Chapter 24
The Secret Inside the Broken Car
Jack was the first one awake. After a good sleep, all the campers remembered their hunger and asked for food. Jack looked through his cupboard and pulled out some cereal and peanut butter. He also had some Ramen noodle soup, canned green beans, a bag of onions, and some Kool Aid. “I’m low on food, but I know where some delicious blackberries and wild strawberries are if anyone would like to go with me. There are some crab apples not too far away too,” he added.
“I’ll go,” said Cody, Luna, and Eugene, who were all eager to find something to eat.
“I’d like to come too,” said C.J. and Cindi.
“Good, the more people we have, the more food we can gather. I’m going to bring my gun too, and maybe we can find a deer,” said Jack.
“Oh, I think it is sad to kill a deer,” said Luna. “I don’t want to watch. It’s like shooting Bambi.”
“Not really,” said Eugene.
“Shut up!” exclaimed Cody and Luna simultaneously. Jack led the group to the berry patches, and they began picking and eating as many berries as they could find.
“Where’s your four-wheeler?” asked Cindi, who had forgotten about it until that moment. “I expected to hear it early this morning. When I didn’t hear or see it, it made me scared. That’s why we turned out all the lights because we didn’t know what was hiding in the darkness.”
“I got the four-wheeler stuck in a ditch while it was raining. I need to go back and get it,” remembered Jack. “Let’s gather food, and then I can take several of you and together I think we can pull it out of the mud,” Jack said feeling a sense of happiness to be with people again.
“I think I saw a deer,” yelled Eugene.
Putting his finger to his mouth, Jack motioned everyone to be quiet, and they inched their way gingerly through the forest. Eugene pointed in the direction of the deer, and they all followed, away from the familiarity of the berry bushes. Deeper and deeper into the forest they went, away from the house, base camp, and the stream.
“What’s that?” asked Cody pointing to a car hidden by underbrush.
They walked towards a car. The front end was wrecked, but the side doors, trunk, and back looked in good shape except for a wide crack in the windshield. C.J. looked inside. Her eyes were drawn to a necklace hanging down from the rear view mirror. “Look at the ring and there’s a picture on the dashboard,” she said.
“I know,” said Jack. This is my car. I wrecked it shortly after I moved here. That’s my wife’s wedding ring and the picture is us of my family on our wedding day.”
“Why did you leave the car, the ring, and the pictures here? Why didn’t you get someone to help you tow it?” asked Cindi.
“I didn’t want to be around people or have anyone asking questions or intruding on my privacy, so I just left it and walked away. I had looked at the ring, and the pictures every day. I couldn’t look at them anymore. By leaving them, I was hoping to leave the pain and the memories behind… it didn’t work,” Jack sighed sadly.
“Do you mind if I take a closer look at your wedding picture?” asked Cindi curious to see what Jack looked like clean shaven. She also wondered what his wife looked like. When she looked at the picture, she began to tremble. “Who is that?” she asked as she pointed to the best man next to Jack.
“That’s my brother, Joe,” said Jack.
Tears welled and overflowed as Cindi looked at the picture. “Was he ever a camper at Camp Clearwater?”
“Yes, he loved the camp. He came to the camp when he was a teenager, probably he was around fifteen I would guess. The summer he spent at Camp Clearwater was all he talked about. That was part of the reason I wanted to bring my wife because we had heard so much about it.”
“I’m pretty sure I know him,” Cindi said as she trembled looking at the picture of the true love she had waited for twelve years to return. Taking in a deep breath she asked, “Where is Joe now?”
Hanging his head, Jack said, “He was killed in a motorcycle accident, a few months after he came back from Camp Clearwater. That was twelve years ago.”
Cindi began crying. “He’s dead?” she asked.
“Yes, it really killed all of us. He had a great time at camp and all he could talk about was a girl he had met. He had big plan to meet her the next summer. We all teased him about her. He received some letters from her but was he so private, he hid them in his room. He was on the way to the post office to mail a letter back to her when a drunk driver ran into him and killed him instantly. The envelope was destroyed. We were able to save only part of the letter, so we were never able to tell his girlfriend what happened to him,” said Jack.
Looking at the picture, Cindi said, “I am his girlfriend. For the past twelve years, I have come back to Camp Clearwater hoping and praying he would be here and every year, I have gone home disappointed. Every year, I’ve told myself to forget about him and move on to someone who would love me back, but the glimmer of hope wouldn’t die inside me. Like a moth to the flame I’ve been drawn back to this camp in hopes of seeing him. I’ve had a premonition that this would be the year I found him, and I have. I just never figured it would be in a picture.”
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way. He really loved you. You were all he talked about when he got home. I’m sure he would have come back if he were still alive,” said Jack comforting Cindi. “The part of the letter we found said he loved you and could hardly wait to see you again.” With eyes glazed over, she stood still as a coffin, crumpling inside. C.J. and Luna hugged her. Then Cody and Eugene put their arms around her too. They all mourned the lost and had a silent funeral in the stillness of the forest.
The moment of silence was broken when they heard a noise overhead. “It sounds like a helicopter,” said Eugene.
“I bet it’s someone who’s looking for us. Everyone scream as loud as you can,” said Cody.
“They’re not going to hear us over the noise of the propeller,” said Eugene.
“So I guess you have a better idea?” said Cody angry at Eugene’s know-it-all attitude.
“Yes, we should build a fire and make smoke signals,” said Eugene. “The forest is so thick; I don’t think they will be able to see us. We need to make our way to a clearing, and then start a fire,” he continued, “but we will have to hurry!”
“Come follow me,” said Jack. “I know where a clearing is.”
Still clutching to the photograph, Cindi followed behind C.J., Luna, and Cody. Eugene put his arm around Luna slightly and told her things would be alright. She pushed him away, so he started walking next to Cindi.
“I don’t know how, but I know things just have a way of working out for good,” said Eugene. “I never wanted to go to this camp. I thought it was a huge mistake, but I’ve learned so much about myself and how to survive, things I never thought I’d ever learn. It’s been terrible and wonderful all at the same time,” said Eugene as he walked next to Cindi.
“You coming?” asked Jack looking back. “We need to pick up the pace before the helicopter leaves. Run if you can,” he said as he began jogging down the slightly beaten path he had created several months earlier.
They all ran as fast as they could with hope propelling them forward. “Hurry faster,” urged Jack. Finally, they reached a clearing at the foot of a mountain. “Grab some dry branches and bark. Be quick,” he demanded.
Grabbing a flint and stone from his pocket, Jack began rubbing sticks and quickly forming a fire. It was easy to see this wasn’t the first fire he had built because it started quickly and with ease. They all began waving their arms to the sky. The girls dumped the berries out of the bags they had brought and began using them to fan the flames. The boys took off their shirts. Everyone was fanning the flames and the smoke signal rose higher and higher. The helicopter flew right over them and didn’t look down.
“Oh no, they didn’t see us,” cried Luna.
“Throw more s
ticks onto the fire and help me,” insisted Jack forgetting his desire for privacy. “Come on, look down,” he ordered even though he knew it would be impossible for the pilot to hear him. “Look down! Look at the smoke,” he yelled to the sky as he and the others fanned the fire furiously. They were all fanning, waving, and screaming…fanning, waving, and screaming! Then like an answer to prayer, the helicopter turned around and landed next to them.
“I can’t believe they saw us,” Cindi cried out of breath from her frantic antics. They all agreed with new invigoration because they knew help had finally arrived.
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