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The girls followed me as I tiptoed my way around wide toward the back of the tent. Carla positioned herself near the trees, so her light would cast a good glow. Lake and I stood halfway between.
Lake stood really close to me. “So we don’t look like two people,” she explained when I started to back away from her.
I realized she was right. Standing together, we’d make one big shadow.
We stood hip to hip and I counted down with hand signals to Carla.
Three. Two. One. Go!
Carla lit up the beam, creating a strong enough glow to spread across the back of the tent wall. She even angled from below so the beam went up, making our shadow taller.
Lake raised a curled hand like a claw and growled, doing a great bear impression.
I raised my own hand on the other side—another claw.
The tent erupted with the sounds of grunts, curses, and a few squeals.
“Kota!” Gabriel’s voice erupted over the mix of noises. “Bear!”
“Bears don’t have flashlights,” Kota said.
“Shit,” Gabriel said. “Fuck. Shit. Fuck.”
“Enough,” North said.
The three of us outside giggled and started making our way back around the tent, when I was tackled, and on the ground in a heap before I even realized what had happened.
The smell of leather and cedar wafted over me. I’d recognize the big bulk of muscle anywhere.
“It’s just us!” I cried out in an eruption of giggling, struggling for breath with him on top of me.
“I knew it was you,” Nathan said, leaning back while still sitting on my hips. “No one else at this campground would dare.”
The others had been tackled, too. Silas was on top of Lake. Luke was on top of Carla.
“Get off,” Lake said but she was laughing, pushing on Silas, only Silas was bigger, and sat squarely on her hips.
“Silas,” I called to him, remembering Lake had said she’s had hard times with guys. In a stern voice, I said, “Get off of her, please.”
Silas stood up instantly, offering a hand to Lake. “Sorry,” he said. “I was just teasing.”
“I know,” Lake said and took Silas’s hand, allowing him to help her up.
Luke picked up Carla, threw her over his shoulder in a sort of hug and twirl. “It’s the second bringer of the Sang!”
I sighed. Boys.
“What are you doing back here?” Kota asked quietly.
Nathan backed off, helping me up. The other guys had come around the back of the tent, looking at us. They were all in warmer pajama pants, sweat shirts or long-sleeved T-shirts.
I brushed the grass and dirt off my butt and back. “I need your help,” I said.
The guys looked at each other and then nodded.
“Anything,” Nathan said. “Tell us what to do.”
We moved inside their tent and sat on the cots as Carla, Lake, and I explained the situation.
Then I explained my idea. I didn’t have to go far into it before the other guys were adding their own, even better ideas. They told us they’d take care of everything before they sent Carla, Lake and I back to our tent. We would have stayed to help, but we didn’t want to be missed by the others and draw attention back to us.
Despite being sent back to our tent, as I lay on my cot, I was a jumble of excitement.
It would work. I was sure of it.
It had worked on me.
TRUST YOUR FAMILY
Despite not expecting to be able to sleep, I did manage to doze off sometime in the middle of the night, long after Lake had started snoring softly beside me.
I woke up with a hand over my mouth, stopping my breathing for a second. I startled, and tried to sit up, but a second hand kept me down against the cot. It was soothing, though, gentle.
I opened my eyes, finding Luke hovering over me. His brown eyes filled with delight at spooking me. He winked and held a finger up to his lips.
I should have known.
The dawn light was starting to come in. The other girls slept. I had no idea how he managed to get in so quietly. Only Luke could pull that off.
I sat up as Luke signed to me. “Breakfast is set up to be made outside. Do you want to wake them all now?”
I shook my head. I pointed at Carla and Lake. I wanted them to come help.
Luke nodded and shooed me toward Lake, as he went to wake Carla.
Lake seemed almost awake already when I poked her shoulder, sitting up almost instantly.
Carla took a minute and inhaled loudly. I think she would have cried out at finding Luke on top of her if he hadn’t covered her mouth already. He pointed at Lake and me so she understood we were getting up, too.
We slipped out of the tent and took turns dressing in the spare tent with the luggage.
By the time we were done, Silas and North had come over and set up the picnic tables together and had covered them with tablecloths, piles of paper plates, and plastic cutlery. Nathan and Victor were squeezing oranges, making juice.
Luke showed us the pancake batter. He held up a second box, pointing to me. “Vegan,” he said quietly.
We got to work. North had hooked up camping griddle pans to some batteries in his Jeep that he and Silas had silently rolled onto the campsite.
/> Once some of the food was cooked, Lake and I took plates of bacon, opened the flap to the tent, and wafted the air toward the girls inside.
Two of the younger girls sat up sharply on cots almost instantly. They rubbed their eyes and peered out at us, blinking. Emma sat up, too, yawning.
One of them reached for another sleeping nearby, one on the air mattress. That one woke up, woke the others.
“Come on out, girls,” Lake said in a happy tone.
“The world is spinning without you,” I said, something Victor had told me once.
They all leaped out of bed, excited, following us out. April was up, too, and woke Taylor to join us, surprise on their faces as well.
Once they were outside the tent, the boys waved them over. Some of the girls grabbed jackets and boots to put on.
Nathan waved them closer, smiling. “Come on,” he said. “Eat up. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The girls looked to Lake and I, confused.
“We’re going to make breakfast for some other teams today,” I said. “We’ve invited them over—some of the other new ones—to help them feel welcome.”
“Will you help us?” Lake asked. Kota had told us some things to say to make them feel like they were part of the helping team, which was a big deal.
Five heads nodded enthusiastically. They rushed over to the set-up table, where North stood by, teaching them how to make perfect pancakes. Luke stood nearby, asking if they wanted chocolate chips added.
April wrapped an arm around Taylor as they stood by watching the excitement. She tugged in Emma and the three of them stood together, watching the girls getting involved. “We’ve taught them well,” April said.
I smiled. This just might work.
We were almost finished eating our own breakfast when the first other team wandered in. It was another team of young girls, led by Mrs. Rose—the ten-year-olds we’d seen before. They all had wide eyes and seemed eager to be included.
“We’re here,” Mrs. Rose signed.
I asked the new girls to come sit down and join us. Our team would take care of them. I invited Mrs. Rose to relax, even as she offered to help.
