Summer Camp
Part 11: Thorton Receives a Dunking
"How did he escape? HOW!" Thorton yelled.
"I don't know. He managed to free himself from his ropes."
"We should have kept him sedated. Go after him!"
"Where?"
"Through the woods! Take the Jamison Brothers with you."
Climbing into the trees and using them as their pathway gave Batman and Robin a better advantage. They wouldn't be seen so easily. Robin was the one who spotted Thompson, the Jamison Brothers, and one other man. Batman and he swooped silently out of the trees like the bats swooping down to catch their favorite prey.
On seeing Batman and Robin, the man who's name Robin did not know exclaimed, "What . . . what are you?" A look of terror could be seen on his face.
"Your worst nightmare," Batman said in his raspy voice.
"Hey, you're just a kid," one of the Jamison Brothers stated.
"Oh, you noticed. I'm flattered," Robin quipped.
The fight was short and sweet. Thompson was more terrified and tried to escape after learning just whom it was that rained down on him. The Jamison Brothers tried to put up a fight, but Robin was the better fighter. It was obvious the Brothers let the rest of the gang do their dirty work, at least when it came to Dick Grayson. The noise from the fight drew out the rest of the Jamison Brother's gang since they were in the last cabin on Robin's side of the lake. The Jamison Brothers rushed Robin, slamming him up against a tree, but Robin used both fists to sock them in each of their jaw and they went down.
"Just as I thought, they're made of glass," Robin quipped. He had given them each a knock out punch. Robin spotted the other members of the gang rushing in to help the Jamison Brothers. "Let me take care of these four," Robin said. "They're just kids and I've got a score to settle."
"Be my guest," Batman said, having dispatched Thomson and the other man. 'I don't make war with children. That's Robin's job,' he thought, smiling.
Robin started to dispatch the other four gang members, giving back what he got as Dick Grayson when Jimmy Olsen came in and took out two of the gang members.
"That's for my friend, Dick Grayson," he said.
"Great shot, Jimmy," Robin said.
And then they took out the remaining two. Robin handed Jimmy a bat rope from his utility belt. "Tie them up while I handle the others."
"Tobey Nickles tried to stop me from calling the police," Jimmy said. He's tied up in the newspaper office."
"I heard from Dick that Tobey Nickles was a great trapeze artist," Robin said. "It's too bad he turned crooked." Robin knew a little bit more about Tobey after overhearing a conversation over the phone that Tobey had with some unknown person. Robin didn't want to repeat it, or Jimmy could discover his true identity. Robin also noticed that Jimmy had his camera. 'Looks like Jimmy is going to have one big headline tomorrow.'
Jimmy started taking photos when he asked, "Wasn't that Batman earlier? Where'd he go?"
"After Thorton," Robin said.
Within 30 minutes, Batman had Thorton and the rest of his gang wrapped up. The police stopped at the Thorton estate first to collect the thugs, then moved on to the rest of the camp. Batman came back to find Jimmy and Robin had taken care of matters there.
"You're telling me that these . . . this group was involved in a kidnapping ring?" the officer questioned.
"That's correct officer," Batman stated as he approached, carrying a thick folder. "I recovered this from Thorton's home. These documents contain all the proof you need that links Thorton to organized crime, from the kidnappings from this camp over the past five years to older crimes that could not be proven until now."
The folder contained the list of families and the amount of money extracted or whether the kid disappeared, along with copies of photos of each kid including the latest, Dick Grayson.
"I want to talk to this Dick Grayson," the officer stated.
'I'll go find him. I believe he is in his cabin cleaning up," Robin stated. "You should talk to Jimmy Olsen. He's the reporter and editor of the camp newspaper. He's been collecting information as well."
That gave Robin time to change into Dick Grayson. He also started to pick up the pieces in the cabin to give him the necessary excuse to cover the change. Dick Grayson emerged from the cabin just as Jimmy, Batman, and a police officer approached.
"Dick Grayson?"
After making a statement to the police and showing the state of the cabin, everything would soon be back to normal.
"Gosh, Batman I'm sure glad to hear that Thorton and his gang will soon be behind bars."
Batman asked, "Do you have a message for your guardian Bruce Wayne. He was very worried about you."
"Tell Bruce I'm fine and I'm staying. They're going to need a trapeze artist for the rest of the summer."
"Don't want to leave them in the lurch I take it."
"No, Sir. I kind of feel responsible. And I want to make it up to the camp counselors."
"A wise choice," Batman stated. "Where's Robin? We need to return to the batcave."
"I just saw Robin. He'd like to stay at camp to keep an eye on things," Dick Grayson said.
"I don't see why not. I'll make arrangements with the camp office," Batman agreed.
Dick Grayson and Jimmy Olsen watched as Batman left. Then Dick turned to Jimmy and said, "Looks like we've got some clean up to do."
"Yeah, you know how the counselors like us to have a clean cabin."
Dick and Jimmy entered the cabin and started to clean up the mess left behind from the fight.
"At least we have two good cots left," Dick said. "Hey, you want to get some breakfast. For some reason I'm starving."
"Sure."
And they walked back to the dinning hall. Dick telling Jimmy how he escaped from the kidnappers, and Jimmy listening with rapt attention.
End
Coming soon: Another Robin Story called — Broken Trust
Preview:
"Why did you do it, Dick? Bruce interrupted.
"Do it . . . do what?" Dick asked confused.
"I thought I taught you better than that," Bruce continued as if he had not heard the question.
"Now Mr. Wayne, let's not over react. I want to hear what Mr. Grayson has to say for himself."
'Say for myself,' Dick thought. It sounded like he was in some kind of trouble, but he didn't know what he might have done to warrant such a reaction. "Honestly Bruce, I don't know what this is about."
"Do you deny it?" Bruce questioned, becoming perilously close to sounding like his alter ego.
"Deny what?" Dick said, his voice still expressing the confusion that he knew nothing in regards to whatever they were assuming he had done.
"Cheating, Dick. Cheating."