The next day, Annie got a notice in the mail. It promoted C2 Camp, an outdoor summer camp that was fully supervised and promoted several activities. Annie and her mom took turns reading the flier.

Those were all things Annie loved to do. "It all adds up! A dork I met at the play told me about this."

"Who was it?" asked Mrs. McRae.

"Savannah," Annie replied. "Her ears are blue, but she might have other issues."

"Yeah...it's probably best if you're nice to her."

Yeah, whatever. Time to change the subject. "Where is this camp?"

"It's a 15-minute drive," Mrs. McRae replied. "A bus picks you up in the morning and takes you there."

"Can I go, Mom?" Annie asked.

"Of course," said Mrs. McRae.

A few mornings later, Annie was all ready to go. The bus arrived, and Annie saw it pull up. "The bus is here!" she told her mom, who was also waiting on the couch. She flung her backpack on and rushed toward the bus.

A beautiful woman was waiting by the bus's door. She had a plain pink shirt, black, thick hair, soft skin, and a round belly. "Hello," she said with a grin. She reached out her hand. "I'm Charity Hirz."

"I'm Annie," Annie replied before returning the handshake. "Is Savannah here?" She seemed to be keen on going, but I think it would be best if she didn't.

"Yes," Charity replied. "She's on the bus."

Right. Annie rushed inside the bus. She only recognized two kids--Freddy from school and Savannah. Although Savannah was wearing a brown leather jacket instead of her Jessie costume, there was no mistaking her blue ears and blank yet ominous expression. She went over to sit by Savannah. Just then, Charity walked in. After buckling her seat belt, the bus took off.

On the way to camp, Savannah was full of comments for Annie. "Funny, how Charity doesn't look much like Mrs. Wilcox."

"She sure is gorgeous, though," Annie replied patiently.

"Funny, this doesn't look much like our school bus. Inside or out."

Annie nodded. "Yeah, they even have seat belts." Most school buses didn't.

Just then, the bus arrived. Charity had built the camp next to the lake. There were several small buildings, a flag, a soccer goal, a spot for circle time... there was even a canoe! Annie smiled as she looked around. Everything was ready!

Charity told the kids to meet her by the flag. Annie didn't ask who the silent, middle-aged man was who had stepped toward the flag. Instead she trustingly followed Charity there.

"Here's your teacher, Cherical McGregor," said Charity, pointing to the man. Cherical didn't say a word.

Disappointed, Annie raised her hand. "Charity, I was hoping you could be our teacher." Next to her, Savannah whispered her agreement.

Charity looked confused. "OK. Why?"

How do I explain this? "I just thought you were really nice. And...I'm not sure about this guy."

"Annie McRae," Charity replied, "I know Cherical looks forbidding, but I can assure you he's a really nice guy."

Annie was unconvinced, but nodded nonetheless. "OK. I was just really disappointed."

"OK, if it means that much to you, I'll give you all a tour," Charity replied.

"Thanks, Charity," Annie replied.

Thus Charity showed them around, and told them the uses for the lake, arts and crafts room, and rec room. Last of all she led the group over to her office. "Well, this is where I leave you," she concluded the tour. "Good luck." She went inside and closed the door behind her.

"Bye, Charity," Annie replied.

"Come on," said Cherical. "It's time to say the pledge."

Annie wondered what Charity was doing there as she followed Cherical to the American flag.

Once all the kids were assembled, Cherical said, "Ready? Begin."

After saying the pledge, Cherical showed them the camp rules. Annie had already assumed most of these weren't allowed, and according to her annoyed look, so did Savannah.

After that, Cherical said all the kids were free to look on their own, and that if anyone wanted to do the swimming tests now, they could. Annie, Seth, and Pamela walked up, and everyone else took a look around on their own. Annie knew all the basics and more. Pamela's swimming was also efficient. Although Seth couldn't bob in deep water for long enough, it was a close call, and he knew a lot that wasn't yet required, so Cherical rendered the test passed.

For lunch, they roasted hot dogs over the barbecue pit. Annie got a bit distracted, and ended up burning hers. "Oops..."

Savannah still had her hot dog over the fire when she asked Annie what happened.

"I think I burned mine," Annie replied.

Savannah stood up, still holding her hot dog on a stick as she walked over to Annie. "Wanna trade? I love burnt hot dogs!"

Annie was shocked, but gratefully replied, "Here you go."

Three hours later, Cherical called all the kids back to the circle.

"...well, class?" he continued speaking at the head of the circle. "Did you have fun today?"

The kids cheered.

Cherical nodded, then walked over to Charity's office. "Charity, it's time to take the kids home!"

Charity peered up at him from inside. "Already?"

"Yep," Cherical replied.

Two minutes later, Charity came out. "See you soon, Cherical." She climbed aboard the bus and signaled to the kids to do the same. "Climb aboard. Two months from now, we're taking you to Big Castle Park. That is on the last day of camp."