"He’s not back yet?" Tommy asked, surprised.

"Back from where?" Derek asked.

"We can’t say," Kyle said looking at Tommy.

"Yes, you can," Frank said. "Now, where is he?"

Kyle and Tommy looked at each other and Tommy said, "He’s out on Lake Mystery."

"What’s he doing out there?" Derek asked.

"We dared Jamie to spend 24-hours alone on the island. He’s supposed to be back tomorrow morning," Kyle said.

Frank looked at Derek. "How much time do we have?"

Derek looked at his watch. "About two hours."

"Let’s go," Frank said running down to the dock.

The two of them jumped into the motorboat and Derek started the engine. One they were on their way to the island, Frank asked, "Have you ever been to the island?"

"A few years ago," Derek replied. "A kid ran away and we found him on the island when we noticed one of the canoes was missing."

"Are there any caves on the island?"

"Not that I know of," Derek said. "The island is covered with trees. Steve goes out to it several times a year to clear away dead trees so there’s no chance of fire."

"Hopefully Jamie isn’t in trouble," Frank said. "We really don’t need this."

"You’re right," Derek agreed. He carefully guided the board close to the island. Frank jumped out and took the rope. Tying it securely to a tree, he waited while Derek also got out.

Once they were on the island, Frank and Derek split up. They walked along the perimeter searching for the canoe and any sign of Jamie. Frank started to become frustrated. He wished he was able to understand why Jamie kept taking off. He knew how it felt to be dared into doing something, but he also knew it took a bigger person to turn down the dare. He thought, didn’t he learn anything the first time?

About half an hour later, Derek and Frank met up on the other side of the island. Neither of them had found the missing canoe. Together they moved further inland looking for Jamie, calling out his name loudly as they searched.

Frank and Derek began to worry more as they searched. They were about to head back to camp when Frank spotted a red T-shirt sticking out from under a bush. Frank picked the shirt up. He thought back to the day before. He remembered Jamie had been wearing a similar shirt when he left the cabin.

"Jamie is around here somewhere," Frank said looking around.

"How do you know?" Derek asked facing Frank.

"Jamie was wearing a red T-shirt when he left the cabin yesterday."

"But where could he be?" Derek asked scanning the area.

"Jamie!" Frank yelled. "Come out! We need to talk to you!"

"Leave me alone!" a voice yelled in the distance.

"Come on, Jamie! Enough of this nonsense! Come out!"

"No!"

Frank said quietly, "He’s this way. Walk quietly."

Frank and Derek moved quietly through the woods in the direction Jamie had yelled from. They chose their steps carefully making sure they didn’t step on any twigs. They finally came to a circle of bushes which were chest high. Frank and Derek looked over the bushes and saw Jamie sitting against a tree. Jamie had a piece of paper in his hand.

Frank looked at Derek and mouthed, "Stay here."

Derek nodded as Frank walked between two bushed. As soon as he was through, Jamie jumped to his feet. Jamie said, "Go away."

"I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong," Frank said.

"No," Jamie said sitting back down.

Frank moved toward Jamie. He sat down beside him under the tree. "You had us all worried when we couldn’t find you."

Jamie remained silent.

"As soon as Derek said no one had seen you since yesterday, I automatically knew the other kids dared you again." Frank glanced at Jamie. "Why did you let them talk you into coming here alone?"

"I wanted to belong to their group."

"What’s so special about their group?"

"Well," Jamie began and then stopped. After a minute he continued. "I don’t know."

"Maybe the other kids want to see how much you’ll do," Frank said. "For the time I’ve known you, you’ve accomplished a lot."

"Like what?"

"You spent a night on this island alone, even though you weren’t supposed to. You climbed to the cave and spent a night there helping to take care of me when I got injured."

"You have accomplished a lot in the short time you’ve been here," Derek said coming around the bushes. "A lot more than I have. You should be proud of yourself."

"I just don’t want to leave," Jamie said.

"Who says you have to?" Frank asked.

"My father," Jamie said throwing a crumpled piece of paper at Frank. "He doesn’t think this place is suitable for my needs."

"We can have a talk with him when he arrives," Frank said looking at his watch. "Which will be in less than an hour."

"He won’t listen," Jamie said. "He never does."

"Have you tried?" Derek asked.

"Lots of times but he’s always too busy."

"I think we can work something out," Frank said. "But we need to get back to camp."

"All right," Jamie said reluctantly.

Half an hour later they pulled up to the dock of Camp Funtime. They secured the boat to the dock and started up the hill toward the dining hall. They were about to go inside when they saw Joe coming from the administration building. When Joe was close enough, Frank asked, "Is his father here yet?"

"No," Joe said. "But the police just left."

"You called the police on me?" Jamie asked quickly.

"No," Frank said reassuringly. "The police were here on a different matter. Right, Joe?"

"Right," Joe said and they went into the dining hall.

*****

An hour later, Ned came into the dining hall. He moved quickly toward the table where Frank was sitting with Jamie and Joe. Ned said, "Jamie, your father is in the administration cabin. He wants to see you."

"All right," Jamie said getting to his feet.

As Jamie left the dining hall with Ned, Joe said, "Things have to work out for him."

"He has finally found a place he feels like he belongs and then his father comes charging in to ruin it," Frank said. "It doesn’t seem fair."

"It must be tough to be a child of someone who is constantly in the public’s eye."

Frank got to his feet. He said. "I’ll see you later. I want to see if there’s any way I can convince Governor Williams to let Jamie stay."

"Good luck," Joe shouted as Frank left the dining hall and headed for the administration cabin.

Frank opened the door and saw Ned sitting at his desk. As Frank closed the door, Ned said, "They are in Steve’s office."

"My son is not staying in this death trap you call a camp!" Governor Williams yelled.

"I guess things aren’t going well."

"You’re right," Ned said leaning back in his chair. "I don’t think Jamie will be here much longer."

"We’ll see about that," Frank said moving over to the door. He knocked sharply on the door and slowly opened it when he was invited in.

A man with graying hair, wearing a black suit was standing in front of Steve’s desk. Jamie was sitting in a chair. Once he was inside, Steve asked, "What do you need, Frank? I’m a little busy."

"I came to talk to Governor Williams."

"Who are you?" Governor Williams asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I’m Frank Hardy. One of Jamie’s counselors."

"Not for long."

"I don’t understand why you want to take him away from someplace he likes."

"That’s none of your concern."

"Does Jamie look like he’s having a bad time? He’s done a lot in the past week."

"That doesn’t matter. Jamison needs to be at a camp suited to his needs."

"But Dad..." Jamie began.

"Quiet Jamison!" Governor Williams snapped. "You know better than to interrupt me."

"Dad, you need to listen to me," Jamie said getting to his feet. "You never listen to me. You’re more concerned with work than you are with me."

"That is not true. It is out of concern for you that I am here."

"Then you need to listen to me."

"I’m listening," Governor Williams said sitting down.

"I don’t want to leave here," Jamie said. "For the first time I’ve been able to make friends without them knowing my father is the Governor. Most of the time when kids know, I get treated as an outcast and no one will let me join the activities." He looked at Frank. "But here it’s different. Frank made me see that all kids are different. When we’re here at camp, we’re individuals and our lives at home don’t have to impact out summer experience. Frank has gotten me involved in a lot of activities."

"That’s not all," Frank said. "The other day we were climbing up to a cave when we were caught in a thunderstorm. I was injured and Jamie helped another counselor bring me back to camp. He did a very good job."

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Governor Williams asked.

"I don’t know," Jamie said. "I guess I thought you wouldn’t be interested in what I did."

Governor Williams looked at Frank. "Did he really help you?"

"He sure did."

"Can I have a few moments alone with my son?"

"Sure, Governor," Steve said and followed Frank out of his office.

Once Steve closed the door, Ned said, "It awfully quiet in there."

"Hopefully they’re talking," Frank said sitting down next to the front door.

"I just hope we can convince him to let Jamie stay," Steve said. "If word gets out the Governor yanked his kid out of summer camp, no one will send their kids here and I’ll be ruined."

"Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that," Ned said.