Free Monkey Bars and Rubber Ducks by T.M. Alexander Page B

hanging off theirs. She looked like we were going on an expedition, not getting a bus to Devon.
    ‘Class 6W, line up in twos, please.’
    I took a step forwards to be next to Fifty. Copper Pie took a step backwards to be next to Bee. Jonno stood on his own. That’s the trouble with five, it doesn’t go into pairs. Luckily Marco was near us and so he filled in the gap. Ed and Lily were behind. We started to troop on to the bus. We had to put our bags in a pile, all except for the day sacks. That took ages. Loads of bags weren’t done up properly, wellies kept appearing from nowhere, some kids tried to take their bags on board and got sent back to the pile, Alice wanted to sit at the front in case she was sick so she caused a blockage at the front of the bus. We were at the back of the queue, with only Callum and Jamie behind us.
    ‘Hey, Fifty, have you packed your suit and tie?’ shouted Callum. He’d spotted the executive luggage. We ignored him. But he was obviously bored, and wanted to annoy us.
    ‘Fifty, have you packed a ladder? No way will you get over the wall on the assault course without one.’ Jamie and Callum started laughing. I looked at Fifty. He looked a bit white. I thought I should say something, defend my friend, but my mind was a blank computer screen.
    Bee leant forwards. ‘Ignore him, Fifty.’
    ‘Have you packed a compass, Callum?’ said Jonno.’ We wouldn’t want to lose such a helpful member of the class.’
    Jonno does it again! The friendly voice as though he’s being nice. Callum never knows what to say back.
    The queue in front of us gradually disappeared up the steps of the bus and it was our turn. We dumped our stuff in the pile and just as I was about to step on the bus Callum and Jamie pushed in front. They grabbed a double seat. There didn’t seem to be any more. Great! We’ll have to split up, I thought. I scanned the seats again for a Tribe-size gap. There wasn’t one. Fifty found a seat by Roddy, and there was one in front of him by a girl in the other class, so I sat down there without looking at her, or at Callum, who I’m sure was enjoying the fact that Tribe was scattered all over the bus. Bee sat diagonally opposite me, but poor Jonno had to sit by Miss Walsh and Copper Pie was left with Alice. We were going to have to get our act together. There was no point making camp worse by being separated. We needed to be at the front of the queues, ready at all times. It was the first camp rule. I decided to think of a few more on the way to wherever we were going.
    I only remember getting to 8 – I must have fallen asleep.
    TRIBERS’ CAMP RULES
Be prepared (stolen from the Scouts).
Avoid the team Callum’s in.
Help each other. (I was thinking of Fifty and the wall on the assault course.)
Beat Callum’s team at everything.
Be the advance party to bagsy the best (food, seats, whatever) for Tribe.
Share snacks (Copper Pie probably had nice biscuits in his day sack).
Keep the Tribers’ secrets (I was pretty sure C. P. would have Trumpet* in his bag).
Stick together.
    * Copper Pie’s cuddly elephant
    I always do that on journeys. In Reception I fell asleep on the way back from the museum and everyone laughed at me because I was sucking my thumb. After that I started sitting on my right hand (the side I sucked) on trips to stop it happening again. I don’t have to worry about that any more because I gave up thumb sucking when the dentist said if I didn’t stop I’d need braces to fill the thumb-shape gap. Braces mean pain and I don’t do pain. Full stop.
    I wiped my chin. (Why do you dribble when you sleep sitting up?)
    ‘Where are we?’ I turned round and asked Fifty.
    ‘Nearly there,’ he said. ‘We just passed a sign that said Highwoods Activity Centre, 4 miles.’
    I looked out of the window, which meant I had to look at the girl next to me.
    ‘Hello,’ she said.
    That’s all I needed, a friendly girl. My face went pink so I quickly looked over towards Bee in