Boys Camp by Cameron Dokey

Author:Cameron Dokey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Published: 2012-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Wham! Zack let the screen door slam shut behind him. Now, Zack’s legs felt like they were made of lead. The trip from the door to his bunk seemed to take forever. Zack swung himself up onto his bunk. And that’s when it happened. For the second time that day, Zack’s copy of The Outdoor Adventure Guide slid out from underneath his pillow and fell with a thunk to the floor.

Zack stared down at the book. It had been his most valuable possession until about an hour ago. Now, he didn’t even want to touch it.

How had it happened? How had the Guide let him down?

Slowly, Zack climbed down from his bunk to pick up the book.

“I’d put that thing away and never look at it again if I were you,” Erik said. “Reading it is just a waste of time. I think we all proved that.”

“You can say that again,” muttered Kareem.

Erik stood up. “C’mon you guys,” he said to everyone but Zack. “Time for dinner. In fact, thanks to our tomato baths, we’re almost late. We don’t even have time for a real shower or even a quick dunk in the lake to try to get rid of the spaghetti sauce smell.”

One by one, Zack’s cabin mates followed Erik as he stomped out the door. Zack didn’t know whether they all looked mad or not. He was too busy staring at the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to look at anyone.

Then he heard Jim say, “Listen, Zack, don’t pay any attention to Erik. He’ll cool down. And Kareem’ll figure out how to rescue his shirt. The rest of the guys are just afraid of being laughed at.”

Zack looked up quickly. “And you’re not?”

Jim gave an odd little snort. “I’m used to it,” he said. “Happens to me all the time. Besides, as I said before, I thought the skunk thing was kind of funny, not tragic.”

“Look, Jim, thanks for talking to me when nobody else would,” Zack said. “But you and I both know that I screwed up. It’s probably better if you don’t hang out with me. You should go to dinner with the rest of the guys.”

“But . . .” Jim began.

“Jim,” Zack said quietly. “Just go.”

Jim hesitated for a moment. Then, without another word, he left the cabin. He closed the screen door quietly behind him.

Zack sat perfectly still. He stared down at The Outdoor Adventure Guide. Then, like a hawk swooping down on an unsuspecting mouse, Zack leaned down and snatched up the Guide. Feverishly, he leafed through the pages until he found the section about animal tracks.

Zack knew there was an example of a skunk print in the book. He knew it. He’d read the chapter on tracking more than once. So, why hadn’t he known the print he found in the woods belonged to a skunk?

How had everything gone so terribly wrong?

There! There was the skunk print. Zack leaned over the book until his nose practically bumped the page. Silently, he counted

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