Campfire Stories, Urban Legends, and Ghost Stories.
By
Cerrridwen Circe Whitethorn
Introduction:
Hello, I'm Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn, I'm seventeen and I'm a Junior at Benton Academy. I'm also an Adventure Scout and I've been one since I turned fourteen. The slim pamphlet you're holding in your hand right now as you read these words is the product of four months of investigative journalism and paranormal research.
Anyway what inspired me to write this collection of six campfire stories, urban legends and ghost stories was the many fables I've heard told over the dying embers of campfires in my three years being an Adventure scout. Now, the Adventure Scouts are co-ed. So some of these stories were told by former Girl Scouts and some were told by former Boy Scouts.
I've tried my best to write down the stories as I heard them. I think you will find these stories have something of a timeless touch to them. Like any story that is told orally and handed down orally from one generation to the other, there has been some minor embellishment. But I've tried to trim the fat if you will and present to you the most original telling of the tale.
Now without further ado allow me to tell you the first story.
The Vanishing Scout
Told by:
Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
The first ghost story I'm going to share with you guys is one that happened to me. This happened to me when I first joined the Adventure Scouts, now the Adventure Scouts like the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have badges and various rewards one can receive if they complete certain activities. Only our rewards were more like military medals you could pin to the front of your tunics. They looked way cooler than the cloth like patches the Girl Scout and Boy Scouts offered. And likewise they were harder to earn, and we often thought they were more prestigious than the others.
Now the first medal I earned was the “Wildness Survival” medal. And in order to earn that, I was required to fill a old leather knapsack with all the gear and rations I could carry and backpack into the thick undergrowth that surrounded the camp. Once we were deep into the woods, we were to set up camp and just endure for three days and two nights.
Now, as a small mercy to us, we were to driven up to this little forest meadow. We were then dropped off in this picture perfect meadow. This little meadow was to our rallying to point. All of us who were attempting to earn this medal where to meet back here after three days and two nights had passed.
Now the meadow was located in the middle of a horseshoe shaped hill. The hill was covered in pin, fur, and willow trees. We were told to fan out that horseshoe shaped hill and settle down. What I most remember about that afternoon was a heavy sense of foreboding really hung in the air. Like there was something or somebody who was hiding in the trees and that person or something was watching us.
Now, I'm not sure how far I'd walked into the woods. But judging by the position of the sun, I had a few hours remaining before the sun would set. So I decided to settle down and make camp. The spot I decided to make camp in was a kind of clearing in the woods. I consider myself pretty lucky to have settled in such a lovely spot. Because a few hundred yards from where I'd decided to set up camp there was a natural forming spring. The spring feed into a brook that was pretty deep.
Anyway, I spent the last few remaining hours of daylight building a primitive lean-to and then I used some wash rocks from the creek to form a rock fire ring, I piled a bundle of twigs and pine straw into this circle of stones. And by time night had fallen, I had something of a shelter to crawl under and a fire to keep me warm. Now, that first night did not count toward the two nights we were required to spend out here in the sticks, nor did that first day. In fact that was what they called 'Zero Day'. Our time would start the morning after 'Zero Day'.
Now, the first thing I learned being by myself, alone, in the woods was that the days were really short and the nights were really long. I spent the morning of the first day gathering firewood, collecting water from the creek, and improving my shelter. I would then take a short nap in the afternoon, and just before the sun vanished beyond the treeline I would start a fire, brew kettle of coffee or tea and slowly sip it as I stood guard all through the night.
Anyway as I worked, I would notice strange things often happen around me. It started on “Day One” for example sometimes my tools would vanish and only to reappear when the sun started to set. At first I thought somebody, maybe one of my fellow scouts was messing with me. But then I remembered I was alone. And well that put on edge.
Later that night I would hear the underbrush that surrounded my camp start to rustle. I would wake up to pee and see shadows starting to dark around my campsite. And when I peed I felt like somebody was peering out at me. Anyway at the dawn of “Day Two” I was sure I was being watched and I decided to do something about it.
And well, I'm not proud to say this, because it might seem a little childish. But I found a grove of bamboo and cut me a piece, a really long piece. I then took my pocket knife and made a sharpen point with it. It was a kind of make-shift weapon. Something I could use to skewer the person who was prowling around my camp. Making this weapon took most of my morning and ate up most of my afternoon.
Anyway, I noticed the sun was starting to set. And to make matters worse the wind was starting to really pick up. Huge, iron gray storm clouds. It was the clouds that concerned me the most, they seemed heavy with rain and the wind that was blowing through the trees gave me goosebumps
And then I saw her. A girl around my age appeared in front of me, it was like she appeared from thin air. She looked tired, her uniform was in tatters and she seemed almost feverish. Her cheeks seemed sunken in and her eyes seemed dull and lifeless. Clearly she was in trouble, and clearly she need help. She also looked frightened, like somebody or something was chasing after her.
Well, I'm not going to skewer a fellow scout, well not one who looks like they're about to kneel over and die. Nope, instead I rushed up to her and then I noticed something. She looked frail, really frail, like she had been out here in the woods too long. Her hair looked greasy and could use a good brushing out. And she smelled to high heavens. I was totally lost.
“Hey!” I said. “I'm Cerridwen, I'm a Solo Scout.” I said smiling. “I'm from Benton.. I'm attached to the local Girlscout troop.”
“Coraline..” The girl said in a shivering tone of voice. “Troop 1400 Vicksburg, Mississippi.” She quickly added. “I think I lost my way, I've been wandering around the woods for what seems like ages.”.
I nodded my head. Well that was strange, the local troop out of Vicksburg had the troop number 2345.. I knew as much as my boyfriend and now girlfriend had an older sister named Susan who was a scout. And what was more striking is scouts from only Greenwood, Yazoo City, Benton, Rolling Fork, and Pearl were in camp now. Could it be that the Vicksburg troop who had been here a week ago had left one of their own? No, that is impossible if a scout failed to turn up, the whole area was turned upside down.
“Well Coraline..” I said walking up to her. “If you can hang on for a little longer, we'll get you squared away. Tomorrow, I'll report to Emma, she is the Junior ScoutMaster here, and she'll get you sorted. But in the meantime.. why don't you join me..”
She nodded her head and she managed a smile.
Anyway since Coraline's clothes were soaked, I decided to give her some of mine to wear. I then wrapped her in a spare blanket I had, gave her a cup of coffee and I shared what meager rations I had with her. She seemed thankful for that and soon feel into a deep sleep. I decided to let her sleep. As for me, well I was still on edge, so I took my homemade weapon and posted myself between Caroline and creeping night.
What happen? Well I must have fallen asleep. Because when I woke up bright rays of sunshine were streaming through the trees and the song birds were singing their morning songs. I found myself in a bit of a haze. It took me a while to remember that I had a guest. But when I looked over to the spot where Caroline had been sleeping I found it empty. Just a blanket.
And well when I pulled the blanket away,the clothes I'd loaned her were there too. It was like Caroline had vanished. Well that was it, I broke camp as soon as I could gather my strength. And no, I did not tell Emma what I saw. I kept it to myself. Well until now.
The End.
The next story I'm going to share with you was told to me by Junior Scoutmaster Emma Jeanette Pierce. I'm also going to confess I went a little overboard with the name of the story. I don't apologize for it at all though, mostly because it conjures up perfectly the vibe I want to capture with these stories.
The Ghostly Dancer at the Annual Cotillion Ball
Told By
Emma Jeanette Pierce
Each year at the end of the annual summer camp, my home camp, Camp Pocahontas sponsors a Cotillion Ball for all scouts sixteen to eighteen years old. For many it's a special, almost magical night where memories are made. I like to think it's all the magic of prom without the drama that follows. The crowning moment comes when one of the eighteen year old scouts is selected as “Camp Queen” and one of the sixteen or seventeen year olds is selected as “Camp Princess” our version of the traditional “Prom Queen” and “Prom Princess” Respectfully.
It also gives the scouts a chance to be social with the boys from across the lake. Now the story I'm going to tell you focuses on my own Cotillion Ball, one where I was crowned “Camp Princess”. Now, I remember that night. It was in the summer of two thousand twenty one. That summer we had all told five hundred scouts attending the camp. I had just turned sixteen before the start of camp and was doing my first tour as “Junior Leader”. And well it was rough.
I mean you take a sixteen year old girl and put her in charge of twelve girls who range in ages of six to twelve and see how long she can keep her sanity. The answer is not for long unless she has a good support network. She does learn respect for her mother.
Anyway I'd spent the morning leading up to the Cotillion getting the full treatment. The Scoutmaster at the time, a fearsome woman with steel gray hair and ice cold eyes had charted us a bus and had taken us nearby Meridian to get all dolled up. And I mean get dolled up, I mean we were put through the paces. Total wax jobs, our hair was washed, trimmed and deep conditioned, our nails were cut and polished, everything was just perfect. I left there feeling like a princess.
Anyway, the Cotillion was held at Elizabeth Josephine Hall. A large, spacious dance hall. Elizabeth Josephine Hall was the oldest building at Camp Pocahontas and was used only for special events. On this night the floor had been buffed and polished to a high gloss. Like you could see your reflection in grains of wood.
Anyway, returning to the story, I felt like a princess as I entered the crowded hall. That night there were around twenty scouts attending the Cotillion Ball and around twenty other scouts from across the lake. All the girls were dressed in formal, strapless prom dresses and the boys were all dressed in coats and ties.
And well it did not take me long to get into the groove of things. I soon found myself moving my hips and feet to the beat. And well the music was heavy and loud and my pulse was racing. And soon the air became charged with what I can only call “Teen Spirit”. And then I spotted her. Standing to the side was a girl, a girl who looked to be around my age. She had curly blonde hair and wore this really puffy prom dress. She looked like something from a teen thriller from the eighties. Like she had just stepped off the cover of a R.L Stine novel or a Christopher Pike novel.
“Hey!” I said as I walked up to the girl
The girl smiled and nodded at me.
“Love the dress.” I said smiling.
“Thanks! Love yours!” She said smiling.
“Oh! I'm Emma! I'm one of the Junior Leaders here!” I said, yes we kind of had to shout at each other because of the loud tempo of the music that filled the hall.
“Oh! Cool! I'm Hannah! Hannah Goodchild! I'm a Junior Leader too! Kind of hard to have a conversation with all the music playing!” The girl said, smiling sweetly. “What cabin are you in?”
Now, before I go on. I should tell you a little bit about Camp Pocahontas, the camp has thirty something cabins. And two barrack-like buildings. The oldest cabins, that to say the first ones built and thus located in the center of the camp are named are all named after characters from the classic Disney animation film “Bambie” there were five such cabins, their names were Bambi, Thumper, Flower, and Faline. I was in Faline that year and I knew every girl in that cabin. This must be understood for the next part to make any sense.
“Oh I'm in Faline” I said smiling. “Kind of old and a bit musty, but I heard they're going to redo it soon.” I said, rolling my shoulders.
At that point Hannah blinked and blinked again as she peered toward me. The look she was giving me kind of made me wonder if I'd just sprouted a second head and that second head had just started barking in Latin.
“I'm in Faline..” She said blushing. “But I've never seen you around.. weird..” She paused. “Anyway I need to use the bathroom.. see you around Emma..” And that the last time I saw Hannah that night.
Now there is an old saying that goes like this, “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” and well there was just something about Hannah that had really piqued my curiosity. And so I decided to do a little detective work.
Now with the advent of the internet and the rise of social media, any tech-savvy teenager with a nose for snooping can find a wealth of information if they just know a few facts about somebody including their first and last name. Plus, I had access to all the camp archives.
And so I started to snoop. The first thing I did however was check the camp archives, which revealed that there had indeed been a girl scout by the name of Hannah Goodchild who had gone to camp here. She had gone to camp during summer of eighty three, she was sixteen at the time, and she had indeed been assigned to sleep at Faline.
Okay.. right now I was thinking that maybe Hannah had grown up, gotten married, had a daughter who she had also named Hannah and now Hannah was attending the camp. But I quickly dismissed that because I was in Faline, and I knew every scout that was in Faline and none of them were named Hanna Goodchild. So I kept digging.
So I kept digging. And then I found of all things A obituary, well two, the first one was published in the Yazoo Herald and was hidden behind a paywall. But if I'd ponied up fifty cents I could view the page. Safe the say I ponied up the fifty cents. The second one was published in the annual yearbook that the staff of the camp put together. The first one simply gave her name, Hannah D. Goodchild, age, sixteen, born in Flowood Women's Hospital. Was survived by her mother Brenda S. Goodchild and and her father Noah S. Goodchild of Yazoo City, Mississippi. Her grandmother and grandfather, Ruth S. Guilder and Robert D. Guilder of Benton, Mississippi and Cindy A Cutter and John D. Cutter of Sharbrough's Landing.
She was buried in Glenwood Cemetery and had been confirmed at St. George's Episcopal Church. She was a Girl Scout and a Sophomore at Manchester Academy. The cause of death was simply listed as peritonitis.
And that was that. Make of this story what you will, I know it true, and I know that others have seen her. I think she remains earthbound because she passed away the morning of the ball. And well, she was going to be named “Princess” that night.
The End.
The next story I want to share with you, was told to me by a friend who is almost like a big sister to me. Her name is Lana Taylor Edwards, she is nineteen and a Freshman at Holmes Community College. She is studying to be a nurse and often credits her time in scouts as laying the foundation of her future career. She is one of the few scouts I know, who has earned all three of the top tier rewards, those three being the Bronze Heart, The Silver Heart, and last but not least, The Golden Heart.
What makes her story special, well to me at least is Lana is not one to really tell ghost stories. In fact she tends to shy away from the bonfire when we start telling ghost stories. Now one thing you should know about Lana is she is a devoted Roman Catholic. She attends Mass three times a week and goes to confession once a week. She believes in demons and angels. And oddly enough she is open to the supernatural. Now, I'm a witch, a green witch, I come from a family of witches.
I say that because despite our differences, Lana has never pushed her beliefs on me. In fact, I've noticed a number of Pagan elements in her faith. The offering of coins to statues of saints, the belief that at the height of the Mass the host is transformed in the physical body of their savior Jesus Christ and the wine is transformed into his physical blood. And by taking both they are drunk and eating both his body and blood.
The use of holy candles and icons, the reciting of prayers, using a string of glass beads to count prayers and repeating the same prayer over and over again. Seeking the intercession of holy men and women in their daily lives. All kind of strikes me as Pagan.
Lana, like me also believes that if a person passes without finishing their earthly business, their soul may remain earthbound. She also, like me, believes this camp is haunted. She, like me, says she encountered a lost scout in the woods named Caroline who soon vanished after she settled her into her tent. And like Emma, she claims to have once encountered a girl named Hannah Goodchild at the annual prom.
Anyway, here's her story.
The Vanishing Hitchhiking Scouts
Told By
Lana Taylor Edwards
On side of the rural, country road that will take you to Camp Pocahontas you will find three concrete crosses. The crosses are only visible during the winter when the frost has killed away most of the tall grass and a few times during the summer the county road crews have mowed the tall grass. The crosses mark a scene of a tragic car wreck that claimed the lives of three scouts, their names are Josephine Farmer, Cookie Smith, and Sarah Hammer. How the wreck happen has been lost to time.I only know the wreck happen around nineteen seventy.
Now, I've been coming to camp Pocahontas since I was old enough to attend overnight camp. Normally a girl scout is allowed to attend overnight camp when she turns twelve years old. Roughly around the same time she gets her first period. Anyway, that aside I was sixteen when this event happen to me. You see my mom was a nurse, and well I always looked up to my mom. And as soon as I could I started taking every medical related badge I could.
First I earned my “First Aid Badge” and then I moved on to earn my “Advance First Aid Badge” and from there I went on to earn my “Nursing Badge” and from there I started helping at the camp clinic.
Now the clinic we have here at camp Pocahontas is this handsome, brick building that the first scouts, that to say the scouts that built it named “Heaven Can Wait”, The clinic is the only brick building in the whole camp and that makes it special. The clinic is also divided into several sections. The first area is a small waiting area with a desk.
Here we check in scouts, take their personal information and perform triage. From there we move into the main area of the building. A large room that used to treat wounded scouts. Most of the time we get scouts that have been either stung by wasp or bees, have been bitten by bugs, some have fallen down and sprained their ankles. Sometimes we get the odd broken bone.
Sometimes though we get cases of heat exhaustion, dehydration, stomach flu, and the odd snake bite. Those cases, save the snake bite, cause us to rush the scout to the nearby hospital, same with the odd sprained ankle and the broken bone. Oh and sometimes scouts come down with a cold or sinus infection. Those also require a trip to the big hospital.
Anyway I've gotten off topic here. One day, a few days into my first tour as a nurse helper here I was selected to go into town to pick up some much needed supplies from the local CVS. See due to a clerical error we'd run out of band-aids, aspirin, ibuprofen, printer paper, and printer ink. And well I'd drawn the short straw and had been sent on the supply run.
Now, it was early in the morning when I left the camp. And it was a twenty minute drive from the camp into the nearby town. And well, finding a CVS was like finding a needle in a haystack. But thankfully I'm good at finding needles in haystacks. So once I found it, I grabbed a buggy, and yes CVS has buggies, their mini buggies and their painted red. Anyway I took hold of one and started to fill it up.
And I mean I filled it. I filled it up to the brim. Beside buying band-aids, aspirin, ibuprofen, printer, paper, and printer ink I decided we'll also need rubbing alcohol, lysol, bleach, and well a bunch of other stuff. How much did I spend.. around eight hundred dollars. How did I pay? Well first I used my personal CVS rewards card to collect eight hundred dollars worth of reward points, and then I used a camp credit card of course.
Anyway after my little shopping spree, I decided I deserve a reward. So I searched for a Subway and treated myself to a Subway. And then well I decided to head back to camp. Anyway as I was leaving the city, the sky started to darken. And by the time I was pulling onto the highway it had started drizzling and by the time I turned onto the rural country road it was raining cats and dogs.
Anyway I slowed down and started to take my time. I leaned over the steering wheel and peered through the pouring, sheets of rain. It was then I spotted them, standing on the side of the road, well walking on the side of the road were three scouts, girl scouts, but their uniforms were kind of weird. They were dressed in heavy, forest green blouses, forest green skirts, brown woolen socks and their shoes were heavy, brown leather lace up things. The uniforms reminded me of the uniforms scouts wore in the fifty's and sixty's.
Now, I should have stopped and asked myself what three scouts in vintage uniforms were doing at least fifteen miles from camp and why in the name of God were they walking toward camp in a blinding rain storm. I should have, instead I pulled over and rolled down my window and then I hollered into the blinding rain.
“Hey!” I shouted.
At this the scout that was in the lead turned around. I remember how she looked, she looked gaunt, her eyes looked sunken in. And her lips seemed swollen. And then I noticed she seemed shivering. Her heavy, woolen scout tunic and skirt seemed to soaked with rain water.
“Get in!” I said putting my car into park. “I'll give you a lift back to camp!” I said smiling.
The three girls looked at each other, and one by one they climbed in. The scout in the lead took the front seat and the two others climbed into the back. Both seemed to be shivering. And I noticed all three looked soaked to the bone. Now, this was in the depths of a Mississippi summer, and the rain to me was a welcome change in the weather.
But as a student nurse, I knew it was a mixed bag of bones. I knew the rain would cool things down a little, and wash away the pollen that had clung to everything and make the air a little cleaner and a little cooler for a brief period of time. But I also knew the coming days would be hellish as the cool, clean air would turn hot and humid, and scouts caught out in the rain would come down with the sniffles. Colds,
Well it was a mixed bag, I knew the wind would cool things down a little, but the following days would be hellish as the air would become hot and humid and a new wave of summer colds would flood the camp.
“So.” I said turning up the heat. “What's going on? I mean what's up with the outfits? Are you guys cosplaying for an event or something?” I said, taking a deep breath.
The three girls looked at each other and then peered at me. And then they peered at me, they then rolled their shoulders and kept silent. And that silence lasted for a tense few minutes until the girl in the back decided to break the silents.
“We were leaving camp when something happened. Our car went off the road.” She said looking out the window. “The last thing I remember is our driver swearing and the car rolled down the hill, and the sound of tree limbs breaking and then everything going black.”
I blinked.
“It was raining really hard too, and I remember the car rolling and then feeling a sharp pain in my neck, and then darkness.” The girl sitting beside her said. “I remember the window shield started to break into thousands of little pieces and sharp shards of glass sprayed into our faces before the darkness,”
I felt myself becoming uneasy.
“I think our driver was drunk..” The girl sitting beside me said. “I remember he was drinking this 'Cough Syrup' from this amber colored bottle that he kept hidden in his coat pocket. He also had another bottle hidden in the pocket of his pants. He said he had a really bad cough..”
A tense period of silence followed again.
“Also.. why are you learning Japanese?” One of the girls said. As she reached down and pulled out a manga I had that was supposed to help me learn how to write, read, and understand Japanese.
“Oh!” I said thankfully for a semi-normal topic of conversation. “I'm thinking about going to Japan next summer. Cause you know I'm into stuff like Anime, Manga, Cosplay, and J-Pop,” I said smiling.
“You know..” One of the girls said as she peered out the window. “That weird.”
I blinked.
The three scouts all looked at each other. It was then I noticed how pale they looked, and then I noticed all three seemed to be covered in scratches and bruises. And the girl sitting beside me, well her face was a spider web of cuts, thin, shallow cuts, cuts that could have only been caused by shards of broken glass.
“So..” I said trying to find another topic of conversation At this point we were less than a mile from the front gate of the camp. “You girls gotta have a name.” I said smiling. “I'm Lana..”
“I'm Josephine.” The girl sitting across from me. “But my friends call me Josie.”
“And I'm Cookie.” Said the girl sitting behind me.
“And I'm Sarah.” Said the girl sitting beside her.
I nodded my head again.
“I'm going to take you guys to the nurse as soon as we get back to camp.” I said.
It was then that Josephine said something that chilled me to bone. It was not so much her words, but the way she said them. They were so earnest and so powerful that the shock of them nearly caused me to lose control of the wheel.
“I don't think the nurse could help us.” Josephine said.
“I don't think any doctor could help us.” Cookie said.
“We're dead after all...” Sarah added.
And then something happened that I can't explain. Josephine suddenly reached out and touched my shoulder,and the moment I felt her fingers touching my shoulder was the moment I felt my eyes going big as saucer plates. I found myself sitting in the back of a really old school car. And I was wearing a old fashion scouting uniform. You know the ones with a woolen, forest green blouse and a woolen forest green skirt, brown socks and soft, brown leather shoes.
And it was raining, raining so hard that I could barely see an inch out of the mirror I was sitting by. I could feel the wind buffering the car around and the driver, a man who appeared to be in his mid fifties was muttering something under his breath.
And then I felt myself being jerked to the side. The car squivered to the side and slammed me into the window. I then felt the wheels of the car leaving the road. I then felt myself being thrown forward. What happen then seemed to pass before my eyes in a slow motion. The sound of tree limbs breaking, and snapping filled the air, then I heard the windows starting to crack.
And then I felt a sudden spray of glass shards blow right into my face as I heard the windows crack. Jagged pieces of glass sprayed all over me, I felt them tear away my flesh. I heard screaming echoing in my ears, follow by shouting and soon I felt the car starting to roll over, I screamed, I felt my body being crushed. Crushed like a coke-cola can. And then darkness. Total darkness.
And then it was over..
The next thing I knew I was laying in one of the hospital beds we keep at the clinic for scouts who need to spend the night. I knew I was in the clinic because the first thing I noticed above me was the old school style ceiling fan and floors were wood and health posters covered every square inch of the room. Now, I'm not going to tell you what happens next. Mainly because it's all a blur. But the gist of it is this.
They had found me slumped over the wheel of my car a mile or so from camp. I was burning up with fever and raving about three girls I'd picked up. Well fever aside, nothing appeared physically wrong with me, so they carried me back to camp. Well one of the adult staffers drove my car back to camp. They then confined me to bed. According to them the fever raged for three or four days and for the whole three or four day period I kept tossing and turning in my sleep.
They said I kept repeating over and over three names. Those three names being Josephine, Sarah, and Cookie.
The End.