Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment—Horace
Tula
“There is only one thing wrong with this camping trip,” Chloe said after they’d given their horses apples and “just one more” round of thank you pats and hugs.
“What could be wrong? You rocked that climb,” Elise said which caused the Littles to giggle.
“I did, and today’s ride was so much fun. The canoeing, the swimming, the hiking, the campfires and s’mores? Everything was fabulous but that’s what’s wrong!”
Payne skimmed his hand a couple of inches above his head while hissing, “Swoosh!”
“Swoosh? What does that mean?”
He chuckled. “It means whatever you’re trying to say is going right over our heads without stopping to land.”
Everly giggled when Chloe just stared. “He means we’re not getting what you’re saying.”
“Oh. I just meant I’m sad because camp is over!”
“I’d say you could have just said that, but now that you did, I’m sad too.” Payne gave a sigh. “I still have a few pages in my journal without any drawings.”
“Me too, though I am going to draw a picture of Moses and you, Tula. You both were amazing when you were riding bareback!”
Tula smiled. “Thanks. Blake, it was fun.” She looked around the circle of friends she’d made.
“It was fun because all of you were there. I’m so happy that I came and got to attend this camp with you.
I was a little worried about fitting in because all of you knew one another, but you not only accepted me, but also made me feel welcome. ”
“And we’re happy we got to know you because now we are friends for life!” Elise said.
Tula hugged her and looked around at the group of smiling faces. “But I do agree with Chloe. We have a very serious problem.”
“What sort of problem?” Eloise asked.
Tula didn’t respond immediately but took a moment to look around before she gestured for the others to come closer.
Once the circle had drawn tighter, each head bending toward her as if understanding their attendance required stealth, she looked at each of the campers and asked, “We’ve been out here for a week now.
I’ve been patiently waiting and yet nothing’s happened. ”
Heads that had been bowed to listen drew back.
Elise’s huge eyes showed how stunned she was. “How can you say that? All sorts of things have happened. We’ve canoed, swam—”
“And climbed,” Chloe cut in to add.
“And cooked, and sang songs around the campfire,” Everly tossed in.
“Don’t forget the s’mores,” Blake said.
“I know and that’s been great, but my question isn’t what we’ve done, it’s what we haven’t done.” When her friends just stared at her, Tula prompted, “What’s missing?”
“And you thought I was obtuse?” Chloe noted with a huff.
Eloise giggled. “It might be better if you just told us?”
“Pranks!”
“Pranks?” Wren said and then her eyes widened. “Ahhh, pranks!”
“Exactly!” Tula said. “And that’s the problem. From what I understand, y’all are like gold-medal-level pranksters and yet all I’ve heard is a story about a parade of turkeys.”
“She’s right.” Wren shook her head. “Our pranking skills have been sadly underused.”
“Why do I get the feeling Tula is going to offer us a way to polish up those skills?” Sadie asked, her eyes twinkling.
“Well, I’m not anywhere near as experienced as you are, but I do have a little idea, if you want to—”
“We want!”
“Spill it”
“Count me in!”
Tula was a bit overwhelmed at their instant enthusiasm but had to admit it felt marvelous. “Thanks, guys, and if we get in trouble, I’ll take all the blame—”
“Nope, we’re a team, right?” Blake asked.
“Right!”
Blake grinned. “You’ll take the lead but know that if we get caught, you’ll find the eight of us lining up right behind you. I’ll even go last just to make sure we maintain solidarity.”
Payne barked a laugh. “You just think Masters David and Travis’ hands will have worn out by the time they get to the end of the line!”
“No one ever said the musketeers weren’t a bit conniving.” Blake shrugged and then giggled.
Sadie’s eyes widened. “Speaking of trouble, they’ll be coming soon. What’s the plan, Tula?”
Tula quickly set up the steps, finishing at the same time Master Travis’ whistle blew and they all headed back to the clearing for their last camp lunch.
“Master Travis, we’re really sorry we burnt lunch and had to start over, but we’re out of bread now.
I guess we can just eat peanut butter right out of the jars, but the jelly is almost gone too,” Elise said as she returned to the circle after putting her plate in the basin they were using for a sink.
“We can skip supper and go straight to dessert,” Payne suggested. “I could eat s’mores for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”
“Oh, me too,” Eloise piped up to add.
“We can’t,” Blake said, drawing the attention to him. “Remember, the raccoons.”
“Oh, right,” Chloe said. “There’s a reason they look like bandits. They’re sneaky thieves!”
Littles moaned at the reminder of how they’d returned from camp after their ride to find a trail of half smushed marshmallows leading from their camp kitchen into the trees. Evidently, the food box hadn’t been closed securely and a family of raccoons had a party.
“We still have chocolate and graham crackers!” Payne offered.
“That’s right, good thinking!” Blake’s hand shot toward his camp buddy, fingers splayed.
“Hold up on the high-fiving,” Master Travis said. “Master Derek would have our hides if we let you eat nothing but chocolate and cookies, but no worries because—”
“We’re gonna starve and it’s all my fault!” Elise cut in, wringing her hands.
“No, it’s our fault.” Chloe reached out as if to hug her camp buddy but then froze mid-hug, her eyes widening as she looked back at the group.
“Oh, I’ve got a brilliant idea and it’s all due to you and Master David!
You’ve been teaching us all about the wilderness and how people had to hike and climb and ride to settle the Wild Wild West, right? ”
Tula found herself entranced. Though she’d outlined the plan, they were pretty much improvising the script, though, granted, the Wild Wild West might be a little much.
“What does that have to do with supper?” Elise asked.
“Think about it. The river is just right over there.” Chloe gestured in the general vicinity of the river. “And what’s in the river? Fish, that’s what. I bet Master Travis and Master David can catch our dinner!”
Elise’s eyes went wide and she looked at the camp counselors. “Really? You can do that? I mean, if not, I’m willing to forgo my share of the any peanut butter because I was the one who dumped the food in the fire, but if you could catch us dinner, that would be, like really awesome!”
Aware that her Daddy’s brows were beginning to inch toward his hairline as he looked around the circle, Tula skipped a few lines of the script.
“It’s also just perfect!” Heads swiveled to her, including her Daddy’s.
“What I mean is, Chloe’s right! This gives us all an opportunity to practice what we’ve been learning.
While Masters David and Travis catch our main course, we can forage stuff for side dishes.
There’s mushrooms, wild onions garlic, herbs, and who needs marshmallows when there are strawberries all around us! ”
“Ohhh, I do love chocolate and strawberries,” Elise said.
Tula turned to speak directly to her Daddy. “There is one teensy little hiccup though.”
“Really? Just one? Please, go ahead. Enlighten us.”
Despite the suspicious snark in his tone, Tula soldiered on. “It’s gonna take some time. I mean, we’re going to have to spread out to look. There’s tons of goodies in the forest, but they’re not exactly lined up on shelves like in a grocery store.”
“That’s true,” her Daddy said, his brow returning to its normal location. “You may go further afield to look. However, the rule about staying in pairs still applies.”
“We can do that.” Tula gave a nod before adding, “But, to get enough for everyone, we need a lot of people foraging. Do you think you and Master Travis can do the fishing alone?”
“I don’t remember us volunteering to do any fishing,” he said.
Her Daddy’s response gave her pause, but as she was grasping for a line, her teammates stepped up.
“We know you do so much for us, but I guess we can try,” Everly said. “Do you think we can weave a net or something?”
“You don’t need a net, you need worms,” Payne said.
“Ewwwwwww, I’m not touching a worm! They’re icky!” Eloise said. “Besides, Master David told us not to go around touching worms.”
“No, he was talking about a cluster,” Wren said, only to have campers turn to stare at her. “And no, I don’t mean a clutter. They are really called a cluster, right, Tula?”
“She’s right,” Tula said.
“See? But that doesn’t matter. Eloise is right, worms, caterpillars, they are all creepy crawlers so I guess we can try and just pray we don’t pick up the wrong ones,” Wren said.
“You don’t pick them up, you dig for them,” Payne said.
Forget one hiccup. This was developing into a hiccup fest right before Tula’s eyes.
“Okay, okay,” Master Travis said. “We don’t want to end our camp with a catastrophe. No one is going to pet caterpillars or starve to death. What do you say, David? Up for a bit of fishing?”
“We’ll even dig you up some worms before we go,” Payne said. “Well, Blake and I will 'cause girls don’t really like touching worms.”
“Speak for yourself. Camp buddy or not, I’m not touching worms!” Blake said emphatically.
“Cuz they’re icky!” Elois said, her expression adding emphasis as did her shudder.
“I’ll help dig,” Tula said.
“Really?” Master David said, drawing their attention. “I seem to recall you stating worms weren’t your favorite creatures.”
Tula’s memory flashed back to their first night in the tent when he’d been debating whether or not to change the nickname he’d given her.
“I know, but I want to pitch in and help. Besides, they’re wiggly but not really icky.”
“I’m willing to give it a try,” Chloe offered.
Master David looked between them and slowly nodded. “Okay, we’ll handle the main course, you are all responsible for the side dishes. But remember the rules. There will be consequences for anyone who decides to wander off. Got it?”
“Got it!” the campers echoed.
“Can we go now?” Everly asked.
“Not yet.”
Tula was instantly on guard as her Daddy looked around again.
“The Deer prepared lunch so they’re good to go.
The rest of you have duties to do first. The Bunnies are on dishes, the Bees have trash check, and Payne and Blake can gather some kindling for tonight’s fire.
Master Travis and I have a few things to take care of before our final campfire, so you have about an hour or so to swim, but then you need to get out of the river so the fish can come out of hiding from all that splashing and squealing. Any questions?”
“No, Sir!” they shouted.
Tula gasped as Payne almost face-planted in his eagerness to jump up.
Evidently she wasn’t the only one who thought the enthusiasm was a tad overdone as Wren said, “Wow, he really is eager to start digging up worms.”
“Hope they get a lot. Oh, how about we come up with a prize for whoever gets the biggest fish!” Sadie said, jumping up as if about to dart off to find an appropriate trophy.
“I’ll be rooting for you, Daddy,” Tula said as she stood and then giggled. “I’ll be rooting while rooting, get it?”
He chuckled. “I do. Remember, be safe.”
“Always.” She bent to kiss his cheek. “Okay, everyone. After your chores are done, grab what you need and we’ll meet down by the river.”
Catching sight of Chloe and Everly moving in the opposite direction of the camp kitchen as Eloise waved a kitchen towel, Tula shot a glance toward her Daddy.
Thankfully, he was already talking to Master Travis so hadn’t noticed.
Looking around, Tula shook her head. She could only hope their two counselors were so accustomed to being around a giggle of Littles that they didn’t find the fact that their campers kept giggling and darting looks at each other suspicious.
“Did you get them?” Tula asked when Chloe joined them.
“Yes. I never gave them back so it wasn’t hard.” Chloe laughed as she pulled the bag from beneath her shirt. Opening it, she started handing out lollipops.
“Take two,” Tula instructed. “Always better to have a spare, just in case.”
“In case of what?” Blake asked as he accepted the candy.
“In case you chomp down too hard. You don’t want to crush it,” Tula explained.
“So no biting, just suck,” Blake said, slipping his first lollipop into his mouth.
“I’m good at that,” Payne said with a huge grin as he took a long slow lick of the candy while the others giggled.
“Do you think we ought to go check on Everly?” Wren asked. “She’s taking an awfully long time.”
“We’ll give her another minute. Masters Travis and David were probably too close to the kitchen,” Sadie said.
“You’re right. I had to wait for them to get more coffee before I could get to the tackle box,” Everly said as she stepped out of the trees.
“Did you get it?”
“Of course, though Peggy wants to remind you all that you owe her.”
“We’ll pay her back,” Tula promised as she and the others relieved Everly of her supplies.
“Oh, those are pretty!” Eloise said. “Did Peggy loan out her feathers as well?”
Wren giggled. “They do look like a baby chick’s feathers, don’t they?”
“Be careful, these are kinda sharp,” Tula warned as she started passing them out.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to eat our props,” Sadie said as the treat disappeared into Payne’s mouth.
“I need the calories, digging worms is physically taxing,” Payne said as they all rolled their eyes.
“Well, just make sure you have enough to finish the job,” Tula said. “The rest of us will forage, but regardless of what we find, remember, we only have about an hour before they come to start fishing. We need to be done by then, okay?”
“Okay, and don’t forget your lollies,” Sadie added, before looking to Tula. “Anything else?”
Tula was about to shake her head when she thought about their climb. “Just remember, it might feel a little scary, but you’ll be okay as long as you don’t panic. Even so, if you get scared, you can bail and no one will tease you. Okay?”
“Let’s do this!” Blake stepped forward and lifted his lollipop stick into the air. The others giggled and did the same until nine sticks met.
“All for one and one for all,” they chanted before turning and spreading out.