{"id":1940,"date":"2015-12-31T00:59:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T05:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=1940"},"modified":"2016-01-05T00:41:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T05:41:02","slug":"issue-468-december-31-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2015\/12\/issue-468-december-31-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 468 \u2013 December 31, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nFORMATTING’S BEEN PROBLEMATIC HERE. I THINK I HAVE IT FIXED, SO THAT THIS IS NOW EASIER TO READ —<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you, one and all! Frankly, I’m shocked and delighted to hear from so many readers asking for a year-end installment of THE MANTOOTH BONE<\/em>. So here you have it, with my apology for the oversight and my gratitude for your interest\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

This part of the story takes place in the first third of the novel\u2019s manuscript, at Eddie Starling\u2019s first summer camp. Eddie and his best friend Todd are in the Black Knights\u2014one of Troop 22\u2019s four patrols. Eddie made Tenderfoot (the hard way, but that\u2019s another part of the story) a few weeks earlier; Boomer was elected Patrol Leader; Jack Wildhorn, Senior Patrol Leader. Bill Wildhorn, Jack\u2019s father, agreed to be their camp Scoutmaster. This segment of the story opens toward the end of the troop\u2019s week at Camp Tomahawk\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Todd and I buddied up. I\u2019m going to earn Swimming merit badge for sure, and I have everything done for Second Class rank. Todd\u2014he\u2019s already Second Class\u2014is finishing Rifle Shooting merit badge, and so am I. Just one more round of targets to go. I wanted to go for Nature merit badge but Todd was really into Indian Lore, so that\u2019s the other one we\u2019re trying for.
\n I made a sheath for my pocketknife and did beadwork for the front of it. Todd and I are practicing Native American sign language and we\u2019re getting pretty good. We can actually sign-talk to each other a little bit. We need to build a model of a wigwam, tepee, or long-house. We decide on a tepee. I show Todd how to make it with twigs and sticks and a few brown paper bags the kitchen crew at the dining hall gave us, plus some Tempera paint from the craft lodge.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Todd and I are at the craft lodge finishing up our tepees when we check our watches. Time to head back to Cheveyo for lunch. We take our tepees with us, to show our counselor later. It\u2019s close to time for the troop to assemble in our campsite, so we take a shortcut through the woods to get back faster.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, you two kids! Wadda ya doin\u2019 in our campsite?!\u201d
\n We freeze. Oh crap, we walked right into that annoying troop\u2019s area, right next to our own.
\n \u201cHey, sorry. No prob! We\u2019re outa here,\u201d I shout over to the four Scouts standing by their fire ring. We start heading back the way we came, but not fast enough. The four of them surround us.
\n \u201cSo, what\u2019ve you kids got there?\u201d one of them says. His lips sorta curl. He\u2019s got a mean look in his eyes.
\n \u201cThey\u2019re model tepees,\u201d Todd says. \u201cWe made \u2018em for Indian Lore merit badge.\u201d
\n \u201cTepees? They look more like dunce caps. Wadda ya think, guys? Dunce caps, right?\u201d The other three start wagging their heads up and down. They\u2019re all grinning down at us\u2014they\u2019re way bigger than Todd and me.
\n \u201cDunce caps for two little dunces,\u201d another says. \u201cWhy don\u2019tcha put \u2018em on, little dunce camper-kids?\u201d
\n I can feel my face getting red. \u201cThey\u2019re tepees, and we\u2019re not dunces or little kids! We\u2019re Scouts!\u201d
\n \u201cYeah, right,\u201d the third one says, with a toothy grin. \u201cLittle Scouty-Scouts. Little baby campers.\u201d He points to Todd. \u201cYou. You look like a little crybaby. Gonna cry fer us, little dunce crybaby?\u201d They grab our tepees and jam them on our heads.
\n Todd starts to look like he\u2019s gonna lose it. But I\u2019m wrong. \u201cYou fatass dirtball!\u201d Todd yells. He knocks the mangled tepee off his head and swings an uppercut right at the biggest guy\u2019s jaw. But the guy\u2019s too tall or Todd\u2019s too short; the punch catches the guy on his neck, right on his Adam\u2019s apple. With a sloppy sort of gurgling sound the guy folds to his knees as he grabs his throat, then pitches forward, face down in the dirt.
\n \u201cWhat are you doing!\u201d the others yell. They grab Todd. I knock the other broken tepee off my head and before they can grab me I race across the campsite to get to our own, about a hundred feet away through the woods. One of the other three lets go of Todd and runs after me. He\u2019s fast, and grabs the back of my tee-shirt before I can get to the woods. \u201cGotcha!\u201d he hollers. I feel myself stopping but before I lose my balance backwards I throw myself into a forward roll. Instead of letting go, the guy holds onto my shirt, but my roll makes him lose his balance. I feel my tee-shirt start to come off over my head as the guy goes sailing over me, somersaults, and lands face-up in front of me. I free myself from the tee-shirt, then run for our campsite, slapping branches out of my way.
\n Most of our troop\u2019s gathered, getting ready to head off to the dining hall when I bust through the woods. \u201cThey\u2019ve got Todd!\u201d I yell, and without even asking what\u2019s going on the whole troop takes off through the woods to the other campsite.
\n The bozo Todd whacked is still face-down. The other with my tee-shirt got up and now the three of them are holding Todd off the ground and working to cram the broken tepee back on his head. Todd\u2019s hollering and kicking at them, then he stops and sort of relaxes. He grins. \u201cOkay, you three, take a look behind you,\u201d he says.
\n They\u2019re puzzled for a second, then turn around. Behind them are twenty really pissed off Scouts.<\/p>\n

Jack\u2019s the first to speak. \u201cLet our Scout go. Now.\u201d
\n \u201cOh yeah? Like, what\u2019re you gonna do? We got him, and that\u2019s that,\u201d one of the guys says, but not with the same face as when the odds were four-to-two. He takes a couple of steps closer to Jack. \u201cYou think you\u2019re so tough,\u201d he says to Jack, poking him in the chest, \u201cyou just try, smart guy.\u201d
\n I can see Jack\u2019s face. I can see in his eyes he\u2019s making a decision. The guy poking him sees it too, and drops his hand.
\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to do anything to you or your friends here,\u201d Jack says quietly, \u201calthough you\u2019re really tempting me. I\u2019m just going to walk over to the dining hall and have lunch. But what these other Scouts have in mind\u2014well, you don\u2019t look it, but maybe you\u2019re actually bright enough to figure that one out, all by yourselves.\u201d
\n That\u2019s when the Sharks do their chant, the Bobcats start howling, the Gators growl, and the Knights thump our stampede sound all together.
\n The three bozos look at each other like they\u2019re making a decision too. They let go of Todd. The face-down guy gurgles a couple of times, then slowly gets on his feet.
\n \u201cI think a couple of items on the ground belong to these two Scouts. Maybe you should give \u2018em over. Now,\u201d Jack says. They don\u2019t question Jack this time. They pick up the sorry-looking scraps and try to straighten them. Then they give them to Todd and me.
\n \u201cWe were just\u2026\u201d one of them starts.
\n \u201cStow it,\u201d Jack cuts him short. \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear an excuse, and an apology would be really stupid, coming from you four. So here\u2019s how it\u2019s going to happen. You stay away from us. You touch one of our Scouts again, I guarantee you\u2019ll be on the phone begging your parents to come get you. Got that? I said, got that?\u201d And that once is the loudest I ever heard Jack speak.<\/p>\n

Later, as we\u2019re leaving the Indian Lore lodge, Todd nudges me. \u201cDo you think Jack could have done it back there? I mean, do you think he could have taken down all those guys?\u201d
\n \u201cI saw him think about it, Todd. I think he could have, and I think that\u2019s exactly why he decided not to. Those jerks figured it out too. My dad\u2019s always said, \u2018If you know you can do something, sometimes it\u2019s better to not do it and let the other guy figure it out, if he has any brains at all\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

==========<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what are we gonna do about those dirtballs in that troop next door?\u201d Todd\u2019s asking me.
\n \u201cWadda you mean, \u2018do\u2019?\u201d
\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe it, Eddie. You mean you\u2019re just gonna let it go? Like nothing happened? After they ruined our tepees and we had to start all over again?\u201d
\n \u201cWell, I gotta tell you, Todd. Two up against four is lousy odds to begin with, but if you go by weight, it\u2019s like two to eight, and that really sucks.\u201d
\n \u201cSo who says it has to be just us?\u201d
\n \u201cHuh?\u201d
\n \u201cEddie, we have four guys in our patrol who\u2019ll back us up. I\u2019m positive.\u201d
\n \u201cYeah, I get you. But what? I mean, we don\u2019t want to hurt them or damage anything. Even though they really have it coming, that\u2019s just not right.\u201d
\n \u201cSo something else, then. Some way they can feel the Ninja sting of pain, but with nobody really getting hurt. Got any ideas?\u201d
\n \u201cI\u2019ll think about it, Todd. But not a word till we figure something out, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

That night, after Taps and lights out, Todd and I slide out of our sleeping bags still wearing our shorts and tee shirts, slip on our sneakers, and use the moonlight to take us to the dumpster area behind the dining hall and the kitchen\u2019s back. We find what we came for. Completing our plan, we\u2019re back to our tent in half an hour. I don\u2019t think anyone heard or saw us.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Friday night already, and we\u2019ll be heading back home on Sunday morning after services. Taps blows its sad tune and echoes over the still lake and across the valley. There\u2019s no breeze tonight and the woods are still. The only sound\u2019s from the tree frogs\u2019 chirping. The light of the gibbous moon flickers through the treetops making splotches of light on the soft ground. All lights are out.
\n The six of us slip from the tent with shorts, tee-shirts, and sneakers, but no socks. Our own flashlights are tucked in one side pocket, and we have the six others we borrowed from the Sharks in the other, so we have two flashlights each.
\n When we get to them, the cartons lay undisturbed beneath the branches Todd and I blanketed them with the other night, off the trail between us and the noisy troop. Quiet as ghosts, we remove the branches and carry the cartons and their contents through the woods and down the short trail. Creeping behind the tents till we reach our target, we stop and listen. The other troop\u2019s tent flaps are all down\u2014sides, back, and front. We arrange the cartons\u2019 contents close to each other on the ground in front of the tent. Then we slip the empty cartons under their raised wood tent platform.
\n We back up about a dozen steps from the tent. We\u2019ve each chosen a couple of small rocks, about the size of golf balls. On my whispered \u201cgo,\u201d we start throwing the rocks at the closed front tent flap. They hit the canvas making sharp whack sounds. It doesn\u2019t take long.
\n \u201cHey! What\u2019s that?\u201d from inside the tent.
\n \u201cWhat?\u201d
\n \u201cWho\u2019s out there?\u201d
\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that noise?\u201d
\n The two front flaps flip back. That\u2019s when we stop tossing the rocks and snap on all twelve flashlights. We aim their beams right in the eyes of the four jerks in the tent. We keep moving the lights around so that we look like twelve instead of just six. But we don\u2019t speak a word\u2014we\u2019re totally silent.
\n \u201cHey! Cut that out!\u201d
\n \u201cTurn off those lights!\u201d
\n We keep aiming the flashlight beams at their faces.
\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get you!\u201d
\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get you for this!\u201d
\n Just as we hoped, the four come charging out of the tent without first grabbing their own flashlights…or shoes.
\n Crack! Crack! Crack! Squish. Crack! Squish. Squish. \u201cWhat the..!\u201d
\n The eggs they\u2019d jumped down on are cracking and squishing under their feet, sending them slipping, sliding, falling.
\n Other tents start rousing. We snap off our flashlights and run for the woods in six different directions, staying off trails, using routes we\u2019d figured out earlier that day.
\n Quickly back in our own tent and in our sleeping bags, sneakers under our cots, we listen. The other campsite\u2019s in an uproar, with lights and cursing everywhere. Then new sounds over at the latrine and wash stands, as they try to get the egg goo and shells off their feet, arms, legs, hands, and clothes, cursing like crazy all the way.
\n Finally, the muttering settles down, and I can picture in my mind four miserable dirtballs wandering barefoot back to their tent, careful to avoid the raw omelet that\u2019s waiting for them on the ground in front of it. I find myself smiling a very satisfied smile as I drift off to sleep.<\/p>\n

When morning comes and Reveille blares, Jack lines up the troop, like he does every morning before the walk to the dining hall.
\n \u201cSeems there was a little ruckus last night,\u201d he begins, sort of smiling slightly at just one corner of his mouth. \u201cMy dad and I have been up for a while because the Scoutmaster over there wanted to have a little chat. He wants to know which of our Scouts might have been missing for a while. We told him that we didn\u2019t hear a thing till his own Scouts started all that yelling and stuff, and that when we did a tent-check all Scouts were where they were supposed to be. Did we get that right, or does anyone want to say something?\u201d
\n \u201cNope. You got that right, Jack,\u201d Matt, from the Sharks, says.
\n \u201cYup, we\u2019re all here,\u201d says David. \u201cEvery Gator slept through the night. Right, guys?\u201d and they all nod, but with big grins.
\n \u201cThe Bobcats slept like babies, too!\u201d Jason adds.
\n \u201cThat leaves the Black Knights,\u201d Jack says. \u201cAnything you want to add, Boomer?\u201d
\n \u201cBlack Knights all present!\u201d Boomer\u2019s large voice calls out.
\n \u201cWell that\u2019s that,\u201d Jack says. \u201cI guess there\u2019s nothing else to say. So let\u2019s head on down to the dining hall. Boomer, see me for a minute, please.\u201d
\n Uh oh, I\u2019m thinking. If Boomer crumbles, we\u2019re all done for!<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did Jack ask you?\u201d Corey whispers to Boomer in the dining hall as he passes the huge plate of hot pancakes.
\n \u201cOh, nuthin\u2019,\u201d Boomer says. \u201cHe just wanted to know, like, did we get enough sleep last night. He thought we looked a little frazzled.\u201d
\n \u201cSo what did you say?\u201d Justin asks.
\n \u201cOh, I just told him we slept like babies, too,\u201d Boomer says. \u201cNo biggie. Jack\u2019s cool.\u201d
\n \u201cDo you think he knows?\u201d Todd asks.
\n \u201c\u2019Course he knows. He\u2019s no dope.\u201d
\n \u201cSo, like, is he gonna do anything? Like tell the other troop, or anything?\u201d
\n \u201cNot a chance, Todd. Jack knows they got what they deserved. And he knows nobody got hurt or anything. So it\u2019s over. Except look over there…\u201d
\n Three tables away, the four dirtball Scouts look like big messy globs. Shirts still wet from getting the eggs off, and two with their hair still caked from trying to get the eggs they\u2019d fallen into out. They keep eyeballing us, but we don\u2019t look back, or wave, or laugh, or anything. We just finish our breakfast, clean up, and leave the dining hall with our other patrols.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019re heading back on the trail to Cheveyo campsite for our last morning before the big farewell campfire, Bill waves for me to catch up with him.
\n \u201cNicely done, Eddie. Those so-called Scouts got what was coming and nobody really got hurt. Oh, their pride, maybe, and that\u2019s probably not such a bad thing. They have a lot to learn about how to treat others,\u201d Bill says.
\n \u201cHuh?\u201d
\n \u201cEddie, you\u2019re one of the sharpest Scouts I\u2019ve had the pleasure of knowing. Are you really going to try to convince me otherwise?\u201d
\n \u201cNo…I guess not, Bill. But why me? There\u2019s twenty-one other guys in the troop, and none of \u2018em\u2019s actually stupid.\u201d
\n \u201cEddie, you\u2019re sharper than most, you\u2019re not out to hurt anybody, and you\u2019re careful. But if you want me to think it was someone else who out-smarted those guys in that other troop…well, okay, we\u2019ll let it go at that.\u201d
\n Darn it! He\u2019s as bad as my dad! How do they figure this stuff out?<\/p>\n

(PS, So nobody’s hair catches fire here, later in the story we learn that, before leaving for home, the Black Knights pooled their remaining “trading post” money, put it in an envelope, and placed it by the camp kitchen’s back door–to pay for the eggs Eddie and Todd “borrowed.”)<\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 468 \u2013 12\/31\/2015 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2015]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ FORMATTING’S BEEN PROBLEMATIC HERE. I THINK I HAVE IT FIXED, SO THAT THIS IS NOW EASIER TO READ — Thank you, one and all! Frankly, I’m shocked and delighted to hear from so many readers asking for a year-end installment of THE MANTOOTH BONE. So here you have it, with my apology for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-23"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1940"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1945,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions\/1945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}