Sophie shivered as she looked around the rest of the cabin.
“Hey, it’s not all that bad,” Miss Rosy said. “After you campers fix it up, it’ll look swell. Now you’d better get changed. Pronto.”
The wet laces were sticky and tugged as Sophie pulled off her runners and peeled off her wet bobby socks. Dark blue blotches of dye from her new shoes had bled through to the white socks. She lifted her suitcase to one of the bunks along the wall and dug out a pair of shorts, underwear, and a blouse. As she groped for socks, her fingers touched the smooth paper of her secret. Good. They were still there. At the last minute she had sneaked in a small stash of her favourite Star Girl comics.
Maman had told her that comics and toys weren’t allowed at camp. But Sophie couldn’t bear a whole week without her treasured Star Girl comics, so she had hidden a few under her clothes. She quickly pulled off the rest of her wet clothing and said, “I need to get to the dock.”
“What’s the matter?” Miss Rosy asked in a muffled voice from behind the screen.
“My Star Girl Super Bounce Ball is missing. I think I must have lost it when I fell into the water.”
“Oh, that’s too bad, Sophie. You do know you aren’t supposed to bring any toys to camp, right?”
“My ball’s not a toy. Not really.” Sophie quickly pulled on her dry clothes. There, that was better. She felt warmer immediately and stopped trembling.
As Sophie was buckling up her sandals, Miss Rosy asked, “Ready to go?”
“Just about. I’m going back down to the dock to find my ball now.”
“You can do that later. Just don’t let Miss Bottomly see you, though.”
“Miss Bottomly?”
“The camp leader. She was the woman with the grey hair and glasses down at the dock.”
Sophie’s lips twitched into a grin. Bottomly. A perfect name for that broad-bottomed older woman.
“She’s pretty nice but really strict about some things, and bringing toys and comics to camp is one of them.”
Sophie scattered her extra clothes to hide her Star Girl comics at the bottom of her suitcase. Then she shut the lid firmly.
“Roll up your wet duds and I’ll show you where to hang them out to dry,” Miss Rosy said. “Don’t forget your suitcase and your bedroll.”
Sophie bundled her wet clothes into her jacket, put her shoes on top, and followed Miss Rosy out of the cabin.
They were pegging the last of their clothes on a line behind the cabin when another motorboat pulled up to the dock. This one landed without incident, and soon another load of campers and counsellors were climbing up the ramp, laden with suitcases and bedrolls.
“That’s the next group,” Miss Rosy said. “We’ll have forty-two campers altogether this week. Let’s go down and meet them.”
Picking up her suitcase and bedroll, Sophie followed Miss Rosy toward the dock. This was a great chance to find her ball. She prayed it would be right there bobbing beside the dock where she had fallen in and she could just scoop it right up and hide it in her pocket.
Sophie hurried past the flagpole where the older woman with the broad bottom was standing. She was wearing a grey long-sleeved sweater and a navy camp skirt that stretched across her backside. Several girls were sitting in front of her on the low benches. The woman rang a big school bell, beckoning the girls to come and meet her at the flagpole.
“When you hear that bell,” Miss Rosy told Sophie, “you have to drop everything and hightail it to the flagpole or the mess hall as fast as you can. It’s the signal for a meeting.”
Ah, zut! Sophie thought. Wouldn’t she ever have time to go down to the dock to find her ball? Maybe after the meeting was over. She was beginning to feel anxious.
As she looked for a seat, Sophie searched for Elizabeth. She spotted her talking and laughing with a couple of girls, one with long black braids and the other with a bouncing ponytail. It looked as if Elizabeth had already made new friends.
“Quiet, please, everyone,” Miss Bottomly said in a big, loud voice, clapping her hands and sternly glancing at all the campers. “Everyone quickly find a seat now and listen up.”
There was one empty spot in the semicircle of logs and low benches and that was next to the silent grey girl who had sat beside Sophie on the boat. So she put her suitcase down on the grass and sat on her bedroll.
“First things first,” the older woman continued. “A big welcome to you all to Camp Latona and Gambier Island.” She and the counsellors clapped. “Now I’d like to introduce you to the staff here at camp and then you’ll be assigned to your bunkhouses with your buddies and your counsellor.”
There were five counsellors in all. Sophie already knew Miss Rosy, and also Miss Naomi, who had driven the boat from Porteau Cove. The other three counsellors were Miss Bonny, who had red hair and freckles and looked friendly enough, and Miss Linda and Miss Debbie, who both seemed pretty serious. Sophie hoped that she wouldn’t have to be in either of their groups.
“And I’m Miss Bottomly,” the leader was telling them.
Bottomly. Sophie grinned again and wondered if the woman’s first name began with a B. If it did, that would be a perfect name for her. Big Bottomly.
“Now, if you have any problems whatsoever during this week, please feel free to come and see me. If you’re feeling lonely or homesick, or have a question, my door is always open. Also, I’d like you to meet Mr. Buzz, who is Mr. Jack-of-All-Trades around here, as well as our canoe instructor extraordinaire. And if we ask him very nicely, he might even agree to play his guitar for us sometime.”
A robust man with thick glasses and a crew cut waved his guitar at them. He had a bushy moustache that looked like a small animal resting on his upper lip. It twitched when he grinned at them.
“And here’s another very important person in our camp,” Miss Bottomly added. “Mrs. Carson and her son, Danny.”
A slim woman with pink cheeks and hair pulled back into a bun waved and smiled widely at everyone. Holding her hand was a little boy of four or five. He had a mop of blond curls and reminded Sophie of her little brother, Zephram, who was three. The little boy shyly waved at the girls.
“He’s cute,” a girl near Sophie said.
Sophie nodded but didn’t say anything.
“When I call your name, please stand and you’ll be given your buddy,” Miss Bottomly was saying. “But before I do that, just a word about our buddy system. Each one of you will be responsible for your buddy for the entire week at Camp Latona. If anything happens to her, you must report to me or your counsellor immediately. It is so important that you be with your buddy at all times that if anyone is caught without her buddy at any time, her cabin will automatically lose ten points.
“There are two basic rules at Camp Latona. The first is, always be kind to each other. We don’t expect anything else. And the second is, you must stay with your buddy at all times. Gambier is a big island with very few people living here, and we certainly don’t want anyone getting lost or hurt. Yes, there are wild animals, including bears, so it’s very important that you stay close to camp except when you’re hiking with your counsellor. Never, ever, wander off on your own.”
Sophie noticed the girls around her staring at one another with big, scared eyes. She tried to catch Elizabeth’s attention, but Elizabeth was whispering to the girl with long black braids. Sophie crossed her fingers and hoped that Elizabeth would be her buddy. She had to be. Sophie didn’t know anyone else.
“Before I call out your names,” Miss Bottomly went on, “I’d like you all to remember something else. There’s an old saying that I’m sure you’ve heard before. It’s ’A friend in need is a friend indeed.’ I hope that this week you’ll all make many new friends. Friends you’ll keep for a long time. Now the first eight girls whose names I call will be in cabin one with Miss Naomi.”
As Miss Bottomly read out eight girls’ names from the list, Sophie held her breath. None of the names was hers or Elizabeth’s. Sophie f
elt a little disappointed. She liked Miss Naomi. It would have been fun to be in her cabin for a week.
As Miss Bottomly read out the names of the campers assigned to Miss Rosy’s cabin four, Sophie held her breath again. “Please, please,” she whispered, crossing her fingers even harder.
Then she heard her name being called. Yes! She jumped up. She was to be in cabin four with Miss Rosy. The best! She carried her suitcase and bedroll to where Miss Rosy was waiting. Then Elizabeth’s name was called, and Sophie moved eagerly toward her friend.
“And Sophie LaGrange,” Miss Bottomly said, “your buddy will be a newcomer to our country. Ginette Berger is from a refugee camp in France. I know you two will get along just fine, since you both speak French.”
Sophie’s heart fell, and she grimaced. The silent grey girl who had been sitting beside her on the boat was her buddy. Of all the crummy luck! She had to spend all her time for an entire week with someone so disagreeable.
The girl dragged a worn duffle bag and stood beside Miss Rosy. She didn’t even bother to look up at Sophie, or anyone else for that matter.
At least Sophie and Elizabeth were in the same cabin. That was something. Sophie noticed with a pang that Elizabeth’s buddy was Margaret Pearson, the girl with long black braids, the girl Elizabeth had been giggling with.
“We’re like the two princesses in England,” Elizabeth said, arranging the ribbon in her long blond hair and sniffing. “Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth.”
“Right,” Margaret said, her chin in the air. “We’re just like royalty.”
Sophie glanced at her buddy, Ginette Berger, who shrank back into her raincoat and pulled her hood lower over her pale eyes. Just great, Sophie thought.
“Grab your packs and bedrolls, campers,” Miss Rosy told them in a loud, jolly voice. “And come along this way.” As she led the eight girls up the path to cabin four, she sang, “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile...”
The girls laughed, and soon they were singing along and marching behind her, swinging their suitcases and bedrolls.
Smile was the last thing Sophie felt like doing. Nothing was turning out as she had planned. She had the grouchiest kid in the whole camp as her buddy for a whole week, and her so-called friend, Elizabeth Proctor, seemed to have a new best friend. And on top of that, she had lost her Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. Sophie looked longingly at the dock, then made a decision. She just had to have her ball. She would sneak back down there the first chance she got. And that was that.
THREE
Miss Rosy stopped in front of the green door of cabin four. “When we get inside,” she told the campers, “choose a bunk with your buddy. Then unpack, make your beds, and get the place all comfy and cozy. We have about half an hour before lunch.”
The girls crowded into the cabin, prattling with excitement.
“We have to sleep here?” Elizabeth asked, wrinkling her nose and glancing around. “It’s so small and dark. Where’s our bathroom?”
“You’ll find the bathroom in the washroom cabin, which we share with all the girls at camp,” Miss Rosy said. “I’ll show it to you after you unpack.”
“You mean we have to share the bathroom?” Margaret said, aghast.
“Yes sirree, bub,” Miss Rosy said. “This is camping, remember. Not the fancy-dancy Empress Hotel. So everybody choose a bunk.”
Before Sophie could say anything, Ginette Berger threw her bedroll onto the upper bunk closest to the door.
“Wait, Ginette. Let’s choose straws to see who sleeps on the top,” Sophie suggested.
Ginette shook her head and scrambled up the ladder, dragging her duffle bag behind her. Sophie would much rather have had a bed near a window, and a chance to sleep on an upper bunk, but Ginette had already decided. It wasn’t fair, and Sophie was annoyed that Ginette hadn’t even asked her what she wanted.
The other girls were laughing and chattering as they decided where they should go. Margaret and Elizabeth were yapping as if they had known each other for ages and were best friends. Elizabeth was grinning and giggling. She certainly didn’t look disappointed about not having Sophie as a buddy.
Sophie kicked the leg of the bunk and dumped her bedroll onto the bed. The drab cabin’s army-brown metal bunks and wooden floor soon became strewn with the girls’ clothing, blankets, and towels. In contrast, the area behind Miss Rosy’s screen was tidy and cheerful, with a low chest of three drawers and a wooden straight-backed chair. Ajar of yellow and purple wildflowers sat on the windowsill, a colourful blanket lay on the bed, and bright pictures festooned the wall and screen.
“Fifteen minutes before lunch,” Miss Rosy announced. “Hurry and make up your beds, everyone. And for heaven’s sake, tidy up. We get points for neatness, you know. Miss Bottomly could spring a cabin inspection on us at any time.”
The girls twittered like birds as they stuffed their extra clothes back into their suitcases and smoothed out their blankets, giggling and gabbing away at one another.
Sophie looked at Ginette, who was lying on her bunk and staring blankly at the ceiling. Sighing, Sophie unrolled her blankets onto the grey-and-white-striped mattress. She pushed her suitcase under the bed and remembered what Maman had said about making new friends at camp. Maman had told her the same saying as Miss Bottomly had: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
Sophie sighed again. Well, that crabby old Ginette Berger was certainly in need. In need of learning some good manners! If only she didn’t look so darn grumpy all the time...
The second thing her mother had told her was: “To have a friend, you have to be a friend.”
“Okay,” Sophie muttered to herself. “I’ll try.”
A bell rang.
“That’s the lunch bell,” Miss Rosy said. “Finally! I’m so starving I could eat a horse. What about you guys?”
“I’m starving, too,” one girl said, patting her round tummy. It was Margaret, Elizabeth’s buddy.
“Me, too!” Elizabeth said. “It’s all this fresh air.”
“Me, too, me, too!” all the other girls chanted, gathering around Miss Rosy.
“Come on, Ginette,” Miss Rosy said to the grey girl on the upper bunk. “Lunchtime.”
Sophie waited while Ginette slowly climbed down the ladder from the upper bunk. The girl had taken off her raincoat and was now wearing a woolly pullover sweater. A faded brown camp hat was pulled so low over her forehead that Sophie couldn’t see her eyes.
Sophie and Ginette followed the others down the path toward the mess hall. They passed another wooden building with a bright yellow door.
“That’s the washroom, if anyone needs it before lunch,” Miss Rosy told them.
No one did, so they continued trailing Miss Rosy to the mess hall where they crowded into the big building. It smelled of homemade bread and ginger cookies, which made Sophie’s mouth water. The mess hall was a large room with six big wooden tables, each with ten chairs. Along the back wall was a long counter piled with trays of food.
Mr. Buzz, wearing a big white apron, stood behind the counter, and Mrs. Carson was there, as well, adding a few more trays of food. Her little boy stood shyly behind her. Sophie waved at him and smiled. The little boy waved back at her timidly. She felt a pang of homesickness, remembering her little brother, but her stomach growled and her mouth watered even more. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she saw and smelled all the food.
“Our table’s over there in the corner by the windows,” Miss Rosy told her girls. “Miss Bottomly will lead us in Grace. Then two of you will get the trays of food from the counter for us.”
“Would you like Margaret and me to get the trays?” Elizabeth asked, putting up her hand before anyone else had a chance to volunteer.
“Why, yes. Thank you for offering, Elizabeth,” Miss Rosy said, smiling at her.
Elizabeth beamed and patted back her red hair ribbon. She was already up to her teacher’s pet tricks.
Sophie moaned and wished she had offered first. She glanced at her buddy Ginette beside her and stroked the tabletop. It was scrubbed wood, smooth and silky to the touch. On the wall behind the counter was a small crucifix and a picture of the Virgin Mary in her blue robes, reminders that the camp was run by Catholic Charities.
“Let’s all join hands for Grace,” Miss Bottomly said.
Sophie reached out for Ginette’s hand, but she kept them folded tightly across her chest. Sophie held Margaret’s hand on her other side and joined the girls bowing their heads while Miss Bottomly said Grace. “Bless us, O Lord, and these gifts that we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
“Amen,” the girls echoed.
Lunch was lemonade and bologna-and-cheese sandwiches on fresh homemade bread, with pickles and raw carrots and celery. For dessert there were crunchy ginger cookies.
“Um, take just two sandwiches at a time, please, Ginette,” Miss Rosy said when the girl piled her plate with sandwiches. “We have to leave some for everyone.”
Ginette glared at her and put the rest back. After smothering her sandwiches with mustard and ketchup, she stuffed them into her mouth whole. Mustard and ketchup dribbled down her chin, which she wiped off with the back of her hand.
Elizabeth and Margaret exchanged looks and snickered behind their napkins.
Miss Rosy frowned at them. “Some carrots and celery?” she asked Ginette with a polite smile.
Ginette shook her head and reached straight across Sophie’s plate for another sandwich. She wolfed it down, as well. She gulped a glass of lemonade and grabbed a stack of cookies from the plate. She ate as if she hadn’t had a proper meal for a week.
“Um, two each of the cookies, as well,” Miss Rosy told her. “You’re so right, Elizabeth. This fresh air has given us all good appetites.”
When Miss Rosy looked away to talk to Elizabeth, Ginette sneaked a couple more cookies from the plate and pushed them up her sleeve. Sophie couldn’t believe it. What a hog! She nibbled daintily at her sandwich and carrots, feeling she had to be extra polite to make up for her buddy’s lack of manners.
Sophie's Friend in Need Page 2
