July 21, 1984
“Cabins one, two and three in the first wagon. Cabins four and five in the second, along with the base camp...” Ted Jannings checked his list. “Double check to make sure you all have your rations, your map and compass, and, most importantly, your radio. Once your team has been dropped off, that radio is your only contact with base camp. Each of you has a map to your campsite; once you find it, there will be coordinates to your camp cache and food locker. Normally, you would be building a fire pit; however, the fire danger is high, so you will only have your stoves for cooking. No campfires. Billy and I will be manning the base camp, along with Cookie. We’ll do three daily radio checks, and the wagons will be waiting when you hike out in three days. This is what you’ve been training for. Enjoy it. Any questions?”
None. Ted really hadn’t expected any. This trip was one of the highlights of camp. Each group of campers, along with their counselors, would hike to their own campsite. They would spend three days, hiking and camping, before hiking back to the base camp on day four. The teams had spent the last three weeks preparing for the journey. They had been practicing woodcraft, orienteering, hiking and general teamwork. The counselors were well trained, and the campers were all excited; even the most jaded of the teenagers were having trouble maintaining nonchalance. The two covered wagons, each pulled by a pair of enormous draft horses, had the younger boys nearly dancing with anticipation.
Jim boosted Brady into the wagon, and hauled himself over the side rail. He was proud of Cabin 3. The boys had really banded together, especially after what had happened, first to Kris, and then to Sam. The buddy system had been taken to the extreme after those two incidents. Jim caught Dan’s gaze, and grinned. The boys from Cabin 3 had staked out benches in a clump. One for all, and all for one.
“Ranger,” Sam called out. “Here’s your seat.” He patted the space next to him. “Cowboy, Denis has yours.”
“Thanks,” Dan slid in between Denis and Mark, as Jim took his place next to Sam. The driver loosened the reins, and the wagon was off and moving up the trail.
Dan helped Sam straighten his pack, and then turned to Jim. “Ready?” he asked.
Jim nodded. “I think we are as ready as we can be. I have the radio. Mark? Do you have the map?”
“Right here, Ranger.” Mark held up the weather resistant map. “Kris has the compass.”
“Then, let’s move out.” Jim waved his hand toward the trailhead, and started forward. The six campers fell in behind him, with Dan bringing up the rear.
The trail was steep, but not overly difficult. Jim led the boys with ease, pointing out landmarks and wildlife as they went. Handing over his pocket knife, he showed Brady and Luis how to mark the trail, while Dan showed Denis and Sam how to leave silent trail markers with pebbles and sticks. Kris kept his eyes on the compass, conferring with Mark every time the needle changed.
Trailing behind, Dan noticed a sudden movement in the brush. He grabbed hold of Denis’ shoulder as a deer crashed across the trail. Wide eyed, the boy watched as the animal gracefully leapt into the brush. “Cowboy! Did you see that?” the boy breathed.
“Yeah. I did,” Dan said with a grin. “You almost got run over by a deer. Stay alert, buddy.” He ruffled the boy’s hair. Following the path of the deer, Dan spotted a building. He whistled, and Jim turned, a questioning look on his face.
“What’s up?” Jim asked, moving back down the trail.
“I thought this was all forestry land?” Dan said.
“It is. At least that’s how it looks on the map.”
“Well,” Dan pointed through the trees. “That looks like a house. A house with a garage, a garden, electrical lines and a drive-way.”
“Mark!” Jim called, “Bring the map, okay?”
Mark complied, and Jim and Dan studied it, trying to pin point their location. “Here.” Jim pointed to a tiny pink spot on the map. “This is leased land, and there’s a fire road that leads to the highway.” He shrugged. “I guess someone lives there.”
“I guess so.” Dan grinned. “For a minute I was worried we had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the suburbs.”
“That would be embarrassing,” Jim agreed, handing the map back to Mark. “Pony up, boys. We still have about five miles to hike.”
Their campsite was perfect. Stepping out of the woods, Jim caught his breath. The clearing sat high on the top of the hill, overlooking the wooded valley below. The northern corner was bisected by a small, clear stream that pooled before tumbling over the edge of the hill. The view seemed to go on forever: Endless, cloudless blue.
“Nice digs,” Dan commented, stepping up to Jim.
“I know. We might be the farthest out, but this is an amazing site.” Jim looked around again. “Now we just need to find our cache.”
“I found the paper!” Brady called out excitedly, pulling a weatherproof pouch out from under a fairly large rock. “Look!”
Brady handed the pouch to Mark, who pulled the coordinate sheet out and began studying it. The other boys crowded around him, eager to start the treasure hunt that would lead them to their supplies. Mark unfolded the area map, and called for Kris to bring the compass. Mark, having been thrust into a leadership role, had embraced it. He had chosen Kris as his partner, working with the slower boy on orienteering. Kris had done well with the compass, much to everyone’s surprise. Despite his other shortcomings, it seemed Kris could indeed find his way out of a paper bag--or even a heavily wooded area. Jim and Dan watched with pride, as the six boys tracked down the cache lockers within fifteen minutes.
Standing in front of the padlocked crates, Dan asked, “Where’s the key?”
Jim stared at him, his eyes blank. “I thought you had it!”
“Me?” Dan’s face fell. In unison, all six boys groaned.
“Just kidding!” Jim grinned, his eyes twinkling as he pulled a key ring out of his pocket. “Gotcha!” A second later he was rolling across the ground, under attack from his charges.
Dan whistled, shrill and loud, halting the attack. Extending his hand to a laughing Jim, he helped him to his feet. “Okay, campers. Let’s get this show on the road.” Jim opened the locks, and they dug into the equipment.
Staking out a circle for cooking, the campers began setting up the tents. There were three tents all together. The four-man tent housing the four younger boys faced the circle from the West. A two-man tent housing Mark and Sam faced the circle from the East. Jim and Dan’s tent was in the middle.
Once the sleeping quarters had been established and secured, Jim took Brady and Luis a few yards into the woods and set up an outdoor shower. In truth, Jim figured that he and Dan would be the only ones willingly using the shower, but it was the principle of the matter.
Dan showed Denis and Sam how to secure their food supplies, leaving Mark and Kris to plan their next trek. With the camp organized and secured, the campers began hiking. Mark and Kris took the lead, while Jim and Dan brought up the rear, carefully keeping two sets of eyes on their troops.
It was a weary but happy group that trouped back into camp that evening. After a quick dip in the stream to wash off the majority of the dust, Jim and the boys started cooking dinner, while Dan used the radio to check in with the base camp.
The sun began to set as they feasted on boiled hot dogs, chili, and freeze dried ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Sitting around the cook stove wasn’t quite the same as sitting around a campfire, but it was still a lot of fun to sing camp songs and tell stories as the night sky darkened and the stars began to shine.
“That’s the Big Dipper,” Jim said, pointing his finger into the sky.
“Where?” Sam asked.
“I see it. No, I don’t.” Luis’ voice lost its initial excitement. “Where does it start?”
“Try stretching out on the ground,” Dan suggested, taking his own advice and laying down on his back.
As the boys complied, Jim pointed again. “See that blue star?” he asked. “That’s the tip of the handle. Trace it down...”
“I see it!” Brady shouted. “There!”
The other boys chimed in as one by one they spotted the constellation.
“Polaris?” Dan asked softly.
“Yeah.” Jim shifted his finger. “Good,” he said. “Now find the top corner, the pouring tip of the dipper. Now trace a diagonal line to the brightest star. See it?” He waited for the others to catch up. “That’s Polaris--the North Star.”
“That’s the North Star?” Denis asked.
“It is,” Jim answered. “It’s also the top of the handle of the Little Dipper. Start with Polaris and go up and over. See it?”
They were all asleep. After an hour of star-gazing, eyes had begun drooping. Settling the campers, Jim and Dan had checked the camp perimeters before crawling into their own sleeping bags. Jim fell asleep immediately, but Dan was still wide awake at midnight, listening to the sounds of the night.
From the stream, came the gentle babble of the water against the rocks, and the long, slow croaking of frog song. A high pitched squeal echoed in the night. A rabbit, Dan thought, dinner for the owl I heard hooting a bit earlier. A different noise caught his ear. Human footsteps, a rustling noise from one of the tents. One of the boys, heeding nature’s call? Dan listened closely, as the footsteps headed toward the cliff edge. Sighing, he unzipped his bag and reached for his boots.
Dan found Mark, sitting on a rock overlooking the wooded valley. The night was dark, but the waning moon, coupled with the bright stars, lit up the night. “It’s late,” Dan said.
“Or early,” Mark replied, his voice quiet in the night.
“It’s going to be a busy few days,” Dan said. “You’re going to be tired, if you don’t get some sleep.”
“You aren’t sleeping,” Mark pointed out.
Dan grinned. “You’ve got me there. So, why are you out here, night watching?”
Mark was silent for a long moment. “Did you know that Denis and I aren’t going back to our foster family?”
“No.” Dan was a bit perplexed. “Where are you going?”
“Oregon.” Mark stared out into the night. “Denis doesn’t know. I’m not supposed to know.”
“So, how do you know?”
“I overheard Ted and Billy-boy, yesterday.”
Overheard?” Dan looked skeptical. “I’m guessing that Ted and Billy weren’t aware that you were hearing. Right?”
Mark looked away. “Not exactly. I was kind of outside the door.”
“Hmm. I see.” Dan plopped himself down next to Mark. “What did you hear?”
“The social worker found my papa’s sister, some place in Oregon. She already took Julia,” he paused. “Julia’s our little sister,” he explained. Dan nodded, letting Mark continue. “Ted said that she’s going to take Denis and me, too, after camp.”
“What’s the problem? You’ll be with family, and you’ll be with your sister again.”
“I don’t know her! I’ve never even met her!” Mark spat. “I’ve spent my whole life in L.A. I don’t know nothing about Oregon.”
“I understand that.” Dan stretched out his long legs, and stared up at the stars. “When my uncle first took me to Sleepyside, I didn’t know anything about the area. I was living in New York City, and it wasn’t a good life, but it was what I knew.”
“Did you get along with your uncle?”
Dan laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. “Not at first. I didn’t live with him though; he had me live with a friend of his. So it was a little weird.”
“Why didn’t you live with him?”
“There were a lot of reasons,” Dan said. “He isn’t that much older than I am, he lived in a very small apartment, he didn’t really want me--at least that’s what I thought, and he was worried that I needed more than he could give me.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.” Dan focused on the North Star. “See, I never had brothers, or a sister, like you have. After my parents died, I didn’t have anyone, not for a long time. I sort of forgot how to get along with people in a normal way. I had to learn that all over again.”
“Cowboy, was your uncle’s friend...” Mark hesitated. “Was the friend, you know, okay?”
Understanding the hidden meaning in the question, Dan suppressed a shiver. “He was, and is, a great and very kind man. It’s funny, because Mr. Maypenny--that’s his name, Thomas Maypenny--he’s kind of an odd duck. He lives in a cabin in the middle of the woods, and doesn’t socialize much. But he taught me a lot about trust and making good choices. In fact,” he lowered his voice. “I’m going to tell you something that only Ji…Ranger, knows. It isn’t exactly a secret, but I’d appreciate it if you kept it between the two of us. Okay?”
Mark nodded, and Dan finished, “When I get home, I’m going to be signing some papers. Adoption papers.”
“That Maypenny guy’s adopting you?” Mark looked surprised. “But, you’re, like, a grown-up.”
Dan laughed, this time a genuine laugh. “I’m sixteen,” he told Mark. “I’m not a grown-up, yet. Besides, everyone needs a family, Mark. Even grown-ups.”
“But you aren’t related,” Mark commented. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for your uncle to adopt you?”
“Family doesn’t have to mean blood,” Dan said, pulling up his legs. “Family can be people you trust and care about. Look at Ji...Ranger. He was adopted just a couple of years ago. He was alone, but now he has a family, and his family is a part of mine.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Where we live, in Sleepyside, it’s kind of out in the country. I live in a log cabin, the middle of a game preserve. Jim--that’s Ranger, he lives in a mansion with his sister, Honey. My uncle and I work for Jim’s parents. My best friend, Mart, lives down the road, on a farm, with his parents, his sister, Trixie, and two brothers, Brian and Bobby. Mart’s girlfriend, Diana, lives in a huge house by the river.” Dan searched for the right words. “When I arrived, I wasn’t very nice to any of them, except maybe for Bobby, because he was just a little kid. I never had much family--just my mom and dad. But when I stopped hiding behind my nastiness, and started trusting people, I started to make friends--real friends, and then one day I woke up and realized that I didn’t just have friends, I had a family again. A real family. It’s a little strange, the way it looks, but it’s still my family. I have a father--that would be Mr. Maypenny--three brothers, and three beautiful, crazy sisters that I would die for. None of them are related to me by blood, but that doesn’t make us any less related. Does that make sense?”
“I think so.” Mark picked absently at his fingernail with his thumbnail. “It’s kinda like Cabin 3, right? I mean, Denis is my brother, but the rest of them should be nothing to me. They’re just guys, or they were. Now they’re like more brothers. They get on my nerves, but no one else better say anything or do anything to them, or they’ll have to deal with me.”
“That’s it, exactly. You’ve gained a few extra little brothers. Poor you.”
Mark smiled, his teeth white in the darkness. “Or lucky me. I used to be in the middle; now I’m the oldest.” He sobered. “The last foster house wasn’t too bad,” he said. “I guess if things don’t work out in Oregon, maybe we could go back.”
“Are you sure you are going to Oregon?”
“Pretty sure. I stayed outside the door until they stopped talking. Ted said that when Papa’s sister was asked to take Julia, she told them she wanted us, too.”
“That’s a good sign, that she wants you.”
“I should try, right?”
“You should definitely try,” Dan agreed. “And I think you should talk to Ted as soon as this trip is over. Let him know what you heard, and let him give you the whole truth, okay?”
“That would be the right thing to do, right?”
“It would.”
“Did you ever notice that the right thing, is almost never the easy thing?”
“Yes.” Dan yawned. “Sorry, I think the day has finally caught up with me.”
“Me, too.” Mark stifled his own yawn, and pulled himself to his feet. Extending a hand to Dan, he said, “Sam has a hot dog and a bag of carrots under his pillow.”
Dan accepted the hand up with a sigh. “I gave him the carrots,” he admitted as he rose. “Sorry about the hot dog.”
“S’alright. It’s in a zipper bag, so it shouldn’t bring bears. If it helps Sam sleep, I guess it ain’t hurting anyone.” Mark shrugged, and took a step towards his tent. Turning back, he looked Dan straight in the eye. “Thanks...Dan.”
“You’re welcome, Mark. Sleep well.”
“You too. ‘Night.”
Dan watched Mark creep back into his tent, before crawling back into his own. This time, he had no trouble falling asleep.
