45 - Ghost Camp Read Online Free PDF

into the swirling fog, the voices faded. Everyone sang, but the
sound sank into the fog.
    The voices vanished. All of them. All except for Alex’s.
    He seemed to be the only one still singing, his voice pure and soft beside me
in the dark mist.
    And then Alex stopped singing, too.
    The fog swept on. The darkness lifted.
    Silvery moonlight washed down on us once again.
    Alex and I gazed around in surprise.
    No one else remained.
    Alex and I were all alone. All alone in front of the dying fire.

 
 
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    I blinked. And blinked again.
    I don’t know what I expected. Did I think they would all appear again?
    Alex and I gazed across the circle in stunned silence.
    They had vanished with the fog. The campers. The counselors. Uncle Marv.
    A chill ran down my back. My skin still felt damp and cold from the heavy
mist.
    “Wh-where—?” Alex choked out.
    I swallowed hard.
    A burned log crumbled into the purple embers. The soft thud startled me.
    I jumped.
    And then I started to laugh.
    Alex squinted at me, studying me. “Harry—?”
    “Don’t you see?” I told him. “It’s a joke.”
    He squinted at me harder. “Huh?”
    “It’s a camp joke,” I explained. “It’s a joke they probably always play on
new campers here.”
    Alex twisted up his whole face. He was thinking about it. But I don’t think
he believed me.
    “They all ran off into the woods,” I told him. “They hid behind the fog and
ran away. They were all in on the joke. I’ll bet they do it to every new kid.”
    “But—the fog—” Alex choked out.
    “I’ll bet the fog was a fake!” I exclaimed. “They probably have some kind of
smoke machine. To help them with the joke.”
    Alex rubbed his chin. I could still see the fear in his eyes.
    “They probably do this all the time,” I assured him. “Uncle Marv tells the
story. Then somebody turns on the smoke machine. The black smoke rolls over the
campfire circle. And everyone runs and hides.”
    Alex turned and stared into the woods. “I don’t see anyone hiding back
there,” he said softly. “I don’t see anyone watching us.”
    “I’ll bet they’re all back at the cabins,” I told him. “I’ll bet they’re
waiting for us. Waiting to see the looks on our faces.”
    “Waiting to laugh at us for falling for their dumb joke,” Alex added.
    “Let’s go!” I cried. I slapped him on the shoulder. Then I started running
across the wet grass toward the row of cabins.
    Alex ran close behind. The moon sent a silvery path across the grass in front
of us.
    Sure enough—as we came near the cabins, the campers all came running out.
They were laughing and hooting. Slapping each other high fives.
    Enjoying their joke. A joke they play on new campers when the fog rolls in,
they told us.
    I saw Lucy laughing along with a bunch of girls.
    Elvis grabbed Alex and wrestled him playfully to the ground.
    Everyone teased us and told us how scared we looked.
    “We weren’t scared even for a second,” I lied. “Alex and I figured it out
before the fog cleared.”
    That made everyone start laughing and cheering all over again.
    “Owoooooooh!”
    Some of the kids cupped their hands around their mouths and made ghost howls.
    “Owoooooooh!”
    That led to more laughing and joking.
    I didn’t mind the teasing. Not a bit.
    I felt so relieved. My heart was still pounding like crazy. And my knees felt
kind of weak.
    But I felt so happy that it was all a joke.
    Every summer camp has its jokes, I told myself. And this is a pretty good
one.
    But it didn’t fool me. Not for long, anyway.
    “Lights Out in five minutes,” Uncle Marv’s booming command stopped the fun.
“Lights Out, campers!”
    The kids all turned and scurried to their bunks.
    I stared down the row of cabins, suddenly confused. Which one was ours?
    “This way, Harry,” Alex said. He tugged me toward the third cabin down the
path. Alex has a better memory than I do for things like that.
    Elvis and two other guys were already