A Soldier's Heart

Travis Plans a Camping Trip (Beth)

Travis was still going to Scouts and learning all he could of wilderness skills. One day he decided he needed to test himself by going camping for a weekend. I couldn't bear the thought of him going without me, even though I hardly ever saw him on weekends anyway.

He told me about it Thursday night after we finished our homework. He was planning to leave as soon as he got home from school Friday and come back Sunday afternoon. I watched him pack some beans, matches, salt and apples into his backpack. He went to his room and returned with a rolled up wad of clothes, and stuffed those in too. He showed me a kit he had bought from the Scouts store, a set of lightweight nesting pots that would double as dishes. He put some fishing line and a couple of hooks and sinkers inside them, and somehow stuffed those into the backpack too. He set the backpack by the front door, beside a sleeping bag he borrowed, and said he was almost all set.

I asked him where he was going to go and he said he found a good place a couple of weeks ago when he was out in the hills, not too far from our secret place.

I was jealous that he had the freedom to tramp around the hills when I was stuck at home. I wished I was a boy, and then maybe I could have gone with him. Pa used to let Jake do more than he let me do. He could have wandered in the hills if he wanted. Maybe he did. I don't know.

I made up my mind that I wasn't going to be left behind this time.

"I want to go with you," I said.

Travis looked at me like I was crazy. Then he shook his head. "No, Beth. You know you'd get in a lot of trouble if you came."

"I don't care," I said. And I didn't. When I thought of having a whole weekend away from home, just me and Travis, a beating seemed like a small price to pay.

"No." Travis gave me that look he gives someone when he really really means what he's saying.

It was time for me to go home and get supper ready, so I got up and left. Travis probably thought he won that argument, but he didn't.

The next morning, before I left for school, I took a couple of blankets out of the closet, rolled them up as tight as I could and tied them with some string. I put them in a garbage bag. I threw a clean blouse, a sweatshirt and a couple of undies and socks into a plastic grocery bag. I thought about how I would groom myself, and added a comb, washcloth and a roll of toilet paper too. I boiled a few eggs and put those in another bag, with some peanut butter sandwiches. I set both bags just inside the front door, then went out to wait for Travis to walk to school with me.

The day passed so slow I wanted to scream. I was thinking about what it would be like, spending the whole weekend with Travis, and I wasn't paying attention in class at all. When the math teacher slammed my desk with his ruler, I was like to jump out of my seat. I never even heard him ask me a question.

I rubbed my head and said "Sorry, I have a headache. I can't think." Travis looked over at me with a frown. I couldn't look straight at him for fear he would see my secret on my face, so I covered my eyes and slumped down in my seat.

That was the last class of the day, thank heaven. Travis asked me if my headache was real bad. I pretended it was, and he put his arm around me as we walked home. I would gladly have a headache for real, to have his arm around me.

When we got to my house, I said, "See you Monday" and went inside. I peeked out the window and watched until he got down the sidewalk a bit, then picked up my bags and waited for him to come out of his house again.

When he came out, I followed him, staying back far enough he couldn't hear me and I hoped he wouldn't turn around and see me. He was wearing his Scout hat and he had a walking stick. His sleeping bag was tied to the bottom of his backpack so his hands were free. I wished I had done that. The bags I was carrying were making my hands sweat, and the big one kept bumping against my leg. I ended up throwing it over my shoulder but it was still annoying.

Our neighbourhood was just a few blocks from the open field where Travis had started teaching me how to follow a map, so I wasn't surprised when that's where he went. Of course he said it wasn't too far from our secret place. I could just have gone ahead and had time to catch my breath, if I had skipped the last class.

Travis struck out along the path, but he didn't turn off it where we would to go to the cave. He kept on, and it swung around up and down. My legs were tired and my hands were so sweaty the bag at my back started to slip. I set the bags down and wiped my hands on my skirt. When I picked them up again to move on, I couldn't see Travis. I panicked. I could see where the path carried on straight for about a mile, but Travis wasn't on it. Somehow he disappeared just in the minute or so I had my eyes off him.

I ran along the path, my heart pounding, scanning both sides of the path as I ran, looking for where Travis could have gone off it. As I passed one big rock, I caught sight of him. He was heading downhill, toward a patch of trees. I slowed down again so he wouldn't see me if he looked back.

He stopped in a little meadow beside a creek. I waited to see if he was just resting. There was no bridge, so if he wanted to cross the creek he would have to wade through it. But he didn't. He turned and walked toward the trees. I was afraid I would lose him in there. I ran as fast as I could with that stupid bag bumping against my back so he couldn't get far away. I was almost up to where he had disappeared when suddenly there he was. He was kneeling in front of what looked like a pile of branches. His backpack was on the ground beside him.

A twig snapped under my foot and he turned around.

"Beth! What are you doing here?"

"I told you, I was coming with you.I'm not going back."

He had a sad look in his eyes. "You know you're going to get in a lot of trouble."

"I don't care." And I really didn't. I felt like I was going to have a big adventure, like in the stories I read. I never had an adventure before.

But I knew how stubborn Travis could be, and I didn't want him deciding to cut his trip short and take me back home, so I changed the subject.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting my bed ready."

Looking over his shoulder I could see his sleeping bag spread out under the heap of branches. It took up almost all the space there.

"It's a lean-to shelter," he explained. "Big enough for one person."

I was hurt. He made this spot for himself, and never thought to share it with me.

"Can't we make it bigger?"

"Not before dark. There isn't time."

"Then I guess I'll sleep out here somewhere."

Travis' eyes were troubled. "No, Beth, you can sleep in here. I'll sleep outside, and tomorrow I'll make another one for me or make this one bigger."

"No!" I couldn't spoil his week-end, even if he hurt my feelings. "It's yours. I have blankets. I'll be OK."

I set my bags down, glad to be rid of them.

"Well, since you're here, help me gather some firewood. Let's get as much as we can before it gets too dark to see."

We gathered quite a few loads from the woods around us, and made a pile not far from the lean-to.