Free Camp Nowhere by R. L. Stine Page A

mess hall door.
    We stepped out into a clear, cool night. A half-moon floated low in the sky. Insects chirped in the trees.
    I yawned as I followed David and Marty down the path to our cabin. My legs ached. I suddenly felt really sleepy.
    So many activities today, I thought. We usually don’t pack as much in back at our camp.
    I could hear Charlotte and Erin laughing about something behind us on the path. David and Marty were acting crazy, slapping each other, talking really fast. They were imitating Abbott and Costello, the two comedians in the movie.
    We weren’t paying attention. We must have taken a wrong fork in the path. It grew a lot darker aswe wound our way down toward the lake.
    Suddenly, we were walking past a wooden fence. It was a very tall fence. The planks rose at least two or three feet above our heads.
    I turned to the others. “I think we went the wrong way. Do you remember this fence?”
    Before anyone could answer, a low cry rang out. “Can you hear me? Please—help!”
    I gasped. The frantic voice came from the other side of the fence.
    “Help me. Can anyone hear me? Please!”

21
    I heard footsteps thudding fast on the path.
    “Hey, guys!” Will called, breathing hard. “Did you get lost? Your bunks are back there.” He pointed.
    “We heard someone,” I said. “Calling for help.”
    “On the other side of this fence,” Marty added.
    “Huh?” Will turned and put his hands on the wooden planks. “Anyone back there?” he called. “Who’s there?”
    Silence.
    Will turned back to us. “No one there,” he said. “Are you guys pulling my leg or something? This is just a retaining wall. There’s nothing but woods behind it.”
    “We’re not joking,” Charlotte told him. “We really did hear a boy. He was calling for help.”
    Will glanced back at the fence. “Well, where is he now? I don’t hear anything. You guys are just overtired. You’re hearing things.”
    He gave Marty and me a playful shove. “Let’s go,everyone. Lights-out in ten minutes.”
    He led the way back up the path to our bunks. We dropped off Charlotte and Erin at the first cabin. Then we followed him to our cabin a few yards away.
    I waited until I was sure Will had left. Then I turned to Marty and David. “Don’t get undressed,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I think we should go back to that fence.”
    “Yeah. Let’s do it,” Marty agreed. “Will was wrong. We weren’t hearing things. That was a real boy calling for help.”
    “Why didn’t Will go around to the other side of the fence and check it out?” I asked.
    “And why did he hurry us away from there so fast?” David added.
    I poked my head out the cabin door. No one around. The coast was clear.
    The three of us crept to the girls’ cabin. They were already at the door. “Back to the fence?” Charlotte whispered.
    I nodded.
    We made our way through the darkness to the path. The chirping insects suddenly grew silent. I could hear voices and laughter from the cabins in the center of camp. But we couldn’t see them from down here by the lake.
    I heard the scrape of tiny footsteps. Leaves crackled. Some kind of animal scampered by our feet.
    The path curved up beneath low, leafy trees.
    My heart started to pound as the tall fence came into view, gray against the black night. I stepped up to the fence and brought my face close to the wooden planks. The others huddled close around me.
    “Anyone here?” My voice came out in a whisper.
    Silence.
    I could hear the plink plink of lake water splashing against the small dock.
    “Anyone here?” I repeated.
    And then I heard the whispered reply. “Help me. Please—hurry!”
    The fence stretched for only ten or twelve yards. I pushed myself away from it. Turned and ran to the end. My friends were close behind.
    I stepped off the path. Squeezed behind the fence.
    And let out a startled cry.

22
    A shaft of pale moonlight washed over a tiny shed. And in the faint beam of light, I recognized