Dewey slipped into his and Huey's tent. And found not only Huey, but Violet and at least a half dozen of the other Woodchucks.

"What…"

"Shh!" said Huey.

"Oh yes, I am claiming running through camp in my underpants," said Doofus as he rubbed his hands together. "Back off; it's mine!"

No one argued.

"Am I interrupting something?" Dewey snatched his pillow back from one of the other kids.

"We were discussing the implementation of stage 2 Competent Leader Protocols," said Violet.

Dewey raised an eyebrow. "So what was stage 1?"

"Behaving for Launchpad."

"And stage 2?"

The faintest smile touched Violet's beak. "Only behaving for Launchpad."

"Yeah." Huey hugged his knees to his chest. "I'm not sure stage 2 is going to be enough, all by itself. I mean, LP's great, but I don't know if we can depend on him. If he can't supervise us… it was like Mr Russell said, there's nobody else. What am I going to do without my Woodchucks?!" He lunged at Dewey and dragged him towards him.

Dewey extricated his brother's fingers from his shirt. "Calm down. I don't care about your Woodchucks. But if what we're talking about is going to help Launchpad…" Dewey chewed his lip. On the bus, Launchpad had just been, off. What the heck had happened between him and Mr Russell? It had to be something to do with the kid who drowned, but Launchpad didn't want to talk to him. He was his best friend and Dewey knew if it was something important he'd want to share it with him. The fact he hadn't… yeah, really off. "So, only behaving for Launchpad…?"

"A combination of multiple children needing walking to the bathroom, Doofus running around in nothing but his underwear…"

"Or, I could ditch the underwear."

"No. … toilet paper, someone crying for their teddy bear, at least one item of Mr Russell's clothing hung off a tree, and we make every attempt to respond to his orders with…?"

"Okay, Boomer," said all the Woodchucks at once.

"Of course, the whole point is if Launchpad comes back we all immediately behave to prove he can control us," said Huey, "or NO MORE WOODCHUCKS."

"Boo," said Dewey. "Huey may actually be right: it's not enough. Launchpad needs better than that. You don't just want to behave for him. You've got to prove he's the sort of leader who would do anything to protect you. Here's what we do: we set up a scenario in which some poor helpless child needs rescuing, because although we know Launchpad sometimes needs help with things, he'd never let anyone he cares about get hurt."

"Yeah, who…" said Huey.

Dewey stood up and stabbed a finger into the canvas. "And I shall be your damsel in dew-stress!"


Launchpad flung the bus door open. "Aw man, LP. What are you doing?" He'd fallen asleep. Outside, the rain had lifted and the morning was wet and cold. "You can't tell your Woodchucks they gotta sleep out in nature when you spend the night on the nice warm bus."

He crammed his hat back on his head and jogged back down to the campsite. He slipped in the wet leaves and slid down a short section of the path, which resulted in a rather painful stop courtesy of a medium sized boulder, but at least it bought him a couple extra seconds.

Launchpad skidded into the campsite. It was quiet, too quiet. In his absence, Violet and Huey should have been awake and setting up a campfire for breakfast. But, maybe, he'd avoided the embarrassment of getting caught.

A tent flap opened and Jack emerged, rubbing blearily at his eyes.

Launchpad grabbed up a piece of firewood, then just pulled himself up short of pegging it into the firepit. He didn't need to pretend to set up the fire.

"Well, there you are," Jack grumbled. "When you said you wanted me to help I didn't realise you were going to dump the kids on me for the entire night!"

Even with the realisation he didn't need to look busy for Jack the man's words made Launchpad's heart sink. He'd messed up. He'd ditched his Woodchucks and even though an adult had been there to look after them… he'd left them alone with Jack Russell.

"Where are the kids anyway?" Launchpad lifted the flap to Huey and Dewey's tent. Empty. Great. At least they knew how to take care of themselves. Nothing would be wrong. This was just something else for Jack to put in his report.

"Hey, don't look at me," said Jack. "I was up half the night telling kids to walk themselves to the toilet. And… where is my hat?"

Launchpad spotted it, swinging high up on a tree branch above Jack's tent. "I think it fell into a tree."

Huey exploded into the camp. "Launchpad! We went to get firewood… Dewey's stuck on the bridge over the river!"

Launchpad's heart caught. "Oh no, Dewey!"

"Wait, stuck on a bridge how?" said Jack. "Shouldn't you just… go and unstick him?"

"He's… really stuck," said Huey, "Launchpad needs to come pull him out because, you know, he's strong and a good Woodchuck leader, so…"

The other Woodchucks emerged from their tents, rubbing blearily at eyes, wondering what all the ruckus was about. Launchpad gulped. This was all he needed with Jack here. And then he felt bad, because this was about Dewey, not his assessment. He hadn't been very nice to him on the bus last night. If he'd got hurt or got himself in trouble after how Launchpad had treated him, he'd feel terrible. At least being stuck on a bridge didn't sound that bad. In fact, he did wonder why Huey hadn't just pulled his brother off himself.

"Because he's a good…" Jack slapped a hand to his forehead. "Launchpad, your damn kids are setting you up."

"Just be quiet, my best friend needs me. Come on Woodchucks, to the river!"

Usually, it took a bit of coaxing to get them moving but they responded immediately. They all followed Huey, Jack trailing behind them and grumbling all the way.

The river was flowing fast after the rain last night and the roar made Launchpad's guts tighten. This far down from the swimming hole the river cut through a gully with a rope bridge strung across, the water surging and gurgling beneath. Dewey was halfway across the bridge, his leg tangled in a loose rope, his top half hanging upside down from the bridge with his hands swinging. "Oh, help. I have fallen and my foot is stuck. I cannot get up." At least he didn't sound particularly panicked.

"This is ridiculous," said Jack.

"Hang on, Dewey. I'm coming to get you." Launchpad put a hand on the wooden stake that anchored the bridge.

"Wait." Jack grabbed Launchpad's sleeve.

Launchpad yanked his arm back, but slowed.

"Send these two out after them. They're half your weight put together and their two pairs of hands will probably get that… classic example of a Woodchuck knot around that poor kid's ankle undone a lot quicker."

"That's… a good idea," said Launchpad, although the rope bridge looked sturdy and wouldn't be in any danger of snapping under his weight.

Violet and Huey both exchanged glances. "It would be better if Launchpad did it," said Huey, rubbing at the back of his head.

"Yeah, just as I thought. You cannot control these kids, Launchpad. You should've seen the antics they were getting up to last night. Pretty sure they've set this whole thing up to try and make you look good."

"But I'm really stuck… urgh, forget it!" Dewey rolled himself back onto the bridge and tugged at the knot around his ankle.

Wait, he wasn't really stuck? Oh. It finally sunk in. Launchpad turned to Violet and Huey as his chest tightened. "You two… set me up?"

"Stage 2 Competent Leader Protocols weren't enough. We went to stage 3. Dewey's idea… but yes," Violet mumbled into her chest.

Launchpad squeezed his eyes shut briefly. "Dewey, come on, get off the bridge, its dangerous out there."

"I'm fine. I just need to get this knot off… hang on…"

"And you two…" His two most senior Woodchucks looked at their feet. And though it hurt they'd pulled one over on him, Launchpad knew they'd only been trying to help. He swallowed, and lowered his voice. "You don't have to set up something like this to help me, okay? I really thought Dewey was in trouble."

"But it wasn't just for you!" Huey burst out. "It was for all the Woodchucks. If they make you quit then no one will want us and we'll have no more Woodchucks, and I… I can't live without Woodchucks!" He fell to his knees and put his face in his hands.

"I too would find it quite devastating," said Violet.

"Wait, who told you that?"

"I did, genius," Jack snorted. "Along with a few other truths while you were pouting on the bus."

Launchpad's fists bunched at his sides. He'd left his Woodchucks alone with Jack. What had he been thinking? "Like what?"

"I explained how failure badges are supposed to work. Apparently you've been flashing yours around like some kind of trophy and giving these kids the wrong idea. Just like you did as a kid. It didn't matter how hard I tried to get you to understand, I never could get the concept through your thick head."

"Don't speak to me like that. And how dare you make these kids feel like they should be ashamed of…"

"It's not about shame! It's about reality, and realistic expectations, and not setting these kids up for failure. I don't know how you fluked your way through to a leadership role Launchpad, but when the cards come down you're just going to get somebody killed! You know, like you did Calvin. At least then you were a kid; you had an excuse. Not anymore."

Launchpad's chest heaved, but this time he didn't feel like running. "You have no idea, do you? We only went down to the river that night because we had something to prove. If you'd encouraged us instead of bullying us in front of the other kids, just because we failed a couple times, we would've waited until we had a chance to try for the badge again. We were kids, it was the only way we thought we could get you to stop. But it was never what were were good at or not, it was always you. You were in charge, Jack. You had the power. And you just used it to make us fell like we were never good enough no matter what we did!"

"Wait, Calvin… he was the kid who drowned?" said Huey tentatively.

Launchpad swallowed hard. "Yeah. He jumped in trying to save me."

"Oh, Launchpad," said Dewey. "That's not your fault."

"Yeah, I know that now."

"I'm… I'm going to give you a hug." Dewey picked himself up and rushed back, but tripped as the still tied knot brought him up short. He smacked face first onto the bridge, sending it swinging wildly, then rolled right off the edge.

Launchpad's heart caught. "Dewey!"

The rope jerked taut and Dewey swung by his ankle above the roaring water below. "Oh, um, now I really do need help?"

Launchpad rushed out onto the bridge. He grabbed at the rope and started hauling it up arm over arm.

"LP, I'm really sorry," said Dewey as he was slowly raised. "We didn't think this out at all. I should've got stuck up a tree or something."

Launchpad gritted his teeth and hauled on the rope faster. "Heh. Don't worry about that, buddy. No harm done." Come on. Come on. Because despite Dewey's calm, Launchpad could see the knot he'd been picking at slowly start to unravel.

"Woah, maybe slow down? I'm getting dizzy."

Huey and Violet must have seen it too. They rushed out onto the bridge and leaned through the ropes, reaching out for Dewey as he neared.

A frown creased Dewey's beak. "Seriously guys, I'm fine…"

Launchpad yanked up another loop of rope and swiped at Dewey's ankle. The bridge bucked, and the rope slipped free. Dewey's eyes widened, arm outstretched, then his back smashed into the water beneath and he disappeared. He was gone for a split second, then he resurfaced. "It's okay… can… swim…" He choked off as a slosh of water slapped in the face and went down his throat, and then the current pulled him away.

Launchpad's hands tightened on the bridge. No. Not this time. He slid under the rope.

"Launchpad, you idiot!" Jack yelled. "You're not going to be able to…"

The rest of his words were lost as Launchpad slammed into the water below. The shock of cold bit at him. The current snatched at him. Yeah. Far stronger than it looked. There was no way he was letting Dewey brave this alone. He spluttered, and surfaced.

"Launchpad! Violet and I are going to get a rope down steam. You got to get out before the waterfall."

Of course there was a waterfall. Launchpad saw a flash of blue ahead and struck out with strong strokes, not so much moving himself through the water, but keeping his head above it as the current propelled him along.

Jack was right; there wasn't a swimming badge on Launchpad's sash. But that didn't mean he didn't know how to swim. Six months after everything had happened with Calvin, and after he'd convinced his parents he did in fact want to return to Woodchucks now Mr Russell was gone, he'd earned it. He could still remember Ms H, who was much nicer than Mr Russell, congratulating him and pressing the badge into his palm.

He'd stared at the embroidered circled as tears filled his eyes. "I… I don't deserve this."

She'd got down on her knees and put her hands on his trembling shoulders. "Sweetheart, its okay. I get it. You don't have to put it on if you don't want to. The badge isn't the important bit. You've still got the skill, and as long as you know that's there whenever you might need it you don't have to prove that to anyone else."

Launchpad choked as a wash of water slapped into his face. Keeping his head above water became harder and harder as the current picked up. He spotted his friend ahead, clinging desperately to a rock. This close to the waterfall, roaring clearly ahead of them now, the water snatched at Dewey and he whimpered as his fingers slipped across the rough surface. Launchpad let a really vicious snarl of water grab him and hurl him towards the rock. He grunted as his shoulder slammed into it and pulled Dewey into his chest just as the boy's numb fingers lost their grip.

"LP…" Dewey immediately grappled for Launchpad, his fingers digging like claws into his neck.

Launchpad spluttered as he was shoved under. He heaved himself up out of the water with one arm on the rock, and clutched Dewey to his chest with the other. He hauled them both up high enough they were no longer in danger of getting dunked and the force of the water wasn't strong enough to pull him away. "It's… it's okay… I got ya."

Dewey's breath came in spluttering gasps. "Sorry… I… trying to make you look good…"

"I know."

"It's cold."

Launchpad started to shiver as the ice water bit into his skin. "Hey, Violet and Huey are working on it. They're going to get us out. Probably use maths or something. They seem to be good at that."

"LP, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this to you… I didn't know about your friend…" Dewey sniffed, and pressed his face against Launchpad's neck.

"Right now I'm only thinking about you."

A rope, attached to a short fat log, sailed out over them and hit Launchpad in the back. He grabbed it.

"Tie it to Dewey!" Huey yelled from the bank.

Launchpad untied the rope and looped it about Dewey's waist. "You're not going to drown," he said, looking his friend right in the eye as his fingers automatically tied the knots he'd done a million times. "I won't let that happen."

"LP, look out!" Huey shouted.

A log spun down the river towards them. Launchpad jerked the knot tight about Dewey's waist, then shoved him off towards the bank. He pushed his friend clear of the log, but it collected Launchpad across the middle, swept him off the rock, and dragged him under. The quickening torrent grabbed him, and suddenly Launchpad was back in the hell of breathless tumbling terror he'd found himself in as a child.

But at least he'd got Dewey out.


A long way below the waterfall, Launchpad pulled himself up onto the bank and heaved out a stomach-full of water. Clear of the torrent he gulped deep breaths, his head resting against his forearms, too heavy to lift.

It had taken every ounce of his strength to reach the bank. His body trembled with cold and exertion. He'd been tossed at the whim of the current, slammed into anything and everything. Even as an adult, as strong as he was, it had been terrifying. He'd thought there was no way he'd be able to save himself, right up until he'd felt the pebbles of the shore beneath his feet. He hadn't drowned. But all he could think was how much scarier that ordeal would be for a child. How scary had it been for Calvin to fight to save himself in the darkness, and fail? Launchpad shuddered, and as he finally caught his breath his gulps for air became sobs.

"LP!" Huey skidded to his knees at his side. "Thank goodness, you scared us. Are you okay?"

"Dewey?" Was all he had the breath to say.

"It's okay. We got him out."

Launchpad whimpered and let his head drop back against his arms.

The pebbles crunched around him as the rest of his Woodchucks caught up with Huey. Launchpad felt small hands squeeze his arms and press against his back.

"Don't worry, buddy," said Huey. "Violet and I have everything under control. She's called for help, and… all you gotta do is catch your breath."