Camp Outlook by Brenda Baker

Author:Brenda Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 2014-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

After Sunday night campfire, we were getting ready for bed in the cabin and I noticed several girls watching Ella. They were curious. So was I. Tanya helped her zip her sleeping bag and I tried not to gawk, but I was thinking about Gabe, what he’d be like at her age. I did the math. By then I’d be almost twenty-four. I might be married. Might even have a baby myself. Weird.

Ella’s bunk was right across from mine. She turned on her side and stared at me. I stared back, remembering Bizarre Event Number Five. Her eyebrows and round eyes made her look permanently surprised. Her mouth hung open a bit showing her teeth, which were small and pointy. I rolled on my back, feeling a little sick. I was sorry to feel that way.

“Bafroom?” she said. Tanya was busy fixing a bunk spring.

“I can take her.” It was Patti, the girl with pink streaks in her hair. “I help someone like Ella at my school all the time.”

“Wonderful,” said Tanya, handing Patti a big flashlight. No sooner did they leave than they were back again.

“Too duk,” said Ella and plopped down on her bunk, genuinely terrified. Patti stood in the doorway going, “It’s okay, Ella, I’ll make sure you’re safe. C’mon. Let’s go.” But she wouldn’t move. The rest of us looked at one another, a couple rolling their eyes as if to say “Oh great, a whole week of this.”

“But you have to,” said Tanya. “Do you want to wet your bed?”

Ella shook her head, stood up, put one hand over her eyes and let Patti take her outside again, holding Ella’s other hand.

While they were gone and everyone was talking, Tanya tidied Ella’s bunk and put a few of her small belongings on her little shelf, including a picture she had brought of her mom and dad, and two teenagers who were older than Ella. Tanya moved around like a busy bee, looking very in charge of everything. She even swept the floor, although we’d only been in the cabin for a few hours. She was skinny and I’d noticed during the week how she liked to wear long shorts with plenty of pockets, and always wore at least two tight sleeveless shirts in layers with her bra straps showing, then several chain necklaces and a few bracelets. Now she was on her bunk, removing the jewelery and placing everything into a plastic box with dividers, all neat and organized. When she was ready for bed, she took a clipboard off a nail on the wall and began checking things off on a list. Just when I began to wonder what was taking Patti and Ella so long, we heard them talking out front and Patti came in, still holding Ella’s hand.

“Good grief,” Patti laughed, “Ella had to cover her eyes all the way to the outhouse and back, even though she kept tripping.”

“I don’t get it,” said Regan, “if it’s dark and she can’t see anything anyway, why is she covering her eyes? That makes no sense.

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