“We send them to the court when you finish this course, and they can see by our recommendations, or by what kind of demerits or merits you earn, whether or not to allow you to go back to your high school or if you’ll need to do some time in juvie,” Jayden answered.

“Holy sh—” Carmella clamped a hand over her mouth. “I don’t want to waste a demerit on a cuss word.”

“If it is directed at a counselor or an employee of the camp, it is, and the f-bomb is forbidden,” Tiffany answered. “Page fifteen, paragraph six.”

“What are you, like a lawyer?” Ashlyn asked.

“Nope, but I read that whole thing, too, after my demerit because I don’t ever want to do the hog lot stuff again.” Tiffany shuddered. “I hated that job worse than even doing the stalls with all that horse crap and wet straw.”

“All right, already,” Ashlyn almost snorted. “Can she cut my hair or not, Jayden?”

“Not right now because in one minute it’s going to be time for you to hustle outside for exercises,” Jayden said. “So, get your hair put up in a ponytail and pull it out the back of your cap.”

Carmella reached for her cap that hung on the bedpost and dropped it—then it bounced up under her cot. When she bent to get it, she jumped back and yelled, “Spider.”

The siren sounded and both of the other girls took off out of the bedroom in a run. All the color left Carmella’s face and she started to whimper like a puppy. “Jayden, the spider is on my cap, and I’m going to be in trouble if I go out there without my cap.”

Jayden got down on her hands and knees and peeked under the bed. “That damn thing is as big as King Kong! Here, you take my cap and get on out of here. I’ll deal with this monster before I go to the kitchen.”

“Thank you.” Carmella jerked the hat onto her head and pulled her ponytail out the back as she ran for the door. “If you can catch it, please put it in the box and freeze it,” she yelled just before the wooden screen door slammed shut behind her.

A big brown tarantula sat on the top of Carmella’s cap like a king on a throne and seemed to glare at her as if it were daring her to approach him without permission. She wasn’t afraid of a normal spider, but in her mind this thing was as big as a gorilla and looked twice as vicious.

“Is everything all right in here?” Elijah yelled from outside.

His voice startled Jayden so much that she jumped backward, lost her balance, and sprawled out on the floor on her back. The spider must’ve heard boots on the wooden floor because it hopped off the hat and became nothing more than a dark blur as it ran right toward Jayden’s hair.

“Help!” She jumped back and tried to yell at the same time, but her voice came out more like a cross between the whine of a hungry puppy and the screech of an owl.

She was still scrambling backward when Elijah entered the room. Even though he wasn’t riding a white horse, Elijah damn sure looked like a knight in shining armor when he reached down with one hand and let the spider crawl right up on his arm.

“Are you crazy?” Jayden gasped.

He extended his free hand toward her. “Need some help?”

She put her hand in his, but once she was standing, she let it go and took a few steps back away from him. “Doesn’t that thing bite?”

“Not unless provoked. This is mating season for them, so they come out of their burrows in the wilds looking for mates. This boy got lost. What do you want me to do with him?” Elijah asked.

“Put him in Carmella’s collection box”—she pointed to the shoebox sitting on top of a footlocker—“and then make sure the lid is on it. I’ll take it from there. Why aren’t you out in the yard with the girls?”

“I left Ashlyn in charge.” He managed to get the spider into the box and quickly put the lid on it. “After a couple of weeks, I do that so they can learn even more responsibility. I knew something was wrong when the dining room was still dark, and you didn’t come out of the cabin with your girls like you always do.”

“Thank you for rescuing me.” She grabbed a broom from the corner of the room and swept Carmella’s cap out from under the bed.

“You are welcome.” He nodded. “But why did you use a broom? You could have reached the cap with no problem.”

“You said those things are harmless, but, honey, they could cause me to hurt myself.” She settled the cap on her head. “If his new little wife had set up housekeeping under the cot with him, I might have busted up a leg or an arm when I fell this time. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Is that your whole philosophy about life?” Elijah asked.

“Nope, just when it comes to big-ass spiders.” She brushed past him, picked up the box, and started for the door, but she did sneak a glance over her shoulder at him on the way.

“What are you going to do with him?” Elijah followed so close behind her that she could feel his warm breath on her bare neck.

“He’s about to have an up-close-and-personal cryogenic experience,” she answered. “Then Tiffany will figure out a way to sketch him. I’m hoping she draws him on top of a skyscraper with airplanes flying all around him.”

Elijah opened the door for her, and they walked side by side across the yard. Ashlyn had finished the morning exercises, and the girls were still in formation.

“All right, girls. We’re going to do a fast walk this morning and cut our time by a third. We’re up to three miles now, and some of you can do it without groaning. By that last week, you’ll all be ready to go all the way to the mountain and camp out for a night.”

“What is this all you are talking about?” she asked. “You got another tarantula hiding in your pocket. Is it going with us? I love to exercise, but I’d just as soon you leave all spiders at home.”

Elijah chuckled. “I don’t carry spiders in my pockets, and I mean all of the girls and you counselors. We wouldn’t leave you out of the fun—those hot dogs won’t cook themselves. See you later.”

Jayden went straight to the big freezer in the pantry and carefully put the whole box inside it. She wasn’t sure if she shivered because of the cold air, or if it was the idea of that huge critter in the box, or if maybe it was because she could still feel Elijah’s breath on her neck.

The calendar on the wall in the kitchen said it was the third week in June, but the weather said something altogether different. For the second Sunday in a row, it rained. Not just a little sprinkle or two to water the cacti between the camp and the far mountains, but a serious downpour. Thank goodness it didn’t start until they were in church, but still, when the service was over, all eight girls got soaked running from the church to the vans. They were all moaning about having to stay inside all afternoon when they reached Piney Wood and jogged from the parked vehicles to the dining hall.

“I’m not looking forward to this afternoon,” Novalene groaned.

Jayden was the last one to sit down at the table with the adults, and she nodded in agreement. “I have an idea, and it might not be a good one, so I want all y’all to voice your honest opinions.”

“I’m all ears,” Novalene said.