At lunch, once they'd all stuffed themselves to the gills, Gary Hines stood up and made his announcements. They were short and fairly simple – he didn't even need to look at his schedule.
"As you all know, today is the last full day of camp…"
There were disappointed noises; groans and other sorrowful sounds, and Gary gave them a moment to voice their disapproval with this before continuing.
"So for the rest of the afternoon, between now and dinner, you all have free time to do whatever you want. The gym will be open for those of you who want to play basketball or volleyball, the waterfront will be open, as will the lagoon for sailing and canoeing. If you want to ride, that'll be available as well – as long as you get there before the group leaves – and the arts and crafts table will be right here in the cafeteria in about half an hour."
Again he gave them a chance to chatter, since the kids in the room were already starting to discuss what they wanted to do, but a moment later they quieted down, knowing he had more to say.
"Normally, the last night of camp, we have some kind of big event to send you off with a bang – and this year is no exception. But I'm not going to tell you what it is, just yet."
There were more groans, this time of impatience and agony – the kids hated not knowing a secret! Gary only smiled.
"When you're done eating, you're dismissed to your afternoon free time. When the bell rings, next, it'll be half an hour before dinner."
He left his spot and returned to the staff table, and the kids all started talking excitedly again.
"What are we doing tonight?" Grant asked Ian, knowing that he was the one who always seemed to know what was on the schedule without looking.
Ian shrugged.
"No clue."
The boys groaned again, and Jack smiled.
"What are you guys going to do for free time?"
"I'm going riding!" Wilson said, quickly.
"Me, too," Chad agreed, not surprising anyone. Those two might just be stepbrothers, but they did everything together.
"I want to go sailing," Grant said.
"I'll go with you," Brian said.
"Me, too," Bruce told them.
"Want to come swimming, River?" Chance asked, hopefully.
River grinned.
"Of course!"
"Sure you wouldn't rather go riding?" Ian asked him, innocently.
"Well… it's a tough call, but yeah, I'll go swimming."
"Can I come?" Sammy asked, hesitantly.
River's smile broadened.
"Yup!"
Sammy smiled, because he didn't really want to go in the water without someone there with him. He looked over at Ian.
"Are you coming?"
Ian shook his head.
"I think I'm going to go fishing."
"Fishing?" Jack echoed.
Ian shrugged.
"Why not?"
He'd actually decided he was done doing active stuff for the day. He'd filled up on a lot of food at lunch and was ready to just take some time to himself. Maybe take a nap. The little dock at the far end of the lagoon would be perfect for fishing – especially if he didn't use a hook so he didn't have to worry about catching anything.
Jack shrugged, too.
"Maybe I'll see if Sam wants to come, and I'll join you."
Shawn smiled, and looked over at Jack.
"If she'd rather do something else, I can baby sit Jake for you guys."
"You sure?"
Shawn nodded.
"It's not like I can swim or ride, and I don't want to do arts and crafts. I'll go fishing with Ian and soak up some sun. Between the two of us, we should be able to keep Jake out of trouble."
He looked over at Ian to see if he was willing to have company – it was always possible that Ian had decided to do something no one else was doing so he wouldn't have to have any company, after all – but the New Yorker nodded. Shawn wasn't bad company, after all.
Jack smiled.
"I'll see if Sam wants to go riding, then."
She liked riding, and Jack loved it, but neither had thought they'd have the opportunity to go because they didn't want to pawn Jake off on someone else – and there were very few people Sam would be willing to leave him with, at any rate. He'd even see if Janet wanted to go, too. It'd be fun to see if Leadfoot could ride.
"Great."
Jack excused himself from the table and walked over to the staff table, and the boys looked at their counselors, expectantly.
"Can we be dismissed?" Chance finally asked for all of them.
"Are you done eating?" River asked.
They all nodded – although Brian reached for another brownie really quick and shoved it in his mouth.
"Then you'd better get going."
The boys scrambled away from the table immediately, and Shawn grinned.
"You'd think the last one sitting here had to do the dishes or something."
Ian snorted, and stood up.
"Get to it, then, Adams. I'll see you on the dock whenever you're ready."