Eleven year old Lisa couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t wake the others either, so she just lay there in the dark tent visualizing and wondering about nearly everything anyone could imagine. After a while she wondered if the cry baby would show up that night. She didn’t think so.
They were camping out in a backyard, not some remote woods. Actually, she’d never seen the guy; but she’d certainly heard about him. All the kids for miles around knew about the cry baby. A lot of the adults did too. At different times they’d wanted the sheriff to arrest him for kidnapping, but the sheriff would always explain that no one had ever been kidnapped actually; that is, taken away or anything. Besides, no one was sure yet who the guy was. He hadn’t been caught. They had only vague ideas about his identity.
“Wake up!” Lisa said to Todd. He slept next to her.
“What the… What is it? What time is it?” Todd asked.
“This time I’m sure,” Lisa said. “I heard footsteps.”
Todd hesitated. “Hope it’s not a bear,” he said. “You’ve heard those stories, haven’t you?”
“Are you kidding? Everybody has,” Lisa said.
At that moment Jerry Taylor, another camper, woke up.
“Hey guys, what is it? I’m trying to sleep,” he said.
“Shhh. Listen,” Lisa said.
Jerry listened along with Todd and Lisa. He felt in his pockets for the police whistle. His dad had given him a real whistle in case the six campers needed help. They were camping without an adult, but Jerry’s house was very near. His dad would come running as soon as he heard the whistle. They’d practiced successfully several times during the week.
Suddenly the tent door was forced open. Ripped with a knife or something. It was crazy. Paula Harper was the sleeper closest to the door. They heard her scream as she was forcefully pulled out of the tent. A man was sobbing loudly as he cradled her, struggling and screaming, in his arms just outside the tent.
Jerry began blowing the whistle with all his might.
“It’s him! The cry baby!” Lisa screamed. She grabbed Todd and held on tight. The other two campers woke up immediately. They were younger than the others so they were frightened more easily. Someone began to cry inside the tent. Todd tried to keep calm and be brave. Someone had to.
“Dad’ll be here in a jif, I’m sure. Everybody just stay put,” Jerry said and blew the whistle again.
Then the sobbing outside stopped. Just like that. Paula, crying, ran back into the tent.
“Paula! Are you all right?” Todd and Jerry asked.
“I’m okay,” she said. “But it was awful!”
“Who was he?” Lisa asked. “Anybody we know?”
“I couldn’t see his face. He didn’t say anything. A man. It was a man,” Paula said.
Jerry’s dad arrived. He opened the tent door and ordered everyone out. He said it was safe, that no one was out there. Everyone got out and began talking at once.
“Okay. Just a moment. Let’s hear it, Jerry. What happened?”
Jerry explained everything to his father. Todd added one or two details as he’d been awakened by Lisa before Jerry had woke up. Lisa said she thought it was the man known as the cry baby.
“I’ve heard of this guy,” Mr. Taylor said. “They say he’s never hurt anyone. Just holds his victim and cries. But I can’t believe he’d come this close to my house.”
“He must’ve run over there,” Jerry said, looking at some nearby woods.
“Everybody come with me into the house. No more tent camping tonight,” Mr. Taylor said.
“Are you calling the sheriff?” Lisa asked.
“You bet I am. This is my property and we had a trespasser,” Mr. Taylor answered.
