Summer Camp
Part 2: A Grayson Flies Again
Dick Grayson noticed that Jimmy Olsen's cot wasn't slept in. Checking his clock, he discovered it was two in the morning. It was two weeks since camp began and Dick and Jimmy seemed inseparable. The first week, Dick had written home about meeting Jimmy Olsen and Bruce had sent back a note, letting him know he was glad that he had found a friend. He also gave him some other news about the homeless project. He hinted at that there was trouble, but that it was minor. Dick had a pang of homesickness and Jimmy had tried to reassure him.
"Why so blue?" Jimmy asked.
"I guess I'm missing home a bit," Dick replied.
"Got a letter from home, I take it."
"Yeah. I feel . . . almost . . . left behind."
"Hey don't worry about it. By the second week you'll be feeling fine and then you won't miss home so much. Besides, I've got some news. We've had our first 'lost kid' of the season."
"Lost kid?" Dick's curiosity was piqued.
"Lights out, as you know, is supposed to be around 10 pm, though they're not real strict about it. There are some activities that go past that sometimes. Any way, one of the kids, the three-week campers, went missing last night. I heard some of the others whispering about it at breakfast as I passed their table. Then the kid shows up around 10 this morning."
"That is strange," Dick said.
"Come on, let's get some lunch.," Jimmy said.
"How often does this happen," Dick asked, curious.
"This happened every year since I was here," Jimmy replied. "This is my third year. I started a camp newspaper two years ago. I kept every one, especially the ones reporting the kids that went missing. I interviewed them. They wouldn't tell me much, but I could tell one thing. They were scared."
Dick was thoughtful over what happened. Something was going on, and he wanted to find out more.
After lunch, Dick and Jimmy observed that a car came and picked up the boy who had disappeared last night. The look on the parents' faces was one of deep concern. The father had a look of outrage, while the mother had put a handkerchief to her face. Apparently, she had been crying.
'Distraught at the fact that their son had gone missing?' Dick thought or something more.
Dick wished that Bruce was there to help him figure it out. He also wished he was in the batcave using the exercise equipment, even the trapeze that Batman had set up for him. It often gave him a means to think out a tough problem he was trying to solve. Seeing the trapeze equipment in the distance got him thinking. In the two weeks he had been at camp, Dick noticed very few were interested in learning the trapeze. In fact, the person responsible for the trapeze didn't even seem to be around much. He spotted the man a couple of times in the early evening, and sometimes in the morning, but other than that, the man just wasn't around. Which was good news for Dick, because he had an idea. He hadn't discussed the idea with the camp counselor, Mr. Thompson, or anyone else. He needed to think and this was the surest possible way he could clear his mind.
Without discussing it even with Jimmy Olsen, Dick headed for the trapeze arena. The sign indicated that the equipment should not be used without supervision, but Dick Grayson was no ordinary camper.
"Dick, what are you doing?" Jimmy had followed.
"Doing some thinking," Dick responded, sounding more serious than what was expected.
Dick leaped over the arena's hip-high wall easily and walked under the net that protected those working on the trapeze. He brushed his fingers along the surface, remembering how he and his parents would work without a net. If there had been a net that night, their deaths could have been prevented, but the reality of the situation was there had been no net.
"Dick, you shouldn't do this. You could get in trouble."
Dick wasn't listening. He moved to where he could climb up to the platform. He could see rigging for harnesses, but he bypassed those. He didn't need them. When he reached the platform, he released the catcher's trapeze. He still had to release the other one. His father taught him how if he ever needed to practice alone. Dick Grayson unhooked the catcher's bar. He stood on the bar and swung it as high as it would go. Then he launched himself into the structure that holding both trapezes. He crawled along its length on his hands and feet. He reached the performer's bar. And as he released it, he grabbed its length and let it fly. The feeling of the bar and the air brought him as close to heaven as he could get. As the artist moved through the air, he spied the catcher's bar and launched himself to it, spinning in the air as he did that night.
At first only Jimmy had been watching him, his mouth hanging open with awe. As Dick performed his old routine, more people started to gather. He could even hear their applause.
"He's good."
"Who is he?"
"He's not the instructor, he's just a kid."
Then Jimmy realized just whom he was watching. He saw Dick's performance in Gotham, 2-1/2 years before. He had been visiting his cousin.
'I should have known,' Jimmy thought.
"Get that kid down from there!" Shouted camp counselor Thompson "He'll break his neck. Where's Tobey Nickles? He's supposed to be here."
"It's okay, sir," Jimmy Olsen spoke up. "He knows what he's doing up there."
"How would you know?"
"Well, look at him, and I mean really look at him. Don't you recognize him?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know who he is," the trapeze artist of the camp, Tobey Nickles said as he approached. Quickly he climbed the rope up to the catcher's bar. He caught the attention of Dick Grayson and gave him a nod, then prepared himself. "Hey kid, let's really give them a show. Can you still do the quad?"
"Just watch me," Dick said, and he got the trapeze really moving and when he saw that the catcher was ready and the timing was right. Dick Grayson let go of the bar and did his quadruple spin, and the catcher was there to grab his arms. The crowd cheered. And the catcher was sending Dick back to the performer's bar. Dick landed nimbly on the platform.
"And there you have it, everyone. You have just witnessed the one and only Dick Grayson of the Flying Graysons!" Tobey Nickles announced.
Camp Counselor Thompson, though astounded at what he witnessed was incensed.
"You're in big trouble young man!" he called out as Dick climbed down. "This is a flagrant violation of the rules."
"Take it easy, Mr. Thompson." Tobey Nickles said. "I'm sure it won't happen, again. Though I probably could use an assistant."
"An assistant what for? You do your job well enough for what we pay you," the meaning was clear to Tobey.
"The kid is perfect and I wouldn't have to do double duty. He could put on the harness and I could just be the catcher," stressing the last word. "Besides, you saw what he could do. He's a professional."
"He's just a kid," argued the counselor.
"He's Dick Grayson of the Flying Graysons. He's no ordinary kid. Now you let me have an assistant or you're going to have to get another trapeze artist for your little camp friendship, get my meaning."
The counselor backed down, but muttered under his breath, "Mr. Thorton will hear about this."
Continues with Part 3: Thorton's Gambit.
