A man was sitting with his feet up on the desk. He turned his head when
Stanley and the guard entered, but otherwise didn’t move. Even though he
was inside, he wore sunglasses and a cowboy hat. He also had a can of
soda, and the sight of it made Stanley even more aware of his own thirst.
“I quit smoking last month,” said the cowboy hat.
He had a tattoo of a rattlesnake on his arm,
“My name is Mr Sir,” he said. “Whenever you speak to me you must call me
by my name, is that clear?”
“You’re going to be thirsty for the next eighteen months.”
Mr Pendanski was younger than Mr Sir, and not nearly as scary looking.
The top of his head was shaved so close it was almost bald, but his face
was covered in thick curly black beard. His nose was badly sunburned.
“Mr Sir isn’t really so bad,” said Mr Pendanski. “He’s just been in a bad
mood ever since he quit smoking. The person you have to worry about is
the Warden.
There’s really only one rule at Caamp Green Lake: Don’t upset the
Warden.”
Mr Pendanski smiled at him. “If it makes you feel better to call me Mom,
Theodore, go ahead and call me Mom.”
“If you find anything interesting or unusual,” Mr Pendanski had told him,
“you shoul report it either to me or Mr. Sir when we come around with the
water truck. If the Warden likes what you found, you’ll get the rest of
the day off.”
“All right!” said Mr Pendanski, raising his hand for a high five, but Stanley
ignored it.
Mr Pendanski laughed as he gave the fossil back to Stanley. “Sorry
Stanley. The Warden just isn’t interested in fossils.”
A tall woman with red hair stepped out of the passenger side. She looked
even taller than she was, since Stanley was down in a hole. She wore a
black cowboy hat and black cowboy boots which were studded with
turquoise stones. The slleves of her shirt were rolled up.
“But first I want you to fill everyone’s canteen.”
“I just filled them a little while ago,” said Mr Pendanski.
The Warden stared at him. “Excuse me,” she said. Her voice was soft.
“I had just filled them when Rex-“
“Excuse me,” the Warden said again. “Did I ask you when you last filled
them?”
She stepped towards him and struck him across the face. Mr Sir stared
at her. He had three long red marks slanting across the left side of his
face.
The Warden spoke softly. “I don’t especially care about your sunflower
seeds.”