Free Sports Camp by Rich Wallace Page B

Big Joe!”
    The counselor scowled. “Sure you did.”
    “It was definitely one of the Joes,” Tony said. “Way out by the totem pole.”
    The counselor shook his head. “Listen, this camp’s been in business for twenty-seven years. Thousands of kids have swum in this lake; we do the across-the-lake race every summer. You think we could get away with having a giant turtle biting people’s feet off? Some lawyer would put us out of business in two seconds.”
    “We saw it,” Riley said firmly.
    The counselor’s voice softened a little, but not much. “There’s some big fish in this lake. Once in a while a carp’ll break the surface, especially during a storm. That’s what you saw. If anything.”
    Riley looked back across the lake. All of the boats were in now, and the rain was pelting down on the surface. There were even some waves breaking against the dock.
    He’d keep his mouth shut. But he knew what he’d seen. That’d been a turtle. A
big
one.

CAMP OLYMPIA BULLETIN
Tues
day
, August 10
    CABIN 5 CLINGS TO OVERALL LEAD
    Zevon Triumphant in Bow-and-Arrow Blitz
    Eddie Zevon of Cabin 5 emerged as the winner of Monday’s archery contest, hitting two bull’s-eyes and coming close with two other shots. Troy Hiller (6) was second, with Omar Ventura (2) third.
    Zevon’s points helped Cabin 5 hold on to its narrow lead in the points race with 53, but Cabin 3 has moved up to second with 52 on the strength of Sunday’s cross-country win. The other cabins are tightly bunched behind.
    Major points will be awarded Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in basketball, softball, and water polo.
    Play-off Schedule
    Tonight: Basketball
    Semifinals, 7 p.m.: 1 vs. 4 followed by 3 vs. 5
    Wednesday: Basketball
    Fifth-place game (2 vs. 6), 2 p.m.
    Third-place game, 4 p.m.
    Championship, 8:30 p.m.
    Wednesday: Softball
    Semifinals, 9 a.m.: 1 vs. 3 followed by 2 vs. 5
    Thursday: Softball
    Fifth-place game (4 vs. 6), 9 a.m.
    Third-place game, 10:30 a.m.
    Championship, 1 p.m.
    Thursday: Water polo
    Semifinals, 3:30 p.m.: 2 vs. 6 followed by 3 vs. 4
    Friday: Water polo
    Fifth-place game (1 vs. 5), 9 a.m.
    Third-place game, 10:15 a.m.
    Championship, 11:30 a.m.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Air Ball!
    “L ooks to me like we’ve taken the lead,” Barry said, climbing out of the lake and slapping hands with his teammates. “That’s fifteen points right there.”
    Cabin 3 had just won the eight-man swimming relay, with each camper covering one length of the water-polo area.
    “And we’re the only team that made the semis in all three major sports,” Vinnie announced. “That Big Joe Trophy is going home with us!”
    Riley shook some water off his arms and smiled. He’d raced a strong seventh leg, maintaining the lead. He was well suited for these speed and endurance events. The strength and accuracy games like basketball and softball were where he stunk.
    They all knew that the trophy would actually be staying here at camp, but CABIN 3—JERSEY CITY, NJ would beengraved on it for this season if they won. The winning team members would all be going home with gold-colored medals, just like in the real Olympics, with silver medals for second place and bronze for third.
    Bringing home a gold medal would be cool.
    “Now we rest up for tonight,” Barry said. Their semifinal basketball game would be a rematch with Cabin 5, which had trounced them a week earlier. “We are
rolling
now. Nobody’s gonna slow us down.”
    Riley groaned as he made his way up the lunch line. It was make-your-own-sandwich day, but the main offerings were bologna and cheese. The cheese looked hard and dried out. He opted for peanut butter again.
    “Gross,” said Eldon, who was next in line. “Guess we’re supposed to live on candy bars from the Trading Post.”
    “At least they have bananas today.” Riley scooped a small amount of salad onto his plate, too.
    They found seats at the end of one of the tables, then went back for “grape drink,” which seemed more like