Summer Camp Adventure Read Online Free

started down the ramp and looked back, puzzled.
    “Absent Without Our Knowledge—and hurry!”

chapter four
    J onathan! Jonathan!” Frantic with fear, Skye started running back toward the campfire. Oh, that’s right! Jonathan can’t hear! She crossed the road and, when passing the barn, noticed the door was open wide.
    “That’s strange!” she said, unaware that she was having a conversation with herself. “I remember Mr. Wheaten saying the door should always be closed tight.” Skye ran to the barn and started to slide the door shut. What’s that strange noise coming from inside? she asked herself, standing perfectly still.
    A string of timid sniffles and muffled sobs filtered to the outside.
    She peeked inside.
    There in the shadows, Jonathan slumped against a small stack of hay bales. With his elbows on his knees, hands on his ears, and head bent low, he whimpered like a lost puppy.
    Be careful. Don’t scare him , Skye thought. Stepping inside, she dropped to her knees and crawled right in front of Jonathan. He had no idea she was there.
    Skye reached out, gently touching Jonathan’s arm.
    Jumping like he had been poked with a branding iron, his head shot up, and his small body recoiled tighter against the hay. Skye was startled too, but by the fear in the boy’s eyes.
    “Don’t be afraid,” Skye signed. “I’m here to help you.”
    What could he be so afraid of? Skye wondered. I guess when you can’t hear, a lot of things might scare you . Suddenly she remembered Mrs. Bennett. Yikes! She’s about to start a five-county search for him . “Wait right here!” Skye signed to the boy.
    Jonathan relaxed into the hay, and a tentative smile replaced the look of panic. He brushed away the tears, wiped his runny nose on his arm, and signed, “Okay.”
    Skye rushed to the doorway. “I’ve got to find Mrs. Bennett,” she said with only the barn walls listening. Just as Skye stepped outside, the nurse came rushing out from First Aid, down the ramp, and toward the parking lot. Keys dangled in her frantic hands as she raced toward her car.
    “Mrs. Bennett!” Yelling and waving, Skye ran toward the woman. “Mrs. Bennett! Jonathan’s all right! He’s in the barn! I’ll take him back to his group!” The woman spun around, and Skye stopped on her side of the road. “Everything’s okay. I’ve got him!”
    “Thank the Lord!” Mrs. Bennett let out a sigh of relief. “That child gave me one good scare. Thanks, Skye, and don’t let him out of your sight for one minute.” The woman turned, took a deep relaxing breath, and headed back to her station.
    Skye hurried back inside the barn. Jonathan sat waiting with his legs crossed and arms folded. Now his face beamed a full-toothed smile. “I like you,” he signed.
    Again, Skye dropped to her knees in front of the boy. “Why were you crying?”
    His skinny shoulders gave just a hint of a shrug, and his lips wrinkled into an I-don’t-know gesture. “I like horses too.” He pointed at the stalls.
    “Would you like to see my horse?”
    “Yes. Where is it?” Jonathan stood, his tearstained face fading behind a brilliant smile.
    “Champ’s back there in the last stall on that side. Come on, I’ll show you.”
    The next morning at breakfast, Skye studied Chad—and Linda—sitting across the room with Linda’s cabin kids, laughing up a storm. Skye and Morgan sat with the Five Ferns kids, laughing up their own storm. Not that I care one iota , Skye thought, but he could wave just once .
    After breakfast, Skye and Morgan lined up their kids outside the mess hall. Just then, Tim came out, leading his own group. “Hey, Skye, are you ready to teach your first riding lesson?” he said. “The sun’s splittin’ the skies, so to beat the heat, our lessons need to be done by noon. Mr. Wheaten gave you a schedule, didn’t he?”
    “Yeah,” Skye said. “I need to take my campers to their assigned activities, and then I’ll see you at the barn. It looks