Chapter 4: Sunday, Wild Weather

Ziva rolled on the queen-sized bed and immediately opened her eyes when she felt a void where Tony should have been. In the semi-darkness of the early morning, she could see that he was not in their room. She listened trying to determine if he was in the bathroom, but no sounds came from the still-open door of the adjoining bathroom.

As she put her feet on the floor, she glanced at her phone; 0536. They'd slept well so far at camp, tired from full days of activity. She wondered if he had not slept well overnight as she walked softly to the main room of the cabin. In the grayish pale light of the breaking day's brightening skies, she could see a lone figure on the cabin porch. She opened the main door and stepped out onto the east-facing porch.

"Morning," Tony heard her open the door and greeted his better half. "Mind wouldn't shut off after I got up to use the bathroom about 0430. Came out here to watch the sunrise." He gestured towards the pinks, oranges, and reds in the eastern sky. "What is it they say about pink sky in morning?"

Ziva sat down next to her husband on the two-person bench, "It means there is probably rain coming in. The sky is beautiful though." She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "A shekel for your thoughts?"

He smirked at her, "Not worth that much… not even a penny." He pulled his wife to his side as he spoke. "I got to thinking about all of the families we've seen while we have been here. The ones that don't interact; the ones that have strange dynamics, like the one under the black bear sign…" He sighed and continued, "Our family of the heart…"

"We have made a true family," Ziva replied. "We may not be related by blood, but we are closer than most genetic families."

"Uh-huh. Look at the colors where the sun is about to come over the horizon!" he pointed to the vivid blend of orange, pink, red, bright yellow, purple, and a touch of grayish-blue. "All of those colors are different wave lengths of light, yet they join together to make a stunning image for us to enjoy. Sorta like our blended group all making one big family that has each other's six no matter what."

Ziva leaned against her husband, "You are a deep thinker today, neshama." The couple enjoyed the rest of the colors as they slowly faded as the sun showed itself over the horizon. As the bright light grew stronger, they could hear their own family starting the new day.

"Ima, when is breakfast?" Anthony rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stepped onto the porch. "I can eat a whole tray of bacon and pancakes!"

Tony stretched as he stood and then put a hand on his son's shoulder, "I don't doubt it, kiddo, but do try to save some for the rest of us…"

Forty-five minutes later, the pre-teen had two plates piled high with waffles, bacon, various fruits, and scrambled eggs from his third trip to the food bar. John and LJ were right behind him with plates piled just as high.

Ziva returned with fresh cups of tea for herself and Delilah; she'd gotten the younger woman hooked on Earl Grey breakfast blend tea. She noticed Tim and Tony returning as well, with a stack of pancakes each covered in syrup with fruit on top of the stack.

"Remember, neshama, that you only grow out not up at your age," she patted his belly with a smirk. "The boys are still growing upward…"

He gave her a sheepish look, "Hey, I need energy for all of the activities we have today. Especially the family and group challenges this afternoon!"

"Speaking of," Jimmy overheard Tony, "I signed us all up for all of the competitions. Some are for certain age groups, some are for everyone, some are for one person to represent our family."

"Whoa, Gremlin, I thought you didn't have a competitive bone in your body," Tony joked. "How many are there?"

Tali and Tori came over with the tablet for sign-up for the day's activities as he spoke. "Twenty-two," they replied together.

"And we don't have to decide who competes until we get there," John added from his seat at the kids' table. "But some of them I think we can choose now. Like the jewelry-making competition; Aunt Breena is the one for that."

Charles swallowed his bite of food, "And I think Aunt Ziva and Aunt Delilah should be the canoe team for the adults' canoe race."

"We shall see," Ziva smiled at her nephew. "Perhaps your father would be a better choice for strength." She patted Jimmy's well-defined abs with a grin.

"So, what choices do we have for the two morning sessions?" Tim glanced over at the two teens, who still had the tablet.

Tali handed the device to her uncle; the screen still had the menu of session options on the display. "I want to try the Alpine tower and giant swing. It looks like fun and I've heard some of the other teens commenting on it."

Tori nodded her agreement, "Yeah, we signed up for that one and then the canoe hike for red-group teens only."

"We get to eat our lunch on the island that is on the other side of the lake," Tali added. "I'm looking forward to exploring the park by water. Ima, did your canoe hike go to the either of the islands?"

"We did not," Ziva replied. "We canoed along the shoreline mostly; we did see the dam that is around the bend in the lake. But we did not get too close to the dam since we were in canoes."

Tony looked up from the tablet screen, "Since the competitions start at 1400, we need to have a gathering place for everyone as they wind up the individual sessions. Has anyone heard if there will be the signs on beach for each group?"

"Yeah, Abba," Riv responded. "Last night they announced at the end of dinner that the group symbols would be on signs for the afternoon games. I think that was when you went back to the cabin early."

"Okee-dokey, then… we all meet at the eagle sign a bit before 1400. I guess we can decide who participates in what activity once we are there," Tony looked at the other adults who nodded agreement.

The bell rang out signaling for the campers to head to their first morning session. The family headed in every direction possible: Tali, Tori, and Katie in the direction of the Alpine tower and giant swing; Anthony, John, LJ, Charles, and Tim towards the beach volleyball; Delilah, Rivka, Beth, and Breena anticipated another session in the crafts' cabin; Ziva, Tony, and Jimmy to the stand-up paddle-boarding on the lake.

By the end of the morning sessions, as everyone headed to the dining hall for lunch, the skies were more cloudy than sunny. Ziva noticed some darker clouds on the western horizon. She remembered the earlier conversation with Tony about the bright pink sky at sunrise.

"Looks like we may have some clouds for the afternoon competitions and games," Breena noted to the other adults. "Although, the dark clouds are still pretty far off in the west."

Ziva agreed, "With that brilliant pink sunrise this morning, I am not surprised that we may have rain and storms. As long as the camp has a good monitor for bad weather, we should be fine with the activities this afternoon."

"Ima, where's Tali?" LJ interrupted.

"She is on the canoe hike and lunch on the island on the other side of the lake," his mother replied. "With Tori and others in the red group."

"Oh, okay. I was gonna show her the music-themed pendant that I made for her in my crafts class. I guess I'll have to show her later." The boy joined the other kids at the table, who were chatting about the upcoming games and competitions for the afternoon session.

Beth was reading from the list of activities, "I think everyone should have a chance to be in at least one game, competition, or activity. There are fifteen of us, and twenty-two things to do, some of them for teams or even the whole family. Some of them specify how many and what color lanyard can compete."

"But some of us are better at certain things. I think the basketball team of three should be me, Abba, and Tori since all of us play or have played on a competitive team. Ima should be the one for the shooting competition. And Aunt Breena definitely needs to be the crafter," Anthony gave his opinions. "If we're gonna win, we gotta put our best people on each activity."

John laughed, "Don't you mean when we win? It'll be because we used each person's strengths to our advantage… And I think my Dad should be the one for the chess competition."

As lunch was winding down around 1300, the teens from the canoe hike made their way from the waterfront to the dining hall to join their family groups. Tali and Tori sat with the others as Ziva read the list of activities for the afternoon competition from the packet that had been handed to her just a few minutes before.

"If you are interested in one or more of these, let me know and I will write your name by the activity," she noted to the two teens. "Some of these have specific requirements as to who can participate. Some require everyone to take part."

At 1340, the bell tolled to indicate that the campers should assemble in their groups at the waterfront and be ready to compete. The skies had turned cloudy, but the darker, more ominous clouds were still quite far away on the western horizon. Each family was given t-shirts for their entire group with the symbol of their unit printed on front and back. The eagle was a white silhouette on a dark green background. Each was also given a matching ballcap with an embroidered eagle.

Each team had their logo on a different colored shirt. Anthony commented that he liked the deer logo group's shirts since they were orange. The black bear group had turquoise-colored shirts and caps with the bear outline in black.

As the families donned shirts and caps, the event organizers went over the rules for the competitions. Some events would occur simultaneously to make efficient use of time and resources. First up was the three-player basketball and the paddle-board races with the participants divided into three groups; ten and under, eleven to seventeen, and adults.

Tony, Anthony, and Tori followed the other teams to the basketball courts. The sixteen teams were divided into two 'leagues' for bracketing purposes. Each 'game' would last ten minutes and the highest-scoring team would move on to the next bracket. Two games could proceed at the same time with the two courts. Team Eagle easily won their first three games to get to the championship game against Team Wolf, three cousins who played semi-pro ball. In the final seconds, Anthony scored a three-point shot to win the game by a point.

In the paddleboard races, each family could enter two participants at each age level. LJ and Rivka were in the youngest group; LJ finished second and Riv fourth in a close race. In the teen group, Tali and Katie competed against twelve others. Katie won and Tali finished second, cheered on by the others. Tim and Jimmy competed in the adult level; they tied for second place.

Each team scored points for first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place finishes and also earned points for participation in an event. The team or family with the most points at the end would win prizes for each member of the group, and get a special recognition at the nightly bonfire. At the three-quarters mark, the DiNozzo, McGee, and Palmer family group a.k.a. the Eagles, were tied for second place with the Raccoon group. The Deer group was in first place by three points.

"Okay, family," Tony used his best 'coach' voice. "We have six more events to go; we gotta give it our all to get points. We can and will beat the Raccoons and Deer! We are the best. We are…"

"DiNozzos and DiNozzos stick together like Superglue," Ziva, Anthony, Tali, Riv, Beth, and LJ interrupted his pep talk with their family mantra.

Tony grinned at his wife and kids, "I was going to say, 'We are family strong and we got each other's backs,' but the DiNozzo mantra works as well. McGees and Palmers are honorary DiNozzos."

"What happens if there's a tie?" Tim wondered out loud.

"First, there will be no tie for my team; we win. Second, in the event of said tie, the rules we were given at the start say that the tie-breaker will be a group tug-of-war," Tony tapped the back of Tim's head playfully. "Atah mevin?"

At their uncle's quizzical look, Riv and Beth explained together, "Do you understand?"

"Answer 'ken,' Uncle Tim," Beth added with a signature DiNozzo grin.

"So, here's the plan, Team Eagle… Tim, go win that abbreviated chess match; Dee and Ziva, we need a repeat performance of the canoe race from the other day. Breena, design your heart out in the jewelry-making; you as well, Beth. John, Charles, Anthony, Katie, Riv, and Tori, go crush 'em in the beach volleyball. LJ, Tali, you got the sailing. Gremlin… er… Jimmy-boy, we are gonna leave 'em in our wake in the men's canoe race. GO TEAM EAGLE!" Tony pumped his fist in the air as the family scattered to the various activities.

Jimmy followed Tony to the fiberglass canoes waiting for the teams on the beach, "Hey, Tony… thanks for trying to remember that I don't really want to be called 'Gremlin,' especially in front of the kids."

"Yeah… it's hard to break a twenty-five-year habit. I do say it with love," the older man replied. "Let's go show these other guys who's the ruler of the paddles!" He gave the canoes a quick look-over and chose a blue watercraft with matching blue paddles.

While the next hour progressed with the various competitions, a light rain fell on and off. The sky was completely cloud-covered, dropping the temperature some. The rain contributed to the increased humidity, though, so the participants worked up a sweat giving each activity their best efforts. As the final canoe race, with the women, came to an end, the sun peeked out from the clouds. Ziva and Delilah were glistening with a sweat sheen as they won the race by two canoe-lengths.

The groups rested and hydrated in their designated areas on the waterfront while points were tallied and totals were double-checked. Tony wandered over to the areas for the Raccoons and the Deer.

"Hey, great competition," he greeted each team with a grin. "May the best team win!"

"What's Abba doing?" LJ pointed to his father by the Raccoon group's area.

Tim chuckled, "Psyching out the competition, probably."

"But shouldn't he have done that before we started?" Tali remarked. "I mean, the points are earned already… it's just a matter of who accumulated how many now."

"Your father is competitive, but he also knows how to concede victory graciously," Ziva watched her husband move to the Deer team's area. "Think about how he has Anthony's team congratulating the opponents after the game, win or lose."

The camp director stepped up onto the make-shift podium for the afternoon's games. An assistant rang a loud bell to get everyone's attention.

"We have a tie!" the woman announced. "Team Eagle and Team Raccoon each have ninety-three points. Team Deer has ninety-one for third place; Team Wolf has eighty-eight for fourth place. In fifth place is Team Black Bear with eighty-two points."

The crowd cheered at the announcement of the winners, and several of the winning teams gave each other high-fives and hugs.

"The tie-breaker is a tug-of-war between the two top teams. Each team will have all of its members participating in the event since they have the same number of people. Team Raccoon, you are on my left," she pointed to her left for the team to line up at the rope. "Team Eagle, you are on my right," the woman pointed to the right. "You have seven minutes to strategize, line-up, and be ready to go.

"All the other teams, after the tug-of-war, we will all head up to the dining hall for a celebration dinner. The winning team will lead the rest of us through the serving line."

Tony pulled Tim aside as the rest of the family gathered on their side of the rope, "Ok, McGeek, we need some quick physics assessment here. How do we line up compared to the opponents as far as size and potential strength? How should we line up to maximize our chances of winning? Who should our anchor be?"

"I've been on competitive teams before. We put our strongest people front and back and fill in with the others, staggering strengths in the middle of the line," Jimmy interjected. "Tony should be at the front, and I will be anchor. Tim and Ziva should be evenly spaced between the ends." He turned to Delilah, "Are you going to participate?"

Dee nodded, "I have pretty good upper body strength and being in the chair gives me a lower center of gravity. I have a 'seat belt' to keep me in the chair, but I rarely use it. I will use it for the tug-of-war though."

"What about your wheels? How free-rolling are they?" Jimmy inspected the chair to decide where to position his sister in the line. "If you are in front of me, then I can, if needed, help you move the chair back."

Tony called others over, "Our tug-of-war expert is in charge; he's gonna line us up and go over the strategy."

"Tony is at the front of the line, he is our lead hauler. I will be at the back, I'm the anchor. I will be taking a step back every four to five seconds as we tug, and I will call out 'STEP' as we pull. Delilah is directly in front of me," Jimmy outlined the family's strategy. "Ziva and Tim, you two are the next strongest, so we will space you about evenly between Tony and me.

"Ready to line up?" he looked out at the family as they all gave him a thumbs' up gesture. "Okay, line up as I call your name. Tony. Anthony. Victoria. Beth. Ziva. John. Tali. Rivka. Tim. Katie. Breena. Charles. LJ. Delilah, and me." The family lined up along the rope, leaving an arm's length between them.

"Are we ready?" the event coordinator asked the teams.

"READY!"

"When I blow the whistle, may the best team win. Ready, set, go," the whistle shrilled as the teams started pulling. The sideliners cheered both teams on.

"STEP!" Jimmy called out to his team as Tony gained them a few inches at the start. Dee's chair rolled back with the motion of the team, which he was glad to note.

"STEP!" he called out three seconds later as they again gained several inches. Ziva glanced out over the lake as she pulled; dark clouds were moving in rapidly as the two teams battled.

"STEP!" They had gained about two feet over the other team.

"STEP!" a flash of lightning punctuated Jimmy's command.

The whistles blew, the camp bell sounded repeatedly, and a warning siren shrilled out.

"Get to a shelter immediately," camp personnel herded the campers towards the buildings as the two tug-of-war teams dropped the rope and quickly followed the others.

Tali, Tori, Anthony, and Katie clustered together and headed towards the crafts' cabin. Katie grabbed Anthony's hand and held on tightly. He squeezed her hand in response, reassuring her, and himself as they ran towards the building. About two dozen campers ducked under the tables in the cabin to seek shelter from the storm.

John, Rivka, Charles, Tim, Breena, and Beth were in the surge heading to the dining hall. John and Rivka clasped hands to stay together as did Charles and Beth as they followed Breena to the safety of the dining area. Tim followed behind them, glancing around for the other family members. Under the protection of the dining area roof, the campers huddled under tables for maximum protection from the rapidly approaching storm. They huddled together as thunder shook the ground and lightning flashes pierced the darkening skies.

Tony noticed LJ trying to help Delilah navigate the beach walkway. He ran over to assist and spotted the beach maintenance and storage shed. It was the closest place but off the beaten track. The door facing the beach was propped open; the building appeared to be sturdy enough for the three of them to ride out the storm. Large rain drops pelted them as Tony pointed to the building and helped steer the chair in that direction. LJ held the door as Dee wheeled inside; Tony kicked the wedge propping the door open to the side and slammed the door behind them. The three huddled inside between two large vehicles. Tony drew his youngest to him as the wind shook the trees outside and the storm intensified.

Ziva and Jimmy were checking for stragglers as they headed off the beach. Ziva noticed a child standing on the path to the cabins where the families stayed. She pointed to the child and grabbed Jimmy's arm.

"I am going to go get her," she yelled to him over the increasing cacophony from the storm. She ran in the direction of the child with Jimmy on her heels.

Ziva approached the little girl who was frantically looking around. It was the youngest girl from black bear group.

"Bubba! Wan' my bubba," the child cried in fear as she looked around.

"Hey, sweetie, I know I'm not your bubba, but Ziva and I are here to help you get out of this storm," Jimmy bent down in front of the child.

"Um… okay… but I want my Matty," the girl let Ziva lift her up and quickly figured out that Ziva wanted to piggy-back her.

A loud crack of thunder resulted in the girl screaming in Ziva's ear. The wind whipped several small tree branches down between them and the lake. Jimmy tugged Ziva's arm and started moving in the direction of the cabins; their cabins were the closest ones on the path they were on currently. Ziva nodded and began a trot towards shelter.

The three had just arrived in the clearing for the eagle cabins when the small hail started falling. Jimmy put his shirt over the little girl's head to protect her for the final few feet to the nearest cabin. They ran up the ramp as a flash accompanied by a 'zzzzzzt' sound was right behind them. A LOUD crack of thunder immediately followed and then the sound of a tree crashing.

Once safely inside the main room of the Palmer/McGee cabin, the adults looked outside to see a pine tree on the edge of the clearing stripped of its bark and shattered by a lighting strike. It was still smoking from the hit.

The child clung to Ziva as the hail and wind pelted the cabin. Ziva hugged the little girl as Jimmy did his best to be ready to shelter both of them if needed.

In the beach maintenance shed, the hail pounded the metal sides and roof of the building. LJ held his Abba's hand and his Aunt Dee's hand, trying to be brave. The noise was so loud though from the hail, the wind, and the thunder that they couldn't carry on any conversation. Hand squeezes and eye contact had to do. Tony was certain the lightning was striking the water and probably some of the trees nearby. A loud thud from by the door got all of their attention; Tony wondered if something had fallen against the building from the wind.

In the crafts' cabin, Anthony wrapped his arms around Katie. He knew she didn't like loud noises, and thunder in particular. Tali and Tori sat opposite them under the large table the four dove under when they entered the cabin. They could hear the wind roaring as trees bent and some snapped. The thunder shook the building and Katie buried her face in Anthony's shoulder. Tali and Tori held hands as the storm raged outside. The others were huddled under the tables in the cabin, just as frightened.

"I gotta find Dee," Tim couldn't see his wife in the dining all. Every flash of lightning, he looked under the various tables and up by the kitchen to try to spot her chair. No luck. "I gotta go out to find her."

Breena grabbed his arm, "Tim! You can't just go out in the middle of this storm. Look at the hail, it's as big as a golf ball. The wind is bending the trees and the rain is making it impossible to see any distance. Dee is in another building; she is safe, as are the rest of our family that aren't right here."

"Dad, you're no good to any of us if you are out there hurt or worse," John added. "The six of us are safe here until the storm passes. Please, Dad…"

Riv saw the fear in Uncle Tim's eyes. She could tell Aunt Breena was trying not to show her fear for her family members who weren't there. She snuggled closer to John and reached out her free hand to her twin.

"I got an idea… let's all hold hands to help keep each other calm," she suggested. "Our family gets strength from each other."

The six joined hands as they saw an extremely bright flash of lightning followed by an immediate rumbling of thunder that shook everything. The wind whipped at the side screens of the dining hall, driving some rain in the outer edges. Most of the people in the dining hall had pushed tables towards the center and to the kitchen building wall to get some additional protection from the storm.

In the Palmer/McGee cabin, Ziva tried to soothe the little girl as best she could. She softly sang a lullaby that had been a favorite of her own children and sung to Ziva and her sister many years earlier. 'Numi, numi' seemed to help calm the child; Jimmy listened to the Hebrew words. Ziva's calm singing helped him to keep his mind from worrying about the rest of the family too much.

"What's your name?" he asked the child when Ziva took a pause from singing.

"M…m…mandy," the child looked at the adults with wide eyes. "I'm scared."

"Well, Miss Mandy, I'm Jimmy and my sister is Ziva," Jimmy continued. "This storm has everyone scared."

Ziva nodded, "We are all scared because of the wild storm. We are safe in the cabin until it passes over."

"Okay." The little girl snuggled closer to Ziva, "Will you sing some more?"

Ziva began another song, gently rocking the child in her arms. The three then sang several songs together to pass the time as the storm slowly eased up. Jimmy got up from where the three were sitting together and looked out the front door.

"The top of that tree is blocking the main pathway," he observed. "But the good news is that the rain has stopped." He flicked the switch by the door, "And we have power still!"

In the crafts' cabin, the campers slowly emerged from under tables as the quiet of the camp after the storm became apparent. One of the adults inched open the main door and several of the campers peered out. The rain had stopped! There were broken branches and leaves strewn all over, but the buildings were all undamaged. One of the staff who was in the group flipped the switch by the door and lights came on inside. The group of campers in the crafts' cabin sighed in relief as they realized they had all come through the storm intact.

"My radio is still on, so we should get an all clear to move to the dining hall soon," the young staffer told the others. "We stay put until we get that message."

Campers crawled out from under the tables in the dining hall as the storm relented. Many of the adults stretched to ease cramped arms and legs as the group moved to view the outside damage. Tree limbs, leaves, and debris littered the open space next to the dining hall. Two of the cooks came out of the kitchen to let everyone know that dinner was still cooking and that once they had the 'all-clear,' dinner preparation would resume.

Tim helped Breena stand after she crawled out from under the table. "That was wild," he commented. "I wonder where everyone else took shelter." He looked around at the others in the dining hall, "Looks like about half of us ended up here."

Breena skimmed the room, "Remember our safety instructions from when we checked in? In the event of an emergency, we were told to assemble here once an 'all-clear' message was given. Hopefully, the rest of the family will be coming up those paths soon."

The two McGees, two Palmers, and two DiNozzos moved their tables back under the eagle symbol and sat together to wait for the others to arrive from wherever they had taken shelter.

"Sounds like the storm has moved on," Delilah commented in the quiet of the aftermath. "I guess we should see what damage there is if any and figure out a way to get to the dining hall, where we are supposed to congregate after an emergency."

LJ and Tony stood and stretched as Dee rolled her chair towards the door. LJ ran ahead and tried to open the door. He pushed as he turned the handle, but the door didn't move.

"Abba, it's stuck!"

Tony moved over to try; he pushed as hard as he could but the door wouldn't' budge. "I think we're stuck!" he commented dryly.

LJ had moved to the only window in the building, "Abba, the rain stopped. There are pieces of trees everywhere, and I don't see anyone out there."

Jimmy, Ziva, and Mandy moved out to sit on the cabin porch. They wouldn't be going anywhere until someone came to cut the tree out of the pathway. Jimmy found his cell phone but didn't have a signal. In the distance, they could hear the bell by the dining hall signaling an 'all-clear' to those around the camp.

"I guess we just sit and wait until someone comes," he observed. "Worst case, I will try to climb over the tree to get us some help."

Tali, Tori, Anthony, and Katie followed the others to the dining hall from the crafts' cabin once the bell started ringing and the young man on the staff had a message on his radio that it was now safe for everyone to head to the dining hall area. Tim spotted the four walking up the pathway and nudged Breena.

"Four of the others accounted for!" he pointed to the path where the two dozen or so who had taken shelter in the crafts cabin were trekking towards them.

Katie spotted her father and ran to him, "Daddy!" Tim embraced his daughter as Tali and Anthony hugged their sisters and Breena and Charles enveloped Tori.

Tony was the first one to hear the bell ringing, "Best sound I've heard in a while! Now we just have to get someone to find us in here." He noticed movement on the beach and immediately indicated to the others to pound on the metal walls of the building to attract attention to their plight.

LJ peered out the window, "They're not looking this way, Abba. Now what?"

Tony sized up the window and his son. He pushed on the lower portion of the window and budged it some. "If we can get this window open, I think I can lift LJ through and he can run to the others on the beach and get us help." He pushed harder and opened the window enough to slide LJ through feet first. The boy dropped to the ground and looked around.

"That boat that was leaning against the building fell in front of the door," he informed the two adults as he took off towards the beach area.

The three adults saw the boy running and quickly drove their ATVs towards LJ.

"My father and my aunt are stuck inside that building," he pointed to the beach maintenance shed. "My aunt is in a wheelchair. The boat is blocking the door. Abba lifted me out the window to get help," he explained as one of the men helped the boy onto the ATV. Within ten minutes, the boat was moved and Tony and Dee were on ATVs with LJ headed back to the dining hall.

Tali saw three ATVs approaching the dining hall area. Her heart jumped when she saw the men driving help Aunt Dee into her wheelchair and her Abba and little brother walking alongside. She ran out to greet them, followed by Tim.

"Abba!" Tali wrapped her arms around her father and then LJ.

Tim wiped tears from his eyes as he bent down to kiss his wife and hug her. He then followed the three DiNozzos up the walkway to the entrance to the dining hall where the others waited for them.

Tony hugged his five kids in a group hug, "Now to find Ima!"

The four McGees hugged as Breena drew her children to her, "Just need your dad to come walking up one of those paths!'

The older teen and one of the men from the Black Bear family walked over to the family. "Has anyone seen my little sister?" the teen asked the DiNozzo, McGee, and Palmer group.

Tali looked at the young man, he was clearly distraught and seemed to be much more upset that the man with him. "The last that I saw her when we all ran from the beach area, she was following the other girls from your family. They were headed this way."

"Those two are safe here; Mandy is the only one missing from our family," the teen replied. "I gotta find her."

Anthony felt sad for the teen, "We have two missing; my mother and their father." He pointed to Tori and Charles, "Maybe your little sister is with them. If she is, she is very safe. I promise!"

Ziva heard the engines from the ATVs before any of the three saw the machines moving towards the cabins. She grabbed a flashlight from the table and shone the beam towards the sounds. She used the on/off switch to do Morse code for SOS with the light repeatedly. The sounds of the engines stopped and Jimmy could see a light flashing back at them.

"OVER HERE," he yelled from the porch. "EAGLE CABIN ONE!"

A face appeared over the tree branches, "WE'RE COMING AS SOON AS WE CAN!"

Jimmy trotted out into the clearing to get closer to the man, "We have three. Two of us from eagle, and the youngest girl from black bear."

The other man spoke into his radio, "Last three found!" He listened as the voice on the other end repeated the message. "Yeah, two adults and a small child." He turned back to Jimmy, "Jimmy Palmer? And Ziva DiNozzo is the woman? Mandy Fischer the kid?"

"Yes! Will you let our families know that all are safe, please?'

"Will do; should be about twenty minutes to clear a path through the branches," the man replied.

Jimmy waved, "Great. I'll go tell the other two and we'll sit on the porch to wait."

Chainsaws were soon cutting at the fallen tree. In the dining hall, the kitchen staff set out the food as the campers heard the chainsaws cutting the tree out of the way. The camp director had already informed the two families that their loved ones were safe.

Tony and Tim had just filled their plates when the ATVs drove up to the building. Mandy ran to her brother who lifted the child in his arms and buried his face in her hair. Tony could see the young man was sobbing in relief that his little sister was safe and unharmed.

Breena ran to Jimmy as he stepped off the second ATV. The two walked back inside the dining hall hand in hand, both wiping at their eyes. Charles and Tori joined their parents in a group hug.

Ziva was the last one to arrive on the final ATV. Tony put his plate down and he and all five DiNozzo offspring rushed the matriarch. The seven hugged as a group and then re-entered the dining hall. The three tables were pushed into one big family table for the Eagle family. Grins spread like wildfire around it as everyone of the fifteen finally relaxed now that all were accounted for and the group could eat another meal together as one big family.

The camp director stood to get everyone's attention. "We have had a wild finish to our camp today. You are all winners in my book. However, we do have a competition winner. Because they gained several feet in the abbreviated tug-of-war, Team Eagle is our overall winner with one hundred points. Give them a congratulations!"