Amelia Bedelia Camps Out

by Herman Parish

  They toured the arts and crafts buildings, dropped by the canoes and rowboats, and then headed to the beach.

  “Okay, Polaris! Time to make a splash,” said Peggy.

  The Straight As stood on the coarse sand, ready to dive in.

  “On your mark, get set—”

  TWEET! Peggy blew her whistle, and the girls dashed into the water. In less than three seconds, they were all shrieking.

  “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

  “It’s freezing!” screamed Alisha.

  Amelia Bedelia couldn’t even speak. The lake was so cold that her teeth chattered—and her body shook all on its own, as if it belonged to someone else.

  “Echo Lake is deep and cold,” said Michelle, the lifeguard. She laughed. “Don’t worry! It’ll warm up by next month. So don’t get cold feet!”

  Cold feet? Amelia Bedelia had cold everything. Still, she felt a pang of disappointment. She’d be back home when the lake was warm. Michelle called them out of the water to warm up, and she explained how the buddy system worked, so they could swim safely. Then it was back into the lake to see how well they could swim and tread water. Annette was the fastest, swimming like a little seal.

  “You’ll go swimming every morning and afternoon,” said Peggy after they’d dried off and put their uniforms back on. They walked over to the trading post, and then it was time for dinner. Even though the food was half good, Amelia Bedelia almost fell asleep in it. She could not wait to go back to the cabin and climb into her bunk.

  “One last thing before lights out,” said Peggy. “Please write a note or letter home to let your families know you arrived safely. I’ll mail them the old-fashioned way for you. You have plenty to talk about after today, but just a line or two will do the trick!”

  Amelia Bedelia was cozy and comfortable in her bunk, and she had no idea what to say to her parents. She was still mad at them. The first thing she saw when she opened her notebook was her summer vacation to-do list.

  She tore it out and set it next to the list she had been given of the daily activities at Camp Echo Woods. Her summer plan had a few amazing and wonderful things to do in one day. Her camp plan had more than twenty things to do each and every day. At the top of the camp schedule she wrote:

  Mom and Dad, I wish you were here . . .

  At the top of her vacation to-do list, she wrote:

  . . . and I was there.

  She folded the lists together, slid them into an envelope, wrote her home address on the envelope, and gave it to Peggy.

  Once Peggy had all five letters, she said, “I’ll put these in the mail and see you in the morning, newbies. Good night! Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

  Bedbugs! thought Amelia Bedelia. She’d packed mosquito repellent and stuff for ticks and chiggers. And what about those litterbugs that made Mrs. Evans so angry?

  Amelia Bedelia was exhausted, but there was one last thing she had to do. Taking her pen, she made a tiny mark on the wall next to her bunk.

  That showed that this day was officially over. One down, twenty-seven to go. That would be halfway, when her parents had promised to meet her and take her back home with them, if she wanted.

  The next morning, Amelia Bedelia was afraid to get out of bed. She had woken up by herself. No alarm clock. No one shaking her awake, worrying that she’d be late. Not even Finally bounding onto her bed. She was awakened by a voice singing so sweetly that she thought that it must be an angel circling outside. Or the ghost of that lost camper. Amelia Bedelia was scared to look.

  Someone beneath her was snoring like a buzz saw. Amelia Bedelia blinked her eyes open and peeked at the bottom bunk. Alice snorted and turned over just as the singer came through the cabin door.

  “Good morning, Peggy,” whispered Amelia Bedelia, waving a tiny wave. Peggy kept right on singing, never missing a note. She was singing about baby birds waking up on the day they would fly for the first time.

  “Amelia Bedelia, you have a stubborn streak,” sang Peggy sweetly. “First we can’t get you into your uniform, and now we can’t get you out of it.”

  That’s when it dawned on Amelia Bedelia that she’d been so tired last night that she’d slept in her clothes. After everyone was up and dressed (and Amelia Bedelia had changed), they met Peggy outside.

  “Ladies, the day is young and so are you,” said Peggy. “We’ve got lots to do. Let’s shake off our sleepies!”

  The Straight As formed a circle around Peggy for warm-up stretches.

  “Pay attention,” she said. “Tomorrow, one of you will lead these exercises.”

  Once they were limber and awake, they hiked over to the main meeting circle to join the other campers for announcements before breakfast. Mrs. Evans was waving a piece of paper over her head. “Girls, make sure that you keep your schedule of activities handy. That way we can all be on the same page.”

  Oh, great, thought Amelia Bedelia. The person in charge is making less sense today than she did yesterday! How could Mrs. Evans expect all of them to fit on that tiny page? Plus, she’d mailed her schedule home to her parents. Maybe she could share Alice’s schedule.

  Just then, a gust of wind blew the piece of paper out of Mrs. Evans’s hand. It went skittering along the ground. A counselor quickly stepped on it, covering it with her shoe, so it wouldn’t blow away.

  Amelia Bedelia turned to Alice and whispered, “See, only one person can fit on that page.”

  “Did Mrs. Evans just litter?” asked Alice.

  “Yup,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  After a delicious breakfast of yummy blueberry pancakes and bacon, Peggy led the Polaris girls to their first activity.

  “I teach archery in the mornings,” said Peggy. “So I’m dropping you off with my friend Melody. She’ll teach you how to be outdoorsmen.”

  “I don’t want to be a man,” said Annette.

  “Me neither,” said Alisha.

  “I’d rather be an outdoorswoman,” said Amy.

  “Or an indoorswoman,” said Alice.

  Amelia Bedelia was beginning to feel right at home.

  Peggy began walking backward, facing the girls as she talked. “We’ve got just enough time to learn a song along the way,” she said, launching into the lyrics. She didn’t sound like an angel anymore—she was more like one of the girls, as she sang at the top of her lungs.

  “Black socks, they never get dirty

  The longer you wear ’em, the blacker they get.

  Sometimes I think I should wash ’em.

  But something keeps telling me

  Oh no, not yet, not yet, not yet. . . .”

  The Straight As laughed.

  “The song can go on and on,” said Peggy. “If you say ‘black socks ten,’ then everyone has to sing ‘not yet’ ten times while you count them off.”

  “Black socks twenty!” yelled Amy.

  They’d just sung the last “not yet” when they arrived at a place that looked as if the pioneers had just left in a covered wagon. Peggy introduced them to Melody, then headed off to teach archery.

  “Gooood mornin’, Polaris! I’m Melody. Welcome to Survival Skills. Today we’re going to learn one of the most important skills for surviving in the wilderness, how to build and start a fire.”

  “I was told never to play with matches,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “That’s right,” said Melody. “We won’t be using matches, and we’re not playing. Out in the woods, you may need a fire to signal people to rescue you, to dry out your clothes, to warm you up, to cook your food, even to keep wild animals at bay.”

  Melody had everyone’s attention now.

  “I thought this was Echo Lake,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Where’s the bay?”

  “Hold your questions, please! Now, there are two main ways to start a fire safely,” said Melody. “One is the tepee method, and the other is the log-cabin method.”

  Annette raised her hand. “Why are they named after tepees and log cabins?”

  “Becau
se that’s what they look like,” said Melody, holding up a big diagram. “Let’s build one of each. We need to clear an area, arrange these stones in a circle, then gather some tinder, kindling, and logs.”

  The girls got to work making the area safe to build their fires. Then they grabbed handfuls of dry grass and moss, some small sticks, and a few larger pieces of wood.

  “Remember to leave a little door in your tepee,” said Melody. “You need to light the tinder inside.”

  “What if you built a tiny tepee fire inside the log cabin?” said Alisha. “That would set the log cabin on fire from the inside.”

  “Nice idea!” said Melody. “You’re thinking out of the box, just like a Camp Echo Woods camper!”

  “Now all we need is a match,” said Alice, once the Straight As had constructed their tepee and log-cabin structures.

  “Here you go,” said Melody, handing her a rock. It was light brown with a milky edge, and it looked like a chip from a larger stone. “That’s flint,” she said. “It’s been used to start fires since the days of the caveman.”

  “And cavewoman,” said Amy.

  “Yeah,” said Alisha. “They probably had to light fires to cook saber-toothed tigers for dinner.”

  Melody smiled. “There is evidence that our ancestors as far back as the Stone Age used controlled fire to cook.” Scooping up a handful of tinder, she formed it into something that resembled a little bird’s nest, making a depression in the middle with her thumbs.

  Taking the flint, she held it over the tinder and struck the edge with a small steel bar. Nothing happened. Melody turned the flint around and tried again. Nothing happened again. The girls looked at one another. Amelia Bedelia was feeling bad for Melody, who turned the flint around again and, this time, struck it much harder with the steel. A shower of sparks rained down on the tinder.

  “Oooh, baby fireworks,” said Annette.

  A tiny spark began glowing in the tinder, sending up a curl of smoke. “Blow gently,” Melody said to Alice. “Feed more tinder into the glow.”

  A bigger wisp of smoke rose up until there was a glow inside the tinder and then . . . poof ! The little ball of tinder became a little ball of flames.

  Each Straight A got the chance to start a fire using flint and steel. They also learned how to extinguish a fire safely and completely. Too soon, Peggy arrived to take them to their next activity.

  “Tomorrow we’ll learn some basic first aid,” said Melody. “Then on to knots!”

  “This is way more fun than playing with matches,” said Amy. “Not that I would ever do something so stupid and dangerous.”

  The other girls looked over at Amy.

  “Yeah, right,” said Alisha.

  One day after supper, the Polaris girls were hanging out in the dining hall. Outside, there was a huge herb garden that was glowing in the late afternoon light. The garden had been planted by the cook’s husband, Herbert, so everyone called it Herb’s garden. It was the secret ingredient that made the food at Camp Echo Woods so delicious.

  Amelia Bedelia adored the smell of fresh herbs. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was back home in her mother’s garden, snuggling with Finally.

  The first campfire of the summer was planned for later, and most of the campers were practicing songs and skits. Their voices blended with the music of the bees in Herb’s garden until it felt like the whole camp was buzzing with excitement.

  Later, when the sun had finally set and it was time for the campfire, Peggy led them to a spot near the front. They squeezed together so they could all fit on one huge log.

  “Tonight you observe, newbies,” said Peggy. “Next time you can do a skit for the camp.”

  The Straight As sat looking all around. They were on the edge of Echo Lake, facing west. Right in front of them were two log-cabin fires, about four feet tall, ready to be lit.

  Alice pointed at the closest one and said, “Hey, Alisha, look!”

  “There’s a tepee inside!” said Annette. “That was Alisha’s idea!”

  “Do you think it will work?” asked Alisha.

  Once the sun dipped behind the mountain on the other side of the lake, Camp Echo Woods got dark very quickly. A girl with a bugle played taps as the other campers sang the words.

  “Day is done, gone the sun . . .”

  Amelia Bedelia thought it was the most beautiful song she had ever heard. So simple. Perfect for being in nature.

  When the final bugle note had faded across the lake, Melody came forward. She explained that a new camper had suggested an improvement to the campfire design, so Mrs. Evans had asked that she light both fires tonight.

  “Alisha, please join me!” said Melody.

  “The Straight As stick together,” whispered Alisha to the other Polaris girls. “Come on!”

  The Polaris girls tried not to look at or even think about all the other campers staring at them.

  Amelia Bedelia crossed her fingers as Alisha whacked the steel with a piece of flint. A shower of sparks hit the tinder, setting it ablaze in a few seconds. The fire quickly caught, burning brightly into the summer sky.

  Melody led the applause as the girls went back to their log.

  Now the real fun began. There were songs and skits. Some were pretty goofy, but still funny, and everyone had the giggles in no time.

  Both fires popped and crackled. Amelia Bedelia could feel the heat carrying cinders and sparks aloft. She looked up at the little yellow-and-white lights. It was hard to tell which were sparks and which were stars.

  At the end of the evening, Melody and Peggy helped everyone make s’mores, and then Mrs. Evans told a story about the early days of the camp, and how it had been hard to get the camp off the ground. Amelia Bedelia munched on her s’more and looked around at the lake, the distant mountain, the softly glowing fire, and her new friends. She was happy that Camp Echo Woods had stayed on this ground right here.

  Then Mrs. Evans led them in the anthem of Camp Echo Woods. All the girls stood and put their right hands over their hearts as they sang.

  “E’s for living enthusiastically.

  C is for our camaraderie.

  H is for a life in harmony.

  O is for our oath we pledge to thee.

  Put us all together, we spell

  ECHO!”

  They did not sing the word “echo.” They shouted or hollered or bellowed or screamed it. Then they stopped suddenly, listening to the echo, echo, echo, reverberate across the lake. When the sound had faded completely, they sang:

  “Resounding in our hearts eternally.”

  No one made a peep after that. They all went back to their cabins happy and full and went to sleep without saying much of anything. Drifting off, Amelia Bedelia kept imagining sparks floating skyward until she could not tell the difference between them and the stars.

  One night two weeks later dinner promised to be memorable, and not just because spaghetti and meatballs was by far the most popular meal at Camp Echo Woods. Mrs. Evans was joining the Polaris girls at their table for supper and conversation. One of the Straight As would be acting as the server, so no one—especially Mrs. Evans—would have to jump up to get seconds or water or milk or juice.

  “Let’s make sure this goes smoothly,” said Peggy. “Has anyone been a waitress before?”

  When nobody volunteered, Amelia Bedelia slowly raised her hand.

  “Great!” said Peggy. “Where did you work?”

  “In a diner,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Perfect,” said Peggy. “You’ll be our server tonight.”

  It was far from perfect. Amelia Bedelia had been fired from Pete’s Diner after less than an hour on the job, after a truck driver had ordered a piece of pie. He had been in a hurry and had asked her to step on it. So she had. Splat!

  “Don’t worry,” said Peggy. “You can do it. Sometimes Mrs. Evans is hard to understand. If you get confused, just signal me. I’ll help you.”

  The Polaris girls arrived in the
dining hall ten minutes early, looking shipshape. They had showered, put on clean uniforms, and combed the tangles out of their hair. It wasn’t long before Mrs. Evans arrived, too.

  “Thank you for inviting me to join you tonight,” said Mrs. Evans.

  “Our pleasure,” said Peggy.

  “You don’t look familiar,” said Mrs. Evans to Amelia Bedelia. “Have we met before?”

  “Yes. I’m still Amelia Bedelia,” said Amelia Bedelia. “My mother went here a long time ago.”

  “Now I remember,” said Mrs. Evans. “I didn’t recognize you all spiffed up. I knew your mother when she was knee-high to a grasshopper.”

  Amelia Bedelia was stunned. “I don’t think she was ever that short,” she said as she filled the water glasses. Do grasshoppers even have knees? she wondered.

  Amelia Bedelia served heaping helpings of spaghetti and meatballs. She inspected every plate before she put it on the table, hoping to spot any half-bad food and exchange it for some that was half good.

  “This is our last year of camp at Echo Woods,” said Mrs. Evans. “How I wish my husband, Harold, was here.”