Church Camp Chaos (14 page)

“Oh! My swimsuit!” EJ had nearly forgotten the most important thing to pack for camp. She opened up the bottom dresser drawer and pulled out her favorite suit—a red tank with three gold stars on the front. She folded it in half and then in half again and gently laid it on top of everything else in the suitcase.

Finished packing (at least for now), EJ zipped her suitcase closed and scooted it to the end of the bed. She looked around her room and was pleasantly surprised to see that packing had pretty much taken care of the cleaning, too.

Crunch, crunch
.

Inmate EJ knows that all-too-familiar sound. It’s the prisoner in the next cell, Isaac, sending her a message the only way he can without the guards knowing—through a crack between their cells
.

Both EJ and Isaac claim to be innocent of the crimes that landed them in the slammer. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. They’ve been working on an escape plan for months, and after three long years behind bars, today’s the day they’re going to get out, and get out for good
.

EJ has just been waiting for the signal
.

Crunch, crunch.

A corner of the paper sneaks its way through the crack, and EJ is just able to pinch it with her fingertips to pull the note through
.

Time to go.

Those three little words are the signal EJ is waiting for. She quickly removes a bobby pin from her hair and uses it to pick the lock between their cells. After a minute of work, she feels a click and the door swings open
.

“We don’t have much time, “Isaac says, looking back into his cell before closing the door. “The warden is making rounds today, so we have to get out while the getting’s good.”

“How much time?” EJ asks, starting to work on the window lock
.

They both freeze as they hear a voice in Isaac’s empty cell
.

“Isaac? Isaac!” Mom’s voice filtered through the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

“Isaac! The jig is up!” EJ whispers. “Hide under my bed.”

Isaac runs and slides under the prison cot head first
.

A moment later, EJ heard a knock on her bedroom door. EJ (not-so-gently) kicked Isaac’s left foot, which was still peeking out from under the bed a split second before Mom stuck her head in the door.

“Ow!” Isaac said, while EJ pretended to sneeze to cover up the sound.

“Bless you. Hey, it’s looking good in here, EJ,” Mom said, glancing around the room. “Are you all done packing?”

“All packed but a couple of last-minute things,” EJ said, stepping in front of the bed to try to hide any Isaac body parts that might try to make an appearance.

“Fantastic. Well, you’ve served your sentence, and you can leave your room anytime you want to,” Mom said. “Oh, and I can’t find Isaac, but his room is clean, so he’s free to go, too.”

“Thanks, Marmalade!” Isaac called from under EJ’s bed.

Mom chuckled as she left the room.

“Well, there goes our jail break,” EJ said, disappointed their daydream was ruined. “We don’t have to stay in our rooms anymore.”

“Unless we just break out for the fun of it,” Isaac said as he crawled out.

“What do you have in mind?” EJ asked.

Isaac looked out the window and pointed at the flat roof that covered the front porch. “Dare me to jump from that roof to the ground?”

“Triple-dog dare you!” EJ grinned. No way Isaac could say no to a triple.

“Here goes nothin’!” Isaac raised the window and hopped out onto the shingled roof. He turned and gave EJ a thumbs-up sign just before Bert started barking like a maniac in the yard below.

“ISAAC DAVID! What are you
doing
?” Dad bellowed from the ground. “Sit down before you fall and break your neck!”

EJ mostly disappeared below the open window but continued to peek a little bit over the windowsill.
Sorry, kid
, she thought.
You’re on your own
.

“But it was a triple-dog dare, Dad!” Isaac tried to plead his case while he scooted toward the edge of the roof and let his feet dangle down.

“I don’t care if it was a quadruple-dog dare. This is violating your terms of parole,” Dad said as he reached up and firmly grabbed Isaac’s legs before pulling him safely to the ground. “Back to the slammer for you.”

July 21

It’s finally here: the day I’ve been waiting for since I was a Camp Christian day camper. My week of church camp starts today!

Dad says that Camp Christian is one of those special places that a lot of the kids in Wisconsin get to experience together, so we all have similar memories that last a lifetime. I think it’s pretty cool that Dad still keeps in touch with some of the friends he made at camp. A couple of his camp buddies were even groomsmen in Mom and Dad’s wedding.

Macy and I are going to have so much fun this week, Diary. This will be her first time at summer camp, so I can’t wait to experience this week together! I just wish this wasn’t possibly our last week of camp together, too. But I’m trying really hard not to think about it.

Isaac is super bummed that he’s not going to a week of camp, although I’m not going to be free of him for the entire week, because one of the days he’ll be there for day camp with all of the other babies. I’m just hoping to avoid him as much as possible that day. Maybe I’ll try to disguise myself so he doesn’t even recognize me.

Well, Diary, you’re the last thing I need to pack in my bag before we load up and drive to camp, so into the suitcase you go!

EJ

“Bye, sweetie,” Mom called one last farewell as she walked out of the girls’ dorm room with Dad and Isaac, both of them gently tugging on an arm. “Have a fantastic week!”

“Love you!” EJ waved as her family disappeared around the corner. She was the first girl in the dorm room, and she and Mom had already made her bed, so she decided to do some unpacking.

EJ sat on her lower bunk and unzipped her suitcase. The wadded mass of clothes she’d stuffed into the luggage two days ago made the top fly open like it was spring loaded—three T-shirts, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of socks exploded onto her bed. Something else she didn’t recognize flopped out onto the clothes, too—a small book that landed with a little bounce.

EJ picked up the book—a pocket-size Bible with a worn leather cover. She traced a finger over the gold lettering of the words H
OLY
B
IBLE
. Then she saw the name stamped at the bottom corner of the cover: D
AVID
P
AYNE
. She opened the front cover and found a note with her name on it.

“That’s a pretty sweet Bible.”

EJ looked up and saw a smiling face of a young woman carrying a sleeping bag under her arm and pulling a roller suitcase behind her.

“Thanks!” EJ smiled. “It’s my dad’s. Somehow he put it in my suitcase without me knowing it.”

“Doesn’t look like it’d be too hard to hide a stowaway Bible in that hot mess of clothes you’ve got there,” the girl said, pointing to the clothes explosion on her bunk. “I’ve got something here that might help with all those wrinkles.”

She unzipped a suitcase pocket, produced a spray bottle labeled W
RINKLE
R
ELEASER
, and handed it to EJ. “This stuff is a lifesaver for us college students. Who has time to iron? I’m Susan, by the way—your camp counselor and dorm mom.”

EJ took the spray bottle from Susan. With her long brown hair in two braids, a green Camp Christian T-shirt, khaki shorts, green-and-white-striped knee socks, and white tennis shoes, Susan looked every bit the part of a camp counselor, EJ thought.

“I’m EJ Payne,” EJ said, spraying a tentative spritz of the wrinkle releaser on a T-shirt.

“Come on, EJ, you’ve got to show those wrinkles who’s boss or they’re not going to leave.” Susan picked up another wrinkled T-shirt and hung it on a hanger next to EJ’s bunk. “Let me show you.”

Intrigued, EJ handed Susan the spray bottle. Susan pumped several sprays onto the wrinkles and tugged on the shirt to smooth the whole thing. “There, just like that, and you’ll have wrinkle-free camp clothes as soon as they air dry.”

“Cool, thanks!” EJ hung up all the clothes from her suitcase and began spraying and tugging one piece at a time while Susan made up her bunk across the room.

“When will everyone else get here?” EJ asked.

Susan checked her watch. “Anytime now,” she said. “Since we’re the farthest dorm away from registration, dorms A through D are probably filling up first.”

“I didn’t mind the walk, because I wanted to stay in dorm E. You know, for my name.” EJ wondered if that was a babyish reason for picking a dorm. “Plus, this is the one I told my best friend I’d be in.”

“Both are good reasons for being in this dorm,” Susan said, shoving her empty suitcase under her bunk. “I’m glad you’re here, EJ. I can tell we’re going to be friends.”

Just then, CoraLee McCallister appeared in the doorway looking wild-eyed and desperate.

“Is there room in here?” she demanded. “Open bunks?”

“Hey, I’m Susan.” The dorm mom stood up from her bunk and smiled. “And you are …?”

“In need of a place to sleep! The other dorms are filled up already!” CoraLee snipped and then called over her shoulder, “Mom, I
told
you we left home too late to get a good spot!”