Playing tug-of-war was pretty much the last thing Archie felt like doing right then, but apparently he wasn’t going to get a choice. Conleth hustled the remaining pack onto the field. Another group was waiting for them, already lined up on the far end of a rope.
“Right, we can still do this,” Beth said, though Archie suspected she was trying to convince herself as much as anyone else. Setting her shoulders, she picked up the rope. “We need to line up in size order. Rufus, you go at the back, since you’re the biggest and strongest. Then Ignatius, me, Finley, Nancy, and Archie. Estelle, you take the front.”
Normally Archie would have protested thatheshould have gone at the back, because even if he wasn’t all that tall yet, he was still a bear, but somehow arguing didn’t seem like a good idea at the moment. He took up his assigned position behind Estelle, gripping the rope with sweaty, clammy hands.
Leonie started to explain the rules of the tournament, and Archie knew he should be trying to listen, but he was too busy feeling sick and awful. He really hadn’tmeantto blurt out Hetta’s secret like that. The words had just been there in his head, so he’d said them, and now she was upset and maybe in trouble with her dad, and it was all his fault and she would never, ever forgive him, not that she should?—
Leonie blew her whistle, and the rope jerked in his hands. Caught off guard, he stumbled, nearly yanked off his feet.
“Archie!” Beth yelled from behind him. “Concentrate!”
He hastily redoubled his grip on the rope, digging in his heels. Cheers and yells of encouragement rose from the watching parents as both teams pulled with all their strength.
His arms burned. Behind him, Beth was shouting some kind of instructions, but he couldn’t make out the words over the roar of the crowd and the storm in his head. Despite his best effort, he was slipping, losing ground inch by inch. They were going to lose, and it would be all his fault, and everyone would hate him, and Hetta already hated him, and he was a bad friend and a bad person and he could never do anything right and it would be so much easier to be a bear?—
So he was.
The rope whipped through his paws. Unable to keep his balance on his hind legs, he tumbled backward into Nancy, who shrieked and tried to jump to safety.
Unfortunately, she was still holding onto the rope.
Everyone lost their balance. Archie found himself tumbled tail-over-nose, squashed between Estelle and Beth. The whole pack went down in a confused pile of feet and fur.
“Nancy!” shrieked Nancy’s mom, rushing over. “Oh, I knew this would happen. Don’t worry, honey, it’s just a perfectly normal physical reaction. It’ll wear off in a moment.”
“I didn’tfaint!” Nancy protested from somewhere underneath everyone else. “I just can’t move because there’s abearsitting on me.”
“All right, nobody panic.” Conleth started helping campers to their feet. “Is anyone hurt?”
“Just my self-esteem,” Ignatius muttered, somewhat muffled. “Although I am about to asphyxiate in Finley’s armpit. Is my uncle watching?”
Estelle craned her neck. “Yeah, afraid so.”
A deep, tragic sigh came from the bottom of the pile. “In that case, nobody move. Put on my tombstone that I died as I lived. Surrounded by idiots.”
“We won!” someone yelled. The other team was hugging each other, celebrating their victory. “Who are we facing next, Leonie?”
“Wait!” Beth struggled to her feet. “That’s not fair. We wouldn’t have lost if Archie hadn’t shifted.”
One of the other campers shrugged. “Then he shouldn’t have shifted.”
“Your team would be disqualified anyway,” another girl chimed in. “You’re not supposed to shift in this competition.”
“But—but we should get another go!” Beth appealed to Leonie. “Please, ma’am. Archie shouldn’t be allowed to mess things up for everyone.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Archie protested—or at least, he tried to. Since he was still a bear, it mostly came out as: “Graw.”
“I’m sorry, Beth,” Leonie said, writing something on her clipboard. “But we haven’t got time for rematches. And I did say no one should shift. The other team won, fair and square.”
Beth whirled around, fists clenching. Archie put his ears back, flattening against the ground. He wanted to say he was sorry, but all he could do was whine.
“This is all your fault!” Beth yelled at him. “You shifted on purpose! Youwantedus to lose!”
“Beth!” Conleth said sharply. “That’s out of line. Remember the pack contract. Go and cool off until you can apologize to Archie.”
“But—” Beth started.
“Now.”
