Tent City by Kelly Van Hull

Author:Kelly Van Hull [Van Hull, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kelly Van Hull
Published: 2013-11-24T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

As soon as we enter camp, the first person I see is Jack. He doesn’t fail to notice Bentley and I are together. He just keeps on going wherever he was going and acts like he never even saw us. I’m not terribly offended, as I tell myself it is Bentley he has contempt for, not me.

It takes me a while to find Kit, and when I do, she and Brody are tending to a girl who is sick. I go in to get Brody and decide to wait for her on the porch of the medical cabin.

“How long has she been in there?” I ask Brody, who looks so much older than even just a few months ago. Instead of buzzing around with a plane or a train, he’s looking wistfully out into the woods.

“Oh, I don’t know, a while.”

“Who’s she with?”

“Her name is Beth.”

“Is that the girl who was bitten by the raccoon?”

“Yeah,” he says, staring into the woods. He is trying to concentrate harder now, and I look to see what’s got his attention.

It is so far away it’s hard to tell what it is, but it’s definitely moving. It’s a grayish/brownish blur that seems to be moving closer to us.

It’s still so far away, so I stand to get a better look. Whatever it is, is darting between the trees so it’s hard to see what it might be.

I turn my backpack around and rummage through it until I find the binoculars.

It takes me a while to get the object in focus, and when I do, I’m shocked. It’s some kind of wolf, or coyote, just outside of Tent City. I thought they were nocturnal animals.

What is it doing so close to camp? Don’t they fear people? My pulse ticks at full speed and I run in to tell Kit we need to get back to my cabin.

“Kit,” —I poke my head into the cabin—“we gotta go. There’s an animal.”

“So?” She looks slightly annoyed that I am interfering and I sneak a glance at Beth. She looks pale and sweaty. Something feels wrong here.

“You can come back. Please, just get out here now!”

I take Brody by the hand and decide to take a detour to Callie’s to see if Bentley’s there. Thankfully, he is.

I’m certain all of the color has drained from my face, because as soon as he sees me, he rushes over. I’ve got Brody’s wrist in a death grip and he’s starting to whine.

“Sit down,” Bentley instructs.

“No, I can’t. There’s something out there. It’s right outside the cabins by Wes’s tent. It’s some kind of animal. Out in the daylight, very close to camp.” I’m trying to steady my voice for Brody’s sake, but I can hear the pitch rising.

“Stay here with Callie. We’ll go check it out.” He’s moving stuff around under his bed and I see him pull out a rifle.

“No, I have to go back to medical. I told Kit I’d meet her there.”

“Fine. I’ll take you there myself.”

He instructs Callie to stay inside and he rushes me to Kit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.