The rest of the weekend was spent at the lakefront, hiking, sitting at the campsite, playing card games, or visiting around the campfire. No one forced Beth to wear a bathing suit at the beach. She rolled up the pant legs of her jeans, waded, and splashed in the water with Lisa and her family….

Beth stopped at home after school on Friday only long enough to drop off her book bag and pick up Otto, and their duffel bags, which she’d left near the side door so she wouldn’t have to enter the house, run into Virgie, and risk having her mom change her mind about allowing them to go on the camping trip. She opened the side door, hung her book bag on a hook, and shouted for Otto. He came running from his bedroom dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, appearing more excited than Beth remembered him being in a long time. They grabbed their bags and headed to her friend’s house without saying a word. Lisa waited for them on the sidewalk, and together they hurried away from the Clark home before Virgie stopped them….