Read Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity for Free Online Page B

off with our glasses and drink orders, Nit said, “I can hear the hearts breaking all over Camp Wickitawa now.”
    I nodded. “I don’t think Maxey is going to be griping about being in the kitchen much.” I took a careful bite of my lunch, and as I’d suspected, pea-juice leakage was ruining the cheesy taste. I put my fork down and bit into my cookie to get rid of the bad flavor. But the cookie tasted like cardboard, and the chocolate chips could have been dead flies, for all I could tell. Altitude sickness, if that was what I had, was god-awful.
    Nit shoved her cookie over to me. “Here, you can have mine, too. I’ll be too full.”
    “Thanks, Nit, but that’s okay. I’m not very hungry.” Aurora gave me a concerned look and I added with a smile, “Guess I’m just too excited to eat! Woo-hoo! We’re here!” I faked.
    Aurora pounded me on the back and gave Nit one of her fancy basketball-team handshakes. “Yes!
No
homework!
No
housework!
No
brothers!”
    While she and Nit finished their
“No”
list, I wondered if the bus had left yet. Maybe it had been a giant mistake to come. And how mean was it to leave Pretty Girl with Mrs. Korn, who she didn’t even know? Maybe I shouldtalk to Mom before she left for her retreat the next day! What if during all her free time she finally had time to think and decided she wanted to get back with Dad? What if I felt sick all week long? How was I ever going to learn to swim? What if Aurora decided she couldn’t be best friends with a fourth grader who couldn’t swim?
    I needed to talk to Frank. I looked around Mess, but I didn’t see him anywhere. The boys were all sitting with Matt and the swim teacher, Carey Bucko, trying to balance spoons on their noses.
    I leapt up from the table. “I need to go talk to Sister Lucille. I’ll be back.”
    “But what about your lunch, Effie?” Nit asked.
    “I’m done. You can have it if you want, Aurora.”
    “Wow, thanks!” she said, sliding my tray right over.
    I spied Sister Lucille sitting in a corner in the back with Ms. Marshall.
    I stood behind her, trying to be polite, while Ms. Marshall finished talking.
    Which she didn’t for about three hours, it seemed. Sister Lucille finally turned around. “Hi, Effie! Need something?”
    “May I speak with you
privately
, Sister?” I asked.
    “Sure—excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
    I went out on the big porch in front so I could talk without any nosybodies listening in.
    “Sister! I need to talk to my mother. Could you call her for me? Do you have your cell phone?”
    “Are you okay, Effie?”
    “I think I might need to go home.”
    She moved me over to a little bench and sat me down. “Cricket told me you didn’t want to get off the bus. Are you feeling a little homesick? That’s perfectly natural.”
    “No!
I’m not homesick, Sister. I have altitude sickness. I didn’t know I would. It will probably last all week, and I’ll just spoil everyone’s good time.”
    “Effie, remember when we talked about how camp was a time to be a bit more independent, and how we were only going to use the phone for emergencies?”
    “This definitely qualifies as an emergency, Sister.”
    “This isn’t the kind of emergency I was talking about, Effie. I think you’re going to be just fine.”
    “But you can’t be absolutely sure of that, can you?”
    “Sure enough that I don’t think we need to call her,” she said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “But when you have your rest period this afternoon, I think it would be a nice time to write her a letter. How does that sound?”
    Horrible!
I wanted to shout. “Do you know where Frank is, Sister?”
    “He’s in the cabin getting things ready. But, Effie, he won’t let you use his cell phone either. I know the first day away can be a little tough. But just you wait. You are going to have so much fun here! This is going to be an unforgettable life experience.”
    “Yes, Sister,” I said. “Thank you, Sister.” I knew