Cartboy Goes to Camp (18 page)

“Get him!” Cora said.

Cora, Vinny, and I raced after Ryan. We probably would have caught him except for three things:

Ryan disappeared into the dark. While Cora and I could do nothing but stand there and watch.

What could I say?

“I guess Ryan won.”

That was pretty much what I was thinking of saying, when I heard a bunch of feet pounding the ground.

“Who is it? Who's there?” I said.

And then I got the answer. It came in the form of two small kids: one wearing NightTime diapers. And another with extremely clean hands.

Scot was holding one end of a rope. And Perth was holding the other. It looked just like the rope we had used in the tug-of-war.

“Going somewhere, Ryan?” Scot said.

Sheer genius, I thought as I heard Ryan trip and fall down.

“Marco for the love of Polo! What is going on out here?”

Mr. Prentice must have heard all the commotion. Suddenly, he was standing right next to us, and the rest of camp was not far behind him.

The light from Mr. Prentice's lantern shone everywhere, and after a second, it landed on the wooden box. It had broken open, and the ground was covered with pearls.

“Who found this?” asked Mr. Prentice.

“Hal did,” said Cora.

Mr. Prentice picked up a few pearls and turned them over in his hands. The way he rolled those pearls around, it was as if he wasn't just holding something old. It was like he was touching the past.

He reached out his hand, full of pearls, and put it next to mine. “Well, then, Mr. Rifkind, these are yours.”

“No, they're not, sir.”

I pointed to the person standing next to me. “They belong to Vinny.”

Vinny hesitated a second, then took the pearls from Mr. Prentice. “Are you sure, Hal?”

“Yep.”

Mr. Prentice leaned toward Vinny and spoke in a hushed and somber voice.

“Mr. Ramirez. This discovery constitutes the biggest news to hit Camp Jamestown since little Roger Edmund found Chief Powhatan's deerskin leggings.”

“Therefore,” said Mr. Prentice, “in the tradition of the settlers of Jamestown, might I propose a trade? Might ye consider donating this treasure to the museum? So that the whole world may enjoy it?”

“The whole world?” asked Vinny.

“Okay, a few dozen campers and their parents.”

“Sure, Mr. Prentice,” he said.

But before Vinny turned away, something weird happened. I guess you could say the pioneer in me actually came alive.

Because I couldn't help but force my way into a barter with the natives. “Mr. Prentice, as part of the trade, maybe Vinny and Scot and Perth could have one or two pearls. For themselves?”

“It's a deal!”

I guess my newfound “pioneer spirit” wasn't lost on Mr. Prentice. “Very good, Mr. Rifkind!” he said. “Trading was key to the colonists' ultimate prosperity. From the minute the British arrived in Jamestown, they began to barter with the Indians.”

He took a few steps closer to me. “Now, Mr. Rifkind, the British brought something on their ship that interested the Indians very much. Can you guess what it was?”

“Um, I'm not too good at the guessing stuff, Mr. Prentice.”

“Go ahead! Give it a try. During a long cold winter, what would the Indians have wanted from England? Think of something that is very British.”

“Fish and chips?”

“No.”

“A double-decker bus?”

“No. Something the British could have transported on their ship several centuries ago.”

“The queen?”

“Mother of Crumpets! It's tea. Hal. Tea!”

But this time, when he told me the right answer, Mr. Prentice wasn't mad. He actually had a big smile on his face.

“Speaking of tea,” he said, “what do you say we all go to the dining hall and have some!”

“Sounds good,” I said.

I'm not the biggest tea fan in the world. But there's one thing I've learned in my short time on earth:

Where there's tea, sometimes there's also banana cream pie.

 

The Dance

Dear Future Person Who Has Once Again Allowed Me to Bug You:

Before I sign off, I wanted to tell you one more thing. Okay, a few more things.

All of which happened on the last day of camp.

First, I spent most of the afternoon packing my big green duffel bag. My dad helped, but the whole time, he was pretty mad. Mostly on account of the fact that I had run away twice. Even though I told him I was sorry.

Together we pushed the shovel to the bottom of the bag. “Am I grounded, Dad?” I asked.

“No, son. You're not.”

“Oh, thank you. Oh, what a relief—”

“Except for one thing, Hal. When we get home, no
RavenCave.
”

“B-but Dad. Arnie and I have to get to Level 15! We're so close. And besides, what else are we going to do for the rest of the summer!”

“Well, son. There's a place in downtown Stowfield. It's called a library. They have these things called
books.
In fact, they have a whole section on history.”

All I know is, when it comes to my dad and history, there's not much point in arguing.

“Okay,” I said. “But I have one more question: Do I still have to carry my books to school in the cart next year? I mean, maybe … maybe I could get a motorized scooter?”

My dad took his hands off the duffel bag and rubbed his chin. I could tell he was mulling over the whole scooter thing. Thinking about the situation. Trying to come up with an answer.

Finally, he made a decision. I was about to learn my fate.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “We'll see, son. We'll see.”

After I finished packing, I caught up with Vinny, Scot, and Perth down by the pond.

Vinny picked up a nice flat rock and skipped it over the water.

“Seven skips!” shouted Perth. “Nice job, Vinny.”

“Let me try.” Scot picked up a flat rock and rubbed his hands over the smooth edges.

“No Purell today, Scot?” I asked.

“Nah. Decided I'm not gonna worry. Well, not as much. We'll see what happens when we get back on the bus with all those kids, though…”

The pond was silvery and calm in the evening light. So I figured I'd skip a rock too. I spotted a flat, pointy one on the ground and picked it up.

Just as I was about to skip the rock across the water, I noticed it wasn't a rock. It was an arrowhead.

“You should keep that, Hal,” said Vinny. “Arrowheads are supposed to bring good luck.”

“I think this one already has.”

“How so?”

“I heard Ryan Horner got sent home early.”

Vinny turned and faced Scot, Perth, and me. “What do you say we all go to the dance together?”

“Why not?” said Perth, giving his diaper a snap. “I'm feeling pretty lucky tonight.”