Very Private List for Camp Success (9 page)

‘Ta-dah!’ Rita said, pointing at Penelope’s list. She was laughing. ‘I found it in the drawer.’ She turned to Bob and Tilly. ‘Can you even believe it? Isn’t it
hysterical
?’

Penelope felt as though her heart had dropped out of her chest and landed in her tummy. It was possibly the most humiliating moment of her entire life.

‘That’s private, Rita,’ Penelope said, her voice wobbling.
‘It’s my PRIVATE list.’

Penelope felt Bob move closer and put her arm around her.

‘I know!’ Rita giggled. ‘That’s what makes it so funny. It’s such a baby-ish thing to do. “
Unless people are ABSOLUTELY mean,”’
she said in a mimicking way. ‘And I think I know all about rule number four, Penelope. You’re totally planning to chicken out of the challenge swing.’

Penelope felt all the familiar beginnings of an outburst. The pulsing in her temples, the heat in her face.
THE ANGRY WORDS BUBBLING INSIDE HER, GETTING READY TO LEAP OUT OF HER MOUTH.

But something stopped her
.
Perhaps it was seeing the list there, with the words ‘No outbursts’ right in front of her. Or maybe it was Bob’s arm around her shoulders, and remembering Bob’s earlier comments. Bob was right. She couldn’t let Rita drive her nutso.

Just then Tilly did something totally unexpected. As the other three watched, she went over to the wall and peeled the list off. She handed it to Penelope.

‘You shouldn’t do things like that, Rita,’ Tilly said. Her voice was a little bit wobbly. Tilly had never criticised Rita before. It was very brave of her, and it definitely made Penelope feel a little bit better.

‘Yeah, you really need to lay off Penelope, Rita,’ Bob added.

Rita rolled her eyes as though the whole thing was no big deal, but Penelope could tell that she was quite shocked. Her eyebrows were knitted together, and she mumbled something about being the only normal one in the hut.

Then Rita looked at the clock, which was now the only thing decorating the hut wall. ‘It’s lights out time,’ she said. ‘No talking. That’s a RULE.’

It was eight minutes past midnight. Penelope was very tired, but she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened on her first day at camp.

Bob’s snoring wasn’t helping either. Honestly, it had taken her about thirty seconds to fall asleep. After tossing and turning in her sleeping bag for a while, Tilly seemed to have gone to sleep too.

Penelope thought that Rita had also drifted off. But then Penelope heard her talking.

‘No. Don’t.’

For a moment, Penelope thought she might be going to say something about putting her Very Private List on the wall. But there was something hazy about Rita’s voice that stopped Penelope from responding.

‘Not. Baby. Nooo. Janine, nooo.’

This time, Rita’s words came out as kind of a moan, and Penelope understood what was happening. Rita was sleep-talking. She must have been having a dream. And whatever she was dreaming about didn’t sound very pleasant.

Penelope thought she heard a little sob before Rita’s breathing became even again.

Penelope could have done without Rita being in her hut. She could have done without Rita being in her whole life, actually. But she didn’t like to hear anyone being upset. Even if it
was
just a dream. She rolled over and tried to put it out of her mind. Dreams didn’t necessarily have anything to do with real life.

Besides, the last thing she needed was to waste time feeling sorry for Rita Azul! She had a huge day looming ahead of her. The challenge swing was scheduled for 11 am.

Penelope liked things to be Clear and Definite, but there was nothing Clear or Definite about what was going to happen at 11 am. Penelope still had no idea how she was going to handle the situation.

No. Idea. At. All.

Breakfast was strangely quiet. There were no food fights, and everyone seemed to be eating less than they had the day before. After breakfast, they all went on a beach walk. It was a lovely day, so perhaps they were just soaking that in. But Penelope had her doubts.

One thing was certain. Her own tummy was flipping. Over and over again.

On the way to the challenge swing, the tummy flipping got worse. Penelope was glad she had her very best friend right beside her. Near the front, Alex had started a Mexican wave, which rippled back towards Penelope and Bob. When it reached them, Penelope found that she couldn’t throw up her hands properly.

‘You know what, Pen?’ Bob said, turning towards her. ‘You look really pale. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.’

Penelope breathed deeply.

‘But you’re going to do it, right?’ she asked Bob.

Bob nodded. ‘Yeah. I’m pumped to try it,’ she said (in her usual honest way, not in a pretending way). ‘But look. Plenty of kids are freaking out. Look at Felix Unger.’

Penelope looked ahead. Felix Unger (who was actually excellent at most sports) was sneaking backwards. In fact, he sneaked right past them, moving to the very back of the queue. This seemed like a fairly good clue that Felix was feeling nervous. It also seemed to Penelope like a Very Good idea.

In fact, now she was looking around, Penelope could see that other kids were clearly feeling nervous too. Alison Cromwell turning around and going cross-eyed, then laughing in a crazy way, was another hint. Knowing she wasn’t the only one who felt anxious made Penelope feel a tiny bit better.

Alex Gabriel went first. Penelope helped pull the rope with the others, but her arms felt extremely weak and the shouts of encouragement from the other kids were just background noise. All she could think about was how nervous she was.

Penelope watched as Alex rose into the sky, higher and higher, until he was as high as the swing could possibly go. He didn’t hesitate before pulling the release handle. As he plummeted towards the ground he stretched his right arm out like Superman, just like he had said he would. He really did look like he was swooping down to rescue someone. But when he got off the swing he was just plain old show-off Alex, trying to get everyone in the queue to high-five him.

Joanna was next up. ‘Oh my god,’ she squealed, after Ramone had secured the harness and told her she was good to go. ‘This thing’s giving me a massive wedgie!’

Loads of kids laughed. Penelope tried to smile, but it was a difficult thing to do when she felt so drained and weak. Oscar Finley must have noticed, because straight after Joanna had her turn, he dropped out from his spot near the front of the queue and came over to her.

‘Are you OK, Penny?’ he asked. ‘You look kind of weird.’

Penelope shook her head. Perhaps she should be pretending she was OK, but somehow she couldn’t find it in her.

‘Hey, Bob, do you mind if I take Penny back in the queue a bit?’ he asked.

‘Nope. Good idea, Oscar,’ Bob said kindly.

With each step away from the challenge swing, Penelope felt a little better. Soon they reached the back of the line.

‘You don’t need to be nervous,’ Oscar said. ‘Just go as high as you want. I’ve been on one of these before. You get a jolt and it’s scary for a second. Then it’s just really good fun. You’ll be fine.’

Penelope grimaced, but she also felt a bit less shaky. One thing she knew about Oscar Finley was that he was
not
a liar.

‘Also,’ Oscar said, leaning forward with a very serious expression, ‘heaps of kids have done this before you, and no-one has died.’

Penelope felt a genuine smile playing on her lips. ‘Well, I didn’t actually expect to die,’ she said.

‘Good,’ Oscar said, grinning now, ‘because you’re
probably
not going to.’

Oscar stayed with Penelope right up until his turn. It was kind of funny how kids kept chickening out and coming to the back of the queue. By the time it was Penelope’s turn, there were six people behind her. One of them was Rita Azul. Penelope supposed that she wanted to go last so everyone was paying attention when she sang her terrible song, and not worrying about their own turn.

Then it was Penelope’s turn. When Ramone fastened her harness, Penelope had to remind herself to breathe. She clung tightly to the rope as she rose through the air. The green handle was right there beside her. About halfway up, she thought about telling the others to stop. She thought about it again three-quarters of the way up. But somehow, she kept going up and up, and it was kind of OK.

From the HIGHEST point of the challenge swing (eighteen and a half metres! – but this wasn’t the time to think about that) Penelope could see the whole camp. The ocean glittered as though it was made of diamonds. Penelope was filled with fear.

But she also felt something bigger than fear. A kind of exhilaration that she’d never felt before.

‘OK, Penelope. Pull the handle on three,’ Ramone called out. ‘One!’

There was still time to back out. Penelope could ask Ramone and the other kids to lower her down.

‘Two!’

Or she could go halfway down, and do it from there.

‘Three!’

Or she could do it. Right now.

Penelope pulled the handle. There was a jolt as she dropped.

Her heart lurched into her gut.

Then Penelope PLUMMETED to the ground.