Bible Camp Read Free Page B

clearing was the
lake, sparkling and bright with a short dock of gray wood extending
some little distance into the waters. The forest continued all
around the edges of the lake and more trees could be seen on the
far side, at least half a mile distant.
    But there was no sign of Abby, his
purpose for being there.
    “ Abby?” he called out.
    Nothing.
    Worry growing in the pit of his
stomach, Russ moved to the nearest table and leaned against it to
catch his breath. Looking around, he still saw no sign of his
friend.
    “ Abby?” he called again.
    There was nothing again for at least a
minute, but then a distant coughing noise came from along the shore
and further to the north.
    Pushing away from the table, Russ
headed in that direction.
    “ Abby?” he repeated.
    Still there was no answer, but he did
not let that stop him. He moved down to the edge of the water and
saw there was a thin trail that appeared to run into the thickets
and trees. Following this path, he found it stayed near the water,
and he wondered if it ran all the way around the lake.
    He had not gone far when he heard the
coughing noise again, this time closer.
    “ Abby, is that you?”
    “ Shit,” a familiar voice said,
followed by the sound of movement.
    Pushing through some bushes, Russ
finally spotted her. She was hunched down beside a large rock, what
appeared to be a rolled cigarette in one hand while her other hand
waved away some smoke over her head.
    “ There you are,” Russ said, coming
forward.
    She didn’t look glad to see him, but
she stood and rubbed out her smoke against the big rock.
    “ Why didn’t you come when I called
you?” he asked.
    “ I was hiding,” she said, brushing
ashes from the legs of her black jeans and the lower half of her
T-shirt.
    “ Why were you hiding?”
    “ Because of this.” She held up her
smoke.
    Russ leaned forward and sniffed, his
nose curling up. “It smells funny.”
    “ That’s because it’s pot, you
bozo.”
    “ Oh.”
    “ Yeah, oh. I’m sure pretty girl and
little miss Christian would throw a fit if they knew what I was
doing, so I wanted to keep it to myself.”
    Russ backed away, grinning. “Hey, it’s
no big deal. I won’t tell anybody.”
    She glared at him a moment, then
stuffed the dead joint into a pocket. “You better not.” Then she
forced her way past him and took the trail back to the picnic
site.
    Russ followed right behind. “You know,
I saw that novel you were reading. If you want to take a look, I’ve
got some of King’s Dark Tower graphic novels with me.”
    She spared a glance over a shoulder as
they came out near the dock. “Yeah? That might be cool. At least
give us something to do.”
    They paused at the clearing, looking
out across the lake.
    “ You mind if I ask a question?” Russ
said.
    “ You just did.”
    “ What?”
    “ You asked me a question.”
    “ Oh, uh, okay.” His words fumbled.
“Can I ask another?”
    “ Go ahead.”
    “ Well, I was wondering,” he began.
“You don’t seem like the church-going type, no offense, and I’ve
only seen you at church a few times, so I’m wondering why you’re
here.”
    She didn’t look at him, but continued
to stare out across the flickering waters. “I told you guys. I
wanted to get away.”
    “ Away from what?”
    She shrugged. “From life. From
everything. School. Nagging parents.”
    Russ didn’t seem to know what to say.
While she stared at the lake, he stared at her.
    Finally she turned around. For a
moment her eyes filled with bitterness as she saw his stare, but
then she shrugged it off and walked towards the path leading pack
to the cabins.
    “ Let’s go,” she said. “It’ll be dark
soon.”
    Like a good puppy, Russ
followed.
    Neither noticed the shadowy figure
watching them from the trees.
     
    ***
     
    “ Where the hell have you two been?”
Ken asked as Russ and Abby strolled out of the woods, the larger of
the two breathing heavy from the uphill climb.
    Abby pointed back the