Nancy thrust her hand in the air. “I really want to go mountain climbing!”
“Another perfect example of horrifying honesty!” Conleth declared, beaming. “Thank you, Nancy. Does anyone object to those last two rules? No? Good. Anyone else?”
Ignatius glowered at Archie. “Can we make interrupting other people’s sleep a crime punishable by horrible death?”
An idea popped into Paige’s head. Given how deftly Conleth had used the contract to put a lid on Beth’s painfully obvious ploy, perhaps she could use it to solve another problem too.
“That’s a good idea, Ignatius,” she said. “Uh, without the bit about horrible death, though. But maybe we could make it more general, not just about sleeping. Can anyone think of a way of promising not to disturb the rest of the pack, day or night?”
Finley, bless him, took the bait. “Be considerate of other campers?”
“Perfect!” Paige said brightly. She looked her brother dead in the eye. “I’m sure no one will disagree with that one.”
Archie knew better than to attempt to argue. He scowled, but nodded reluctant agreement along with everyone else.
Conleth flashed her a brief, appreciative glance before adding the latest item to the growing contract. “I also have a suggestion to propose to the pack, if I may.”
“No,” Archie said immediately.
“Iwant to hear your suggestion, Uncle Conleth,” Beth said loyally. “I’m sure it’s a great one.”
“I’ll leave that for the rest of you to decide.” Conleth flipped the pen into the air, catching it again without looking. “It’s simply this: Have fun.”
“No way,” Archie started—and then stopped, brow furrowing. “Huh?”
Conleth shrugged. “It is the whole point of this agreement. And the camp itself.”
“You know what’s really fun?” Nancy said hopefully.
“I don’t see how anyone can object to Conleth’s suggestion,” Paige said, to head off any further discussion of mountain climbing. She took the pen, writingHave fununder the otheritems. “Even you, Archie. Having funisthe whole point of summer camp.”
“Within the boundaries of health and safety regulations, I hasten to add.” Conleth literally did so, writing the clarification in neat parenthesis next to her own words. “Does anyone have anything else they want to propose? No? In that case, it seems we’re ready to sign.”
One by one, the kids did so—though both Archie and Beth hesitated over it, clearly trying to figure out if there was some kind of catch. When all the kids had signed, Conleth reclaimed the pen. To Paige’s surprise, he held it out to her. She looked at it, then at him, baffled.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “It hardly seems fair to ask the campers to agree to rules we don’t intend to follow as well.”
It was a fair point, she had to admit. Somewhat bemused, Paige added her own signature. Conleth scrawled his name at the bottom of the document as well—at least, she assumed it was his name. In startling contrast to the rest of his handwriting, his signature was a chaotic squiggle, identifiable only by a slanted, swirlingC.
“A productive morning meeting,” Conleth declared happily when he was done. He dated the ersatz document, then closed the flipchart. “We should make a habit of this. Now, I observe it is nearly the end of breakfast, which means the bell is about to ring. Nancy, kindly go outside and find a clear area to stand, ideally at least fifteen feet from any structure higher than waist level. I’ll find out what’s first on our itinerary for today.”
Tucking the flipchart under his arm, he sauntered off without waiting for a response. He certainly deserved to feel a certain amount of self-satisfaction, yet there was something a littletoosmug about the jaunty line of his shoulders. Paige found herself staring after him rather longer than necessary, trying to work what on earth could be going through his head.
Shaking her own head, she turned back to the campers. “If everyone’s done, let’s clear the table. Make sure to put any scraps in the organic recycling before you take the plates back to the kitchen.”
Most of the kids obediently headed off with their trays, but Archie lingered behind. Paige sighed. It was all too easy to guess what was going throughhismind.
“Archie, stop hovering,” she said in exasperation. “You don’t have to guard me every minute of the day.”
“It’s not that.” Archie hesitated, then blurted out, all in a rush, “Paige, is something wrong? At home, I mean.”
“What?” There was no way he could have found anything out at camp, of all places, yet her heart lurched. “Why would you say that?”
Archie’s gaze slid away shiftily. “No reason. It’s just…you’d tell me if you were sick or in trouble, wouldn’t you? Or if Mom was.”
“Of course I would,” Paige lied, wondering what on earth could have put this into her brother’s head. “But nothing’s wrong. You don’t have to worry.”
She’d always worked very, very hard to ensure that. Her little brother was just a kid. He shouldn’t have to worry about anything.
