CHAPTER22
“Honey,” Estelle said tentatively. She stood in the doorway of Honey’s room, Flora at her side. Both girls looked uncharacteristically serious. “Can we talk to you?”
“Of course,” Honey replied. She set aside the laundry that she’d been sorting. “Please, come in. What’s on your mind?”
Privately, she suspected she knew. Ever since the swimming incident a few days ago, things had gone downhill with the pack. If she’d harbored any faint hopes that the revelation of Ignatius’s secret would bring the kids together, it had been quickly dashed. The boy had withdrawn completely, shutting them all out. Whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.
And maybe I should be grateful for that.
Honey was uncomfortably aware that Ignatius was watching her. She’d done her best to go about the daily routine as if nothing was wrong… but she could feel his constant scrutiny like a weight hanging over her head.
The other kids might not know what was going on, but they’d clearly picked up on the oppressive atmosphere. Honey was glad the girls still felt able to approach her about it. At leastsomeof the pack still trusted her as a counselor.
Estelle and Flora exchanged a quick, furtive glance. “It’s… kinda private,” Flora said. “Look, can we go somewhere else? We don’t want any of the girls from the other packs to overhear.”
So itwasabout Ignatius. Slipping on her shoes, Honey followed the girls outside. She started to turn toward the chairs on the porch, but Estelle caught her hand.
“Not here.” The girl tugged her down the stairs. “Someone might come out and overhear. This way. I know a good spot.”
A little bemused, Honey let the girls lead her away from the cabins. She’d somewhat expected them to head for the waterfront or the central part of the camp, but instead they made a bee-line for the woods.
“Girls,” Honey said, balking as they tried to draw her down one of the trails. “I don’t think—”
“Please, Honey,” Flora said. She kept looking over her shoulder, as though she feared someone was following them. “It’s really important.”
“We won’t go too far,” Estelle added, tugging at Honey’s sleeve. “But we have to talk in here. There’s a reason, I swear. Just trust us, okay?”
Honey eyed the woods dubiously. The sky was still pink-blue with the last rays of sunset, but shadows under the trees were thickening fast. Still, there weren’t actually any camp rules against kids being in the woods after dark, as long as they were supervised. In fact, most of the other counselors regularly took their packs out to shift in the moonlight.
Is that what this is about?she wondered. Perhaps they didn’t want to talk about Ignatius at all. She knew Flora and Estelle had listened enviously to the other girls’ tales of late-night escapades. If all they wanted was a little adventure, it couldn’t hurt to indulge them.
“Well… okay,” Honey said, letting them draw her into the woods. “But we have to be back in the cabin by lights-out, okay?”
Estelle flashed a Flora a brief, triumphant grin that Honey was pretty sure she hadn’t been supposed to see. “Nooooo problem. Come on. It’s just down here.”
Honey hadn’t been to this part of the woods before, but the girls seemed to know where they were going. At least, she hoped they did, since Honey was soon hopelessly muddled by the branching turns of the trail.
Just as she was about to tell Flora and Estelle that it was time to be getting back to the cabin, they stopped. Both girls swung round to confront her. In the moonlight, their faces were pale and solemn.
“Honey.” Estelle fixed her with wide, serious eyes. “We know your secret.”
If she’d been prepared, she could have pretended not to understand. Even if she hadn’t been able to hide the moment of aghast surprise, she still might have been able to recover; pretended it was bafflement, asked them what they meant.
Instead, completely blindsided, she did the worst thing she could have possibly done.
She blurted out, “Please don’t tell anyone!”
“Of course not!” Flora said indignantly, as though hurt Honey should even feel she had to ask. “You can trust us. We’ve all known for ages, and none of us have breathed aword.”
The world seemed to tilt under her feet. Not ‘neither’ of us.Noneof us.
“How many people know?” Honey managed to croak out.
“Don’t worry,” Estelle said reassuringly. “Just me and Flora and Beth and Rufus and Finley.”
“Don’t forget Claire,” Flora reminded the other girl.
“Oh right, and Claire.” Estelle hesitated, then added, more reluctantly, “Aaaaand… maybe Archie.”
