THE LIGHTS FLICKERED through the window the next morning
and I yawned as I stretched my paws. The watch I'd strapped around the bunk
post on my bed glowed with 7:15. I was wide-awake although I usually slept until
10 or 11 o'clock.
Cali, who was also on the top bunk and right
behind me, lay slumped over her bed. I crawled over my bed and shook her slightly
on the shoulders.
"Cali!" I whispered loudly. "Cali, wake up!"
"Uuggghhh..." she groaned, rolling over. "Po,
not yet..."
"We have to wake up at 7:00, come on! It's 7:15
now, get up!"
After a lot of coaxing I managed to get her out
of bed. We trudged out the door and were half way to the mess hall when the
breakfast bell rang, and then we stopped to wait for Tazz.
"Strange that it's just us, you know?" commented
Cali with a yawn. "I mean, we're all friends and no one else is even here."
"I know, it is strange. But strange things happen,
you know? I mean, remember the time you were born? That was strange-and unfortunate!"
I joked, and Cali got fake-sad. This is the stuff we loved to do-we were starting
to feel more at home.
Tazz caught up with us and started telling us
about a dream he'd had last night. Suddenly, he cut off in the middle. "Hey,
Po, you never showed us what you wanted to last night, did you?"
Suddenly, the memory of Cabin Thirteen crossed
my mind again. I shuddered, remembering the feeling I'd gotten while I was in
there.
"I'll show you after breakfast, if that's all
right. I totally forgot about it," I said just as we reached the mess hall.
Breakfast passed uneventfully, we chatted about
the schedule and learned it was very simple and very uniform-it was the same
every day of the summer. First we would wake up, have breakfast, free time,
and then the three classes-the order of these changed every day. Lunch, free
time, swimming, free time, dinner, free time, and then, once and a while, an
evening activity.
"A lot of free time," commented Tazz.
"No kidding!" said Quatri.
"I'm glad, though. This camp seems to be one
big mystery," I clapped my paw over my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that! Only
Tazz and Cali were to know about my Cabin Thirteen discoveries!
Luckily, what I said went ignored.
After breakfast, the three tutors went off on
their own to prepare for their first classes-today it would be creative writing,
singing, and then stage productions.
I took Cali and Tazz down the path to show them
Cabin Thirteen.
When we arrived at the edge of the forest where
we were supposed to turn, we fought through the trees until we came to the old
building. Even just being there again made me shudder. I have to get over this!
I thought, and walked bravely toward the cabin. I opened the door as I'd done
last time to find it in the same condition as I'd left it-the same as I'd found
it except for the whiter spot in the sink.
"Whoa..." I heard Cali say, reminding me I was
alone here.
I had explained to them on the way down about
Cabin Thirteen and the ma, and they'd been enthralled by my story.
"We have a little bit of time," I said. "Do you
guys mind if look around a bit? I wanna see if anything is here-you know, look
under the floorboards and stuff. Like the mystery novels I've read."
Tazz pondered that for a moment. I'll help you.
Here, you start in the middle and I'll start over here by the wall. If Cali
wants, she can start at the other wall."
Cali nodded, and we all set to work. I pried
up the first floor board and quickly put it back into place-there was nothing
there. Then I tried the second floorboard and I found I was in luck. There was
a lumpy sack in the space underneath, I was so surprised that I screamed.
Cali and Tazz both jumped. "What happened, Po?"
Cali asked, concerned. I showed her the bag, but suddenly I knew I wanted out.
Carrying the bag, I jumped up. "C'mon, you guys, let's get out of here-we might
be back later, but I don't know."
I tossed the bag into Cali's and mine cabin when
we passed it, but I knew I couldn't open it yet. For the rest of free time,
I wanted to be alone for sometime to think. Telling Tika to stay put, and telling
Cali and Tazz that I wanted to be left alone, I made for the shore of the lake.
Perched on a rock, I thought about various things
until the bell rang once again for our first class of the summer.
In the computer lab, Nisiko told us we'd be doing
the writing on computers, since it's easier for most pets to type than hold
a pencil. I had figured that, since it was in the computer lab, but I didn't
say anything.
The topic I chose was 'camp', and the topic that
I picked out of a hat for this course was 'mystery'. Sounded like an interesting
combination, so I started on a story right away. Tazz was still at a loss for
ideas, but Cali and I were well on are ways.
After creative writing-which seemed to be over
in a snap-we trooped over to the auditorium for singing. Quatri was there, waiting
for us. It was fun, but extremely hard. Tazz, though, although he didn't travel
in leaps and bounds in Creative Writing, was basically flying in singing. It
was originally the only class he signed up for, he said.
When we get to the halfway point, he admitted,
and we start to write our own songs, he said he was going to write one for Ev.
Cali and I playfully teased him about it for the rest of the day, until he got
so fed up with it he started telling some of my old embarrassing moments. Realising
it might turn into something nasty, we all stopped and laughed about it for
the rest of the day.
Stage Productions was wonderful, I think, for
everyone. We started thinking of a plot for our play right away, and it was
coming along great when, suddenly, the lunch bell rang.
"The morning's done already?" I asked, bewildered.
Cali and Tazz were equally amazed. It had gone
by in a flash! We walked over to lunch, chattering about our morning, laughing
about various things, and, all in all, having a great time.
The rest of the day was tremendously fun, especially
when we arrived at swimming lessons only to find they'd been cancelled for the
summer. That meant, of course, our whole afternoon was free. We traveled back
to the cabins-we let Tazz in ours, who was he supposed to hang out with?-and
I took the sack out from under my bed.
Cali's face fell when she saw it, and Tazz lowered
his eyes.
"We have to open it some time you guys," I persuaded.
"I, personally, am dying to know what's inside."
I untied the top of the sack, and out fell three
different items. The first was a small green book, with crisp white pages waiting
to be filled with words. The other was a ball-point pen, the same shade as the
book.
The last item, and most confusing, was a key
on a golden chain. The key flashed furiously in the sunlight, sending reflections
everywhere. There was a piece of masking tape tied around the chain, and written
messily on the tap were the words, Branston's Office.
I looked at all three of the things and then
looked up at Tazz and Cali. "You guys..." I said.
"Keep it, Po Keep it somewhere safe. Don't show
anyone, OK?" Said Tazz, staring at the key. "And whatever you do-don't use it
and do something stupid. You're usually the one we can count on to do that."
I only nodded and placed them away near the bottom
of my trunk. Swallowing down my nervousness, I climbed up onto my bed. "I'm
going to take a nap now, OK? I just need sometime to think stuff over..."
I slept for hours, until Cali woke me up for
dinner. Everyone acted like nothing had happened, and did so for the rest of
the week.
Then, on Thursday, I got my first letter from
Ev:
|
Hey,
Po!
Miss
me? I miss you a ton! I sent this the day after you left-I wish you
would come back! Well, I'm counting down the days until visiting day,
four weeks from now....
Omni
misses you, too. She's over here a ton now-there isn't even Tika to
clean up after at home! Oh well, Nova's having the time of her life,
and I'm here sulking and waiting for four weeks.
I
just found out Tazz is there too! That's amazing! Give him my love,
all right?
Sorry
this is short, more soon... and are you writing to me?
Love
your BFF,
EverWild
|
I smiled and put it back in the envelope. I
had been writing letters, I had written one every day to both her and Omni.
I fell asleep on Thursday night
with happy thoughts in my head, I actually even had a nice dream that night.
Friday was different though.
Very different.
Friday changed everything.
To be continued... | 
