Chapter 1

GG looked up from where she was sitting on her bunk. She had heard the sound of a bus pulling into the parking lot. Her clock said it was 2:30 p.m. and the official start of camp was 4 p.m.  She laid her book on the small night stand and stood up.  She would at least go to the window and see if anyone exiting the buses looked like they had come alone.

 

Her parents had insisted upon driving her to camp instead of having her fly and take the bus from the Minneapolis airport. She had been up at five in the morning, rode in the car for six hours, and arrived here a little before 1 p.m.  Her mother had helped make up her bunk and unpack her clothes. 

 

GG sighed as she watched kids climb down from the buses and wait for their duffle bags to be piled onto the parking lot. Her parents would be on a plane to Italy in two days. They were both professors at a small college and would be teaching a summer session for six weeks as they traveled with twenty students around Italy.  She had, at first, thought she would be accompanying them. They explained that between teaching, conducting tours, and chaperoning the students, it wouldn’t be possible for her to go. Grandmother Francis was going to Alaska on a cruise and rail trip with friends and couldn’t keep her. Therefore, GG was going to summer camp. Her first ever experience with camp was to be eight weeks long with strangers.

 

Everyone outside seemed to know someone and most of them were in groups of five or six. She watched as a girl from one group spotted another girl exiting a third bus and ran over to hug her. This is just great, she thought sarcastically. The camp was at capacity which meant there would be 120 teens from age 13 to 15. From the looks of the parking lot, most had been here before or were with someone who had been.

 

The door to the cabin popped open and seven girls poured in. No, thought GG, six girls poured in, and one girl came in dragging her feet. The lone girl had the artsy look to GG, long, straight brown hair, black T-shirt, and jean shorts with flower appliques on the pockets. The girl came over to GG and smiled shyly, “I have the top bunk over yours according to my paper.”

 

“I’m GG. I took the bottom two drawers of our dresser.”

 

“I’m L. Nice to meet you. Is your name Gigi or does GG stand for another name?”

 

“It stands for something else, but please don’t ask. My parents let my grandmother name me. That’s a long story, how about L?”

 

“My mother was a huge ‘Beauty and the Beast” fan. She loved the fairy tale, the book, the animated versions, and the live action movie. Everyone was naming their daughter Bella when I was born, so she decided I would be Ella instead. Guess what? Ella is even more popular than Bella. There were two Bellas and three Ellas in my seventh grade class in middle school. I decided to just be L. Mom wasn’t happy, but I didn’t want to have to look up every time someone called out Bella or Ella.”

 

GG smiled, “I think we’ll get along fine. Do you know very many people here?”

 

“Not a soul, except I recognized a boy from my school on the plane. There are 2000 in my middle school, so I don’t even know what grade he is. Let me explain something to you GG.  My parents got divorced two years ago, and I’m supposed to spend most of the summer with my dad. His new wife wasn’t happy about the situation and signed me up for this camp. My mom’s lawyer told her that she couldn’t insist that I stay home instead, so here I am. I’m more of a musical and art kind of girl, though I do like sports. With so many in my school, you have to pick one area, and art had less people than the sports teams. I’ve never even had a s’more.”

 

“I set fire to a marshmallow on a stick once. Bugs drive me nuts, and that pond we’re supposed to swim in has algae growing on it. They said no electronic devices, so I brought fifteen paperback books in my backpack,” confessed GG.

 

The girls did a high five and GG began to help L make up her bunk.

 

The camp gong sounded at 4 p.m. and GG and L went to the pavilion by the lake with the rest of their cabin mates. 

 

“You will all be divided into several groups for various activities.  For tonight’s dinner four girls from cabin A will combine with four girls from cabin B and so forth; four boys from cabin 1 with four boys from cabin 2 and so forth.  The idea is to get to know as many people as possible in the first week.  If your counselor sees you only with the same people then he/she will assign you to a different group at his or her discretion.  Boys and girls will intermingle on some activities, but the purpose of camp is NOT to find your life long mate this summer. Romantic relationships will be frowned upon and may get you sent home, any questions? Your schedules for the rest of the week are now available with your counselor.  Get your schedule and take a walk around the grounds to familiarize yourself with the layout.  Dinner is at 5 p.m., free time to swim, canoe, play volleyball, or kickball is from after dinner until 8:30. At 8:30 head to your assigned fire pit for s’mores, songs, and a ghost story by a counselor.  Lights out, and I do mean out, at 10 p.m. No talking, no reading, no loud snoring after 10,” said Mr. Breen the camp headmaster. “Before you ask, those cabins that have ten campers instead of eight divide yourselves for dinner accordingly.  You can all do math.”

 

GG and L suppressed their giggles as they scanned the crowd for their counselor, Bridget.  Bridget was tall with honey blond hair pulled into a ponytail.  She had told the girls she would be a junior at Minnesota State University in the fall and planned to get a teaching degree and teach either middle school science or social studies.

 

As they watched, they could see Bridget was looking sternly at three of their cabin mates. They could hear her as they came closer. “No, your schedules will not be changed. Did you not listen to Mr. Breen? The camp is designed to allow you to experience all it has to offer with a variety of people.  You are not to spend every waking moment with your best buddies. Also, you cannot substitute extra horseback riding time for softball.  You were here last year and the rules haven’t changed.  Don’t make me divide the three of you into three different cabins. Day One is not the best time to annoy your counselor.”

 

L leaned over and whispered to GG, “Let’s see if she still wants to teach middle school after eight weeks.”

 

The other three girls stomped off with their schedules in hand. Bridget sighed and handed L’s and GG’s schedules to them. “Take a look and see if you have any questions.”

 

GG looked quickly and turned to Bridget with a frightened look. “It says I have computer coding tomorrow at 9 a.m. and I didn’t bring a computer or tablet. I didn’t think we were allowed electronics.”

 

“You’re fine. The camp has a small computer lab and everything is furnished. Next week you’ll even get a few class minutes to send out a note to your parents.  The camp furnishes any equipment you need for any activity.  We realize most of you are beginners at sports like lacrosse and few have ridden horses. Camp is meant to be fun and expose you to new things and new people.  Everyone won’t love square dancing on Friday night, but if you look at it as fun, it will be.  I went here as a camper for three years and this is my second year as a counselor. I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t enjoy it most of the time. It certainly doesn’t pay that great!”

 

L and GG went in search of the education building where they would have computer coding, dendrology and entomology, mythology, camp cooking, and woodworking.  They had a different class each morning for two hours on Monday through Friday. 

 

“What’s dendrology?” L asked.

 

“No idea, but entomology is the study of bugs,” GG replied. “We had it as a spelling word last year.”

 

“Study of trees,” a dark haired boy with a braid down his back said. “Dendrology is the study of trees. I was here last year.”

 

“Oh, hi, thanks for solving that mystery. I’m L and this is GG.”

 

“Johnny Arrow.”

 

GG studied the boy unabashedly, “You’re Sioux, not Chippewa, am I correct?”

 

Johnny smiled at her broadly, “Thanks GG, everyone assumes all Native Americans are the same. How’d you know?”

 

“My parents teach at the college level and I’ve grown up with various students in and out of the house for dinners. I’m not trying to stereotype, but the hair is different, the cheekbones are different, and the whole body is different unless there have been intermarriages with other tribes and nationalities. Most Native Americans you meet in Minnesota are Chippewa.”

 

L stared at GG in amazement. “I don’t think we’ll pull much over on this girl, do you, Johnny?”

 

“Probably not a thing, my cousin is part French-Canadian. We look nothing alike according to my mom. I was just wandering around seeing if there were any changes from last year. I’m going to the stable next to see the horses.  Want to go with me?” Johnny asked.

 

“Sure,” GG replied after seeing L’s nod. “I’ve never ridden.”

 

“I learned last year,” Johnny offered.

 

“I’ve taken lessons and competed in some jumping in the past,” L explained. “My mother did dressage growing up, but I found it too demanding.”

 

“Jumping over things on a horse isn’t demanding?” GG asked incredulously.  

 

“The horse does the work with jumping. The rider hangs on and tries to look confident. I had to give it up after the divorce so it’s old news.”

 

Johnny stopped by the corral fence and made a funny nickering noise with his mouth. One of the horses trotted over to be petted. “I’d do barrel racing if I ever owned a horse of my own. Last year they took all the campers to a rodeo and it was great fun.”

 

Several other horses came to the fence to see if treats were being given out. They lost interest when nothing was produced. “This is Stargazer. She’s very gentle and I learned to ride on her last year. By the end of the summer, I could go on the trail rides.”

 

The gong sounded for dinner, and the trio began walking to the mess tent. “This area is a real messy tent when the rain comes from the west. Maybe someday they’ll build a dining cabin next to the kitchen. We sloshed through mud for two days last summer before it dried out. Hey, there’s Brian!” Johnny said as he and a skinny, pale boy clasped right hands, bent elbows, wiggled their hands back and forth, and then made their hands look like a flying bird.

 

The girls looked at each other and burst into laughter.

 

“Don’t laugh at the secret handshake,” Johnny admonished. “Meet Brian the Brain. Brian, meet GG and L. They have secret names, but probably no handshake. Brian and I were bunkmates last year. They put us in different cabins this time, probably for the good of the camp. Where have you been, Buddy, I was looking for you when I met these two.”

 

“Flight was late getting into Minneapolis, so I missed the bus, the camp Ubered me here. I just threw my stuff in cabin 1 and here I am.”

 

“Brian is our resident genius. Homeschooled for the most part, and gets to come to camp to get a tan,” teased Johnny.

 

“Don’t believe everything he tells you, in fact, don’t believe most of what he tells you. I wear SPF of 100 and don’t tan. The sun is very harmful for those of us who trace our origin to Scandinavia,” Brian stated matter-of-factly.

 

“So, you are a genius?” L asked.

 

“That’s what the numbers say. My parents send me here to learn some common sense to go with the smarts.”

 

The four joined the end of the dinner line and continued to talk while they got their trays and then separated to go to their respective dinner tables.