My Summer at Camp Kickapoo
Chapter One
A Late Night Thunderstorm
I took a deep breath as I peered out through the flaps of my tent. The heavy rain drops pounded upon the canvas frame of my tent. Claps of thunder echoed in the dark night sky and the icy wind howled through cracks in the bottom of the tent. The sudden thunderstorm should have been a blessing, for it had cooled the air. But as I sat down upon my cot and peered down at the black and white pages of my manga I found myself straining to read the fine print. My only source of light, an old gas powered lantern, started to sway back and forth as the flaps of the tent flapped in the wind.
I was two days into a fourteen day sojourner into the rural, rustic hell called “Camp Kickapoo '' I had signed up for what's called a double hitch. Not only in hopes of earning enough to merit badges to advance from my current rank of Scout First Class to Star. But also to prove to myself that I had “True Grit”. I can not easily define what “True Grit” is. But it was something I was told I lacked all my life.
Oh and this manga I'm reading? The glossy cover shows a girl with long raven colored hair. She was wearing a stylish Sailor Uniform and she was surrounded by orange and yellow flaming balls of fire. The title of the manga was called Sailor Moon and was about a girl who saved a black cat and as result had been endowed with magical powers and gifted a magic wand.
The manga was more than a comic book, it was my connection to the world outside this rustic hell. Scouts attending camp here were not allowed to have any electronic devices heck we were not allowed to have more than forty dollars in cash. In fact all my world possessions were laying at foot of my cot. All were contained in a brown rucksack.
That rucksack contained my Scout Handbook, a shaving kit, an extra bar of soap, a formal uniform, a hairbrush, extra hair ties, a compass, a notebook with some pens, a box of matches, and my tin cooking kit. Also wrapped in an old paper bag was a pair of brown dress shoes that went along with the formal scout uniform. For everyday wear I wore a pair of brown leather moccasins. I had a spare pair of moccasins in my sack.
I was also making another pair. You see the camp store or “The Trading Post” - The trading post sold most anything a scout could want from guide books about getting certain merit badges, to crafting kits to even an ice cold soda and a snack. The post only accepted cash and bills no larger than a five. So that was that.
Also I failed to mention this earlier but also housed within my sack was a leather bound Book of Common Prayer, and a set of Anglican Prayer Beads. I'd been born into a family that had been Episcopalian for generations and one uncle had even gone into the priesthood. As far as I could tell he was the rector, that is the person in charge of a parish, which is just a fancy name for a church and the congregation that calls that church home. And last but not least a leather drawstring pouch that contained a small amount of money. Most one dollar bills, a few five dollar bills, two ten dollar bills, a good collection of coins and stuff. When I last counted my money I had around forty three dollars and sixteen cents in total hidden at the bottom of my pack. For you know extra scout stuff.
Returning the manga that was in my hand. I was also an enthusiastic fan of manga and dreamed of writing and publishing my own one day. I know the manga publishing giant TokyoPublications is always looking for fresh talent. Maybe I could get hired on with them. Anyway it's late, according to my watch it's now nine thirty at night. And I have, if I'm lucky, five hours of sleep ahead of me.
But for I turn out that light I want to tell you guys why I'm here. I'm here because I want to experience what this world has to offer. I want to write and draw a manga that has never been written or drawn before. As far as I can tell nobody has written or drawn a manga based on the American Boy scout Experience. Much less one based on Summer Camp. And the only way to really draw it is to live it. And I plan on living it.
I want to advance in scouts. And well, guys as I close my manga and place it tender back into my rucksack. I stand up to dim the lantern. I want to invite you to follow along with me. Because like I said, I also want to become a writer and the only way to really write is to know what you're writing about and to write from experience. That was my best friend Emily Anderson told me. And she was right. So join me if you will, as I chronicle these next twelve days and share with you all the highs, all the lows and all the misadventures.
My Summer at Camp Kickapoo
Chapter Two
Concerning Merit Badges
The sound of a lone trumpeter sounding out reveille sounded through the woods. The ear piercing sound caused me to roll over and slowly open my eyes. It was still raining outside my tent and the wind was starting to blow harder now than it had when I'd fallen into a fitful sleep. The wind blew the falling rain at a slant. My eyes still heavy with sleep tried to focus on my watch. It was four o' clock in the morning.
With the sound of the bugle call still echoing in my ears, I fumbled for my shaving kit. Finally after thirty seconds of searching I managed to find it. Once I had it in my hand, I stepped out of the cozy confines of my tent and into the pouring rain. You see, each of the campsites had two things, the first thing was kind of a shared fire pit that was normally located in the center of the campsite, oftentimes this would be nothing more than a ring of large stones surrounding some half burned pieces of charcoal.
The second thing they had was an outdoor shower. The shower was often nothing more than a simple, wooden framed building that was enclosed with weather-beaten brown boards. The water poured out of a rusty shower head and drained out of a simple hole in the ground. A gray concrete slab was provided for you to stand on. Beside the shower was a simple wooden table with an iron bucket. If you wanted to shave or wash your face, you needed to fill the bucket up with water. The water was often freezing cold, and yes, you had no hot water.
Oh and you had to shave every day. And if you had long hair like I did, you were required to keep it clean, free of tangles and pulled back in a ponytail. For most of my fellow scouts this was too much trouble and so they buzzed their hair almost to the scalp. But I liked my long hair, so I put up with the hassle of keeping it clean and free of tangles.
Oh and before you ask. If you had to pee, we often peed on a tree like maybe the cavemen of old use to do. And if we had to poop, we were required to dig a shallow hole in the ground with a shovel, and then squat down and over our butts just above the hole and then breathe a silent prayer to God above that the movement would be quick, clean, and painless. And hopefully not long, and drawn out.
But the first splash of freezing cold water pushed all those thoughts from my foggy mind. The water was cold, and tasted like mud. I felt myself starting to shiver as I started to apply a thin layer of white, snowy colored shaving foam on my cheeks. With fumbling hands, I dragged the razor across my face. For two, long, drawn out, painful minutes I hacked away the stubble that had grown on my cheeks since the last time I'd had time to shave.
Once that chore was done, I looked around and then I applied another thin layer of shaving foam on my legs. Again for two, long, painful drawn out, and mind numbing minutes I hacked away at the tiny, almost invisible hairs that grew out since I left home two days ago. Next I tacked the hair under my armpit and then I stepped into the cold spray of water.
Now, you must be asking yourself why am I going through all this trouble? Well, because for one I don't like the sight or the feel of hairy legs. And two, I like the feeling of silky smooth skin. And three, maybe I thought I looked better with a cleanly shaven face and cleanly shaved legs? Maybe it just felt right.
The rain was starting to slack off a little now and as soon as I'd finished my morning shower it was nothing more than a light drizzle. I was shivering though, the freezing cold water had snapped me of all my strength. And my body was shivering like the lone leaf left on the last branch of a barren tree.
“What a hellish way to start a day.” I muttered under my breath and mostly to myself. In my haste to be the first one to get into the shower, I'd forgotten my bath towel and now I had no other choice but to sprint naked through the campsite toward my tent. My tent was located at the bottom of the campsite, it was located in an area that some long forgotten scout had named “Haunted Woods' '. Because of well known camp legends that were told around the dying embers of a campfire, normally just before bedtime.
The rain fall from last night had turned the narrow pathways, trails, and dirt roads that were scattered around the camp into deep mud holes. The mud was everywhere, and there was no escaping it. Now common sense would dictate that all outdoor activities or classes had to be postponed because of the still drizzling rain. But no, I still had to attend my first class of the day.
You see, going to summer camp as a scout was much like going to college. You registered for classes, and you attended those classes and at the end of the class, if you completed all the requirements you got a merit badge as a reward. Now, some of these merit badges are very easy to earn. Like you could complete all the requirements for the Art Badge in one afternoon. Some took a few more sessions to complete all the requirements to earn like the Reading Badge. Others could even take weeks or months to learn like Personal Physical Fitness.
The badges that would take a scout a few weeks and in some cases even a few months to earn, would normally be group projects undertaken by a whole troop. As a whole troop would work on that badge together. One of the best examples of a long term badge is “Advanced Life Saving” that one badge a group of older scouts would undertake together. Likewise “Personal Fitness” is another one. As it required a scout to keep a detailed log of their activities and tracking their progress toward getting into shape.
The “First Aid” badge you could earn after a few days of hands-on lessons. But its sister badge “Advanced First Aid” required several days of intense hands-on training. Woodcutting, one afternoon. You get the picture.
Anyway my first class of the day was “Fly Fishing '' for that I needed to be at the lakefront as soon as breakfast was done. After that I had to hike a mile and a half from the shore of the lake to a simple, humble, red brick building that was located at the edge of the main cluster of buildings. Here I would take the last few lessons I needed to earn my “Advanced First Aid” Badge that I'd been working on for a while now. I was just a few more lessons shy from meeting the requirements of being rewarded that badge.
The Lunch, after Lunch I would walk across the road to a simple old iron shed. There I would spend a few hours poking away at my “Metal Working” Badge. Then I had another two mile walk through the woods till I reached the shooting range located deep in the woods. There I would work on earning my “Marksmanship” Badge.
Then Dinner.
Then as the sun was setting. I would spend the remaining hours of the day holed up in the dusty, smelly, brick building that was called the camp's library. There I would spend pounds of flesh, and gallons of sweat pouring over dusty old books as studied for the last badge of my first hitch. That badge being the fabled “Law” merit badge.
And so, that is what awaited me today. As I fumbled to put on tan cargo shorts and pulled over a white short sleeve shirt, and slipped on my shoes, I breathed a quick prayer before leaving my tent and putting those shoes through their paces with a run to the dinning hall.
My Summer at Camp Kickapoo
Chapter Three
I volunteer as a Tribute!
Four days into a fourteen hitch and most of us already looked less like a troop of Boy Scouts and more like the shattered remains of an Confederate infantry regiment that had been chewed up and spat out by the Union Army on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Many of my fellow scouts had given up bathing, the water was just too damn cold, many were also starting to suffer from dehydration because the water was almost unfit to drink. The camp's washing machine had broken down too, so we had no way of really washing our clothes. And so many of my fellow scouts discarded their underwear and tossed them into the campfire and burned them. Since one could wear a pair of shorts without underwear.
And I still had ten days to go. Most only had three more days left in this rustic hellhole. It also seems the pump on the well had broken down and the camp was still searching for a repairman to come out and fix it. And for food, well for the past four days we've been living on boiled corn mush and berries and tree roots collected from the woods. Because you see the camp's kitchen had lost power during that recent thunderstorm a few nights ago and most of the frozen food had thawed up and spoiled. And yes, the camp's cooking staff had tossed the spoiled food away, I'm sure the local wildlife ate good that night and for several nights afterwards.
And so we were in pretty tough shape when they called us into formation. Also I failed to mention the diet of just boiled corn mush, berries and tree roots had turned us inside out and our bowels ran water. So picture that, fifty broken scouts standing in a ragtag formation in the middle of an overgrown field when three teenage girls appeared in our midst. It was like God himself had looked down on our suffering and decided to send us an angel.
The first of the three girls was a brunette with shining green eyes. The second one was a blonde woman with eyes that shined like bejeweled sapphires. And the third was also blonde and her eyes also shimmered like blue jewels. All were dressed in white short sleeve blouses that were tucked into forest green skirts.
“Good afternoon.” The brunette said with a small smile. “I'm Emma. And I'm a Junior Scoutmaster at the girl scout camp that's located just across the lake. And these two lovely ladies are my two best friends Joanne and Dee! All three of us are Junior Scoutmasters.”
The two blonde girls waved. I could not believe my eyes. They seemed so unfazed by such a ragtag group of boy scouts.
“Anyway.” The first blonde, I think she said her name was Dee, stepped toward us. She looked around and I think for a brief moment I caught a ghost of a frown on her face. Maybe she was fazed by the sight she was taking in. But she seemed to collect herself quickly enough and soon she resumed smiling.
“We are hosting our first annual “Camp Pocahontas Womanless Beauty Pageant' our goal is to raise at least twelve hundred dollars for St. Jude's Children's Hospital in nearby Memphis. Our region's only children's hospital that is devoted to the care, treatment, and finding possible cures for childhood cancer. As you know families never get treatment at St. Jude's never get a bill. Mostly because of fundraisers like the one we are putting on right now.”
“And now.” The second blonde stepped toward us and said. “I'm sure you, a lot of wonderful fellows, are wondering what a 'Womanless Beauty Pageant' is. Well it's a beauty pageant where guys, such as yourselves get put into pretty frocks and get made up. And people pay to see how pretty you can be. We'll also be selling our world famous cookies at this event too. So our scouts would get the chance to earn their 'FundRaising' Merit Badge and their 'Cookie Selling' Merit badge. And older scouts would get a chance to earn their 'Money Management' Merit badge too! Plus they'll be earning money to help their camp. And you boys would get a chance to wear a pretty gown and get all dolled up!”
A mummer ran through the crowd.
“Now! First off, we need only one boy to volunteer. Second we'll provide the gown, the make-up and everything else. Now for the third point, and this is the most important point. We want this to be in good taste. So if you're selected. Please, go into this with the thought of giving it your best! Our scouts are going to pour a lot of effort into this and we want you boys to pour just as much effort into it.” The brunette who was named Emma said.
“The Local JROTC Naval Unit has already selected their volunteers.” Dee added.
“And many others!” Joanna chimed in.
“So any volunteers?” Emma asked hopefully.
I don't know what came over me. I guess if I ever got around to drawing that manga based on my time in scouts this would make a nice chapter or two. That or I just wanted to volunteer before somebody else did. And so without giving it much thought I used my last ounce of strength to shout out.
“I'll volunteer as a tribute!” I shouted. My voice echoed across the field and a few seconds later all heads swiveled toward me and soon fifty three sets of eyes brought me into focus.
Emma, Joanna and Dee forced a little laugh and turned toward each other.
“Okay, we'll play.” Joanna said.
“What is your name scout?” Emma said smiling.
At this point I don't think I had two brain cells in my head to rub together. I'd spent the hour before this formation debating and fighting both tooth and nail for my Law Badge. Which after only two sessions I earned meaning I was free to devote some of my remaining time on my 'Art Badge' at last. Anyway what came out of my month was not my name but.
“LAW!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Is common sense, plus plain English!” I paused. “Law seeks to settle domestic disputes using logic and reason and avoid combative conflict!” I paused again and instead of saying my name for the third time I shouted. “LAW!” I took a deep breath. “Is a collection of guiding principles or core values that a group of people have decided to apply to themselves and be governed by. The Ten Commandments is one such list of guiding principles that according to the Book of Exodus was handed down from God to the twelve tribes of..” I cut myself off.
“Okay..” Emma said as she looked at Dee who shrugged her shoulders. Joanna just stood there lost as a goose.
“Okay.. but your name?” Joanna asked.
“SARAH ELIZABETH PERCY!”
All three girls took a step back. My fellow scouts just looked at me. At this point they were just husks of boys. All their strength had been sapped from them. The pressure of earning their merit badges had cracked their sanity. Many were broken and many were just counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds before their week here was up. Unlike me, who had decided to stay for two weeks and who might stay for an extra week to help clean the place up. And use the extra seven days to earn both a few more merit badges and rack up some volunteer points toward the next step on my quest for the fable 'Eagle
“Okay..” Dee said before giggling a little. “That's totally a Southern name.”
“Yep, that's a double name right there. Totally a Southern name.” Joanna then walked up to me and then leaned in a little closer. I could feel her eyes peering into mine. I was scared. I was scared she was going to either bite me or Or at that very moment my bowels would turn to water and come running out, flooding the seat of my shorts and then running down my leg onto my socks.
“So what was with all that 'Law' talk earlier? You sounded unhinged.” Emma said as she walked up and stood almost shoulder to shoulder with Joanna.
“I just earned my 'Law' badge.” I said blushing. “I did it in two four days instead of six.” I paused and then I noticed something that made me blush even harder. Both Joanna and Emma were taller than me, not by much, but they both had a few good inches on me.
“So.” Dee said, smiling a little as she looked me in the eyes. “If we can ladies, can we get back on topic.” Her voice was smooth as velvet and echoed refinement. “Sarah, sweetie. Can you remove your ponytail holder.” She said, giving me a smirk.
Blinking, I slowly reached up and removed the black band that was holding my hair in place. Soon a cascade of black hair started running down my neck. A collective breath was taken. And Emma, Joanna , and Dee quickly turned to each other and soon all three just nodded there heads.
“Okay.” Joanna said smiling. “We'll accept you as tribute.”
“Tomorrow morning. Get a shower, shave the best you can, wash and condition your hair. And meet us at the front of the camp at eight o' clock sharp.” Emma said.
“We'll pick you up and take you into town to get fitted for a gown, get your hair done, nails, make-up, shoes and all that good stuff. The pageant is tomorrow evening so that leaves the morning and the whole afternoon open. Plenty of time, we just gotta make sure we don't waste much time. So it's important that you be at the front of the camp at eight o' clock sharp.” Dee added with a firm nod of her head.
“Can you do that scout?” Joanna said, turning her once toward me.
“Yes ma'am!” I was too afraid to say no.
“Good.” All three said together.
And so that's how I volunteered. I mean after all, how often does the chance come around to volunteer for something like this. And maybe this would prove once and for all that I have “True Grit”. And maybe because I felt like deep inside of there was really a girl named Sarah inching to come out. I can't explain it. But at that moment I was really looking forward to wearing a fancy dress. I was looking toward going into a salon and getting my hair dressed by a professional stylist. I was looking toward getting dolled up and made pretty. The thought of having a dozen girls fuss over me while they applied lipstick, eyeliner, and all that other good stuff made my heart flutter a little.
And that is how I'm going to close this chapter.
Four days in and ten more to go before my stint here in this hellhole is done.
My Summer at Camp Kickapoo
Chapter Four
Camp Pocahontas
My marching orders had been to meet Emma, Joanne, and Dee at Eight O' Clock sharp in the morning. But I had classes. But, thankfully by noon all of my instructors had signed off on all the forums that I'll need to turn in for each badge I'd signed up for. I was also told that tomorrow morning I should sign up for my second week worth of lessons. My guidance counselor strongly suggested that I focus my efforts on earning badges that would advance me toward Star. That included earning my “Life Saving” badge and the “Orienteering” Badge. Both were required to advance from Scout First Class to Star.
Both of those classes lasted about two hours at a time. He then suggested that I take the “Fishing” badge since I'd already earned the “Fly Fishing” badge. And finally he suggest I take “Creative Writing” to round things off. I agreed to all those suggestions. I also asked if I could take “Art” since I had one hour left. I was told Art was not being offered next week but I could take “Theater” if I wanted to so I agreed to that.
After that, he signed off and so my schedule for next week was settled. Then I turned attention toward the lake. The fastest way to reach the girls camp would be to cross the lake and that would require either swimming across the lake or using one of our camp's canoes. After giving the matter some thought, I decided to borrow one of our camp's canoes.
The guy watching the canoes wanted to give me some grief about borrowing a canoe to cross the lake. Since I did not have the “Canoeing” Badge. But after a brief back and forth. A scout who had the badge was found and the matter was settled. The scout in question would paddle me over and then hang around on the shore till the thing was done and then paddle me back.
And so around One O' Clock in the afternoon we shoved off. Five hours late. It took us around twenty minutes to reach the other side as the scout paddling the canoe stuck to the shallows. This puzzled me as it would have been faster if we paddled straight across. But the scout seemed on edge as paddled so I kept quiet.
Finally we reached the other side of the lake. Once we were on shore, we were greeted by Emma, Joanne, and Dee both standing on the sandy shore with their hands folded under their breast and their eyes focused on me.
“You're late!” Joanne said.
“But only for five hours!” Emma said, shaking her head.
Dee just looked at me.
“Sorry!” I said blushing a little. “I had to finish some badge coursework and get everything signed and squared away.”
At this Emma, Dee, and Joanne just shook their heads and held their hands up.
“Whatever!” They all said in unison.
A few minutes later I was being led off the shoreline and into the camp proper. The first thing I noticed was the road that led from the shoreline to the lake was paved in blacktop. It made traveling a lot faster. The next thing I noticed was the center of camp.
You see, the center of the girls camp was different from ours. For one most of the buildings were brick with black slate roofs. Many had concrete walkways connecting them to the main road. Also I noticed that there were signs hanging on the doors of each building. For example the dining hall had the words 'Dining Hall' cut into a wooden sign that was located in the middle of the door. The nurse's office also had a sign reading 'Nurse's Office' on it and so on. The main lodge, the dining hall, the nurse's office, and the camp store all seemed to be located no more than a stone's throw from each other.
“Welcome to the village square.” Emma said we passed through the area. “To your right you notice a trail, in a few short hours you will usher down that trail to our camp's outdoor amphitheater where we'll be hosting the pageant. Of course we don't expect our princess to walk all the way from our cabin to amphitheater so we'll get send for one of the golf carts.”
“Anyway! At first we wanted to send you into town to get the full make-over. Believe it or not there is a Sephora outlet store in town. But because somebody was a little late, we had to scrap that plan.” Dee said, smiling a little. “Thankfully, between Emma, Joanne and I, we managed to gather up enough supplies for a little make-over.”
“And because you have black hair. We've decided that the gown you'll wear will be Hot Pink, because according to 'Teen Fashion', Hot pink is among the top six colors that go with your hair color.” Joanne said smiling. She then paused. “You can keep the dress too.”
“And the shoes!” Emma said smiling. “Sorry the only shoes we could find had three inch heels on them. So be sure to take small, but graceful steps. We were going to give you a crash course in art of walking in heels. But again, you were a tiny bit late. So we had to push back that lesson.”
“We really want a fellow scout to win this.” Dee said, smiling a little. “Oh, and I think we failed to mention that the person who places first will get more than a tiara and a sash, that they can keep of course. But also we're throwing in a fifty dollar gift voucher for our trading post.” Dee paused and smiled a little. “I mean I'm sure you can find something there you might need. After all I heard that your camp's trading post has been forced to close down, something to do with lack of stuff for sale?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
Really, I had nothing to say. Compared to our camp, the girl's camp was like a little city. The further we got from the center of things the more I noticed how comfortable the girls were. For example, across the lake we slept in tents. Here, it seemed all the girls slept in cabins. Wooden cabins. And a concrete walking path connected the front of each cabin with the main road.
Heck, there were even lanterns hanging from a post. I paused and looked at one of the lanterns.
“We light those after dark.” Emma said. “You know, so our girls don't stumble and fall at night. I mean the last thing we need is for a girl to twist her ankle coming back from a late night class or something.”
I nodded my head.
“Well, here we are,” Dee said as she pointed toward one of the cabins. “Pardon the mess, we've had a busy morning.” Dee walked down the concrete walkway toward the front door of the cabin. “Home sweet home.” And then she pulled the door open and stepped inside.
“The three of us share a cabin.” Emma said smiling. “I figured we could use our cabin as a home base. I know you boys don't have hot running water over there.” As she said that Emma pointed over her shoulders toward the lake and I figured she was pointing at the distant shoreline.
“So we figured you could use our shower, we have a spare bathrobe for you. And we picked up a few extra things we thought you might need.” Emma said as she followed Dee inside.
“Including a spare razor, soap, shampoo, nail polish, panties, bra, chicken fillets.” Added Joanne as she ushered me in after Emma.
And so ends another chapter.