LITMIR.BIZ

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to distract herself from the desire to make a run for it. Not that she had anywhere to go. So she stood on the edge of the bunk below, struggling to make her bed. Eventually, she wound up sitting on top of the fitted sheet she was trying to straighten onto the mattress. But it turned out okay in the end. She had her sleeping bag on top of the sheet and her fuzzy stuffed pony was shoved way down to the bottom of the sleeping bag. She’d been sleeping with Elfkin ever since she was two and refused to leave her behind, even though Alexis said everyone would laugh at her. But then the other girls brought their own sleep buddies out of their bags. So Elfkin was welcomed out onto the pillow where she was used to resting. Shows how much Alexis knows, thought Gillian. With the beds all made up, the cabin felt a little bit warmer. Gillian thought that maybe things would be okay.

      Robin called out, “Cabin meeting!” and had them all sit on the floor. Gillian sat cross-legged next to Jordan. A girl named Emiko flopped down on Gillian’s other side and instantly started talking. Her shoulder-length straight black hair bounced but stayed neat as she tossed her head, retelling the story of Jordan falling out of bed last year. Gillian listened and laughed at the funny parts while wondering if this bubbly and friendly girl was ever going to take a breath.

      Robin raised her hand, signalling for quiet. “Okay, how many of you have been here before?” she asked, keeping her own hand in the air. Naomi, Jordan, Emiko and a mature-looking, short-haired girl with light hazel eyes named Mira raised their hands. “And who went to Sunny Acres before coming here?” Gillian and the other frightened girl, a small twelve-year-old named Jaida, lifted their hands. Jaida sat next to Robin with a fluffy white bunny on her lap. Jaida must have gone to Sunny Acres during a different session because Gillian didn’t recognize her.

      The only one left was Katrina. She was fourteen and from Montreal. She had a slight build and blonde hair in a perfect straight braid to the middle of her back. “I compete in show jumping back home. My mom used to ride with Libby,” she said.

      Robin nodded as Katrina explained her connection to the camp. “Good,” Robin said. “So everyone has at least some riding experience. Those of you who have been here or went to Sunny Acres know something about the style of riding Libby teaches. Katrina, it won’t take long for you to catch up.”

      Katrina snorted a little and rolled her eyes. “I won the regional sixteen-and-under hunter and show jumping classes this spring. I think I’ll be able to ‘keep up.’”

      Stella groaned. Oh, not one of those. There’s always one of those!

      Robin raised her eyebrows at Katrina and grinned. “Well, we don’t do a lot of competing here. It’s more about learning new ways of communicating with the horses while we ride. But I’m sure we’re all excited to see everyone’s skills.”

      A loud bell clanged, cutting through the quiet.

      Naomi stood up and pumped her fist in the air. “Woo! Dinner bell! Yes!” she shouted.

      Robin stood up more calmly. “Dinner bell ends the meeting,” she said. “Let’s go get some food.”

      Chapter 3

      The counsellors had all the girls line up in their cabin groups at the door to the dining hall. Carmen went down the line, tapping each girl on the head and assigning her a colour as she went inside. This mixed the cabin groups among the brightly painted tables. Gillian found the orange table. Jordan sat across from her, but everyone else was from a different cabin. Table assignments would change weekly, allowing all the campers to get to know each other.

      After a wonderful dinner of roasted chicken, potatoes and candied carrots, the girls went out to the end of the Range by the riverbank. They sat on logs arranged in a three-quarter circle around the fire pit. The fire was crackling and warm as the evening sky cooled to a burnt orange. The drop in temperature was remarkable when the sun dipped behind the tops of the hills. Gillian was grateful for her fuzzy sweatpants and fleece-lined windbreaker. But she kept the jacket open as the warmth of the fire went deeper than the chill in the air. She sat again between Jordan and Emiko as they chatted about the horses. A few other girls joined the discussion, and everyone seemed to want to be paired with a horse named Beauty. One girl said she was silver and her coat sparkled in the sunlight. Another said her mane and tail were long and flowing and she looked like a princess. The campers who’d been to Canyon Falls before all adored her. But she was best friends in the paddock with a high-strung and difficult paint horse named the General who had a long jagged scar down the side of his nose. Because of his personality and his looks, and because he hung out with Beauty, he was nicknamed the Beast.

      “Oh man, I hope I don’t wind up riding the Beast,” groaned Mira.

      “You mean ‘General Ugly Face?’ I heard he ate a kid one year,” said a girl from cabin one.

      “Shut up! He did not,” laughed Emiko. “Horses are vegetarians.”

      The conversation among the girls faded to whispers and eventually stopped as Carmen walked to the fire and pulled out a long, thick branch that was flaming at the end. She turned around, torch in hand, to face the campers. “It’s tradition on the first night of camp to tell the story of the Horse of the River. Canyon Falls is an old camp with a strong history. There have been horses stabled here for seventy-two years.” Gillian already knew this. Her gaze drifted over to the camp’s owner. Libby had purchased the property seventeen years ago and had been running the camp ever since. Carmen kept speaking and Gillian’s attention was drawn back to the story. The firelight from the torch threw flickering shadows across the head counsellor’s face.

      “There used to be a boys’ camp a few kilometres up the river. They spent their time on different parts of the river canoeing and rafting rather than on horseback. On a warm moonlit night in 1973, a fifteen-year-old boy named Ben snuck out of his cabin. He slipped into a canoe, planning to paddle to Canyon Falls to meet his girlfriend.”

      A suggestive “Woooooo!” came up from the girls.

      “Yes,” agreed Carmen. “Very romantic. But dangerous. The rocks hidden under the water were difficult to spot during the day. At night, they couldn’t be seen at all. Ben’s canoe tipped as he approached the girls’ camp. He’d put his life jacket on the bottom of the canoe to use as a cushion instead of wearing it, which we all know is a no-no!”

      An older girl yelled out, “Yeah, but stealing a canoe and sneaking out to see your girlfriend, that’s fine!” Gillian joined in the laughter that rippled through the group.

      Carmen continued, unfazed. “As he fell into the water, his head struck a rock and he was dazed. He couldn’t get himself to the shore. He had no life jacket and all he could do was struggle to stay afloat. The current pushed him farther and farther downstream. He was able to call out once for help. Then he was sucked under the water.”

      Emiko squeaked and grabbed Gillian’s arm tightly.

      Robin spun around. “Emiko, you’ve heard this story before.”

      Emiko put a hand on her chest. “I know. It’s just so intense!”

      Again, giggles rippled through the group as Emiko squished herself closer to Gillian. Gillian, also feeling tense, welcomed the squish.

      Carmen waited until it was quiet and then she said, “Ben woke up a little while later on the riverbank and somehow managed to hike his way back to Canyon Falls by morning. He said he had been fighting to get back to the surface, almost completely out of breath, when a sudden thrashing next to him made him go still. There were legs and a long dark face and a mane black as the water in the night. Through his panic Ben recognized Hunter, a stallion from Canyon Falls. Hunter had been his girlfriend’s horse that summer. Ben grabbed on to the mane and pulled himself up, gasping for air. The two of them were dragged helplessly farther down the river. Finally, the big horse dragged Ben to a rock near the bank. Ben was able to pull himself up onto the rock but Hunter was swept away, unable to free himself from the rushing water. The horse was fighting and shrieking as he disappeared downstream toward the waterfall. He was never seen again. Hunter had saved Ben’s life and given his own.”

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