Trapping Trisha

In the Great Smoky Mountains, there are two adjacent scout camps, named in the language of the native tribe with words meaning cleverness and beauty, respectively: Camp Gunagitchu for Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and Camp Qatchuntakmi for Girl Scouts and Brownies. The two camps are separated only by a wide but shallow stream.

The Boy Scout camp is constantly occupied by several dozen troops averaging 20 boys per troop, in tents. Likewise the Girl Scout camp hosts a fairly steady population of a few hundred girls, but in cabins. The few leaders the camps can afford to hire have a very difficult time keeping track of them all.

One of the Boy Scout troops present on a hot day in August was troop 2469. The highly acclaimed and beloved scoutmaster who had led the troop for the previous thirty years had recenly been arrested, and committed suicide, over a sex scandal, causing great grief and anger among the boys in the troop, but the troop’s planned trip to camp had gone ahead without a leader.

Three new members, Jeff, Mark, and Curt, had made plans to get their Merit Badges in tracking and trailing, woodcraft, and knots. At least, that’s what they told the other boys, which gave them an excuse to spend all day, every day, away from the rest of the troop, doing their ‘tracking and trailing’ stuff, and an excuse to bring lots of ropes and other assorted equipment to camp.

On the other side of the wide but shallow stream, Brownie troop 321 finished breakfast and returned to their cabins to begin the first day’s activities at camp.

Six-year-old Trisha, humming the tune the girls had sung to the birds at the opening ceremony, turned from the road and approached her assigned cabin.