Chapter Seven: Overnight Camping Trip
The next morning, as soon as the campers had finished their breakfasts, Kacey’s and Ava’s team reported to the campfire circle for the overnight camping trip.
“I wonder if Emma will be coming with her kids,” Kacey said to Ava.
“I don’t know. I don’t see her. Her campers are here, but she isn’t. Let’s ask Sandy.”
The girls approached Sandy and asked her if Emma would be joining them.
“No, she’s not coming with us. We got Deena to switch jobs with Emma. Emma will help out with the horseback riding today and tomorrow,” Sandy explained.
Kacey and Ava thanked her and walked away.
“That’s too bad. We might have been able to talk to her,” Ava said.
“Yeah. Look, let’s just forget about her for the next 24 hours and try to have fun,” Kacey suggested.
Ava nodded in agreement.
They helped the kids pack their back packs with the camping gear. The heaviest gear went to the counselors to carry. Matt, Andre, and Tasha were coming on the trip with them.
“We’ve done this trip a lot,” Andre assured the girls, “We’ll show you what to do.”
The campers lined up for the hike into the woods. The kids in wheelchairs and walkers would go as far as the paved path ended, and stay overnight at the amphitheater. The others would go a little farther into the woods and camp near the lake.
As they were walking along, Matt came next to Kacey and Ava.
Tasha and Andre were farther up in the line, leading the campers.
The girls walked along silently for a while, and then Ava cried, “Ow!”
“What’s wrong?” Matt asked.
“Something just bit me, I think,” she said, stopping to look at the back of her leg. Matt and Kacey stopped, too.
“Yeah, you’ve got a red spot on your leg,” Kacey said, sliding off her backpack, “I’ve got some ointment for bug bites that will help it feel better.”
She applied the cream on Kacey’s leg, and then they headed out again.
“Ouch!” Kacey cried, grabbing the back of her shorts, “That stings!”
“Maybe there are bees around here,” Ava said, looking in the air above their heads.
They inspected Kacey but could find no bees or stingers.
The group continued on walking, trying not to get too far behind Tasha’s group ahead of them.
“Yow!” Ava cried, jumping. “Man! That hurts!” she exclaimed, grabbing her other leg.
They stopped and Kacey looked behind at the campers.
“Are you kids okay?” she asked.
“Uh-huh,” they replied, looking puzzled.
“What is this?” Ava demanded, “How come you and I are the only ones getting bitten?”
Matt interjected, “Yeah, how come I haven’t been bitten?”
Kacey became suspicious, and looked at the campers.
“Did anyone see anything?” she asked.
They all shook their heads. She looked suspiciously at Bartley, who was staring at his sneakers.
“Can we go now?” asked Pedro, “I want to get to the campsite and set up our tents!”
Kacey agreed, and they continued.
Five minutes later, Matt sprang up and yelled, “Ow! What the-- Who did that?” he yelled, spinning on his heels. He stared angrily at the kids, and caught Bartley hiding a smile. Matt went to him and said,
“It’s you, isn’t it, you little weasel! What’re you doing?”
“I didn’t do nothin’!” Bartley cried.
“Yes, he did!” Pedro exclaimed, “I just saw him shoot at something with a rubber band!”
Matt took Bartley by the arm and looked him over.
“Give it to me!” Matt demanded.
“I don’t have anything!” Bartley cried.
Kacey intervened, “Matt, calm down. It might have been some deer flies. They have a nasty bite.”
“It wasn’t deer flies!” Matt declared, and dug his hand into Bartley’s pockets. He pulled out several large rubber bands from one pocket and a handful of pebbles from the other.
“It was you, you little creep!” Matt exclaimed, “You walk up front where I can see you, and don’t pull any more of this stuff or you’ll be going back to camp with me!”
He pushed Bartley up in front of him. A few kids were snickering as the campers continued their hike into the woods.
“Do you believe that?” Ava asked incredulously, “That little kid is a real pain!”
“Shh!” Kacey said, “Don’t say anything. I’ll talk to him when we get to the campsite.”
Back at the horseback riding corral, Emma was helping campers get onto the horses and leading them around the pasture in a large circle. She was hot and didn’t like the smell of the horses, but anything was better than camping overnight in the woods, she thought.
At lunch time, she went to the main lodge, stopping at the bathroom to wash her hands. There she met Wendi, another counselor.
“Hey, Emma! Did you hear the bear last night?”
Emma stopped soaping her hands. “No. When?”
“It was pretty late...sometime after midnight. We were all sleeping and then we heard this screaming from Hawk’s Nest. I woke up and I heard growling coming from outside our tent. It sounded like a bear! It kept whacking against the side of our tent, and we were really scared. Then I heard Kacey and Ava yelling and screaming. I looked out and saw them chasing a bear! Your friends are really brave. I mean, chasing a huge bear? He could have turned and attacked them.”
Emma was alarmed. She was shocked to hear about the bear attack, but more surprised that neither Ava nor Kacey had bothered to tell her about it before they left.
Wendi left and Emma dried her hands. As she walked on to the lodge, she felt oddly sad. She realized that she and her two best friends were no longer speaking.
She felt left out, even though she knew that it was her own fault. She had been angry at them for dragging her along on this camping trip. Learning about the bears had frightened her, and she had reacted by lashing out at her two best friends. She wanted them to feel guilty for pushing her into doing something against her wishes. Now that they were leaving her out of their lives, she felt lonely.
Tasha was away on the camping trip and wouldn’t be there to keep her company tonight at the lodge. She had tried to talk Tasha into staying behind to keep her company, but Tasha insisted that she needed to help out and do her duty at camp. Then Emma found out that Andre was going on the trip and she understood why Tasha wanted to go. Tasha would rather be with him than her.
Emma went into the lodge and looked around for a friendly, familiar face among the crowd, but saw none. She got a tray and something to eat, but she really wasn’t hungry. She just felt sad and lonely. Maybe she should have gone with the others on the camping trip, she thought. Facing bugs and bears with her friends would have been better than staying in the lodge alone.
She realized that Tasha wasn’t a real friend like Kacey and Ava had been. Neither of them would have left her alone to go with a boyfriend. Best friends didn’t do that. She recalled how Kacey had apologized, and she wished she hadn’t treated her so coldly.
Emma threw out her lunch and headed back to the stable with a heavy heart.
Once the kids reached the campsite along the lake shore, Matt and Andre took the lead in helping them set up camp. With the counselors’ help, the kids set up their tents and prepared a large area for the evening’s campfire. Next, they went out looking for firewood in the immediate area. Matt supervised them as they cut up large branches into logs. Andre showed them how to make benches for seating out of long, thick branches and rocks. When they were done setting up camp, everyone enjoyed eating sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks, and fruit. When they were done eating, they placed their trash in the center of the campfire circle to be burned later.
“We’re going on a hike next, and when we come back, we’ll go swimming!
” Kacey announced, and the kids all cheered.
“Hey, Matt,” Andre called, “Let’s show them the bear caves.”
Ava stepped in, “Ah, that doesn’t seem very safe. What if the bears come out?”
Andre laughed, “Oh, there are no bears in them now, just during the winter.”
Ava looked at Kacey and Tasha skeptically.
“Well, we saw a bear last night, right?” Ava continued, “What if it came from one of those caves?”
Andre shook his head, “We’ve been bringing campers up here for years now and we’ve never seen a bear in one of those caves. It’s completely safe!”
“Maybe we could just see them from a distance...just in case,” Kacey suggested.
Matt nodded, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Andre, you take the lead. Kacey and I will be at the end of the line to make sure we don’t lose anybody. Let’s go!”
They gathered the kids into a line and reminded them of the rules. Andre and Tasha started up the trail into the woods and everyone followed. Matt made sure that Bartley was right in front of him, behind Kacey, so he could keep an eye on the boy.
The trail wound through the tall trees, through the evergreens and up through giant boulders protruding from the side of the hill. The forest was dark and cool. Occasionally, they entered a clearing filled with warm sunshine where butterflies flitted among the wild berry bushes.
Matt and Andre stopped the group from time to time to point out things such as the hole in the tree where raccoons lived, raccoons’ tracks, deer tracks, and the names of plants and insects. They showed the campers tree trunks that had been scored by bears’ claws and teeth to mark their territory. They soon reached a steep section of the forest where large boulders erupted from the hillside, covered in thick, green moss. The guys stopped the group to point out two bear caves that were used by bears during the winter to hibernate.
“This is where the bears spend their winters hibernating,” Matt explained, “During the summer months, they feed on nuts, berries, fish, plants, and sometimes small animals. Then in the fall, they find a nice cave like one of these to sleep in. They sleep for about four or five months, and all during that time, they never need to wake up to eat or even urinate. Sometimes when the snow melts, a few bears might leave their caves, but mostly they sleep from fall until early spring.”
Thomas raised his hand, and asked, “When are baby bears born?”
“They’re born in late January or February, and a mother bear can have up to six cubs, but they usually have only two or three.”
“I bet they’re cute!” Maria remarked.
“Yeah, they are,” Matt agreed, “But don’t ever go near a cub, because cubs are never far from Mama Bear, and she can get very aggressive when it comes to her cubs. Mother bears will attack anyone that they think might be a threat to her cubs.”
“But I wouldn’t hurt them!” Maria insisted.
Matt shook his head, “But mother bears don’t know that, and they will attack you if you even go near their cubs.”
Kacey asked, “How long do the cubs stay with their mothers?”
Andre replied, “Until they’re about a year-and-a-half old.”
“Will we see any cubs here?” Pedro asked excitedly.
“No. There haven’t been many bears in these woods since Camp Wildwood was built. It’s rare that they will even come as close as we are now.”
“Except for last night,” Ava remarked.
Kacey whispered, “Shhh...We don’t want to scare the kids.”
The group turned and headed back to camp. After they arrived, Andre told them to get into their bathing suits. Andre took them to a small waterfall in a creek that fed into the lake. The kids enjoyed slashing in the waterfall and sliding down a big, mossy boulder into the lake. They spent the entire afternoon playing in the water.
After swimming, the counselors helped the kids to get the fire going. This time, Maria lit the match and set it to the paper and kindling.
Bartley was upset, “Hey! It’s my turn to light the fire! I know how to do it!”
“You’ll get your turn some other time,” said Kacey.
“No, I won’t! You won’t let me!” he yelled, and ran off to be alone in his tent.
The other campers helped put logs on the fire and find sticks for roasting their hot dogs. Kacey tried to talk Bartley into coming out of the tent to cook a hot dog, but he refused.
“I’m a bear and this is my cave, so you’d better get out!” he yelled, “Grrrrr!” he roared, and clawed the air.
Kacey sighed, “Okay, Mr. Bear. When you get hungry, come out and I’ll give you a hot dog... if there are any left.”
She left Bartley to think that over, and it wasn’t long before he emerged and said he was hungry.
Once the campers were fed, Matt brought out lists and bags for a scavenger hunt. He and Andre put the kids into groups and gave each of them a list of items to find and place into the bag. The first team to find all of the items and return to the camp circle would win a prize.
Barely able to contain their excitement, the kids began exploring the area for items on their lists. One counselor went with each group, and Kacey volunteered to go with Bartley’s group to keep an eye on him.
The kids soon found items on their lists such as acorns, pine cones, and wild berries.
When Ava’s team returned, they waved their bag in the air, yelling, “We won!”
Other teams came running in, and the counselors checked the items in each bag to make sure that everything was included from the list. When Ava’s team was declared the official winner, they cheered and jumped up and down.
Although some of the other campers were disappointed, Bartley was angry.
“That’s not fair!” he cried, “If we didn’t have Thomas on our team, we would have won!”
Kacey told him to stop saying that and to apologize to Thomas. She admitted to herself that because Thomas was blind, he hadn’t been able to run back to camp as fast as the others. The rule was that every team member and their counselor had to return before they were counted as finished. When she and Thomas finally made it into camp, their team came in third. Tasha’s team had been in third place, but they had lost one of the items on their list, and they were moved to last place.
The counselors brought out snacks for the kids and Matt gave the members of the winning team their prizes, which were small compasses, and the kids thought they were very cool.
Bartley saw the compasses and began to sulk with his arms folded across his chest. He had refused to apologize to Thomas. He found a stick and used it like a whip to hit the trunk of a tree. Kacey asked him to stop, but he ignored her, so she took the stick away from him.
“Get away from me!” Bartley yelled, “I hate you!”
He ran off to be alone.
Ava came to Kacey and asked, “Are you sure we shouldn’t send him back to the camp? He’s a handful of trouble.”
Kacey shrugged, “It’s only one night. In a couple of hours, they’ll be going to bed, and then we’ll be hiking back before lunch. Let him stay.”
She watched as Bartley sulked alone away from the group, and wondered if she should try to talk to him or let him cool off first.
After ten minutes, she went to Bartley and asked if he’s like to play a game, Duck Duck Goose. Reluctantly, he agreed.
Andre led the kids in the game of Duck Duck Goose, and they all enjoyed running around the circle. Unfortunately, no one picked Bartley as a goose, so he never got to run around the circle. Kacey was glad when Thomas said “Goose!” to her. She ran around the circle after him while Ava held his hand. Kacey made sure she didn’t catch him in time to put him out of the game. When she circled the group, she touched Bartley, yelling, “Goose!” and he chased her. Bartley seemed to enjoy the game that he was good at playing.
The kids got to cook their own dinners over the fire. Everyone had a chore to do for cleaning up.
When it got dark, they s
toked the fire to make it bigger and sat around it, telling funny and scary stories. Then they sang some silly songs and told corny jokes. For their bedtime snack, the kids made S’mores with melted marshmallows and chocolate on graham crackers.
Kacey made sure that Bartley was safely tucked in for the night. She headed back to the campfire where the other counselors gathered, and sat down, thankful that the day was done.
But it was only a few minutes later when she heard a scream from Bartley’s tent. She dashed back to it and tore open the flap.
“A snake!” Pedro cried, pointing to a long black snake next to his sleeping bag.