Chapter Nine: Together Again
“Help!” Kacey shouted, “He’s unconscious!”
The group met the girls and Matt took Bartley from Kacey’s arms.
“What happened?” they cried. Kacey told them about the fire. Matt set the boy down and the nurse dug into her first aid kit that she had brought. She listened to Bartley’s chest with a stethoscope as everyone held their breath.
“He’s not breathing,” she said.
“Should we do CPR?” asked Mr. Shillings.
“It wouldn’t do any good because his airways are blocked. We need to get him stabilized and then get him some oxygen,” she said as she dug into her bag again and pulled out a vial and a syringe. She quickly swabbed the boy’s arm and gave him an injection.
“This should help open his airways,” she explained, “Now get him back to camp! And tell them to call an ambulance as soon as you get there!”
Matt nodded and lifted the boy easily. He took off running as quickly as he could.
Mr. Shillings and the nurse looked at Kacey.
“You need medical attention, too,” said the nurse, “Sit down here and let me see those cuts.”
She gave Kacey a quick inspection and announced, “Nothing serious. I can treat these as soon as we get back to camp. Can you make it that far, Kacey?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Go help Bartley,” she replied.
Mr. Shillings said he was going to put out the fire in the cave, and the nurse hurried down the trail back to camp.
Ava told Kacey, “Bartley’s in their hands now. You and I can go easy the rest of the way.”
Kacey nodded. She suddenly felt exhausted and extremely thirsty. She looked down at her legs. They were covered in dirt and streaks of blood trickled onto her socks.
“Too bad they didn’t give you back your T-shirt before they left,” Ava said, holding on to Kacey to support her, “You may cause a sensation when you turn up at camp wearing just a pink bra.”
Kacey tried to laugh at Ava’s attempt at humor, but she was too emotionally distraught to respond. She really didn’t care what people thought or how she looked. She only hoped and prayed that Bartley would be all right.
When they arrived at camp, they went straight to the infirmary. Campers and counselors crowded around Ava and Kacey. Shocked by Kacey’s condition and her appearance, people all asked, “What happened? Are you okay? Is Bartley going to be okay?”
Ava said that Kacey needed medical attention first, and that they could talk later. Wendi replied, “I’ll get a T-shirt for her!” and ran off towards her tent.
Inside the infirmary, the nurse was working on Bartley. The boy lay perfectly still on the doctor’s table. He had an oxygen mask over his face, and there was an IV in his arm.
“How is he?” Kacey asked anxiously.
“He’s breathing a little better. The medicine is working, but he still needs to get to the ER.”
Kacey heaved a sigh of relief.
In the distance, they heard a siren approaching the camp.
“Here comes the ambulance,” Ava announced, and went outside to meet it.
The nurse took Bartley’s blood pressure and then used a damp cloth to wipe the soot from his skin. Soon, the door burst open and Ava held it open while two EMT’s came in carrying a large duffle bag.
Kacey and Ava moved away to allow the medical team to work on Bartley. After a brief examination, they carried him out to the ambulance.
Kacey felt relieved that the boy was on his way to the hospital. But suddenly, she felt very nauseous, and light-headed.
Ava sensed something was wrong and asked her, “Hey, are you okay? You look as white as a ghost!”
The nurse came to her and noted her pale skin.
“Lay down on the cot, Kacey, before you faint.”
She did as she was told, and the nurse asked Ava to get a cold box of juice from the fridge for her.
“It’s probably just stress,” the nurse said, “But did you inhale any smoke?”
“Just a little,” Kacey replied. The nurse listened to her chest with her stethoscope while Ava opened the drink.
“You’re breathing okay, but your heart is beating pretty fast. Just rest here for a while, and you’ll be fine.”
Kacey was grateful for the cold, sweet drink. Ava stood by, looking anxious. Kacey finished the drink and began to feel better. She smiled up at Ava, saying,
“Hey, I’m not dying, so don’t worry.”
Ava shook her head, “You look like you’re already dead. I’ve never seen you this pale!”
“I’ll be fine,” Kacey insisted, then asked, “Could I have another drink, please?”
“Sure!” Ava cried, and left.
The nurse brought over a bowl of water and a towel, and began cleaning up Kacey’s legs while she drank her juice. As soon as Kacey was feeling better, Mr. Shillings came back in, carrying a T-shirt. He handed it to her and said, “Wendi sent this in for you.”
“Thanks!” Kacey replied, and pulled it over her head. The nurse bathed the cuts and burns on her legs and applied ointment. A few cuts needed bandages, but no stitches.
“Can you tell me what happened?” asked Mr. Shillings.
Kacey nodded, and began relating what had transpired after she saw the smoke on top of the cliff.
“But how did he even get up there?” Mr. Shillings asked.
“Climbing up wasn’t so hard, but coming back down was awful!” Kacey replied.
“Making a sling out of your T-shirt was very clever!” Mr. Shilling smiled.
“It’s the only way I could carry Bartley on my back so I could climb down.”
“Well, I spoke to the EMT’s and they think Bartley has a good chance of a full recovery, thanks to you. If you hadn’t acted so quickly to get him medical attention, he might not have survived.”
Kacey smiled, “Thanks, but I had help. God was with me every step of the way.”
When Emma heard what was going on in the infirmary, she ran to see for herself.
“Is Kacey in there?” she asked, “Is she okay?”
“We don’t know,” Wendi replied, “She looked horrible! All covered in blood! The ambulance just left, but they only took Bartley.”
Emma was terrified something awful had happened to her best friend.
“I’ve got to see her!” she shouted, and pushed through the crowd at the door. She pounded on the door with her fist.
“Let me in! Please!” she cried.
The door opened a crack, and Mr. Shillings peeked out.
“Oh, Emma-“
“Please! Let me in! I’ve got to see Kacey!”
Mr. Shillings turned to Kacey and asked her if she would like to see Emma.
“Yes! Please let her in!”
Emma slipped inside and ran to Kacey’s bedside.
“Are you all right? I heard you got hurt, and that you saved Bartley! Is he okay?”
Kacey smiled, “Yes, he’s going to be all right, and I’m fine...just a few cuts and burns, but nothing serious.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Emma cried, and hugged her friend tightly.
When they parted, Emma said, “I should have been there with you! I’m sorry I was such a jerk! Can you ever forgive me?”
Kacey smiled, “There’s nothing to forgive. It’s really my fault for making you go on a camping trip when you really didn’t want to.”
“Oh, that’s not true! I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t want to!”
Ava asked, “Then why did you get so mad at us?”
Emma shrugged and said, “Oh, I don’t know. I guess when I found out about the bears, I got scared. I blamed you guys because I couldn’t run back home. Anyway, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. Can we be friends again?”
Emma’s eyes pleaded for forgiveness.
“Of course!” Kacey replied, “We never stopped being your friend.”
“Yeah,” Ava agreed, “Even though you were acting like a bratty fri
end. You were still our friend and always will be.”
Kacey nodded, “Right! Best friends forever!”
That evening was the night of the big talent show, and the last night before camp was over. Everyone was planning something special to perform at the show. Sandy, the activities director, announced that the show would be held in the main lodge followed by a campfire afterward.
Kacey and Ava looked for Emma when they went to dinner, and saw her waving at them from one of the tables.
“Hey, come sit with me!” Emma invited them.
“Okay,” they answered and took seats next to her.
“Where’s Tasha?” asked Ava.
“Oh, I don’t know. Since she met Andre I haven’t seen much of her. She spends all her free time with him. I even had to sleep alone in the lodge last night.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I wish we could have been here for you, but we were camping. Didn’t you find anyone to take her place?” asked Kacey.
“Well, I did ask a couple of people, but they didn’t want to have to drag all their stuff down here for one night. I can’t say I blame them. Can you believe that tomorrow is our last day?”
“I know,” Ava replied, “This week went really fast.”
“And extremely busy,” Kacey added, “Oh, by the way, I heard from Mr. Shillings that Bartley is doing okay. He’ll be sent home tomorrow. His parents will pick him up at the hospital.”
“I bet they’re worried about him,” Emma said, “I wonder if they’ll sue the camp for what happened to him.”
“How can they?” Ava asked, “He disobeyed Matt’s orders. He was told to stay inside Matt’s tent. If he had done that, everything would have been fine. They have no grounds to sue the camp.”
“Spoken like a true criminal justice major,” Kacey smiled, “Maybe you should go to law school and become a lawyer instead of a detective.”
“Ha! Very funny,” she replied, “But what amazes me is what happened when you found Bartley.”
Emma begged, “What happened? I want to hear all the details!”
“Well,” Ava began, “At first we kept searching and couldn’t find him. So Kacey asked me to pray with her, so I did. And then she went out and found him! Isn’t that incredible?”
“Not as incredible as when I got to the cliff near the bear caves,” Kacey said, “I was so frustrated by not finding Bartley that I looked up to pray again, and that’s when I saw smoke. It was like a sign from heaven!”
“Wow!” Emma exclaimed, “That prayer stuff really works!”
“Yeah,” Ava agreed, “So be careful what you pray for. You may just get what you ask for, even if you don’t really mean it!”
Kacey laughed and turned to Emma.
“Emma, what are you doing in the talent show?”
“Oh, I’m not doing anything. I left the other group because I just didn’t feel comfortable with them. They’re not like you guys.”
“What do you mean?” Ava inquired.
“Well,” Emma looked around to see if anyone was listening, and told them in a confidential voice, “When Tasha was staying here with me, she let Andre into the lodge. No one was supposed to be here except us two. I tried to tell her that he shouldn’t be here, but she said it was no big deal. I told her I was nervous about getting into trouble with Mr. Shillings, and she didn’t care one bit. That seemed a little selfish to me. Anyway, I didn’t really want to act out a movie scene.”
Kacey and Ava looked at each other and nodded.
“Emma, would you like to sing along with us? We’re still doing ‘On Top of Spaghetti’ if you want to sing with us,” Kacey said.
Emma beamed, “Oh! I’d love to!”
“Great! You’re in!” Ava cried enthusiastically.
The girls soon finished their dinner and their conversation. After everyone was done eating, the counselors took the campers outside for a game while Sandy and Mr. Shillings set up the seating for the talent show.
The show began with a magic trick by Justin, Sandy’s assistant. He made a bouquet of flowers appear out of his magic cane. The campers and counselors all clapped and cheered. Then Deena, who directed horseback riding, put on a recording and did a dance that she had learned in her jazz dance class. Enthusiastic applause filled the room when she finished. Next, Wendi and two other counselors performed a cheer that they had created for Camp Wildwood. Everyone cheered and applauded for their performance.
Matt, Andre, and Tasha performed a scene from “Nightmare”, a scary movie about an ax murderer. They kept missing their lines and getting confused. Tasha burst into laughter and then Andre started to laugh. They finally gave up and didn’t finish their scene.
“Looks like they didn’t rehearse much,” Ava remarked.
Emma replied, “I don’t think they rehearsed at all.”
Next, it was the girls’ turn. Kacey sat at the piano, and Ava and Emma stood facing the audience. Emma held a copy of the words to the song.
“Okay, kids! We’re going to teach you a really fun song--On Top of Spaghetti! The melody is just like On Top of Old Smokey. First, the three of us will sing the first verse. Then you all will join in and sing the rest of the song with us. Emma will recite the next line of the song before it’s sung. Ready, Kacey?”
“Ready!” Kacey replied, and played the introduction on the piano. Then she and the other girls began to sing:
“On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.”
Emma recited the next line before it was sung, and Ava sang it while all the kids joined in.
When they finished the song, everyone cheered. The three girls took a bow, and then went to their seats.
“Great job!” the others cried.
“You girls were really good!” Matt told them as they passed him on the way back to their seats. Once they sat down, they congratulated each other on a stellar performance.
After the show was over, everyone headed out to the campfire. They were given marshmallow sticks and marshmallows to roast. They sang songs, told stories and jokes, and laughed a lot. After the fire began to die down, Mr. Shillings stood up and said,
“Well, it’s time for lights out, everyone. This has been a wonderful group of campers, and I hope you all had a terrific time while you were here.”
This was met with thunderous cheering in reply.
“Do we have to go now?” one of the kids moaned.
“Yes, it’s almost ten-thirty, and you all have to get up for breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow after breakfast, you will go back to your tents and pack up everything that you brought. The counselors will come around to help you. Then you’ll bring it down to the main lodge, where each of you will be given a special Camp Wildwood patch to sew on your T-shirt. We’ll stay in the lodge until your parents arrive. That should give you enough time to take pictures of your friends and say goodbye before you leave. So let’s all get to bed and get a good night’s sleep!”
“Amen to that!” Emma said enthusiastically, “I hardly slept at all last night. I’m pooped!”
Everyone headed to their tents to get ready for bed. Emma decided to move back to the tent for the last night so she could be with Ava and Kacey. They helped her move her mattress and things back to the tent.
As the girls were getting ready to climb into bed, they heard something hit the side of their tent.
“Grrrowwwlll!” came the menacing roar of a bear.
“Oh, no! Not again!” Emma cried.