A/N: A few more things have to happen before we discover what's going on with Kowalski and Kenny, please hang in there! Small warning for next chapter, there's going to be a part where I talk about something that happens to Ramona that may be considered 'sensitive' for some people, but it's not too long so you can skip that part when we come to it. I'll warn you when it does.

Saturday was filled with the last minute kids who were rushing around trying to finish everything.

Sunday, the sixth graders lugged their things to the school as the buses were lining up. Terrence was shocked to discover that Ramona would be going to Franklin Lake. He tried to sneak onto the bus, but he was caught and held behind.

They waved as family members gathered to say goodbye. Allie and Ramona's parents were there with Ramona's brothers. Kowalski, Rico, Rikki, Rocky, and Skipper were waving to Kenny, Private, and Barry.

The bus ride was pretty long, but PARK B chatted and laughed as they departed the city. Private, Kenny, and Barry entertained themselves by talking about what was coming. Allie and Ramona were having their own conversation, occasionally inputting their thoughts in the boys' conversation. The supervising teacher, Mrs. Braden spoke to the kids briefly about the rules. Cell phones were to be handed over to the counselors as soon as they got there. A couple of people complained, but PARK B was too excited to complain about no phones.

The more bored kids were tapping away at their phones, either texting or playing games. PARK B texted their families to let them know they arrived at the campsite safely before shutting off their phones and handing them over to the counselor. Some kids complained loudly and one burst into noisy tears, yelling something about beating Angry Birds. He was escorted to a quieter location.

Barry bolted to the front of the bus as soon as the doors opened. He jumped off and inhaled deeply.

"Finally!" He said. "I'm FREE!"

"Good for you, Mr. Wheeler." One of the teachers said. "Now would you mind allowing the other kids to get fresh air too?"

Barry blushed and stepped aside.

The teachers gathered the students near the mess hall.

"Hello kids." One of the teachers said. "My name is Mrs. Braden; I will be one of the supervising teachers on this trip. Right now, I'm going to hand over the microphone to Henry. Henry is a park ranger and one of the officers in charge of this area."

Henry came out and waved.

"Hey guys and gals." He said. "The rangers have appointed me to explain the rules of camping here to you. I know camping might sound fun, but you need to be careful. There are no bears in the immediate area, but there have been sightings of bears in past years, which is why we have asked you to leave your food at home. If you have any dietary changes that you have not discussed with a counselor, I strongly recommend that you notify us immediately.

I also want you to know that you should act as if you are guests in someone's home. We have kept this place as clean as possible for past, present, and future children. In order for more kids to come in the future, we need to keep this place clean. Please pick up any trash and throw it away in the designated bins. The restrooms are a little ways away and the shower rooms are next to it. Please use the buddy system, meaning at least one other person should accompany you to the bathroom. Please use the restrooms and shower room responsibly. The mess hall is behind me and shall be where you have your meals. Remember that meals are at designated times and your counselors should pass them out right now."

Private was given some papers by a student standing next to him. He handed it to the rest of PARK B and then gave it to another student.

"This huge area here is where you will pitch your tents. We are here to help you set up and we have a couple of extra tents in case anyone needs them. Also, please don't stray from the site without permission and definitely not without a buddy. I know you're all old enough to use common sense so please do. I think that's it for now. We'll go over this again at dinner. Have fun with the tents!"

The group was dispersed to start making tents.

Ramona and Allie found another girl to share a tent with. The girl had brought her own tent so Allie gave hers to the boys. They were fine since it was her dad's and big enough to fit all of them.

Private, Kenny, and Barry set up a tent near the girls. Private and Kenny had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Barry sighed and moved around, instructing them on how to properly build a tent.

"How did you know?" Private asked.

"My dad took me camping once and I was in Boy Scouts." Barry said.

"Was? Are you not in Scouts anymore?"

Barry shook his head. "I stopped going when I was eight."

"Why not join in New York?"

Barry shrugged. "They didn't have time to run around and worry about me with everyone else in the house."

Private and Kenny nodded.

As soon as their tent was up, they moved their bags into the tent. Private was in the middle with Kenny on his left and Barry on his right.

The kids hung out until they were called for dinner.

"We're having tacos!" Someone said excitedly.

The people who heard that started cheering.

PARK B found a table and sat together with their tacos.

The rest of the night passed without much else. The instructions were expanded on. There was a cabin nearby for anyone who felt sick and needed to be apart from the others. Another cabin was for the week's supplies of fun.

Monday started with pancakes for breakfast. Kenny surprised everyone by spraying a boatload of whipped cream on his pancakes. Barry scooped some up and threw it in Kenny's face.

One of the teachers stopped them before a fight could break out.

Next, they were to meet for introductions and icebreaker games. Allie and Private took turns videotaping the events. Barry and Kenny took pictures. It turned out that Kenny was really good at taking pictures at great angles. They had sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch, they were given canoeing lessons. Those who didn't want to canoe were learning how to tie knots or watching their friends. After this, they had free time. PARK B decided to climb some trees.

Barry sat in a tree while he watched Kenny and Allie try to push themselves up a tree. Ramona had almost fallen down, but Private caught her.

During dinner, an announcement was made about daily hikes. There were several hiking trails and they explained each one. The hikes would take place about half an hour after lunch and they would return by dinner.

PARK B signed up for the long trail.

They were filled with excitement on Tuesday as they got ready to hike. Those who weren't hiking were swimming in the lake.

Allie and Ramona had their hair up and were wearing baseball caps. Allie said that Samuel donated a hat to her.

Kenny had borrowed a hat from Rico.

The boys met the girls and the rest of the group. Kenny was armed with Barry's camera and Allie was armed with her video camera.

The five of them were at the back of the group, but still close enough to not get lost.

"The adventure of PARK B continues." Barry said, holding a stick as a microphone. "Walking the perilous trails of Franklin Lake."

Kenny grabbed the 'microphone' "Will we make it?" He asked. "Stay tuned to find out."

"And maybe we'll find Franklin." Barry said.

Allie turned the camera to herself to make a confused expression. "Franklin?"

Barry whipped the camera around. "You haven't heard of Franklin? The Lake is named after him!"

"Wait, are you talking about that legend?" Ramona asked.

"Yep."

"What legend?" Kenny asked.

"Well, dear Kennykins, I'll tell you." Barry said, tossing an arm around Kenny.

"Why-?"

"It began one hundred years ago!" Ramona said.

"There was this kid named Franklin who came camping with his friends. At the time, this Lake was just called 'Lake to be named later', those people were lazy." Barry said.

Allie rolled her eyes.

"Roll your eyes not, my lady!" Barry gasped. "For that is what young Franklin did when he…DISAPPEARED!"

"All those years ago, in the time of no televisions…" Ramona said.

"Where you had to play Angry Birds by throwing rocks at actual birds…" Barry said.

"And the First World War hadn't started…"

"Off by one year." Allie said.

Ramona and Barry ignored her.

"What happened?" Private asked.

"Franklin was on a hike with a couple of friends, drinking iced tea and having fun. But he forgot he wasn't supposed to bring tea to camp. He was attacked by bears. Supposedly, he got out safely when his friends got eaten." Barry said.

"No one really knows what happened. It is said that he became lost in a cave and had to live there, but the cave collapsed and supposedly killed him." Ramona said. "They don't know because all they found of him was a Nike shoe, a broken and chewed up pencil, and a crossword puzzle with the word 'help' written on it several times. They think he went crazy."

Private and Kenny were wide eyed as Ramona and Barry grinned.

Allie shook her head and shut off the camera. "That is not true." She said.

"How do you know, missy?" Barry asked.

"First off, they didn't have crossword puzzles in 1914. Second, Nike wasn't started until the late 1960s and wasn't called Nike Inc until 1971. Also, there are no caves here. Third, don't call me missy."

"Spoil sport." Barry grumbled. "Be lucky Franklin's curse didn't get to you."

Allie was about to respond when a student waved and called out to them.

"Hey, come on!"

The five of them realized they had been lagging behind. They caught up to the group

Barry and Allie argued later about the legend. Private shut down the argument five minutes later.

Wednesday, they went on a shorter hike and then participated in a camp wide game of dodgeball.

It was apparent that PARK B was very good at dodging. Allie managed to tag three people out, narrowly avoiding being hit. Ramona had been good at dodging because she had three younger brothers to play with. Private didn't tell them, but it was because of his training. Barry said he had been the king of dodgeball at his first elementary school. Kenny just said he was skinny and fast.

The game had been very close, but Barry and Kenny managed to scrape a win for their side. Private had been covering them. Allie got tagged out when she intercepted someone who was sneaking up on Kenny. Ramona had charged headfirst with a battle cry and managed to save Private and Barry. Private got tagged out seconds before Barry and Kenny threw the winning hits.

Thursday was spent in the lake. They had gone hiking first and were contemplating how to spend their day when Barry pushed Ramona in the lake.

Ramona whipped her hand out and pulled someone by the ankle. That person happened to be Kenny. Barry jumped in while the other two joined him. A few kids offered to play water polo.

They basically had no idea what they were doing, but they knew they were having fun.

Kenny said he didn't know how to swim, so the others decided to teach him and Private.

The two of them had improved vastly by dinner time.

Friday, their second to last day, they went on a different trail.

This time, they got lost.

"Barry, I told you not to use the tree as a bathroom!" Allie said.

"But I had to go!"

Ramona sighed. "Oh brother."

"Where'd they go?" Kenny asked.

They had come to a fork in the road.

"Let's take the road less traveled by." Allie suggested. "That's part of a poem."

"Or we could go back and not die." Ramona said. "That rhymed."

"Good idea, which way is back?" Barry said.

"Uhh…" Private looked around. It was late afternoon and they were supposed to be with the group.

"I'm sure they went there." Barry said. He wandered a trail that looked as if it hadn't been used in a while.

"Barry, I don't think-"

Barry didn't hear the rest of Allie's words, he had already gone further.

The others followed after him, remembering the buddy system.

"Where is he?" Ramona asked.

"AAAAHHHH!"

The four of them jumped out of their skin.

"Barry?!" Kenny yelled. "It's Franklin's curse!"

"No it isn't. Barry, where are you?!" Allie called.

"BARRY, ANSWER US!" Ramona yelled.

"Stay where you are, we're coming!" Private shouted.

They raced through the path, trying not to get hit by low hanging branches. They were going in deeper than they should be. They knew they should have gone for help, but Barry was in trouble.

The trail split again.

"Kenny, come with me." Ramona said. She pulled him to the right path. "I think this goes to the lake and circles around to one of the trails. We'll get some help."

Private nodded.

He and Allie continued on their path.

Private knew he had the communicator watch, but he didn't- oh forget it, his friend was in trouble!

He pressed the watch button. "Allie, can you keep a secret?"

Allie nodded.

"Skipper? Rico? Kowalski? We need help!"

The watch flickered as it showed Kowalski's face.

"Private? Is everything alri-"

"No! Barry ran off and we're worried about him. It's dark and Ramona and Kenny went for help."

Skipper looked in. "Hold on, we can track your phones."

"They're all back at the campsite."

"Are you all wearing the camp bracelets?"

"Yeah." Private said.

"Why?"Allie asked.

"Then we got you." Kowalski said. "We put tracking devices in all five of your bracelets."

"When did you put it in mine?" Allie asked.

"I-er, might have taken it while you were sleeping on the bus." Private said.

"Alright, we see them." Skipper said. "I'm on my computer. I activated your phone, Private. I'll shut it off when we're done…I see Ramona and Kenny near the phone signal. I'm assuming they told the counselors. Barry is a little bit ahead of you, but his signal isn't moving."

"Tell us when we get closer." Private said.

He and Allie walked forward until Skipper told them to stop.

"According to this, he should be right in front of you." Kowalski said.

Private turned on the flashlight mode and looked around. Allie stepped forward until Kowalski said to stop.

"Allie's right on top of him." Skipper said.

Allie looked down. "Oh no." She picked up the bracelet. "Barry? Is this a prank? If it is, we're not talking to you until we're in high school!"

"What's going on?" Rocky's voice came.

"Barry's missing." Kowalski responded, looking offscreen.

"Is he wearing a seashell necklace?" An unknown voice asked.

"Yeah." Allie said. "He put it on before we left."

"Then you have him."

A typing noise was heard.

Skipper's head poked in. "He's somewhere ahead of your position."

"Ah!" Allie yelped.

Private grabbed her, preventing her from tripping. He shone the light on the ground. "A ledge?"

"Maybe he fell off." Allie suggested.

"Look, a light!" They saw a thin yellow light streaming through the woods.

They jumped down and ran to the light. It turned out to be a cabin.

"A cabin in the woods? Seems cliché." Allie said. "Curses aren't real, we'll be okay…right?"

Private took a deep breath and knocked.

The door swung open and the two of them screamed.

A giant shadow emerged from the cabin.