BUDDY CHECK

Everything is going great…until things at camp take some unexpected turns. Kate’s camp romance suddenly seems more interested in her nasty co-counselor, two of her best friends are fighting for reasons they refuse to reveal to her, and worst of all the bossy camp administration has forced camp’s beloved manager—and Kate’s best friends on the camp staff—to resign. Then, while she is already struggling to understand God’s will where camp is concerned, her favorite camper confides in Kate that her sister has a terminal illness. Now, the young counselor is determined to find the perfect boyfriend, solve all of camp’s problems, and talk God into changing His plans for her camper—all in one summer.

Jenifer Brady has been a ‘Camp Addict’ since her first counseling experience as a sixteen-year-old in 1995. She knows all about rock hopping, skit planning, cabin clean-up, cute lifeguards, and most importantly—gimp bracelets. Her goal in writing about camp is to capture the essence of camp in literary form so that fellow Camp Bums will be able to go to camp whenever they want by reading and so people who have never been to camp can understand what it means to those who love it.

Jenifer is a 1997 graduate of Iron Mountain High School in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a 2001 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. She and her husband Jeremy had a camp wedding in August of 2000, with one of their favorite deans officiating. Since then, the Bradys have become deans themselves and continue to counsel. In fact, Jen has been a counselor so long that her former campers are starting to reappear as her co-counselors! Buddy Check is her first novel, and a spin-off series and prequel are planned. To find out more about Jenifer Brady’s writing, Buddy Check, and future works, visit her website at http://www.geocities.com/buddycheckabby.

About the Photographer

The author’s picture on the back cover was taken by Andy Larsen, an old and dear camp friend of the Bradys. Andy Larsen Photography is located in Marquette, Michigan. Andy has been in charge of taking pictures for several events since 1996, including some camp weddings. Clients have flown this excellent photographer as far away as California for the use of his services. Find out more about Andy and his photography business by contacting him at (906) 249-5341 or by email at AndyLPhoto@portup.com.

Steve announced at lunch that we were going and invited all the other campers to come with us. After canteen, we set off. Our little group consisted of Steve, me, Abby, Carin, Samantha, Chad, Dana, and two more of Steve’s campers named Reid and Jimmy. Mount Spirit doesn’t have the appeal for junior high campers that it does for elementary kids. Mark used to joke that it’s much more work to go to Mount Spirit as an adolescent than as a child, or at least it seems that way. There is never a good turnout for Mount Spirit hikes past the elementary age. Seven out of a hundred and some isn’t a very high percentage.

Nevertheless, we left about fifteen minutes after canteen ended. Steve was ready before his candy bar was gone, but Abby said we had to wait so we could digest our treats first. It was a pretty hot day, eighty-five degrees out at least, so Carin and Chad brought their water bottles in case anyone needed a drink.

Just as we got through the woods and to the clearing where the railroad tracks were, a tenth member joined our group. Bunty, the neighbors’ golden retriever wagged his tail and followed us despite Reid’s repeated pleas for him to go home and his points towards the direction of the lake and Bunty’s owners’ cabin. Bunty wove between the campers, sometimes leading, sometimes following, and sometimes in the middle of the pack. His tongue was perpetually out, panting, and his tail wagged back and forth.

The walk along the railroad tracks could have been a lot faster than our walk last week, as the junior high kids were less clumsy and had bigger strides. They chose to be slower than the younger kids though, taking their time and talking while we walked.

Abby and I hopped up on either side of the tracks and caught our balances. Steve counted to three and then said, “Go.” Slowly we walked (at some points wobbled) along a few paces behind everyone else, still managing to keep up with the conversation.

“I can’t believe camp is almost over,” Dana said, and Samantha pouted.

“It’s okay,” Chad said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll write every day.”

Steve coughed suddenly. Hiding a snicker, no doubt. The junior high camp romance course lasted about two hours after sign-out.

I was glad Chad had come along on the trip to Mount Spirit. He had been in Steve’s group the year I had Abby and Carin in mine. He hadn’t been at camp last year, so I hadn’t seen him since my first summer as a counselor. He was at least six inches taller than I remembered him.

“Skit night is going to be awesome tonight,” Abby said. She didn’t miss a step or lose her balance at all.

“Yeah,” Carin seconded. “You guys’ll laugh your butts off.”

“What skits are you doing?” Jimmy asked.

“We can’t tell you that,” Carin said. “It would ruin it. But it’s funny. Trust me.”

“Hey, look at Bunty,” Reid said. “He looks like he’s gonna croak.” Bunty’s panting had become deeper, and at that point he was a full ten feet behind Abby and me, who were bringing up the rear. “Bunty, go home!” He pointed back towards camp. Determined, Bunty picked up the pace and closed the gap between him and us.

“I bet he’s hot in all that fur,” Samantha said. “Maybe we should take him back.”

“No!” Jimmy protested. “It’s too hot to go all the way back to camp and start over.”

Carin and Samantha had rolled their short sleeves up and were fanning themselves with their shirts. Chad took the top off of his water bottle and drenched himself. He poured the rest over Bunty’s head, trying to help him cool off. Bunty shook his fur out and seemed to perk up, so we decided to keep going.

“One time we had this wimpy counselor,” Dana said, “and she started to take us to Mount Spirit, but we got to the bottom and she said, ‘Let’s just eat here.’ So we ate our lunch at the bottom of the hike.”

“That stunk,” Samantha said.

My foot caught on a bump in the track, and I stepped onto the boards. Abby stopped and looked at me, her mouth slightly open.

“Hey, you won, Abbers,” Steve said.

“Yeah,” she said slowly. She looked down at her feet, which remained planted on the tracks, and then at me standing on the ground.

The camper had beaten the counselor. Abby smiled slightly, took a few more steps to insure her victory, and jumped off the track and onto the wooden planks and gravel.

It’s not that I minded she won the contest. I’d never be upset that she won anything, even if it meant beating me, especially something as silly as balancing on the railroad tracks. But her victory proved that she was growing up. If I had any doubts, they were now gone. Abby was a young lady, no longer a child.

We got off the railroad tracks and crossed the road, headed into the woods. As she and Carin laughed and talked through the trees to the Mount Spirit path, I watched them and really looked at what they had become. Abby’s new long, layered haircut brought out the facial features that were no longer cute but bordering on beautiful. I looked down to avoid getting scratched by the brush and glimpsed Carin’s feet. I had to look again to be sure, but I thought her tennis shoe size was a little bigger than mine. Half a size or so.

Both of them sped up Mount Spirit in no time. Neither asked me if they could rest, and I had more trouble getting over the big rocks near the top than they did. We left a rock with our names written on it by the cross, as usual, and they both ran down the trail.

They weren’t my little campers anymore, and that was hard to take.