Dedicated to the Bill Rice Ranchin Murfreesburo, TennesseeWe're finally here!' Skye yelled, jumping out ofthe truck cab. Her dark brown eyes darted backand forth at the surroundings as fast as her heartwas pounding. She ran both hands through her hair,nervously pushing back the long dark strands. 'Morgan,I can't believe it! Camp Tioga, all summer long!'Mr. and Mrs. Chambers quickly slipped out of thetruck and set up Morgan in her Jazzy wheelchair on acement walkway.'My nerves are frazzled, and we just got here!' Morgangiggled. 'Do you think not being able to sleep for a weekhas anything to do with it?''You girls are in for the treat of your life,' Mr.Chambers said. He squared his cowboy hat on hisbrown hair and smoothed his mustache.'You certainly are!' Mrs. Chambers smiled all the wayto her blue eyes. 'We're very proud of our foster girls volunteeringto be junior counselors and riding instructors.Since you both have experience with horses and withspecial-needs children, you're just the teen workers thisChristian camp was looking for.''It's so cool that our church decided to send monthlysupport to this place,' Morgan said. Her long, kinky redhair framed a freckled face upturned to the hot June sun.'After Mr. Wheaten spoke to the youth group in Sundayschool last January, Pastor Newman really got sold onthis place. Thanks to those two, we're here!'Skye's attention shifted to the barn and riding corralstraight ahead. 'I just can't believe that serving the Lordcould ever be like this. I mean, like, Morgan and metogether in the same bunkhouse! And on top of that,Champ and Blaze could come too.' She glanced at thetrailer hooked to the back of their truck.Neigh-h-h! At the mention of his name, the sorrelquarter horse whinnied and pawed the trailer floor. Blazenickered.'Mr. Wheaten should be somewhere close by,' Mr.Chambers said. 'He told us to be here by four o'clock.''Did I hear my name?' a man's voice called from insidethe barn. A large door slid open, and a giant of a manwalked out with a belly that looked like he had swalloweda watermelon---whole. From the top of his cowboy hatto the bottoms of his boots, he was covered in hay dust.He banged his black Stetson on his jeans, wiped his sweatingface on his sleeve, and squared the hat on his silvercrew cut. 'Whew! Sure is a hot one today,' he said. 'Stackin' hay in heat like this is worse than tryin' to catcha greased pig in a tub o' sticky oatmeal. It's almost as hothere as it was in Texas. How are you folks doin' today?'He extended his right hand to Mr. Chambers.'We're fine,' Mr. Chambers said with a warm handshake.'Jumpin' out of our skin would be a better way todescribe Morgan and me,' Skye said. 'We can't wait tostart our jobs.' And see Chad, she mused.'Morgan Hendricks and Skye Nicholson, reportingfor duty, sir!' Morgan said, saluting. She shook Mr.Wheaten's hand and then pivoted her chair toward alarge building to her right. 'I am so into cooking thesedays. I want to get my hands on that neat equipment inyour mess hall where I'm going to spend three days eachweek. At home I even practiced making brown bread andblack-eyed peas.''Yeah,' Skye said, opening her mouth and pointing ather tongue. 'Enough to gag a maggot.''Skye---' Mrs. Chambers shook her head.'Sorry,' Skye said.'Little lady,' Mr. Wheaten said, 'you must've beenusing Charleston's Summer Cookbook or somethin' left overfrom the Civil War! This is Camp Tioga, not CampAtlanta. Pennsylvanians don't eat black-eyed peas---orgrits---even if that's all that's left on the shelf. We'drather eat wallpaper.' He laughed and his watermelonbelly bounced like it was dancing. 'Oops,' Morgan said, placing her hand over her mouth.'I thought all camps had steady diets of grits and stuff likethat.''In these Pocono Mountains, you'll find baked beans,griddle-fried potatoes, and homemade biscuits. No grits!I repeat, no grits! Just give me a good ol' quarter-poundernestled between two slices of fresh-baked bread, and I'ma happy camper. We've got great cooks and great eatshere at the camp. I'm sure you'll be a tremendous help toour kitchen staff, little lady.''I can't wait,' Morgan said.'Now, folks,' Mr. Wheaten said, 'the first thing weneed to do is get your mounts bedded down and get yougirls registered at headquarters.' He pointed to anotherlarge building nearby. 'That's your first stop. Then we'llshow you your assigned bunkhouse, and after chow, you'llget the nickel tour of the place. Tomorrow the campersarrive, and we're off into a summer of 'what will happennext?' So if Annie Oakley wants to help me, we'll unload---oh---what are the horses' names?''Champ and Blaze,' Morgan said.Mr. Wheaten continued, 'Okay, we'll unload Champand Blaze so they can take a nice long nap in their stallsbefore munch time.''Annie Oakley?' Skye said, scratching her head.Mrs. Chambers laughed. 'Skye, you're a little tooyoung to know about that TV program. As a matter offact, I wasn't around then either, but my mother told meabout it because she was as crazy about horses as we are.Annie Oakley was an expert horsewoman and sharpshooterwho always wore pigtails.''Little lady, you'd look just like her if you had pigtails,'Mr. Wheaten said. 'And I am old enough to rememberthat TV show. One of my all-time favorites.''Hey,' Morgan said, 'I learned about Annie Oakleyin history class. She was a real person back in the early1900s. Skye, you'd look cool with pigtails.''I'll pray about it,' Skye joked, walking toward theback of the horse trailer. 'Hey, burgers and cheese, but no black-eyed peas!'Skye and Morgan sang and giggled outside the mess hallafter supper.Following their introduction to 'camp grub,' they satthrough a not-too-boring orientation with all the othervolunteers. Next---as soon as Mr. Wheaten could jointhem---they would get their guided tour.'I wonder where Chad is.' Skye surveyed the surroundings,hoping to see a blond head and gorgeousbrown eyes pop out from behind a tree. 'I mean, mysummer will be totally ruined if he doesn't show up. Isure hope he didn't change his mind.'Morgan wheeled down off the mess hall ramp and facedthe entrance of the camp. 'If I know Chad, he's probablyworking late at the hardware store to try to get the verylast buck he can earn. After all, taking a summer off to volunteerhere isn't gonna help his college fund at all.''Oh, he told me he'll get paid since he's the camp'sjunior activity director and the lifeguard. The pay isn'tmuch, but at least it's something.''I bet he'll pop his cute little dimples in here any sec,'Morgan assured Skye. 'And besides, don't forget whyyou're here. It's not exactly for making goo-goo eyes atChad.'

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Excerpted from Summer Camp Adventure by Zondervan, Marsha Hubler
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.