Читать книгу The Horse of the River - Sari Cooper - Страница 8

Gillian started bouncing again as the bus finally pulled off the twisting highway onto a gravel drive. They had been descending for the last half hour. By now, she really did have to pee and she was feeling a little bus sick. They passed under the camp sign. She was finally here. She’d read about it so often and now she was about to see it first-hand. As the bus came to a stop near a large grassy clearing, the girls gathered their things and filed out the door, stretching their legs and squinting in the sun. After the air-conditioned bus, Gillian welcomed the warm afternoon rays on her face as she checked out the scenery.

She was standing at the bottom of a massive hill on an open, grassy field that was surrounded by trees. Across the field, she could see a river with steep rocky banks. There were more hills on the other side of the river. A wooden sign nearby told her the field was called “The Range.” Another sign pointed at a trail through the trees that led to “The Homestead,” and a third sign with pictures of horses on it pointed to a path on the opposite side of the field.

Nestled against the nearby hillside sat a big stone building labelled “Dining Hall.” The full-length porch with a three-seat swing and several Muskoka chairs looked like a cozy place to hang out. By the riverbank, there were some small huts and a shed. A little farther downstream, a homey log cabin was painted dark red, and the door was marked as “Libby’s Place.”

Gillian’s gaze came to rest on an older woman who stood watching the girls. The woman wore jeans and a red plaid flannel shirt. Her grey-blonde hair was swept back in a tidy braid. Her skin was wrinkled around her eyes, either from smiling a lot or spending hours squinting in the sun. Gillian knew instantly this was Libby Brown, owner and head instructor at Canyon Falls. She had been a member of the Canadian National Team and had competed in dressage and show jumping. She had even gone to the Olympics before she changed the direction of her career.

“Welcome, everyone.” Libby’s voice was strong and clear, and the excited chatter of the girls fizzled out. “Welcome to Canyon Falls. Counsellors and counsellors-in-training, please join me.” Eight of the older girls lined up in pairs on either side of Libby, one of each pair holding a numbered sign. “Your counsellors and CITs are all experienced riders. Most of them have attended camp for several years so they know how things work. This is Carmen.” Libby pointed to a tall, sturdy girl with black curls contained by a red bandana. Carmen held the sign with the number one. Libby went on, “She’s the head counsellor. If I’m not around, she’s the boss.” Libby turned away from the campers and raised her eyebrows at Carmen with a grin. “They’re all yours. Good luck.”

Carmen stepped forward and smiled. “Hello, ladies.” Her voice rang out higher and louder than Libby’s. Gillian was drawn in by the enthusiastic tone. “I look forward to getting to know you all over the next four weeks. The first rule of camp is no cell phones.” The campers were expecting this but groaned anyway as a few of the counsellors began collecting and labelling phones. The phones would be returned at the end of the month. “You’re here to ride, but also to disconnect. If you have free time, talk to each other. Play cards. Write actual letters home on paper. We’ll send them to your families by mail.”

One older girl called out, “Mail? What’s that? I think you forgot the E.”

Carmen rolled her eyes but went on, ignoring the interruption. “The little huts behind you on the riverbank are the bathrooms and shower house. Your cabins are up the path to the Homestead. Each cabin has an outhouse nearby so you don’t need to trek all the way out here when you have to pee at night...” A few of the girls groaned and some held their noses. Three of them started a chorus together, singing, “On the Homestead we pee in the woods, ’cause the outhouses don’t smell so good...” Gillian giggled along with some of the other girls but her laughter faltered as Stella grumbled at the thought of smelly outhouses.

Carmen spoke over them. “You can teach that to your cabin mates soon. For now let’s get sorted out. Counsellors, don’t forget to hand out the whistle bracelets and assign bathroom buddies. I would hate to have anyone come across a bear in the middle of the night on their own with no whistle.”

Bears! Stella yelped. We’re not leaving the cabin at night ever! I don’t care if our bladder explodes! Gillian started to grin at the thought of exploding, but she still felt a bit sick at the possibility of encountering a bear, even with a friend and a whistle. Were bears afraid of whistles?

Not likely! Stella answered the silent question. Blowing a whistle is probably just going to let somebody know where to come find what’s left of you after the bear is gone! Gillian shuddered.

At the end of the gathering on the Range, the girls were sorted into their cabin groups. There were six girls per cabin with a mix of ages and camp experience in each so that the older, more experienced campers could help out the newer girls. Robin was Gillian’s counsellor and Naomi was the CIT assigned to her cabin. Robin was tanned with long muscled limbs. Her dark hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail. She was calm and welcoming. Naomi was shorter with a round, freckled face. Her eyes gleamed and her red tangled curls bounced when she moved, mirroring her energy. Robin explained that Naomi would function just like a full counsellor throughout the session and the campers could go to either one of them with a question or a problem. The girls giggled through the explanation as Naomi did clumsy but enthusiastic cheerleading moves behind Robin while she spoke. The cheerleading continued as the counsellors herded them along the path to the Homestead. But there was less laughter as the girls half dragged and half carried their heavy luggage to the cabin. Eventually Naomi made her way to the back of the group and grabbed backpacks from the girls trailing behind. She pretended to stagger under the weight of two small backpacks, groaning. The girls at the back giggled again through their breathless exertion. Jordan caught up to Gillian. “Hey, Fidget! Cool that we’re in the same cabin. You want the top or the bottom?”

“Um...” Gillian hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ve never slept on a top bunk before.”

“Oh, it’s great! Gives you a whole new perspective. You should try it. I’ll sleep below you and if you don’t like it we can switch,” Jordan said. “But you have to promise not to squirm around like you did on the bus. You don’t want to wake up on the floor with a headache and everyone staring at you. Happened to me last year. Somehow I flopped right over the rail. Minor concussion according to the nurse at the clinic. Couldn’t ride for a few days but I didn’t have to go home or anything.”

Bottom! Say bottom! Stella whispered.

“Top is good,” said Gillian as she yanked her duffle bag over a tree root. She wished she could listen to Stella. She was nervous about sleeping on the top, but Jordan was being really nice and Gillian didn’t want to disappoint her.

After a short walk the girls found themselves in front of cabin three. They dragged their things up the six steps and shuffled inside. The cabin smelled of pine and the air was cool, just like the shaded forest. Four bunk beds lined the side and back walls in a horseshoe shape. The counsellors were already set up on one of them along the back. Gillian looked around the space. She didn’t know these people. The mattresses were thin and flimsy. The floor creaked. It wasn’t like she expected it to be fancy, but she hadn’t been expecting it to look quite so bare. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and fiddled with her backpack strap. What was she doing here? Her gaze flicked around the cabin and locked with another girl’s. The other girl’s eyes were wide and frantic. She looked like she wanted to bolt. Gillian thought that seemed like a good plan. She turned to face the door. But Jordan grabbed the backpack off Gillian’s shoulder, spinning her to face a bunk on one of the side walls. She tossed Gillian’s pack onto the top mattress. “C’mon, Fidget. Time to unpack.” Jordan was already pulling her own sheets out of her duffle bag and arranging them.

Gillian buried herself in the task to distract herself from the desire to make a run for it. Not that she had anywhere to go. So she stood on the edge of the bunk below, struggling to make her bed. Eventually, she wound up sitting on top of the fitted sheet she was trying to straighten onto the mattress. But it turned out okay in the end. She had her sleeping bag on top of the sheet and her fuzzy stuffed pony was shoved way down to the bottom of the sleeping bag. She’d been sleeping with Elfkin ever since she was two and refused to leave her behind, even though Alexis said everyone would laugh at her. But then the other girls brought their own sleep buddies out of their bags. So Elfkin was welcomed out onto the pillow where she was used to resting. Shows how much Alexis knows, thought Gillian. With the beds all made up, the cabin felt a little bit warmer. Gillian thought that maybe things would be okay.

Robin called out, “Cabin meeting!” and had them all sit on the floor. Gillian sat cross-legged next to Jordan. A girl named Emiko flopped down on Gillian’s other side and instantly started talking. Her shoulder-length straight black hair bounced but stayed neat as she tossed her head, retelling the story of Jordan falling out of bed last year. Gillian listened and laughed at the funny parts while wondering if this bubbly and friendly girl was ever going to take a breath.

Robin raised her hand, signalling for quiet. “Okay, how many of you have been here before?” she asked, keeping her own hand in the air. Naomi, Jordan, Emiko and a mature-looking, short-haired girl with light hazel eyes named Mira raised their hands. “And who went to Sunny Acres before coming here?” Gillian and the other frightened girl, a small twelve-year-old named Jaida, lifted their hands. Jaida sat next to Robin with a fluffy white bunny on her lap. Jaida must have gone to Sunny Acres during a different session because Gillian didn’t recognize her.

The only one left was Katrina. She was fourteen and from Montreal. She had a slight build and blonde hair in a perfect straight braid to the middle of her back. “I compete in show jumping back home. My mom used to ride with Libby,” she said.

Robin nodded as Katrina explained her connection to the camp. “Good,” Robin said. “So everyone has at least some riding experience. Those of you who have been here or went to Sunny Acres know something about the style of riding Libby teaches. Katrina, it won’t take long for you to catch up.”

Katrina snorted a little and rolled her eyes. “I won the regional sixteen-and-under hunter and show jumping classes this spring. I think I’ll be able to ‘keep up.’”

Stella groaned. Oh, not one of those. There’s always one of those!

Robin raised her eyebrows at Katrina and grinned. “Well, we don’t do a lot of competing here. It’s more about learning new ways of communicating with the horses while we ride. But I’m sure we’re all excited to see everyone’s skills.”

A loud bell clanged, cutting through the quiet.

Naomi stood up and pumped her fist in the air. “Woo! Dinner bell! Yes!” she shouted.

Robin stood up more calmly. “Dinner bell ends the meeting,” she said. “Let’s go get some food.”