Ednor Scardens (Charm City Chronicles), Volume One

Chapter 14 - Camping in Hell

We sat on the porch silently for a few minutes, nibbling our cookies, until he broke the spell.

"So what do you do for a week at scout camp?"

"I'm not totally sure. The food will be horrible except for the s'mores, and we'll probably have to make some dumb nature crafts. Maybe we'll get to go swimming in the lake. There'd better not be any bugs. That's all I'm saying."

He bent over laughing and choking on his cookie.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Kate, you're going camping in the woods, so what makes you think that there won't be any bugs?" He looked at me in disbelief.

"Well, I'm sure they'll spray the places where we'll be. They'd better, because I'll leave if anything crawls on me," I said with finality.

He shook his head, knowing that it would be useless to try to educate me on the realities of camping right then. "Well, I'd better be on my way home. I hope you have a good trip with your girlfriends."

We both stood up, still holding hands. He looked like he was debating whether to kiss me again, but decided not to press his luck.

"Thanks for coming over, Gabe. I'll call you when I get back," I promised.

"I'll be waiting to hear from you."

He squeezed my hand gently and went down the steps with a wave. Turning, I went inside and ran up the stairs to my room. After closing my door, I jumped around my room.

The next morning, our moms dropped us off in front of Holy Sacrament church, which was the assembly point before departure to western Maryland. Mom helped me unpack all my stuff from the trunk and then hugged me.

"Have lots of fun with your friends, honey. And make sure you don't have any food in your pockets when you go to bed. You don't want any visits from the bears now."

My mind was reeling as she drove away. Nobody had said anything about bears. She had to be mistaken. There weren't bears in scout camp. Surely they had a fence or something.

Anita, Ellen, Missy and I pushed our stuff together on the ground in front of the rectory and waited for the leaders to sort out who was riding with whom. A familiar voice startled me.

"Hi, girls, ready for your camping trip? Kate, I haven't seen you at the scout meetings before."

It was O'Conner. I shouldn't have been surprised, as he must have seen us gathering there right outside his window.

"I'm going as a guest," I replied curtly.

I stayed seated on my bags, not wanting to give him any chance to touch me. The scout leader came around and called out names and drivers. I was relieved that all four of us would be riding together in one of the big vans. Everyone stood up and started moving toward their assigned vehicle. I followed reluctantly, trying to keep someone between me and him. As we picked up our bags to load them into the back, he started helping. When we had everything stowed, it was time to get in and take our seats. The vans were high off the ground and had a bar to grasp and heave yourself up inside. He stood there and took each girl by the elbow to help them get in. I was the last one, and instead of taking my elbow, he put both of his hands around my waist to help lift me up. And when I'd cleared the step, one of his hands rested briefly against my butt, like he was steadying me. I scrambled into the van and flopped into my seat, turning my face away as pins and needles radiated through me. There was no defense against his touching, as he always made sure that it looked innocent on the surface. Nausea threatened to sabotage our departure, but I closed my eyes and took deep breaths to calm myself. As usual, no one had noticed anything unusual, and we were on our way.