18

The deodorant was probably the one thing keeping the fumes in our cabin from reaching toxic levels. And if we get sick, were ALL going home early. That might be OK for everyone ELSE, but it's not all right for ME. Because the sooner I go home, the sooner I have to face DAD. Saturday. To be honest with you, I had forgotten all about Rowley until he returned to camp yesterday morning. But when he caught a whiff of our cabin, I'll bet he wished he had just stayed home.

It turns out Rowley got an infection from Gareth's tooth, and that's why he was gone for so long. Rowley brought the tooth WITH him, but I'm not sure what Gareth's supposed to do with it at this point. Rowley was coming back at an awkward time. We've all been preparing for the last night of the trip, which we have to spend OUTDOORS. I'm kind of looking forward to it, because that's ONE night we won't have to stay in our stinky cabin. But I'm not sure my group can even SURVIVE sleeping out in the elements. We're supposed to build a shelter and a fire tomorrow night, and I have no IDEA how we're supposed to pull THAT off.

Mr. Jefferson has been trying to teach us how to do some basic outdoorsy things, but it turns out he's just about as useless as the REST of us. Yesterday he was trying to teach us how to build a fire, and he broke the "no electronics" rule by using his phone to look up how to do it. But his battery died when a couple of my cabinmates got ahold of it to watch videos of screaming goats. I guess Mr. Jefferson learned a LITTLE bit before the battery died, because he got a fire going and told the rest of us to get some kindling. Nobody knew what kindling WAS, though, so we brought back everything we thought might burn.

Rowley came back with what looked like a bunch of WEEDS and threw them on the fire, but that totally smothered it. It turns out the stuff Rowley put on the fire was actually POISON IVY, and this morning he woke up covered in spots. Mr. Jefferson must've inhaled the fumes and gotten it in his LUNGS, because he was having trouble breathing.

The nurse called Mrs. Jefferson to come pick them both up, and I think they're done for GOOD. That means my group is the only one without a chaperone. I've heard Mrs. Graziano is scrambling to find a replacement, but no dads are willing to give up the rest of their weekend to come out here. This is really bad timing, because it's supposed to RAIN tomorrow night, and we haven't even started building our shelter. I tried to spy on a group that has a bunch of Boy Scouts in it to see if I could pick up any pointers, but those guys weren't willing to give away their secrets.

While we were off trying to set up our camp, some other group raided our cabin. I guess they must've heard about Graham's snacks, because his stash was totally picked clean. The thieves also went through MY bag and found the baby wipes, which they used up in our bathroom. They must've tried to flush them down the toilet, because now it was CLOGGED. The worst part was that the toilet overflowed, and the water ran along the floor in a path from the bathroom to my duffel bag. Everything I owned was wet except for Grandpa's book, which the thieves had tossed onto a bed.