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  BOYS CAMP

  Copyright © 2013 by The Boys Camp Company, LLC

  Illustrations © 2013 by Craig Orback

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

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  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Manufactured in China, February 2013

  This product conforms to CPSIA 2008

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Dokey, Cameron.

  Zack’s story / written by Cameron Dokey ; illustrated by Craig Orback.

  p. cm. -- (Boys camp ; bk. 1)

  Summary: “Zack is finally attending summer camp, a dream he’s always had. But he quickly realizes that the wilderness has unexpected twists and turns and he must band together with his friends to stay safe and have fun”-- Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-62087-528-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) [1. Camps--Fiction. 2.

  Friendship--Fiction.] I. Orback, Craig, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.D69743Zac 2013

  [Fic]--dc23

  2012041023.

  ISBN: 978-1-62087-528-5

  BOYS CAMP

  Book 1

  Zack’s Story

  Written by Cameron Dokey

  Illustrated by Craig Orback

  Sky Pony Press

  New York

  Have fun. Make friends. Be yourself.

  Hello, New Camper!

  All of us at Camp Wolf Trail are looking forward to welcoming you on July 10. We’ve got a great summer ahead of us.

  Pretty soon you’ll be packing your gear for your two weeks here at camp. Since this will be your first summer at Wolf Trail, you’re probably excited and curious—and maybe even a little nervous—about what to expect, especially if this is your first time away from home.

  Well, first of all, don’t worry. Camp is fun. And here at Wolf Trail, we’ve been sharing the fun with kids like you for more than fifty years. As soon as you arrive, counselors and returning campers will help you settle into your cabin. The cabins are simple, screened-in, wooden structures that are scattered like acorns throughout the woods.

  At Camp Wolf Trail, counselors and campers of different ages are assigned to groups called “clusters,” and every cluster chooses its own goofy name and its own silly signature move. Together, you and your cluster will take turns doing communal chores, like setting the table or washing the dishes for eighty hungry monkeys (also known as the campers, counselors, and camp staff). You and your cluster will compete against other clusters during our once-a-week camp theme days, including the Oddball Championships. Past themes have been Martian Day, Rock Star Day, Backwards Day, Crazy Cool Racing Day, and Chicken-of-the-Woods Day.

  Every day, there are lots of activities to choose from: swimming in clear, cool Evergreen Lake, boating, canoeing, arts and crafts, hiking, sports, and trail blazing. At night, everyone at camp gathers around a fire for songs, stories, jokes, and reflection. And each week, you and your fellow campers and counselors will go off on a wilderness backpacking trek, hiking into the woods with only what you’ll need to survive for two nights and three days: water, food, sleeping bags, and flashlights to light the way through the piney forest. You’ll hike to breezy overlooks, discover secret, hidden swimming spots, cook over a campfire, sleep out under the stars, and listen to owls hooting in the woods.

  You are in for quite an adventure! So, pack your enthusiasm and your sense of humor, along with your socks, and come to Camp Wolf Trail. We are ready for the fun to begin, and we know that you are too. See you soon!

  From,

  All of us here at Camp Wolf Trail

  Packing List

  Due to our simple camp lifestyle, and our even-more-rustic wilderness trips, anything you bring may get wet, dirty, lost, or all three combined. So, leave the special stuff at home.

  Do bring:

  Daily camp supplies

  Shorts and T-shirts for warm weather

  Clothes for cooler temperatures (fleece clothing is good for camping because it dries quickly)

  Socks (wool is good for hiking because it also dries quickly)

  Hiking shoes or boots for trips, and everyday shoes for camp (be sure to break in new boots or shoes before you get here!)

  Old sneakers/water shoes for canoeing and creek hikes

  Swimming gear: suit, sunscreen, towel

  Sheets, blanket, and pillow for your bunk in camp

  Bathroom items: towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap (although we’ve noticed that some campers’ soaps don’t get used too often!)

  Wilderness trip supplies

  The basics: a comfortable backpack, lightweight sleeping bag, roll-up camping pad, mess kit (plate, cup, fork, and spoon) water bottle, flashlight with extra batteries, waterproof poncho

  Optional: camping knife (check it in with your counselor when you arrive), camping pillow, compass, hat, bandanna

  If you wear glasses, bring a cord to hold them safely around your neck, so you don’t lose them when boating or rock climbing.

  Other optional items

  Good books

  Portable games such as cards and cribbage, crossword puzzles

  Paper, stamps, envelopes, pen, addresses (your parents and friends will want to hear from you!)

  Art supplies, journal, nature guides, binoculars, musical instrument (if it’s not too fragile), or other hobby supplies

  Pocket money (no more than $20, though)

  Please do not bring any electronics or a cell phone. They don’t survive getting wet, dirty, or lost. And besides, who needs them? You’ll be hiking in the woods and swimming in the lake most of the time. Who would you text? A squirrel? A fish? Enjoy being free of screens (except the kind that keeps bugs out) for two weeks!

  Chapter One

  So, Zack Wilson thought, almost laughing at himself, I’ve been at Camp Wolf Trail, what? Ten minutes? And already I’m having an adventure.

  Zack looked at the rough map in his hands. He wasn’t lost in the woods, exactly. He just didn’t know where he was.

  “I’ll swap you this map for your gear,” the counselor, Carlos, had said with a grin, right after Zack waved good-bye to his parents as they drove away. “Your mission is to find Birch Cabin, your home while you’re here. Have fun on your map challenge. And don’t worry: Someone will always be tracking you. Oh, and welcome to Camp Wolf Trail!”

  So Zack had set out, striding along the path through the shady woods, taking deep breaths of the pine-scented air, his thumbs hooked through the straps of his backpack, his legs feeling strong and sure. His whole life, he’d dreamed of walking through the woods all on his own like this. And the hike was great, just the way he’d always imagined hiking would be—up until now.

  Now, there was trouble dead ahead. The big path split into two smaller trails. But the map showed the path dividing into three trails, and it was the trail on the far left—the one that didn’t seem to exist in real life—that led to Birch Cabin.

  Knowing how to read a map was important. Zack knew that from studying his favorite book in the entire universe, The Outdo
or Adventure Guide. The Guide told almost everything there was to know about the great outdoors: how to build a shelter or start a fire; how to use a compass or navigate by the stars. Zack could feel the book, hard and flat against his back, inside his backpack.

  Zack had read The Outdoor Adventure Guide from cover to cover, over and over. He practically had the chapter on map reading memorized. But this was his first experience actually using a map to get where he wanted to go.

  It was harder than it looked, particularly now that Zack was deep in the woods, and especially when the map didn’t match the path. I guess this is the challenging part of the map challenge, Zack thought. Zack could feel his hands starting to sweat. He wasn’t scared, but he couldn’t help thinking he must have gone wrong somewhere. Stay calm, he told himself. He knew what the Guide said about getting scared:

  A little scare isn’t always a bad thing. It can help you pay attention. It can keep you on your toes. But it’s hard to think straight when you panic. If you get too scared, you can put yourself in danger. So remember: It’s okay to just stop walking.

  Well, Zack thought. I can handle the stop part. It’s which way to go that’s the problem.

  At least there were no distractions, none of the city sounds that Zack was used to. No horns honking or sirens blaring. No radios turned up too loud. Instead, the wind made a kind of restless sound, moving through the tree branches way up high, and every once in a while a bird called.

  Oof! Wham!

  Something hit Zack in the back. Hard.

  “Aaah!” Zack cried. He spun around to see a kid backing up so fast that Zack was afraid the guy would trip over his own feet and fall over backward.

  “Oh, man,” the kid said. “I ran smack into you, didn’t I? Sorry, sorry. I didn’t watch where I was going. I mean, I did. But I was trying to look at my compass and the map and the path at the same time and I . . . ”

  “It’s okay,” Zack said, breaking into the tumble of words. The kid talked so fast Zack was almost out of breath just listening. “I’m not hurt. You just surprised me. That’s all.”

  “Really?” the other kid asked. He stopped and stood still. “You’re not mad? Not at all?”

  Zack shrugged. “Nope.”

  The new kid was as tall and skinny as a telephone pole. He looked like maybe he should be wearing glasses, but he wasn’t. In one hand, the kid carried a compass, and in the other hand he had a map just like the one Zack was holding.

  “Hey, are you looking for Birch Cabin?” Zack asked.

  “Yeah!” the other kid cried. “I’m Jim.” He shoved his compass in his pocket and grabbed Zack’s hand and shook it hard, pumping Zack’s arm up and down. “Some of the other guys might call me Jimmy, but don’t pay any attention. That was last year. This year, it’s Jim all the way. I’m eleven now.”

  “Me too. I’m Zack,” Zack said. The handshake was over, but Zack’s whole arm tingled. “So, you’ve been here at camp before, right?”

  “Yep,” Jim nodded. “We do some super-cool stuff: canoeing, mountain treks and rock climbing, Oddball Championships. You’ll have a great time. Once we find the cabin and the rest of the guys, of course. You’ll like the guys. They’re from all over the place, all over the globe, really. Like Erik’s from Norway, and—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Zack interrupted. “You said, ‘once we find the cabin.’ You mean you don’t you know where Birch Cabin is?”

  Jim shook his head. “No clue. I wasn’t in Birch last year. They move us around. Plus, maps and I do not get along. I see one, and my brain goes Ffzzzztt. I think all maps are made by alien life forms. Which means they don’t show life on this planet at all. The aliens just want you to think they do, so they can lure you into a trap. Take this map for instance.” Jim waved his map in the air. “It shows a place where the path divides, but into three branches, not two.”

  “Yeah, I know,” said Zack. “My map shows that too.”

  “Bummer,” Jim said. “So, you and I were given the same map. Other guys in Birch Cabin got different maps with easier trails to follow. Ah, well . . . ”

  Jim stretched his long, lanky self on the ground and propped his head against the trunk of a tree that had fallen so that it was lying sideways, its upended roots uphill and its branches downhill.

  Zack had to grin. His new friend seemed to have only two speeds: 100 miles per hour and zero.

  “Might as well rest until our tracker comes to help us,” Jim said. “Anyway, I think better when I’m lying down, like this tree. Nice of it to fall next to the path, so’s I can use it for a pillow. Looks like it just fell yesterday, because . . . ”

  “Hey!” Zack cut in. “Maybe that’s it! Maybe the tree just fell, and it’s blocking the third trail, and that’s why we can’t see it.”

  Jim leapt up, all in one move. “Only one way to find out,” he said.

  Zack and Jim scrambled over the tree trunk and batted their way through the fallen tree’s tangled branches.

  “Ta da!” cheered Zack when they were standing free of the branches. He pointed ahead, where a path twisted down to the left. “Look, Jim. It’s the third trail. The fallen tree did hide it from us. Come on! Let’s go!”

  “Hang on!” said Jim. “How do you know this is the path we should take?”

  “Check it out,” said Zack. He showed Jim his map. “Trust the map. See? That trail to the right looked pretty good in person, but on the map . . . ”

  He traced his finger along the path to the right. “It dead-ends before you go very far. And if we followed the center path . . . ”

  Now Zack ran his finger along the path that ran straight up the middle. “We’d end up in something called the Marsh.”

  “So that means . . . ” Jim breathed.

  “Yep,” Zack nodded. He traced the left path with his finger. It zigzagged through the trees for a while. Then it straightened out. And then . . .

  There it was. Birch Cabin. Marked on the map.

  “The map makes it clear that this is the path we want,” Zack said. He jabbed the map with his finger. “The left one. Come on.” He gave Jim a thump on the back. “Let’s go.”

  “Oh, man,” Jim said as the two boys began to walk quickly down the path, side by side. “Way to read a map. That was awesome. So, now there’s something I have to ask.”

  “What?” asked Zack.

  “You’re not an alien, are you?”

  Chapter Two

  Now that Zack and Jim knew where they were going, it didn’t take very long to reach the cabin. Just like it showed on the map, the path zigzagged back and forth, winding its way through the trees. Like a ski slalom, thought Zack. Then the path straightened just as the guys came to a clearing, and in the clearing was the cabin.

  “We made it!” Jim cried. “Birch Cabin. Home sweet home. Cool!”

  Zack liked Birch Cabin right away, though it didn’t look anything like what he’d pictured in his mind. The word “cabin” made him think of log cabins. He’d expected a sturdy building with round logs for walls.

  Instead, Birch Cabin looked more like something that had quietly grown up out of the soft, mossy ground all by itself and was quietly sinking back in. A set of rickety wooden steps led up to a screen door. The whole upper half of the cabin was windows, but they didn’t have glass in them. They had screens. Through them, Zack heard a loud burst of laughter. It sounded like a lot of the guys had already made it to the cabin.

  Zack suddenly felt hesitant. What if everybody else has been at camp before? he thought. What if I’m the only new guy? He squared his shoulders. Get over it. Everybody’s new once.

  He felt a whoosh of air as Jim dashed by him up the steps and pulled the door open. “Come on, Zack!” he cried. “What’re you waiting for?”

  Not a thing! Zack thought. He sprinted up the steps, through the old screen door, and into the cabin.

  Whoa! On the outside, Birch Cabin looked peaceful. Inside, it did not look peaceful at all. Inside, the cabin look
ed like Zack’s room after having been hit by a tornado, multiplied by a thousand. Impressive mess, thought Zack.

  The campers’ trunks looked like they’d exploded open. Shoes, pajamas, T-shirts, comic books, and socks littered the floor, and swim trunks, backpacks, and towels dangled from hooks under the windows. Rows of bunk beds lined the cabin’s four walls. Some beds were haphazardly made with tangled-up sheets and blankets, so they looked like they’d already been slept in for a week.

  Zack’s new cabin mates were sitting on the floor or lounging on their bunks and watching while one kid sorted through the biggest pile of snacks that Zack had ever seen. When the kids saw Zack, they stopped and stared.

  Zack swallowed what felt like a huge rock stuck in his throat. Maybe everybody was new once. But that one time was pretty hard. So, this is my second challenge, Zack thought. The New Guy Challenge. It’s tougher than the one with the map!

  “Hey,” he managed to croak.

  “Hey,” the guy closest to him said right back. He had straight black hair and friendly, dark brown eyes. “I’m Yasu.”

  “Zack,” Zack said.

  “Who’s that behind you?”

  “It’s me!” Jim said. He popped out from behind Zack.

  “Hey, Jimmy!” Yasu cried. He jumped to his feet and thumped Jim on the shoulder. “I was wondering when you’d show up! How’re you doing?”

  “Great,” Jim said, “but I’m Jim now.”

  “Okay, Jim,” said Yasu. “You know everybody except the newbies, Kareem and Sean and Vik, right?”

  “Sure,” Jim nodded. He gave a wave. “Hey, guys. This is Zack. He’s new too. Our trail was wicked hard, but Zack totally aced the map challenge.”

  “We totally aced the map challenge,” Zack said, grinning at Jim.

  “Nice,” Yasu said. He turned to the other guys. “Okay, everybody, you know the drill. Sound off.”

  One by one, the other guys in the cabin rattled off their names. Zack did his best to keep up and think of ways to remember who was who. Sean wore a Red Sox cap. Vik had a tennis racket under his bunk. Kareem had a Camp Wolf Trail T-shirt on that looked really, really old and he was holding a bag of cookies in his hands. Zee had braces, and Yasu was wearing swim trunks, and Nate had a pencil and pad stuck in his back pocket.