I thought that was a good point.
“Besides, it looks like the boys forgot about it,” Darby said.
“Delaney, you’re the speediest one of us,” Dawn said. “Can you hop over to their campsite and find out where they are?”
“Sure.” I pushed through the branches until I stepped into a part grass, part gravel clearing, just like our campsite. Parked on the opposite side from me was a big RV. It was white with blue stripes and had a satellite dish on the roof. Light was flickering inside it.
I knocked, and there came the sounds of muffled voices and feet thumping. Eventually, the door opened and I found myself looking at a tall, bearded man with long bushy hair.
“Well, good morning,” he said, smiling at me.
“Hello. I’m here to see Jay, Robbie, and Nelson.”
“Roberto, you boys have company,” he called over his shoulder. I looked past him into a small living room area. The flickering light had come from a TV screen mounted on the wall. Robbie stood up from a cushioned bench and joined us at the doorway.
“Where are Jayden and Nelson?” the bearded man asked him.
“They went to get provisions. They’ll be back soon,” Robbie said. Then he looked at me. “Hey. You’re early.”
I shook my head. “It’s sunrise. I’m on time.”
“Would you like to come in and watch TV?” the man asked me. “We’re learning how to make crepes.” He opened the door wide and stepped aside to make a pathway.
“No, thanks. My sisters are waiting for me, so I should get back.” I turned to go.
“Hold up. I’ll come with you,” Robbie said. “Be back in a little while,” he said to the bearded man and shut the camper door behind him.
“Who was that?” I asked as we headed toward the Neutral Zone.
“Our dad.”
“Wait —” A tiny thought blew up big in my brain, like a popcorn kernel. “You mean you guys are brothers? I thought you three were just friends or in the same scout troop or something.”
“I know, I know.” Robbie’s voice sounded tired all of a sudden. “People are always surprised because we don’t look alike. All three of us are adopted. None of us are related by blood, but we’re still family.”
“What’s it like? Being adopted?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s great. I mean, it’s my life. I don’t know what else it could be like, because I’ve only had my life.”
“Yeah. People always ask us what it’s like to be a triplet. But it’s just how it is. You can’t compare when you’ve only had one experience. I apologize for asking such a boneheaded question.”
“It’s okay.” He lifted a shoulder as if he were shrugging the whole thing off. “That’s how you learn things, right? By asking questions?” He looked right at me and grinned.
I realized I liked his eyes. They were so large it made me wonder if he could see more than most folks. Plus, the dark brown irises against the white made me think of paint horses — my favorite type.
Suddenly, Robbie stopped walking and looked nervous.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, also coming to a stop. I glanced around, but didn’t see anything dangerous.
“Can I ask you a favor?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Um … sure.”
“Please don’t tell my brothers I was watching TV, okay? I mean, I wasn’t really. I was just in there with Dad.”
“I won’t.”
“Thanks,” he said, letting go his breath as if he’d been holding it. “If Jay and Nelson find out, they’ll accuse me of ignoring orders.”
His words reminded me so much of Dawn. I pivoted around so he wouldn’t see me smile and think I was making fun of him. But when I turned, I saw something leaning against the picnic table that made my smile go away.
“I promise I won’t say anything about the TV,” I assured him. “But can you answer a question for me? Has Nelson been killing rabbits with that bow and arrow?”
Robbie laughed. “It’s not even real. The arrow tips are rubber. It could probably bruise someone or poke an eye out, so he does have to be careful. Mainly he just likes to act out all the Robin Hood movies he’s watched. Our parents like to support our imaginations.”
“They sound like good parents.”
“They are. Mom teaches psychology at a college, which is how she knows so much about imaginations. They have a different spring break, so she couldn’t come with us.”
“What does your dad do?”
“He works in a restaurant. He’s the best cook in the world!” Robbie sure seemed different than before. I’d been used to seeing him stand behind Jay, all quiet and slump-shouldered, but now he was grinning proudly and making big gestures with his hands. “Sometime during the break Dad’s going to teach me how to make zucchini bread.”
“Vegetables in bread? Yuck!”
“No, it’s good. And Mom showed us how to play all kinds of card games.”
This made me bounce a little, because we love card games, too. “Is she teaching you guys Spite and Malice?” I asked.
Robbie looked shocked. “No way. My mom’s a really nice person.”
“Oh, no, it’s a card game,” I said, giggling. “It’s our favorite one.”
“Oh.” He started chuckling with me. “You know,” he said, “I like your laugh. It’s bouncy. Like you.”
For some reason, this made my face go tingly. I laughed some more and listened to myself, trying to hear what he heard. Before I knew it, I couldn’t stop. My laughter got higher and faster and louder. That’s when Robbie’s big brown eyes started to look a little worried.
Just then we heard someone shout, “Hey!” We both jumped. Robbie made a tiny “Eep!” sound and I swallowed all my laughter back down inside me.
Jay and Nelson were jogging up behind us from the road.
“Where are y’all going?” Nelson asked.
“To the meeting at the Neutral Zone,” I replied. “Where have you guys been?”
“We had to get supplies,” Jay said. He was carrying a big duffel-type bag and the backpack he had on looked stuffed full. “What have you been up to?” he asked Robbie.
“Nothing. Just waiting.” Robbie’s shoulders hunched and his voice went low and mumbly. Probably he was worried I might tell about the TV. But of course, I wouldn’t.
I studied Jay, Robbie, and Nelson as we all headed toward the Neutral Zone. It made me wonder which was harder — to have siblings who looked exactly like you, like I did, which made people mix you up all the time, or siblings that looked really different from you, like Robbie had, which made people think you didn’t go together at all.
Jay and Robbie had hair that was almost the same color, only Jay’s lifted off his head in tight curls while Robbie’s was straight and sat on his head like an upturned bowl. Unlike Robbie’s wide, wondering eyes, Jay’s eyes were narrower and always seemed to be analyzing things.
The first time I met Nelson, he reminded me of someone, but it took me a while to figure out who. Now I realized that he looked just like a Hummel figurine Mom had back home in her room — of a little boy with a basket of playful white rabbits. He had the same orange-colored hair, rosy cheeks, and bright green eyes.
Only I would never trust Nelson with a basket of rabbits.
“About time!” Dawn said as the four of us reached the meeting spot. Her arms were folded across her chest and her right sneaker was tapping against the gravel.
“Sorry,” I said. “It took a while to track them all down.”
We all sat down on the ground — not exactly in a circle, more like a happy-face shape. Dawn and Jay sat near each other on one side and the rest of us sat in a curve facing them.
“Everyone set?” Jay asked. “Good. I officially call us to order.”
“And I call us to order,” Dawn chimed in.
“Before we get started, we should review the rules of the competition.” Jay turned his head, meeting each of our gazes. “Does anyone
here have questions?”
I thought this was a nice touch, and I made a mental note to ask Dawn to add this to our meetings.
“I do,” I said, raising my hand.
“The chair recognizes … what’s your name?” Jay asked.
“This chair actually recognizes her,” Dawn said kind of snippily. “Go ahead, Delaney.”
I cleared my throat. “So what is this competition all about anyway?”
Dawn scowled as if she thought I should know this. Jay opened his mouth to speak, then looked over at Dawn. “May I?” he asked. I thought this was another nice touch.
Dawn nodded.
“Yesterday at the lake we agreed to have a contest,” Jay said, “to see which group is the most cohesive, the best governed, and therefore the most effective at camping.”
“That’s easy. We’re the best!” Nelson said.
“The chair does not recognize the rude red-headed kid whose name I forget!” Dawn snapped. She waited to see if Nelson was going to say anything more. When he didn’t, she turned to Jay. “You may continue.”
“Basically,” Jay went on, “we’ll have a series of three agreed-upon challenges. The group that wins the most will be considered best.”
“Challenge number one … team flags!” Dawn reached behind her and pulled out our flag. “Behold, fellows. Ours is a clear winner.”
“Nice,” Robbie said. “Very balanced.” I could see Nelson give him the stink eye.
“Yes, fine job. But …” Jay reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled-up towel. “Ours, I think, is superior.” With a small flourish, he unrolled the towel and held it up for all to see.
I had to admit it was impressive. Their symbol was three hands, one a light tan, one a medium brown, and one a slightly darker brown, all holding on to one another at the wrist to make a triangle shape. The drawing was beautiful — it was even carefully shadowed so that it looked more lifelike.
“Wow,” I exclaimed. Darby also went “Ooh!” When Dawn gave us an annoyed look, Darby said, “What? Hands are hard to draw.”
“Robbie did it,” Nelson said. “He’s awesome at drawing.”
Robbie smiled shyly and looked down at his lap.
“So … how do we decide the winner?” I asked.
“Maybe we should use an independent judge,” Darby said. “Someone not in this group.”
Nelson scrambled to his feet. “I’ll go get Dad.”
“Hold up there, mister,” Dawn said. “Judges should be neutral. So not any of our relatives. Someone else.”
“I agree,” Jay said. “But who?”
We all kind of shifted around for a few seconds, then Darby raised her arm in that shy halfway up, halfway down way of hers.
“The chair recognizes Darby,” Dawn said.
“Why don’t we ask Mrs. Kimbro to judge?” Darby said. “She’s nice.”
Everyone agreed that this was the best idea so far, and no one seemed to have any other suggestions.
“Great,” I said. “Let’s go!” I started to stand up.
“Wait. Before we close the meeting, we have one more item of business to discuss,” Jay said.
“What’s that?” Robbie asked.
“Our second challenge.” Jay reached behind him and grabbed the big duffel bag I’d seen him carrying earlier. “I think lodging should be next. I propose that each group sets up their own camping shelter. Then we can have somebody judge which is better.”
“Would we have to sleep in the shelter, too?” I asked.
“Yes,” Jay answered.
“Sounds good to me,” Nelson said.
“The right thing to do,” Dawn said, “is put it to a vote.” Her chin was raised and her voice was confident, but I thought I heard a slight hesitation. I wondered if she was secretly hoping the proposal would fail.
But as it turned out, everyone said “aye,” including Dawn — although she was the last one to say it.
“Great. Everyone sets up their shelter today and sleeps in it tonight to prove it will hold up. Then tomorrow we’ll have the judging to see who did the best job,” Jay said.
“And after that, we can move back into the RV?” Robbie asked.
“Why would we do that?” Jay replied. “It’s a camping challenge, and real campers sleep in tents.”
“Yeah. You aren’t afraid, are you?” Nelson said to Robbie. He turned toward Jay, lowered his voice, and said, “I can keep the bow and arrow with me, right?”
“Ahem. I hate to repeat myself, but since this is not a monarchy and you are not the crowned king, I suggest we put that to a vote, too,” Dawn said.
“Of course,” Jay said, but he seemed a teensy bit miffed. He was probably used to bossing people around — just like Dawn was. Having two people preside over a meeting was weird. I could understand why we didn’t have co-presidents in this country.
Again we voted and again the measure passed. Dawn and Robbie were the last ones to raise their hands.
“I guess it’s settled then,” Dawn said.
“Yep. Now it is,” Jay said, clapping his hands together. “Time to end the meeting and decide who wins the flag contest.”
Dawn also clapped her hands together. “Agreed.”
“Meeting adjourned!” Jay and Dawn said quickly, as if trying to beat the other to it.
As we all got up to head to HQ and find Mrs. Kimbro, I caught Robbie’s eye. He was back to looking stooped and bashful, so I gave him a thumbs-up sign to wish him luck. He smiled.
And so, the Great Camping Challenge was now officially underway.
After the meeting, the six of us headed directly to HQ to ask Mrs. Kimbro to choose the best flag. Jay and I kept trying to be in front, but without being obvious. I would walk faster in order to gain the lead, and then he’d speed up to pass me. He’d stretch his arms way out, pretending like he was exercising, to block my way. Then I’d bend over, pretending to check my shoelaces, so that I could duck under his arm. We ended up making it to HQ speedy quick. The only setback came when we passed Mo standing in a clump of trees and almost lost Delaney.
Mrs. Kimbro was so busy cooking breakfast and ringing up purchases of bait for the early-rising fishing folks that she seemed to have six arms. We waited patiently at the counter for our turn. Well … we might have looked just a little impatient. I drummed my fingertips on the countertop, Nelson kept sighing loudly, and Delaney was bouncing like a jump rope champion. But we weren’t rude.
“Come on,” Nelson muttered. “I bet Francis Scott Key didn’t have to wait this long to show his flag design.”
“You’re thinking of Betsy Ross,” Jay said. “Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem.”
“Actually,” I said, “Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that was adapted into lyrics for ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’ And it didn’t become our national anthem until the 1930s.”
“When Herbert Hoover was in office,” Jay said.
“Our thirty-first president,” I added.
“For only one term,” Jay added.
“Who was succeeded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt,” I added.
“Who was elected four times,” Jay added.
“Who actually only served three full terms since —” Only I didn’t get to finish explaining. Because right at that moment, Mrs. Kimbro came up to us.
“Good morning!” she greeted me, Darby, Delaney, and Robbie. “And hello again to you two,” she said to Jay and Nelson. “What can I do for all you young folks?”
“We’re having a contest,” Jay said. “Ma’am, would you mind judging these flags and declaring a winner? It shouldn’t take too long.”
“Well, now. I’m honored,” she said, her smile growing even bigger. “I suppose I have enough time to do that.”
We spread the two flags out side by side on the counter so that they were upside down to us, but right-side up for her.
“Hmm … Let’s see …” she said. “Both are beautiful. This right here is a lovely sketch. Very rea
listic.” She tapped the boys’ flag with her index finger.
The boys got all puffed-up and proud-looking. I scowled.
“Whereas this one has a great use of color. And I like all the additional details.” She indicated the motto across the top of our flag. “It isn’t just a pretty picture, it’s also a very effective design.”
It was our turn to lift our chins in triumph.
“So that one’s the winner, right?” I asked.
“No way!” Nelson said. “Look there where it’s coming apart.” He pointed to the top left corner where the fabric was starting to fray.
“That’s not our fault,” Darby said. “We had to make do with what we had on hand, so we had to cut up this old pillowcase. It’s not like we have a sewing machine with us.”
“Besides, you guys used a souvenir towel,” Delaney pointed out. “You can see the outline of the Alamo that’s on the other side.”
Mrs. Kimbro shook her head. “Guys and gals, I’m sorry but I just can’t choose between them. To me, it’s a tie.”
“But —” Nelson started to argue but she held up both hands.
“You asked my opinion and I’ve given it,” Mrs. Kimbro said. “Now if you’ll kindly excuse me, I have lots of work I need to do.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Kimbro,” Darby said. The rest of us added our thank-yous.
“You’re welcome.” Mrs. Kimbro grinned. “I’m so glad y’all are having fun.”
“Well, now what?” I asked after she walked away. As much as I liked Mrs. Kimbro, I was sorely disappointed in her inability to see the superiority of our flag.
“Let’s get another judge!” Nelson said, glancing around HQ.
“But it’s binding,” Delaney said. “We all agreed to abide by her decision.”
“That’s right. We can’t change our rules just because we don’t like the outcome,” Darby said.
I bit my lip, feeling a little bit ashamed that I agreed with Nelson.
“We should move on to the second challenge,” Jay said. “Tomorrow morning we’ll see which group has set up the best shelter.”
“We will!” Nelson said.
Revenge of the Happy Campers Page 7
