Page 41 of Hero's Prize

“I don’t think I was ever this quiet and well-behaved my entire life.”

Bear chuckled and looked up from his clipboard. “Well, we’ve always been rowdy, so no surprise there.”

They looked around at the twelve boys and girls between the ages of ten and fourteen who had arrived for the camp. They were truly so well-behaved, it was a little unnerving. Polite, quiet, and respectful.

“Our parents used to send us to camp because they wanted a little peace and quiet.” Colton shook his head. “And we just got wilder once we arrived there. These kids could do a workshop on politeness and maturity. Honestly, I’m a little intimidated.”

Bear chuckled again. “This is the very reason why I wanted to have a camp for these particular kids. Some of them have spent their whole lives in the shadow of their terminally ill sibling. And instead of acting out to get attention, they just learn to be muted and take up as little space as possible so that their parents don’t have to worry about one more thing.”

“That makes them pretty damn amazing.”

Bear nodded. “That was exactly why I wanted to do the camp.”

The campers had shown up right after lunch, politely andcalmly said goodbye to their parents and then maturely waited to be told what to do.

Today, they were highlighting many stations, giving the kids a taste of what they would be doing for the next ten days. Becky and Eva, since they were both vets, had shown them the different therapy animals used at Linear Tactical—everything from horses to rabbits and even a llama that had been acquired in the past few months.

Admittedly, that had almost gotten a kid-like reaction out of the campers.

Lilah and Theo, both of whom worked atLinear, talked about wilderness survival and what they’d be learning—how to make shelters, how to start a fire, and even how to track wild animals.

Lincoln was going to be teaching anyone who was interested about coding—mumbling under his breath the whole time about no hacking. A couple of kids were obviously going to gravitate to him. Bear was going to teach them basic mechanics. The tiny adults had appreciated the usefulness of that also.

And Ella had brought treats around for everyone. Not cupcakes or cookies as one would expect for this age group, but perfectly designed macarons in different colors and flavors. When she told them they’d be learning how to make these, quite a few of them had definitely perked up.

Colton wasn’t sure exactly how to relate to these kids, but Ella didn’t have that problem at all. She basically sat down in the middle of them and incorporated herself into their little circle as they ate. At first, they’d kept their distance, but Ella hadn’t let that deter her. She just stayed there and kept talking to them. She hadn’t demanded anything, hadn’t tried to be cool, hadn’t tried to fit in unnaturally.

She’d just been Ella, and the kids had responded to her authenticity. Colton wasn’t surprised at all.

Bear’s phone chimed, and he looked down at it. “Perfect timing. Now, we get to show these kids a little excitement.”

That meant Bear’s brother Derek was on his way with thehelicopter. They hadn’t wanted to mention it to the kids as a possibility until they were sure that the Teton Helitak crew wouldn’t be in the middle of an emergency, making the helicopter unavailable. These kids had probably been disappointed enough over the course of their lives with plans and activities constantly having to change due to their siblings’ illnesses.

But there would be no canceled plans today. Derek and the helicopter were on their way.

“We’ll split the kids into three groups so they can all have window views. I’ll catch you later.”

Clipboard in hand, Bear headed toward the Linear Tactical helicopter pad.

Colton walked back toward where the kids were still going through the multiple stations. They’d decided to keep the obstacle course as a surprise for later in the week. So today, he was moral and physical support as needed—as a matter of fact, he was wearing a ball cap pulled low on his head in an effort to blend in and not be recognized. Not that any of these kids were likely to be extreme sports fans anyway.

Not being recognized wasn’t a problem for Colton. It was refreshing.

He spotted one of the campers standing over by himself near the snack table and went to talk to him—a boy, early teens.

“Hey. You over here picking up more of the macarons?” Colton asked the boy. “In my book, that makes you the smartest person out here.”

The kid studied Colton with serious eyes. “They are good. I’m looking forward to learning how to make them.”

“Is baking your thing?”

The kid shrugged, looking out at the rest of the campers. “I haven’t really done much baking, but my little sister would really like all the different colors. So, I’d like to learn how to make them.”

“Your little sister—she sick?”

The kid nodded. “Leukemia.”

Damn. “That sucks. I’m sorry. But you know, the next ten days issupposed to be about you enjoying yourself and not having to worry so much about your sister.”

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