been a really long and tiring day. But on the other hand, I know exactly how she feels.
“Maybe we can find some berries and stuff,” I suggest. “Remember, we learned about it.”
Everyone nods enthusiastically when I say this. It seems no one feels good about shooting an animal for dinner.
We spend the next few hours hunting for some of the things on our list. We find the moss right away from the rock. One of the other girls in Anne’s dorm is even able to identify it.
I slap a mosquito on my arm. “Here’s our bug,” I announce, dangling it by its wing.
Finding a white birch leaf among all these pines seems like it’s going to be impossible until Maddie, Evelyn, and I come upon a gorgeous stand of birches. “Score!” Maddie cheers as she snaps off a leaf.
When we return to our campsite, six of the girls are busy setting up the two-person pup tents. Rosie and Anne have made a great fire. It crackles invitingly and the pleasant smell of burning pine permeates the campsite.
Maddie holds up the birch leaf for the group to see. “Excellent!” Rosie praises us as she takes a packet oftissues from her back pocket and lays the leaf between two sheets.
“Did you … uh … catch anything for supper?” I ask Rosie. I have such mixed feelings. Part of me hopes she hasn’t. How gross to have to eat some cute little rabbit or a skinned squirrel! But another part of me — kind of a big part — would really like something to eat. I haven’t had meat that wasn’t made out of soy in a really long time.
“No. I tried,” Rosie says. “The only animal I even saw was a squirrel running through the branches, and he was too fast for me. No one else would even attempt it, so I sent a crew out to see what they could forage.”
It’s evening now, and the dark pine needles overhead make it seem later than it probably really is. Four of our group return with the nylon bag. They take out a bunch of dandelion leaves, some wild blueberries, a good amount of dirty scallions, and some very small, underripe blackberries. “That’s all you could find?” Rosie asks, displeased.
“We looked at some mushrooms but we weren’t sure if they were good to eat or not,” says a girl named Stacey.
“Well, it’s better not to take a chance with mushrooms,” Rosie agrees. She turns to Evelyn, Maddie, and me. “We could boil this into some kind of weak soup, I suppose. Do you think you guys can find water?”
“Sure,” I say. “I heard the sound of running water back there when we were getting the birch leaf. We could probably follow the sound.”
“Unless you think it’s too
polluted,”
Evelyn says pointedly to Rosie, unable to resist getting in a little dig.
“If we boil it, the water will probably be okay,” Rosie replies.
So I pick up the largest of the pots and we set off in the dying light to find water. I try to remember what way we’ve come but it’s harder than I would have thought. Everything looks pretty much the same.
“Do you know where we are?” Evelyn asks me. “Where did we see the creek?”
“I think it’s a little farther this way,” I say.
It’s very quiet in the forest. The fallen pine needles have made a soft and fragrant carpet under our sneakers. Occasionally an animal snaps a small branch or a birdflits through the trees. We stop and I try to hear the sound of running water, but I can’t.
Suddenly I’m aware of dark figures moving among the trees. Evelyn and Maddie notice them, too. We freeze, scared. Are there bears out here?
Whatever it is, there are two of them.
Should we run or just stay still?
A beam of vivid light suddenly cuts through the dusky gray. I see that Evelyn has a tiny flashlight built into her pen. In its light we can clearly see who these mysterious figures are. We are now face-to-face with two strangers.
Boys!
Chapter 12
O ur group leader sent us out to look for firewood,” says Alonso, who’s tall and thin with a head of thick, dark hair. He has
“Maybe we can find some berries and stuff,” I suggest. “Remember, we learned about it.”
Everyone nods enthusiastically when I say this. It seems no one feels good about shooting an animal for dinner.
We spend the next few hours hunting for some of the things on our list. We find the moss right away from the rock. One of the other girls in Anne’s dorm is even able to identify it.
I slap a mosquito on my arm. “Here’s our bug,” I announce, dangling it by its wing.
Finding a white birch leaf among all these pines seems like it’s going to be impossible until Maddie, Evelyn, and I come upon a gorgeous stand of birches. “Score!” Maddie cheers as she snaps off a leaf.
When we return to our campsite, six of the girls are busy setting up the two-person pup tents. Rosie and Anne have made a great fire. It crackles invitingly and the pleasant smell of burning pine permeates the campsite.
Maddie holds up the birch leaf for the group to see. “Excellent!” Rosie praises us as she takes a packet oftissues from her back pocket and lays the leaf between two sheets.
“Did you … uh … catch anything for supper?” I ask Rosie. I have such mixed feelings. Part of me hopes she hasn’t. How gross to have to eat some cute little rabbit or a skinned squirrel! But another part of me — kind of a big part — would really like something to eat. I haven’t had meat that wasn’t made out of soy in a really long time.
“No. I tried,” Rosie says. “The only animal I even saw was a squirrel running through the branches, and he was too fast for me. No one else would even attempt it, so I sent a crew out to see what they could forage.”
It’s evening now, and the dark pine needles overhead make it seem later than it probably really is. Four of our group return with the nylon bag. They take out a bunch of dandelion leaves, some wild blueberries, a good amount of dirty scallions, and some very small, underripe blackberries. “That’s all you could find?” Rosie asks, displeased.
“We looked at some mushrooms but we weren’t sure if they were good to eat or not,” says a girl named Stacey.
“Well, it’s better not to take a chance with mushrooms,” Rosie agrees. She turns to Evelyn, Maddie, and me. “We could boil this into some kind of weak soup, I suppose. Do you think you guys can find water?”
“Sure,” I say. “I heard the sound of running water back there when we were getting the birch leaf. We could probably follow the sound.”
“Unless you think it’s too
polluted,”
Evelyn says pointedly to Rosie, unable to resist getting in a little dig.
“If we boil it, the water will probably be okay,” Rosie replies.
So I pick up the largest of the pots and we set off in the dying light to find water. I try to remember what way we’ve come but it’s harder than I would have thought. Everything looks pretty much the same.
“Do you know where we are?” Evelyn asks me. “Where did we see the creek?”
“I think it’s a little farther this way,” I say.
It’s very quiet in the forest. The fallen pine needles have made a soft and fragrant carpet under our sneakers. Occasionally an animal snaps a small branch or a birdflits through the trees. We stop and I try to hear the sound of running water, but I can’t.
Suddenly I’m aware of dark figures moving among the trees. Evelyn and Maddie notice them, too. We freeze, scared. Are there bears out here?
Whatever it is, there are two of them.
Should we run or just stay still?
A beam of vivid light suddenly cuts through the dusky gray. I see that Evelyn has a tiny flashlight built into her pen. In its light we can clearly see who these mysterious figures are. We are now face-to-face with two strangers.
Boys!
Chapter 12
O ur group leader sent us out to look for firewood,” says Alonso, who’s tall and thin with a head of thick, dark hair. He has
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