Nearly every hand in the room shot into the air.
“That’s what I was hoping to see,” the colonel said. “But it’s not as easy as just wanting it. You’ll have to earn it.”
As I sat there and listened intently, I realized that I knew very little about this man. I wasn’t sure how he had gotten to where he was today, but there was something fascinating about him. I thought back to what Eugene had said about Colonel Culpepper a few days earlier—that he couldn’t be trusted. But here he was, trying to give these troubled kids a second chance—and trying to make it as painless as possible for them. Maybe Eugene just didn’t understand the guy.
I was beginning to see why Josh had reacted the way he had earlier in the day. Maybe he really was happy here. The colonel had obviously won him over. After all, the man was dynamic. He was the sort of fellow you’d want to follow. And he had this group eating right out of his hand. Colonel Harvard Culpepper was either a con man, like Eugene thought, or he was the real deal. And right at that moment, it was sure looking like the latter.
“And so each evening at dinnertime,” the colonel said, “my staff and I will walk down these aisles and decide which of you will advance to a special program of rehabilitation and enlightenment. So, if you’re still interested, keep those arms raised high, and you just may be fortunate enough to join the winning team.”
It was starting to get a little crazy. Kids were muscling each other in their efforts to be noticed by the colonel and his team. Evan and I kept our hands raised and waited patiently for our chance.
The colonel and company strolled down each aisle and began choosing candidates for the program. It was critical that I be picked—for a number of reasons. First, the idea of more meals like this one was starting to give me a knot in my stomach. Second, the accommodations at Resurrection Hall would be a definite upgrade. And the third and most important reason—it would make it much easier to locate and talk to Josh.
As the colonel’s party turned the corner and headed for our table, most of the kids on either side of Evan and me went out of their way to be noticed. They extended their arms so high up into the air that I wouldn’t have been surprised if a few had actually hurt themselves. The colonel was now only a few feet away. Whenever his assistants would point to a kid, the colonel would either nod or shake his head. And every so often, he would make a comment to them. The moment of truth was now upon us. When one of the assistants pointed to Evan, the colonel put his finger to his lips. He was in deep thought. Then he smiled and nodded.
“He has an innocent face,” he said. “That could come in handy.”
Evan was in. It was now my turn. When another assistant in fatigues pointed in my direction, the colonel just shook his head. He leaned in to the others to avoid being overheard, but I could hear him loud and clear.
“Are you joking? Look at him. He’s obviously too slow. He won’t be able to outrun anybody.”
Outrun? I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. What difference did that make? I didn’t know why I had even gotten my hopes up in the first place. I had been through this before—a million times. When you have a physique like mine, you’re always the last one picked on the playground. Why should this be any different?
The selection process continued for several more minutes. Evan seemed to avoid eye contact with me. I knew he felt bad, but he had to be thrilled about being chosen. He was now on easy street. Whatever paces he would be put through in the days to come had to be less painful than what was in store for the rest of us. I was upset with myself. I wasn’t sure what I could have done to have brought about a different outcome, but I knew that I had blown an opportunity that would have made it easier to solve this case. What if I never got another chance to talk to Josh? I needed a plan—a new plan—and fast.
A minute or so later, the buzzer sounded. The staff immediately started breaking us up into two groups—those lucky enough to be headed to Resurrection Hall and those destined to return to the slums of Repentance Hall. Evan smiled weakly at me and followed his new team members. I was still angry. Why couldn’t it have been me? I had to get past this. There was no sense beating myself up. I never had a chance.
We were soon corralled and forced to march in single file back to our rooms. As I plopped down on the cot, one of the building guards stood in the doorway.
“There’s always tomorrow, kid,” he said. “But to be perfectly honest, unless you get yourself in shape, you ain’t going nowhere. This place is gonna be home sweet home for quite some time.” He pulled the door shut.
Now, normally a comment like that would have bothered me. But I had proven, more times than I could remember, that I was capable of handling myself in situations like these. I was determined to make him eat those words.
I decided to lie down and think things through. It was probably best to make my move after dark, so I needed to kill a couple of hours anyway. I started thinking about people back home. I wondered what my parents would do to me when they found out that I wasn’t with Sherman and the other kids on a camping trip. I’d be grounded for sure. But since Gram knew what I was up to, maybe she could soften them up a little for me. Then again, I had given Gram my word that I wouldn’t come here unless I had a way to communicate with her. She wouldn’t be happy when she learned that I had broken my promise.
Eugene had made himself very clear about his dislike for Colonel Culpepper. I had a feeling that he wouldn’t be pleased about my decision to come to the boot camp. I wondered if Henry or Scarlett would find my backpack in the bushes and discover the note I had left for them. But they really had no reason to look for it. They were under the impression that I had gone home. I could only hope Henry didn’t call my house looking for me. Then my parents would know for sure that something was up.
I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. I hadn’t intended to fall asleep, but at about nine thirty, I was rudely awakened by the sound of slamming doors in the hallway. I decided to see what was going on. I didn’t need to use my business card to open the door since the soap that I had jammed into the hole in the door frame was still doing its job. I slowly opened the door and poked my head out. I could see some of the boys returning to their rooms. I immediately recognized a couple of kids that the colonel had chosen for his fast-track program. That probably meant Evan would be coming back too. I hadn’t expected to see them back here. I would have thought they’d be permanent residents of Resurrection Hall by now. One thing was for sure—I was dying to know where they had been taken and to find out what had happened.
It was time to make my move. The first thing I did was to change out of the orange jumpsuit and back into my street clothes. That way I would be less obvious and might just be able to blend in with the kids from Resurrection Hall if necessary. The plan was to go downstairs and see if Evan was back yet. He’d fill me in on what was going on. I stuck my head out the door. The coast was clear. I pulled the door closed behind me and tiptoed the length of the hallway. I stopped at the stairwell to make sure no one had seen me. When I was certain I was alone, I ran down the stairs and up to Evan’s door. I knocked lightly.
“Evan, it’s me, Charlie. I gotta talk to you.”
There was no sound from inside. I wondered if he had returned to his room yet, but his door was closed. I had noticed earlier that most doors were left open when the rooms were vacant. I decided to knock a second time.
“Go away,” a voice said.
It was definitely Evan’s voice, but he didn’t sound too happy to see me.
“It’s Charlie Collier. Can I come in?” I said. “Here, I’ll slide the card under the door.” I pulled out the laminated business card that Gram had given me and slid it under his door. Seconds later, it reappeared. Evan had kicked it back out.
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“I can’t talk to you anymore,” he said.
“Why? What happened? Don’t you want to get out of here with me and Josh?”
“No.”
“I just need two minutes—tops—I promise,” I said.
“Charlie, please, just leave. It’s better this way.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m going to sleep. Good night,” he said. And that was it.
I heard something coming from the exit right around the corner. It sounded like a door opening and closing. I crept to the end of the hallway and peeked out. There was no one there. The guard who was usually manning the door was gone. This was my chance. Then I noticed what looked like a tiny orange light outside moving ever so slightly a few yards from the door. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but I soon realized that the guard had stepped outside for a cigarette break. Apparently the colonel condoned a few bad habits.
The exit had six doors with push handles on each one. There was a small window, maybe eight inches square, in each door. I scooted to the doors and crouched down. Then I straightened up and peeked out. The guard was about fifteen feet from the door on the extreme left. I might just be able to sneak out the door on the right if I was really quiet. Once I made it outside, I was certain I would be able to sneak around. It was really dark out there. I decided to take a chance.
I got down on all fours, reached up for the handle, and pushed. I felt the door open. So far, so good. I used my hip to open it wide enough for me to slip out. I glanced at the guard. His back was to me. Perfect. I crawled all the way out and reached back to ease the door closed softly. But it slipped out of my hand and slammed shut. Oh no.
“Who is that?” the guard yelled out. “Who’s there?”
I wedged myself between a bush and the building wall. I was afraid to move. For a second, I considered getting up and taking off, but this fellow appeared to be in pretty good shape. I was worried that he’d be able to outrun me, so I decided to stay put for the time being. When I heard footsteps coming toward me, I held my breath. From the corner of my eye, I could see his feet. He was wearing military boots. He tossed the cigarette to the ground, barely missing me, and stamped it out. Then I heard the door open and he was gone. A perfect escape. Sam Solomon would be so proud. It was almost as smooth as Sam’s getaway in Episode #32—The Lyin’ Tamer Caper.
In this mystery, Sam had been hired by the owner of a traveling circus to locate funds that had disappeared. Sam began interrogating some of the circus performers. Soon he identified his chief suspect—the lion tamer. When Sam pressed him, the handler released his big cat and instructed the animal to make quick work of the nosy detective. What the lion tamer was unaware of, however, was the knowledge that Sam possessed from a previous case. A few months earlier, Sam had been hired by the game warden in a remote section of eastern Africa to help thwart a band of poachers who were killing lions. It was from this experience that Sam learned not only how to survive a lion attack, but also how to hypnotize the lion. And so, while this oversize cat was catching a few z’s, the police were tossing his handler into the deep freeze.
With my successful escape, I was starting to feel as though I actually had earned the right to hand out the business cards that my grandmother had given me.
CHAPTER 20
The Whine and Roses Caper
I moved along the outside wall of Repentance Hall as quietly as possible, careful not to step on twigs or dried leaves or anything that might make a sound and alert camp guards that I was on the loose. There were lights on in most of the rooms in Resurrection Hall. The mess hall was dark, but another building was brightly lit. It was about a hundred yards away and looked like some sort of auditorium. Since I was in street clothes, I decided to work my way over to Resurrection Hall and try to blend in with the other kids. I wanted to take another stab at locating Josh and trying to convince him to leave the compound with me. If not, maybe I could at least find out why he wanted to stay here so badly.
I scanned the general vicinity for activity. Seeing none, I was ready to make my attempt. I counted to three, put my head down, and ran across the road in the direction of the other hall. The darkness was providing perfect cover. I snaked my way through the elaborate landscaping and made it to the side of the building. I took baby steps as I moved in the direction of the front door. When I was no more than twenty yards away, I heard voices. I pressed my back against the wall and held my breath.
I couldn’t make out what the kids were saying, but it seemed as if the entire building was emptying out. I watched quietly for a few minutes. I soon realized that they were headed in the direction of the building that looked like an auditorium. I inched closer to the front door and waited for my chance to slip in undetected. When I noticed a break in the crowd, I decided to take the plunge. I emerged from the bushes and headed for the front sidewalk. As I looked back, I could see more kids coming down the front steps, but it didn’t appear anyone was aware that I had just infiltrated their ranks.
This was going perfectly. I slowed down and allowed a few of the kids to catch up to me so I didn’t stand out as a loner. When three other boys were walking alongside me, I decided to take action—to do what I had come here to do.
“Hey, have any of you guys seen Josh around?” I said. “We were supposed to walk together.”
All three of them looked at me as if I had two heads or something.
“You know…Josh Doyle?” I said.
“What are you talking about?” the middle boy said. “We don’t use names here. You should know that. We all have numbers. If you know your friend’s number, then maybe we can help you.”
“Hmm, let me think,” I said. I was stalling, but I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe if I described Josh…maybe then they might know. “I just can’t seem to remember his number. But he’s sixteen, about your height, and he’s got a bad leg. He has trouble walking.”
The boy on the end tapped the middle kid on the shoulder. “He must be talking about the guy with the limp. I think he’s the only one with a problem like that.”
“You must be mean number one nineteen,” the first boy said.
I slapped my forehead. “That’s it, of course. Now why couldn’t I remember that?”
“He left after us. I remember seeing him,” the middle boy said as he pointed behind us. “He’s gotta be back there somewhere.”
“Thanks. Thanks a lot,” I said. I quickly excused myself and began moving against the flow. I scanned the area for Josh. It was pretty dark, although there were lamps in the ground about every twenty feet lighting our way. I was getting a lot of stares from the others. Walking in the opposite direction as everyone else will do that. I had traveled about fifty yards when I spotted him. He was walking by himself. He appeared to be split off from a group of kids all heading this way. I waited for him to catch up to me and then conveniently slipped in next to him.
He seemed startled. “Oh no, not you again,” he said.
“Josh, I gotta talk to you.”
“I have nothing else to say.”
“Just tell me what’s going on here,” I said. “Why don’t you want to go home? I don’t understand.”
He stopped and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Listen, Charlie, this is my home now. I’m making a difference here. Some people may not approve of our tactics, but I’m making this planet a safer place for all of us. You’re just going to have to accept that and leave me alone. If I get caught talking to you—” He stared right at me with these piercing eyes. “Hey, how’d you manage to get out here? You’re not one of us yet.”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I said. “I escaped from Repentance Hall. It was the only way to get to you.”
Josh shook his head. “Oh, that’s just great. If they catch me with someone from your group, we could both end up in the brig.”
“The brig?”
“It’s a military jail. They’ve got one here somewhere,” he said. “At least, that’s what they tell us.”
“What can I say to convince you t
o leave here with me?” I said.
“Nothing.” He pulled away. “Now just leave me alone.”
I watched Josh merge into the crowd and disappear. This wasn’t going well. I was thinking about just ending the investigation right here and figuring out a way to get out of this place. At least then I’d be able to report to Sherman that I had found his brother, even though I hadn’t delivered him. That was better than nothing, right? I wondered how easy it might be to break away from the group and locate an exit somewhere. But the more I thought about giving up, the more I realized just how disappointed Sam Solomon would be with me. Sam wasn’t a quitter—and neither was I. At least, I didn’t think I was.
As I watched the crowd file into the auditorium, I knew I had to make a decision. I wasn’t sure if I should stick it out. I had hit a speed bump. And I was beginning to feel like a failure. Then I began to think about everything I had accomplished up to this point. I had figured out where Josh was. I had managed to sneak onto this compound. I had successfully escaped from my quarters, and I had found Josh. Heck, I had actually talked to him. I had accomplished something. I wasn’t a failure. I might be a little frustrated with the current state of affairs, but that was no reason to give up. I would see this through. I had to.
I followed the group into the building. If I was ever going to be able to convince Josh to leave with me, then I had to find out what kind of hold Culpepper had on him. This was a kid who wanted to save the world. How many animals or trees or whatnot could he save while stuck in this place? There was something strange going on here, and I was determined to find out what it was.
I followed the others into a large theater and found a seat in the last row. I wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed that a few of the other kids were staring at me. I needed to make it look as though I belonged here. I smiled and tried to appear confident. There were probably about two hundred kids in the hall. We were obviously waiting for some kind of presentation, although I had no idea what to expect.
The Camp Phoenix Caper Page 18
