Half an hour later the door to Steve’s office opened. Governor Williams walked out with his left arm around Jamie’s shoulder. They noticed Jamie had a small smile on his face.

"Jamie, are you staying?" Frank asked.

"Yes, I am." Jamie grinned.

"But there were a few compromises," Governor Williams said. "If I find out he’s been doing things without letting his counselors know, I want to be called and he will be on his way home."

"I also have to call him twice a week to let him know how I’m doing," Jamie said.

"I expect you to keep me well informed, Steve," Governor Williams said.

"I will," Steve said.

"Is it all right if I walk my dad to his car?" Jamie asked looking at Steve.

"Sure," Steve said. "Just don’t forget supper is in a little while."

"I won’t," Jamie said. He left the administration cabin with his father.

"What a relief," Steve said once the door was closed.

"Now we can get to planning the talent show," Ned said.

"I’ll see you later," Frank said. "It’s been a busy day."

"It sure has," Steve agreed.

"See you later, Ned," Frank said.

"See you," Ned said and Frank left the administration cabin.

Frank headed back to the cabin. He was exhausted. He couldn’t believe only a few hours earlier he was playing basketball. He went into the cabin and saw Derek sitting on his bunk.

"How’s Jamie?" Derek asked.

"He’s fine," Frank said sitting down on his own bunk. He leaned back putting his head on his pillow. "He’ll be staying for the summer."

"Good," Derek said getting to his feet. "I’ll get you for dinner."

"Fine," Frank said. As he drifted to sleep he realized working with kids was fun and he could learn things from them like they learned from him, but it sure was tiring.

*****

On Saturday evening, half the dining hall had been turned into a theater. A curtain was stretched to cover the stage. Benches from the tables were lined up so everyone would have a clear view of the stage.

Nancy, Bess and George were sitting in the second row by the wall. Nancy was still on crutches giving her ankle a rest so she wouldn’t seriously injure herself.

Nancy said, "I wish we could do our act."

"We can always do it another time," Bess said.

"I’m just glad we won the basketball game," George said. "I just couldn’t handle doing a favor for Joe. It would’ve been something embarrassing, I know it."

"The favor the guys are doing for us is a good one," Nancy said.

"Besides, they didn’t have to accept the wager we had on the game," George said.

"You’re right," Nancy said.

"Good evening," Steve said coming out from behind the curtain. Everyone in the dining hall quieted down. "Tonight we have several of your fellow campers and counselors behind this curtain ready to perform for you. Now, our first act for the evening was to be performed by three girls’ counselors. But due to an injury, they are unable to participate this evening. But, in their place, with the number they were to perform, there are three other counselors." Steve paused. "And now, I give you the musical talents of Frank, Joe and Ned."

Steve stepped to the side. The curtain slowly opened and the guys were standing on stage. They each were wearing a short skirt, high heels, a tight shirt, a wig and lots of make-up. The music of a 1950s song came over the speaker and the three of them started to lip-sync with Ned taking the lead.

Joe and Frank lost their balance several times due to the high heels. Joe’s wig continually slid off to one side of his head. The audience broke into laughter as Joe fell to the floor on his back.

Nancy leaned to George. She whispered trying to stop laughing, "I think we need to do something for them."

"I think you’re right," George laughed. "I didn’t think how embarrassed they would be."

The song finally ended and the curtain closed. The audience was on their feet clapping and laughing. Nancy, Bess and George joined in. As Steve got up to introduce the next act, the three girls slipped out the exit and made their way around back. Moving toward the back of the dining hall, they heard Joe say, "I can’t believe they were laughing at us."

"I can," Frank said. "They were laughing because of the way we were dressed."

"I think you were dressed just fine," Nancy said coming around the corner with Bess and George.

All three of them had the wigs off and a pair of shorts on. They were in the process of changing their shirts.

"You never told us this was a comedy act," Ned said.

"It isn’t," Nancy said.

"It was a nice little song and dance number," Bess said. "It’s just that you three have no coordination when it comes to dancing."

"At least we no longer owe the girls a favor," Joe said taking a towel and wiping the make-up off his face. "Just don’t let me agree to another wager with them."

"Afraid to lose?" George asked.

"I’m worried about the consequences," Joe stated.

"We should go back in," Bess said.

"You’re right," Frank said grabbing the towel from Joe.

After Frank and Joe slipped on their T-shirts and shoes, they went into the dining hall with Bess and George. Nancy sat down on the back steps as she waited for Ned to finish changing. She thought, this has been a crazy summer and it just started. But, we’ve had a good time."

"Nancy," Ned said breaking into her thoughts.

She looked up and saw Ned was wearing a pair of tan shorts and a black T-shirt. The make-up was gone from his face. She smiled as she asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah," Ned said. "But let’s not go inside yet."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Someplace quiet."

Ned led Nancy down the path toward the lake. They made a turn to the right and headed for the baseball diamond. They sat down on one of the benches. Nancy said, "You know I love a mystery, but I don’t know why we came down here."

"Because there’s no one around." Ned lifted Nancy’s chin and gave her a kiss. "I knew we’d have some quiet time together."

"You know, we promised Steve we wouldn’t do anything the kids shouldn’t see."

"There are no kids around." Ned kissed her again.

As much as Nancy was enjoying the kiss, she knew they had to be responsible. "Ned, we promised."

Ned pulled back. He looked at her. "You’re right."

"We’ll have plenty of time for that once camp is over."

"All right," Ned said. "We better get to the dining hall before Steve sends out a search party."

"I don’t want that," Nancy said getting to her feet with Ned’s help.

As they headed back to the dining hall to watch the rest of the talent show, Nancy knew the rest of the summer was going to be loads of fun. It had started out rocky, but it seemed to be running smoothly once all the trouble spots had been taken care of.

Walking inside, they saw a bunch of kids on stage performing a skit. It seemed as if they had forgotten their lines and were bumbling their way through the skit laughing.

Nancy knew this was what camp was all about. Making new friends and having a chance to experience different things.

As she watched the kids perform, she knew this was an experience she would never forget. Working with the kids made her feel good and it was definitely a learning experience. She was really going to enjoy working with the next group of kids for the rest of the summer. She knew it was going to be fun. Almost as much fun as a good mystery.

-THE END-