water. Be right back.â
I slipped out of the tent. I needed air, not water. I headed for the refill station, enjoying the feel of the cool night air on my skin. I couldnât sit there while people asked prying questions about Stella. I just couldnât do it anymore. I was sick of lying.
âHey,â Cameron said. He was filling up a large Nalgene bottle. âEverything all right?â
âPretty much,â I said.
Or maybe, not so much,
I thought.
âOne day down, six to go,â he said.
âI wish you hadnât put it like that.â
âYou know what? Iâm not sure I actually
like
camping all that much.â
âAt least you donât have to share a tent with Margo,â I said. âSheâs calculated how many feet and inches we each get for our stuff. If your sleeping bag crosses the line, youâre in trouble.â
âThatâs the thing about camping. When it gets dark,â Cameron said, âyou canât go anywhere or do anything. Youâre kind of imprisoned.â
âWhat about the fresh air and the great outdoors?â I asked.
He raised an eyebrow.
âItâs a thing people say.â I laughed. âI donât know.â
âI like electricity. I like my bed. I like going to the electric fridge, in the middle of the night, and then going back to my bed.â
âOne day down, six to go?â I offered.
âThatâs lousy advice,â he said.
Fred, one of the ride organizers, walked up to us as we stood there, sipping water. âHey, how are you guys doing? Time to turn in, okay?â
We started walking back toward the Sparrowsdale sign by our tents. âWhy does our team name have to be the MightySparrows?â asked Cameron. âHow redundant.â
âHey, I wasnât even involved,â I said. âI would have gone with the Golden Eagles or the Fighting Ospreys.â
âLetâs do that in yearbook. Weâll change the name.â
âItâll never fly,â I said.
He groaned. âGood night already.â
I went back into the tent. âTook you long enough,â Margo commented.
âThere was a line,â I said, and slipped into my sleeping bag. Beside me, Autumn was texting, and Elsa was still reading. Across from me, Margo had put a sleep mask on and her sleeping bag was pulled up to her ears.
This was weird. Like a sleepover Iâd never, ever have.
Like the one we did back in fifth grade, when we all camped as part of our elementary school graduation celebration. It rained and we huddled in leaky tents for two days, worrying about lightning.
Same as then, I knew that I was never going to fall asleep. Iâd listen to the black flies buzzing outside and the coughs and conversations from other tents.
I was going to lie here all night and worry. About the ride. About how and when Iâd get a pierced belly button. About Stella.
CHAPTER 4
The next time someone said âgentle, rolling hills,â Iâd know what they meant.
Hills.
Big, steep, horrible hills.
Lots of them.
My thigh muscles were burning as I started the last climb before our lunch break on Monday. Halfway up, since I was barely even moving, I got off the bike and started walking up it. While I was walking, other riders went past me, most of them standing up, pumping their legs.
Then other people who were walking their bikes, like me, started to pass me.
I was going to die on this hill, apparently. Weâd turnedaway from the coast and headed inland, which was not a good thing. It felt hotter and it was definitely steeper and buggier.
âAlmost there!â a volunteer at the top of the hill shouted. âKeep it going!â
Keep what going?
I wanted to respond.
My straggling pace, or the sweat thatâs rolling down the center of my back, like a mountain stream in spring?
Behind me I heard a car engine and glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was far enough
Sally Goldenbaum
Richmal Crompton
Kimberly Stedronsky
Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Alexandra O'Hurley
Edgar Wallace
William A. Newton
Dotti Enderle
Border Lass
Lauri Robinson