Boys Camp

  Copyright © 2015 by The Boys Camp Company, LLC

  Illustrations © 2015 by Craig Orback

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Manufactured in China, January 2015

  This product conforms to CPSIA 2008

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Jazynka, Kitson, author.

  Zee’s story / written by Kitson Jazynka and Valerie Tripp ; illustrated by Craig Orback.

  pages cm. — (Boys camp ; # 3)

  Summary: “Zee must face his scariest, most dangerous crisis on his own while on a kayaking trip, and for a while, it looks like all is lost. One thing’s for sure: Zee will have an adventure-packed summer at Camp Wolf Trail!”—Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-62914-754-3 (hc : alk. paper)

  [1. Camps—Fiction. 2. Kayaks and kayaking—Fiction.] I. Tripp, Valerie, 1951-author. II. Orback, Craig, illustrator. III. Title.

  PZ7.J353Ze 2015

  [Fic]—dc23

  2014041529

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Cover illustration credit Craig Orback

  Kayaking card illustrations by Ryan Martinez

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-817-0

  Have fun. Make friends. Be yourself.

  Hello, Camper!

  All of us at Camp Wolf Trail are looking forward to greeting you on July 10. We’ve got a great summer ahead of us.

  Pretty soon you’ll be packing your trunk for your two weeks here at camp. If this is your first summer at Wolf Trail, you’re probably curious—and maybe even a little nervous—about what to expect, especially if this is your first time away from home.

  Well, first of all, don’t worry. Camp is fun. And here at Wolf Trail, we’ve been sharing the fun with kids like you for more than fifty years.

  As soon as you arrive, counselors and returning campers will welcome you and help you find the way to your cabin. The cabins are are scattered like acorns throughout the woods. You’ll be sharing your cabin with eight other campers and two counselors.

  Counselors and campers of different ages are assigned to groups called “clusters.” Together, you and your cluster will come up with a funny name and a signature move for your group. You’ll take turns doing communal chores, like setting the table for eighty hungry monkeys (also known as the campers, counselors, and camp staff). You and your cluster will compete against other clusters during our camp theme days, including the Oddball Championships. Past themes have been Martian Day, Rock Star Day, Backwards Day, Half Magic Day, and Chicken-of-the-Woods Day.

  Every day there are lots of activities to choose from: swimming in clear, cool Evergreen Lake, boating, canoeing, arts and crafts, hiking, sports, and trail blazing (also known as bushwhacking). At night everyone at camp gathers around a fire for songs, stories, jokes, and reflection. And each week you and your fellow campers and counselors will go off on a wilderness adventure into the woods, over the mountains, or even across the lake, with only what you’ll need to survive for two nights and three days. You’ll rest on breezy overlooks, discover secret, hidden swimming spots, cook over a campfire, and sleep out under the stars, listening to owls hooting. Your counselors have been doing this for years and will look forward to teaching you the ways of the wilderness.

  You are in for a wonderful time! So, pack your enthusiasm and your sense of humor along with your socks, and come to Camp Wolf Trail. We are ready for the fun to begin, and we know that you are too.

  See you soon!

  All of us here at Camp Wolf Trail

  Packing List

  Due to our simple camp lifestyle, and our even-more-rustic wilderness trips, anything you bring may get vet, dirty, lost, or all three combined. So, leave the special stuff at home.

  Do bring:

  Daily camp supplies

  Shorts and T-shirts for warm weather

  Clothes for cooler temperatures (Fleece clothing is good for camping because it dries quickly.)

  Socks (Wool is good for hiking because it also dries quickly.)

  Hiking shoes or boots for trips, and everyday shoes for camp (Be sure to break in new boots or shoes before you get here!)

  Old sneakers/water shoes for canoeing and creek hikes

  Swimming gear: suit, sunscreen, towel

  Sheets, blanket, and pillow for your bunk in camp

  Bathroom items: towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap (although we’ve noticed that some campers’ soaps don’t get used too often!)

  Wilderness trip supplies

  The basics: a comfortable backpack, lightweight sleeping bag, roll-up camping pad, mess kit (plate, cup, fork, and spoon) water bottle, flashlight with extra batteries, waterproof poncho

  Optional: camping knife (check it in with your counselor when you arrive), camping pillow, compass, hat, bandanna If you wear glasses, bring a cord to hold them safely around your neck, so you don’t lose them when boating or rock climbing.

  Other optional items

  Good books

  Portable games such as cards and cribbage, crossword puzzles

  Paper, stamps, envelopes, pen, addresses (Your parents and friends will want to hear from you!)

  Art supplies, journal, nature guides, binoculars, musical instrument (if it’s not too fragile), or other hobby supplies

  Pocket money (no more than $20, though)

  Please do not bring any electronics or a cell phone. They don’t survive getting wet, dirty, or lost. And besides, who needs them? You’ll be hiking in the woods and swimming in the lake most of the time. Who would you text? A squirrel? A fish? Enjoy being free of screens (except the kind that keeps bugs out) for two weeks!

  Three fingers crammed into a sharp crevice, toes shoved into a narrow toehold, a gusty wind at his back, and a vertical drop ending in ice-cold water yawning below him. “How’d I get myself in this fix?” Zee wondered, dangling on the rock face, sweat stinging his eyes. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. I asked for it. Ah well. Nowhere to go but up, I guess.”

  Zee stretched his free hand up above his head as far as it could go, feeling blindly for a bump, a crack, a notch—anything to grab. Yes! His raw fingertips found a one-inch niche. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Carefully, Zee slid his fingers into the niche. His free foot—the left one—found a knotty root, and Zee shifted his weight onto it, knowing that roots were risky. It was never a good move to trust a root. But this one held—just long enough for Zee to lift his body, plant his right hand on the top of the rock, and then heave first his leg, then his upper body, to safety. For a second, Zee lay motionless, except for panting. Then he scrambled to his feet. He raised both arms above his head and howled like a wolf.

  Aroo-oo!

  From below came a chorus of answering howls. Aroo-oo! Then chanting. “Zee! Zee! Zee!”

  Zee grinned. He strode to the edge of the rock, rose up on his toes, and dove. Down, down, down he shot and then swoosh, slid with a clean slice into the deep, frigid water of O’Mannitt’s Cove.

  And tha
t, he thought, is how it’s done.

  The boys were still chanting his name when Zee bobbed to the surface, breathless from the shocking cold and from the exhilaration of his dive. When they saw his head emerge, the rest of the boys stampeded into the water, hooting and howling as they splashed and crashed toward Zee to congratulate him. Their counselor, Carlos, paddled over in his kayak.

  “So,” said Carlos, “you’ve just aced a Camp Wolf Trail tradition: the Dead Man’s Dive off Big Boulder. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” said Zee.

  “Was it as great as you thought it would be?” asked Zee’s best camp buddy, Will.

  “No,” said Zee. “It was better.” He splashed Will. “So, go on. Now it’s your turn.”

  Carlos laughed. “That’s right,” he said. “Go for it.”

  Zee laughed, too. He and Will had asked for permission to do the Dead Man’s Dive a thousand times last summer. Doing the dive was a privilege that had to be earned. A counselor had to agree to teach you how to do it. Who’d have thought that the way he and Will would finally get the go-ahead would involve an octopus, pies, and toilet paper?

  It all started on this summer’s first day of camp…

  Chapter One

  “YA-HOO!” Zee Doyle threw his head back and hollered as loud as he could. This was it, the moment he’d been looking forward to—crazy impatient—for months. Finally, he was back at Camp Wolf Trail, his favorite place on Earth. Zee waved good-bye to his mom and dad as they drove off, and then he spun around and took a deep breath. Yup, there it was, the classic Wolf Trail smell: sun on pine needles, bug spray, and a whiff of lake-sharp air. Zee let loose the epic howl that had been building in his chest since he left camp last summer: Aroo-oo! He listened for a return howl—that’s how he and his best friend at camp, Will, located each other—but there was none, so Zee figured Will probably hadn’t arrived yet.

  Slam! A screen door flew open, hitting the outside of the camp office, making a bush full of brown birds take off twittering.

  “Zee!” It was Max, one of Zee’s favorite camp counselors from last year. Max tossed his clipboard onto the grass and lifted Zee up into a bear hug. Max was tall, so his hugs were polar bear hugs. “Welcome back!”

  “Thanks!” said Zee. “Is Will here yet?”

  Max shrugged his wide shoulders. “I haven’t seen him, but he might have checked in with somebody else.” Max tilted his head toward Zee’s trunk. “Put your trunk on the golf cart and I’ll drive it up to your cabin later,” he said. “You’re in Birch. Carlos is your cabin counselor again, like he was in Cedar last year.”

  “Great,” said Zee. Carlos was another favorite counselor of Zee’s.

  “No point in sending an old-timer like you on a map quest to your cabin like the newbies,” said Max. “You know all the trails better than I do.”

  “Almost all,” said Zee. He grinned at Max with eager curiosity. “I don’t know the secret trail to Hidden Falls. How about a hint?”

  “Nope,” said Max, shaking his head slowly. “No way. Like everybody else who’s ever been, I promised never to tell how to get there. You’ll have to find Hidden Falls by yourself.”

  “I will,” said Zee. “Well, not by myself. Will and I are going to find Hidden Falls together this summer, for sure. And by the way, we’re also finally going to get to do the Dead Man’s Dive off Big Boulder, too.”

  “I bet you will,” said Max. “Busy summer for you two. Good luck. Meanwhile, get going. Carlos and the guys in Birch are waiting for you.”

  “Okay!” said Zee. He heaved his trunk onto to the golf cart, flung his backpack over his shoulder, and set off for Birch at a run, eager to find Will and get the fun started. Will had been a newbie last summer. He’d been quiet and standoffish at first, but Carlos had encouraged Zee to befriend him. So, in the good old Camp Wolf Trail tradition, Zee did. Both boys had soon discovered that they liked to pull practical jokes, and after that they became an inseparable team for the rest of the summer.

  This was Zee’s third summer at camp. Max was right: by now, Zee knew the trails as well as his own backyard. He took the shortcut to Birch, making a quick left onto an old trail that was really just a deer path. The tall grass swished his legs as he jogged steadily, slowing only to duck beneath a gigantic bough that made a leafy arch above the trail. On the other side, he quickened his pace when he spotted a small, weedy clearing up ahead. There was Birch Cabin, looking sleepy in the dappled light. A carpet of furry moss stretched down the shady side of the roof and tangled ivy crept up the outside corners.

  “Yo, Birch!” Zee shouted. “Anybody home?”

  “Yo!” came answering shouts. The cabin door burst open and a stampede of boys blasted out yelling, “Zee!” Most of the boys leapt, their feet never even touching the two steps that led from the door to the grass below. Zee saw Carlos and some new guys, but no Will.

  “Zee-Man!” said Carlos. “We’ve been waiting for you, buddy!”

  “I’ll help with your bag,” said Yasu. He took the pack from Zee’s shoulder and led the way up the steps into the cabin.

  “Come on in,” said Carlos, holding open the door with one hand. “I’m really glad you’re in Birch, Zee.”

  “Me, too,” said Zee.

  Yasu punched Zee’s arm and joked, “Guess they decided to put all the cool kids in one cabin. Remember Jim and Erik from last summer? They’re going to be in Birch, too, but they’re not here yet.”

  “We saved you a bed,” said Nate. He smacked the mattress on the lower bunk, raising a mushroom-cloud of dust that filled the space up to the bottom of the upper bunk.

  “Thanks,” coughed Zee, laughing.

  “Zee, meet Vik and Sean and Kareem,” said Carlos. “They’re newbies. We’ll have another new guy, too, named Zack, but he hasn’t arrived. Guys, this is Zee.”

  “Hey,” the boys said to one another.

  “Zee is one half of the dynamic duo, Will-n-Zee,” added Yasu.

  “Where is Will?” asked Nate.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing,” said Zee. “Where is he?”

  Carlos shrugged, saying, “He must not be at camp yet.”

  “Zee, check it out! You got a postcard already,” said Yasu, handing a card to Zee.

  “Say what? A postcard?” asked Zee. “Who from?” Zee took the postcard from Yasu. On one side, there was a picture of a wolf. Zee flipped it over. On the other side, the card was addressed to him, in care of Camp Wolf Trail. The hand-written message read:

  Zee, Due to an unfortunate change of plans, I won’t be coming to camp this summer. Sorry. Your friend, Will

  Zee felt socked in the stomach.

  “What’s it say?” asked Nate. He looked over Zee’s shoulder, trying to read the card.

  “Will’s not coming,” said Zee, not believing it himself. He skimmed the words again, hoping he’d misunderstood. But how could he have misread two sentences—one of them only one word long?

  “Aw, man,” said Yasu. “No Will? That stinks. You and Will were the two funniest guys at camp last summer. How will we have any laughs if Will’s not here?”

  “Let me see that card,” said Nate.

  Zee handed Nate the card, thinking: Without Will, I’m Zee-for-zero. I can’t pull off jokes or tricks without him! He’s my swim buddy, my cabin mate, my best camp friend, my partner in pranks. Without Will, pfft—there go all the plans we’ve been emailing back and forth all winter. What a rotten start to the summer.

  Carlos put his hand on Zee’s shoulder. “Sorry Will can’t make it, man.”

  Nate gave Zee the card back. “At least he sent you a cool photo of a wolf,” he said.

  Yeah, that’s appropriate because now I’m a lone wolf, thought Zee. He flopped onto the bottom bunk. The mattress felt scratchy and uncomfortable. Camp’s gonna be lousy without Will. Even this bunk feels awful.

  “Ow!” Zee sat up fast. Something sharp had poked him through the mattress. Zee felt around on the matt
ress, trying to find it so that he could punch it down. That’s when he heard the muffled laughter coming from below him. “What’s going on?” he said.

  “GOTCHA!” howled someone. It was Will! He slid out from beneath the bed, raised his fists above his head like a winning prizefighter, and hooted triumphantly, “Nailed! You really thought I wasn’t coming, didn’t you? Oh, man! I really fooled you this time.”

  “Will, you skunk!” Zee laughed happily. He gave Will a friendly shove that made him totter backward.

  “Well done, Will,” Nate said. “I’ve got to hand it to you. You tricked the trickster. You pulled a Will-n-Zee on Zee.”

  “I’ve been hiding under that bed choking on dust for hours,” Will said, swatting the dust off his shorts. “But it was worth it. No question. I fooled all of you—even you, Carlos. You guys should’ve heard yourselves!” Will put on a low voice as he imitated Carlos. “Carlos was like, ‘Sorry.’” Then Will put on a squeaky voice to imitate Yasu. “And Yasu was like, ‘Aw, man!’”

  Will laughed so hard he had to clutch his stomach. The new boys joined in, and so did Yasu, Nate, Zee, and Carlos.

  Nate held his fist to his mouth and pretended to be a sportscaster. “Watch out, sports fans!” he intoned. “Will-n-Zee, the practical jokesters, are back in business. Looks like it’ll be another summer full of thrills, chills, tricks, and spills. You never know what’s gonna happen with Will-n-Zee around.”

  “He’s not kidding about the kidding,” Yasu explained to Vik, Sean, and Kareem. “Last summer, when we were in Cedar Cabin together, Will-n-Zee pulled a good one. The rest of us came back from archery or something—we hadn’t been gone long—and we couldn’t get inside the cabin because they’d stuffed it full of balled-up newspapers.”

  “How about the time they freaked us out by cleaning up the cabin?” said Nate. “We woke up and the floor was scrubbed, the towels were folded, the trunks were all packed and ship-shape. The cabin was totally clean. Carlos was like, ‘What happened here? Am I in an alternate universe?’”

  “Yeah,” added Yasu. “Cedar Cabin even smelled good, not like sweaty socks like it usually did.”