Put That Kid Down

Chapter One

The first time was an accident.

Okay, wait, that makes it sound like all of the rest were something he sought out, so scratch that.

The first time it happened, the real mistake had been destroying the evidence.

Aw, heck. That doesn't sound much better, but it's the best it's going to get here.

Anyway, the real mistake was destroying the evidence. It was a clear-cut case of self defense, even if there were no witnesses. There shouldn't have been a need for a cover-up, at all, but... Well, let's start a bit further back.

David hadn't been a counselor at Camp Campbell for very long, but he'd camped there in his youth, and he knew his way around kids. Due to this, he'd been expecting an easy year, and for the most part, he got it. His co-counselor, Adam, never seemed very enthused, but he always pulled his weight! David could respect that, even if he wished the guy would lighten up a little, at the time.

Turned out that pessimism might have saved two lives if he'd listened a little earlier.

See, the summer was grand, everyone had fun, the kids were fast friends, but when it got towards the end of the year, things started to seem a bit off. The swim instructor, Georgio, never wanted to stick around for the staff bonfires anymore.

"A man's gotta keep in shape," he'd say, patting a bicep and throwing a wink to his fellow staff, and he'd be off to swim in the lake. David would wish him luck and remind him to stay in shallow waters if he didn't have anyone to spot him. He didn't think much of it – of course a swim instructor loved to swim! If he didn't, it'd be like a camp counselor that didn't love to camp! Preposterous. And sure, maybe he liked to dunk the kids a little more than David thought was fair, but he always quoted them a nice, inspiring bit of scripture from a variety of religions at the end of each lesson, so it must all be in good fun.

Besides, there was a disturbance among the campers to attend to. For some time, it seemed like Sally's clique had begun closing ranks. They wouldn't hang out with the other kids they used to adore. Sally (who would have been David's best camper if he could bring himself to play favorites) had wilted, like she was so saddened by the end of camp approaching, she just couldn't bring herself to enjoy anything.

Or so David had thought. It all came to a head when Sally didn't show up at the big camp farewell bonfire. David knew she'd been looking forward to it! She told him, herself!

"Adam," he'd told his co-counselor firmly, "I think something may be wrong with Sally."

"No duh," his faithful compatriot replied with urgency, "I've only been trying to talk about that with you for the last week!"

"There's no time to waste on arguing when a camper might be sick, or worse," David shuddered, "Taken by a case of the downsies. We've got to see what she needs!"

He strode off towards Sally's tent, Adam at his heels as the other instructors kept an eye on the kids. Ignoring Adam's mutterings about downsies and not real and why are you like this, David ducked under the half open flap and found nothing in Sally's tent.

Well.

"Adam, she's not here – "

"No... really?"

"- so I'll need you to check the kitchen and the bathrooms while I check the storage shed and the beach, then we'll sweep out from the archery range along the trails. If you get there before me, go south and I'll go west, alright?" Looking down at his slightly shorter co-counselor, David found a blank mask of confusion.