way we can find out if she made it back?” asked Cindi frantically.
“She wasn’t that far away. I drew her map and gave her a compass. She will be alright. I think she should have gotten back to the main entrance of the camp before dark,” assured Jack. “She called her mother, but her mother didn’t answer, so she left a message asking her to pick her up at the camp.”
“How did she get through? There isn’t any phone service out here,” said Cindi.
“I’ve rigged some lines, and occasionally I can get through,” said Jack.
“Can you call for help? Can I borrow your phone? I need to call the camp headquarters and ask for backup,” pleaded Cindi urgently.
“You won’t get any service here,” said Jack.
“Can I at least try?”
He handed Cindi his phone, and she begin trying to call, but she couldn’t get a signal. Looking around at everyone, Cindi asked, “Is everyone else alright?” She was distraught with worry.
“Yes, I took care of everyone,” said Cody.
“Whatever,” said Charlie. “I took care of Sarah Beth.”
Cody continued, “I crawled over to Jorgina, and I said, ‘hi’ and she mumbled that her feet were bleeding. Then she asked me how I was doing. Her eyes were gleaming with tears. I said, ‘Don’t cry’ and grabbed her hand. Then I said, ‘We will do this together.”
Eugene shook his head. “Cody, you weren’t helping anyone. You were in the tent just moaning and complaining but not wanting to take any of my help. I am the one who helped. I got all the herbs, and realized that her feet were swelling and bleeding. And I am the one who brought her some medicine and helped doctor her.”
“Yeah his hair was wild, and he ran over to us. He popped out an herb from his pocket, and told he told me to crush it and then apply it to her feet,” argued Cody pretending to be the hero.
“You are such a liar,” said Eugene. “I did all the doctoring. You didn’t do anything.”
“Eugene is right,” said Jorgina. “He went into the wilderness and found all sorts of herbs and then went to Sarah Beth and started putting something on her leg. She started crying, but Charlie kept on rubbing the stuff on her feet and legs and it made her feel better.”
Cody boasted, “I also helped her. I gave her a big hug and she stopped crying.”
“What planet are you from, Cody? You didn’t help anyone,” denied Charlie. “Sarah Beth, tell Cindi what really happened.”
Sarah Beth said, “I’m sorry Charlie, I was so out of it, I’m not sure myself. I do remember you and Cody though both being there.”
“See I told you,” said Cody.
“You might have been there for a few seconds, but not long,” said Charlie.
“See, you just admitted I was there and helped her,” grinned Cody.
Eugene said, ‘”I went looking for different types of herbal medicines, and then I went over to Sarah Beth, and Charlie was right there by her. They were hugging.”
“Really?” said Cindi startled by the turn in events.
“Yes,” said Eugene as everyone nodded in agreement. He continued, “So I went over to Sarah Beth and asked her how she was doing, and she looked at me and smiled and gave me a big hug.”
Cody said, “She gave me a bigger hug, and I looked at Charlie and said, ‘I’ve got to talk to you’ and we went away, and then I asked Charlie what happened to Sarah Beth.” Cody continued his banter about all the things he had done in Cindi’s absence while Jack looked at the dysfunctional group of kids.
Charlie interrupted Cody and told Cindi and Luna about Sarah Beth losing consciousness and then waking up.
Cody said, “Yeah, yeah, everyone here was a big hero while you were gone.” Cindi listened encouraged by everything that had happened while she was away but then she thought back to Jacob, C.J., and Maria.
Everyone hugged Luna and it was like a family reunion after the arguing stopped. Jack and Cindi stepped away from the group and began talking privately while the others exchanged stories with Luna. She told them everything that had happened to C.J., Jacob, Cindi, and her.
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