Very Private List for Camp Success (11 page)

Both girls were still laughing when Rita got up and put Florence back in her enclosure.

‘Come on, Penelope,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘I want to see if there’s still time to have a go at the challenge swing. If you’ll be my support person.’

In the afternoon, Penelope’s hut joined other hut groups for orienteering. Bob and Tilly weren’t much help finding
Bats’ Belfry
(which was halfway up the trunk of a very big tree), but Rita was extremely co-operative, and (mostly) very good with a compass. Penelope’s group was the first to find
Vampire Alley
and check it off their list. Unfortunately there were a few problems finding
Horror Highway
(as in, going south instead of north for a good fifteen minutes before Penelope realised Rita’s mistake). By the time they got to
Coffin Curves
three hut groups were already there. But after doing the challenge swing that morning (and going all the way to the Very Top!), Penelope didn’t feel so bad.

After all, she was pretty sure they had an
EXCELLENT
chance of winning the best hut competition. Straight after orienteering, the girls had decorated the wall with Penelope and Tilly’s drawings. Penelope thought they looked amazing.

Dinner had been spaghetti bolognese, which was just about everyone’s favourite meal in the world. After that, everyone had played charades.

Now the girls were tucked into their bunks. The atmosphere in hut seven on the second (and very last) night of camp was totally different to the first night.
Everybody
was happy.

Even though it was past lights-out time, and they were supposed to be quietly falling asleep, every single girl in hut seven had broken that rule at least twice. Penelope knew it was (a bit) wrong to keep talking, but the happy feelings inside her were wriggling about like crazy. In fact, they were wriggling about so much that a very
unusual
and very
NOT-PENELOPE
suggestion popped right out of her mouth.

‘Pillow fight anyone?’ she suggested.

She climbed down, leant over the top bunk and swung her pillow into Bob’s leg – and then into Tilly’s arm, and finally hit Rita (just a little bit harder) on her right ear.

Everyone was silent for a split second, as though they were extremely surprised. Then the silence turned into squeals and thwacks as they belted each other with pillows (which was
probably
quite safe).

The next morning after breakfast, all the kids gathered in the main hall. It was hard to believe they would be leaving Camp Tribute in less than an hour. In some ways, the time had flown. But somehow it also felt like it had been longer than forty-eight hours. So many things had happened.

Penelope remembered Rachel’s first words to them:
You will take from this camp whatever you put into it.

Now Rachel was handing out awards. She was about to announce the winner of the best hut competition. Next to Penelope, Bob and Tilly were comparing something in their Camp Tribute booklets and not paying attention to the announcement. Penelope leant forward, looking past Bob and Tilly.

She reached over and tapped Rita on the knee. ‘Good luck,’ she whispered.

Rita screwed up her nose and bit her lip, looking as nervous as Penelope. Then she showed Penelope her crossed fingers. Instantly, Penelope crossed her own on both hands.

As much as she’d loved camp, she was looking forward to going home and seeing her mum and her brother (who was not mean very often), and Grandpa George. It would be amazing to go home with a best hut medal to make them all proud. If her hut won, Penelope would definitely wear her medal on the bus ride home, and would strongly suggest that Bob, Tilly and Rita do the same. After that, it could live on her jewellery stand. Or perhaps she could hang it on the wall with her award certificates? There were many options to consider.

‘The winner of this year’s best hut competition is …’

Penelope waited as Oscar Finley and Tommy Stratton did a drum roll on the floorboards. She looked over at Rita. They each held their crossed fingers in front of their faces.

‘… Hut six!’ Rachel announced with a flourish. ‘Joanna, Eliza, Alison and Sarah.’

Straight away Alex jumped up and yelled, ‘Go, Jo!’ three times very loudly, while pumping his hand in the air. Then he ran over to Joanna and punched her on the arm.

It was a very strange sight, and for a moment, Penelope forgot to be disappointed about not winning.

But she definitely felt a pang of jealousy when she saw the girls hold up their medals. Bob squeezed Penelope’s knee. Penelope glanced over at Rita. She was frowning, and her mouth was a downward slash. Penelope waited for her own jealous pang to grow into bitter disappointment or anger. She definitely felt deflated.

But somehow, she just didn’t feel all that terrible. The best hut competition and the lovely medals didn’t seem quite so important anymore. It was actually nice to see Joanna (who normally only got attention for being naughty) win a prize.

Before Penelope had time to be properly surprised at how fine she was, Rachel had moved on.

‘And now, this is my personal favourite,’ Rachel said. ‘The prize for the best support person. This is for someone who has tried very hard themselves, but has still found the energy and goodwill to support others.’

The award Rachel held up was not as flash as the best hut medals. In fact, it was just a piece of paper. A certificate. The Old Penelope, the Penelope who hadn’t been to Camp Tribute, would not have admired it very much. But New Penelope thought it looked pretty special. She hoped Oscar Finley would win it. She’d nominated him, but the final judgements were left to the camp leaders.

Penelope looked across the hall. It was very good timing, because right at that moment, Oscar Finley happened to be looking right back at her. Just as he’d done at the very beginning of camp, he gave Penelope another of his big, generous overhead waves. For a moment, Penelope considered responding with a small wave again, so no-one could see. But then she reconsidered. After all, a wave was just something you did with a friend. It wasn’t silly like yelling out or punching arms or getting into headlocks or letting someone rub globs of mashed potato in your hair. And it certainly didn’t mean you were crushing.

If kids wanted to be silly about her and Oscar waving to each other, then she would just ignore them.

Penelope lifted her arm up above her head and waved.

‘And the winner is …’ Rachel paused, drawing out the moment. ‘… Penelope Kingston!’

Penelope walked up the steps of the bus and turned to take one last look at Camp Tribute. Suddenly, she had a flash of understanding about the text her grandpa had sent her the night before camp.