The whole camp was in disarray, and not just because of the caution tape and destroyed dock. Everyone was up, and yet there was no breakfast prepared, and no activities to do, and so the kids just milled around, or gathered in small clusters talking quietly. The counselors were huddled together by the main hall, having some kind of heated argument that Archie tried to eavesdrop on but couldn’t make out.
And Miss Hiss stayed in her office.
“Why don’t we go play cards or something?” Oliver asked. “Just to get away from all of . . . this.” He waved his hand at the clumps of awkward campers and the messed-up dock.
Archie didn’t answer, just stared listlessly into the woods, not seeing them. He wondered where Mitchell had gone.
As much as Archie wanted to blame him for the problems—Why had he talked about it with his cabinmates? And why had they believed him, and gone looking for the treasure?—his heart wasn’t in it. He knew, deep down, why all of this had happened.
Because of him.
It was only supposed to be a con. A bet. A way to get one over on Vivian. It wasn’t supposed to ruin the camp for everyone. But now there was no way they could use the lake for swimming and canoeing, and the woods were still closed off because of the bees, and if Amanda had really thrown away the only set of keys to the arts and crafts cabin then those activities were probably canceled too. The only things worth doing at Camp Shady Brook, all ruined.
As much as he pretended otherwise, Archie loved this place. And now . . . he couldn’t bear to see the faces of the dejected campers who stood around aimlessly. If they didn’t know it was all his fault, they would soon enough.
He was suddenly glad he couldn’t find Mitchell. Mitchell was a nice kid, the opposite of a troublemaker, and it was because of Archie that he’d gotten pulled into this. He wondered when Mitchell would figure out it was all a lie. Or maybe he had already.
Oliver snapped his fingers right in front of Archie’s eyes, startling him. “Oh good, so you’re not in a coma,” Oliver said. “I was beginning to wonder.”
“Sorry,” Archie said. “I’m just a little distracted.”
“A little?” Oliver said with a laugh. “I get it, all of this is nuts, but there’s nothing we can do right now, Arch. So why don’t we take a walk, or go play a game, or do anything else other than standing around here staring off into space?”
“I don’t feel like playing cards,” Archie said. This was a little bit of a lie. He loved playing cards, mainly because his dad had taught him about a million different games, and most important, how to win at all of them.
“Then we’ll do something else,” Oliver said with more patience than usual. “But we’re here to have fun, right? So let’s have some, at least while we can. Even if it’s not doing cons. Because I thought that having fun was the whole point, wasn’t it? To have a good time? At least, that’s the thing that mattered the most to me.”
Archie considered this, looking at Oliver curiously. He’d always thought of Oliver as a sidekick, someone who hung out with him because of the scams and the money. Even when they talked on the phone during the school year it was always about the cons they’d pulled, or would pull, or stuff Archie had found out on the Internet about new scam techniques. But maybe, just maybe, Oliver wasn’t just hanging out with him to get money out of gullible campers. Maybe he was just being a friend.
“It was fun,” he admitted. But to Oliver’s expectant look, Archie just shook his head. “Thanks,” he said, and he meant it. “But maybe later.”
“Suit yourself,” Oliver said, and walked off toward the CIT cabins on the other side of the parking lot.
As Archie stood and watched him go, Vivian appeared at his elbow. “Come on,” she hissed.
“Where?” he asked.
“The woods,” she said. “We need to talk.”
“The woods are closed off,” Archie said.
Vivian made a face at him. “Now? Really? You’re all of a sudden Mr. Rule Book?”
He had no answer to that, and so he just followed her back toward the woods, where they ducked under the caution tape but still kept a hefty distance from the old boathouse. He could hear a faint buzzing over the breeze and tried not to wince. The hurt from his bee stings was fading, but the memory was fresh enough in his mind.
Once they were safely away from the rest of the campers, Vivian said, “First, I want you to know that I won the bet.”
Well, that was unexpected.
“You did?”
“Yeah,” she said, but she didn’t look happy. Actually, she looked miserable. “I got the money last night. But I don’t care anymore. I’m giving it back.”
“Okay . . .”
“Because the cons are over. The bet is over, and now we—”
“—have to fix this,” he finished for her. It was the thought that had been forming in his head since he first looked at the broken dock this morning. He knew she was right. They’d gone too far. Both of them. “But how?”
Vivian pursed her lips. “I don’t know. You’re the idea person; you need to come up with something.”
“But how do we fix a whole camp? We can’t, like, hire a contractor. We’re kids.”
“I know,” she said. “But we have to. You know we do.”
His mind worked furiously. There had to be a way to get Miss Hiss to fix the camp herself—to put everything back to normal. There just had to.
And that’s when he had his big idea. Maybe the best idea he’d ever had. A con to top all cons. Because it wasn’t about him, it was about all the kids who had suffered enough for one summer—partly at his hands, he had to admit, but also thanks to Miss Hiss. Maybe there was a way to set everything right once and for all—and get back at the camp director, too. He remembered all those awards in her office. Camp Director of the Year. He was pretty sure Miss Hiss would do literally anything, even fix broken-down Camp Shady Crook, to be honored like that again. And Archie knew just what he needed to do.
But to put his plan into action, he needed help.
And the best person to help was standing right in front of him.
“Are you ready for one more big scam?” he asked Vivian.
“I don’t want to do scams anymore,” she said. “I thought I made that clear.”
“But this will be different,” he said, thinking about what Oliver had said. “I’m beginning to think maybe it’s time we start using our powers . . . for good.”