Read Online Patiently Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t say that the canoe lesson went especially well, but for kids who had never been on a river before, I think they did a pretty fair job. The canoes were going in circles, some more jerkily than others, but the counselors kept them far enough apart that they didn’t bump into each other, and every child who wanted to try—and even some who didn’t—had a chance to sit in front and paddle. In fact, I didn’t do so bad either. Andy let me sit in the bow of his canoe, and though I managed to drop my paddle in the water and we had to chase it down—the kids jeering—it felt good to learn something I’d never done before.
    “At the end of our third week, campers, we’re going to have a canoe race, and we’ll see which ofour cabins wins,” Connie told them. And the air was filled with shouts of “ We will!” “No, we’re gonna win!”
    At one point, when the kids took a lemonade break, Pamela, Elizabeth, and I crowded around Gwen.
    “What happened?” I asked.
    “Legs came all the way up here to tell me that our trip to Baltimore is off when I get back, because his grandma is sick, and he’s going to be spending all that time in Baltimore with her,” Gwen said, grinning. “I just happen to know that the girl I’ve heard he’s seeing on the side told her friends that she’s going to Baltimore that exact same week. Not only that, but Legs’s grandma lives in Frederick. I told him that if there was one thing I couldn’t stand it was a cheatin’ man and that he was crossed off my list as of yesterday. You should have seen the relief on his face!” She laughed some more.
    It was a good day at Camp Overlook.
    Except that when the canoes went out and came in a second time with another batch of kids, Mary didn’t wait for us to help her out. My back was turned momentarily as I helped Estelle make the jump to the bank. When I turned around, Mary and Josephine were starting to climb out of their canoe by themselves. Josephine stumbled climbingover the side, and because the girls were holding hands, both went into the water.
    Camp Overlook’s philosophy is to let campers experience the consequences of their actions unless it’s a question of safety, and neither girl, of course, went under. They bobbed about on the surface in their life jackets, and the surprise in Josephine’s tiny face soon gave way to delight when she discovered she could not sink if she tried. In fact, she could maneuver any way she wanted.
    It was Mary who went bananas, even though the water wasn’t over their heads.
    “Josie!” she screamed. “Josie, grab my hand! Paddle over here!”
    But the more she yelled, the more Josephine grinned and dog-paddled away. Gwen and I were both ready to jump in after them—Ross was already in the water—but we caught Jack Harrigan shaking his head. He motioned for Ross to just circle the girls and let them get the feel of moving about in the water and staying afloat.
    “Alice!” Mary screamed. “Gwen! You come get us!”
    “Your sister seems to be doing okay, Mary,” Jack called. “Can you see why we wanted you to get out of the canoe one at a time?”
    “She’s going to drown!” she kept bawling, horrifiedto see Josephine moving farther and farther away from her in the water, with no one going after her. It was painful to listen to the terror in her voice.
    Ross corralled Josephine at last and brought her in, and we got the girls back to our cabin and into dry clothes, Gwen set about combing Josephine’s matted hair and I motioned Mary to join me for a private walk. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but all the assistant counselors were told to squeeze in as many one-on-one walks as we could, and the kids adored it. It was a sign that the chosen boy or girl was special.
    I held Mary’s hand.
    “I guess that was pretty scary,” I said.
    “I almost drowned! So did Josephine, and you would’ve let her!” she declared.
    I gave her hand a playful tug. “Do you really