Page 12

Gavin

“ H ow are they doing?” Dad asked as he joined me for lunch. He’d been hanging out behind the scenes which I did not mind one little bit. It was comforting knowing he was there if anything happened we couldn’t handle.

“So good. They’re all very interested in learning. One of them even managed to get an ember with the bow drill.” I took a big bite of food, so happy to have a break before we started with the next activity.

“That’s impressive. I hope you told them how difficult that is,” Dad said.

“Oh, I did, and so did everyone else. They’re such a great group. All of them are happy for each other when they accomplish something.”

“I’m really happy to hear that. I know you weren’t sure what to expect with adults.”

“Wyatt asked me to show him the stars last night,” I said and hoped he didn’t freak out.

He shot me a knowing look, folded his arms across his chest, and leaned back in his chair. “You know that’s how I met your mother,” Dad said like it was no big deal.

“I know.” I grinned and he grinned back, and I knew just like always, he wanted me to be happy. “But you were only sixteen,” I said. Not that it mattered, they’d been together ever since.

“He seems to be having fun. I was a little worried at first.”

“He said talking to you really helped him want to stay. I guess you can’t retire yet.”

“Eventually I will, but right now I have to admit I’m having fun watching you run it all. What’s their next activity?”

“They have to split into teams for four then they’ll need to build a fire big enough to burn through a rope holding a bag we’ve suspended off the ground that has some useful items in it.” I waited for the question because I knew he wouldn’t be able to stand not knowing.

“Useful items?” he asked and narrowed his eyes.

“You’ll see.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Some things never change,” he said. Neither of us liked to give away all our secrets, and we both loved to surprise the other.

“Be sure you go to the firepit area after lunch so you can see how well they do.”

“I will.” He stood and after a pat on my shoulder he walked back to the kitchen where I knew he’d be sampling whatever Jimmy had decided to cook for dinner.

The campers were all talking and laughing as they ate, which was the complete opposite of that first day.

They’d discovered over the last twenty-four hours they had more in common than they realized and it was looking like they were all embracing their newfound friendships.

After taking my tray to the counter, I walked over to the table where Wyatt was seated.

“When you’re all done eating meet me at the fire pit,” I said, and walked away.

I knew without looking back they would all be discussing what that meant.

Two staff members were already waiting for me when I got there, and the three of us set up the four stations before the campers arrived.

When they did, they looked at what we’d made with a mixture of awe and possibly a little fear.

“What’s this?” John asked and gave it all a critical look. He was quiet and very smart, but he spoke more than his friend—or possibly boyfriend, Drevon, did.

“This is your fire challenge,” I said and clapped my hands together getting everyone’s attention. “Since you all did so well with the fire challenge, I thought we could do a fun group competition where you’ll be able to win a prize that you can use later.”

“What do we have to do?” Bobbie asked.

“First you’ll need to choose groups of three, there will be four groups.

” I waited while they all shifted around before deciding who went where.

“Okay, so over here you’ll see where we’ve hoisted a cloth bag with a rope tied over a fire pit.

You’ll need to work together to not only build a fire, but to keep it hot enough to burn through the rope and lower the bag.

Questions anyone?” All twelve hands went up and one by one I answered their questions until each group went to their area.

“How long do we have?” Wyatt asked.

“You can take as long as you want but your friends might be faster,” I said.

It was meant to be fun, so I didn’t want to add pressure by making it a timed contest. “Okay, everyone ready?” They all stuck a foot out in front of them getting ready to run for supplies.

“Go!” All of them ran and within a few seconds some came back to their area and dropped kindling while others brought back small sticks.

“You’ll need some bigger sticks since you’ll need it to burn longer.

” Immediately some of them grabbed bigger sticks and a few logs.

Wyatt was the fire starter for his team that included Dani and Bobbie.

He knelt down and did a great job choosing the best kindling to start the fire with.

He was first to get his fire going and started adding small sticks to it.

Timmy’s team was right behind Wyatt and the two of them were smack talking hoping to distract the other.

“Great job, Timmy,” I said as his fire caught too.

The third and fourth team had theirs going, now they all needed to add bigger sticks at the right time to build the fire but not smother it.

Wyatt was being very careful not to add too much but he was letting the smaller branches burn down too much before adding anything bigger.

“You’re all doing so well. Which team will burn through the rope first?

” They all ignored me as they worked hard to get their fire to grow.

Lyn was the first to figure out when to add the larger sticks and her fire was growing fast. Timmy saw what she was doing and soon followed.

His fire was really taking off. John’s team were still figuring out the kindling but were having a good laugh over the fact none of them could get the fire going when they’d all done it earlier.

Without me saying a word the three of them decided to help the other teams, which was a good idea.

Then Timmy’s fire really took off and was getting close to the rope.

“We need more sticks,” Timmy said without looking away from the fire he was frantically building.

“Better hurry, Timmy,” Wyatt teased but his fire wasn’t nearly big enough.

Then, the rope caught. Timmy’s team froze as they watched it and soon enough the bag dropped into the waiting arms of Sal. “We won!” he yelled and the three of them jumped around. But Wyatt hadn’t given up yet.

His team brought him more sticks of varying sizes, and he looked at each one and either snapped it in half or added it by size until it took and started the rope on fire, but the other team’s rope had caught fire too.

“Burn baby burn,” Wyatt chanted while Bobbie and Dani stood frozen by him afraid to make it burn slower.

Suddenly their rope burned through, and the sack of treats dropped just before Lyn’s did.

Both teams cheered just happy to have completed the challenge and showing me they were starting to get it.

They didn’t have to win. They only needed to try.