Chapter Five: Yosemite

“I can’t believe we’re really here!” Dana squealed, hopping out of the car.
“What do you think?” Rainbow asked. She smiled at her friends.
“It’s beautiful,” Candace replied, stepping out of the car. Esther, Rainbow’s little sister, was skipping around the campsite.
“Yay, yay, yay, we’re here!” she screamed.
Trey nearly crawled out of the car. “6 hours stuck in a car full of girls…” he moaned.
Rainbow smiled. “Oh, it wasn’t that bad, Trey.” He just shrugged. They all looked over the campsite. It was on the left side of the road, in a circle of trees with a little path leading down to the Merced River below.
“What a perfect campsite,” Rainy breathed.
Her mom called to them.
“If you help unload the car and set up the tents, we can have lunch then wade in the river.”
“Ooooo, yay!” yelled Rainy’s 5-year-old brother, Jeremiah. Rainbow, Dana, and Trey walked to the back of the car. Dana looked back and saw Candace staring into space.
“What’s she thinking about?” Dana wondered.
Candy’s thoughts were whirling. “Who was that girl? Why did she come to me? Why can’t I tell anyone? What did she mean by an adventure?”
“Candy, you coming?” Candy looked over and saw Dana with her arms full of bags.
“Oh, yeah, sorry guys,” Candace said, walking over. Pulling a tent out, she followed Dana and carried it over to where Rainbow and Trey were waiting.
“Okay,” Rainy said. “Let’s get these set up!” After about 45 minutes, they managed to set up both of the tents in a way that they wouldn’t collapse when you merely touched them.
Dana sighed. “Now that that’s over, can we eat?” After a lunch of fruit, sausage, crackers, and cheese, they went to change to go wading. While walking to the restroom, Rainbow asked, “today we’re probably going to go on a hike, but what do you guys want to do tomorrow?”
Dana shrugged. “I don’t care. I’ve never been here before, so I don’t know what there is to do.”
“Well, I’ll ask my grandparents,” Rainbow decided. After they had changed, Trey ran ahead.
“Beat you there!” he called back to the girls.
“Hey, you had a head start!” Dana yelled back, while running after him.
“Come on, Candy,” Rainbow laughed, pulling on her friend’s arm.
“Okay,” Candy replied, and walked a little faster.
“You’ve been acting strange lately,” Rainbow said, walking next to her. “Are you feeling okay?”
Candace looked at her. “Hm? O, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well, come on, let’s go,” Rainbow replied, skipping towards the campsite. Candace followed, still thinking over the strange girl. “She said she would return, but when?”