Revenge of the Happy Campers

by Jennifer Ziegler

“The other guys don’t know I’m here,” he said. “They think I’m scouting flag-hiding locations.”

  “Are we supposed to be doing that?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. It was an excuse to follow you guys.” He paused and let out a long sigh. “I just wanted to say … I don’t like that this challenge thing is still going on.”

  “Me either,” I said.

  Robbie glanced all around and took a step forward, out of the brush. “I’m going to tell you a secret.”

  “Um … okay,” I said.

  “I want you guys to win.”

  My eyes popped wide. “You do?”

  Robbie nodded. “Jay is always doing stuff like this. He thinks the way to prove we’re a solid team is to win everything. But I don’t want us to be just a team. I want us to feel like … a family.”

  I just stood there with my popped-out eyes, trying to sort out his words. I hadn’t really ever thought of what family feels like. I guess it was a little like being on a team, only different — like Robbie said. Deeper and better, but also scarier sometimes. Like the difference between an Olympic swimming pool and the ocean.

  Then I laughed because I started thinking about our trip to the coast last spring break and how Dawn opened a bag of corn chips and got surrounded by a zillion seagulls.

  But also I laughed because I felt nervous talking with Robbie in secret — not that it was terrible or anything. It wasn’t.

  I clamped my hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I said, lifting my fingers so he could hear me. “My sisters say I laugh too much, and at all the wrong times.”

  Robbie smiled, and I noticed that it made his eyes less droopy and that dimples, like tiny quote marks, appeared on his cheeks. “That’s okay,” he said. “I like it when you laugh. I told you.”

  A fizzy sensation whooshed over me, as if my insides had gone all bubbly. I giggled a little more and kicked the toe of my sneaker into the ground.

  “Anyway,” he said, “I just wanted to say I was rooting for you guys and that I hope we lose.”

  My smile fell away. “Hang on a sec,” I said. “Are you telling me you’re going to sabotage your team’s efforts?”

  “No!” Robbie’s eyes went saggy again. “That would be dishonorable. I’m going to do my best, but I’m still kind of hoping you’ll beat us. It’s … complicated. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I just wanted you to understand that I don’t see you as our rivals — even though you kind of are.” He shook his head as if he were trying to erase everything in it. “Anyway … I’ll see you soon at the Neutral Zone. Good luck.”

  “Bye.” I watched him turn back into the bushes and trudge toward his campsite. Then I grabbed our flag and headed toward our trailer.

  When I stepped inside, Dawn and Darby were sitting across the table from Aunt Jane.

  “Wait. Tell me again. You’re doing what?” Aunt Jane asked.

  “Capture the Flag,” Dawn said. “With those camper kids we met.”

  As we applied sunblock, we reviewed the newly-agreed-upon rules of the game in a way that wouldn’t worry Aunt Jane. (Actually, Darby and Dawn explained. I was still feeling a little fuzzy-brained after running into Robbie.)

  Because we were in a campground, we’d decided to change up the usual way of playing so that we’d have more room and not bother other people in their campsites. The flags, we had decided, would be placed up high in a tree or some other elevated location, so that they could be seen. Once spotted, the opponents had to retrieve it and take it back to the Neutral Zone before the others. Whichever team got there first would win.

  “Hmm. Sounds like it could take a while. And you know that more rain could be headed this way.” Aunt Jane shook her head. “I don’t know, girls. I think maybe you should put it off until tomorrow.”

  “But they’re leaving tomorrow,” I said.

  “This is our only chance,” Darby said.

  “It probably won’t take that long anyway,” Dawn said. “Just a couple of hours.”

  “Well … I have to say I’m glad you’re making friends,” Aunt Jane said.

  Dawn made coughing noises.

  “And you girls have done a good job being cautious and following rules on this trip,” Aunt Jane went on. She glanced out the window again and heaved a sigh. “Tell you what. If you see lightning or it starts raining really hard, you come right back here. Deal?”

  “Deal!” we said together.

  “Well, we probably should get moving,” Dawn said, getting to her feet.

  “Yep.” I craned my head to glance at Aunt Jane’s watch. “It’s almost time to meet the others.”

  “All right. Be careful, and have fun,” Aunt Jane said.

  We told her we would and promised to have one of our epic Frisbee games when we returned. Then Dawn tossed our flag in a backpack and slung it over her shoulder, and the three of us stepped out into the muggy midday air.

  “Poor Aunt Jane,” Darby said as we headed toward the Neutral Zone. “I can’t believe we’re still doing this silly competition. All because of me.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “She still seems happy. And we can always do another parade for her.”

  “Besides, you’ve never been able to turn down a dare, Darby,” Dawn said. “I know when we got here, I nagged you about being reckless, but this is one rash decision of yours I agree with.”

  Something went ping! inside me — like a tiny Christmas light coming on.

  “Wait …” I held out my hands in a halting gesture. “I think I have an idea.” I waited for my idea to come into focus inside my mind. Yep. It was a good one all right. I was so excited, I started hopping on my toes.

  “What? What’s the big idea, Delaney?” Dawn asked, sounding impatient.

  I smiled proudly. “I know where we should hide our flag!”

  “Where?”

  “Where this whole mess started,” I said, bouncing on each word. “Darby, how high up that old rope swing do you think you can climb?”

  Players get ready …”

  To make sure no one peeked we took turns hiding our flags. I sat with the boys while Darby and Delaney hid ours on the swing by the creek. Then Jay sat with us while Nelson and Robbie hid theirs. Everything was in place. Now we were just waiting for the game to officially begin.

  “On your mark …”

  We all stood in a line next to Jay, who was had assumed the duty of starter. I glanced down to make sure my shoelaces were tied so that I didn’t trip. Robbie was standing next to me, and as I bent over, I noticed something about his shoes. Something that made me go “Hmmm …”

  “Get set …”

  I checked Nelson’s shoes, too, and they looked similar. A series of thoughts clicked into place.

  “Go!”

  Darby, Delaney, and I raced out of the Neutral Zone. Delaney quickly zoomed out in front, followed by Darby and me. Everything was nutso, with people running this way and that.

  “Guys, wait!” I called out. “Darby and Delaney, hold up!”

  Darby turned and circled back to me. Delaney came to a skidding halt and wavered in place a bit before reversing direction.

  “We need to talk about where we’re going,” I said.

  “Do we even have a plan?” Darby asked.

  Delaney shrugged. “I was just going to run around looking up.”

  I pulled them into a huddle. “You guys, I know where they hid their flag. We have to go across the creek to the bluffs.”

  There came a loud gasping sound beside me. I turned and saw Nelson crouching behind a nearby bush.

  Dagnabbit! I should have anticipated that they’d use spies.

  Nelson saw that I noticed him and ran off into the thicket — probably to find his brothers.

  “See? That means I’m right,” I said to Darby and Delaney. “Come on. Let’s hurry.”

  We ran down to the creek that divided the low-lying campgrounds from the bluffs and headed for the little bridge we’d spi
ed on our first day there. I winced as our sneakers clattered over the wooden boards. The boys didn’t need a spy now to let them know where we were going.

  When we got to the other side, we paused and looked up over the choppy-looking hills.

  “That’s a lot of trees,” Darby remarked.

  “Maybe we should spread out?” Delaney said. “We could cover more ground that way.”

  I tapped my finger against my chin. She was right, but that would also mean going against Aunt Jane’s guidelines. “I don’t know …”

  The wind was picking up and I realized the temperature had fallen a few degrees. Clouds like steel wool were grouping together on the horizon.

  “Nope,” I said. “We’re sticking together.”

  “Let’s zigzag up the slope,” Darby said. “That will cover more ground and we won’t get confused as to where we’ve already looked.”

  “Good idea.”

  By the time we reached the top of the hill, we still hadn’t found their flag. To the right of us was the edge of the property with a thick barbed wire fence cordoning it off. No way could they have gone in there without getting grated like cheese. To the left was a line of craggy limestone bluffs that stretched in the direction of the lake.

  “This way,” I shouted, waving toward the bluffs.

  It wasn’t possible to zigzag here. It required more of a loop-the-loop because of the big boulders and clusters of trees. So we spread out, but stayed within shouting distance.

  The sun was completely blocked out by clouds now. I heard the rain before I felt it. The ground beside me seemed to be making popping noises. Looking down, I saw big drops striking the chalky soil. Water started dripping down the branches onto me.

  Right at that moment, I heard Delaney shouting. “I found it! I found it! I found it!”

  “Shhh!” I said, running toward Delaney’s voice.

  Sure enough, there was the boys’ flag, flapping in the wind near the top of a scrub oak. Delaney was doing a little victory dance beneath it.

  “Now we need to get it down,” I said. From my spot right below the tree, the flag seemed ridiculously high.

  Darby easily clambered up the tree and grabbed it. For a change, I was glad she was so surefooted and gutsy. She was slow and deliberate — careful to find the right footholds and handholds. It was clear she knew what she was doing.

  As she climbed down I could hear a familiar clattering sound in the distance. The boys were racing across the bridge.

  “Hurry!” Delaney whisper-shouted up to her.

  “But continue being careful!” I added.

  Delaney was running around in little circles with her arms up, saying, “They’re coming. They’re coming. They’re coming.” I expected her to get airborne at any second.

  With a little jump, Darby hit the ground and held up the flag triumphantly.

  “Don’t celebrate yet. We still need to get it to the Neutral Zone,” I said.

  “But I heard them. They’re headed this way,” Delaney said. “What if they try to stop us?”

  “Let me see the flag,” I said. Darby tossed it to me and I quickly stuffed it into our backpack. “Now here’s the plan. We head back to the other side of this ridge. Keep looking up at the trees as if you’re searching for something. And try not to look victorious! We’ll make them think they arrived just in time.”

  “But maybe they already won,” Darby said.

  Delaney shook her head. “If they had found our flag, wouldn’t they be back in the Neutral Zone whooping and hollering in victory?”

  She was right. “Come on. Let’s put our plan into motion,” I said as I started jogging away. “Time to look frustrated and fretful.”

  The boys found us at the top of the hill we’d zigzagged, staring anxiously up at the trees. Even Darby, who could probably win a World’s Worst Liar Competition, managed to have a defeated look on her face. Jay peered closely at us and seemed relieved.

  “Did you guys get the flag?” Nelson asked.

  I lifted my chin. “Maybe we did and maybe we didn’t.”

  “Do you have ours?” Delaney asked.

  Jay copied me. “Maybe we do and maybe we don’t.”

  Then we all just stood there, like another clump of trees, letting the rain fall on us.

  After a while, Nelson leaned toward Jay and whispered, “I’m gonna go check —”

  “Stop,” Jay interrupted, lifting his hand like traffic cop. “We’re all staying right here.”

  Nelson looked baffled. “But …”

  “Dude, think,” Robbie whispered to Nelson. “He doesn’t want you to show them what direction it’s in.”

  “Oh. Yeah, we’re staying right here.” Nelson folded his arms across his chest and scowled at us.

  Meanwhile, the rain was coming down harder and harder. My hair and clothes were soaked and it was even dripping from my eyelashes, making it tough to see. At home we like to play in the sprinklers, and it was a little bit like that — except it was cold and scary and there probably wasn’t ice cream waiting for us nearby.

  “We need to be getting back,” I said. “Our aunt doesn’t want us out in bad weather.”

  Jay cocked his head. “So you’re quitting?”

  “Don’t start that again!” Darby shouted.

  “Um, guys? I don’t think any of us can get back right now.” Robbie was crouched down next to a tree, peering over the edge of the ridge. “Look at the creek.”

  We all knelt down to see for ourselves. Sure enough, the creek, the same one that had been murky green and completely still when we arrived, was now muddy brown and roiling — as if it were angry. It had swollen in size and overtaken the banks. Anything not fixed deep into the earth, like bushes, plants, and mounds of dirt and gravel, were getting pushed into the churning water and sent swirling downstream.

  A flash flood. We’d learned all about them in school, but I’d never actually seen one in person. I knew we’d have about the same chance as a leaf against all that rushing water.

  “Oh no! The bridge!” Delaney pointed downstream at the bridge — the one the boys had just crossed minutes earlier. The noisy wooden boards were now a few inches underwater and the whole structure seemed to be shuddering under the force of the current.

  Now we were stuck on this side of the campground.

  Huddling on a narrow rocky ledge is worse than being stuck in a pop-up trailer. It was about the size of a bus stop — if a bus stop had a big rocky roof over it that prevented you from standing up straight.

  Dawn, Delaney, and I sat together on one end, rubbing our arms to try and stay warm. The ground was rough beneath us, so we were all squirmy. Delaney especially. Plus, I kept getting the hiccups.

  At least we weren’t out in the rain, though. The storm was now right on top of us and sounded like the end of the world. Water was falling from the limestone ledge above in a thin, yellow-colored curtain. And every minute or so, there’d be a flash and a loud thunderclap that sounded like bombs bursting in air.

  Big storms are always scary, but being outside during one is extra scary.

  “I — hic! — I wish I was at home,” I said. I meant for it to sound more like a factual statement, but my voice came out all wobbly.

  “There, there,” Dawn said, patting my arm. “No sense getting in a tizzy.” I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but her voice was quaky, too.

  “I can’t help it,” I said. “I miss Mom.”

  Delaney nodded. “I miss my rabbit.”

  “I miss the microwave,” Dawn said.

  Both Delaney and I gave her puzzled looks.

  “I mean it. I’ve had it with pioneer living. Camping is for the birds.”

  While we sat there all dreary and hiccup-y, the boys were clustered at the other end of the ledge. They were talking in hushed voices and kept looking at us. Jay and Nelson were frowning, but Robbie seemed especially agitated. He kept pumping his arms and shaking his head. If there’d been more room, he
probably would have been pacing around. Occasionally we’d hear him say, “No!”

  “How long are we going to have to be here?” Delaney said, squirming as if she couldn’t get comfortable.

  “I don’t know,” Dawn said.

  “I bet Aunt Jane is worried sick about us,” I said. “This is — hic! — the worst thing we’ve ever done. Ever.” My voice cracked again, and this time a couple of tears leaked out of my eyes. Probably no one could tell, though. That’s a benefit to being soaking wet.

  “Hey, guys.”

  I turned around and saw Robbie standing all hunched over. His eyes were saggy and sad-looking.

  “I want to quit my team and join yours,” he said.

  “Wow. A defector,” Dawn said. “We sure didn’t see that coming.”

  “What’s wrong?” Delaney asked.

  Robbie scowled. “I’ve been falsely accused of wrongdoing, and I don’t want to be in a group that doesn’t believe me.”

  “You’re overreacting,” Jay called out from his end of the ledge.

  “You’re the one who’s blaming me for no reason,” Robbie called back over his shoulder. “It’s ridiculous.”

  “Aiding the enemy is not ridiculous. It’s very serious,” Nelson said.

  “Aiding the enemy?” Dawn repeated. “You mean us?”

  Robbie rolled his eyes. “They think I told you guys where our flag was.”

  “They came right to this area. They figured it out way too fast,” Jay said. “It can’t be coincidence, so just admit you helped them.”

  “I heard her. Right after Jay said ‘Ready, set, go’ that girl said she knew that the flag was in the bluffs.” Nelson pointed at Dawn. “Plus, Robbie’s been complaining about this game since it started, and he’s always acting friendly with them.”

  Robbie just stood there, all stooped and sullen. I felt bad for him. Sounded like they had rebellion in their ranks, too. It made me glad that we’d had our big fight in the privacy of our pop-up trailer.

  I scooted as far as I could until I was up against the wall. Then I patted the ground beside me. “Here,” I said to Robbie. “Have a seat. Hic! You’re welcome to join us.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a small smile.