Chapter Ten - The Other Keeo

Charlie still looked dejected, worried and defeated all rolled into one. I looked around and tried to get my own bearings. Surely my Webelos scout training could help us find a path? I could hear the babbling of the creek splashing its way through the wood a little distance away. That’s when it hit me. “Which way is the creek flowing?” I asked abruptly, peaking over Charlie’s shoulder.

“East.” the boy answered at once “Why?”

I furrowed my brow, considering. “Well it might be flowing into Larme Lake.” I proposed, pointing to a large tear drop shaped body of water depicted north of the camp. “There.”

“Oh!” Charlie agreed, suddenly sounding much less upset “It does! I remember ‘cause last year we built dams. Like real Beavers.”

“Cool.” I enthused, flashing a broad grin. Building dams really did sound like a lot of fun. I hoped that Taylor would have us play the same game this year.

His spirits raised, if only slightly, the boy folded away the map. “I know where we are.” he announced, marching off perpendicular to the flow of the river. “This way.”

I had no way to know if Charlie knew what he was doing, but I thought better of undermining him, marching obediently behind. Sure enough, it was not five minutes before we emerged from the undergrowth, finding ourselves once again on the familiar forest path. We looked a little disheveled, our shorts sprinkled with mud and tear stains still evident on both of our cheeks, but we were otherwise unharmed; marching bravely back along the trail with our stash of squirrel treasure.

A few hundred yards from camp, we heard voices around a corner, Zach’s gruff tone instantly recognizable. He and Alex were scrounging around on the edge of the trail sorting through twigs. They were deep in conversation, exchanging trivia about the requirements for certain skill badges. Alex’s face lit up as soon as she saw us, jumping up to her feet.

“Hey!” she yipped happily “Did you find everything yet?”

“Uh-huh.” Charlie confirmed, an exhausted crack in his voice betraying his fragile mood.

“Charlie, Cooper.” Zach nodded professionally in greeting, though his usual calm demeanor gave way to an anxious frown of concern as he saw the look on Charlie’s face. “Are you guys alright?” Charlie went as red as an autumn apple, tugging down the brim of his hat to hide his still puffy eyes. He nodded urgently, clearly not wanting to dwell on the matter, but Zach soon turned his quizzical expression on me. “Cooper?”

“We got lost.” I confessed. “But it was alright. Charlie knew the way back.”

“Right.” Zach said but he wasn’t really listening, he was looking at Alex and Charlie. Alex had taken Charlie’s wrists and moved them aside so she could look directly in his puffy eyes and tear stained face. Charlie gave her a little nod and Alex brought him into a silent hug. “Cooper, come with me.” Zach told me and placed an arm around my shoulder.

Zach had me walk a few paces ahead of Alex and Charlie. The two were whispering to each other but I was too far away to hear anything. “Cooper, what book is that in your pocket?” Zach asked curiously, trying to change the subject.

“Just a book for my summer homework.” I told him truthfully, taking it out and handing it to him. Once pristine and new, a couple of weeks of lugging it around had left the book rough-edged, puffed up from getting wet, and dog-eared on almost every other page.

“Summer homework?” Zach asked incredulously and took a look at the book title. “The Giver.” He said, surprised.

“Yeah, since I moved.” I gulped. I probably shouldn’t have said anything; the book was far too advanced for a beaver scout. “It’s like the most boring book ever though.” I blurted out.

“I won't read it until next year.” Zach informed me and handed it back, but looked at me with curiosity. “What grade are you going-” Zach tried to say but was interrupted by Alex.

“Look, we’re already back!” Alex said, pointing to the familiar figure of Taylor standing just in front of the cabin dorm.

The four of us bounded our way over to him, Alex and Charlie hand in hand and Zach still with his arm around my shoulder. “There you are! Back already. I hope you had fun on the trail.” Taylor beamed at us, but his face soon fell when he saw how Charlie and I had been crying

“Charlie and Cooper got a little lost.” Zach explained with an authoritative bark, simply summing up the whole traumatic incident. “Can I make them some cocoa?”

“That’s a great idea Zach.” Taylor agreed, giving Charlie and I a sympathetic little smile.. “You three go join the others inside. The beavers will be using your collected materials for a craft project tomorrow.”

Zach tapped me instructively on the back and I followed Alex and Charlie inside. They were still holding hands. Zach himself lingered behind. Perhaps he wanted to talk to Taylor about something. The other Beavers were gathering in the hall. Not all of them had come back from the trip though. The other white tail, Liam, was missing - along with Laurie. The Cub Scouts seemed to be engaged ferrying camping supplies out of the cabin and kept coming in and out.

“Alex and Charlie sitting in a tree.” A blue tail boy, Aiden, sang.

“K. I. S. S. I. N. G” The Bobcat’s second blue tail finished. He was Gabriel. The three Bobcats all started giggling and pointing at the pair. I grumbled in consternation, remembering how the same boys had teased me on my first day at Beavers.

Charlie and Alex flushed red and just looked at each other, scooching closer together.

“Knock it off.” Zach demanded in his authoritative voice. “Or I’ll tell Taylor.”

The three of them let out a few more muted giggles, but didn’t continue the teasing - cowed by the Keeo’s authority.

Satisfied, Zach went to the kitchen side of the cafeteria and filled a pot with milk. My eyes widened when I saw what he was holding. “They are real.” I exclaimed.

“What’s real Cooper?” Alex asked.

“The milk.” I said, a little too excited. “It’s in a bag!”

Alex stifled a snort at my excitement. “Well, Yeah.” Alex said. “That’s how it comes.”

I stretched out of my seat, but Zach put the milk away before I got a real good look at it. “I thought it was just a joke.” I told them. Alex and Charlie both chortled, their spirits raised.

Our idle chatter soon died out. Alex and Charlie spent the next few minutes organizing and trading certain items that we had collected on the trail, and I took a cursory glance at my book again - though I quickly grew bored and put it away after just two paragraphs. Zach eventually came to the table with four blue and white speckled mugs of cocoa. They even had marshmallows floating in them! He joined the table, sitting beside me.

"They’re still picking on you two?" Zach asked, nodding to the Bobcats still whispering and pointing a little distance away.

"Sometimes." Charlie spoke softly. "When Liam isn't around."

"Why’ve they gotta be so mean?" I muttered bitterly, far too familiar with bullies of my own. I didn’t really expect an answer, but I got one anyway.

Alex, Charlie and Zach all exchanged a knowing look, but Alex ended up nodding to Zach - nominating him to tell the story. “Well last year I wasn’t Keeo.” Zach started. “It was Nate.”

“The cub pack leader?” I said, uncertain. I still hadn’t quite got my head around all the names from the morning’s introductions.

“Yeah, he’s the sixer now.” Zach confirmed. “Usually he would be the Keeo until he went to scouts...” Zach continued, trying to find the right words. “But I replaced him.”

“But what does that have to do with the Bobcats?” I asked Zach.

Alex sucked in a breath. “Well Nate was a jerk.” She explained, rather unhelpfully. “Last year there was only one lodge, not two.” She added.

“Uh huh.” I tried to follow along. “So everyone was a Bobcat?”

“The lodge was called Moose Tracks actually.” Charlie corrected. “Nate liked to make fun of Alex a lot, and she was just a brown tail then.”

“So he was a ten year old making fun of a five year old?” I asked. This Nate kid sounded like bad news. How petty did you have to be to pick on someone half your age?

“Yeah.” Charlie confirmed. “He was saying all this mean stuff and pushing her around. Just ‘cause she’s a girl and stuff.” I tried to stop him, but then he got all the others to pick on me and Alex.”

“Didn’t Taylor do something?” I asked. “How could Nate just turn everyone against you?”

“His Aunt is like a big deal, She’s the Cub Scout Akela and didn’t want to remove Nate from being Keeo.” Zach explained. “It was Taylor’s idea to switch out with me when Laurie joined Beavers.”

“That’s it?” I said, shocked. “He didn’t get punished or anything?”

“Liam and Val got extra work and their parents were told, but nothing happened to Nate.” Zach told me. “After Val swam up to cubs and Laurie joined Beavers, Alex and Charlie made the Kindies, while Liam made the Bobcats.”

“Whose Val?”

“Valentine - he’s the only Runner Cub. He was in the Beavers last year. Liam got paired up with him today, I think.” Alex told me.

The whole situation didn’t sit right with me. If Nate was such a bully why was he made Keeo in the first place? Why on earth had they made him pack leader?

“Aren’t you friends with Nate?” I asked Zach almost like an accusation. I’d seen them chatting that morning - seemingly chumming up.

“Well yeah, he’s the Sixer.” Zach defended himself. “You’ve gotta be friends with the sixer.”

I glared daggers at him, shaking my head in solemn disapproval.

“You’re too little to understand. He’s really not that bad.” Zach scoffed. He took a sip of his cocoa, wincing at the temperature.

At that moment, the door to the lodge opened. “Give it back!” Laurie wailed from outside.

Nate’s tall stocky frame sauntered leisurely into the cafeteria, his face contorted into a sadistic smirk of superiority. Close behind, Laurie was snapping at his heels, tugging needily at the hem of his cub scout polo. Liam and a smaller cub scout - who I supposed must have been Valentine - watched from the doorframe, their lips curled with tentative amusement.

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” Nate bluffed, pulling up a seat and leaning back casually with his feet up on the table and the back of his head resting against his hands.

“Fuzzie.” Laurie insisted with a sniffle, his quivering bewildered soprano filled with despair.

“Fuzzie?” Nate teased, stroking his chin in faux confusion. “What’s a Fuzzie?”

“My wolf toy!” the boy explained, clearly clinging to some vague hope that this was all just some innocent misunderstanding - and not the heartless prank Nate was so obviously pulling. “I already let you look, so give him back already!”

“Ohhh.” the cub leader exclaimed, leaving a long pregnant pause and biting his lip in delight as he appraised Laurie’s desperate anxious frown and blinking green eyes just on the edge of tears. “That thing.” he finally confirmed “I already gave it back, didn’t I? Sorry buddy, you must have lost it.”

The little boy fell silent, barely comprehending the degree of callous cruelty on display from the would-be role-model. He gave a final shuddering sigh before fat hot tears began to roll down his ruddy cheeks. “But I…” he mewled, but soon descended into incoherent sniveling hiccups again “You didn’t…”

Zach had been scowling ever since Nate entered the room, practically fuming as he stared at the Sixer putting on his pernicious performance, but as he saw his little brother starting to cry he couldn’t hold back any longer. “Give it back, Nate.” he demanded, rising furiously to his feet.

Nate affected a bemused frown, shrugging uncaringly. “I already said I don’t have it.”

“Give it back!” Zach snarled like a rabid wolf “Or else.”

The older boy chuckled. “Or else!” he imitated, putting on an exaggerated girly soprano.

Enraged, Zach seized Nate by the red scarf. Seemingly possessed with all the strength of a threatened mama bear protecting her cubs, he actually managed to yank the bigger boy to his feet - teeth clenched and growling animalistically as he got up on his tippy toes to meet his opponent eye to eye. “I’ll knock your teeth out.”

Nate didn’t back down, instead bringing up his own club-sized fist and applying a vice-like grip to the fabric of Zach’s polo shirt “Little wolf cub thinks he’s in charge.” he joked, letting out another arrogant laugh. “If you wanna go, let’s go.”

The Beavers and the Cubs all watched in rapt silence, none of us daring to get between the two. Were Zach and Nate really going to fight right in the middle of the cafeteria? Laurie’s cheeks were still a little damp, but he had stopped sobbing, shocked into silence and his mouth wide open in wonder as he stared up admiringly at his dashing protector.

Before anyone could make another move however, the door swung open - Taylor striding forward with the Cub scout leader not far behind. “What’s going on in here?” he demanded, his booming baritone filling the room.

Nate’s demeanor turned on a dime. He released Zach and pushed himself swiftly backwards, dusting himself off and presenting an innocent unbothered smile. “Nothing. We were just talking.”

Despite the facade, Taylor looked unconvinced. He cocked his head, taking note of the littlest beaver standing bewildered in the middle of the room with a red face and teary eyes. “Laurie? Are you okay?”

The boy blinked, taking a little while to compose himself before he managed to shake his head. “No…” he began. “I showed him Fuzzie…but he won’t give him back!”

Taylor rolled his eyes, letting out a tired sigh. “Give Laurie his toy back, Nate.” he commanded.

“I don’t have it!” Nate insisted, all innocent. “Seriously, you can check my bag and stuff.”

“You took it!” Laurie accused once more, a few shudders of his shoulders threatening a fresh wave of tears. “I gave it to you! Before, when we were playing the squirrel game!”

Nate nodded his agreement “Yeah, he showed me outside - but I gave it right back. Poor little dude must have just dropped it. He’s a brown tail, they lose stuff all the time.”

Taylor shook his head, clearly still skeptical. He turned to the cub scout leader, but she simply held out her hands in uncertainty “Maybe he lost it.” she proposed.

"I don't get what the big deal is." Nate shrugged, his aunt’s support seeming to give him the confidence to let the mask slip just a little more. He gave a gloating half-smile. "It's just some stupid baby toy. Who still brings a stuffed toy to camp?"

"Hey!" Ari, the Bobcat brown tail, shouted out from across the room - unclipping a toy bobcat from his belt and holding it high in the air like a trophy "I've got a stuffed animal, and I'm not a baby!"

A murmur of discontent went up amongst the bobcats. All of them had been given similar toys when they'd gotten their last personal achievement badge, and both of the blue tails had them clipped to their belts too. Even Liam, who always kept his own bobcat toy inside his bag, looked a little taken aback - his nostrils flaring up in outrage.

Nate tutted as he misjudged the Beaver’s attachment to stuffed toys. “Val, come on.” He told the Runner Cub. “We should take the rest of the bags out.” He picked up a couple large bags as if to prove his strength, leaving only a little sack for Val to carry behind him.

Zach bared his teeth viciously at Nate as he passed. Once again, the sixer had got off scott free for his pernicious torment of a brown tail. This time however, it was Zach’s own little brother. He knelt down in front of him and wiped the snot off his face . “Laurie, come with me.” He instructed, taking his hand and bringing him over to our table. Laurie was rubbing his eyes, with fresh tears starting to form.

In the corner, Taylor and the Cub Leader were muttering furiously to each other, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I frowned. This whole situation just seemed… off.. “Laurie, don’t cry.” I tried to tell the little boy sat by my side, but my awkward reassurance seemed to have the opposite effect - the brown breaking instantly into inconsolable sobbing tears.

Zach inched his single sipped hot cocoa towards Laurie. “Why don’t you drink this? It just finished cooling down.” He told his brother sweetly. “I’m going to talk to Taylor.” He announced and got up. As he approached, the conspiring grown-ups finished up their muttering - turning to present a united front for the hot-headed Keeo.

I watched as Laurie hesitantly picked up the camping mug before placing it back on the table without taking a sip. “Laurie.” I asked hesitantly. “Are you going to be okay?”.

Laurie looked at me, his emerald eyes shimmering with tears. “No.” He sobbed. “He took Fuzzie.” He buried his face into my chest.

There was a strange look of concern and guilt on Alex and Charlie’s faces, something unsaid between them. Meanwhile the Bobcats, now joined by Liam, were all speaking in hushed whispers and occasionally looking at us. I looked away. Whatever they were talking about, it probably wasn’t good.

I put my arm around Laurie and shifted closer to him. With my other hand I unclipped Wubbie from my belt. Employing a bit of puppetry, Wubbie crossed my lap onto Laurie’s then leaped up onto his shoulder, Laurie’s sour face cracked into the tiniest of grins. I made Wubbie give Laurie a kiss on his cheek. “Mua!” I imitated it. Laurie almost snickered. “Would you like to hang onto Wubbie for a bit?” I offered. “I think he misses you.”

Laurie held the white wolf in his hands and nodded, blinking his tears away. “Yeah, okay.” He quickly agreed. He finally took a sip of Zach’s cocoa, showing off some of his own puppetry skills with the toy as he made Wubbie trot over to me and shower me with his own kisses.

Our play was interrupted as Zach gave a loud shout of anger, marching away from his conference with the adults with a scowl on his face. He and I met eyes for a moment as he observed Laurie playing with the white wolf and sipping his cocoa, and for a moment his face softened, but his hands were clenched into tight fists. He angrily snatched a bag and left the cafeteria, muttering something under his breath. There must have been some cub task or another because soon the cub leader followed behind him, leaving just the Beavers in the cafeteria. Taylor was speaking to someone on his cell phone in the corner, a worried look on his face.

Trying to forget the whole affair, Laurie and I kept playing our game - Alex and Charlie joining in with their own white wolf mimicry. Soon, Laurie’s mood was back to its usual sunny disposition, and we had all drunk our chocolatey treats.

I was just glancing outside, wondering if we should perhaps find something to do in the woods, when Liam and the Bobcats approached us. “We have a plan.” He announced slamming his hands on our table.

“A plan?” Charlie asked skeptically. “A plan for what?”

“To get Fuzzie back.” Liam told him, crossing his arms. “Let’s team up.”