Camp Nowhere Read Free Page B

up.
    “Grow up,” Erin muttered.
    “What for?” David replied.
    Ramos put one big hand on David’s shoulder, the other on Marty’s. He turned them toward the fire. We all faced the flames.
    “Every year, we gather here and hold a moment of silence,” Ramos announced. “A moment of silence for the five brave campers who will go up against Forbidden Falls next week.”
    Charlotte glanced at me. Was she looking to see if I was scared or something? I turned away and stared into the glowing flames.
    “We hold a moment of silence and hope they will return safely,” Ramos continued. “Let us all shut our eyes now and listen to the silence of the night.”
    Total quiet now. Even the wind grew softer.
    I shut my eyes. Another chill rolled down my back. I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets.
    What was that sound? I listened hard. At first, I thought I was hearing the crack of the fire. But the sound was steady. A steady rhythm.
    Drums?
    Yes. A gentle thud thud thud . Indian drums. So soft…so far away…
    I opened my eyes. I felt someone there, someone behind me. I glanced back.
    No. No one.
    I stared into the fire. And listened to the steady pounding of the drums.
    Thud thud thud .
    My four friends remained facing the fire, their eyes shut tightly.
    Don’t they hear it? I wondered. Don’t they hear it, too?

6
    After lights-out, Marty, David, and I were lying in our bunks, still talking about Forbidden Falls.
    Silvery light from a pale half-moon washed in through the cabin window. The gusting wind made the flimsy cabin walls creak and groan.
    Ramos shared the cabin with us. But he was hanging out with the other counselors at the main lodge.
    I pulled my wool blanket up to my chin. I was sleeping in my clothes, but it didn’t help much. This was the coldest night of the summer.
    “I know this kid who is friends with a guy who knew one of the boys who disappeared,” Marty was saying.
    “But that’s impossible. Those kids disappeared years ago,” I protested.
    “They weren’t the only ones,” Marty replied. “A lot of kids who tried the falls have disappeared.”
    “Says who?” I demanded.
    “Says this kid I know,” Marty insisted. “He told me that five kids disappeared just a few years ago. They went out in two canoes, and they never came back.”
    “Just a few years ago? No way!” I muttered.
    “Did this kid you know go to camp here?” David asked.
    “No. But he knew a kid who did,” Marty answered. “It was his cousin, I think. And the cousin said the camp had to close down for a while. Because the kids disappeared.”
    I laughed. “That’s crazy,” I said. “Forbidden Falls can’t be that bad. It can’t be. Or they wouldn’t let us go there.”
    “Ramos told me it’s the rocks that are the killers,” David said. “You go straight down the falls. Then you run into these pointy rocks sticking up from the water. If you hit one…” His voice trailed off.
    “He was just trying to scare you,” I said.
    “Maybe. Maybe not,” David replied. It was the first time all summer that I’d heard him sound serious. “A kid from my school was a senior counselor here three summers ago. He went on the canoe trip to the falls—”
    “And did he come back?” I asked.
    “Yeah, he came back,” David said. “But he said it was the most terrifying thing he ever did in his life. He said he still dreams about it.”
    “Wow,” I murmured.
    “Uh-oh. Now Russell is going to have nightmares!” Marty teased.
    “Nightmares about what? ” a voice called.
    The cabin door slammed behind Ramos. “Why are you guys still awake? Who is going to have nightmares?”
    “Russell is,” Marty answered, sitting up in his bunk. He tossed his pillow across the cabin at me. “Because we’ve been talking about Forbidden Falls.”
    “Guess you guys are a little stressed about it,” Ramos said. He grabbed Marty’s pillow and tossed it back to him. Then he dropped down onto his own bed.
    “Marty told us that