Hearing what people say out loud is a good way of getting information, but sometimes it's even more useful to listen to what they don't say.
Ms. Martin is talking to a tall man with blond hair just starting to fade into gray at the temples. You know that he was introduced at the beginning along with the other adult staff members. What was his name? Tom something? The caretaker?
"Some people will want to keep the camp open no matter what," Tom says with complete certainty. "And there are plenty of members of the board who are on the fence. You can sway their opinions."
You close your eyes and clear your mind, letting the rest of the world fade away as you focus in on Ms. Martin's thoughts. It feels like you're walking down a long dark hallway: closed in, constrained, blank—and then suddenly, a door opens, and the light comes in.
Goldman and O'Reilly went here as campers. Ms. Martin's thoughts race anxiously through her mind, and you can hear them as clearly as if she were speaking them out loud. They'll be sentimental enough that they'll want to keep it open. But Ferris is an accountant. She'll be interested in the bottom line. Ugh, she kept harping on those numbers in the last meeting! Yes, profits are down, and yes, that offer from Capewide Developers was good, but this camp is about more than profit, isn't it?
Capewide Developers. You know that name. You've seen it on billboards and construction sites all up and down the highway between Kingsport and Camp Cedarcrest. It's a huge real estate developer, specializing in resorts and other beachfront property.
So they're debating whether to sell off Camp Cedarcrest's land to a big developer? No wonder Ms. Martin is worried.
"Excuse me?" The voice of the camp's head cook calls you back to reality with a sudden jolt. "Pika Shimon Capela? It looks an awful lot like you're trying to eavesdrop on Ms. Martin. But I'm sure you wouldn't be doing something as rude as that." The cook must be a teacher or a parent, because the look she's giving you is as stern and suspicious as any that your own teachers and parents have given you over the years. "Right?" she asks, her eyes narrowing a little more.
"Right!" you answer, and beat a hasty retreat.
You might not have made the best first impression on the camp staff, but you got the information you needed.
As you walk out into the summer heat, you turn over your discoveries in your mind.
Camp Cedarcrest may be in trouble. If the camp puts on a good enough show for the board of directors, you may be able to save it.
But do you want to?
Chapter 2: Hard To Say Goodbye