Summer According to Humphrey (5 page)

“We’re in the woods,” Ms. Mac said. “There’s lots of stuff to be allergic to.”

Then, to my surprise, Hap Holloway stepped forward. “We’ve got medical histories and releases,” he said firmly. “We’ve got a nurse, too. She arrives tomorrow and she’ll sort out any health issues. You can concentrate on being activities director.”

Mrs. Wright was speechless, which was a first.

I knew I was going to like Hap Holloway.

“Now it’s time for pizza and singing,” Hap told the group. “And in the morning, the fun begins!”

Actually, I had a lot of fun that evening. Aldo and Ms. Mac slipped me bits of lettuce and carrots from the salad and I even got a teeny piece of pepper from the pizza.

Katie played the guitar while Ms. Mac pounded the bongos, and all of the other counselors sang amazing songs I’d never heard before. There was a song about a peanut on a railroad track and another one about an alligator. There was something about ears hanging low, which Og probably didn’t understand because he doesn’t have ears (that I’ve seen so far).

And my very favorite song was about a bucket with a hole in it. It got sillier and sillier and faster and faster, and silly old me, I was spinning on my wheel and almost fell off, the song was so funny.

If the real fun was beginning tomorrow, I knew that I was going to like Camp Happy Hollow a lot.

Even if I didn’t know who would be sleeping in all those beds.

A
fter breakfast the next morning (Maria kindly slipped me some yummy strawberries), Og and I watched through the sunny open windows of the rec room as Ms. Mac and the other counselors headed outside and began to set up tables and put up banners reading Welcome to Camp Happy Hollow. Believe me, they were BUSY-BUSY-BUSY.

“The fun’s beginning soon,” I said to Og, although what I was watching looked more like work than play.

And then a line of cars came up the bumpy road, parking near the hall. The car doors opened and out poured moms and dads and kids of all shapes and sizes. Suitcases, boxes, backpacks and duffel bags came out of car trunks and started piling up near the tables.

“Og, look at all the people! Moms and dads and whole families coming to camp!” I told my neighbor.

Og leaped up. “BOING-BOING-BOING!” he twanged.

Then it came. I should have expected it, knowing Mrs. Wright was around. But the piercing blast from a whistle that is very painful to the small, sensitive ears of a hamster surprised me so much I squeaked, “Eeek!” rather loudly. Not that anyone could hear me, since Mrs. Wright blew the whistle again!

“Line up at the tables and get your packets,” Mrs. Wright ordered the families. “Line up,
please
!”

I crossed my paws and hoped the families would line up before she could blow her whistle again. She did it anyway.

“In an orderly fashion,
please,
” she insisted.

Once the families were in line, I noticed something. While many of the faces were new to me, I recognized some of the people in line.

“Look, Og! There’s Repeat-It-Please-Richie!” I squeaked. “From Room 26!”

Og splashed wildly. “BOING-BOING! BOING-BOING!”

I climbed higher up in my cage to see what Og was so excited about.

“It’s Stop-Giggling-Gail!” I squeaked. There was a flash of blue next to her. “And her brother, Simon.” Simon was always on the move.

“BOING-BOING!” Og said before diving to the bottom of his tank.

As I peered out the window at the growing crowd of kids and parents, I saw another familiar face. It was Sayeh. She and her father looked a little bit lost among the bustle of excited families.

“Hi, Sayeh! It’s me—Humphrey!” I squeaked at the top of my lungs. Unfortunately, my small voice didn’t carry above the hubbub of the crowd.

Luckily, her friend, Golden-Miranda, appeared behind her. The girls hugged and Sayeh’s dad shook hands with Miranda’s dad. There were two other familiar faces with Miranda. I was glad to see Abby, Miranda’s stepsister. She didn’t go to Longfellow School, but I’d met her at Miranda’s house.

I was not glad to see the other familiar face.

My heart skipped a beat when Miranda’s dog, Clem, hopped out of the car. After all, Clem is bent on my total destruction! I’ve always managed to outwit him—
so far.
Luckily, Miranda’s dad quickly put him back into the car, much to my relief.

“Richie! Hey, Richie!” That booming voice could only belong to Lower-Your-Voice-A.J., who had arrived with his friend, Garth, and Garth’s parents.

“A.J. It’s me—Humphrey Dumpty!” I shouted, using A.J.’s favorite name for me. Again, he couldn’t hear me above the noise. Neither could his brother, Ty, who was standing next to him.

Mrs. Wright gave her whistle another mighty blast and Aldo helped her get the people to line up at the tables. Then, one by one, the families hurried off on paths going in many directions and disappeared. They headed toward the cabins, and I figured that each cabin would house a different family.

I figured wrong, because to my amazement, after a while, the parents all returned to their cars and drove away, leaving their children behind at Camp Happy Hollow!

“Og, they can’t leave their children here all alone,” I told my neighbor.

“BOING-BOING,” Og twanged in agreement.

But they had. I thought for a while and realized they actually weren’t all alone. Aldo and Ms. Mac were at camp, and Mrs. Wright and the other counselors. They could help the kids.

And so could I. Maybe—just maybe—a camp needed a pet hamster as much as a classroom did.

It was so peaceful and quiet after the ruckus at the tables that I had a nice little nap. But I was rudely awakened by the ding-donging of the loudest bell I have ever heard. It was even louder than Mrs. Wright’s whistle.

Og must have heard it (even if I can’t see his ears), because he leaped up so high, he almost hit the top that covered his tank.

Suddenly, the paths were filled with kids wearing shorts and T-shirts, all heading straight for Happy Hollow Hall. Some were laughing and joking, and some looked as if they had been crying. My friend Gail
definitely
wasn’t giggling anymore.

There were yummy smells coming from Maria’s kitchen, so I didn’t think anyone would be crying for long.

Once they were in the hall, I couldn’t see the campers, but I certainly could hear them. My friends in Room 26 got pretty noisy sometimes, but there were MANY-MANY-MANY more kids at camp and they were all talking at once.

“Goodness, Og,” I squeaked over the racket. “If Mrs. Brisbane were here, she’d quiet them down.”

Og splashed around agreeably until there was a loud, shrill blast. Things settled down then and for once, I was almost glad Mrs. Wright was there with her whistle.

I couldn’t make out everything that was being said, but I heard Hap Holloway welcoming the campers. Then Ms. Mac taught the kids a song about chewing—I am not kidding! Since hamsters are excellent chewers, I enjoyed the words a lot.

Then the hall got noisy again with talking and the clinking and clanking of forks and spoons. I was getting unsqueakably curious about what was happening in the hall, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to slip out of my cage while it was still light outside.

After a while, the whistle blew and things quieted down again. Hap Holloway said something about “campfire” and “games.” And then he said, “You’ll be getting to know your new friends over the next few days, but I want you to meet two more Happy Hollow Campers.”

Just as I was wondering who they might be, Aldo came into our room and picked up Og’s tank while Ms. Mac picked up my cage.

Things were really buzzing when we came into the room!

“Humphrey Dumpty!” A.J. shouted, and some of my friends cheered.

“Og the frog!” Garth shouted, and other friends cheered.

Mrs. Wright had to blast her whistle several more times until things were quiet again.

I looked around and oh, my! The tables were filled with enthusiastic boys and girls. Even the ones like Gail who’d looked weepy before had perked up quite a bit.

Hap Holloway introduced us and explained that we’d be staying in different cabins every night and that each cabin would have a chance to earn us for the night by keeping their cabins neat and obeying the rules.

The kids clapped and stomped their feet and I did, too.

Then Hap told them that for the first night, while they were at the campfire, the counselors would be checking out the cabins to see how well everyone had unpacked and made their beds.

There were a few groans, which probably meant there were some unmade beds.

But I wasn’t groaning. I was squeaking with joy because Og and I weren’t going to be stuck in some wreck of a room from now on.

Og and I were REALLY-REALLY-REALLY going to camp!

T
he dining hall emptied as quickly as it had filled up. Some of my old friends, like A.J. and Miranda, tried to come up to say hi to Og and me, but a few shrill blasts of you-know-who’s whistle kept them moving.

I looked around at the empty tables, the overflowing bins of trash, the stacks of dirty trays and dishes that a teenage boy and girl were collecting.

“What next?” I asked Og.

Og was silent. I guess he was a little confused about what had just happened and what was going to happen next. So was I.

I hopped on my wheel for a little spin and I started thinking of that song that went, “Chew, chew, chew your food.” That got me thinking about food, so I hopped off the wheel and rummaged around the bedding of my cage to see what I’d stored there. I found a bit of crunchy carrot, which kept me busy for a while.

Once the teens had gotten all the dishes out of the dining hall, it was quiet again. In the far-off distance, I could hear voices singing. I couldn’t catch all the words, but “Happy Hollow” kept coming up.

Then things weren’t so quiet anymore. I heard the patter of soft footsteps running, which soon became the clamor of loud footsteps coming closer and closer. The door to the dining hall slammed open and A.J. rushed over to my cage.

“We won!” A.J. bellowed. Even though he was slightly out of breath, that guy still had an amazingly loud voice. “You get to stay with the Blue Jays tonight!”

He didn’t get a chance to explain, because the door slammed again. Miranda rushed over to Og’s cage. “Og, you’re going to be a Robin tonight!” she said. “Our cabin was the neatest girls’ cabin.”

“Well, ours was the neatest boys’ cabin,” A.J. said. He grabbed my cage and whisked me out of the dining hall.

“See you soon, Og,” I squeaked back to my friend. “I hope!”

The Blue Jays’ cabin was just like the Robins’ Nest, except the curtains were blue plaid. Each bed had a pillow and blanket on it, and at the ends of the beds were large trunks. Clothes were hung on hooks around the room, and it was extremely neat.

There were boys sitting on the beds and trunks. Some of them I recognized, like Richie and Stop-Giggling-Gail’s brother, Simon. Others I didn’t, but they all jumped up when I came in and gathered around when A.J. set my cage on his trunk.

“Listen up, guys, this is Humphrey. He was our class pet and he’s amazing. So we’ve got to take good care of him. And we’ve got to keep this place neat,” he said. “We want the Blue Jays to rule, right?”

They all agreed.