Episode 14: Outings

The following morning at breakfast, Linda told the group that the gear for the outing had been delivered to the island and that the launch was 'on' for the following day. She advised the guys to talk with Pete on their return to the cabin while the girls were at the showers so that they could get organized.

At lunch, Hartwell announced to every one that he would be leaving in a few minutes for his conference and that he was leaving the camp in Jennifer's capable hands. The afternoon schedule had called for cabin 7 being at the archery field while cabin 6 was having a swim but, instead, Pete kept the guys in their cabin, getting them to pack the gear they would need and giving them their last instructions.

Robert and Luke were seasoned outing 'survivors', having been with Pete in the past but, for Tom, while it had not been his first summer camp experience, it had been his first year with Pete and as for Thomas, Henry and Jake – this was their first year at summer camp so they had needed detailed supervision.

"Okay..." he explained, "All the gear we'll need is already on the island; blankets, food, pots and pans and stuff. But we are leaving on an outing tomorrow morning ... if we don't pack anything, it will look suspicious. I know we plan to stay naked the whole time but pack some extra clothes, anyway, just for show. And don't forget your toothbrushes and stuff. We'll pack our sleeping bags tomorrow morning, just before leaving. While you're doing that, I'll go 'ask' Jennifer for permission to go on the outing; this will allow us to go get some supplies from Cookie for the trip. The whole idea is to keep a low profile. Robert, would you take Tom with you and get a couple of six man tents out of storage? If Cookie says anything about the size of the tents, tell him I want the extra space to store the gear inside. Oh, yes ... and also a set of pots and pans. Luke, would you help the younger guys with their packing?"

The next morning, as the guys headed toward the canoes wit their backpacks, word spread quickly and there were a lot of curious campers milling about as Robert and Luke directed the younger kids on the proper way to pack and, especially, to tie down their baggage. "After all, we don't want to lose all our stuff if we happen to tip over."

For some reason, this comment brought about quite a bit of laughter from the guys, as well as Linda, Susan and Ginger, who were there watching with quite a few others. Soon, everything was ready; Tom, Thomas and Henry took the bow positions of their respective canoes while Jake, the smallest as well as the youngest of the group sat in the middle. Luke sat down at the stern of one canoe and, when he was well seated, Robert pushed the canoe into the water. Finally, after tossing their shoes into their own canoes, Pete and Robert pushed their canoes into the water and crawled aboard. After quickly storing their shoes so they wouldn't drift away in case of an accident, they took their paddles and, on Pete's signal, all started paddling rhythmically as they headed out into the lake.