Chapter Five: Wild in the Woods
From the shore, Bartley was watching the other kids paddle up and down the lake in the canoes.
“Bartley, don’t you want to just go on the canoe for a ride? It will be fun. You don’t have to paddle if you don’t want to.”
Bartley shook his head, “I don’t want to. I want to stay here and watch.”
“Are you feeling okay?” asked Kacey.
“Uh-huh. Can I go over there in the shade and watch?” he asked.
The group of oak trees shaded the beach where she could still keep an eye on him.
“Sure. Do you want company?”
“Nope. I can take care of myself,” he insisted.
“Okay,” she agreed.
Kacey watched him from the dock where she stood with Andrew and some others, who were waiting for a turn in the canoe. Bartley leaned against a tree and played with a rubber band that he had taken from his pocket. Kacey turned her attention back to the canoes and remarked to Andrew, “They’re really doing a good job out there in the canoe.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait to go.”
The canoes returned soon, and Andrew was lifted from his wheelchair into one of the canoes, and was handed a paddle. A few more campers climbed in, and Jack went with them.
After everyone finished pulling the canoes up on the beach, they took off their life vests and headed up to the lodge for dinner.
Bartley had found a lot of acorns and pebbles under the trees, and stuffed them into his pockets. When they were full, he headed to the lodge.
Tasha and Emma sat together at dinner, and Andre and Matt soon joined them. Kacey and Ava came along later and found two seats at another table.
As they ate, they talked about Emma.
“Should we talk to her after dinner?” asked Ava.
“I talked to her after lunch, but she wasn’t very interested in hearing my apology.”
“We should practice our song tonight for the talent show,” Ava reminded her, “Maybe Emma will thaw out if we ask her to rehearse.”
The girls finished their dinner and cleaned up their trash. They waited until Emma was walking out with Tasha and told her about their plans to rehearse.
Emma replied, “No, thanks. I’m doing something with Tasha and the guys. We’re acting out a scene from a movie for the talent show. It’s really cool and lots of fun. Besides, I can’t sing like you two can.”
“You sounded fine at our first practice,” Ava said.
“I’ve decided to do the movie scene instead,” she replied, “And we’re rehearsing tonight.”
Andre called to her, “Hey, Emma! Come on!”
Emma left the two girls and hurried over to where Tasha and Andre were waiting. The girls watched as they talked and then burst out laughing. Emma glanced back at the two girls, but turned to her new friends as they walked away.
Ava sighed heavily.
“This sucks.”
“I know,” Kacey agreed, “I guess we’ll just be a duet.”
The girls went back into the lodge and practiced their song a couple of times, but neither of them sang with much enthusiasm. They both had Emma on their minds. After being the closest of friends for years, it was heartbreaking to think that their friendship might never be the same again.
That evening, all the campers and counselors gathered for a campfire. Matt brought along a guitar and they sang camp songs and told funny stories. Soon, it was time for the kids to go to bed.
When Pedro stood up, Bartley cried, “Hey! You wet your pants!”
Pedro looked down and saw that his pants were all wet in front.
“No I didn’t!” he cried, “I didn’t do that! It must have come from the trees!”
Bartley laughed and pointed, “Look! Pedro peed his pants!”
Kacey quickly intervened.
“Stop saying that, Bartley! Go to your tent.”
“Hey! Look at Thomas! He’s wet, too!” Pedro cried.
Kacey looked and saw that the front of Thomas’ shorts were also wet. Immediately, she became suspicious when Bartley broke out in laughter.
“What is going on, Bartley? What did you do?” she demanded.
“Nothing!” he insisted and laughed loudly again, pointing at the other two boys, who were becoming angry.
Kacey saw something bulging in Bartley’s pocket.
“What’s in your pocket?”
“Nothing!” he protested.
Kacey reached in his pocket and pulled out a squirt gun filled with water.
“Bartley! Did you squirt Pedro and Thomas?”
Bartley fell down laughing uncontrollably. He laughed so hard that he began to cough and gasp for breath.
Kacey took him by the hand saying, “Come on, let’s get your inhaler. You’re getting asthma again.”
She half-dragged him to the infirmary where the night nurse was busy filling medication cups. She gave Bartley his inhaler and he inhaled two puffs.
“Let him sit here for a while until the asthma goes away,” suggested the nurse, “I’ll take him up to his tent when he’s better.”
“Okay,” Kacey agreed, but turned to Bartley and said, “Doing things like you did tonight is not helping you to make friends, Bartley. The other boys are angry with you, and for a good reason. They did nothing to hurt you, but you keep hurting them.”
“They wouldn’t let me have the glue! And Pedro called me Fartley!”
“You asked for that,” Kacey explained, “You weren’t nice to them and they got angry with you. You have to start by being nice to them first.”
“They’re not nice to me!” he whined, folding his arms across his chest and pushing out his lower lip.
“You never gave them a chance to be nice,” Kacey said, “You started bugging them on the first day and you haven’t stopped. Even if someone is not nice to you, you have to be kind to them.”
“But that’s not fair!” Bartley yelled, and then began coughing again.
“Calm down, Bartley. I don’t want you to get upset. But I want you to understand that to have a friend you first have to act like a friend to someone, even if you don’t like him. Eventually, he will start to think, ‘Hey, that Bartley kid is pretty cool’, and you’ll become friends.”
Bartley said, “I don’t want any friends!” and continued to sulk. It was clear that he was not interested in listening to Kacey.
Kacey thanked the nurse for taking care of Bartley and she left.
As she walked back to the Hawk’s Nest, she began to wish that she had never volunteered to come to Camp Wildwood. It seemed that everything here was going wrong.
Back in Hawk’s Nest, she talked with Ava about Bartley, and it felt good to release her fears and disappointment to a friend.
“Get a good night’s rest,” said Ava, “In the morning, things will be better.”
Kacey sighed. “Maybe,” but silently she worried that things wouldn’t change.
After the lights went out, Kacey lay in the darkness listening to the sounds of the crickets and an owl hooting in the distance. Despite the peacefulness of the night, she couldn’t sleep.
She got up and dug her Bible out of her backpack and her small flashlight. She flipped through the pages and found one of her most favorite stories in the book of Luke, chapter 10. It was a story that Jesus had told of a traveler who was attacked by some thieves. They beat the man and took his money, leaving him for dead. A holy man came along and saw the man lying on the road, but passed by without helping him. Another man passed by the traveler, but he too wouldn’t stop to help him. Finally, a Samaritan, a man whom the traveler would have thought to be his enemy, came riding by and saw the wounded traveler.
The Samaritan felt sorry for the traveler, and he got off his donkey and treated the traveler’s wounds. Then he put the traveler on his donkey and took him to an inn where he took care of him. In the morning, the Samaritan gave the innkeeper some money and asked him to take care of the traveler until he
returned.
At the end of the story, Jesus asked his disciples to tell them which man was the best neighbor to the traveler. They answered that it was the Samaritan who had showed mercy and kindness. Jesus replied, “Go, and do the same.”
Kacey closed her Bible and turned off the light. She closed her eyes and before dropping off to sleep, she mumbled, “Being a Good Samaritan is harder than it looks.”
In the main lodge, Tasha and Emma were in the kitchen, scooping ice cream into bowls. They added some fudge topping and whipped cream. Tasha found some marshmallows and melted them in the microwave to make another topping.
Someone knocked at the door.
“I wonder who that is,” Emma said.
“Oh, I’ll get it,” Tasha said quickly, and ran to the door.
Soon she returned with Andre.
“Hey, what’s shakin’?” he asked, smiling broadly.
“Andre! What are you doing here?” asked Emma.
“I came by to have me some of those chocolate chip cookies you made!”
“I saved some for you,” Tasha said, smiling. She gave him a plastic bag with a dozen cookies inside.
“Want some milk with those?” she asked.
“Yeah! Milk and cookies are my favorite!”
Tasha poured him a glass of milk and he sat down at the table with the girls while they ate their ice cream. Emma was thinking about her promise to Mr. Shillings that they wouldn’t allow anyone else in the lodge at night. But she was afraid that if she said something, Andre and Tasha might get annoyed with her. She wondered how she could bring the subject up, and then asked,
“Where’s Matt tonight?”
“Oh, he’s busy,” Andre said, “These cookies are the best!”
Tasha grinned, “Aren’t they? Maybe we could make you some more.”
“Some more? Hey, you got any graham crackers and chocolate? We can make some s’mores on the fire!” Andre said.
“Great idea! There’s marshmallows in the kitchen!” Tasha said jumping up from her seat.
While she went to get the food, Emma asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed by now?”
Andre shrugged, “Who cares? I never go to bed until I’m tired. I’ll get the sticks for the marshmallows.”
Soon all three of them were roasting marshmallows in the fireplace and making s’mores with the graham crackers and chocolate. Emma loved s’mores more than anything, and eating them took her mind off her concern about Andre.
When they had eaten enough, the girls took the supplies back into the kitchen while Andre went out to put another log on the fire.
“Tasha, remember that Mr. Shillings said we could stay here at night as long as we didn’t let anyone else in here.”
Tasha shrugged, “So? He won’t know about it.”
“But what if somebody comes in here and finds Andre?” Emma asked, looking worried.
“Relax! Nobody’s going to find out. Besides, what can they do about it? It’s no big deal.”
“Tasha!” Andre called from the main room. Tasha called back that she would be right there.
“Here’s the rest of the marshmallows,” she said handing Emma the bag, and then left the kitchen.
Emma put the rest of the food away. When she came into the main room, Tasha and Andre were standing in front of the fireplace, kissing.
Emma stopped in her tracks, both stunned and alarmed.
The couple parted and Tasha stared intently into Andre’s eyes. He whispered something in her ear and she took a moment before whispering, “Okay.”
The two counselors headed for the door.
“I’m just going out for a while,” Tasha explained awkwardly, “I won’t be long.”
Without waiting for a reply, the couple left and closed the door.
Emma felt let down. Tasha was supposed to be her friend. How could she just leave her and take off with Andre?
Emma looked around in the darkness and rubbed her arms. She didn’t like being left alone, with only the crackling fire to keep her company. An owl hooted from somewhere in the trees outside. She thought she heard another noise, but couldn’t tell where it came from.
Emma pulled her mattress next to the fire and climbed under the blankets. Despite the silence, she found herself listening for noises, and anxiously awaiting Tasha’s return.
Tasha and Andre walked up the path towards the woods. Glowing lanterns lit the pathway through the camp. When they reached the end of the path, Andre led Tasha by the hand into the woods, toward the amphitheater.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To meet somebody,” he replied.
They soon arrived at the amphitheater, and Andre stopped to kiss her again.
Suddenly, there was a noise and a grunting sound somewhere in the dark. Tasha gasped and pulled away.
“What’s that?” she cried.
“Relax. I’ll protect you,” he assured her, wrapping his arms around her.
She began to shiver. It was so dark, and she sensed that someone else was near.
“Who’s out there?” she called.
Something rustled in the bushes, cracking dry twigs.
“Something’s out there!” Tasha cried.
Andre wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”
Tasha wanted to run back to the lodge, to escape the darkness and whatever was lurking there.
“I think we should go back now,” she said nervously.
“No, not yet,” he said, stroking her head.
The rustling sounds came closer, and Tasha saw a large dark form creeping toward them.
“Look!” she cried.
Andre turned and peered into the darkness.
“It’s probably just a raccoon,” he chided.
But the animal came closer through the bushes. It stood up on its hind feet and waved its paws in the air.
“A bear!” Tasha screamed. She tore away from Andre and began to run.
“Wait!” he cried, running after her.
The bear growled and chased after them, tearing through the bushes and dry brush.
Andre caught up with Tasha and grabbed her arm.
“Wait! Stop!” he shouted. Tasha turned and saw him grinning. She was confused and frightened when she saw the bear getting closer. She tried pulling away, but Andre held on to her, laughing.
The bear growled again and came straight for her. He stood up and waved his paws menacingly.
“Hey! That’s pretty good!” Andre exclaimed to the bear.
Suddenly the bear put his paws on the sides of his head and lifted it off his shoulders, revealing Matt’s head.
Tasha was amazed. The bear was Matt in a costume!
“What! It’s you?” she cried, “You scared me to death!”
Matt laughed, “Yeah, this costume looks real, doesn’t it?”
Andre said, “You got the moves down, but your growl isn’t too convincing.”
Matt reached down into his costume and pulled out a portable speaker on a strap around his neck.
“That’s why I brought this. I hooked it up to my phone and I’ve got real bear growling sounds on it. Listen to this!”
Matt pushed the play button and played the growling sounds.
“Hey, those are real all right!”
“And it’s time for the show. Come on!” Matt said.