The Berenstain Bears Camp Crush Read online

  Contents

  1. Bullhorn Baits His Hook

  2. Too-Tall’s Problem

  3. A-Camping We Will Go!

  4. Dream Camp

  5. Camp Grizzmeyer, at Last

  6. Call This Place a Camp?

  7. Giving Camp a Chance

  8. Baloney Sandwiches and Hot Cocoa

  9. The Schedule of the Day

  10. Pitching In

  11. Mr. Saturday Night

  12. Talent Is Where You Find It

  13. Visitors from Another Planet

  14. It May Be a Quagmire, but It’s Our Quagmire

  15. The Prankster Strikes Again—Big Time!

  16. Stunning News

  17. Hitchhikers

  18. The All-Camp Games—At Last

  Excerpt from The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Magic Crystal Caper

  Chapter 1 - The Beginning of a Strange Adventure

  About the Authors

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Chapter 1

  Bullhorn Baits His Hook

  At Bear Country School, everyone knew Mervyn “Bullhorn” Grizzmeyer. He was the big, tough school vice principal, gym teacher, and team sports coach. Cubs on the sports teams were used to being yelled at by him when they didn’t play hard enough. Some cubs were used to seeing his scowling face behind his desk when they misbehaved and were sent to his office. And all the cubs were used to having gym instructions shouted at them in that booming bullhorn voice of his.

  But Bullhorn Grizzmeyer was just about the last bear on earth that a cub expected to see at home. That’s why Brother and Sister Bear were shocked when Papa answered the tree house door on Saturday afternoon and found Mr. Grizzmeyer at their doorstep.

  “What’s he doing here?” Sister whispered to Brother.

  “Beats me,” Brother whispered back. “But I hope he doesn’t want to come in. If he does, that means something’s wrong.”

  “Mr. Grizzmeyer!” said Papa. “This is quite a surprise. Would you like to come in?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. He came into the living room and plumped himself down on the sofa.

  Oh, no! thought the cubs. They tried to think of what they might have done wrong at school lately. Sister couldn’t think of anything. Brother couldn’t either.

  Papa called Mama in and took a seat in his easy chair. “Well, Mr. Grizzmeyer,” he said, “what brings you to our humble home?”

  Mr. Grizzmeyer seemed to read the cubs’ minds. “Don’t worry, cubs,” he said with a wink. “I’m not here about any school problems. This is why I’m here.” He took a brochure from his jacket pocket and unfolded it for the Bears to see.

  On the brochure was a picture of a lake with mountains in the background. On the lake were bears in a canoe.

  “Here,” he said, handing the brochure to Papa. “Have a closer look.”

  Mama and the cubs gathered around Papa’s easy chair.

  “Camp Grizzmeyer?” said Papa. “You’re the owner of a summer camp?”

  “And the director,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. “It’s an old Bear Scout campsite on the scenic slopes of the Great Grizzly Mountains. My wife, Mollie, and I spent our life savings to buy the place. And a wonderful place it is! Just think of it, cubs—the wild beauty of the Great Grizzly Mountains, fishing, swimming, canoeing, softball, basketball, tennis, arts and crafts . . .”

  Camp Grizzmeyer sounded good. But the cubs had never been away from home for more than an overnight, except for the week at Gramps and Gran’s when Mama and Papa had gone on a second honeymoon. A whole summer away from home? It sounded like forever.

  “And that’s not all,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. “Every Saturday night we’ll have a big dance, complete with disc jockey. And most exciting of all are the All-Camp Games that will finish up the summer. All four area camps will meet just down the mountain at Camp Sunshine. Along with the usual sports, a musical show will be part of the competition. I’ll bet you cubs won’t want to miss the biggest event of the summer!”

  Brother and Sister were more interested now. “How many cubs will be there?” asked Sister.

  “Lots,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. “About half of them are from Bear Country School, and the other half from Big Bear City School. I expect most of your friends to sign up: Lizzy and Barry Bruin, Cousin Fred, Ferdy Factual. A few already have: Babs Bruno, Queenie McBear . . .” He paused and glanced at Brother. “Oh, yes . . . and Bonnie Brown,” he added. “Better make up your minds quickly, cubs. There’s only a week of school left, and Camp Grizzmeyer will be full before you know it.”

  Papa told him that the Bear family would talk it over and give him their decision soon. Mr. Grizzmeyer thanked them and left.

  “Well, it sure sounds fun to me,” Papa told the cubs. “What do you think?”

  Brother turned it over in his mind. He had never before thought of spending a whole summer with Mr. Grizzmeyer. On the other hand, he had never thought of spending a whole summer without Bonnie Brown. And that was exactly what would happen if Bonnie went to Camp Grizzmeyer and he didn’t.

  “The All-Camp Games sound great,” Brother said at last. “Count me in.”

  Sister was two years younger than Brother, and Mama was wondering if she was ready to spend a summer away from home. Sister was wondering the same thing.

  “Come on, Sis,” said Brother. “It’ll be great. You’ll wow everybody at those Saturday night dances. And it isn’t as if you’ll be all alone. We’ll be together.”

  That was enough to convince Sister. “Okay, I’ll do it,” she said.

  “Fine,” said Papa. “I’ll call Mollie Grizzmeyer right away while there’s still room on the sign-up sheet.”

  Chapter 2

  Too-Tall’s Problem

  On Monday morning, as they waited in the schoolyard for the school bell to ring, Brother and Sister talked about Camp Grizzmeyer with some of their friends. Cousin Fred had learned that Brother and Sister weren’t the only cubs who had signed up over the weekend. Several others, including Bertha Broom and Gil Grizzwold, had also decided to go to the new summer camp. As the cubs talked in excited voices, Too-Tall Grizzly and his gang pushed up against them.

  “Excuse me, cubs,” said Too-Tall sweetly. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.”

  “And?” said Brother.

  “And I think you’re all nuts!” said Too-Tall.

  “All right, big shot,” said Brother. “Why are we all nuts?”

  “Because you’re gonna spend all summer with Mr. Grizzmeyer,” said Too-Tall. “That’s not what summer means to me and the gang. Go ahead, Skuzz. Tell ’em what summer means to us.”

  Skuzz cleared his throat and said:

  “No more pencils! No more books!

  No more Grizzmeyer’s dirty looks!”

  “The idea of summer,” said Too-Tall, “is not to hang around with Mr. Grizzmeyer. The idea is to get away from Mr. Grizzmeyer.”

  “Gee, Too-Tall,” said Sister. “When I heard about Queenie signing up for Camp Grizzmeyer, I thought you’d be all hot to go too.”

  “Queenie?” said Too-Tall. He sounded surprised.

  “Sure,” teased Barry Bruin. “You’d better sign up while there’s still time . . .”

  “Shut up!” barked Too-Tall. “Shut up before you get beat up!” He grinned wickedly. “Sure, I may miss Queenie a little. But I’m gonna miss the rest of you a lot.”

  “You are?” said Sister.

  “Why’s that?” asked Brother.

  “Because we won’t have anybody to beat up all summer!” said Too-Tall. “Right, gang?”

  “Ri
ght, Chief,” said Skuzz.

  “Yeah,” added Smirk. “It’ll be terrible. We may have to beat up one another!”

  Too-Tall and the gang began dancing around like boxers, laughing as they slapped at one another.

  “Creeps!” said Fred as he and Brother headed for class. Then he turned to Brother and said, “Do you think Too-Tall will change his mind and sign up for camp? He’s really hooked on Queenie.”

  “Nope,” said Brother. “And that’s fine with me. Too-Tall will be really glad to get away from Mr. Grizzmeyer, and that’s just how glad I’ll be to get away from him and his gang.”

  Chapter 3

  A-Camping We Will Go!

  The following Saturday, the campers and their parents gathered in front of Bear Country School to wait for the bus that would take them to Camp Grizzmeyer. Too-Tall Grizzly was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that Brother had been right about him.

  “Hey, Queenie,” said Babs Bruno. “Where’s your boyfriend? Isn’t he even going to kiss you good-bye?”

  “He’s mad at me,” said Queenie. “You know how he is when things don’t go his way.”

  Just then an old school bus rolled over the hill and into view. Mr. Grizzmeyer was at the wheel.

  “Looks kind of old and creaky,” said Brother to Bonnie Brown.

  “Maybe that’s why we’re supposed to travel light,” said Bonnie.

  Mr. Grizzmeyer had told the campers to bring just one item other than clothing and the items on the camp list. Brother had brought his baseball glove. Sister had brought her teddy bear. Fred had brought his dictionary. And Queenie had brought her tape deck and rock-’n’-roll tapes.

  Right behind Mr. Grizzmeyer sat Mrs. Grizzmeyer. The front half of the bus was already filled with campers from Big Bear City.

  Mr. Grizzmeyer waved cheerfully as he hopped down from the bus. “All right, folks,” he said. “Finish your good-byes, and let’s get going.”

  Mrs. Grizzmeyer got off the bus too. She talked to the cubs and parents. Some of the younger cubs, including Sister, were still a little nervous about going to overnight camp. It helped that Mrs. Grizzmeyer was as friendly and nice as her husband was loud and gruff.

  The cubs said good-bye to their parents and boarded the bus. Mr. Grizzmeyer shifted into gear, and they were on their way.

  As the old bus picked up speed on the flat stretch of road outside of town, the campers could feel the excitement in the air. When Mr. Grizzmeyer struck up a jolly song, they were all more than willing to join in.

  “A-camping we will go!

  A-camping we will go!

  Hi, ho, the merry-o!

  A-camping we will go!”

  As they headed for the foothills of the Great Grizzly Mountains, the cubs began to chat with one another. Brother and Bonnie, who were delighted to be spending the summer together, talked happily. But Queenie, sitting with Babs Bruno, didn’t look at all happy.

  “Why the long face?” asked Babs.

  “Too-Tall,” said Queenie.

  “But just a few minutes ago, you were laughing about his being mad at you,” said Babs.

  “I know,” said Queenie. “But now I feel sad. I already miss the big lug!”

  As Babs tried to cheer Queenie up, Ferdy Factual talked with Trudy Brunowitz in the next seat. Trudy had moved to town with her family only a week before. None of the cubs knew anything about her. She had shown up at the bus stop that morning wearing a T-shirt with a famous physics equation printed on it: E=mc2. Of course, Ferdy had struck up a conversation with her right away. She was short, like Ferdy, and wore thick glasses like Ferdy’s. Except for being a girl, she looked a lot like Ferdy. Now the two of them were looking into each other’s eyes and talking away as if they were the only ones on the bus.

  “I did a science report at Big Bear City School on mesons,” said Trudy.

  “Mesons?” said Ferdy. “Mesons are of some interest. But they’re sort of old news. I’m into quarks myself.”

  “Actually, my report was on mini-mesons, not ordinary mesons,” said Trudy. “They have fascinating interactions with quarks, you know.”

  “Oh, mini-mesons,” said Ferdy. “That’s different!”

  Behind them, Babs asked Queenie, “What language is that, anyway?”

  “Nerd-speak,” said Queenie.

  “Hmm,” said Babs, listening. “I think a bit of crush-speak is mixed in with the nerd-speak.”

  The excitement of going on a great adventure made the time pass quickly. Before they knew it, they were climbing the winding road into the foothills. The old bus wheezed and groaned. The landscape grew wilder. Trees loomed larger and the under-brush got thicker. Soon they rounded a bend . . . and there it was!

  Camp Grizzmeyer!

  Chapter 4

  Dream Camp

  Nestled among the foothills, the camp rested on the shore of a beautiful blue lake. There were a dozen cabins and a big administration building made of huge logs. There was a rec hall, well-kept athletic fields, and a full-size swimming course laid out at the edge of the lake.

  What a sight! What a setup! What a place to spend the summer!

  The bus rolled right up to the camp entrance . . . and past it!

  “Stop!” shouted the cubs. “Wait!” “Whoa!”

  “Hey!” cried Bertha Broom. “Why aren’t we stopping?”

  “No reason to,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. “This isn’t Camp Grizzmeyer. This is Camp Sunshine.” He glanced over his shoulder to see the cubs staring out their windows in shock and disappointment as the lovely campgrounds grew smaller and smaller in the distance. “Camp Softy, they ought to call it,” he growled. “You might as well stay home as go to a sissy place like Camp Sunshine. Grizzmeyer campers are tough! And we’ll prove it later when we come back here and beat these Sunshine softies in every All-Camp event!”

  The bus creaked on into the mountains. The air got thinner and thinner. The slopes got steeper and steeper. The road got bumpier and bumpier, until it was hardly a road at all but just a couple of deep ruts.

  At last the bus rumbled to a stop. The cubs peered out. There was no sign of anything that looked like a camp. Just mountains, trees, and thick underbrush. They were in the middle of nowhere.

  “Maybe the bus broke down,” Bonnie said to Brother.

  “Or we’re out of gas,” said Brother. “I hope Mr. G. thought to bring along some extra.”

  Mr. Grizzmeyer stood up and turned to face the cubs. He didn’t seem the least bit worried about the bus stopping. In fact, he was beaming. “Everyone out of the bus!” he cried. “We’re here!”

  No one moved.

  Brother and Bonnie looked at each other and shrugged. Ferdy Factual gave Trudy Brunowitz a puzzled look.

  “Mr. Grizzmeyer,” said Ferdy. “It looks to me as if we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Precisely, Ferdy, my boy,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. “And what better place could you choose for a true wilderness experience?”

  “Wilderness experience?” said Queenie. “I thought we were going to camp.”

  “Come on,” shouted Mr. Grizzmeyer. “It’s a bit off the road. We’ll have to hike in.”

  “Hike in?” grumbled Ferdy. “If I’m not mistaken, we were supposed to come to camp to go hiking. Not go hiking to get to camp.”

  Mr. Grizzmeyer unloaded their gear, and the campers piled off the bus. Mrs. Grizzmeyer moved among the cubs and spoke quietly as she helped them with their backpacks. “I know you’re all tired,” she said. “But it’s just a little bit farther.” She gave each of the smaller cubs a hug or a squeeze.

  “It’s a good thing Mrs. G. is along,” said Bonnie.

  “You’ve got that right,” said Brother.

  “All set?” shouted Mr. G.

  “All set!” answered Mrs. G.

  “Then let’s go-o-o!” bellowed Mr. G. He drew a big machete from a sheath on his backpack and started hacking his way through the underbrush. Over his shoulder he yelled, “Bring up the rear, if
you will, Mrs. G.! We don’t want to lose any campers on the very first day!”

  Chapter 5

  Camp Grizzmeyer, at Last

  The hike to Camp Grizzmeyer was only a few hundred yards. But it seemed like miles. Grunting and groaning, the cubs lugged their suitcases and heavy backpacks through thornbushes and over fallen trees. When at last they reached a clearing at the edge of a small lake, Mr. Grizzmeyer was the only one smiling. “Here it is!” he cried. “Isn’t it magnificent!”

  But the campers didn’t answer. They were too busy scratching their insect bites and picking thorns from their clothing.

  Finally, Babs Bruno looked around and said, “The little lake is nice, Mr. G. But where are the cabins?”

  Mr. Grizzmeyer pointed to the woods on his left. “The boys’ camp is down at that end of the lake,” he said. He pointed to the woods on his right. “And the girls’ camp is at the other end.”

  Brother and Bonnie looked at each other. Ferdy and Trudy looked at each other. Queenie, who had already forgotten all about Too-Tall, looked around at all the boys from Big Bear City. Then she looked up at Mr. Grizzmeyer. “Did you say boys’ camp and girls’ camp?” she asked.

  “That’s right,” said Mr. Grizzmeyer. He raised his whistle to his lips and blew a long shrill blast. “Counselors, come take charge of your campers!” he shouted.

  From the woods came bears wearing T-shirts with names printed on them. Some of the bears were teenagers. Others seemed older. All the counselors coming from the left were male, and all those coming from the right were female.

  “It’s true!” Brother whispered to Bonnie. “We’re going to be in separate camps!”

  Sister tugged at Brother’s sleeve. “I’m scared,” she whined. “I wanna be with you.”

  “Sorry, Sis,” said Brother. Then he noticed a big friendly-looking counselor heading toward the Bear Country School campers. His T-shirt said “Counselor Mike” on it. Before he reached the campers, he turned and went over to the group of female counselors. He began whispering to a pretty counselor whose T-shirt said “Counselor Margie.”