“It’s okay. You aren’t in trouble.” Honey lowered her voice, leaning forward conspiratorially. “I’ve only just arrived, and I don’t even know the rules yet. So if your friend is doing something that’s against them, I can’t yell at him. Or you. I just want to check that you’re both okay. You seem worried.”
Finley hesitated, glancing at the woodpile again. Then he sagged.
“It’s my friend Rufus.” Finley stepped to one side, revealing a dark gap between the woodpile and the wall of the shed. “He’s, well… stuck.”
Honey kneeled, peering into the space herself. “Stuck?”
“Not literally.” Finley bit his lip, then said, all in a rush: “Sometimes the world gets too loud for Rufus, and he needs to get away for a bit. He holes up somewhere small and dark and safe until his head settles and he can come back. It’s just how he is.”
“I can understand that,” Honey said gently. “It’s pretty busy out there at the moment, and a big crowd of strangersisintimidating.”
Finley’s tense, defensive shoulders eased down a fraction. “Right. We were heading to meet our friends when a whole load of new counselors barged into us without warning, laughing and yelling. They didn’t mean anything by it, but Rufus got spooked. Now I can’t persuade him to come out.”
Honey put her face closer to the gap, trying to see anything—and bit back a yelp. Two points of light gleamed back at her, bright and animal. For an instant, she was convinced she could make out a crouched, staring form of some big cat, like a puma or a lynx—but then it shifted, moving further back, and she lost the half-seen shape in the darkness.
Honey swallowed, trying to hide her shock. “Are you sure Rufus is back there, Finley? And, uh,onlyRufus?”
The boy shot her a puzzled look. “Yes, of course.” He flattened against the ground, pointing into the depths of the woodpile, where she thought she’d seen the creature. “He’s right there. Don’t worry, Rufus. This is Honey, one of the new counselors. She’s here to help.”
Must have been a trick of the light.Honey started to reach for her phone to use it as a flashlight, then thought better of it. Blinding the poor kid was hardly going to help his state of mind.
“Rufus?” she called, pitching her voice low and soft. The space behind the woodpile was far too narrow for her to get back there herself. “Are you all right back there?”
No answer.
“He’s fine,” Finley reassured her. “I mean, he’s not hurt or anything. He’s just not ready to turn back yet. Normally, I’d go get Leonie, but Rufus didn’t want anyone to know what had happened.”
“Why not?” When Finley hesitated, Honey added, “You don’t have to tell me. I understand if you don’t want to betray your friend’s secrets.”
Finley paused a moment longer, head cocked to one side as though listening to something. “No, it’s okay. Rufus doesn’t mind if I tell you. His parents weren’t sure he was ready to come to camp this year. Because of, well, this.” He waved a hand at the woodpile. “Rufus doesn’t want anyone to think he can’t cope. That he shouldn’t be here.”
“Director Zephyr told me this was a camp where kids could be themselves. That meansallkids. If Rufus needs to get away sometimes, that’s just part of who he is. He doesn’t have to hide it.” Honey sat back on her heels, deliberately not looking in the direction of the woodpile. “Rufus, is it okay if I wait here with you and Finley for a bit? It’s a bit too busy out there for me too at the moment.”
The slightest breath of sound came from behind the piled logs.
“Rufus says that’s fine,” Finley said, though Honey hadn’t distinguished any words. He cocked his head to one side, regarding her curiously. “Do you really not like crowds, too?”
“Actually, I don’t normally have a problem with them.” Honey wrinkled her nose, jerking her head to indicate the loud chatter still drifting from the parking lot. “Butthatcrowd is a bit more intimidating than I expected.”
Finley’s eyebrows drew together. “Why?”
She supposed that to a nine-year-old, everyone over the age of twenty was equally ancient. “Well, I’m a lot older than most of the other counselors. And I expect a lot of them have worked here in previous years. They already know each other, while I’ve never even been to camp before.”
“You don’t have to be scared,” Finley said. “All the counselors that I’ve met so far have been really nice.”
“I’m sure they are. But that doesn’t stop me from being nervous.” She was very aware of the intent, listening silence from the darkness. “In my head, I know that I’ll make new friends and soon settle in, but my heart’s not so sure. And that’s okay. It’s normal to feel worried about doing something new, or scared that you won’t fit in.”
Finley sat down next to her, hugging his knees. “I guess I’m a little nervous too. It’s our first year as well. As campers, I mean.”
“I thought you looked a little young to be a counselor.” She didn’t add that as far as she was concerned, thecounselorslooked too young to be counselors. “Why are you and Rufus here so early, Finley? I wasn’t expecting any kids to arrive until tomorrow.”
“My parents are wildland firefighters with the Thunder Mountain Hotshots, further up the mountain.” Finley gestured at the looming peak of Thunder Mountain. “So are Rufus’s mom and dad. Zephyr lets hotshot crew kids come to camp early, since our parents might get called away to fight a fire at any moment. There’s four of us here this year. Me, Rufus, Estelle, and Beth. We’ve been here for the past couple of weeks, helping to get the camp ready.”
“Well, if you’ve already settled in, maybe you’ll be able to show me around. Like I said, I’m new here.” Honey made sure she spoke clearly, so her words would carry to Rufus. “I could do with a couple of experienced guides.”
A pause.
Then the logs rattled, shifting. Honey didn’t look round, but out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of movement. A small, low shape slunk out of the shadows, sunlight gleaming from tawny… feathers?
