Mohr

“Okay,” Jaf said loudly. She was standing in front of the river, wearing her fancy blue lifejacket. PFD. Lifejackets were the ones shaped like keyholes, I remembered Jaf explaining that on our first day at camp. We all wore PFDs. Personal Floating D-somethings. She was holding her pretty paddle in one hand. “So if you look across the river, Mohr’s Island is the section of trees that looks closer. The trip across takes about an hour. We’ll head upriver first.” She pointed. “And then raft up for a little break before crossing.  I’m lead canoe, so that means you should all be behind me. Kettle is sweep, so she’ll be at the back in case you need any help. Let’s get going!”

The other girls all paired off and went to their canoes. I went to Jaf. Being with a leader was the best, especially being in the lead canoe. Jaf dropped her paddle onto the back seat. The bow seat. No, the stern seat. The canoe was named Phantom. It was white and covered with scratches and old, but I liked it. Boats are supposed to be girls but I thought Phantom sounded like a boy. Jaf picked up the back of Phantom and slid him into the water before sitting on him.  That made it easier for me to climb in since he wouldn’t shake so much.

“Go ahead, Robyn.”

I stepped into the canoe as close to the middle as I could, and carefully walked up to my seat. The bow seat. I put my backpack down. Jaf slid the canoe the rest of the way in and I felt her step into the back before sitting down. She paddled us out to the dock without my help. We floated up beside the dock and I grabbed it to stop us from drifting away. We had to wait for everyone else to get off of the beach. Kettle and Orca were helping the other girls before they could get into their own canoes. Of course I knew that those weren’t their real names, but all the councilors had silly names. It was fun, and it was like a game to figure out what their real names were.

The other canoes rafted up beside us and held on tight. Finally once Kettle’s canoe had left the beach, we pushed away from the dock and I started paddling. It was great being in the lead canoe, there was no one in front of me. It was easy to ignore the other girls talking and imagine my own story.


“Captain Robyn! We’re leaving the beach, going to the land of Mohr. What are your orders?”

“Lower all the sails. I want to be there in an hour!” I am standing at the wheel of my ship, the sun is shining and the ocean is wavy. The wind will push us wherever I want to go. The land of Mohr is dangerous, full of strange monsters and piles of gold. Legends say there is a dragon living there.

My first mate Jaf salutes. “Aye aye captain!”


“All right, Robyn, let’s stop paddling and wait for the others. Drink some water.”

I put my paddle down and got out my water bottle. I was already so tired! And hot. I wanted to take off my t-shirt but it was a camp rule to always wear sleeves unless swimming. Carefully I turned around in my seat to look at Jaf.

“I’m hot.”

She nodded. “Yeah, me too. You know, if you dunk your hat in the water it’ll cool you down.” She took off her own had and stuck it into the river before plopping it back onto her head. Water dripped over her shoulders. “Just be careful not to drop it.”

I squeezed my fingers tightly on the brim of my hat and leaned over to put it in the water. The water was nice and cool, I couldn’t wait to swim on the island. I let the hat drip a bit before putting it back on. Jaf was right, the water ran down my face and neck and I felt better. When the other canoes reached us we waited for all the other girls to have a drink and a short rest before Jaf called for us to go. Again, I was back in front, with nothing but river in front of me.


“Land ho, captain!” Jaf calls down from the crow’s nest.

I can see a line of trees in the distance. I gasp. The legends were true! A red dragon is flying above the trees. Somewhere in the forest is its cave full of gold and treasures. Luckily, I’m not afraid. My crew is made of the bravest, sneakiest pirates that ever sailed the seas. If we can reach the island finding the treasure will be no problem! I look at the map on my table. I know where we are and put my finger on top of the messy words. “Here there be monsters,” I read out loud.

All of a sudden my ship shakes and I look up. “What was that?”

“Sea monster!” One of my crew yells.

Jaf climbs down from the rigging and stands beside me. “Captain Robyn, what should we do?” The sea monster shakes the ship again and we almost fall. “Should we fight, or – Robyn, I’m going to turn-“


“-us a little so the waves hit us from the front instead of the side. We won’t tip, don’t worry, it’ll just make it easier for us. Can you draw for a bit?”

A passing motorboat made the waves. I reached out my paddle as far as I could and pulled water towards the side of Phantom, it was a special paddle move called the draw. When we were practicing on the second day of camp, Jaf said I was doing it really well.

“Perfect, thanks,” Jaf said as the waves passed. When the water calmed down she turned us back towards the island.

I tried to guess how far we were from getting there. It was hard to understand distance over water. “How much further?” I asked.

“We’re about halfway,” Jaf said.


Jaf shoots a cannon at the sea monster to scare it away. We continue to sail towards the island. When we get closer I can see strange dog-like animals running in the forest. I call for a rowboat and Jaf and I row to the beach at one end of the island. The animals stare at us from the shadows, their eyes glow.


Phantom shook as Jaf stepped out into the shallow water. She pulled him up onto the sand so that I could climb out. She started to unpack the crates from the canoe and I helped by carrying two juice jugs over to the shade. The other canoes landed and unpacked their own food.

Some girls went off into the trees to go to the bathroom. Some of them thought it was gross to go off into the trees. I helped collect little pieces of wood so that the leaders could make a fire. We were having hotdogs for lunch. We had granola bars, apples and oranges, too.

I dropped my pile of little sticks by the leaders and saw that they were being weird. Instead of building a fire to cook the hotdogs on, they were wrapping the hotdogs in aluminium foil and then packing them into milk cartons. I sat down next to Jaf and watched for a bit.

“What are you doing?”

Jaf smiled at me. “It’s a cool way we cook hotdogs at camp. See, we’ll light the milk cartons on fire, and when they burn they’ll cook the hotdogs.” She stuck the last hotdog into a carton and put it with the others. “Can you call everyone to come watch?”

I loved it when the councilors trusted me with special jobs. I stood up and took a deep breath. “We’re going to cook the hotdogs!”


“Everyone gather on the beach!” I yell.

“Aye aye captain!” my crew replies.


Jaf explained how the cartons would work again for everyone to hear, and then she lit a match and held it up to different corners of the cartons. They burned slowly. When most of the cardboard was gone Kettle started carefully picking up the hotdogs and unwrapping them. Orca handed us buns and Jaf got out ketchup and, yuck, mustard.

I got my hotdog and squirted ketchup all over it. In the shade, I found a comfy place to sit. My friend Alice sat next to me. She had been canoeing with Kettle, and her face was white from sunscreen that wasn’t rubbed in properly.

“Alice,” I whispered because it was a secret. “Did you know there’s a dragon on this island?”

Alice looked excited. “Really? Does it have treasure?”

I nodded. “We’ll look for it later.” I took a bite of my delicious hotdog. The adventure would have to wait until after lunch. Even pirates captains had to take a break once in awhile.