Where Secrets Lie (13 page)

“
Does she come to the camp too?”

“
God no, she’d rather die. She doesn’t like the woods. She says there are too many wild animals that she doesn’t want to come into contact with.”

“
But you hardly ever see them.”

“
I know, I’ve told her that, but she won’t budge.

“
Well, in some ways I don’t blame her. If I thought too much about everything that lives out here, I probably wouldn’t come either.”

“
Good point.”

Katie made her way back to the bank.

“
You ready to get back on the trail?” she asked.

“
Sure,” Lara said.

About ten yards down the trail, Katie froze.

“
Oh my God.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Look at the size of that snake.”

Katie backed up until she was standing behind Lara.

Curled up in the middle of the trail was a black snake about two inches in diameter and at least five feet long. It raised its head while they stared at it.

“
I thought you weren’t afraid of animals in the woods,” Lara said.

“
That’s no animal. Animals have fur. That thing has scales and slithers, and I’m not going anywhere near it.”

“
What are we going to do then?”

“
You could move it out of the way.”

“
Me? Why me?”

“
I thought you weren’t afraid of it.”

“
That doesn’t mean I want to touch it,” Lara said. “Let’s walk around it.”

“
I’m not walking within striking distance of that damn thing. It’s big and could reach a long way.”

“
Do they do that? I thought they wouldn’t bother with you as long as you left them alone.”

“
That’s what they say, but I’m not taking any chances.”

The languorous snake uncoiled and moved toward the creek.

“
Oh good, it’s leaving,” Lara said.

Once the snake was off the trail, it stopped and looked back at them.

“
What’s it staring at us for?” Katie asked.

“
Maybe it’s waiting to see if we’re going to come down the trail.”

“
It needs to move farther away before I’m doing that.”

“
It doesn’t look like it wants to.”

“
Probably too tired digesting its lunch.”

The snake had a lump in its midsection that was visible now that it was uncoiled.

“
Maybe it’ll move if we start toward it,” Lara said.

“
You first.”

Lara started up the trail, and the snake turned around so it was facing in their direction.

“
Oh shit, it’s coming back.”

“
Move away from it,” Katie said.

Lara did, and the snake stopped moving, but its head was still up, and it was staring at them.

“
Great,” Lara said and smiled. “Now what?”

Katie picked up a stick and tossed it near the snake’s tail. The snake moved away from the stick but continued to watch them.

“
Good,” Katie said. “It just needs a little encouragement.”

They both looked for sticks and threw them toward the snake’s tail. After they’d thrown a few sticks at it, the snake stopped, raised its tail, and shook it. It made a soft hissing sound.

“
Is that a rattle?” Lara asked.

“
No, but it is coming from its tail, isn’t it?”

“
I think so, but I thought only rattlesnakes did that.”

“
Me too, but that doesn’t look like a rattlesnake. It doesn’t sound right either.”

The snake stopped shaking its tail and wasn’t moving.

“
Maybe there’s a rattlesnake around that we can’t see and the noise wasn’t coming from that snake,” Katie said.

“
Throw another stick, and see if it does it again.”

Katie threw a stick that landed on the snake, and the snake raised its tail and shook it harder than it had before. The hissing sound was louder this time. Both girls backed away and started laughing.

“
Now you did it,” Lara said. “It’s totally pissed off.”

“
But I didn’t mean to hit it.”

“
Don’t tell me, tell the snake. Maybe it’ll stop hissing at us.”

“
It isn’t coming this way, is it?”

“
No, but it’s not leaving either.”

Katie started to laugh again. “This is what we get for making fun of my sister.”

“
We weren’t making fun of her. We said we wouldn’t come either if we thought about it too much.”

“
Yeah, well, we’re screwed just the same.”

“
I may not come back on this trail for the rest of the summer,” Lara said.

“
What makes you think snakes only live near this trail?”

“
Ok, I’m giving up hiking.”

“
You can’t quit, I’m not coming back out here alone.”

“
What good did company do you?” Lara laughed. “It wasn’t scared of two of us.”

“
Exactly, just think how bold it’d be if I was alone.”

“
I’d rather not. All right, so I won’t quit, but if we see it again, no sticks.”

“
Agreed, now what do we do?” Katie asked.

“
Can we finish the end of this trail tomorrow?”

“
That works for me.”

They made their way back to where they left their stuff. The snake was still in the same area next to the trail, but it had recoiled itself. It lifted its head while they gathered their things and watched them until they were gone.

~

They christened the snake Blackie and told the other counselors about it at dinner that night. No one could agree on what kind of snake it was. One of the women was convinced it was a black racer snake, but someone else said they did not live in Colorado. Besides, they were supposed to be fast, although everyone agreed the mouse it swallowed was probably slowing it down. They all got a good laugh out of the story, but Patty was the only one who offered any reassurance. She was certain once they had campers hiking along with them, the noise they’d make would discourage any snakes from coming near the trail. Katie was inclined to believe her since this was the first snake she had ever seen on those trails.

Hiking was a popular activity at the camp, and Katie coordinated three hikes a day, one in the morning, one during lunch that included a packed meal, and one in the afternoon that ended just before dinner. They enjoyed varying the trail combinations they used, and at dinner each night, they worked out which trails they were going to hike the next day.

After dinner, they watched the softball games together, and once it got dark, they went to the campfires, which often included singing and storytelling.

Every two weeks a session would end, and a new batch of kids would arrive, but the camp’s routine remained the same.

The first session in July there was a fun group of girls who came on the lunch hike every day. Brittany was their de facto leader, and the other girls clamored to her as if she were a queen bee. Most of them stayed on for the second session in July, and on the first day of that session, the lunch hike started on the blue trail. When they stopped at the waterfall to eat, Brittany and company gathered at their normal spot near the water’s edge.

Terry, a girl who was new to camp that session, tried to join the group.

“
Sorry, but there’s no more room here. You’ll have to sit somewhere else,” Brittany said.

None of the other girls contradicted Brittany, so Terry left without a word.

Katie and Lara were sitting at the other end of the pooled water. When Katie looked up from eating her lunch, she saw Terry sitting in the shade of a tree.

“
Why’s Terry sitting alone?”

“
Beats me,” Lara said.

“
That’s strange. Hey, Terry, come over here with us.”

Terry got up and walked toward them. She was a quiet girl, with a slight frame, silky shoulder length flaxen hair, and a sweet face, which possessed subtle angles indicative of impending beauty.

Terry sat down next to them.

“
Are you enjoying the hike?” Lara asked.

“
Yeah, it’s fun.”

“
Have you ever been hiking before?” Lara asked.

“
Sometimes with my Dad on a trail near home, but it’s not like this.”

“
How’s it different?” Lara asked.

“
It’s mostly around a lake and kinda flat. I like this way better.”

“
You’ll have to come with us on the other trails too,” Lara said.

“
I’m going to.”

“
Good,” Lara said.

“
So are you making new friends?” Katie asked.

“
Some.”

“
Why didn’t you sit over there with the rest of the girls?” Katie asked.

Terry shrugged.

“
You don’t have to wait to be asked,” Katie said. “Just join them if you want to.”

Terry didn’t say anything.

“
Did something happen?” Katie asked.

Terry didn’t answer.

“
Did you already try to sit with them?” Lara asked.

Terry nodded.

“
What happened?” Katie asked.

“
There wasn’t enough room.”

“
Who said that?” Katie asked.

Terry shrugged and looked away.

Katie was going to press Terry for an answer, but Lara shook her head no.

“
Well, there’s always room by us,” Lara said. “Ok?”

Terry smiled. “Ok.”

“
We better get going,” Katie said. They told everyone to pick up their lunch stuff, and they continued the hike.

When they had a moment alone, Katie and Lara agreed to wait until the hike was over to discuss what had happened. They would have about a half an hour before girls would show up for the afternoon hike.

As soon as they reached the camp, Lara said, “Hey Terry, don’t forget to sign up for the lunch hike tomorrow, ok?”

Terry smiled, nodded, and ran off.

Once all the girls were gone, Katie said, “It had to be Brittany, don’t you think?”

“
Oh yeah, it was her for sure.”

“
But she’s never done anything that mean before. Why exclude Terry?”

“
One guess.”

Katie frowned. “I don’t know why.”

“
She’s too damn pretty, that’s why. Terry’s the only girl here who can give Brittany a run for her money.”

“
Seriously?”

“
You bet.”

“
But it’s camp, not a beauty contest.”

“
Every day’s a beauty contest for girls like Brittany.”

“
That’s messed up.”

“
Totally.”

“
Well I’m gonna talk to her,” Katie said. “She can’t get away with this shit.”

“
You can’t do that.”

“
The hell I can’t.”

“
Katie, you can’t say anything. It’ll just screw things up for Terry if you do. The other kids will think she ratted on Brittany, and then none of them will be friends with her.”

“
But we can’t just let her be mean to Terry.”

“
We’re not going to,” Lara said. “Do you remember when Mary told us about her brother?”

Mary was another camper who was attending her second session. She and all of her friends were thirteen, so they were the oldest girls in the camp, and all the other girls looked up to them, including Brittany.

Mary had a brother who had down syndrome. He was a couple of years older than she was but a year behind her in school. When he mainstreamed into the middle school she attended, the kids in his class ostracized him. It infuriated Mary, who complained to her mother about it, and her mother devised a simple plan.

Mary spoke to her friends and asked them to greet her brother whenever they saw him. They did not need to hang out with him, just say hi or sit near him on the bus or in the lunchroom. Usually, Mary and her friends ignored anyone who was younger than they were, so when the kids in her brother’s class saw that the older kids liked him, they thought he must be cool, and they were more inclined to talk to him themselves. Once that happened, they discovered what a nice kid he was, and he began to make friends.

“
Yeah, sure, I remember,” Katie said.

“
What if we did the same thing now? I know Mary would go for it. If she and her friends showed an interest in Terry, the younger girls would never give her the cold shoulder, no matter what Brittany said. Hell, I doubt Brittany would even suggest it anymore.”

“
Let’s go see Mary,” Katie said.

~

“
Sure, I’ll do it,” Mary said. “When do we start?”

“
We’ll point out Terry at dinner tonight, ok?” Katie asked.

“
Ok,” Mary said.

“
And can you guys come on the lunch hike tomorrow?” Lara asked.