Chapter 29
Barnes wasn’t much of a nature hike person, but he had to admit that it was a nice day to be stuck doing one. The walk was along a path that had been worn into the grass through countless years of endless campers walking the same direction each season. It went along the perimeter of the camp, along the same side of the grounds as the canoeing area but then following one of the streams that fed into the lake, wandering through the trees and along a a bluff that towered over them as they walked.
The kids that were walking were having a good time. They were looking at the ground – hoping to find something interesting to take back with them – and were also looking for any wildlife. There were two camp staffers walking with them, pointing out different animals they happened to see (mostly squirrels and birds and the occasional flash of tan that may or may not have been a deer.
“We’re coming up to the waterfall,” one of the staff people told the group. Since they could all hear the sound of the water hitting rocks. “You guys need to stay away from the rocks, because they can be slippery, but there is a trail behind the waterfall that we’re going to take. Stay close to the wall of the bluff, okay?”
The group all nodded their agreement but all four counselors – two for the boys and two for the girls – arranged themselves amongst the kids to make sure everything stayed safe. The stream wasn’t wide, and it wasn’t deep, but the water was running pretty quickly and there were several large rocks sticking out of the water, causing gurgling noises that were barely heard over the sound of the water.
“There’s fish in the water!”
Peter’s sharp eyes hadn’t missed the silvery flashes in the water near those same rocks.
The rest of the kids all moved toward the bank of the stream to see – although they didn’t get too close when the counselors reminded them to be careful.
“Wow…”
There were several murmurs of excitement and a lot of pointing, but the fish were unaware – and not at all excited by – the attention from the group of nine- and ten-year-olds, so they didn’t do anything to maintain their interest and it didn’t take long before the guides and counselors were able to get the group going, again.
There were plenty of other things to look at, after all, on the nature walk.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
“This sucks…”
Not, technically, a medical term, but definitely a true statement.
“Problems?”
Wong was enjoying this way too much, Strange decided. He had been sitting on the porch of his little cabin trying to take advantage of the quiet of the camp while the campers were out doing their morning activities, but it hadn’t worked out very well. Wong had called him twice that morning, so far, trying to have a conversation about an artifact that the two were researching, but both times the doctor had been interrupted by a crying child with a minor scrape that was apparently the end of their world until he could put a band-aid on it.
“The kids are accident prone it seems.”
Now they were in his cabin. Rather than deal with continuously interrupted calls, Wong had portalled himself into Strange’s living room and was hiding out in the little cabin. A simple spell kept anyone from seeing him when he looked out the window, and he was watching with interest as the campers ran by on their way from one place to another. The sorcerer supreme glanced at his watch and mentally reviewed the schedule he’d looked at earlier during his morning breakfast meeting with the camp director. The kids would be finishing the morning activities pretty soon and moving to lunch in less than an hour.
An amused snort from the other side of the small living room.
“Most kids are from what I’ve heard. You probably were, too.”
“Not you?” Strange asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve always been a ninja.”
Now it was his turn snort – and then an annoyed noise as he noticed yet another camper coming his direction. This one was one of the boys and he was draped over Barnes’ shoulder. Judging from the prosthetic leg, there wasn’t much doubt with boy it was – and Peter Stark was walking beside him, soaking wet and holding his right elbow with his left hand.
“Stay here,” Strange told his friend. “I’ll be right back.”
He opened the door and then closed it behind himself. Since Wong was already at the window that looked out over the front porch, he didn’t need to move to be able to watch and hear what was going on.
“What happened?” Strange asked, frowning at the trio as they climbed up onto the porch.
“I slipped and fell in the water,” Brian told him, angling his body to be able to see him from where he was hanging upside down from Barnes’ shoulder. His face was red, but as far as the doctor could tell, there wasn’t any blood. His blonde hair was dark from the water in it, as were his clothes. “Peter saved me.”
Barnes eased the boy into one of the chairs on the porch.
“I think he’s okay, doc,” he said. “But we wanted to make sure his leg is alright.”
“I don’t know much about prosthetic-“
“My stump,” the boy interrupted, grinning as he ran his fingers through his wet hair, and then moved the leg cautiously. “If it gets wet it can make the edge of the prosthetic rub into my liner and rub me raw. It’s not life-threatening, but it can blister.”
Strange nodded, relieved.
“Go ahead and take it off and we’ll take a look.” He turned to Peter, who was watching the window of the cabin, still absently holding his elbow. “What happened to you?”
“Hit my elbow on a rock and cut it.”
“He saved me,” Brian repeated, clicking the release that let him slide the leg off. “I got too close to the edge of the bank and it gave way – couldn’t feel it since it was the fake foot,” he added. And then I fell into the water. Peter jumped in after me.”
Strange looked at Barnes.
“Where were you?”
The Winter Soldier scowled at the implication that he’d failed in his duties to protect his charges.
“Right behind him.” Since his jeans were wet, too, Strange couldn’t dispute that. “Peter was quicker than I was.”
“I was closer,” the boy said, turning back toward the window, uncertainly, before looking at the doctor. “And I didn’t stop to think. Brian said that he tries not to go in the water with his leg because it can make him sink and I was scared that he’d sink.”
Barnes rolled his eyes.
“He didn’t take into consideration that the water was only knee deep, of course.”
Brian and Peter both grinned at that. Clearly it wasn’t the first time they’d heard it as they’d headed toward the doctor’s cabin.
“Let me see your elbow,” Strange said, seating himself in the other chair and distracting Peter from whatever had him looking at the window. A glance showed him that the boy wouldn’t be able to see Wong, and he knew the other magician had cast a spell to avoid just that. “Was it bleeding?”
“I don’t think so,” Peter said. “The water got it cleaned off. It doesn’t hurt too much.”
Strange held the elbow to keep Peter still so he could look at it.
“It looks clean,” he agreed. “But there’s going to be a bruise. You must have hit it pretty hard.”
“A little, yeah. I didn’t notice.”
“Because he was grabbing me,” Brian said.
“Right.” While the boy slid off the liner for his prosthetic, Strange made sure Peter’s elbow was cleaned and then applied a simple band-aid. “If it hurts, later, we’ll get you an ice pack,” he said, looking at Peter and Barnes.
The counselor nodded his agreement, and Peter looked back at the window, while Strange turned his attention to Brian’s leg.
Camp Doctor wasn’t as much of a piece of cake as he’d hoped it would be.