Page 84 of Give Me a Sign
“This is good,” I sign, nodding as I chew. Before I can say it out loud, Oliver jumps in.
“That means ‘good,’ right?” he says, smiling. “I knew it.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Natasha wavesat me across the fire. It’s a very cold Tuesday night, but our staff cabin is still housing campers, so the options for gathering after hours are limited. From my bench on the opposite side, I watch her across the flames.
“Hey, I need to talk to you,” Natasha signs. I’m nervous since we’re not exactly on the best of terms right now. “I want to say sorry.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine.”
“No. About that night.” She looks away for a second before adding voice. It’s been exactly one week since Isaac left camp, and we’d been avoiding discussing the subject until now. “I was just scared. Isaac explained more about what happened, so I wanted to apologize.”
“It’s okay, really,” I assure her, fixating on the fact that she’s gotten messages from Isaac. But I’m relieved that, even if hedoesn’t want to get back to me, at least he’s in touch with his friends. “I probably would’ve reacted the same way.”
“Yeah,” she says and signs. “I noticed you haven’t been signing as much lately.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess since I’m working with the blind campers mostly right now.” But as I talk to Natasha, my hands stay by my side, like they’re too heavy to lift. “Yeah... so you’ve heard from him? Is he doing okay? I sent him a message, well, a few messages.”
Natasha gives me a pitiful, knowing look. “I’m sure he’ll respond to you soon.”
Ethan walks up, with a very enthusiastic Mackenzie and Jaden by his side, and waves to get everyone’s attention.
“Do you have the staff here?” He looks around the firepit to confirm. “Let me text Simone and Bobby real quick.”
“What’s up?” I ask Ethan.
“Let’s wait for everyone to be here,” Ethan says and signs.
Mackenzie sets up her laptop on the picnic table. Gary pulls up on the golf cart as Simone and Bobby arrive. Everyone’s seated and waiting for Ethan’s announcement.
“Which do you want first, the good news, or the great news, or the best news?” he asks.
“All of them!” Bobby shouts.
“Okay, we’ll build,” Ethan says and signs. “To start, the initial donations received, thanks to all your families and friends, as well as Mackenzie’s boost to her followers”—Mackenzie nods, having been waiting expectantly for this shout-out—“have officially secured us enough funding to get started on repairs to the storm damage!”
“We can get our staff cabin back?” Simone asks. “No more hanging around in the cold?”
“It’ll take a while to mend the roof of both cabins, but they’ll be looking better than ever in no time!” Gary announces proudly.
“Now, the great news. I’d argue this is tied with best,” Ethan says and signs. “It’s not one hundred percent yet. But I’ve heard from Isaac, and he should be returning to camp soon!”
My heart races with excitement and despair. He’s returning to Gray Wolf? But he’s been in contact with seemingly everyone but me?
“And last, but certainly not least...” Ethan gestures for Jaden to take the next part, voicing his signing.
“So I shared the fundraiser, then my cousin shared it, then my cousin’s friend shared it, and last night————made a huge donation!” He fingerspells too fast, and I'm so overwhelmed by the news that I don’t catch the name when Ethan interprets it.
Simone nods toward me. “She’s that famous Deaf actress, right?”
“Dang, the Deaf community is small,” Bobby says.
“And her sharing it also got us even more donations,” Ethan says. “And so much interest in the camp. Thankfully, Isaac had rebuilt our website with a contact box and sign-up form.”
“Yes, it’s a very good thing there will be more money,” Gary chimes in. “Because it looks like we’re going to need more cabins and staff fora tonof new campers.”
More staff? More campers? So that obviously means we’re back next year, right?
