怪談とポニー Ep3 - Wet job

The next several days passed actively but without some outstanding events. The girls did their best not to attract unnecessary staff attention: they followed the camp schedule, took the chosen sports courses and roamed the surrounding woods while staying close to the camp. In other words, Misty and her friends kept playing the roles of the average school campers perfectly in the absence of any important information about the place, yet suspecting some to exist. In their free time, the four friends tried to learn the camp layout in case that could come in handy, finding out that in addition to the path to the lake, there was a narrow road north of Trishores, meant for the supply trucks mostly delivering goods for the canteen. So far, all Misty’s attempts to catch that strangely familiar truck and have a better look at it failed – she was already thinking about an ambush, amusing the friends with her suspicions.

As Misty found out on the second day, Reona took the same courses, preferring general physical training to some specific disciplines. Thus the girls were returning to their cabin together; through the casual talks, Misty got to know the Tetra sisters a bit better. It turned out that the twins were orphans, not even remembering their parents well; the patronage of miss Singularity as a friend of their guardian became explicable. In their turn, the Curious Four didn’t cross with their alicorn teacher much, mostly seeing her during the meals; however, Misty kept having a strong feeling that miss Singularity was watching their company in the canteen, sometimes attentively, sometimes with a glimpse of mysterious smile on her lips.

The changes in their daily life were presented mostly by the new printed targets brought by Flaunty, the grouping and accuracy of holes in them only grew, and by the adding vials with tiny sprouts, queued on the windowsill by Lacy. The fillies could only be guessing about the numbers of the seeds gathered by their friend; Misty secretly suspected they would need another couple of backpacks for the green stuff on departure.

Drying on the ropes stretched in the bathroom specifically, the swimsuits of Misty and Reona became the daily routine. Just as the regular “additional training” as Windy and Lacy called it – with her mane and tail braided tightly, Lacy practised the kicks with the help of Windy holding a punching bag semblance made of a blanket. As if it wasn’t distracting enough on its own, the girls often did that in the evening in their birthday suits, justifying that with the comfort of the workout. Soaping and rubbing their heated backs in the shower later, Misty drolled that Lacy should rather have joined her and Reona in swimming.

“So, what do we have, mates?” Misty kept watching the crowd in the canteen, addressing the girls from the corner of her mouth when she and the pegasus twins took the free table. The new one each time if it was possible. Sometimes it was harder to accomplish as, unlike the Curious Four, some students preferred to occupy the same seats during every meal. The girls decided to change place though, for their presence or absence not to be easily noticed by some curious eye. However, they still had that feeling that at least one pair of eyes would notice their manoeuvres regardless; nothing could be done about that.

“Frankly speaking, I found out nothing that would interest us during the last few days,” the unicorn filly propped her chin with her hands, looking at the twins pensively. “I found out seemingly everything about the camp itself, something new about swimming and my inner reserves,” she smirked, “yet nothing which could probably tell us, why miss Singularity almost twitched to change that slide with river image.”

At the mention of their camp supervisor, Windy Mane threw a habitual glance over her shoulder as if to make sure that miss Singularity was at her usual place behind the staff table, not somewhere behind their backs already. Finding the alicorn mare with her eyes, Windy turned to the girls.

“Yeah! I started wondering if we would ever really need the information we fished out about the camp. It wasn’t easy to drive the talk to that river delta thing, pals,” Windy rolled her eyes in a sarcastic mien, “but a couple of times I managed to seemingly shift the topic, nopony from the staff looked as if they knew anything or were eager to discuss.”

“Same,” sighed Misty; the girl’s ears flattened parallel to the floor, showing considerable dejection.

“Girls, I’m not even sure if our hints were properly understood each time!” Flaunty Mane chuckled, throwing her hair back. “I was very cautious with the teachers at least. Perhaps too cautious to get a result…” she took another look around the hall. “Where is Lacy lingering?”

“She stopped at the buttery hatch as we entered,” noticed Misty, stretching her neck. “There she is. I wonder if she managed to find out something useful – she looked somewhat inspired yesterday, but told nothing.”

The earth filly approached their table in the corner of the hall, hiding something in her bag; the green eyes were shining behind the glasses, telling that Misty’s assumption wasn’t groundless. Hanging the back on the backrest, Lacy flopped on the chair with a mysterious smile.

“Misty, Flaunty, Windy!” The girl’s eyes ran around the friends as she leaned closer. “It seems I got something valuable. Let’s sum up our chances to sneak around as we planned,” added Lacy when the three pairs of eyes stared at her, “then I’ll tell my story.”

“Hmm…” chuckled Windy. “Okay! Who’s first?”

“I think, you all mates noticed the number of staff here,” started Misty, trying to divide her attention between their talk and breakfast equally. “Summer camps were not my usual pastime, but somehow I consider this excessive.” The girls nodded in agreement while Misty continued. “In addition to the local camp workers, we seemingly have half of the Pinewatch magistral staff present. One can hardly stay unnoticed… at least while at the camp territory.”

“The strangest thing is,” added she after a pause, putting down the fork and biting her lip pensively, “that some of them, teachers I mean, are perplexed by that scheme hardly less than me. I had a feeling that many had no idea of what they were supposed to… guard us against.”

“Well, considering Trishores was reopened after a while…” Flaunty gave a meaningful smile. “On the other hand, isn’t the mere fact of reopening some guarantee of safety. Anyway, they seemed to reach their goal – even if some of the students had an idea of breaking some rules, adults galore and the personal presence of miss Singularity made the majority of them reconsider.”

“Yeah, can’t help but give them credit – the method worked,” smirked Windy. “So far roaming around the camp at night and some prank attempts was the worst king of rulebreaking.”

“That’s even without an obvious tightening of the screws,” nodded Lacy.

“They could probably stick a camera to every tree with the same result,” Windy kept twisting the collar strap around her finger. “Strangely they didn’t. And it’s awesome they didn’t, as there are plenty of ways to leave the territory almost unnoticed.”

“How come?!” Misty perked with interest; so did her ears and the girl’s tail almost curled into a question mark.

“The gate to the lake is the easiest way,” huffed Windy, shaking her short red mane. “You see, the nearest shore is almost taken as the camp territory… and it won’t come to mind of most of the students to roam in the thicket aimlessly,” the filly winked. “But we know that one can leave the territory and then go anywhere they like, distancing from the curious eyes. Easily, during our free time for example!”

“But…” Lacy looked at Misty, then turned to the twins.

“We noticed a nice loophole in the local system,” Windy broke into a wide smile, exchanging sly glances with Flaunty. “While they are doing their best to keep eye on us all, it’s practically impossible to monitor everypony all the time. How do you think the teachers ensure that nopony is missing?”

“Mmm… Each one sees their group during the chosen activities, no?” Misty and Lacy replied almost simultaneously.

“Aaaand…” Flaunty played with her eyebrows, poking her thumb behind her shoulder.

“Of course…” drawled Misty in realization. “The regular meals.”

“Yeah, that easy, pal!” Windy shrugged with her wings. “But thankfully they cut us some slack.”

“You need to miss two meals in a row for them to start checking on you,” elaborated Flaunty under the perplexed glances of two fillies. “Nopony will start a search operation if you miss one; upon the second, somepony will come to check on you to the cabin and only then, depending on what they find… We didn’t try though,” confessed she with a smile.

“I suppose, one can risk even more if there is a friend ready to cover them up,” Windy made a meaningful grimace. “But even what we have is enough. That gives us about eight safe hours to do whatever we want, considering we all have free time after noon.”

“Even more, if we stay for dinner and are ready to roam after the sunset…” muttered Misty, inwardly estimating.

“Hah, I like the spirit,” chuckled Windy, then added. “If we have to, that is.”

“Oh, I thought you would never ask!” Lacy raised her glance at the friends turning to her expectantly. “Don’t worry, Misty, you’ll likely get your riddle… And you – your adrenaline,” she gazed at the sisters.

“Come one, we’re all ears!” It was hard to tell, who of the three girls was more eager to hear.

“Yeah, long fluffy ears…” Lacy made a cute face, batting her eyelashes. “Okay, okay…” she showed mercy finally. “You know that most of the staff who aren’t from Pinewatch, are locals, right?”

“Can I tickle her to death later?” Windy asked in an exaggeratedly sweet voice.

“From the very start, I thought that asking our teachers wasn’t the best option,” Lacy presented Windy with a tender smile, elaborating. “Even if they know, they won’t tell but have suspicions instead. The locals are another story: granted, they are responsible for the students, but… well, indirectly kinda; besides they could see no crime in telling. The hardest thing was to talk somepony into spilling the beans.”

“Yesterday you lingered here after supper,” Misty squinted with the satisfaction of her guess confirmed. “We were going to sleep when you came, smiling. I bet, you told nothing, not to break our sleep, you sly filly you!”

“That was sheer luck,” Lacy shrugged, looking an epitome of modesty. “I accidentally heard the cook complaining about the dull knives. No… swearing muffledly, but quite expressively about all the …” she quietly added the exact epithet, making the friends giggle, “knives being dull and the modern sharpeners being… Well, I’m not sure I even understood all the terms there,” Lacy barely stifled laughter. “So, I showed polite curiosity if I could…”

“Don’t say that you’ve brought it with you!” snorted Windy, making her feathers ruffled. The girl covered her mouth, noticing a couple of neighbours’ interested glances.

“If I don’t say, that won’t change anything,” Lacy cut it with a dainty smile. “What? It’s an awesome sharpener, compact and handy – I always take it for my gardening tools. And it fits anything actually, including the kitchen knives.”

Now all the girls were quietly snorting while Lacy continued as if nothing had happened.

“Of course, I offered help generously, knowing that my sharpener would do the job one hundred per cent,” the earth filly shrugged. “Obviously, it took a while to fix all the stuff, but I managed to pull the talk in the right direction. The cook was so happy because of his problem being solved, he told me that local tale without noticing it.”

“So, last evening you stood here…” Flaunty looked at her friend, who outraced the twins in scouting, with respect.

“…sharpening the knives with our cook and chattering,” smirked Lacy. “And it turned out fruitful!” She gestured for the girls to lean closer and lowered her voice. “Here’s the very salt of it. Historically, there was a town near the river delta in the north – Rye-on-Marsh. As the delta became more swamped with time and the locals moved on from fishing to more profitable industry and agriculture, the town grew and little by little moved up the Salmon Stalls river where it currently is. As the port was used by the fishers, not for some transportation,” Lacy took a sip from her glass, “it quickly became abandoned. So did the river delta, with forest and swamp regaining more area.”

“Predators?” Windy was the first to show impatience.

“Exactly not!” Lacy shook her head, looking around the girls. “There are no large, dangerous animals in the neighbourhood. I suppose nopony would establish a summer camp here otherwise.”

“Yeah, my bad…” Windy was to admit the reason.

“Rye-on-Marsh was and still is a quiet town, without many incidents happening there despite the growth,” Lacy continued her story, “the more shocking it was for them when, a few years ago, ponies started to disappear in the swampy area.”

“Hmm…” Flaunty raised her eyebrow, exchanging glances with Misty. “Maybe still predators?”

“Here goes the most interesting thing,” chuckled Lacy, putting away her glass. “Several, actually more than ten… colts disappeared through the length of about four years. Too spread in time for the predators to change their hunting area if you ask me, yet it was shocking for a town like Rye,” Lacy raised her index finger with emphasis.

“Wait,” Misty looked into Lacy’s eyes, “did you say…”

“Mhm…” Lacy nodded with a meaningful face. “Only colts, from teen to young adult as the cook said; only in the delta area… and they literally disappeared.”

“Predators usually leave something,” noticed Windy with an imperturbable look. “What?” she shrugged, replying to Flaunty’s glance. “I simply say it as it is.”

“So, nothing was found in those cases, right?” the sparks burning up in Misty’s eyes were self-explanatory. Lacy only nodded.

“There was another case though, a single one,” added Lacy. “A couple of teens disappearing there. A colt and a filly – it sounds like an exception,” she smirked wryly. “But the filly was found a week later, drowned and thrown on the ocean coast, about a mile from the delta… And the colt was nowhere to be found since,” finished the girl after a meaningful pause. “Thus, I’d say that we’re not completely out of the risk group, Misty. Need to be careful if we want to investigate.”

The girls kept silent for a while, digesting what they heard.

“Obviously, the summer camp was closed after the first couple of cases,” Lacy spread her arms. “A natural move. That’s why, I suppose, it’s safe to assume that nopony from our academic shift was ever in Trishores, some teachers either… having no idea about that story. However,” Lacy hurried to add before the girls said anything, “all the vanishings were localized strictly in the river delta, after sunset mostly. The authorities tried to search several times, but fruitlessly; they caught neither an animal nor a criminal. The further you can imagine – fencing, signs, informing the locals about the danger of that particular region.”

“Yet they found nothing to hook up to,” muttered Misty. “That mildly reminds me of…”

“Canterton,” Windy and Flaunty finished for her in half-voice.

“That’s for you to feel it out,” added Windy with a wing shrug.

“Maybe, we could ask Fran to help as well,” pensively drawled Flaunty. “So, what everything came to?” she turned to Lacy inquiringly.

“The last… incident,” Lacy cringed a little, but that was the mildest term fitting, “happened last but one year, still in the swampy delta. Somehow, it was decided to reopen the camp a year after, considering the localization of the problem. Thus the stuff galore I suppose…”

“That’s why miss Singu frowned upon that slide!” Misty bit her thumb pensively. “Wouldn’t it be smarter though to warn the students beforehand?”

“Hmm… That’s debatable,” Flaunty threw back her mane. “I bet, there would be some except us eager to find out why the area is forbidden,” the pegasus filly gave Misty a meaningful expression. “They think it’s safer this way – the area is far enough for the campers to be interested and to be caught midway if necessary.”

“So, what would you say?” Lacy’s smiling eyes examined her friend – the girl knew the answer already.

“I think,” slowly started Misty, “that we need to ask Fran and…” suddenly the filly broke into a greeting smile, looking over the twins’ heads. “…And take a nice walk to the Sire lake, then maybe the coast!”

A bit confused, Windy and Flaunty turned to face the Tetra sisters approaching their table.

“Hi, girls!” Reona raised her hand, moving her fingers in the air. “Won’t you mind, please?” she nodded towards the free seats.

The stripy twins got a little late to the canteen, so most of the tables were occupied. The girls were the familiar company at least – the choice of Reona and Ola was explicable. Greeting them, the friends moved aside to give more space for the newcomers. Obviously, they couldn’t discuss their investigation in the company of the Tetra twins; however, Lacy found what to say fast.

“Didn’t you have enough of the lake already?” the earth filly chuckled as if continuing the interrupted talk. “You both aren’t getting out of it each morning, Misty” Lacy nodded towards Reona with a smile. “The coast is a nice idea perhaps!”

“Don’t know about Misty,” Reona gave a modest smile, spreading butter on the pieces of bread for herself and Ola. “But I clearly felt the progress, even during these few days. My legs feel stronger, I can swim further and longer.”

Misty noticed how Lacy and Ola shivered a little almost simultaneously. Lacy was visibly overcoming herself holding that conversation. Her salvation came where least expected.

“Good morning, girls!” The deep sweet voice touched their ears, as two warm hands lay on the shoulders of Flaunty and Ola sitting next. “How do you like your summer camping so far?” Miss Lerie, and it was her exactly, smiled at the girls looking up at her. “We did our best to improve this year!”

“Very much!” Misty returned the smile, then quickly scanned the hall. She could spot the familiar silvery head at once; behind the table next to the teachers’ one, Momo was watching Aime with a mixture of anticipation and concern.

“We enjoy every bit of it,” confirmed Reona, watching her sister with tenderness.

“Yeah!” Windy flexed her arms, winking to Lacy, who let out a giggle.

“That’s nice to hear!” Miss Lerie patted Ola’s shoulder lightly. “By the way,” she leaned closer to the filly, “I would like to suggest you join the art class, my dear.”

“Umm…” Ola looked slightly confused; the light flush peeked between the stripes tips on her cheeks. “I’m afraid I’m not so good at…”

“Well, that’s exactly what the art class is used for,” Aime exclaimed cheerfully, “to improve your skills. And… if you still don’t like drawing, you could probably try modelling instead. We need good posers!”

Windy and Flaunty seemed overly concentrated on their glasses of juice, making effort not to fuff the contents out. Stifling a smile, Misty threw a glance over their heads – the ivory filly took a look at the empty, pulled chair next to her, letting out a visible long sigh. Biting her lip, Momo sent a squint from under her silvery, shiny eyelashes into Aime’s back.