| Chapter 3 8:46 A.M. July 17, 1998 Camp Kowena Mulder and Scully walked into the large meadow. One of the younger girl units was sitting in a circle as a woman tried to teach them archery. Another woman came from behind the latrine. She stopped at the hand-washing bucket and washed her hands. She spotted Mulder and Scully and walked towards them. “You were here yesterday, weren’t you?” The woman asked, pointing to Mulder as the person she was talking about. “Yea, I’m Agent Mulder and this is my partner Dana Scully. We’re from the FBI.” Mulder said, showing the woman his badge. “Trinity and Piper told me about you Mr. Mulder. It’s a really big camp so don’t be ashamed about getting lost in the woods. I got lost the first day I came here, too.” The woman said. Mulder smiled as Scully gave him a sly look. “Who are you?” Scully asked. “My name is Piglet and I’m one of the councilors at Woodston, the unit where Trinity and Piper are. You guys are going to have to check in before someone kicks you out of the camp. They won’t care who you are. I’ll take you up to see Aloha You so she can tell you what to do.” Piglet led the way to the lodge. They passed Woodston but the girls weren’t there. Scully noticed a long clothes line strung between two trees. Small, red handkerchiefs were strung every few inches on the clotheslines. I few bathing suites and towels were on the clothesline but besides that, it remained empty. Sticks in the shapes of Y’s hung on almost every tree. From each stick was a backpack. “The Girl Scouts have very interesting ways of doing things.” Piglet said seeing Scully’s weird glances at the backpacks on the trees and the clothesline. “Are you a Girl Scout?” Scully wondered trying to make conversation. “No, I never was. They have a program where older teenagers or younger adults can sign up to be a Girl Scout for just a summer so they can make a little extra money. They only run the program if they don’t have enough leaders.” Piglet explained. The three of them continued walking until they made it to the lodge porch. There were a few people sitting at the lodge tables, and another unit of girls sitting on the steps. A few of the girls said hello to Piglet as she walked inside the lodge. Mulder and Scully followed. Inside, the looked around. Scully was in a way surprised that there was modern appliances. A color TV was in the corner showing the weather station and electricity ran through the building. In a small section of the lodge was a corner sectioned off by a curtain. Inside were medical supplies and bunk beds. Scully figured it was probably where the ill campers were kept. Piglet walked to a woman who was sitting at a desk. A fan blew her hair away from her face. A red bandanna was tying back the rest of her hair so she wasn’t as hot. She looked up as she saw the two strangers coming into the lodge. They didn’t look much like any of the other people there and they certainly didn’t fit in. Most of the campers and leaders were wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt but the agents were more sophisticated with trench coats. “Can I help you?” Aloha asked. “We’re Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI.” Mulder said introducing him and Scully. “Yes, Bubbles told me of your being here. She also said that Trinity Fyrer and Piper Alexander were willing to help after they found the first body.” “They’ve been very helpful. We’re lucky to have them on our side.” Scully said. “I know that a murder is not something that should be taken lightly, but we don’t want to alarm the camp until we find out what really happened to that poor girl. Woodston should be able to help you a great deal. A lot of those girls have been coming here for nine or ten years. Woodston will be having a sleep over on Tuesday. You’re welcome to stay with them if you’d like, however the girls pitch pup tents in the meadow so you’ll have to stay out there with them.” Aloha explained. “That’s fine, thank you for your cooperation.” Mulder said. He and Scully began walking out of the lodge when Aloha stopped them. “Oh and by the way, you’re going to have to wear these.” She said thrusting two multi-colored ties toward them. “What are these for?” Scully wondered. “So the girls can recognize you. The councilors wear purple ones so we can recognize them as leaders. These are friendship ties, hence the friendship knot at the bottom of the tie.” Aloha said. “Just remember to wear them every time you enter the camp. You might notice that a few of the girls have them to.” Mulder and Scully each took a tie and put it around their necks. They both shook hands with Aloha and walked out of the lodge. “Tasteful.” Mulder said as they walked. Scully smiled and they walked onto the porch. The group that had been sitting on the steps had left. Piglet was sitting on one of the benches of the picnic table. She was sipping some water from a water bottle and she looked up as she saw Mulder and Scully exit the building. “Do you want to go back to Woodston?” Piglet asked. “Yea, I’d like to talk to Trinity and Piper, if possible.” Scully said. “Okay.” Piglet said. She began walking down the steps of the porch. Mulder and Scully followed. Piglet led the way back down to Woodston. By this time, Mulder and Scully pretty much knew the layout of the camp. They walked behind Piglet slightly so they could have a chance to talk. “Mulder, I think you should check the woods near where Sandy was murdered. There could be some evidence near there. I’d leave a trail of bread crumbs, though, just so you don’t get lost this time.” Scully whispered. Mulder smirked and they walked down to Woodston. Piglet went inside the unit and sat down at a picnic table. The other girls were all sitting down at the tables. Each of them held four sticks and pieces of yarn. Some of them had begun to connect the pieces of wood together with the string. They all looked up when Mulder and Scully arrived. Instead of walking into the unit, Mulder continued down the path. The girls noticed Scully’s camp tie but they still were concerned that there were scary people walking around the camp. Scully spotted Trinity and Piper sitting next to each other working on their craft. She walked over to them. Bubbles stared at Scully, not letting her out of her sight. Bubbles knew that Scully was a member of law enforcement and should be able to protect everyone but something made Bubbles uncomfortable around the agents. “Piper and Trinity could I borrow you to ask some additional questions?” Scully asked. Trinity and Piper nodded their heads and placed their craft onto the table. They walked to Bubbles and asked her permission before leaving. She was hesitant to say yes but she finally did knowing that as long as the girls were together, they’d be okay. “Okay, let’s go.” Trinity said. Her voice gave a little quaver but it seemed as if Piper was the only one who noticed. Piper knew exactly what was wrong. They were both worried over who would be the next victim. Since they were helping Mulder and Scully, would she and Trinity be the next victims, Piper thought. “Where’s Agent Mulder?” Piper asked. “He’s conducting his own research around the crime scene.” Scully answered. “Is there somewhere we could talk, where no one would be around.” “We can go down to the spicket where you met us. No one is usually down there unless they’re teaching archery or using the latrine.” Trinity said. “Sounds good, let’s go.” Scully said. Meanwhile, Mulder began to search the woods. He tried making a clear path to walk through, but it was overgrown with weeds and bushes. He climbed over things, getting poked with branches and thorns. He came to a clear spot in the grass. Mulder was surprised. The rest of the woods were covered over with brush and thorns. A clear path just seemed out of the ordinary. Mulder looked around closely at every little detail of the woods. He didn’t want to miss anything that could prove valuable to the investigation. Mulder continued to walk until he heard a strange noise. He reached down to his side and unclipped the holster that was holding his gun. He wanted to be ready just in case anything was to happen. The noise seemed to be getting closer but it was coming from behind him. Mulder spun around quickly to see a young girl. She looked like someone he had seen in Woodston. Mulder approached the girl. As he got closer, he noticed something was wrong with her. She seemed stunned or as if something had happened to her. Mulder tried not to frighten her so he slowed his pace as he walked closer to her. “Are you okay?” Mulder said softly. The girl stared into the woods almost ignoring Mulder’s comment. Finally, she spoke. “It’s here. She’s dead.” The girl began to cry and then she collapsed. Mulder went over to her and checked her pulse. It was strong so Mulder left the girl where she was. Mulder wasn’t sure how long she had been in the woods, but he was sure that there was another girl murdered out there. |