Six Moon Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

everyone else with her journal in her lap.
     
    One of the other counselors came by long enough to give Louise a stack of papers. She handed out the packets, which had an illustration of a river and beavers on the first page. Rylie took one. It was entitled “The River Habitat.” She rolled her eyes and dropped it off the back of the boulder.
     
    “Naturally dammed streams, like this area, provide a home for a lot of creatures,” Louise said. “This is a safe neighborhood for all kinds of things, like fish, water fowl, and frogs. If you open up your packet, you’ll see a list of animals living here. We’re going to play wildlife bingo today while creek walking.”
     
    “I’ll pass,” Rylie muttered.
     
    She didn’t feel like writing, so she took a blank page from the back of her journal and started doodling. Rylie let her mind wander. Her pen trailed from the top of the paper to the bottom, and from side to side, and it started turning into a picture—a drawing of a wolf prowling around a cabin.
     
    Rylie studied her illustration. It wasn’t very good. Unlike Cassidy, she wasn’t much of an artist.
     
    Someone screamed. She turned, sharp eyes immediately falling on Patricia, who was on all fours in the water.
     
    Louise hurried forward. “What happened?”
     
    “My ankle!” she wailed. “I think I twisted my ankle!”
     
    The counselor helped her up. “I’ll take you to the infirmary,” she said, pulling Patricia’s arm over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back. Amber, will you keep an eye on everyone until I return?”
     
    “Of course ,” Amber said, visibly preening over the new responsibility.
     
    Louise and Patricia limped toward camp, and Rylie saw her chance to get away. She tucked her journal in her pocket, counted to ten, and then set off after them.
     
    “Where are you going?” Amber demanded.
     
    “Away,” Rylie said.
     
    “Louise left me in charge, and I say you have to stay.”
     
    She snorted. “Yeah. Right. I’ll do that.”
     
    Amber yelled after her while she trotted down the trail, but her voice faded quickly. “I’ll tell Louise! You’ll be in big trouble!”
     
    “Such big trouble they might send me home,” Rylie said, knowing Amber couldn’t hear her anymore.
     
    There was no way to tell where she had gone on the night of the full moon, so Rylie retraced her tracks to the lake. It was the last place she could clearly remember. She kept an eye out for Louise and stuck to the sides of the trail so she wouldn’t accidentally cross paths with anyone.
     
    Once she reached the lake, she picked a direction and kept going. Rylie knew she wanted to escape Camp Silver Brook, so she selected the trail leading higher on Gray Mountain. It was as far from camp as possible.
     
    She walked for a long time. The shadows of the trees lengthened, and the trail started to disappear. Rylie grew thirsty and wished she had brought water. But even though it had only been a week since her flight into the forest, she wasn’t nearly as worn out by the hike as before. Maybe camp was good for her fitness after all.
     
    After what felt like ages, she began to feel déjà vu. Something was familiar, even though she couldn’t remember ever having been there before.
     
    Rylie searched the ground between the thick trees, spreading bushes and peeking between rocks. It had been moist the other night, and she saw a couple dents in the dried mud that might have been her footprints. She stepped next to one of them to compare her boot to the size of the indentation.
     
    Something shiny glinted near her foot. Her phone!
     
    She scooped it up and was pleased to find it was only a little dirty, even though it wouldn’t turn on. The battery was missing. She pocketed it, dropped to her knees, and kept searching.
     
    The battery and the back of the case were only a couple feet away. Rylie reassembled her phone, but it still wouldn’t turn on. The battery was probably dead. Since the cord