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CAMP WENT ON LIKE NORMAL. We did rock-climbing that afternoon. Easy peasy! You see I’ve got no fear of heights. And I’ve got to hand it to Ms Loti, she was one cool lady. When Brian got stuck halfway down she roped up at once and went straight down to him. Apparently he’d just locked up with fear and couldn’t bring himself to let the rope out. She saved him.
And later when Annabel sliced her thumb on a can-opener (Not on a can, but the opener! No-one could figure out how she did it.) Ms Loti was right there, bandaging her up on the spot.
I’d been right there as well, being nosy as usual. Ms Loti laid out her kit. It seemed to have everything in there, bandages and scissors and tubes of stuff, and an information card on snake bite, and another one on electrocution. She had her mobile phone with her all the time and a list of numbers for everything imaginable: ambulance, fire, poison line, emergency helicopter service. Man, I was glad she was so together!
“Okay citizens,” she said as she was finishing, “nothing to see here. Move along now. Back to your jobs.”
We’d all been peeling carrots and washing lettuces and setting tables. Only the best kids got the plum jobs like opening the tins of pineapple. I went back to the carrots, feeling the safest I’d felt in years. Nothing could go wrong with someone like Ms Loti in charge. Nothing. Or so I thought.
#
THAT NIGHT SHE ANNOUNCED that she’d checked the weather forecast and it was going to be good for the bushwalk the next day. Nobody exactly cheered.
“Where’re we going?” I asked.
“Up to the top of Thunderhead Hill.”
“Cool!” said some of the boys. There was an outbreak of thunder noises, of course, and general goofing around.
We all stayed up late, talking and annoying each other in our bunkroom, and telling sick jokes. I went to the loo pretty late, and heard voices down at the girls’ end. “Ms Loti, Amelia’s got a headache.”
“I’ll be right there!” Ms Loti went bustling past, pulling out her big packet of painkillers. I went off to bed.
#
THE NEXT MORNING WAS hell. We all wanted to sleep in. But the adults all wanted to get up and get ready for the bush walk. It took ages to get everyone organised. Finally, at ten o’clock, we set off across the footbridge and into the dense bush on the other side. It was moist and cool and rich and green, with a lot of different types of trees that I’d never seen before.
Now and then, Ms Loti reminded us to check ourselves for leeches. Gross!
Soon we were all strung out along the trail, the goers out in front and the plodders at the rear. I stuck close to Ms Loti. Now and again she’d pull out her mobile phone and check she was still connected. Not that we had anything to worry about, but I was still glad we could call for help any time we needed to.
One of the parent-helpers, Mr Prior, also kept checking his phone. He was on a different network and it wasn’t doing so well. I heard them talking about his problem.
“...oh well, whatever happens, we’ve still got it covered,’ Ms Loti was saying.
“Yes. After all, I’m only losing it in the valleys.” Mr Prior held his phone higher, “There, got it again!”
It was all very reassuring, and the weather was perfect. What could possibly go wrong?
Plenty, as it turned out.
#
“MS LOTI, TAYLAH’S GOT a headache!”
We came upon Taylah, crumpled on the ground, clutching at her head just behind her ears.
Ms Loti opened her medicine kit, “Take two of these, dear.”
Taylah looked up, miserably, “I forgot my water bottle.”
“I’ve got plenty!” called a voice. It was Lucy. She threw off her huge pack and pulled out several plastic bottles of water. Taylah drank and drank.
“Oo yuk,” called Marcus from the distance, “Girl Germs!”
Damn him! That was my line!
“Can I have some too?” asked Michaela, “I forgot my bottle too.”
Lucy handed over a spare bottle. I didn’t think the water looked totally pure and clean, but then again the camp water was a bit funny.
Everyone coming up the trail was stopping to have a drink. Lucy passed out yet another one of her spare bottles, this time to Wyatt who had also managed to leave his behind. Mind you, he’d leave his head behind if it wasn’t screwed on!
Marcus sneered and said it again, “Watch out for the girl germs!”
Wyatt just shrugged the comment off and drank Lucy’s water.
“Come on, everyone,” called Ms Loti once she realised what was starting to happen, “this is not a lunch stop! We’re only about half an hour from the top. Plenty of time for lunch at the top! Keep it moving now.”
I rejoined the boys’ bunch, leaving Ms Loti with Taylah. It looked like they were going to be last up.
#
BUT IT WASN’T HALF an hour to the top. More like an hour. We all finally plodded out of the bush and found ourselves on a high rocky knob. I looked around. Impressive. Thunderhead Hill was the highest bump out of five great rocky warts jutting out of the surrounding bush. On the next bump along, we all noticed immediately, was one of those communications towers.
“What’s that?” someone asked.
“Mobile phone tower.”
“Won’t it get hit by lightning?”
Mrs Vintner was right there. She taught science. “Probably happens all the time,” she said, “See that big pole sticking up at the top? That’s a lightning rod. If you look closely you’ll see heavy copper wires...”
I drifted away about then. I hadn’t come on camp to get a science lesson!
#
WE WERE ALL EATING lunch when Taylah and Lucy and Ms Loti finally arrived. I noticed Lucy as she climbed to the very highest point and gazed away to the west. I looked the same way. There were some big puffy clouds piling up.
But in spite of that, the view was great. Just great.
I saw a glint of light off something. Probably a plane heading down to Sydney. I watched it. It turned sharply and disappeared into the clouds. Not like a plane would, but from that distance I couldn’t really be sure what size it was. I could actually see the clouds boiling, like you do in those sped-up films.
It was a really fantastic view.