Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

“ O kay,” Paige said out loud in the privacy of the staff-only bathroom. “I can do this.”

Staring into the mirror, she did her best to rearrange her expression into a bright, professional smile. The smile of a counselor whose only concern was the happiness of her campers.

A counselor who had not kissed her hot co-counselor, and absolutely wasn’t still thinking about it, and definitely didn’t want to do it again.

The result was not convincing.

Letting out a groan, Paige slumped over the sink. She scooped up another handful of cold water, splashing it across her face.

Despite her best attempt to act as though nothing had changed, she was pretty sure Archie suspected something was up. He’d been notably subdued—at least for him—and she’d caught him staring at her more than once when he thought she wasn’t looking. If she didn’t get a grip on herself, it could only be a matter of time before he figured out she’d fallen for Conleth.

And she had fallen for him. She might conceal that from Archie, but she couldn’t lie to herself any longer. Not after last night.

But she had to think about her family, not just herself. She couldn’t risk anything that might make life harder for her mom. Archie may or may not have ADHD, but he definitely still had a deep grudge against Conleth. Maybe he really did need medication, but in the meantime, getting together with his worst enemy certainly wouldn’t help him stay in control of his bear.

Conleth had said he could wait. And logically, it made sense to continue as if nothing had changed. Yet some small, selfish part of her couldn’t help imagining what might happen if Archie did find out. If there was no longer any reason to conceal her true feelings…

She sighed, turning away from her reflection. Unfortunately, camp life didn’t stop just because you were having a personal crisis. Glancing at her watch, she found that break was nearly finished. Time to round up her campers for the next activity.

Campers were free to do what they liked outside of the timetabled sessions, as long as they stayed within the bounds of the main camp and didn’t stray into the woods. Paige found Beth and Estelle huddled together at one of the picnic tables outside the dining hall, talking in low voices. They broke off as she approached, in a way that clearly indicated they hadn’t wanted her to overhear their conversation.

Paige had a sinking feeling that she knew what they’d been discussing. If Archie had picked up on her strained awkwardness around Conleth, the other campers must have noticed as well. From there, it was only a short leap of logic to figure out that something had happened between her and her co-counselor.

“Hi, Paige.” Estelle’s smirk only confirmed her suspicions. “We were just talking about you.”

Beth kicked the other girl under the table. “Is it time for the next activity, ma’am?”

“Nearly.” Paige looked around, failing to spot any of the other campers. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Nancy’s practicing her climbing with Uncle Conleth, ma’am.” In contrast to Estelle’s badly concealed glee, Beth looked even more worried than usual. There were faint shadows under her green eyes, like she hadn’t gotten much sleep. “Finley and Rufus went off to try to help Ig with his shifting. I don’t know about Archie.”

“Conleth said he’d collect the boys at the end of break, but we should find Hetta. Do you know where she is?”

“Nope.” Estelle flashed Beth a sidelong glance. “But I’m sure Beth does. Right, Beth?”

“Oh.” Beth worried at the end of her red braid, twisting it. “I—I’m not sure. She might be in the cabin, ma’am.”

“Yeah, she said she was feeling tired.” Estelle bounced to her feet. “Maybe you should check on her, Paige. We’ll meet up with you at the craft hut. Come on, Beth, let’s go find the boys.”

“But,” Beth started, but Estelle grabbed her wrist. Flinging Paige a last anxious, strangely apologetic glance over her shoulder, she let her friend haul her away.

Yep. They definitely knew.

Paige grimaced. That was all she needed. Well, she’d just have to act normal, and hope the rumors died down. Scrubbing a hand across her mouth to try to banish the phantom memory of the kiss, she headed for the cabins.

This close to the bell for the next session, the other counselors had already rounded up their campers and departed. There was no sign of anyone around as she pushed open the cabin door.

“Are you in here, Hetta?” she called. “Break’s nearly over. You need to come rejoin the group now.”

Silence.

“Hetta?” Paige went inside, heading past the counselors’ small individual rooms to the large dorm shared by all the girls. “Come on, time to wake up. You don’t want to be late for Honey’s pottery class.”

Her words fell flat in the still, silent air. Hetta’s bunk lay empty, as neatly made as it had been this morning, at the daily cabin inspection. There wasn’t the slightest sign that Hetta had been there.

Yet Beth could sense people, thanks to her pegasus. And she wasn’t the sort of kid to tell a lie…

Paige looked around the empty dorm room, her eyebrows knotting. Hetta still made excuses to duck out of a lot of camp activities, but straight-up hiding wasn’t like her. And besides, pottery was one of the activities she actually enjoyed. Why would she try to avoid it?

“Hetta?” she called uncertainly.

She wasn’t expecting a response, yet she got one. Not a voice, but the faintest scuffling sound. It didn’t seem to be coming from outside the cabin, but rather from one of the counselors’ rooms.

In fact, it was coming from her own room.

None of the counselors’ rooms had locks. The threat of instant expulsion was enough to keep even the most curious of campers from snooping around. Paige couldn’t imagine meek, nervous Hetta daring to break a camp rule.

Now even more perplexed, Paige opened her door, peering inside. “Hetta?”

No Hetta. Everything was just as she’d left it this morning—bed rumpled, closet door ajar, dirty laundry piled in the corner (campers had daily cabin inspections, but counselors didn’t). Her phone was still charging on the nightstand. Nothing seemed out of place.

Scratch. Skritch.

The noise came from under her bed. It didn’t sound like Hetta. Or even human. More like…claws?

Paige got to her hands and knees. Lifting up the edge of the sheet, she peered under her bed.

Eyes glittered back at her. Black, bright, beady eyes…with a thick stripe of white between them.

With a yelp, Paige jerked back. The skunk recoiled too, stamping its front feet in warning. Its striped tail rose ominously.

Paige held very still, not daring to even drop the sheet. She and the skunk stared at each other in mutual consternation, neither of them moving.

After a few frozen moments, the skunk lowered its tail, the bristling fur smoothing back down. Claws scrabbling on the wooden floor, it retreated further away from her, hunching up in the corner.

Archie’s earnest words drifted up from her memory:

Just assume any animal you see is probably a kid.

“Hetta?” she whispered.

The skunk curled up tighter, as though trying to hide.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Paige crouched down further, keeping her voice soft and soothing. “Is this why you pretended you couldn’t shift? Were you scared the other kids might make fun of you?”

The skunk trembled, not meeting her eyes.

“It’s all right, honey. I’m sure the other kids would understand, but I promise I won’t tell anyone else, if that’s what you want. Not even Conleth.” Very slowly, making sure the skunk could see what she was doing, she reached under the bed. “I understand why you might not have wanted anyone to know, but you don’t have to be embarrassed. Your animal form is beautiful. I’ve never had the chance to see a real live skunk in person before. I didn’t realize they were so fluffy.”

The skunk had been slowly relaxing throughout this speech, its bristling fur smoothing down. It peered cautiously at her with one beady eye, then sniffed at her outstretched hand.

“That’s it.” Paige stifled a laugh as the skunk’s whiskers tickled her fingers. “Your stripes are so pretty. I’d love to take a closer look. Please come out?”

The skunk squeaked uncertainly, but let her coax it out from under the bed. Since it still looked a bit nervous, Paige picked it up, sitting cross-legged on the floor so she could cradle it in her arms.

“There you go.” Paige gently stroked the skunk’s back, feeling the small body relax. “It must have been hard, keeping your animal side locked up for so long. You don’t have to shift back yet, if you don’t want to. We can stay here as long as you like.”

“Paige?” Conleth called from outside, making her jump. Rapid footsteps headed her way. “Is everything all right? The girls said you might need— what is that? ”

“Shhh!” The skunk had stiffened in her arms, tail starting to puff out again. She kept her voice low, stroking its fur back down again. “You’ll scare her.”

Conleth had frozen in the doorway. When he spoke, his voice was just as carefully level as her own. “Put the skunk down and back away. Slowly.”

“I can handle this,” she insisted. “You go back to the rest of the pack. Tell them Hetta’s not feeling well, and I need to take care of her. And get a message to the other counselors, too. They’ll need to keep the other girls away from the cabin until Hetta’s shifted back.”

“Paige,” Conleth said, very calmly. “That’s not Hetta.”

Paige froze mid-stroke.

“Uh,” she said, after a second. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes. I am.” Conleth’s mouth barely moved. “Because Hetta is hiding in your closet.”

With a guilty crash, Hetta came tumbling out. “I’m sorry!”

The skunk’s tail flew up.

And Conleth—disappeared.

A sudden gust of wind whipped Paige’s hair around her face. She blinked at her abruptly empty arms, then at Hetta, who was looking equally startled.

“Where did it—” the girl started.

A distant scream floated through the open door.

“…Go,” Hetta finished.