Emma crawled out of giường at 6:30am. It was quite dark outside still, and Emma noticed the sun peeking over the horizon. She sighed and trudged downstairs, looking, and feeling like a zombie. She hated mornings, they seemed so pointless. She poured some cereal out and sat down, watching Tv, while she ate. Emma had added lots of sugar, hoping she could wake herself up a bit. She went back upstairs, and sorted her giường out, before grabbing her camping stuff, and heading downstairs. She stared at the clock which now đã đưa ý kiến 7am. She had 15 phút before she need to go. She heard a noise upstairs, and guessed that everyone else was getting up now. She changed the channel to a âm nhạc channel and ate a few sweets. Now that Emma was waking up a bit, she started feeling even thêm excited than ever before. bởi 7:15 everyone else was up, so she hugged her mum, dad, Skipper, and Rico goodbye. She went to hug Tom but he backed away, looking weirded out.
Well little brothers is only one letter away from little bothers. She thought to herself, shaking her head, and heading out of the door, locking it as she went. She went to get Ashley and Kowalski, since they were going too. Ashley came out, looking exhausted, whilst Kowalski was brighter and full of energy.
"Aren't bạn tired lad?" Ashley asked the tallest penguin.
"Nah, I went giường pretty early last night, and I like mornings anyway." Kowalski replied cheerfully. Emma gave him a weird look, and plugged her headphones in. Though they couldn't bring chargers, Emma had just charged her phone last night, and hers lasted about a week until it went dead. They walked through the park, and Emma couldn't help but notice how empty it was at this time of day. She watched the little birds flying around the grass, looking for their breakfast, and tiny grey squirrels chasing eachother around nearby trees. It was bliss. A chilly breeze swept through the air, and Emma saw a bit of sparkling frost on the shiny green grass.
Great, if it's cold here, it's probably worse in Scotland. She thought worriedly. She didn't want to camp in freezing temperatures. As the three penguins drew closer to the school, Ashley noticed a few of the other kids from his class strolling in. They followed and reached the main hall, just inside of the building. Rochelle and Ryan were already sitting down at a table. Emma smiled at them, and sat down on their table.
"Hey bạn two." Emma greeted through a yawn.
"You still tired?" Rochelle asked, grinning at her.
"I hate mornings." Emma replied.
"So what did bạn bring with you?" Ryan asked cheerfully.
"Urm, a sleeping bag, a pillow, toothbrush, and toothpaste, my Nintendo Ds, my phone, a cuddly toy, tons of sweets, a water bottle, a sketch book, my pencil case, and a book." Emma replied, looking into her bag, which was bigger than herself.
"Awesome." Ryan remarked, smiling at Emma. She smiled back shyly and dragged her eyes away. The time was now 7:55, and Miss Chambers came along, and began to read out the names on the register. All together, there was only 20 kids going.
"Wait, Ash how many people are in your class?" Emma asked looking confused. There was only 7 kids in Ashley năm here, including Ash himself.
"19 but most of them don't want to go." Ashley replied. Emma looked around and realised that there was only 13 from her class here, including herself. She brightened when she realised that Josh and Danny weren't going. Neither were the other troublemakers which made her even happier. She wondered why Danny and Josh were asking about what they could bring, if there weren't going. Suddenly Emma's maths teacher Mr Hague came into the hall, and beckoned for Miss Chambers to come over to him. After a few giây she spoke up.
"The coach is here." She announced. "Follow me out of the hall, and don't go in front of me." She instructed.
"Are bạn going too?" Ryan asked Mr Hague.
"Yup, along with Dom." He replied, nodding towards another teacher. All of the kids got out of their seats, and headed outside, chatting and gossiping as they went. At the same time, Mr Hague went up to everyone, and told them who they'd be sharing a tent with. Emma and Ryan already knew theirs so he skipped them.
"Who are bạn with Rochelle?" Kowalski asked, looking curious.
"Aija." She replied, pointing towards a girl who sat on their bàn in Geography. "Who are bạn with?"
"Curtis." Kowalski answered, nodding towards a guy who usually sat on Ryan's table.
"That's alright I guess." Rochelle remarked, eating a Sô cô la bar. Ashley stared at the Sô cô la bar wistfully, and had to stop himself making a grab for it. He pulled a bag of chocolates from his bag and started gobbling them down.
Hehe he sure loves his chocolate. Emma thought grinning a bit. They scrambled onto the coach and Emma rushed to a window ghế, chỗ ngồi before anyone else could grab it. Kowalski sat down tiếp theo to her, and Rochelle and Ryan sat behind them. Ashley sat across from them, with someone from his class. Emma felt someone poke the back of her chair, and she turned around suspiciously, and looked through the little gap between the seats. Ryan was grinning cheekily at her.
"Are bạn going to be doing that the whole way there?" She asked, a smile tugging at her face.
"Maaybe......" Ryan answered, his smile getting wider. Emma tried not to blush when she realised it was that smile that made her all mushy inside. She smiled at him, and turned back around, staring out of the window. She felt another poke in the back of her chair, and a little devious thought came to mind. She whispered something to Kowalski, who passed it onto Rochelle, who then poked Ryan back.
"Anytime bạn poke my chair, Rochelle will poke you." Emma told him, grinning little.
"Fine I won't poke your chair." Ryan agreed, a mischievous tone to his voice. He reached around the chair, and poked Emma on the back. She poked him back, and they ended up poking for about 5 minutes, whilst Miss Chambers was taking about health and safety.
"Pack it in bạn two." Rochelle told them, kicking both of their seats. Emma stopped and focused looking out of the window again. She was still quite tired so she rested her head against the glass, and closed her eyes. The coach started to di chuyển and they began their long journey to Scotland. According to Miss Chambers, it would take them 6 hours to get there.
"Wake me up at 10am." Emma told them, her eyes still closed.
"Okay Emma." Rochelle promised. Emma relaxed a little and fell asleep instantly, and began to have a dream.
She was hiking through a forest with the camping group and she wandered off from them. The sky grew dark, and she felt a little scared. The trees swayed in the haunting wind, one hanging branch, scratching Emma on the face. She yelped in pain, and put a flipper to her cheek. Her tim, trái tim stopped when she heard a growling behind her. She turned her head around slowly. A big pair of red eyes glowed in a shadow. Emma had recently developed a phobia of red eyes, which didn't help, since Zoe had red eyes. The creature came out of the shadows, and revealed itself to be a giant bug. Emma backed away, her breathing becoming shallow and quick. Bugs were one of her other phobias. (with the exception of ladybirds, butterflies, moths and dragonflies.) The colossal bug got nearer and cornered her into a tree. She looked up at it fearfully, and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt herself being lifted into the air, but not bởi the bug. She opened her eyes uncertainly and saw Ryan carrying her as he zoomed away from the bug. She relaxed into his feathers and closed her eyes. A moment hoặc two later she opened her eyes and realised she was back on the coach. She glanced at her phone, which now read 9:50.
"Oh xin chào Emma." Kowalski greeted, looking up from a clipboard that he seemed to carry with him everywhere.
"Hey, did I miss anything?" She asked, sitting up in her seat.
"Not much, a kid in Ashley's class got travel sickness and threw up at the back of the coach about an giờ ago." Rochelle replied.
"Eww, does it smell?" Emma asked sniffing the air.
"Not anymore." Rochelle answered casually.
"Oh, and one kid opened a can of coke, and it sprayed everywhere." Ryan added, giggling a bit.
"Hehee, I bet that was a sight." Emma remarked, giggling too.
"It was, all of the cô ca covered him." Kowalski chimed in, a small smile making it's way onto his face. Emma grinned and her eyes fell on the scenery outside.
"Hey where are we?" She asked.
"Near Middlesborough." Kowalski answered.
"Cool, we're 'Up North' then." Emma giggled out in a northern accent. Their city was in the middle of England, and the people who lived to the north of the country, closer to Scotland, had a different accent. A few teachers at the school had this accent, and some of the kids teased them for that, especially when they tell the kids that they're from 'Up North' as they called it. Emma thought the accent sounded cool. As they got closer to the woods where they were camping, the sun climbed higher in the sky, and Emma felt really excited. She had put her headphones in and she started tapping her foot along to the song she had on it, whilst chatting with her friends. Ashley leaned over, so her could talk with them too.
"Hey do bạn guys want a sweet?" He asked, holding out a bag of gummy bears.
"Sure." Emma replied, taking a purple one. The others took one too, and Emma popped it in her mouth, and a sweet blackcurrant flavour filled her beak.
I still don't get why Americans call Sweets, Candy. She thought randomly. They began to get closer and the ball of excitement in Emma's stomach grew. The time was 2pm, when they finally got to the woods. The kids piled out of the coach, and Emma stopped dead and took in the sights around her.
"Oh wow........it's beautiful..." She breathed.
Emma took in the sights around her. They were in a pretty wood clearing, with soft green cỏ coating the floors, millions of trees, of all shapes and sizes, and a small stream which lead down to what looked like a lake in the distance. There was a lều, cabin at one side of the clearing, and a willow cây near the other. Small bunnies and squirrels scampered through the grass, and bướm fluttered around their heads. One landed on Emma's flipper and she smiled and looked at it. It had turquoise coloured wings, and a dark blue body. A few giây later, it took off into the air.
"Wow........." Ashley managed, staring at the clearing his eyes wide with amazement. Emma noticed a tiny bit of clearing, separated from the rest of it.
Our tent is definitely going there. She thought.
"Ok, so before we do anything, I'll explain a few things." Miss Chambers announced, standing in front of the kids. "We are the only people here, but bạn still have to behave. The lều, cabin has the toilets, a phone, and tons of thực phẩm in." She began. "Don't go wandering off without the group hoặc a teacher, and remember to stay safe." She told them. The kids nodded in response.
"Okay, so here are your tents. Try and set them up yourself, but if bạn can't then we'll help." Mr Hague explained. Kowalski put his flipper up. "What is it Kowalski?" He asked.
"Where's the coach going?" Kowalski asked nodding towards the stationary coach.
"It's going to go about a quarter of a mile back from here, so it doesn't disturb the nature, hoặc the proper camping atmosphere." Dom, the other teacher, answered. The kids went and picked up a tent. Emma and Ryan got one of the bigger ones, and discussed where they should put it.
"I think it should go in that secluded bit near the back." Emma said, pointing to the separate bit.
"Sure, it looks like a nice spot." Ryan agreed cheerfully. They took their tent over to that spot and put it down.
"Urm....." Emma remarked, staring at the heap of fabric thoughtfully.
"Have bạn set up a tent before?" Ryan asked, picking up the tent pegs.
"Nope." Emma replied, looking confused. "Have you?"
"Yup." Ryan replied brightly. He set up part of the tent, and helped Emma with the rest of it. In about 5 minutes, the dark green tent was standing proudly bởi itself. Emma peeked inside curiously, and saw that there was plenty of không gian for both of them. She climbed in, with her massive bag, and took her sleeping bag out. Ryan climbed in behind her, and put his sleeping bag on the right side of the tent. Emma then put hers on the left side of the tent and started to unpack her stuff. She put her cái gối, gối at the hàng đầu, đầu trang of the sleeping bag, and wondered what she should take out. She took her cuddly husky, Lulu out, and sat her on the pillow, then she put her phone and headphones, her sketch book, her pencil case, and her book on the sleeping bag. She blushed when she realised that Ryan was looking at Lulu curiously.
"She's my favourite toy, I've had her for 6 years now." Emma explained, patting Lulu on the head.
"That's ok Em, I've got a toy like that too." Ryan told her, taking a small brown teddy chịu, gấu out of his bag. It had a little red bow around it's neck, and had big green eyes.
"Aw, it's cute." Emma exclaimed, a smile tugging at her face as she stroked it's head .
"Thanks, his name's Ben." Ryan said, smiling at her. "What's the name of your one?" He asked, his brown eyes falling on the husky again.
"Lulu." Emma replied, looking back at her.
"Nice name." Ryan remarked, petting Lulu's head. Emma smiled in response and her attention was caught bởi a noise outside. The two penguins poked their heads out, and saw the teacher were telling them all to come to them for a minute. All of the penguins went over to the teachers curiously.
"Here's the activity sheets, for what we'll be doing for the tiếp theo five days." Miss Chambers explained, having little sheets to the kids. Ryan took one, and looked over it.
"So what are we gonna be doing?" Emma asked.
"Today, is a free day, to get settled into our tents and stuff." Ryan began. "Tomorrow, we're doing a bit of hiking, up a đồi núi, hill nearby, on Friday, we're horse riding at a stable about a mile away, on Saturday, we're canoeing, Sunday, we're swimming and Monday is the last day, so we'll have another free day, then we pack and go home." He explained, folding the sheet, and putting it in the tent.
"Cool, so what should we do today?" Emma wondered, looking around the clearing. She realised that she was blushing a little bit.
"Hmmm........climb some trees?" Ryan suggested.
"Good idea!" Emma agreed. She saw Rochelle, Ash and Kowalski talking near three tents near the middle, and she and Ryan walked over to them.
"Oh xin chào bạn two." Rochelle greeted, looking very bright and cheery.
"Hey guys." Emma replied, smiling at all of them.
"Did bạn lot get your tents up ok?" Ryan asked curiously.
"Urm......well I needed some help from the teacher...." Kowalski admitted sheepishly.
"I found it real easy." Ashley chimed in happily. "But I have been camping before." He added.
"It was alright for me." Rochelle replied smugly. Kowalski gave her a dark look, and looked at the floor.
"So, we were thinking of climbing a few trees, do bạn guys wanna come?" Emma asked hopefully.
"Sure that sounds fun." Ashley agreed. Rochelle and Kowalski nodded in response, and they began looking around the clearing for trees to climb. Ryan spotted a good one, and pointed towards it. Emma ran over to it eagerly and pulled herself onto the first branch. From there on, there was tons of different branches that she could get onto. She picked the nearest one, and climbed up it. Behind her, Rochelle had just climbed onto the one tiếp theo to her. Ashley climbed onto a higher up branch with ease, and poor Kowalski looked a bit worried.
"C'mon Kowalski, you'll be ok." Emma encouraged. He climbed to another branch, nearly slipping as he did.
"Woah, be careful lad." Ashley warned him, his face full of alarm. Ryan trailed behind the others, and climbed up to a branch even higher than Ashley.
"Show off." Rochelle remarked, looking up at the tall chim cánh cụt jealously. Ryan just grinned and carried on climbing. Ashley was just behind him, followed bởi Rochelle, Emma and Kowalski. As they climbed higher, the three in front pulled away from Emma and Kowalski a bit. Emma looked down at the floor, and her eyes widened. They were extremely high up now. She wasn't scared of heights, but she was scared of falling out of the tree. As they climbed even higher, Kowalski overtook Emma, who's feet had decided to anchor to the branch she was on. She looked up at the tiếp theo branch, which looked extremely thin and unstable, and she closed her eyes. A sick feeling filled her stomach, and held onto the bark of the cây for dear life.
"Em are bạn ok?" Ryan asked, poking his head down, trying to find her. He spotted her, and his eyes filled with concern. "You're not scared of heights are you?" He asked. Emma opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Scared of falling." Emma corrected, still not moving.
"Don't worry, bạn won't fall." Ryan reassured her. Emma tried to tell herself this, and she climbed the tiếp theo one cautiously. Her tim, trái tim was pounding a hundred times faster than usual, and she slipped. Ryan held out his flippers, looking panicky and Emma grabbed onto them just in time. Emma's tim, trái tim began to beat even faster, but for a different reason this time. She felt herself go red, as Ryan pulled her up to the hàng đầu, đầu trang branch. She sat down, and leaned against the bark on the tree, panting a little.
"Are bạn ok lass?" Ashley asked worriedly. Emma nodded in response as she calmed down a bit. She poked her head out of the leaves and saw the whole clearing below them. Mr Hague noticed them, and he looked up in astonishment.
"How on earth did bạn lot get up there?" He asked, walking closer to the tree.
"Climbed." Ryan replied simply, making the others giggle.
"I mean how did bạn get up there so quickly?" He corrected, smiling a little at what Ryan said.
"Climbed quickly." Rochelle answered, bursting into giggles. Mr Hague chuckled a little and watched the penguins.
"Just be careful ok?" He reminded them, going over to Miss Chambers and Dom. They nodded and sat up in the cây for ages, telling jokes, messing around, and chatting. At one point, they tried to make a leaf crown for Rochelle, who didn't look pleased. The ended up just sticking leaves in her hair.
"Hey, stop it!" She giggled, as Ashley and Emma began tickling her with leaves. Kowalski and Ryan joined in, and she held onto the bark, to stop herself from falling as she tired to take the leaves off them. They eventually stopped and she sat up properly again. "Oh bạn lot are gonna pay for that." She warned them, looking mischievous.
"Oh really?" Ryan asked, a challenging look on his face.
"Yes. But I won't tell bạn when." Rochelle replied, smiling deviously. Emma looked up at the sky, and saw it was still light, but the sun was dropping in the sky.
"Hey what time is it?" She asked, watching the clouds.
"6pm." Kowalski replied, checking his watch.
"Oh my goodness, we've been up here for 4 hours!" Emma exclaimed, shock filling her voice.
"Well time flies when you're having fun." Ryan replied, winking at her.
"Good point." Emma replied, blushing a little. The five penguins decided to climb down, and Emma felt nervous again.
"Do bạn want some help down Em?" Ryan asked, noticing the worry in her dark blue eyes.
"Yes please." Emma replied, looking down at the unstable branch below her. "Only for the hàng đầu, đầu trang ones, I should be ok soon." She added. Ryan nodded and he climbed to the unstable branch, and helped Emma down onto it. They climbed down a few thêm together, and Emma felt less scared now. "I think I can do this one." She told the taller penguin. He nodded understandingly and she climbed down slowly, with Ryan closely behind her. She felt relieved as her feet reached solid land again.
"You guys were up there for hours." Mr Hague commented, looking at the 5 penguins.
"It was fun up there." Rochelle told him, grinning a little.
"Oh, and at 9pm, we're gathering around a campfire." Mr Hague told them.
"Ooh, what will we be doing?" Emma asked.
"Telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows, y'know, the normal camp things." He replied.
"Sounds fun." Kowalski remarked, smiling in excitement.
"Yeah, me, Miss Chambers and Dom, are setting it up now." Mr Hague told them, before walking off.
"Hmm, we've still got 3 hours, what should we do?" Ashley wondered.
"Hm..... well I'm gonna do a bit of drawing." Emma decided rushing to the tent, and coming back out with her sketch book, and pencil case. She sat down bởi the tree, and stared into the clouds.
"I think I'll go and climb some thêm trees." Rochelle decided.
"Ooh, same here." Ashley replied, and the two penguins walked off. Kowalski and Ryan sat down with Emma, and Kowalski whipped his clipboard out of nowhere. Emma gave him a strange look, and went back to drawing. Ryan went back to the tent, and came back out, a pack of crisps and a piece of paper in his flipper.
"Whatcha doing?" Emma asked looking up from her picture.
"I'm gonna try and draw a skateboard." He replied cheerfully. He sat down again, and Emma let him borrow her pencils and colours. Emma was drawing her transformer character again, and Ryan watched her curiously. Emma looked up, and saw how close he was sitting to her, which made her stomach fill with butterflies. She smiled shyly at him, and looked back at her picture. She looked to her left, where Kowalski was drawing a nearby squirrel. The three penguins sat there drawing for hours, and the sky began getting darker. A while later, they heard the teachers call everyone.
"It's time for the campfire." Miss Chambers announced. All of the penguins dotted around the clearing, got up, and followed the teachers through the trees to the campfire.
Emma walked over excitedly, and sat down bởi the fire. The little trái cam, màu da cam flames danced around the pile of sticks, and made a little crackling noise. Miss Chambers handed a small bag of marshmallows and a stick to everyone, whilst Mr Hague and Dom gave everyone hot chocolates. Emma sipped hers slowly and looked around her. Ashley and Rochelle were just climbing down from a tree, and they bounded over to the others eagerly.
"This is gonna be great!" Ashley exclaimed, his big green eyes full of enthusiasm.
"Yup." Emma replied, sticking one of her marshmallows on the stick and holding it near the ngọn lửa, chữa cháy cautiously. She looked up and saw the teachers were asking for quiet.
"Ok, so we're going to tell a few ghost stories." Dom began.
"Does anyone know any good ones?" Mr Hague asked. A girl called Victoria put her flipper up.
"Do bạn have one Victoria?" Miss Chambers asked, her eyes on the small penguin.
"Yes." Victoria replied, pushing her long reddish brown hair out of her face. She held up a torch to her face, and Emma tried not to giggle.
Classic, bordering on Cliche. She thought a small creeping onto her face.
"So, almost 10 years ago, a group of kids went on a camping trip not too far from here." She began. Ryan looked at Ashley, who was already looking terrified and he tried not to grin. Ashley always took stories like this literally.
"Go on." Miss Chambers prompted. Victoria nodded.
"Anyway, they all started getting picked off, one bởi one." She continued. "The first one 'fell' out of a tree, the một giây one drowned, the third was burnt to death in their tent, and then the others tried to leave, but someone popped the tires on their coach. Then they tried to walk back. " She explained, her eyes on the trembling penguins. "Then, as they nearly reached the edge of the woods, and figure came out of a shadow. He had bright red eyes, and blood was dripping from his hook for a hand. He then gutted all of the campers, except for one, very small human." She told them. "The hook man told the little human to tell everyone about what happened, hoặc he would hunt him down and kill him. Now if this story is told to campers, the Hook Man stays away from them, because they know of his story." Victoria finished. bởi this time, nearly everyone was looking scared including Ryan and Emma, who never took ghost stories seriously. Ashley has his eyes covered, and was shaking.
"You made that up on the spot didn't you?" Rochelle asked, grinning at her classmate.
"Obviously." Victoria replied. Ashley looked relieved and he moved his flippers away from his eyes.
"Still it was quite scary." Ashley said, drinking all of his hot Sô cô la in about 10 seconds. The penguins all sat there for a while, eating marshmallows, and chatting. Ryan and Rochelle started throwing marshmallows at eachother, and wasted a lot of marshmallows doing so. The time was about 10pm when they all were told to head to their tents. Emma climbed in and unzipped her sleeping bag. Ryan got in the tent and got into his sleeping bag, snuggling down as he did. Emma rested her head on the soft fluffy pillow.
"Hey what did bạn think of the story?" Ryan asked, leaning on his flipper.
"Well though I know it's not true, it was a little freaky." Emma replied, leaning on her flipper too. "Especially the red eyes bit." She added, shivering a little.
"Yeah, it was a bit creepy." Ryan agreed, smiling at Emma. Emma smiled back shyly, and dared to look into his eyes. She loved the colour of his eyes, they were so lovely and deep. She pulled her eyes away, so she didn't seem like she was staring.
"I felt a little sorry for Ashley though." Emma admitted, trying to to giggle.
"Yeah, he always takes stories seriously, poor guy." Ryan replied, running a flipper through his hair. Emma felt bướm in her stomach intensify, and she tried not to blush. Suddenly, she felt really tired. She let out a yawn and her eyelids started to droop a little. "You tried Em?" Ryan asked, smiling at the shorter penguin.
"Yeah, I guess waking up earlier took it's toll." Emma replied, rubbing her eyes.
"You going sleep then?" Ryan asked, looking a little sleepy too.
"Yup, hoặc I'll never be up tomorrow." Emma answered, giggling a bit. "Goodnight Ryan." Emma said, taking Lulu off the pillow, and cuddling her.
"Goodnight Em." The tall chim cánh cụt replied, picking up Ben, and holding him. Emma smiled at him, before closing her eyes. Part of her didn't want to go sleep, she just wanted to stay up and talk all night. But they had a big ngày ahead of them tomorrow. Only a few phút after she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.
The tiếp theo day, Emma felt a gentle poke on her flipper. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced around her. Ryan was sitting up, holding up the activity sheet. It didn't even look like it was light outside.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Emma asked sleepily, her eyes barely open.
"5:30am." Ryan replied, trying to keep her awake. Emma just laughed and closed her eyes again.
"There's no way I'm getting up at this time." She told him, relaxing into her pillow.
"You have to Em, the hiking starts in half an hour, and we still have to get breakfast. " Ryan explained, poking her again. Emma sighed in frustration, and got out of her sleeping bag reluctantly. She got a pack of sweets out of her bag, and began to eat them, as she got out of the tent, and trudged to the cabin. Ryan watched her curiously. "Are bạn ok Em?" He asked, looking concerned. Emma grunted in response, and he looked confused. At the same time, Ashley, Rochelle and Kowalski came over to the penguins. "Hey, bạn got any idea what's up with Emma?" He asked his friends.
"Oh trust me this is normal." Kowalski answered casually.
"Yup, she hates mornings." Ashley added. The five penguins went in the lều, cabin and got some breakfast, before sitting down on the cỏ tiếp theo to the other kids, who were chatting merrily to eachother.
How on earth can everyone be so cheerful at this time in the morning? Emma wondered, letting out a yawn. About 5 phút later she woke up properly, and the teachers came over to them.
"Ok, so we're going to go hiking up a nearby hill." Mr Hague explained.
"So get what bạn want from your tents and come back here afterwards." Miss Chambers instructed. Emma went back to the tent, and took a smaller bag out of her big bag, and put her water bottle, her phone and headphones in, and a few packs of sweets. Then the campers set off. They walked through the little wood, listening to the birds whistling merry tunes. The five penguins invented a little game, and tried to see who could spot the most squirrels, though it just ended up with all of them throwing acorns at eachother. They reached the edge of the wood, and Emma's eyes widened in astonishment. The đồi núi, hill was absolutely massive.
Emma and Ashley exchanged a surprised look, as they looked at the đồi núi, hill thêm carefully. It was a gentle slope but it went on for so long, that Emma couldn't see the top.
"C'mon then, lets go." Mr Hague instructed enthusiastically. The young penguins stared at the đồi núi, hill uncertainly before following the adults up.
"How long will this take?" Rochelle asked, looking bored.
"A few hours maybe." Miss Chambers replied. Emma's jaw dropped and she sighed unhappily. First she had to get up early, now she'd be walking for ages.
I wish I could just go sleep right here. She thought wistfully. She heard a little noise from her bag, and she realised she had a text message. Emma wasn't much of a texter at all, it bored her usually, but she just couldn't ignore it. She opened the little message and saw it was from Zoe.
Hey Emz, how's the trip so far? Sorry 4 texting u so early. :P I bet ur enjoyin sharin the tent with u know who. ;) She read. Emma smiled and started to reply.
Don't worry, I'm already up, because they got us up early today. :( But it's been really cool so far. :D And yes i'm DEFINITELY enjoying sharing a tent with him. :P Emma replied. Emma didn't really use text talk, she preferred texting like she wrote. A few giây later she got a text back, and she stared down at it, puzzled. Her face cleared when she saw it was from Sam.
Hey Emma, how's the trip? :P She read.
Jeez why is everyone up bởi now? She wondered.
It's been pretty cool so far, we're climbing a đồi núi, hill right now. :3 Emma replied, before putting her phone away. She then looked up at her Những người bạn who were watching her curiously.
"Zoe and Sam." Emma told them before they asked.
"Ooh, tell Sam I đã đưa ý kiến hi." Rochelle said, looking cheery.
"And tell her that her Karate class isn't as good as my RAF cadets." Ryan added. While Sam did karate, Ryan was planning to be a pilot when he was older, and he was already a cadet in it. He and Sam had many arguments about which was better, which led to them not liking eachother that much.
"Ok." Emma agreed, trying not to giggle.
"And tell Zoe to stop trying to hit me with her bag at Lunchtime." Ryan said, looking annoyed. Again, he didn't get on very will with Zoe. hoặc most girls for that matter, they found him annoying, which Emma just couldn't understand. As they walked up the hill, Emma still got texts, which admittedly, was starting to annoy her now. A devious little thought crossed her mind. She started to send the same text to both of them.
Hey the signal is about to cut out on this, since we're in the middle of nowhere. I'll talk to bạn later. :P She put. She got two last replies, then it was peacefully quiet the rest of the way up. Emma's eyes fell on Kowalski and Ashley, who looked completely worn out. She didn't blame them, she felt exactly the same.
"Ok, we're going to stop here for abut 15 minutes." Dom told them, sitting down on the grass. Emma sighed in relief and plonked herself down on the soft grass. She got out her water bottle and guzzled down half of it.
"Hey careful with that Em, bạn don't want to run out." Ryan warned her. Emma nodded in response, and put it away. The five penguins began chatting about school, and what lessons they would be in first if they were there. It was now 7:30am and the sun was climbing higher in the sky.
"Well I'd have Art first." Emma told them.
"Same here." Kowalski said, sipping from his own drink.
"I'd have Maths first." Ashley told them brightly. He was looking a little less worn out now. They all began to eat, and Ashley turned to Miss Chambers.
"Miss, how long will it take to climb the rest of the hill?" He asked curiously.
"About 45 minutes, so we should get there about 8:30 if we set off at 7:45." She answered. Emma felt a little relief at that, at least there wasn't much left to do. 15 phút later, they got up and set off again. Emma put her headphones in her ear, and Ryan watched her curiously.
"What are bạn listening to Em?" He asked cheerfully.
"Nickelback." Emma replied. Ryan's eyes lit up, and he eyed up the headphones.
"Could I listen too?" He asked, his big brown eyes full of hope.
"Sure." Emma replied almost instantly. She handed the left one to him, and he put it in his earhole. Emma put on her favourite Nickelback song, and relaxed a little as they walked. Emma wasn't a big người hâm mộ of rock music, but she loved Nickelback and Linkin Park. She and Ryan seemed to be the only những người hâm mộ in their year, other people thought they were terrible, hoặc didn't care. They carried on listening to their favourite rock band, for the whole time they were walking.
"Ok we're at the hàng đầu, đầu trang now." Mr Hague announced. Emma and Ryan looked at eachother in surprise.
"Bloody hell that went quick." Emma remarked, taking the headphone off Ryan and putting the phone back into her bag.
"I know right?" Ryan agreed. Suddenly Emma's attention was caught bởi the amazing view they had of the countryside.
"Oh wow........." Emma managed, looking around her in amazement. She spotted the campsite, and the lake that they would be going to at the weekend. She couldn't help notice that her and Ryan's tent was closest to the lake. All of the penguins sat down, and stared at the view. Emma couldn't take her eyes off it. It was absolutely stunning. She stared at the gentle sloping hills, some were filled with flowers, others with animals, and all coated with soft shiny grass.
"Ok, so we're going to do a few activities up here." Miss Chambers began.
"Aw, but Miss, we're all tired." Rochelle complained lying down on the grass.
"Ok, bạn can have half an giờ of resting and chatting." Mr Hague told them. The kids looked relieved, and they all started talking. Emma was still staring at the enchanting view. She felt a few pokes on her back and she turned around. Rochelle and Ashley were still poking and stopped suddenly.
"Oh I see bạn are here with us." Rochelle joked.
"I was just looking at the view." Emma told them.
"Yes we noticed." Rochelle replied, holding back a giggle. Emma began to talk to them, though her stomach was filling with butterflies. Ryan was sitting to her left, and quite close to her. She fidgeted, and felt herself blush a little. Awhile later, the teachers told them to stand up.
"Ok, so we're going to be playing a bit of a kid game, but it's still fun." Dom told them. "First we're playing stuck in the mud." He explained. Emma's eyes lit up. She loved the game.
"For any of bạn who don't know what it is, we'll explain. Basically, one person is 'it' and they have to tag other people. If someone gets tagged, bạn have to stay still until another player tag you. The game ends, when the person who is 'it' tag everyone." Mr Hague explained.
"Ok, so.. hmm. who should be on?" Miss Chambers wondered, scanning the young penguins. Her eyes fell on Emma's group and she smiled. "Ryan, you're 'it' give everyone ten giây to get away." She decided. Emma got up, and ran as fast as lightening across the hill. The other kids began to run away in alarm, when Dom shouted 'GO!' Ryan began to chase the people around him, and he caught Ash immediately.
"Aw." Ashley, moaned. His face brightened when Rochelle tagged him though. Meanwhile, Emma was still legging it across the hill, tagging a few people who had been tagged as she went. She was slowly getting further away from the group, who weren't doing very well behind her. After a few short phút everyone had been tagged except for Emma. Ryan saw Emma running in the distance and he grinned. He soon began to chase after her, and was getting closer every second.
Crud. Emma thought as he got closer. Emma was really fast, but Ryan was a lot faster than her. He got even closer, and Emma turned to her left at the last minute, just as Ryan tried to tag her, making him fall over in surprise. Emma giggled, and ran back in the direction of the group,and tagged a few people free, who Ryan tagged again, as he went past. He took a deep breath, and ran even faster, tagging Emma as he ran past. He grinned cheekily, as she came to a stop.
"Aw." Emma complained, panting a little after running for so long.
"You did really well though Emma." Miss Chambers told her. They then began to do other activities, and Emma wondered how long they'd be up here for.
"We're going to be up here all day." Mr Hague told them, after Emma asked. The ngày went surprisingly quick, and before they knew it, they sky was getting darker, and they were heading down the đồi núi, hill again.
Bloody hell I'm shattered. Emma thought, feeling her eyes drooping. She genuinely felt that she could fall asleep right where she was walking and not mind. She could barely even speak, she just kept yawning. What felt like days later, they finally got back to the campsite. Emma trudged over to her tent, and climbed in. She uttered a goodnight to Ryan, before flopping on her bed, and falling asleep instantly. She didn't even bother to unzip her sleeping bag. Ryan smiled at her. He unzipped her sleeping bag for her and gently placed her in it. He looked over at Lulu, who was at the bottom of the sleeping bag. He picked her up, and put her in Emma's flippers. He watched her for a few minutes. Ryan had a secret that he struggling to hide. For over a năm now, he had been crushing on Emma, but he was too shy to say anything, Usually when it came to anything, Ryan was confident, cheery and bright, but, even though he hid it very well, he was actually very shy around Emma. He had learned to hide it, bởi being cheerful, and hyper all of the time, but he was itching to tell her how he felt. But if she didn't feel the same, it might make things awkward between them, and ruin their friendship. He sighed and stared at her longingly. He plucked up all of the bravery inside him, and stroked her hair softly. He sat there for a few minutes, then went to his own sleeping bag reluctantly. He rested his head on his pillow, and closed his eyes, falling asleep shortly after.
Emma's eyes fluttered open the tiếp theo day, and she saw that Ryan was still asleep. A warm sunny glow was filling the tent, as she searched for her phone.
How did I end up in my sleeping bag? She wondered, as she finally found it. She glanced at the time which was only 9am. In the middle of the tent was the activity sheet, which she grabbed with her free flipper. Today they were doing horse riding and Emma brightened when she realised that it was starting at 1pm. I'll get up at 12 then. She thought, snuggling down into the blanket and beginning to fall asleep. Something was still bugging her though. She looked over at Ryan, then down at her sleeping bag. Did he.......nah, I probably got into it without realising. She told herself, as she fell asleep.
At 11:50am, Emma got up, and realised that Ryan was just waking up too.
"Morning." She managed through a yawn.
"Morning Em." Ryan replied yawning too. Emma rubbed her eyes, and crawled out of her sleeping bag. She got out a pack of sweets and offered one to Ryan. "Ooh yes please." He said, taking a sweet out. Emma found herself blushing a little, and she tried to focus on something else.
"So we've got horse riding today haven't we?" Emma asked, though she already knew.
"Yeah, in about an hour. I wonder how long it'll take for us to get there?" Ryan wondered, trying not to blush too. Emma sat Lulu on her pillow, and wondered what to do for a bit.
"Should we go and get breakfast?" She suggested.
"Sure." Ryan agreed, climbing out of the tent. Emma climbed out after him, and the two penguins headed to the cabin. Emma came out with a big bowl of cereal coated with sugar, and Ryan got a few slices of toast. They noticed that Rochelle, Ashley, and Kowalski were already sitting down where the campfire usually was.
"Morning bạn guys." Emma greeted brightly, sitting beside them.
"It's afternoon now." Kowalski told her, smiling a little.
"Meh." Emma replied, digging into her breakfast. Emma saw some of the other kids were just getting up too.
"So have any of bạn rode a horse before? I have." Rochelle asked. Everyone except for Ashley shook their heads.
"It can be easy, it matters on how well behaved the horse is, and how good bạn are with animals." Ashley told them.
"It'll be fun either way." Emma said, shrugging her shoulders.
"And it will be a little funny to see who will fall off." Rochelle added, trying not to giggle. Emma smiled, as she finished off her breakfast, and took the bowl back. When she got back, they were all poking eachother.
Hehe what is it with them and poking? Ah well, I might aswell tham gia them. She thought, trying not to laugh. She sat down tiếp theo to them, and started to poke Kowalski, who poked her back. As they were messing around, the three teachers came out of the lều, cabin and asked for the kids to come over to them. The five penguins got up and sat down on the cỏ near the teachers.
"Ok so we're going to be doing horse riding today, and the stables are only a mile away, so it should only take about 20 phút maximum to get there." Mr Hague explained, whilst drinking a coffee.
"So when are we leaving sir?" Kowalski asked curiously.
"In about 20 minutes, because we need to get there early, so the stable owner can explain health and safety rules." He replied. Kowalski nodded in response, and the penguins scurried off to their tents getting what they wanted to take with them. Emma just grabbed her water bottle, and her phone, and headed out, patting Lulu on the head just before she did. Ryan caught her eye and smiled at her, Emma smiled back shyly, and they went back to the group. About 10 phút later, they set off, and as usual, the five penguins messed around the whole time. As they reached the horse stable, they were greeted bởi an unpleasant smell.
"Ugh, horse poo." Emma whispered to her friends. She held her breath, and walked in after the others. She couldn't help smiling as she saw the ngựa though, shaking their manes, swishing their tails and stamping their hooves. She saw one in the corner that wasn't looking the same way as the others, It stared out of the window tiếp theo to it, and seemed much calmer than the others. Emma watched it curiously, but her attention was caught bởi the stable owner, who began talking about health and safety. Emma listened but she kept looking back at the horse. It had a blackish áo, áo khoác with a white underbelly and white hooves. It's eyes were light blue, and it's mane was white.
"Now, go and choose the horse bạn want to ride." The stable owner said. Emma walked over to the horse curiously, and it looked directly at her. "Ooh be careful with that one lass, Midnight's a bit of trouble." The stable owner warned her.
"I'll be careful." Emma promised, not taking her eyes off Midnight. She reached out a flipper cautiously, and the horse gave her, what looked like a questioning look. Emma stroked her mane gently and she made a content noise. Emma smiled and continued stroking her. "You're not trouble are you?" Emma whispered still smiling. "That stable guy doesn't know what he's talking about." She added. Midnight whinnied in response, and Emma opened the little stable door carefully, and lead her out. The stable owner watched in astonishment. As she got out, she saw that everyone else had got their horses. She went over to her friends, who had a different variety of horses. Ryan had a toffee coloured one, Rochelle's was light brown, Ashley's was dark brown, and Kowalski's was pure white. The stable owner gave the kids instructions to mount the horses, and Emma winced as she saw Ryan fall off instantly. He got up and climbed on again. She noticed that Ashley and Rochelle were doing really well. There was a little trail that the ngựa could be lead around, which they all started to go around, The trail went from the stable, into the woods, and back again. Emma moved phía trước, chuyển tiếp cautiously, but her attention was caught bởi Ryan, who fell off a một giây time.
"You ok lad?" The stable owner asked, helping Ryan up.
"I think so, but I really can't ride horses." Ryan replied, rubbing his flipper.
"Hmm.... bạn could share with someone else if they'll let you." The stable owner suggested. Ryan looked around the little stable area, and saw that Emma was the only one there.
"Em, can I share with you?" He asked.
"Sure, hop on." Emma replied, cheerfully. Emma helped him up, and she started riding off. Ryan had to bọc his flippers around Emma to stop himself from falling off, which made them both blush.
"Can we go a little slower?" Ryan asked, feeling a little sick.
"Alright." Emma agreed slowing down a little. Her whole body was tingling right now, and she tried not to shiver in happiness. She felt so much warmer too. Emma patted Midnight, as they trotted along, and Ryan pointed out a few squirrels fighting over an acorn nearby. Emma and Ryan giggled and they continued through the small wood. Emma heard a rustle in the bushes and alarm bells went off in her head. Midnight had stopped abruptly, and was looking around the trail nervously.
"What's going on?" Ryan asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"I.. I don't know." Emma admitted. "But something doesn't feel right." She added, a shiver gong down her spine. And not a good one. The rustling got nearer, and Midnight anchored to the floor. Emma heard a growling noise, and her tim, trái tim skipped a beat. She edged closer to Ryan, who's eyes were full of fear. The rustling was only a meter away from them now, and whatever was there started to come out of the bush.....
Well little brothers is only one letter away from little bothers. She thought to herself, shaking her head, and heading out of the door, locking it as she went. She went to get Ashley and Kowalski, since they were going too. Ashley came out, looking exhausted, whilst Kowalski was brighter and full of energy.
"Aren't bạn tired lad?" Ashley asked the tallest penguin.
"Nah, I went giường pretty early last night, and I like mornings anyway." Kowalski replied cheerfully. Emma gave him a weird look, and plugged her headphones in. Though they couldn't bring chargers, Emma had just charged her phone last night, and hers lasted about a week until it went dead. They walked through the park, and Emma couldn't help but notice how empty it was at this time of day. She watched the little birds flying around the grass, looking for their breakfast, and tiny grey squirrels chasing eachother around nearby trees. It was bliss. A chilly breeze swept through the air, and Emma saw a bit of sparkling frost on the shiny green grass.
Great, if it's cold here, it's probably worse in Scotland. She thought worriedly. She didn't want to camp in freezing temperatures. As the three penguins drew closer to the school, Ashley noticed a few of the other kids from his class strolling in. They followed and reached the main hall, just inside of the building. Rochelle and Ryan were already sitting down at a table. Emma smiled at them, and sat down on their table.
"Hey bạn two." Emma greeted through a yawn.
"You still tired?" Rochelle asked, grinning at her.
"I hate mornings." Emma replied.
"So what did bạn bring with you?" Ryan asked cheerfully.
"Urm, a sleeping bag, a pillow, toothbrush, and toothpaste, my Nintendo Ds, my phone, a cuddly toy, tons of sweets, a water bottle, a sketch book, my pencil case, and a book." Emma replied, looking into her bag, which was bigger than herself.
"Awesome." Ryan remarked, smiling at Emma. She smiled back shyly and dragged her eyes away. The time was now 7:55, and Miss Chambers came along, and began to read out the names on the register. All together, there was only 20 kids going.
"Wait, Ash how many people are in your class?" Emma asked looking confused. There was only 7 kids in Ashley năm here, including Ash himself.
"19 but most of them don't want to go." Ashley replied. Emma looked around and realised that there was only 13 from her class here, including herself. She brightened when she realised that Josh and Danny weren't going. Neither were the other troublemakers which made her even happier. She wondered why Danny and Josh were asking about what they could bring, if there weren't going. Suddenly Emma's maths teacher Mr Hague came into the hall, and beckoned for Miss Chambers to come over to him. After a few giây she spoke up.
"The coach is here." She announced. "Follow me out of the hall, and don't go in front of me." She instructed.
"Are bạn going too?" Ryan asked Mr Hague.
"Yup, along with Dom." He replied, nodding towards another teacher. All of the kids got out of their seats, and headed outside, chatting and gossiping as they went. At the same time, Mr Hague went up to everyone, and told them who they'd be sharing a tent with. Emma and Ryan already knew theirs so he skipped them.
"Who are bạn with Rochelle?" Kowalski asked, looking curious.
"Aija." She replied, pointing towards a girl who sat on their bàn in Geography. "Who are bạn with?"
"Curtis." Kowalski answered, nodding towards a guy who usually sat on Ryan's table.
"That's alright I guess." Rochelle remarked, eating a Sô cô la bar. Ashley stared at the Sô cô la bar wistfully, and had to stop himself making a grab for it. He pulled a bag of chocolates from his bag and started gobbling them down.
Hehe he sure loves his chocolate. Emma thought grinning a bit. They scrambled onto the coach and Emma rushed to a window ghế, chỗ ngồi before anyone else could grab it. Kowalski sat down tiếp theo to her, and Rochelle and Ryan sat behind them. Ashley sat across from them, with someone from his class. Emma felt someone poke the back of her chair, and she turned around suspiciously, and looked through the little gap between the seats. Ryan was grinning cheekily at her.
"Are bạn going to be doing that the whole way there?" She asked, a smile tugging at her face.
"Maaybe......" Ryan answered, his smile getting wider. Emma tried not to blush when she realised it was that smile that made her all mushy inside. She smiled at him, and turned back around, staring out of the window. She felt another poke in the back of her chair, and a little devious thought came to mind. She whispered something to Kowalski, who passed it onto Rochelle, who then poked Ryan back.
"Anytime bạn poke my chair, Rochelle will poke you." Emma told him, grinning little.
"Fine I won't poke your chair." Ryan agreed, a mischievous tone to his voice. He reached around the chair, and poked Emma on the back. She poked him back, and they ended up poking for about 5 minutes, whilst Miss Chambers was taking about health and safety.
"Pack it in bạn two." Rochelle told them, kicking both of their seats. Emma stopped and focused looking out of the window again. She was still quite tired so she rested her head against the glass, and closed her eyes. The coach started to di chuyển and they began their long journey to Scotland. According to Miss Chambers, it would take them 6 hours to get there.
"Wake me up at 10am." Emma told them, her eyes still closed.
"Okay Emma." Rochelle promised. Emma relaxed a little and fell asleep instantly, and began to have a dream.
She was hiking through a forest with the camping group and she wandered off from them. The sky grew dark, and she felt a little scared. The trees swayed in the haunting wind, one hanging branch, scratching Emma on the face. She yelped in pain, and put a flipper to her cheek. Her tim, trái tim stopped when she heard a growling behind her. She turned her head around slowly. A big pair of red eyes glowed in a shadow. Emma had recently developed a phobia of red eyes, which didn't help, since Zoe had red eyes. The creature came out of the shadows, and revealed itself to be a giant bug. Emma backed away, her breathing becoming shallow and quick. Bugs were one of her other phobias. (with the exception of ladybirds, butterflies, moths and dragonflies.) The colossal bug got nearer and cornered her into a tree. She looked up at it fearfully, and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt herself being lifted into the air, but not bởi the bug. She opened her eyes uncertainly and saw Ryan carrying her as he zoomed away from the bug. She relaxed into his feathers and closed her eyes. A moment hoặc two later she opened her eyes and realised she was back on the coach. She glanced at her phone, which now read 9:50.
"Oh xin chào Emma." Kowalski greeted, looking up from a clipboard that he seemed to carry with him everywhere.
"Hey, did I miss anything?" She asked, sitting up in her seat.
"Not much, a kid in Ashley's class got travel sickness and threw up at the back of the coach about an giờ ago." Rochelle replied.
"Eww, does it smell?" Emma asked sniffing the air.
"Not anymore." Rochelle answered casually.
"Oh, and one kid opened a can of coke, and it sprayed everywhere." Ryan added, giggling a bit.
"Hehee, I bet that was a sight." Emma remarked, giggling too.
"It was, all of the cô ca covered him." Kowalski chimed in, a small smile making it's way onto his face. Emma grinned and her eyes fell on the scenery outside.
"Hey where are we?" She asked.
"Near Middlesborough." Kowalski answered.
"Cool, we're 'Up North' then." Emma giggled out in a northern accent. Their city was in the middle of England, and the people who lived to the north of the country, closer to Scotland, had a different accent. A few teachers at the school had this accent, and some of the kids teased them for that, especially when they tell the kids that they're from 'Up North' as they called it. Emma thought the accent sounded cool. As they got closer to the woods where they were camping, the sun climbed higher in the sky, and Emma felt really excited. She had put her headphones in and she started tapping her foot along to the song she had on it, whilst chatting with her friends. Ashley leaned over, so her could talk with them too.
"Hey do bạn guys want a sweet?" He asked, holding out a bag of gummy bears.
"Sure." Emma replied, taking a purple one. The others took one too, and Emma popped it in her mouth, and a sweet blackcurrant flavour filled her beak.
I still don't get why Americans call Sweets, Candy. She thought randomly. They began to get closer and the ball of excitement in Emma's stomach grew. The time was 2pm, when they finally got to the woods. The kids piled out of the coach, and Emma stopped dead and took in the sights around her.
"Oh wow........it's beautiful..." She breathed.
Emma took in the sights around her. They were in a pretty wood clearing, with soft green cỏ coating the floors, millions of trees, of all shapes and sizes, and a small stream which lead down to what looked like a lake in the distance. There was a lều, cabin at one side of the clearing, and a willow cây near the other. Small bunnies and squirrels scampered through the grass, and bướm fluttered around their heads. One landed on Emma's flipper and she smiled and looked at it. It had turquoise coloured wings, and a dark blue body. A few giây later, it took off into the air.
"Wow........." Ashley managed, staring at the clearing his eyes wide with amazement. Emma noticed a tiny bit of clearing, separated from the rest of it.
Our tent is definitely going there. She thought.
"Ok, so before we do anything, I'll explain a few things." Miss Chambers announced, standing in front of the kids. "We are the only people here, but bạn still have to behave. The lều, cabin has the toilets, a phone, and tons of thực phẩm in." She began. "Don't go wandering off without the group hoặc a teacher, and remember to stay safe." She told them. The kids nodded in response.
"Okay, so here are your tents. Try and set them up yourself, but if bạn can't then we'll help." Mr Hague explained. Kowalski put his flipper up. "What is it Kowalski?" He asked.
"Where's the coach going?" Kowalski asked nodding towards the stationary coach.
"It's going to go about a quarter of a mile back from here, so it doesn't disturb the nature, hoặc the proper camping atmosphere." Dom, the other teacher, answered. The kids went and picked up a tent. Emma and Ryan got one of the bigger ones, and discussed where they should put it.
"I think it should go in that secluded bit near the back." Emma said, pointing to the separate bit.
"Sure, it looks like a nice spot." Ryan agreed cheerfully. They took their tent over to that spot and put it down.
"Urm....." Emma remarked, staring at the heap of fabric thoughtfully.
"Have bạn set up a tent before?" Ryan asked, picking up the tent pegs.
"Nope." Emma replied, looking confused. "Have you?"
"Yup." Ryan replied brightly. He set up part of the tent, and helped Emma with the rest of it. In about 5 minutes, the dark green tent was standing proudly bởi itself. Emma peeked inside curiously, and saw that there was plenty of không gian for both of them. She climbed in, with her massive bag, and took her sleeping bag out. Ryan climbed in behind her, and put his sleeping bag on the right side of the tent. Emma then put hers on the left side of the tent and started to unpack her stuff. She put her cái gối, gối at the hàng đầu, đầu trang of the sleeping bag, and wondered what she should take out. She took her cuddly husky, Lulu out, and sat her on the pillow, then she put her phone and headphones, her sketch book, her pencil case, and her book on the sleeping bag. She blushed when she realised that Ryan was looking at Lulu curiously.
"She's my favourite toy, I've had her for 6 years now." Emma explained, patting Lulu on the head.
"That's ok Em, I've got a toy like that too." Ryan told her, taking a small brown teddy chịu, gấu out of his bag. It had a little red bow around it's neck, and had big green eyes.
"Aw, it's cute." Emma exclaimed, a smile tugging at her face as she stroked it's head .
"Thanks, his name's Ben." Ryan said, smiling at her. "What's the name of your one?" He asked, his brown eyes falling on the husky again.
"Lulu." Emma replied, looking back at her.
"Nice name." Ryan remarked, petting Lulu's head. Emma smiled in response and her attention was caught bởi a noise outside. The two penguins poked their heads out, and saw the teacher were telling them all to come to them for a minute. All of the penguins went over to the teachers curiously.
"Here's the activity sheets, for what we'll be doing for the tiếp theo five days." Miss Chambers explained, having little sheets to the kids. Ryan took one, and looked over it.
"So what are we gonna be doing?" Emma asked.
"Today, is a free day, to get settled into our tents and stuff." Ryan began. "Tomorrow, we're doing a bit of hiking, up a đồi núi, hill nearby, on Friday, we're horse riding at a stable about a mile away, on Saturday, we're canoeing, Sunday, we're swimming and Monday is the last day, so we'll have another free day, then we pack and go home." He explained, folding the sheet, and putting it in the tent.
"Cool, so what should we do today?" Emma wondered, looking around the clearing. She realised that she was blushing a little bit.
"Hmmm........climb some trees?" Ryan suggested.
"Good idea!" Emma agreed. She saw Rochelle, Ash and Kowalski talking near three tents near the middle, and she and Ryan walked over to them.
"Oh xin chào bạn two." Rochelle greeted, looking very bright and cheery.
"Hey guys." Emma replied, smiling at all of them.
"Did bạn lot get your tents up ok?" Ryan asked curiously.
"Urm......well I needed some help from the teacher...." Kowalski admitted sheepishly.
"I found it real easy." Ashley chimed in happily. "But I have been camping before." He added.
"It was alright for me." Rochelle replied smugly. Kowalski gave her a dark look, and looked at the floor.
"So, we were thinking of climbing a few trees, do bạn guys wanna come?" Emma asked hopefully.
"Sure that sounds fun." Ashley agreed. Rochelle and Kowalski nodded in response, and they began looking around the clearing for trees to climb. Ryan spotted a good one, and pointed towards it. Emma ran over to it eagerly and pulled herself onto the first branch. From there on, there was tons of different branches that she could get onto. She picked the nearest one, and climbed up it. Behind her, Rochelle had just climbed onto the one tiếp theo to her. Ashley climbed onto a higher up branch with ease, and poor Kowalski looked a bit worried.
"C'mon Kowalski, you'll be ok." Emma encouraged. He climbed to another branch, nearly slipping as he did.
"Woah, be careful lad." Ashley warned him, his face full of alarm. Ryan trailed behind the others, and climbed up to a branch even higher than Ashley.
"Show off." Rochelle remarked, looking up at the tall chim cánh cụt jealously. Ryan just grinned and carried on climbing. Ashley was just behind him, followed bởi Rochelle, Emma and Kowalski. As they climbed higher, the three in front pulled away from Emma and Kowalski a bit. Emma looked down at the floor, and her eyes widened. They were extremely high up now. She wasn't scared of heights, but she was scared of falling out of the tree. As they climbed even higher, Kowalski overtook Emma, who's feet had decided to anchor to the branch she was on. She looked up at the tiếp theo branch, which looked extremely thin and unstable, and she closed her eyes. A sick feeling filled her stomach, and held onto the bark of the cây for dear life.
"Em are bạn ok?" Ryan asked, poking his head down, trying to find her. He spotted her, and his eyes filled with concern. "You're not scared of heights are you?" He asked. Emma opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Scared of falling." Emma corrected, still not moving.
"Don't worry, bạn won't fall." Ryan reassured her. Emma tried to tell herself this, and she climbed the tiếp theo one cautiously. Her tim, trái tim was pounding a hundred times faster than usual, and she slipped. Ryan held out his flippers, looking panicky and Emma grabbed onto them just in time. Emma's tim, trái tim began to beat even faster, but for a different reason this time. She felt herself go red, as Ryan pulled her up to the hàng đầu, đầu trang branch. She sat down, and leaned against the bark on the tree, panting a little.
"Are bạn ok lass?" Ashley asked worriedly. Emma nodded in response as she calmed down a bit. She poked her head out of the leaves and saw the whole clearing below them. Mr Hague noticed them, and he looked up in astonishment.
"How on earth did bạn lot get up there?" He asked, walking closer to the tree.
"Climbed." Ryan replied simply, making the others giggle.
"I mean how did bạn get up there so quickly?" He corrected, smiling a little at what Ryan said.
"Climbed quickly." Rochelle answered, bursting into giggles. Mr Hague chuckled a little and watched the penguins.
"Just be careful ok?" He reminded them, going over to Miss Chambers and Dom. They nodded and sat up in the cây for ages, telling jokes, messing around, and chatting. At one point, they tried to make a leaf crown for Rochelle, who didn't look pleased. The ended up just sticking leaves in her hair.
"Hey, stop it!" She giggled, as Ashley and Emma began tickling her with leaves. Kowalski and Ryan joined in, and she held onto the bark, to stop herself from falling as she tired to take the leaves off them. They eventually stopped and she sat up properly again. "Oh bạn lot are gonna pay for that." She warned them, looking mischievous.
"Oh really?" Ryan asked, a challenging look on his face.
"Yes. But I won't tell bạn when." Rochelle replied, smiling deviously. Emma looked up at the sky, and saw it was still light, but the sun was dropping in the sky.
"Hey what time is it?" She asked, watching the clouds.
"6pm." Kowalski replied, checking his watch.
"Oh my goodness, we've been up here for 4 hours!" Emma exclaimed, shock filling her voice.
"Well time flies when you're having fun." Ryan replied, winking at her.
"Good point." Emma replied, blushing a little. The five penguins decided to climb down, and Emma felt nervous again.
"Do bạn want some help down Em?" Ryan asked, noticing the worry in her dark blue eyes.
"Yes please." Emma replied, looking down at the unstable branch below her. "Only for the hàng đầu, đầu trang ones, I should be ok soon." She added. Ryan nodded and he climbed to the unstable branch, and helped Emma down onto it. They climbed down a few thêm together, and Emma felt less scared now. "I think I can do this one." She told the taller penguin. He nodded understandingly and she climbed down slowly, with Ryan closely behind her. She felt relieved as her feet reached solid land again.
"You guys were up there for hours." Mr Hague commented, looking at the 5 penguins.
"It was fun up there." Rochelle told him, grinning a little.
"Oh, and at 9pm, we're gathering around a campfire." Mr Hague told them.
"Ooh, what will we be doing?" Emma asked.
"Telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows, y'know, the normal camp things." He replied.
"Sounds fun." Kowalski remarked, smiling in excitement.
"Yeah, me, Miss Chambers and Dom, are setting it up now." Mr Hague told them, before walking off.
"Hmm, we've still got 3 hours, what should we do?" Ashley wondered.
"Hm..... well I'm gonna do a bit of drawing." Emma decided rushing to the tent, and coming back out with her sketch book, and pencil case. She sat down bởi the tree, and stared into the clouds.
"I think I'll go and climb some thêm trees." Rochelle decided.
"Ooh, same here." Ashley replied, and the two penguins walked off. Kowalski and Ryan sat down with Emma, and Kowalski whipped his clipboard out of nowhere. Emma gave him a strange look, and went back to drawing. Ryan went back to the tent, and came back out, a pack of crisps and a piece of paper in his flipper.
"Whatcha doing?" Emma asked looking up from her picture.
"I'm gonna try and draw a skateboard." He replied cheerfully. He sat down again, and Emma let him borrow her pencils and colours. Emma was drawing her transformer character again, and Ryan watched her curiously. Emma looked up, and saw how close he was sitting to her, which made her stomach fill with butterflies. She smiled shyly at him, and looked back at her picture. She looked to her left, where Kowalski was drawing a nearby squirrel. The three penguins sat there drawing for hours, and the sky began getting darker. A while later, they heard the teachers call everyone.
"It's time for the campfire." Miss Chambers announced. All of the penguins dotted around the clearing, got up, and followed the teachers through the trees to the campfire.
Emma walked over excitedly, and sat down bởi the fire. The little trái cam, màu da cam flames danced around the pile of sticks, and made a little crackling noise. Miss Chambers handed a small bag of marshmallows and a stick to everyone, whilst Mr Hague and Dom gave everyone hot chocolates. Emma sipped hers slowly and looked around her. Ashley and Rochelle were just climbing down from a tree, and they bounded over to the others eagerly.
"This is gonna be great!" Ashley exclaimed, his big green eyes full of enthusiasm.
"Yup." Emma replied, sticking one of her marshmallows on the stick and holding it near the ngọn lửa, chữa cháy cautiously. She looked up and saw the teachers were asking for quiet.
"Ok, so we're going to tell a few ghost stories." Dom began.
"Does anyone know any good ones?" Mr Hague asked. A girl called Victoria put her flipper up.
"Do bạn have one Victoria?" Miss Chambers asked, her eyes on the small penguin.
"Yes." Victoria replied, pushing her long reddish brown hair out of her face. She held up a torch to her face, and Emma tried not to giggle.
Classic, bordering on Cliche. She thought a small creeping onto her face.
"So, almost 10 years ago, a group of kids went on a camping trip not too far from here." She began. Ryan looked at Ashley, who was already looking terrified and he tried not to grin. Ashley always took stories like this literally.
"Go on." Miss Chambers prompted. Victoria nodded.
"Anyway, they all started getting picked off, one bởi one." She continued. "The first one 'fell' out of a tree, the một giây one drowned, the third was burnt to death in their tent, and then the others tried to leave, but someone popped the tires on their coach. Then they tried to walk back. " She explained, her eyes on the trembling penguins. "Then, as they nearly reached the edge of the woods, and figure came out of a shadow. He had bright red eyes, and blood was dripping from his hook for a hand. He then gutted all of the campers, except for one, very small human." She told them. "The hook man told the little human to tell everyone about what happened, hoặc he would hunt him down and kill him. Now if this story is told to campers, the Hook Man stays away from them, because they know of his story." Victoria finished. bởi this time, nearly everyone was looking scared including Ryan and Emma, who never took ghost stories seriously. Ashley has his eyes covered, and was shaking.
"You made that up on the spot didn't you?" Rochelle asked, grinning at her classmate.
"Obviously." Victoria replied. Ashley looked relieved and he moved his flippers away from his eyes.
"Still it was quite scary." Ashley said, drinking all of his hot Sô cô la in about 10 seconds. The penguins all sat there for a while, eating marshmallows, and chatting. Ryan and Rochelle started throwing marshmallows at eachother, and wasted a lot of marshmallows doing so. The time was about 10pm when they all were told to head to their tents. Emma climbed in and unzipped her sleeping bag. Ryan got in the tent and got into his sleeping bag, snuggling down as he did. Emma rested her head on the soft fluffy pillow.
"Hey what did bạn think of the story?" Ryan asked, leaning on his flipper.
"Well though I know it's not true, it was a little freaky." Emma replied, leaning on her flipper too. "Especially the red eyes bit." She added, shivering a little.
"Yeah, it was a bit creepy." Ryan agreed, smiling at Emma. Emma smiled back shyly, and dared to look into his eyes. She loved the colour of his eyes, they were so lovely and deep. She pulled her eyes away, so she didn't seem like she was staring.
"I felt a little sorry for Ashley though." Emma admitted, trying to to giggle.
"Yeah, he always takes stories seriously, poor guy." Ryan replied, running a flipper through his hair. Emma felt bướm in her stomach intensify, and she tried not to blush. Suddenly, she felt really tired. She let out a yawn and her eyelids started to droop a little. "You tried Em?" Ryan asked, smiling at the shorter penguin.
"Yeah, I guess waking up earlier took it's toll." Emma replied, rubbing her eyes.
"You going sleep then?" Ryan asked, looking a little sleepy too.
"Yup, hoặc I'll never be up tomorrow." Emma answered, giggling a bit. "Goodnight Ryan." Emma said, taking Lulu off the pillow, and cuddling her.
"Goodnight Em." The tall chim cánh cụt replied, picking up Ben, and holding him. Emma smiled at him, before closing her eyes. Part of her didn't want to go sleep, she just wanted to stay up and talk all night. But they had a big ngày ahead of them tomorrow. Only a few phút after she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.
The tiếp theo day, Emma felt a gentle poke on her flipper. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced around her. Ryan was sitting up, holding up the activity sheet. It didn't even look like it was light outside.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Emma asked sleepily, her eyes barely open.
"5:30am." Ryan replied, trying to keep her awake. Emma just laughed and closed her eyes again.
"There's no way I'm getting up at this time." She told him, relaxing into her pillow.
"You have to Em, the hiking starts in half an hour, and we still have to get breakfast. " Ryan explained, poking her again. Emma sighed in frustration, and got out of her sleeping bag reluctantly. She got a pack of sweets out of her bag, and began to eat them, as she got out of the tent, and trudged to the cabin. Ryan watched her curiously. "Are bạn ok Em?" He asked, looking concerned. Emma grunted in response, and he looked confused. At the same time, Ashley, Rochelle and Kowalski came over to the penguins. "Hey, bạn got any idea what's up with Emma?" He asked his friends.
"Oh trust me this is normal." Kowalski answered casually.
"Yup, she hates mornings." Ashley added. The five penguins went in the lều, cabin and got some breakfast, before sitting down on the cỏ tiếp theo to the other kids, who were chatting merrily to eachother.
How on earth can everyone be so cheerful at this time in the morning? Emma wondered, letting out a yawn. About 5 phút later she woke up properly, and the teachers came over to them.
"Ok, so we're going to go hiking up a nearby hill." Mr Hague explained.
"So get what bạn want from your tents and come back here afterwards." Miss Chambers instructed. Emma went back to the tent, and took a smaller bag out of her big bag, and put her water bottle, her phone and headphones in, and a few packs of sweets. Then the campers set off. They walked through the little wood, listening to the birds whistling merry tunes. The five penguins invented a little game, and tried to see who could spot the most squirrels, though it just ended up with all of them throwing acorns at eachother. They reached the edge of the wood, and Emma's eyes widened in astonishment. The đồi núi, hill was absolutely massive.
Emma and Ashley exchanged a surprised look, as they looked at the đồi núi, hill thêm carefully. It was a gentle slope but it went on for so long, that Emma couldn't see the top.
"C'mon then, lets go." Mr Hague instructed enthusiastically. The young penguins stared at the đồi núi, hill uncertainly before following the adults up.
"How long will this take?" Rochelle asked, looking bored.
"A few hours maybe." Miss Chambers replied. Emma's jaw dropped and she sighed unhappily. First she had to get up early, now she'd be walking for ages.
I wish I could just go sleep right here. She thought wistfully. She heard a little noise from her bag, and she realised she had a text message. Emma wasn't much of a texter at all, it bored her usually, but she just couldn't ignore it. She opened the little message and saw it was from Zoe.
Hey Emz, how's the trip so far? Sorry 4 texting u so early. :P I bet ur enjoyin sharin the tent with u know who. ;) She read. Emma smiled and started to reply.
Don't worry, I'm already up, because they got us up early today. :( But it's been really cool so far. :D And yes i'm DEFINITELY enjoying sharing a tent with him. :P Emma replied. Emma didn't really use text talk, she preferred texting like she wrote. A few giây later she got a text back, and she stared down at it, puzzled. Her face cleared when she saw it was from Sam.
Hey Emma, how's the trip? :P She read.
Jeez why is everyone up bởi now? She wondered.
It's been pretty cool so far, we're climbing a đồi núi, hill right now. :3 Emma replied, before putting her phone away. She then looked up at her Những người bạn who were watching her curiously.
"Zoe and Sam." Emma told them before they asked.
"Ooh, tell Sam I đã đưa ý kiến hi." Rochelle said, looking cheery.
"And tell her that her Karate class isn't as good as my RAF cadets." Ryan added. While Sam did karate, Ryan was planning to be a pilot when he was older, and he was already a cadet in it. He and Sam had many arguments about which was better, which led to them not liking eachother that much.
"Ok." Emma agreed, trying not to giggle.
"And tell Zoe to stop trying to hit me with her bag at Lunchtime." Ryan said, looking annoyed. Again, he didn't get on very will with Zoe. hoặc most girls for that matter, they found him annoying, which Emma just couldn't understand. As they walked up the hill, Emma still got texts, which admittedly, was starting to annoy her now. A devious little thought crossed her mind. She started to send the same text to both of them.
Hey the signal is about to cut out on this, since we're in the middle of nowhere. I'll talk to bạn later. :P She put. She got two last replies, then it was peacefully quiet the rest of the way up. Emma's eyes fell on Kowalski and Ashley, who looked completely worn out. She didn't blame them, she felt exactly the same.
"Ok, we're going to stop here for abut 15 minutes." Dom told them, sitting down on the grass. Emma sighed in relief and plonked herself down on the soft grass. She got out her water bottle and guzzled down half of it.
"Hey careful with that Em, bạn don't want to run out." Ryan warned her. Emma nodded in response, and put it away. The five penguins began chatting about school, and what lessons they would be in first if they were there. It was now 7:30am and the sun was climbing higher in the sky.
"Well I'd have Art first." Emma told them.
"Same here." Kowalski said, sipping from his own drink.
"I'd have Maths first." Ashley told them brightly. He was looking a little less worn out now. They all began to eat, and Ashley turned to Miss Chambers.
"Miss, how long will it take to climb the rest of the hill?" He asked curiously.
"About 45 minutes, so we should get there about 8:30 if we set off at 7:45." She answered. Emma felt a little relief at that, at least there wasn't much left to do. 15 phút later, they got up and set off again. Emma put her headphones in her ear, and Ryan watched her curiously.
"What are bạn listening to Em?" He asked cheerfully.
"Nickelback." Emma replied. Ryan's eyes lit up, and he eyed up the headphones.
"Could I listen too?" He asked, his big brown eyes full of hope.
"Sure." Emma replied almost instantly. She handed the left one to him, and he put it in his earhole. Emma put on her favourite Nickelback song, and relaxed a little as they walked. Emma wasn't a big người hâm mộ of rock music, but she loved Nickelback and Linkin Park. She and Ryan seemed to be the only những người hâm mộ in their year, other people thought they were terrible, hoặc didn't care. They carried on listening to their favourite rock band, for the whole time they were walking.
"Ok we're at the hàng đầu, đầu trang now." Mr Hague announced. Emma and Ryan looked at eachother in surprise.
"Bloody hell that went quick." Emma remarked, taking the headphone off Ryan and putting the phone back into her bag.
"I know right?" Ryan agreed. Suddenly Emma's attention was caught bởi the amazing view they had of the countryside.
"Oh wow........." Emma managed, looking around her in amazement. She spotted the campsite, and the lake that they would be going to at the weekend. She couldn't help notice that her and Ryan's tent was closest to the lake. All of the penguins sat down, and stared at the view. Emma couldn't take her eyes off it. It was absolutely stunning. She stared at the gentle sloping hills, some were filled with flowers, others with animals, and all coated with soft shiny grass.
"Ok, so we're going to do a few activities up here." Miss Chambers began.
"Aw, but Miss, we're all tired." Rochelle complained lying down on the grass.
"Ok, bạn can have half an giờ of resting and chatting." Mr Hague told them. The kids looked relieved, and they all started talking. Emma was still staring at the enchanting view. She felt a few pokes on her back and she turned around. Rochelle and Ashley were still poking and stopped suddenly.
"Oh I see bạn are here with us." Rochelle joked.
"I was just looking at the view." Emma told them.
"Yes we noticed." Rochelle replied, holding back a giggle. Emma began to talk to them, though her stomach was filling with butterflies. Ryan was sitting to her left, and quite close to her. She fidgeted, and felt herself blush a little. Awhile later, the teachers told them to stand up.
"Ok, so we're going to be playing a bit of a kid game, but it's still fun." Dom told them. "First we're playing stuck in the mud." He explained. Emma's eyes lit up. She loved the game.
"For any of bạn who don't know what it is, we'll explain. Basically, one person is 'it' and they have to tag other people. If someone gets tagged, bạn have to stay still until another player tag you. The game ends, when the person who is 'it' tag everyone." Mr Hague explained.
"Ok, so.. hmm. who should be on?" Miss Chambers wondered, scanning the young penguins. Her eyes fell on Emma's group and she smiled. "Ryan, you're 'it' give everyone ten giây to get away." She decided. Emma got up, and ran as fast as lightening across the hill. The other kids began to run away in alarm, when Dom shouted 'GO!' Ryan began to chase the people around him, and he caught Ash immediately.
"Aw." Ashley, moaned. His face brightened when Rochelle tagged him though. Meanwhile, Emma was still legging it across the hill, tagging a few people who had been tagged as she went. She was slowly getting further away from the group, who weren't doing very well behind her. After a few short phút everyone had been tagged except for Emma. Ryan saw Emma running in the distance and he grinned. He soon began to chase after her, and was getting closer every second.
Crud. Emma thought as he got closer. Emma was really fast, but Ryan was a lot faster than her. He got even closer, and Emma turned to her left at the last minute, just as Ryan tried to tag her, making him fall over in surprise. Emma giggled, and ran back in the direction of the group,and tagged a few people free, who Ryan tagged again, as he went past. He took a deep breath, and ran even faster, tagging Emma as he ran past. He grinned cheekily, as she came to a stop.
"Aw." Emma complained, panting a little after running for so long.
"You did really well though Emma." Miss Chambers told her. They then began to do other activities, and Emma wondered how long they'd be up here for.
"We're going to be up here all day." Mr Hague told them, after Emma asked. The ngày went surprisingly quick, and before they knew it, they sky was getting darker, and they were heading down the đồi núi, hill again.
Bloody hell I'm shattered. Emma thought, feeling her eyes drooping. She genuinely felt that she could fall asleep right where she was walking and not mind. She could barely even speak, she just kept yawning. What felt like days later, they finally got back to the campsite. Emma trudged over to her tent, and climbed in. She uttered a goodnight to Ryan, before flopping on her bed, and falling asleep instantly. She didn't even bother to unzip her sleeping bag. Ryan smiled at her. He unzipped her sleeping bag for her and gently placed her in it. He looked over at Lulu, who was at the bottom of the sleeping bag. He picked her up, and put her in Emma's flippers. He watched her for a few minutes. Ryan had a secret that he struggling to hide. For over a năm now, he had been crushing on Emma, but he was too shy to say anything, Usually when it came to anything, Ryan was confident, cheery and bright, but, even though he hid it very well, he was actually very shy around Emma. He had learned to hide it, bởi being cheerful, and hyper all of the time, but he was itching to tell her how he felt. But if she didn't feel the same, it might make things awkward between them, and ruin their friendship. He sighed and stared at her longingly. He plucked up all of the bravery inside him, and stroked her hair softly. He sat there for a few minutes, then went to his own sleeping bag reluctantly. He rested his head on his pillow, and closed his eyes, falling asleep shortly after.
Emma's eyes fluttered open the tiếp theo day, and she saw that Ryan was still asleep. A warm sunny glow was filling the tent, as she searched for her phone.
How did I end up in my sleeping bag? She wondered, as she finally found it. She glanced at the time which was only 9am. In the middle of the tent was the activity sheet, which she grabbed with her free flipper. Today they were doing horse riding and Emma brightened when she realised that it was starting at 1pm. I'll get up at 12 then. She thought, snuggling down into the blanket and beginning to fall asleep. Something was still bugging her though. She looked over at Ryan, then down at her sleeping bag. Did he.......nah, I probably got into it without realising. She told herself, as she fell asleep.
At 11:50am, Emma got up, and realised that Ryan was just waking up too.
"Morning." She managed through a yawn.
"Morning Em." Ryan replied yawning too. Emma rubbed her eyes, and crawled out of her sleeping bag. She got out a pack of sweets and offered one to Ryan. "Ooh yes please." He said, taking a sweet out. Emma found herself blushing a little, and she tried to focus on something else.
"So we've got horse riding today haven't we?" Emma asked, though she already knew.
"Yeah, in about an hour. I wonder how long it'll take for us to get there?" Ryan wondered, trying not to blush too. Emma sat Lulu on her pillow, and wondered what to do for a bit.
"Should we go and get breakfast?" She suggested.
"Sure." Ryan agreed, climbing out of the tent. Emma climbed out after him, and the two penguins headed to the cabin. Emma came out with a big bowl of cereal coated with sugar, and Ryan got a few slices of toast. They noticed that Rochelle, Ashley, and Kowalski were already sitting down where the campfire usually was.
"Morning bạn guys." Emma greeted brightly, sitting beside them.
"It's afternoon now." Kowalski told her, smiling a little.
"Meh." Emma replied, digging into her breakfast. Emma saw some of the other kids were just getting up too.
"So have any of bạn rode a horse before? I have." Rochelle asked. Everyone except for Ashley shook their heads.
"It can be easy, it matters on how well behaved the horse is, and how good bạn are with animals." Ashley told them.
"It'll be fun either way." Emma said, shrugging her shoulders.
"And it will be a little funny to see who will fall off." Rochelle added, trying not to giggle. Emma smiled, as she finished off her breakfast, and took the bowl back. When she got back, they were all poking eachother.
Hehe what is it with them and poking? Ah well, I might aswell tham gia them. She thought, trying not to laugh. She sat down tiếp theo to them, and started to poke Kowalski, who poked her back. As they were messing around, the three teachers came out of the lều, cabin and asked for the kids to come over to them. The five penguins got up and sat down on the cỏ near the teachers.
"Ok so we're going to be doing horse riding today, and the stables are only a mile away, so it should only take about 20 phút maximum to get there." Mr Hague explained, whilst drinking a coffee.
"So when are we leaving sir?" Kowalski asked curiously.
"In about 20 minutes, because we need to get there early, so the stable owner can explain health and safety rules." He replied. Kowalski nodded in response, and the penguins scurried off to their tents getting what they wanted to take with them. Emma just grabbed her water bottle, and her phone, and headed out, patting Lulu on the head just before she did. Ryan caught her eye and smiled at her, Emma smiled back shyly, and they went back to the group. About 10 phút later, they set off, and as usual, the five penguins messed around the whole time. As they reached the horse stable, they were greeted bởi an unpleasant smell.
"Ugh, horse poo." Emma whispered to her friends. She held her breath, and walked in after the others. She couldn't help smiling as she saw the ngựa though, shaking their manes, swishing their tails and stamping their hooves. She saw one in the corner that wasn't looking the same way as the others, It stared out of the window tiếp theo to it, and seemed much calmer than the others. Emma watched it curiously, but her attention was caught bởi the stable owner, who began talking about health and safety. Emma listened but she kept looking back at the horse. It had a blackish áo, áo khoác with a white underbelly and white hooves. It's eyes were light blue, and it's mane was white.
"Now, go and choose the horse bạn want to ride." The stable owner said. Emma walked over to the horse curiously, and it looked directly at her. "Ooh be careful with that one lass, Midnight's a bit of trouble." The stable owner warned her.
"I'll be careful." Emma promised, not taking her eyes off Midnight. She reached out a flipper cautiously, and the horse gave her, what looked like a questioning look. Emma stroked her mane gently and she made a content noise. Emma smiled and continued stroking her. "You're not trouble are you?" Emma whispered still smiling. "That stable guy doesn't know what he's talking about." She added. Midnight whinnied in response, and Emma opened the little stable door carefully, and lead her out. The stable owner watched in astonishment. As she got out, she saw that everyone else had got their horses. She went over to her friends, who had a different variety of horses. Ryan had a toffee coloured one, Rochelle's was light brown, Ashley's was dark brown, and Kowalski's was pure white. The stable owner gave the kids instructions to mount the horses, and Emma winced as she saw Ryan fall off instantly. He got up and climbed on again. She noticed that Ashley and Rochelle were doing really well. There was a little trail that the ngựa could be lead around, which they all started to go around, The trail went from the stable, into the woods, and back again. Emma moved phía trước, chuyển tiếp cautiously, but her attention was caught bởi Ryan, who fell off a một giây time.
"You ok lad?" The stable owner asked, helping Ryan up.
"I think so, but I really can't ride horses." Ryan replied, rubbing his flipper.
"Hmm.... bạn could share with someone else if they'll let you." The stable owner suggested. Ryan looked around the little stable area, and saw that Emma was the only one there.
"Em, can I share with you?" He asked.
"Sure, hop on." Emma replied, cheerfully. Emma helped him up, and she started riding off. Ryan had to bọc his flippers around Emma to stop himself from falling off, which made them both blush.
"Can we go a little slower?" Ryan asked, feeling a little sick.
"Alright." Emma agreed slowing down a little. Her whole body was tingling right now, and she tried not to shiver in happiness. She felt so much warmer too. Emma patted Midnight, as they trotted along, and Ryan pointed out a few squirrels fighting over an acorn nearby. Emma and Ryan giggled and they continued through the small wood. Emma heard a rustle in the bushes and alarm bells went off in her head. Midnight had stopped abruptly, and was looking around the trail nervously.
"What's going on?" Ryan asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"I.. I don't know." Emma admitted. "But something doesn't feel right." She added, a shiver gong down her spine. And not a good one. The rustling got nearer, and Midnight anchored to the floor. Emma heard a growling noise, and her tim, trái tim skipped a beat. She edged closer to Ryan, who's eyes were full of fear. The rustling was only a meter away from them now, and whatever was there started to come out of the bush.....