After dinner in the lodge, the councelors lit candles. The children sat around the wooden table playing cards. Light and smoke from the candles danced across the log walls and ceiling.

"Looks kind of scary, doesn't it?" breathed Willie.

Petes clawed his hands in the air over Willie's head. "Boo!" he yelled.

Willie screamed with delight.

"Hey, let's tell ghost stories," bellowed Maynard. "See who gets scared."

Girls squealed.

Chelsie clapped her hands, "Let's do! Please, can we Alice?"

"Sure," said Alice. "As long as it doesn't get out of hand." Willie winked at Brad.

"Me first!" hollered Maynard. Everyone hushed as Maynard climbed up on a bench.

"Once there were some kids that went camping on a haunted ridge," he said in his scariest voice. "One of them found a giant's footprint outside in the mud. Then suddenly in the spooky, spooky darkness the biggest, meanest, hairiest criminal of all time burst through the door!"

A few girls twittered. Brad heard a grunt of disgust from behind him on the boy's side.

"But I grabbed him and bit him on the leg," bragged Maynard, "and wrestled him to the ground, tied him up and hauled him back to jail."

“You are so stupid!” shouted one of the boys from Cabin Three. “That’s no ghost story.”

Just then, there was a loud scuffling and kicking, the door burst open and a giant man flung himself into the room. A hand the size of a ham held the barrel of a gun at the kids.

"Jackpot!" growled the monster.

Every one froze, except Maynard who jumped into his bunk and hid his head under his pillow. Willie’s eyes were giant, staring, surprised.

"Good," the man snarled. He rotated his weapon around the room. "Everyone, into your bunks, and no funny stuff."

As Brad leapt up the rungs to his bunk he could hear a mad scramble and the whimpering of the other kids. The loudest whimper was coming from right below him, Maynard!

Tom and Alice were frozen in shock. Alice had her arms stretched, as if to protect the children behind her.

Brad started thinking, this might be real.

"You!" the man pointed his gun at Tom. "and you!" he turned it toward Alice. "Into your bunks, don't make any sudden moves and let me see your hands at all times."

This was serious. Tom slowly backed toward his bunk on the boy's side. Alice edged into hers.

The man pushed a grubby tangle of black hair off his forehead. He was giant, with big feet. His beard was thick and dark. All Brad could see of the man's face was his piercing eyes. "Good," growled the man. "Good. A cabin full of brats. Precious brats. My free ticket out of here."

The whimpering under Brad's bunk got louder.

"Shut that kid up!" yelled the man. The gun pointed towards bunk `D'.

Brad swung his leg under his bunk and gave a swift kick to the bundle on Maynard's bed. Maynard gave a muffled, "Whoof," and was quiet.

Brad caught the smell of rank sweat and dirt from the intruder. The man kicked back a chair, sat down and casually banged his feet on the wood table. His hairy black beard slit into what must have been a smile.

"Get me some grub." he commanded. He picked Chelsie from the crowd of girls. "You there," he bellowed. The gun was pointing straight at Chelsie's face.

Chelsie's lips were thin and she was shaking. She turned her tear strained face to Alice. Alice gave tiny nod. "Go on," she whispered. "It'll be okay."

Chelsie inched across the floor toward the stove. "W-w-w-w-ould you like soup?" she quivered.

"Yea. And fast." demanded the criminal. He slammed his fist on the table. Chelsie burst into tears and Brad felt his face burn hot.

The cabin was deathly quiet as Chelsie heated soup on the stove and filled a bowl for the man. The only sound was the clinking of the man's spoon and a repulsive slurp of soup. He turned his wicked grin in Brad's direction, a little stream of moisture dribbled down the black beard and left a stain on his shirt.

Abruptly the roar of an engine broke the silence. A moment later headlights swung through the cabin windows creating leaping squares on the wall. The criminal leapt to the stove and grabbed Chelsie by the hair. Her scream was cut short by the man's giant, hairy hand over her face. Chelsie squeezed her eyes shut.