A short story from the Great American Eagle Hunt universe, where one lonely week at summer camp becomes a lesson about friendship, loss, and learning to let people in.

Seattle: Summer 2000

For troop 940 and all the other troops in the Pacific Northwest District, the anticipation for the annual week-long Boy Scout Summer Camp at Lake Crescent is at a fever pitch. For one week in July, three hundred Boy Scouts from seven troops converge for a week of swimming, archery, shotgun range shooting, horseback riding, campfire and general mischief. For summer camp veterans, the talk is about a newly built boat dock and new kayaks at Lake Crescent. For new campers, everything is a new experience.

The boys of The Magnificent Seven patrol are a batch of those new campers. Each of the boys in this patrol, Robbie, Sawyer, Alex, Adam and Arnaub joined in fall at the start of the school year. So, they missed last year’s trip. This is their first week-long camp trip with a troop, and it’s also their first week away from home without their parents. But this group of boys, made up of kids who are unwanted by the other patrols, have it together. They each have their backs.

On this early Saturday morning, the boys climb onto the ancient yellow school bus that will take them on a three-hour journey to camp. All five boys found seats together in the middle of the bus, making it easier to share road snacks. They’re off to a good start. However, the troop hasn’t even boarded, and the bus already smells like a mixture of football team B.O., diesel fumes, farts, Axe Body spray and spicy Doritos.

Gagging for fresh air, Robbie quickly opens his window, desperate for relief of any kind.

“It’s going to be a long ride,” he laments.

As Robbie opens the window, he sees his Adult Leader, Johnny Burnside, having a conversation with Mr. Miltner the Scoutmaster, a new boy Robbie’s age and a woman that must be his mom.

After a few minutes of conversation, the group breaks up. Scoutmaster Miltner, Burnside and the kid board the bus. Everything is squared away and ready to go. Miltner and Burnside have seats reserved for them in the front row of the bus, adult privilege. So, the new kid must walk the length of the bus to find a seat. As he passes The Magnificent Seven, the boys notice him but don’t say anything until he passes out of ear shot.

“That kid looks like he’s in the witness protection program,” Sawyer nudges Robbie.

“He doesn’t go to our school,” Alex adds. “Where’s he from?”

“I don’t know,” Robbie replies. “But I know that look. That’s the look of someone that didn’t volunteer for this trip.”

Robbie slowly turns around trying not to be noticed to look at the kid. Robbie notices the kid found a single seat in the back. Robbie assumes he must be a quiet kid or scared. He wasn’t talking to any of the other kids around him. It’s not like they were inviting him to join them either. The new kid sat there reading a paperback copy of Catcher in the Rye. At that moment, the kid looks up from his book and makes eye contact with Robbie. Startled, Robbie gives a small, friendly nod. The kid pauses, nods back, and goes back to his book.

#

Three hours later, the boys arrive at Lake Crescent. It’s a mad rush to claim the prime camp sites. If you watch a scene like this, you can easily imagine what the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 must have been like. Now it’s every patrol for themselves to stake out the best plot of land that will be their home for the next week.

Arnaub pulls out his list of criteria and begins reading it to his crew.

“A prime spot means being close to the bathroom but not so close you smell it. And you must always be upwind of the bathroom. Never be near the trash. Otherwise, the racoons and other foraging animals will wake you up every night,” he reads on in the chaos. The boys are listening. But in the chaos, you get whatever spot you can grab.

The older boys of the troop always stake out a section as far away from the adults as possible. Nobody knows what they are up to. Sneaky bastards. But that suits the boys from The Magnificent Seven patrol just fine. If the older boys are away, that means less chance of getting hassled by Kyle and his Red Devil patrol good squad.

After a few sprints and rejections, Sawyer calls the gang.

“Here!” Sawyer stands in a spot holding his ground, taking a defensive stand against anyone who may try to steal his claim before the others arrive.

“Perfect!’ Adam says.

“Off the beaten path, perfect for privacy,” Arnaub approves.

“Plenty of trees for hanging hammocks,” Sawyer approves.

“Lots of shade for afternoon naps,” Alex chimes in.

“You’re right, Arnaub,” Robbie says. “It’s Perfect. Let’s get our tent and gear set up.

The group begins to set up their tent, a musty old four-man tent that used to be Robbie’s dad tent. They use this every trip. But how this four-man tent holds five is still a mystery to them. Midway through set up, Robbie notices the new kid wandering and is still looking for a space to set up his tent. He nudges Sawyer.

“Check that kid out,” Robbie whispers, nodding his head towards the new kid.

“Should we?” Sawyer asks. He doesn’t have to finish the question. He knows Robbie will understand.

“Yeah,” Robbie answers. Robbie calls out. “Hey! Are you looking for a place to set up your tent?”

“Yeah,” the kid answers. “You have room?”

“We’ll make it work,” Adam chimes in. As the smallest and quietest of the group, he’s sensitive to people being left out. He was the last to join this patrol after being rejected by every other patrol. So, he can empathize with how this new kid is feeling.

“Thanks, I’m Nathan,” the kid steps into their camp site and drops his gear.

“Robbie”

“Alex”

“Adam”

“Arnaub”

“Sawyer” The boys introduce themselves.

“What troop are you with?” Robbie asks.

“I don’t know. I think this one.” Nathan replies. The boys look confused. “My mom just signed up this week. I didn’t know I was coming here until three days ago.”

There is a stunned silence that hangs over the boys. Robbie breaks the awkward silence.

“Well, it’s good you’re here now. Let’s get your tent set up.”

The boys pitch in and help Nathan set up his tent and sleeping gear, all of it brand new, bought specifically for this trip.

#

Within an hour their entire camp site was set up, Tents, camp kitchen, dish washing station. Sleeping bags lined up in the tent. Hammocks hung. It was still midafternoon, with plenty of time for an activity today.

“The lake front is open!” Sawyer announces.

“Let’s grab some canoes,” Alex suggests.

“Let’s do it,” the others agree.

The five boys quickly change into their swimsuits, grab their beach towels and head toward the path to the lake front. Just before they hit the path and head into the tree line, Robbie stops.

“Guys, wait,” he tells his gang. He turns back. “Hey!” He calls to Nathan.

Nathan stands in the middle of the camp site where he was left. “Me?” He points to his chest, a little confused.

“Yes, you,” Robbie calls back. “Are you coming? We only have 5. We need a sixth.”

Nathan smiles. “Coming!” He grabs his towel out of his backpack and runs to join the crew. “Thanks!”

#

They hit the lake at noon with the sun burning high and bright. A perfect day to be out on the lake. The boys are in luck, there are three canoes, the last of the bunch still available. Sawyer and Alex grab one canoe; Arnaub and Adam grab the second.

“You’re with me,” Robbie pats Nathan on the shoulder.

“Lucky me,” Nathan says with a sarcastic smirk turning into a genuine smile.

They shove off and drift into deeper water. The plan is to paddle out to the buoy and back, about a half mile out and back. That should make for a challenging afternoon.

About five minutes into the journey Sawyer yells “It’s on!” He and Alex start paddling at full force. An unexpected race has begun. Arnaub and Adam are the next to kick into race mode. Robbie, sitting in the back seat of the canoe, yells to Nathan “Dig! Let’s catch these suckers!”

Nathan immediately takes the cue. He digs in and paddles with all his might.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Robbie thinks to himself. It takes aloof Robbie’s upper body strength to keep his paddle in the water, steering and keeping the canoe on course.

Robbie noticed Nathan looked different out here. He was confident, out of his shell. He was no longer the quiet kid on the bus.

Sawyer and Alex reached the buoy first.

“Cheaters!” Robbie cried.

“They had a head start.” Adam and Arnaub complain.

Sawyer stands up in his canoe, rips off his shirt, and starts swinging it in circles above his head. As Sawyer’s victory dance continues, taunting the losers, all three canoes come to float side by side. They exhausted boys take a moment to catch their breath, and just float.

The boys float in silence. Away from the hassles of the older boys. Away from the hassles of overbearing parents. The quiet they experience floating in the middle of the lake consumes them.

“This is the life, man,” Sawyer sighed, trailing his hand in the water. For the next half-hour, they just drift. They drift in lazy circles, wherever the breeze blows them, and the current takes them. The occasional water fight breaks out, splashing the other canoes with their paddles. Nathan is laughing, genuinely laughing, and Robbie can see the walls coming down bit by bit.

They settle into more silent drifting enjoying the afternoon sun. Eventually Sawyer breaks the silence.

“Nathan, since you’ve just joined, you haven’t been assigned a patrol yet. You should stick with us. Once we get back, we can talk to Mr. Miltner. Let’s ask him to make you a permanent part of the Magnificent Seven.”

Robbie watches Nathan’s reaction. He’s surprised to see Nathan hesitant answer. The question hung heavily in the air.

Nathan goes still and stares down into the water. His expression, which had been relaxed moments before, snaps shut. He avoids their eyes, staring instead at the water.

“Permanent?” He repeats, his voice quiet, almost flat.

“We could figure out the logistics,” Adam adds from the other canoe. “Maybe your mom could drive you to meetings once a month, or…”

“Or you could take the bus,” Arnaub suggests. “There’s a line from Sequim to Seattle.” “We’d make it work,” Alex finishes. The five of them look at Nathan expectantly.

“I’ll talk to my mom about it,” he says. But he isn’t convincing. It’s obvious that he wants to change the subject.

For several long, uncomfortable seconds, nobody speaks. The canoes bob gently, creating small ripples that spread and disappear.

Then suddenly Nathan jumps up and stands in the middle of his canoe.

“Canon ball,” he yells. He jumps out of the canoe into the cool dark lake, hitting the water with a massive splash that rocked all the boats. Before the others could react, he was already diving under, grabbing the hull of Sawyer Alex’s canoe and tipping it completely over.

The resulting chaos, the shouts, the floundering boys, the rush to rescue gear, was a perfect, instantaneous deflection

Both boys go under. When they surface, sputtering and laughing.

“Oh, you’re dead!” Sawyer yells, but he’s grinning now, swept up in the chaos.

“Canoe war!” Alex shouts, and suddenly all three canoes are in motion. Boys trying to tip each other, splashing with paddles, diving under and popping up to rock the boats.

“Truce! Truce!” Adam calls

Eventually, they’re all exhausted, hanging onto the sides of overturned canoes, breathing hard.

“That was awesome,” Sawyer says, still catching his breath.

“Yeah,” Nathan agrees quickly.

But when Sawyer isn’t looking, Robbie sees Nathan’s face, and the smile is gone. He looks terrified.

“Let’s flip these back over,” Alex says. “Before the waterfront counselor has a heart attack.”

They work together to right up the canoes, a process that involves a lot of coordination and several more accidental dunkings. By the time they paddle back to shore, the mood feels normal again, soaked and gasping, everyone laughing. Even Nathan, but his laugh sounds different now. Not free. Not easy.

Robbie can’t shake the feeling that the water fight wasn’t about fun. It was a distraction, a way to drown out whatever had just surfaced in him.

#

That night they make their usual post dinner campfire. Even though their bellies are full of Spaghetti dinner, there’s always room for Marshmallows, snacks and cobbler.

Sawyer is showing off his double marshmallow roast. Alex, in the name of science, tied a handful of Doritos to the end of a stick and is trying to light them on fire. Adam is timing how long it takes Arnaub to quote the Boy Scout handbook during any given activity. (Answer: thirty seconds.)

“Guys,” Arnaub says looking up from his scout manual. “I hate to be the taskmaster, but we have to talk about our service project in two weeks.” The boys are working together on building a recycling collection bin for their school.

“We need to complete it in the next two weeks if we are going to be eligible to rank up at the next Court of Honor,” Arnaub continues.

“Yeah, we should crank that out. Let’s schedule a Saturday to get together and build it.”

Sawyer looks over at Nathan. “Dude, do you want to join us? That can be the first thing you get signed off on for your rank.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m busy that weekend.” Nathan replied.

“Which weekend?” Robbie asked.

“The weekend you’re building the thing,” Nathan replied.

“We didn’t set a weekend,” Adam said.

“Dude, are you bailing on us?” Sawyer asked.

“It’s not like that,” Nathan pushed back. He senses he is being cornered. He’s been in this position before.

“Do you not want to be part of our patrol?” Robie asked. “If not, that’s ok. We’ll help you find a different one.”

“No. It’s not that. I like you guys. I’m just not sure how my mom will react.” Nathan blurts out trying to end the conversation. “I don’t know what plans she has for me next.”

“What does that mean?” Robbie asks. “I don’t understand.”

Nathan decides to come clean.

“I may not be around for very long after this weekend. I’m sorry if I misled you. But I like you guys. My mom does this a lot.”

“What?” The guys ask in unison.

“She signs me up for camps. This summer it’s a boy scout summer camp. A few months ago, during spring break, it was a music camp. Every few months my mom shuffles me around to something new. Christian camp, music camp, grandparents for Thanksgiving.”

“She signs you up for different things,” Adam asks. “Why?”

“Boyfriends,” Nathan looks down into the fire. “This summer she has another new boyfriend. They wanted to go to Cabo San Lucas. Obviously, the boyfriend doesn’t want a kid to hang around. So here I am.”

He let the stick drop.

“I’m a professional drop-off. Usually, drop off kids like me are put with other drop off kids. So, we know how to adjust for the week and move on. But I must be the only one at this camp.” Nathan shrugs his shoulders. “Sorry guys, I really like you. Thank you for including me. But I don’t know how to do this. I haven’t kept friends for a long time. ”

The boys sit silently around the fire. No one is sure what to say next. Finally, Robbie breaks the silence.

“No.”

“No? No What?” Nathan asks.

“No. I’m not going to accept that answer. Listen to me. This time last year I was in a situation like yours. I just moved to Seattle and didn’t know anyone. I was lonely as hell. Everything sucked. Until I met these guys. Now everything is different. I’m not going to throw you away just because the weekends.”

“Me neither” Sawyer chimes in.

“Same.” Adam adds

“Same” Arnaub says

“Same” Alex chimes in.

“So, what do we do?” Nathan asks

“So we make this week count,” Robbie says. “We make it so good that even when it ends, you’ll know you had it. Real friendship.”

“Deal,” Nathan agrees. “But I have to tell you, you’re doing it wrong.”

“What?” Robbie asks. “What are we doing wrong?”

“The marshmallows.” Nathan replies. “You’re using them wrong. Toss me that bag.”

Sawyer tosses him the bag of marshmallows. The group is confused.

Nathan grabs a marshmallow and turns his head away from the group. After a few seconds he turns back around with both nostrils stuffed with marshmallow bits.

“SNOT ROCKETS!” He yelled. Then he blows as hard as he can out of his nose, sending both marshmallow bits flying out of his nostrils and into the fire.

“Awesome!” Sawyer screams. “Give me that bag!” He grabbed two marshmallows out of the bag.
“You can go for distance. Or you can go for height. You can go for volume.” Nathan explained.

‘Where did you learn this?” Adam says, laughing hysterically.

“Bible camp,” Nathan replied. “Bible Camp is where you learn the freakiest shit,” he laughs

The rest of the night is spent around the fire in a full-on snot rocket war. When the marshmallows are used up, they move on to gummi bears and Swedish Fish candy. If it can go up their nose, it’s worthy of a test flight.

The rest of the week flies by in a flurry of adventures, mischief, freedom, and laughter. Nathan fits in perfectly with this fearless, funny, and talented band of misfits. He is now a piece of the disjointed Magnificent Seven kaleidoscope. Throughout the week, the Magnificent Seven stays living entirely in the present, laughing at every moment of the day. Nothing exists except for today’s adventures.

#

Friday came fast. At camps like this, the last day always comes and hits you faster and harder than anticipated. When you’re having the best time ever, you’re never ready for it to end. And year after year, the letdown never gets easier.

By mid-morning the entire camp looks like a battlefield. Tents sit half-collapsed; sleeping bags and dirty clothes are sprawled across the ground. Everyone is tired, sunburned, skin sticky from sunscreen, bug spray and dust. Everyone stinks.

The boys load the bus in silence, not because they didn’t have anything to say, but because nobody wants to start the goodbye. The energy from six days ago when they last boarded this bus is clearly gone. But the smells remain.

The boys grab the same seats they had when they came up last week. Except now, Nathan joins them. He sits next to Robbie, head leaning against the window. His copy of Catcher in the Rye rests in his lap.

Three hours later, the bus pulls into the high school parking lot. The boys bail off the bus. They know they can’t go home until all the troop gear is unloaded and packed back into the scout storage. Parents raise the anxiety level by urging their kids to hurry up.

“The other kids can do that. Come on, we’re late,” they urge their kids.

Nathan grabbed his duffel and started toward the car. Robbie followed him before he could think better about it.

“Hey,” Robbie called out to Nathan, who was loading his duffle bag into his mom’s car. “I told Mr. Miltner you should be in our patrol full-time. Maybe you could come to meetings, or the fall campout. You’d like it.”

His mom glanced at me. “That’s nice. Nathan, I’m glad you made some friends this week. Now it’s time to go,” she said with no commitment. She turned to Robbie. “I’ll talk to Nathan about what he wants to do. We’ll see. Thank you.”

Nathan looked at Robbie as he got into his mom’s car.

“Thanks, Robbie,” he said quietly. “For the week.”

The car pulled out and was gone before Robbie could say anything else.

The parking lot got quieter. Parents left one by one.

“You look like somebody stole your lunch,” Burnside, Robbie’s adult patrol leader said.

“I thought he’d stick around,” Robbie said.

“Yeah. Me too. But I do want to thank you.” Burnside said.

“Thank me?” Robbie asked.

“Yeah. When his mom met with me and Scoutmaster Miltner, I knew what was going on. I’ve seen drop off kids before.”

“You have?” Robbie asked.

“Yeah. It happens more often than people think.” Burnside said. “I was planning on asking you and the boys to take him in for the week. Just make him feel included for the week. But I didn’t need to ask you. You put yourself out there and asked him to join your crew. You need to know that says a lot about you and your crew.”

“Thanks,” Robbie said. He knew Burnside was trying to make him feel better. Not at this moment. Maybe later.

“He was a nice guy. I was hoping he would stick around.” Robbie said.

“Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they can’t. It’s not under his control. Yet. That’s how life works. You meet good people in weird places, and sometimes that’s all you get, one good week.”

“That doesn’t make it suck less.”

“Nope,” he said. “But hopefully it still means something good.”

Burnside pauses for a long moment. “You did good. You made the week count. Some people go their whole lives without learning how to do that. Some people go their whole lives without feeling that.”

Robbie nodded.

Burnside pats Robbie’s shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get some burgers. I’ll take you and the other boys. My treat.”

As we drove off, Robbie looked out the window thinking about Nathan, about the lake, about the week. He was torn. How could one of the happiest weeks of his life end on such a sad note? He felt this sadness before. Two years earlier when his father suddenly died. For Robbie, this is a stark reminder of how people can come and go into our lives without any warning. And at that moment Robbie realizes that people may disappear fast; it’s inevitable. He looks around the car at his best friends, Sawyer, Alex, Adam and Arnaub, all tired, smelly, hungry and dusty. He realizes that the moments they’re together no matter how short, makes all the other tough stuff in their young lives worth it.

The guys never saw Nathan again after that week.
But for that one week, he wasn’t dropped off.
He was picked up and belonged.