The Adventures of Mark Spinner - The Detective

by I. T. Eren

  Florine gave the ball to Mark. The boy was ready to move ahead with the ball, but since some of his teammates started laughing like crazy, they had to take break. The other members of Too Fast shouted angrily at Florine.

  Mark started driving the ball with his feet and then shot it toward Chris who was about to enter the end zone. Chris took the ball, advanced, and was about to take his three steps when one of his opponents stopped him with a foul. Since the foul took place inside the zone, Forest Camp had the right to a free throw. The ball was passed to Fink, who was in the midfield, waiting to throw the ball.

  For a free throw, a player had to send the ball from the middle of the field to the end zone just by using his feet. The team got points only if the ball touched the area inside the zone. Fink drew back and made a shot, sending the ball first up in the air and then into the end zone past the point line. Normally, if the Too Fast team hadn’t fouled, they would have lost three points. But now, they just lost two.

  Albert, who played for Team Too Fast, muttered angrily, “Let’s show these guys what it means to fool with us. Get moving, girls!” When he said “girls,” he actually meant the boys.

  They passed the ball to each other in an attempt to reach the end zone. But they had a hard time finding someone to pass the ball to, since the defense players of Forest Camp guarded one on one. That’s why Albert, who took the ball back from his buddies, got exasperated and decided to drive the ball on his own. After a few cool moves, he fell on the ground, screaming in pain, when Patricia unexpectedly tripped him. Patricia had gliding in from the side and appeared before Albert without warning.

  Albert cleaned the dirt off his clothes while muttering, “No wonder this happens when you let girls play.”

  Mark explained to Patricia that intervening like that was against the rules and also very dangerous. He also told her that she shouldn’t take the game too seriously. He was the one who had included Patricia on the team, and he didn’t want anyone to end up being hurt because of her.

  The game began again with a foul shot, and Forest Camp’s player named Fritz caught the ball after it was shot from a risky spot. He grabbed the ball with his hand, and then passed it to Cliff, who seemed to be available. Then Cliff scored some easy points making good use of his opponents’ inattentiveness.

  The first half ended following attacks by both teams. Forest Camp was leading fourteen to twelve. In the second half, as Forest Camp was slowly drawing away, Mark started trying to include Ally in the action. Whenever he passed Ally the ball, the girl made extra steps, causing the team to lose the ball.

  After a few wrong moves, Chris scolded her, “Pay attention! How many mistakes do you have to make?”

  Being a withdrawn person, Ally didn’t say anything, but after a while, she went to the side of the field and started crying silently. In fact, Chris had not acted rudely according to his standards, but Ally was shy and a little too sensitive.

  Mark had made a mess of everything when all he wanted was to do something good. Turning to Chris in anger, he said, “Why the hell are you yelling at her like that?”

  Chris snorted back, “Why is it your business? Are you her attorney or what? Are you aware we’re still five points behind? You keep passing the ball to people who don’t know how to play!” With this, Mark stomped toward Chris and started jostling him, but Chris was so big that Mark’s shoves didn’t affect him much. Mark warded off Chris’s response by nimbly stepping aside. The other teammates intervened and helped smooth the matter over shortly.

  In the meantime, Ally stopped playing altogether and left the field. Mark was angry with himself for having blown up everything. How did he not know that you couldn’t impress someone by passing the ball? He was pretty skilled at almost everything. So he couldn’t understand why he was so shy and clumsy when it came to girls. He felt off color now, but he kept playing, even if without spirit.

  Meanwhile, when a reluctant girl from the other team wanted to leave, the number of players on both teams became equal again. Eventually, Forest Camp won the match with a score of twenty-six to twenty-five, thanks to a last-minute shot they made.

  When they returned to the bungalow area after the match, Mark saw Ally chatting with a few other girls. He felt happy that she was feeling better. He wondered whether it would be right to apologize on behalf of Chris, but then he felt reluctant to talk to her while she was in the middle of so many other girls.

  However, there was something Mark didn’t know—Ally had heard about the fight between Mark and Chris. She liked it that Mark stood up for her. When she saw Mark passing by, she smiled at him.

  .

  CHAPTER 4

  Time for going to bed had been set at ten o’clock. After everyone returned to his or her bungalow and got ready for sleep, the teachers visited each one to make sure everyone was where he or she was supposed be. Then they turned off all the lights. Mark and Pierce shared the same bunk bed—Mark above, Pierce below. Five minutes after lights out, Pierce was snoring already. Mark also fell asleep quickly since he was really tired.

  In the middle of the night, Mark needed to go to the bathroom. He climbed down his bed and tiptoed outside, as the bungalows had no bathrooms. Everyone had to use the shared comfort stations in the campground. After he was done, he returned to his bungalow.

  When he was about to climb upstairs, he heard Pierce talk in his sleep, “No, I can’t...No, I don’t want to...I’m not a bad person!” Mark listened intently, but Pierce didn’t say anything else.

  The next day’s program included an excursion into the valley. By nine in the morning, all campers had finished breakfast, prepared their backpacks, and waited in line in the meeting place. They were all eager to get started. Cajoled by the teachers, the campers reluctantly started singing Boy Scout songs as they set off. During the hike, which wasn’t short at all, the people in the front of the line sang songs. But the songs turned to chatting about different subjects toward the back of the line, which also no longer looked straight.

  When they reached the valley, they gathered at its entrance and followed the teachers’ orders to line up in pairs again.

  The guidance counselor climbed on top of a rock and shouted, “Kids, look who’s behind you and memorize who is in front of you in line. Whenever you can’t see the person behind you, stop and wait. And you should be like Siamese twins with the person who’s in line right next to you. If you lose the kid next to you, then I’m going to lose you too and return to the city without you! Understand?”

  They had to cross a narrow creek before entering the valley between the vast mountains. The water was ice cold. Everyone took out his or her shoes and socks before stepping into the water. Some of the kids tied their shoes together and hung them around their necks. After walking for a minute in the icy water, they reached the other side of the valley.

  After leaving behind the mouth of the valley, they were met by a view that was equally scary and breathtaking—both sides were covered with white rocks that looked as if they could start rolling down anytime. The campers couldn’t believe that such a natural wonder was so close to their homes. Teachers had mentioned this place during geography lessons, but no one but the nerds even remembered its name.

  Some of the children stayed behind because of the narrow, rugged road. Slower groups disappeared behind the rocks, even though they were not far away. This caused one to feel as if he or she were all alone in this vast valley. It gave the kids goose bumps. A few mischievous kids shouted at the rocks, listening to their voices echo, and others hid behind the rocks to scare anyone passing by. Although the rocks looked daunting, this place had to be secure since it was a national park.

  But then, what was that strange noise coming from above their heads? The sounds they started hearing resembled the crackling of fire. In just a few minutes, the sounds got even louder!

  A kid named Moby yelled with an indifferent tone, “Now rocks will start rolling over our heads! It is obvious that anyone who cheated
at school will have to face this fate!”

  The sound that started as a crackle had now turned into a howl, scaring everyone who heard it. Even Moby, who talked nonsense a moment ago, was trembling. The seven kids looked at each other silently. Upon seeing the same fear in each other’s eyes, they started screaming and running away. Those who were close to each other hugged one another.

  A little later, small stones started falling down from the hillside, bringing with them a lot of dust. They rolled over to where the kids were standing, but after that, both the number and the size of the stones started growing. Three of the children took refuge behind a rock while another group of three hid behind the trees to protect themselves. All alone, Mark just stood petrified in the open ground between the two groups, unable to do anything. A huge stone that had a diameter of at least thirty centimeters rolled down from the cliff and then kept rolling toward Mark at full speed. Upon seeing the stone racing his way, Mark covered his face with both hands and then turned backward to protect himself. As soon as he did that, he felt a sharp pain in his knee and gave out a scream. The excruciating pain caused him to fall down. He feared that if he turned his head to look at his body, he would see that the lower half wouldn’t be there anymore. When he quickly pulled himself together and looked, he saw that his knee was bleeding quite a bit, although it wasn’t as bad as he feared. Most probably the amount of pain he felt was also related to the amount of fear he suffered. As he was still moaning on the ground, another stone, which was five times bigger than the previous one, fell right in front of him, stopping just before hitting him.

  Mark was scared beyond description now. He couldn’t do anything other than say all the prayers he knew. The entire place was covered with a cloud of dust. It was so bad that none of the kids was able to open his or her eyes. After a silence of half a minute, everyone started to look around to comprehend what was going on. Then slowly, they got to their feet, one by one, and two of the boys ran to where Mark lay on the ground.

  Mark said, “I guess I’m alright. He had screamed so much that the kids had thought he had lost a leg. But as far as the kids could see, Mark had just scraped his knee and was bleeding badly now. Because the area of the wound was big, it had probably given him much pain.

  The campers had spread across the valley, so no one except these seven kids knew what happened. And because no teachers were there, the kids had to handle the situation by themselves. When Pierce’s group caught up to them, after traversing the curve, everything had already calmed down. Mark was shaking now, but he refrained from crying because he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the girls. When Pierce asked him what the matter was, he looked petrified and couldn’t say a word. In truth, he feared that another rock would fall if he moved.

  His friends picked him up and walked him to a place where he could sit down. Pierce washed Mark’s wound with the water from his water bottle without paying attention to the boy’s screams. After a while, one of the teachers showed up and asked what had happened. Mark, who had kept strong until that moment, began to cry. After calming Mark down, the teacher dressed his wound with materials from the first-aid kit and then helped him stand up. Although he was hopping rather than walking, it seemed he didn’t have any broken bones.

  This event turned into the exciting story of that day. Since they hadn’t witnessed the situation first-hand, the teachers thought the kids were exaggerating what had happened. But all the same, they went to the park administration office and filed a complaint about the trauma Mark and the other children had gone through. After listening to them, the official in charge expressed his astonishment by saying, “Geologists come here every month and do the necessary studies. If they see any spot that might pose a threat, we either cover it with preventive nets or build retaining walls out of concrete. No such thing has happened here for years, but we’ll definitely investigate the problem and keep you informed.”

  On the way back to the campground, Mark was the center of attention; in fact, he was somewhat of a hero to the other kids. Even though Ally wasn’t an outgoing girl, she approached Mark and said, “Get well soon, Mark. I’m glad you’re OK now.” And she even gave him a cookie. Mark thanked her as he took a bite. He was starting to think this rockslide was turning out to be more a pretty good deal.

  After another painful examination, a teacher redressed his wounds and wrapped his knee. Mark soon felt so much better that he almost forgot what had happened to him that day. That evening, they sang songs around the campfire. Each time Ally looked at him and smiled, Mark felt the urge to hurt himself again—this time, on purpose.

  After the campfire was put out and everyone started getting ready to go to bed, Mark headed for his bungalow. It was then that Ally called out to say, “Good night, Mark!”

  Mark turned around and replied, “Good night to you, too!”

  Ally ran toward Mark and said unexpectedly, “You know what? I’m so happy that nothing happened to you.”

  Mark said, “Thanks! But why?” He realized that for the first time his heart didn’t race when talking to Ally.

  Ally blushed upon this reply she didn’t see coming. She said, “Because out of all the boys, you’re the one who treats me nicely. Because you’re a really cool guy.”

  Mark said, “If you get to know more people, you’ll see that they’ll be nice to you as well.”

  Ally was surprised. At first, all she could say was, “Really?” And then she continued, “Anyway, I am going to head to bed now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Just when Mark was about to bid her good night as well, she came closer and placed a small kiss on Mark’s cheek. Stunned, Mark couldn’t say a word, as Ally hurried away.

  That night, Mark had a hard time falling asleep. He couldn’t stop daydreaming. He didn’t want to ever wash his right cheek, which Ally had kissed. He was trying to find an answer to the questions: If I wanted to cover my cheek with a piece of nylon when showering, how would I attach it there? Would I be able to swim without putting my head into the water?

  CHAPTER 5

  The campers enjoyed spending time in the forest. However, for someone as hyper as Mark, life at summer camp was starting to get a little humdrum. He thought having to obey teachers during summer holiday was quite disturbing. The food was natural, healthy, and yet, tasteless. He thought walking to the nearby hamburger place (well, at least, that was what he supposed) would be a nice and refreshing change.

  He took the GPS device he had brought from home and headed right into the forest. After walking for about one hundred meters, he would probably reach the road. Then, he thought, in the worst-case scenario, he could either hitchhike or walk the rest of the way. Besides, it would take only ten minutes or so by car, he told himself.

  The trees in this part of the forest resembled one another. It looked as if the same willowy, tall tree had been copy-pasted a thousand times. He wondered whether he was moving in the right direction.

  As he walked between the trees, the sounds of the children he left behind grew less and less until they totally disappeared. He glanced at his GPS device. It looked as if he had to turn right to reach the road. So he did and walked a little more. Suddenly, he stopped because he heard a car coming. I must be on the right track, he thought. After taking a few more steps, he came face to face with something that looked like a wall. He realized, then, that he was very close to the road indeed, but he hadn’t realized the difference in the ground levels.

  “Damn, I can’t believe this place is so far below the road. How the hell am I going to climb this slope?” he asked himself aloud.

  He had to climb a hill that was covered with bushes. He took out his jackknife from his backpack and started climbing while cutting off the parts of the bushes that blocked his way. In the meantime, he was complaining, “ This knife is too blunt!” He had to work really hard to cut even the simplest bits. A hamburger was definitely not worth this torture, but Mark still enjoyed himself because what he was doing meant adven
ture. He just couldn’t get why the adults described such endeavors as “mischief.”

  After much hard work and quite a few scratches on his arms and elbows, he finally reached the top of the hill. “Yay!” he said, thrilled to have reached his goal. He had seen the hamburger place while the bus was approaching the campground, so he knew he had to walk toward the right.

  After walking for a while, he saw an old truck approaching from the other direction. He thought, “I guess I’ll wait for a little longer to hitchhike.” Maybe a sports car or something else might pass soon. The truck slowed down and stopped in front of him.

  “Where are you going, kid?” the driver asked, leaning out his window.

  Mark said, “To the hamburger restaurant over there.”

  The man said, “Jump in! I’m going there, too!” Although this wasn’t the vehicle in Mark’s dreams, he got in the truck, thinking he shouldn’t reject his good luck.

  The fact that the inside of this rugged, old truck was so high-tech surprised Mark. The driver was a man around thirty years old. He had a tall, built figure and was dressed rather too well for driving such a vehicle. The GPS-like device in the truck attracted Mark’s attention, but he was taken aback upon seeing his own name on the screen that looked as if it were 3D. It said, “Mark Spinner 0.2 m.”

  He turned to the driver in astonishment and said, “How come this device knows my name?”

  The man said, “This is one of the newest models. They will probably become very popular soon. Actually I bought it abroad. By total luck. Well, it just recognizes everyone.”

  After driving for a while, they saw farmers on the side of the road, standing next to their tractors. Mark asked, “So, will the device recognize those people as well?” There were no names on the screen now; only the silhouettes of the farmers were visible.