Theodore Boone: The Scandal

Chapter 7

Friday morning, the last day of the dreadful tests. The ordeal was almost over, and Theo was so excited about the weekend he demolished his Cheerios and left home ten minutes early.

The mood was considerably lighter as the eighth graders gathered in the auditorium. Pete had a smile on his face, the first of the week. April smiled and nodded at Theo from across the room. The teachers passed out the exams, and at precisely nine o’clock they began. Theo attacked the test as never before, as if the clock would move faster if he kicked into high gear. It did not, but for the first time all week he felt comfortable with the material. The morning session was all about history, an easy subject for Theo. He nailed one question after another.

At 12:30, it was over. The proctor called “Time,” thanked the students for their hard work and diligent efforts and on and on, and told them to go have lunch. At 1:30, they were dismissed early, and fifteen minutes later, Theo was at the VFW with the other Scouts, all chatty and excited and ready to go. His father had delivered his backpack and a change of clothes. The Major was barking orders here and there, going through his usual drill sergeant routine, but he, too, was eager to hit the road. He weighed each backpack — Theo’s came in at thirty pounds, two ounces — and growled at Woody and Hardie who were two pounds over. They quickly unpacked, discarded a few items, and made the limit. All in all, the Major was pleased that his boys had packed so carefully. He went through a checklist to make sure each had included the essentials — primarily food and toilet paper — and told them to load up. They piled everything into the Troop 1440 bus, one bought from the school district and painted Army green, and by 2:30 they were leaving Strattenburg with the Major at the wheel and the fifteen Scouts whooping and hollering. They settled down once the town was behind them and most fell asleep.

Two hours later they rolled into the Sassaqua National Park. A ranger directed the Major to a spot to leave the bus, checked the boys into the register, showed them where the new trail began, and suggested a camping spot five miles in. The first stretch was easy and he was certain they could make it before dark. “Good luck,” he said as they slung their backpacks onto their shoulders. As they hurried away, he said, “Watch out for the bears. They’re everywhere.”

The Major took the lead and set a furious pace. He was sixty years old, exercised every day, and could do more push-ups and sit-ups nonstop than any of his Scouts. Within twenty minutes, they were sweating and breathing heavy. But they pressed on as the shadows grew longer. Things were darker in the dense woods. The trail was narrow, in many places less than two feet wide, with gullies and ravines on both sides. They began a gradual incline that seemed to go on for miles, and when they reached the top the Sassaqua River could be seen in the distance. “We need to hurry,” the Major said after a quick rest. The trail curled through the woods and went downhill. A few rays of fading sunlight lit the campsite as they arrived, and they hurriedly unpacked and got organized. The Major laid out a tight circle around a fire pit, built a fire, and began boiling water, barking orders nonstop. The boys quickly assembled their small tents.

Theo selected freeze-dried beef stroganoff for his evening dinner, and when mixed with hot water it was delicious. Dessert was an energy bar, which tasted like rubber, but who really cared? He was deep in the woods, far from home, far away from school, and at that moment had nothing to worry about. The Major, whose backpack was slightly larger than the others and had not gone through the trial of being weighed, produced a bag of marshmallows. They roasted them on sticks and wiped out the entire bag as the Major told horror stories of campers being eaten by huge bears and vicious cougars and wild boar hogs.

He had a lot of stories, the best of which he seemed to save for those moments when he was deep in the woods with a bunch of city boys. Every story ended badly, at least for the campers, but the Scouts had learned over the years that they were all tall tales.

Nevertheless, given where they were, the stories set the tone for the evening. There were jokes, other tales from the Scouts, a few true stories about other camping misadventures, but as the night wore on and grew darker, every sound became ominous. The Scouts began to believe that they were being watched by all manner of hungry beasts, or even runaway criminals. Around nine o’clock, the Major called for lights-out, and they retreated to their tents, zipping the flies tightly.

Theo tucked himself into his sleeping bag, which was warm and comfortable. He wasn’t afraid. He’d camped enough with the Major to know that he would protect them. Instead, he savored the moment, listening to the sounds of the thick woods as his imagination went into overdrive. A bad week was ending in a wonderful way. Tomorrow would be a grand adventure.

He was thirteen and unwilling to grow older. The entire week had been about the future, about testing for placement in high school and the mysteries of the ninth grade. Theo liked where he was in life. He loved scouting and camping. He liked his school and his friends and teachers. He liked being a boy on a bike zipping around the town. If he got into trouble his excuse was always, “Hey, I’m just a kid.” That worked most of the time.

Why couldn’t a kid stay thirteen forever?

The forest grew still as the animals and beasts fell asleep. Theo, too, finally drifted away.