Chapter Four: Trouble with Emma
The rest of Kacey’s day was just as busy as the morning. Finally, the campers were tucked in for the night, and the counselors headed to the main lodge to hang out together. Kacey, Ava, Emma and Tasha sat together at a table next to the crackling fire, sharing their day’s adventures. When Kacey told the others about Bartley’s pranks, they laughed.
“Fartley!” Ava exclaimed, “That’s hysterical!”
“Don’t you start,” Kacey said, “It’s hard enough to get the kids not to say it.”
“Well, he did kind’a ask for it,” Emma pointed out.
“But two wrongs don’t make a right, do they?” Kacey countered.
Tasha said, “I say that Bartley deserves what he gets. Kids like that need to be put in their place sometimes.”
Kacey shook her head, “But it only makes the problem worse. It has to be stopped before it can escalate into something really bad. Besides, we’re supposed to teach the kids to get along.”
At that moment, Andre arrived carrying a soda and munching on a bag of chips. His bright smile against his dark skin made a startling contrast.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked.
The girls invited him to sit down, and he sat next to Tasha. Soon they were all talking, but Kacey noticed that Andre spoke to Tasha more than the others.
“Oh, by the way,” he said to Tasha, “Did you hear the bears last night?”
“Bears!” Emma cried, “You mean there’s more than one?”
“Oh, yeah,” Andre assured her, “We have a lot of bears around here...in the woods. They don’t go out much during the day, but when it’s quiet, they come snooping around here looking for something, or someone, to eat.”
“Oh, please!” Ava moaned at his attempt to fool her. “Bears don’t eat people.”
Andre crunched on some chips and then sipped his drink.
“They don’t call it Big Bear Lake for nothin’. I would be lying if I told you there haven’t been any bear attacks at this camp.”
“What?” the others cried, “When?”
Andre said, “A couple of years ago a bear got into one of the tents and mauled two of the campers. That bear had huge, long, sharp claws, and weighed about five hundred pounds. He must’ve gotten frustrated because he couldn’t find any food, but he could smell it because one of the kids had candy in his suitcase. That bear tore the place apart and grabbed the kids, dragging one of them around with his teeth. The poor kid didn’t have a chance!”
The girls were stunned. Emma looked as white as a ghost.
Andre spotted Matt and waved him over to their table.
“Hey, Matt! Come here!”
Matt came over and said hello to the girls. Andre asked him,
“Remember the kids who got mauled by the bear a couple of years ago?”
Matt looked confused at first, but then he said, “Yeah! Oh, yeah, I remember now. Wasn’t it that counselor? Penny somebody...”
“No, that was another time. The two kids who were in their tent, remember? The bear came in looking for food during the night, and when he couldn’t find any, he went nuts and attacked the kids.”
“Yeah,” Matt agreed, “Yeah, I remember now. Man, there was blood all over the place. It was awful!”
Emma asked, “What happened to Penny, the counselor?”
Matt and Andre looked at each other, and Matt replied,
“Oh, she had left her tent to go to the bathroom during the night, and when she got there, a huge bear was in the bathroom. He got scared and attacked her in self-defense. Man, she got all mangled. She had to have about one hundred stitches on her face. Didn’t they tell you about the bear attacks when you signed up?”
“No!” Emma cried, “Now I’m really scared!”
Andre smiled, “Well, I’m not surprised that they didn’t tell you. But you girls don’t need to be scared. We’re here to make sure those bears don’t do anyone harm.”
Matt added, “Yeah, we’ll protect you. But you shouldn’t go walking around at night by yourself. If there are bears around, there’s no telling what might happen.”
Kacey asked, “But didn’t I read somewhere that if you make noise, the bears will run away?”
Matt shrugged, “Yeah, some do. But some don’t and they might attack you.”
“I can’t believe that they never told us about this!” Tasha exclaimed.
Matt took a seat and lowered his voice. The others leaned closer to hear.
“Well, there’s a reason for that. After those people got attacked, they were offered money to keep quiet about it. They didn’t even file a lawsuit; it was all settled out of court to keep everything quiet. If it ever got out, parents would never allow their kids to come here, so they keep it covered up. I bet if you asked Mr. Shillings or Sandy about it, they wouldn’t even talk about it. If they did, they’d probably lose their jobs.”
Tasha and Emma stared open-mouthed in disbelief.
Kacey was skeptical.
“Were both of you here two years ago when this happened?”
Matt and Andre looked at each other and nodded.
“Yeah, of course we were here. How else would we know about it? Only we don’t talk about it because we might get in trouble. I like coming here in the summer and don’t want to get sent home, so we don’t discuss it much. You probably shouldn’t mention it to anybody, either, because you know, it might cause a panic among the campers. But yeah, the bears to attack people here, so you’d better be really careful!”
Emma stood up angrily and declared, “That does it! I’m going home!”
“What?” Kacey cried, “You can’t! We signed an agreement to stay the whole week!”
“But don’t forget, we are volunteers, not paid staff,” Emma reminded her, “And I didn’t expect to come here and get mauled by bears. They should have told us about the attacks!”
She picked up her trash and began to leave.
“You can’t go now,” Ava said, “How will you get home? You can’t ask Kacey to drive you home tonight. She has to work all day tomorrow and needs her sleep.”
“Then I’ll find someone who will drive me home!” Emma insisted angrily.
Andre stood up and took her arm, saying, “Look, Emma, you don’t have to leave. We’ll protect you, right Matt?”
“Yeah, sure!” Matt agreed.
“Oh? Like you protected those two campers who got mauled and Penny, too?”
Matt and Andre looked at each other in alarm.
Matt said, “Yeah, but that was a long time ago. We were younger then. We’re bigger now, and stronger. And we know how to scare off bears now, right Andre?”
“Yeah. We got special training for it. You don’t need to leave, Emma. We haven’t had a bear attack in a long time. Chances are they won’t bother anybody.”
Kacey said, “Ava’s right. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to drive you home tonight. If you still want to go in the morning, I’ll see if I can get the afternoon off and I’ll drive you back at lunch time. That’s the soonest I might be able to leave.”
Emma looked desperate.
“Oh, I wish I’d never come here!” she exclaimed.
Tasha stood up and said to her, “Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you and I sleep here tonight in the lodge? No bears can get in here. We’ll lock the doors. We can bring our mattresses down here and sleep on the floor next to the fire. It will be safe and cozy. What do you say?”
Emma looked at her, thinking it over. Tasha continued.
“We can even whip up one of those midnight snacks you planned to make. All the stuff is right here in the kitchen!”
Emma’s final barrier of resistance was breached at last.
“All right,” she agreed, “But somebody has to bring us back here. I don’t want to be mauled on the way back to the lodge.”
“We’ll escort you,” Matt offered, “Come on, let’s go get your stuff.”
The group went
up to the Hawk’s Nest together and the two girls gathered their things. The boys carried their cot mattresses and blankets. Kacey and Ava carried their pillows, and Tasha and Emma brought their pajamas and toiletries.
At the lodge, Kacey and Ava approached Emma, saying, “Maybe we should stay here with you, too.”
Emma shook her head, “No, that won’t be necessary. Tasha will be here.”
Kacey and Ava felt awkward. Ava asked, “Are you sure?”
Emma began rolling out her bedding and shaking out the sheets, avoiding eye contact with the girls.
“I’ll be fine,” she snapped, and went on making her bed.
Her cold, distant manner surprised Kacey and Ava. They exchanged looks and said then goodnight to Emma and Tasha.
On their way back to the Hawk’s Nest, Ava said, “I got the feeling she didn’t want us there.”
“Yeah, me too. I think she’s angry with me because I won’t drive her home, or because I talked her into coming to camp with us. She really didn’t want to come, remember? She’s not really the outdoors type.”
“But we didn’t want her to miss out on the fun and make her feel like we left her out of it. I guess we shouldn’t have talked her into it, and maybe that’s why she’s mad at us.”
“Maybe,” Kacey agreed. Both girls were sadly silent as they turned in for the night.
In her prayers, Kacey asked God to help Emma and to restore their relationship as best friends. She tried to get to sleep, but couldn’t relax. She and Emma had been best friends for years. She felt guilty that she had talked Emma into doing something that she didn’t enjoy. And now their friendship was in jeopardy. What could she do?
The next morning, Ava and Kacey went to the main lodge for breakfast. It was already crowded with kids and counselors. As they helped themselves to the food, Kacey yawned.
“How did you sleep?” asked Ava.
“Not very well. I kept thinking about Emma.”
“Me, too,” Ava admitted.
After getting their breakfasts, they looked for Emma. She was seated next to Tasha and Andre.
“Hey,” Ava greeted them. They said hello, but the trio was quiet. Finally, Tasha told them about what she and Emma had done the night before.
“After you guys left, we started making chocolate chip cookies. We baked a whole batch and ate half of them with nice, cold milk. They were delicious! We’re saving the rest for tonight.”
“Are you sleeping here again tonight?” asked Andre.
“Maybe. It depends on Emma.”
Emma said, “Well, if we can sleep here in the lodge, for the rest of the week, I’ll stay. But if we can’t, I’m asking my boyfriend Dave to come and pick me up. I’m going over to use Mr. Shillings’ phone right after breakfast.”
The girls finished eating breakfast and Emma left them to go use the phone.
Tasha told them, “Emma and I had a great time last night. We didn’t get to sleep until really late.”
“If you stay here tonight, maybe I’ll stop by and get me some of them cookies!” Andre teased, grinning.
Tasha smiled back, “I’ll save some for you!”
“Okay!” Andre smiled at her and then stood up, taking her hand, “Come on. Walk with me down to the lake. I have to get the canoes into the water.”
Tasha took his hand and they waved goodbye to Ava and Kacey.
After they left, Ava asked, “What’s with that? It looks like those two have something going on.”
Kacey shrugged, “Maybe.”
They finished their breakfasts, and then left the lodge as Emma was coming back inside.
“I called Dave,” she announced, “He says he’ll drive up here this afternoon and pick me up if I want him to. But I’ll ask Mr. Shillings about staying in the lodge first.”
“I hope you can stay the rest of the week, Emma,” Kacey said sincerely.
Emma sighed, saying, “Coming here was a big mistake. I should have stayed home like I wanted to.”
“But we wanted you to be in on the fun,” Ava explained.
“Fun? You call bugs, snakes and bears fun? I don’t,” she said, “I have to get going or I’ll be late for my cooking class.”
She turned and left without a smile.
“Whoa,” Ava said, “I’ve never seen her like this. She really seems mad at us.”
Kacey nodded, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach.
“Yeah. I hope she gets over it before she leaves. Maybe if we apologize she might.”
“I don’t know. She’s acting so weird,” Ava said, shaking her head.
“Well, we’d better go,” Kacey said, noticing the time.
Kacey’s group of kids was waiting for her under the pines at the camping cookout area. They had completed their first three days of canoeing and now had to learn camping skills. Their leader, Jack, had the kids sit down on the circle of rocks surrounding the campfire in the center. He demonstrated how to use kindling to build the base of the fire, and then stack some dry logs on top.
“Dried pine needles and leaves make good fire starting material, so be sure to mix that in with the twigs. Let’s have Pedro and Thomas come up to the campfire circle and start laying down some of the kindling for the fire.”
Kacey led Thomas by the hand and placed his hand on the pile of kindling. She told him where to place it. Pedro helped by scooping up handfuls of dried pine needles and twigs and placing in the center of the campfire circle.
“Great job, guys! Now let’s have Keisha and Maria put on some logs from this pile.”
The girls selected a few small logs and placed them on top of the kindling at angles to allow air to circulate between them.
“And now, who can light a match?” asked Jack. Several hands went up, including Bartley’s and Andrew’s. Jack said,
“You’ll all get a chance to light one of the campfires before you go home. But I think this time we’ll have Andrew light the match today.”
“Oh, darn!” Bartley whined, “I want to do it!”
Kacey said, “Don’t worry, Jack said that everyone will get a chance to light a campfire. Maybe next time.”
Andrew wheeled his chair over the hard dirt and Jack handed him the matches.
“Remember to strike the match away from your body. That’s right,” Jack smiled as Andrew lit the match. Jack told him to hold it against one of the dry leaves. Soon, it caught fire and the flames spread through the kindling. The kids watched the wide-eyed as twigs begin to burn and smoke snaked its way skyward.
“There it is!” Jack announced, “Your first campfire! Everyone did a really good job making it. Now let’s talk about cooking on the fire. I’ve brought along some pots and a portable grill. It folds out just like this.”
Jack opened the grill and placed it over the fire.
“That’s why we keep the fire small, so we can put the grill over it and cook. If we made it too big, this grill wouldn’t fit over the top. Who likes scrambled eggs and toast?”
Several hands went up as the kids shouted, “I do! I do!”
“Can I make the eggs?”
“Can I?” they all asked.
Jack showed them how to push a stick through some slices of bread and hold them near the fire to toast. Next, they melted some butter in the bottom of a pan, and cracked eggs into a metal bowl. Kacey helped one of the kids to whip the eggs and another kid poured them into the pan. When the toast was brown, they buttered it. The eggs cooked quickly and each camper got a small helping of eggs and a slice of buttered toast.
After eating, Jack instructed the campers how to clean the pots and pans. Then he talked about how important it was to put the fire out completely. He showed them how to rake it out to make sure there was no smoldering material left on the bottom.
“All it takes is one glowing spark to start a forest fire,” Jack explained, “Which is why you should never play with matches, and only use them when an adult is there with you.”
The kids thanked
Jack and he told them that tomorrow they would be going on an overnight camping trip, and would be cooking all their meals on a campfire. They were all excited about camping out in the woods in real tents and cooking on a campfire.
At lunch, Kacey searched for Emma and Ava. She finally spotted Ava coming into the main lodge, and went to speak with her.
“Have you seen Emma?”
“No, I haven’t. But I saw Tasha and Andre outside. Maybe they know where she is.”
When Tasha and Andre came in, the girls asked them about Emma.
“I think she went to talk to Mr. Shillings to ask about staying in the lodge at night. She’ll probably be late to lunch.”
“Well, I’m starving!” Andre announced, “Let’s go eat!”
They all got in line and got their food and drinks, and then sat at one table together. Kacey kept her eye on the door, hoping Emma would soon come. After they finished eating, she got up to throw away her trash, and spotted Emma.
“Emma!” Kacey called. Emma looked at her but didn’t smile. She scanned the room, and when she saw Tasha, she went straight to her.
“Guess what, Tasha! Mr. Shillings said that you and I can stay in the lodge at night. But we can’t allow anyone else to come in here.”
“Fine!” Tasha agreed, “I’ll move the rest of my stuff down here after dinner.”
“Me too,” Emma said. “I’d better go get something to eat or I’ll be hungry this afternoon.”
Kacey was stunned that Emma was totally ignoring her. When Emma went to the food table, Kacey followed her and said,
“Emma, we need talk.”
“You don’t have to drive me home if that’s what you’re going to ask. I’m staying here in the lodge with my new best friend, Tasha.”
“But I’m still your friend, too,” Kacey said, “And so is Ava. Best friends forever, remember?”
Emma said nothing in reply.
“Emma, I want to tell you how sorry I am about bringing you here. I shouldn’t have talked you into coming. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?”
Emma didn’t look at her, but replied, “I guess so.”
“I know Ava feels the same way. She wants to talk to you, too.”
Emma frowned, “Well, I forgive her, too. But the damage is done. The only reason I’m staying is because Mr. Shillings asked me to. He says he needs me. That’s why he agreed to let me stay in the lodge with Tasha. I need to eat fast because I’ll be late for swimming.”
She turned away and left Kacey standing alone. She watched as Emma sat down next to Tasha, smiling and talking to her.
Kacey felt her throat constrict and she fought back the tears that filled her eyes. Emma’s attitude hurt deeply. She didn’t want to lose Emma as a friend, but she feared that things would never be the same between them. Kacey brushed the tears from her cheek and headed outside.