Phil and the Ghost of Camp Ch-Yo-Ca Read Free

reply. He seems to be in some kind of trance.
    “You okay, John Luke?”
    He nods but doesn’t say a word.

    Later that night, after falling asleep in a bottom bunk across from John Luke’s bed, you’re awakened by a strange sound.
    Someone’s yelling outside the cabin.
    You sit up and call into the darkness, “John Luke, you hear that?”
    He doesn’t respond.
    The voice outside keeps wailing. “Heyyyaaaa heeeyyyyyyyaaaa heeeeyyyyyyaaaahhhh .”
    It sounds like someone trying to do a chant. Except they’re really bad at it.
    Like those pale imitation duck calls compared to Duck Commander calls.

    You pat the bed across from yours, expecting to find John Luke and shake him. But the bed is empty. The blanket is pulled back.
    “John Luke?” you call again.
    The heyyyaaahh sound outside continues.
    You stumble around until you locate the light switch. But John Luke is nowhere to be found.
    The chant changes wording a little but remains loud as ever. “Oh-way oh-way way-oh!”
    This is crazy. Someone’s outside your door pretending to be a warrior or rain dancer or something. Except he sounds a lot like Kermit the Frog.
    You open the door expecting to find someone you know playing a prank. Maybe one of your sons. Instead you see a fire burning in the middle of the camp with someone else dancing around it.
    That’s not someone else   —that’s John Luke! Is it really him?
    He’s wearing only jeans with his face and chest painted red. The four feathers are stuck in his hair.
    “Staaaankkkkk-oohhhhhh wannkkkkk-oooooohhhh.”
    He’s got something in his hand, something resembling a spear. But when you get closer to him, you see it’s only a long stick.
    “John Luke, what are you doing?”
    But he doesn’t hear you. He’s in another world. He stops dancing around the fire and holds the stick over his head.
    “Waaaaackkkemmmmm wackkkkkeeemmmmm wooo-eeeeeeee.”
    You approach to take the stick away from him, but he catches sight of you and his eyes widen. Then he jumps across the fire   — through the flames   —and runs full speed into the woods.
    “Aaaaaaeeeeee aaaaaaeeeee aaaaaaaaahh!” he screams as he heads into the darkness. “Saaaackkkkkaaaaa blacckaaaaa bbb   —”
    He’s cut off by a loud and sudden thud.
    The chanting is no more.
    “John Luke?”
    You rush into the woods and find him about fifty yards in. Looks like he ran into a tree and knocked himself out.
    You pick Chief John Lukem up and carry him back to the cabin. As you pass the fire, you pull the feathers out of his hair and throw them into the flames. They burn quickly.
    John Luke’s eyes open while he’s still in your arms.
    “Chief Stinkum?” he asks in mumbled words.
    “That’s me. And I’m gonna make you smell real nice. You just take it easy.”
    You’ve seen enough of this camp for one night. You decide to take John Luke to the hospital to get his head checked for a concussion.
    You’ll also ask if they can maybe give him a shower. Cause woo-hooo. The boy really stinks.
    THE END
    Start over.
    Read “The Shadows That Follow Us: A Note from John Luke Robertson.”

CHASE

    JOHN LUKE STAYS BEHIND to keep watch while you sprint toward the woods, where the noise seems to have come from. Well, you don’t really sprint   —more like a fast jog. You’re not as lightning fast as you used to be, but you can still run. You feel pretty good about yourself at sixty-eight years old in your boots, camo pants, and T-shirt.
    Just don’t trip since you’re running with a machete.
    You’d probably tell most people not to run through the woods with a long knife.
    Then again, you’ve seen some crazy things in woods like these over the years.
    You once met a guy in the backwoods who wore only underwear and planned to live off the land. You and a buddy named Mac had to talk the guy back home. Oh, and this person also had a gun.
    Lots of folks have guns around here.
    And I’m just carrying a machete.
    You stop after running for a