The First Adventure Read Online Free Page B

saw it coming. With a terrifying roar, a large animal exploded out of the hold, flattening him to the turf. Dazed, he was aware of a huge black-and-brown body passing over him. Then the beast was gone, disappearing into the woods. There was the crackle of breaking branches as the monster fled, followed by silence. Whatever had been there was gone.
    Alarmed, the campers poured off the bus, coming to the aid of their fallen driver.
    â€œWhat happened?” asked one girl.
    The driver sat up, catching his breath. “I — I opened the door, and a bear attacked me and ran into the forest!”
    Griffin and Savannah exchanged an agonized look. Griffin’s eyes traveled into the compartment. His huge bag looked suspiciously flat, with a great ragged hole chewed into the side. He put out a hand to stop Savannah from running off into the woods.
    â€œLater!” he hissed.
    â€œBut —”
    â€œLater!”
    â€œWe closed that hatch in Long Island,” Darren Vader reasoned. “It couldn’t have been a bear. Maybe a raccoon.”
    â€œI know what a raccoon looks like, kid,” the driver retorted. “This was bigger.”
    â€œWhat about a cougar?” suggested someone else.
    â€œOr a deer.”
    â€œOr a giant squirrel.”
    â€œThere’s no such thing!”
    Eventually, Cyrus, the head counselor, took charge of the situation. “Guys, I’ve been here for twelve years, and there are no bears, no cougars, and no giant squirrels. Frogs, birds, and mosquitoes are more our speed. And whatever it was, it’s gone now. So get your bunk assignments off the list and stow your gear.”
    Savannah sidled up to Griffin. “We have to find Luthor before he gets lost!”
    â€œIf we go now, we’ll get caught,” Griffin reasoned. “Even if nobody sees us, our counselors will know that we never showed up in our cabins. The last thing we need is to attract attention, especially with Vader in camp. Later, when everybody’s asleep, we’ll go after Luthor. He’ll come running when he hears your voice.”
    â€œHow can you be sure of that? A domestic animal won’t do well in the wild!”
    Griffin was exasperated. “Do you honestly think there’s anything out there scarier than Luthor? You may be the animal expert, but I’m the planner. You’ve got to trust me. If we let on that Luthor’s up here, we might as well just hand him to Swindle on a silver platter.”
    It was that final argument that won her over. Somehow she would have to get through this day for Luthor’s sake.
    * * *
    Griffin was in Cabin 14 with Darren Vader. In fact, they were bunkmates, with Griffin on the bottom.
    â€œHey, Bing, I hope you’re a sound sleeper, because I snore.”
    Griffin had discovered long ago that there was no way to deal with Darren. If you fought back, it only encouraged him. And if you ignored him, he just pumped up the volume. Resignedly, he began to unpack, finding in dismay that Luthor had chewed through his clothes in order to get to the side of the bag. Shorts, T-shirts, and bathing suits were all cut to ribbons and damp with drool. He had packed enough for a month, but now he had clothes to last for three days at the most.
    Marty, the Cabin 14 counselor, sat down beside Griffin as he was holding up a pair of underwear that looked like it had been through an atomic blast. Quickly, Griffin tried to hide the evidence.
    But Marty smiled. “Don’t be embarrassed. I understand that money’s tight for families these days.”
    Griffin stared at him.
He thinks I packed clothes like shredded cobwebs because this is the best I’ve got?
The tricky part was that the guy could never be told the truth without revealing the whole story of Luthor in the luggage.
    â€œThere’s a fund for campers in your situation,” Marty told him. “We’ll get you some better stuff. Don’t