by Renee Marski
Several seconds passed as Katy and Clara watched bubbles float to the top. The girl's head broke the surface of the water, her panicked face enough to make Clara almost leap into the water. She looked at Katy, who handed Clara her blow horn and jumped off the dock with the grace of someone who had done this a thousand times before. In seconds she resurfaced, the girl clutched in her arms, sputtering and spitting out water. "So, I take it you can't swim?" The girl didn't respond, her face red. Katy pulled her to shore and laid her out on the beach to catch her breath. Then Katy walked back to the dock and took the horn back from Clara. "Okay, ladies, that was the hard way. Wanna do it the easy way?" Several nods met her words as the older girls pushed the younger girls forward. Katy split them into two groups: the swimmers and the non-swimmers. Clara and Maddy were assigned to the swimmers, along with Denise and Stacy. Both girls wore conservative one-piece bathing suits. Stacy's was bright red while Denise's purple suit sparkled. Clara's green suit brought out the color of her eyes. Maddy's black and white checkered suit looked like a chessboard come to life. All the girls had gotten one-piece suits for camp, knowing that they needed something functional, not sexy. The kids they were working with weren't going to care what they were wearing anyway.
The four girls stood in the water and watched as the older girls tossed balls to each other or swam out to the floating pier to jump off it and climb back up. The older sister Clara had noticed earlier kept glancing over at the dock, where Katy was teaching the younger girls how to float and keep their heads above water. Clara stepped up next to the girl and followed her gaze. "Has she ever swam before?"
The girl's head snapped up and she searched Clara's face. "No, we don't really go to pools or anything."
Clara nodded. "Me neither. I prefer the beach or a nice lake, to be honest."
The girl snorted. "Don't really go to those, either." Clara could hear the bitterness in the girl's voice. She changed course, judging that the current topic of conversation wasn't going to get her anywhere.
"I'm Clara, by the way. You are?"
"Diamond, like the jewel."
Clara smiled. "Well nice to meet you, Diamond. What's your sister's name?"
Diamond looked mildly surprised at Clara's comment. "Crystal. But how did you know?"
"I'm an older sister, too. Only older sisters grip younger sisters' hands like that. It's like a secret code telling other older sisters that they're yours." Clara gave her a wink and got a small smile out of the girl.
"She was so nervous coming here. I didn't want her to be scared." Diamond sighed. "I tried to teach her to swim this past year, but since I'm not very good at it, I wasn't able to teach her much." Clara glanced at the group of younger girls and noticed that Crystal was floating where the others were struggling.
"She seems to be floating just fine to me. That's better than the others. I think you gave her a firm foundation to start from and that's pretty important." Clara squeezed Diamond's shoulder before walking over to where Stacy, Maddy, and Denise stood, talking and watching the older girls play.
Stacy smiled as Clara approached. "So, what was that about?"
Clara glanced over her shoulder. "Older sister stuff." Stacy and Denise looked confused but Maddy gave Clara a knowing smile.
"The first couple days are awkward. They were for me when I first came here."
Clara nodded. "I figured. It's an adjustment. How long have you been coming here?"
Maddy shrugged. "A while. Savannah and I met here." Stacy and Clara exchanged surprised glances. They could've sworn the two were sisters. Maddy caught the looks and shook her head. "We look alike, don't we? That's what drew us together when we first got here. Everyone just assumed we were related, so we never contradicted them. Neither of us has siblings, so it's nice to pretend every summer. We became counselors once we aged out. This place gave us an escape, a chance to explore the things we really wanted to explore and to just be kids. We wanted to give back." The three other girls nodded, realizing that for some, this camp was pretty amazing.
Clara looked around at the older girls. An idea was forming. "Let's play some ball." She grinned and ran to shore, where she grabbed a beach ball someone had brought down from the big house. She tossed it to Denise, who caught it. "The goal is to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible. We'll count the hits. If it hits the water, we have to start over."
Denise tossed the ball to Maddy, who passed it to Stacy. The older girls gathered around and watched as the ball went up and down. Stacy passed it to one of the older girls, who in turn passed it to another. Soon, the ball was moving from girl to girl, the whole group shouting the numbers as the ball went. On hit twenty-three, the ball sailed over Clara's head, barely brushing her fingers as she dove to hit it. She came up out of the water to hear laughter surrounding her. She grabbed the ball and tossed it back into the group blindly, not sure whom she was aiming at.
The lake time lasted another hour or so. Then, Katy blew a whistle, grabbing everyone's attention. "Okay, ladies, time to head in. The group that's preparing dinner needs to hurry. Pizzas don't bake themselves." The girls dashed to the cabins, squealing and giggling as they went. Clara and her friends followed them and smiled at how happy they all seemed. This was turning out to be a pretty good summer.
4. CLARA FINDS A MYSTERY
I n the kitchen, after they'd cleaned up, Clara's group of girls got to work on pizzas. Katy had laid out boxes for homemade pizza, and the girls were pulling veggies out of the fridge to chop up for toppings. Clara and Maddy had offered to help but the girls had pushed them into stools, handing them glasses of water and then setting to work. They chatted about the lake and how fun it had been. Maddy grinned. "Wait until we go polar bearing tomorrow." The older girls squealed, making the younger girls look nervous.
"What's that?" Crystal scrunched up her small nose and looked at her older sister with worry.
Diamond patted her head. "Something super fun, I promise. You'll see." She winked at Clara over Crystal's head and went back to applying toppings to the pizza they were working on. Soon, the ovens were full of pizza and the girls were wiping off the counters. Clara set a timer and sat back, listening to the girls talk.
"Do you think it will happen this year?" The whisper caught Clara's attention amidst all the chatter and Clara turned her head, trying to focus on the words. She wasn't sure where in the group they were coming from.
Another voice joined the first. "Not sure. Last year it did, but they brushed it under the rug like it was nothing. Claimed she'd gone home early."
"But she was a counselor. Why would they go home early? I think something bad happened to her, don't you?"
"So, if one were to leave, who do you think it would be?"
Silence met the question. Clara strained but couldn't hear anything else. She shook her head and decided to ask Maddy about it tonight when they got ready for bed. She was so distracted by what she'd overheard, she couldn't concentrate the rest of the evening and got beaten quite badly at rummy by several of the younger girls. She'd laughed it off, not really concerned about losing. She was more concerned about missing counselors. Maddy had been here for a while, so she'd definitely know what was going on.
In their room that evening, as they brushed out their hair and changed into their pajamas, Clara broached the subject. "So, I overheard something today I wanted to ask you about."
Maddy turned to Clara, her brush pulling through her thick hair. "What did you overhear?"
"Some of the girls mentioned a missing counselor from last year. What was that about?"
Maddy sighed. "Oh, that. Yeah, last year one of the counselors disappeared. Katy had us tell all the girls she went home early, but between you and me, we don't know. She'd sprained an ankle one afternoon during a hike and headed back to the big house. When we got back from hiking, she was gone. All her stuff was still here but she wasn't. Katy tried calling her home a couple of times but never got a response. We called the local police and
they did a search but nothing turned up. Katy decided she probably got bored and went home and wasn't responding to us because she was embarrassed. She boxed up her stuff and is keeping it in the attic in case the girl comes back."
Clara nodded, goosebumps rising on her arms. Girls didn't just disappear off the face of the Earth. Clara suspected that there was more to this than some counselor leaving without telling anyone. She smiled at Maddy, though, keeping these thoughts to herself. "Well, that makes sense. Hopefully, nothing happens this year."
Maddy nodded. "It shouldn't. That girl was different. She came here as a camper like me and Savannah, but she never really seemed happy about coming here. We were surprised when she came back as a counselor."
Clara grabbed her sleeping bag off the bed and tossed it over her shoulder. "Maybe she really liked it here but didn't know how to say that."
Maddy shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows?" She grinned. "Good luck tonight." Clara saluted, then headed out the door. She and Maddy were splitting nights in the cabin. Clara had volunteered to sleep in the cabin with the girls first, so she headed there now. The other girls had opted to do the same, one from each room heading to their respective cabins for the night.
In the cabin, bunk beds were set up so that twelve girls could comfortably sleep. A large bathroom sat across from the entrance to the cabin, with several showers and toilets inside, like a communal bath. Clara found a small single bed next to the bathroom, empty and waiting. She spread out her sleeping bag and rested with her hands behind her head. They were going to have an early morning, so Clara wanted to get some sleep. The girls whispered amongst themselves, the sound lulling Clara into dreamland.
***
The cold water broke over her head, making Clara lose her breath. She rose to the surface, gasping and shivering. The lake was cold in the morning. The ice cubes floating by didn't help. Apparently, Katy had gotten all the girls sleeping in the big house to toss ice cubes into the lake to drop the temperature some more. Not that it needed any help. Clara's teeth chattered as she watched the older girls pull the younger ones into the water. Denise swam up next to Clara, her teeth clattering in sync with Clara's. "How long do we have to do this?"
Clara glanced at the shore. "I'm done if you are." Denise nodded, trying to smile. She followed Clara out of the water and they stood on the shore, wrapped in towels and watching as the girls splashed and played. Tracy and Hannah walked up, towels wrapped around them, too.
"Too cold in there for me." Tracy gave herself a shake, sending water flying.
Hannah nodded her agreement. "Fun for the kids, not for me."
Clara grinned. "Yeah, we're getting too old for this." The other girls giggled. Clara's face turned serious for a moment. She glanced around, then motioned the girls closer. She figured they could fill in Stacy later. "So, I heard something interesting yesterday. A counselor last year went missing. No one has seen or heard from her since she disappeared. Cops claimed she probably just went back home but Maddy says they've never been able to get a hold of her. Her stuff is still here in the attic." Clara exchanged a knowing glance with Hannah. "I want to get a look at her stuff."
"And you need our help?" Hannah gave Clara a small smile.
"A lookout would be nice. Maddy is in the cabin with the girls tonight, so getting out of my room would be easy. I just don't want to get busted."
Hannah blew out a breath. "I'll do it. I'm not in the cabin tonight either."
Before Tracy and Denise could comment, Maddy joined their group and threw an arm around Clara. "Cold yet?" Clara nodded, trying to keep her teeth from chattering again. Maddy laughed. "Yeah, we don't normally last long out here in the morning. Time to clean up and get breakfast going." She glanced at Hannah and Tracy, whose group had breakfast duty. They nodded and called to their group of girls as they headed to the big house. The girls ran out of the water, shrieking and calling to each other. Clara smiled to see them so relaxed. Maddy followed her gaze and smiled too. "Every day gets better. By the last day, they smile all the time." Clara nodded and followed Maddy to the big house. Anticipation of what was to come made her skin tingle. She couldn't wait to see what was in that girl's pile of stuff.
5. A GIRL NAMED GRETCHEN
T hat night, after the lights were out, Hannah met Clara in the hall outside her door. Clara clutched a flashlight, which she'd snagged from downstairs before heading up to bed. They went to the opposite end of the hall, away from the bedrooms, where the attic stairs could be pulled down. Thankfully, the stairs didn't make any noise as the girls pulled them from the ceiling. Clara turned on the light and climbed the stairs, leaving Hannah at the bottom in case anyone came out of their rooms.
In the attic, Clara shined her light around. Boxes of all shapes and sizes were stacked throughout the room. Clara realized this was more like a real room than just an attic, with a floor covering the beams, so she wouldn't have to worry about stepping through the ceiling. She moved to the closest box and shined her light on the side. The word "attic" in black marker appeared before her. Guessing she'd need a box with a girl's name on it, and kicking herself for not asking what the name was, she moved from box to box and read the title written on their sides, glancing at them, then moving on. Toward the back of the attic, she found what she was looking for: a solitary box with the name "Gretchen Pike" written on the side. She opened the box and set the flashlight on a box that stood towering over the small one. The flashlight cast illumination down on Clara.
In the box, she found a purse, a backpack, a green sleeping bag, and toiletries: everything a teenage girl would need at camp. The purse still held Gretchen's cell phone and credit cards, along with her ID. From the ID, Clara gathered that Gretchen was a local girl, freckled and chubby, with buck teeth and thick glasses. Clara set aside the purse. In the backpack, she found spare clothes but nothing else. At the bottom of the box, she found a notebook, green and spiral bound. Flipping it open, she discovered that almost every page had been written on. A journal, if she wasn't mistaken. Grinning, Clara put back everything except the notebook, then grabbed the flashlight and headed back out. Perhaps the journal would give her an idea of what had happened to Gretchen.
Back downstairs, Hannah smiled when Clara showed her the notebook. "Maybe I'll find something here. I'll let you know," Clara said. Hannah nodded and helped Clara put back the attic stairs, then went to her room and closed her door gently. Clara went to her own room and climbed onto her bed. She opened the notebook to start reading it. It wasn't like she could sleep with it under her pillow, anyway. Clara flipped to the first page and took in the scrawled writing. Gretchen liked loops and swirls, making her writing very artistic. She also liked to draw, as she'd left little doodles in the margins. Her first few pages were full of excitement and happiness, claiming that camp was her favorite place to be and how happy she was to be back. There was mention of Maddy and Savannah, but not much and not very nice. Apparently, the girls didn't get along and Gretchen made it clear they didn't appear to like her. But that didn't seem to bother her, as she was here for the girls, not to make friends with the other counselors. She also mentioned Katy. Her words made Clara think there was some hero worship going on there.
Toward the middle of the journal, Clara found something interesting. Gretchen had met someone, a boy, and he was sneaking out to the camp at night to meet with her. She never mentioned his name, but his description struck Clara as familiar. She just wasn't sure from where. Gretchen was head over heels for this boy, gushing about how handsome and sweet and charming he was. Then he disappeared. He stopped texting her, stopped taking her calls. Gretchen's journal turned into heartbreak, wondering what she'd done to make him mad at her. Clara's heart hurt for the missing girl. He had to have been the first boy she'd loved and he'd ghosted her.
Clara set the journal under her pillow and turned off the flashlight, then closed her eyes. She decided that on Saturday, when the girls got their free day, she'd go into town and see what the local cops knew
about Gretchen. They had to at least have a file on her she could look through. It couldn't hurt to ask, right? Clara slept, those thoughts weighing heavily on her mind, the mystery boy's face right on the edge of her memory.
***
She woke the next morning with excitement running through her. In her sleep, she'd figured out who the mystery man was. He sounded an awful lot like the cop who had spoken to Tracy at the airport. Just one more reason to go and see the police that weekend. Clara hopped out of bed, unable to sleep any longer. She couldn't wait to tell the other girls what she'd found. She just had to get them alone.
The opportunity presented itself that evening, during free time. The girls had all decided to watch a movie, so they made popcorn and had settled in the theater, leaving the counselors to their own devices. Katy had gone up to her room, claiming a headache. Savannah and Maddy had gone down to the lake, leaving Clara and her friends alone. They huddled around a table, the journal before them. Clara flipped to the middle and read the description of the man Gretchen had been meeting. "Sound familiar?" She looked at Tracy, who seemed to pale as Clara read off what Gretchen had written.
"The cop at the airport." Clara nodded and reached out to take Tracy's hand. "You think he may have done something to her?"
Clara looked at the other girls, then back at Tracy. "I'm not sure. Maybe? I won't know more until I talk to him."
"Which you plan to do this weekend." Hannah gave Clara a knowing look. "We're going with you."
Stacy held up a hand. "Wait. Only half of us can go. We have to split the weekend, remember?" The other girls nodded.
