Donny and Mary Grace Go to Camp

By Catherine Anna Pepe

Donny, Mary Grace, and the Grandma Gang come together for an action-packed summer camp experience. While the children get used to sleep-away camp in the Santa Ynez mountains, they visit ancient Chumash cave paintings and even meet the descendants of their painters, while they develop a healthy bond with nature.
Along the way, Donny, a delightful boy with Down syndrome, and his crime-fighting older sister, Mary Grace, encounter several mysteries that require their special skills. Frogs show up in Mary Grace’s camp cabin, and it takes her insight and Donny’s courage to solve this mystery. And when the camp is faced with a natural disaster, Mary Grace offers lifesaving help when a camper goes missing.
In all, this is one exciting adventure you do not want to miss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catherine Anna Pepe
• Release date: Jul 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798986366999

Catherine Anna Pepe

CATHERINE ANNA PEPE worked for an international law firm where she was the first woman partner in the Labor and Employment Law practice group. Now she lives in Southern California with her husband Steve, and writes children’s books loosely based on her family life with her brother Donny, who had Down syndrome.

Book preview

1

Arriving at Camp

A re we there yet? Donny asked Papa Steve in the car for what seemed like the hundredth time. Donny and his sister, Mary Grace, were headed to camp at Whispering Oaks Ranch in California for the first time, and Donny couldn’t wait to arrive. Their two good friends from Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve’s hometown of Lompoc, Penelope Lee and Justin Green, were also in the car. They would all be spending the summer together.

Donny! Penelope called from the backseat. We told you one minute ago that we would be there in fifteen minutes!

But that was one minute ago! Donny said. So, are we closer?

Donny was an especially exuberant little boy. He had Down syndrome and was always ready for excitement and smiles.

Justin laughed. Well, Donny, this is a good chance for you to practice your adding and subtracting. What do fifteen minutes minus one minute equal?

Justin had volunteered in Donny’s class during the past year and was used to helping Donny with his learning.

It equals we’re almost there! Donny exclaimed. All the children laughed.

I have something else we can talk about, Donny, Justin said, tossing his dirty blond bangs out of his eyes. Let’s talk about what things you’re excited to do at camp.

I want to go swimming! Donny exclaimed. Everyone murmured their agreement.

But you know, Donny, we get to go swimming at Gigi’s condo all the time, Mary Grace added. Gigi was what they called their great-grandmother, who also lived in Lompoc near Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve. Mary Grace continued, But at camp, we’ll be able to do stuff we don’t usually get to do.

Yeah, like, I’m really excited about doing photography, Penelope, who was always very artistic, said.

And I’m excited to get to play soccer and basketball and baseball, Justin said. Plus, they have hiking, and I think they have archery too!

What is archery? Donny asked.

It’s shooting a bow and arrow, Justin said eagerly. I never did it before, but I’ve seen it. You get a real bow and real arrows, and you try to hit them into a target. They’re going to teach us how to do it, Donny. Isn’t that cool?

Donny shifted uncomfortably in his seat. But … what if I miss? Do the arrows hurt?

They make sure everyone is safe, Donny. I’ve seen archery done before, and it’s always done in an open field, Penelope reassured him.

Personally, Mary Grace said, I think I’m really looking forward to sitting around the campfire.

As the other children spoke up in agreement, Mary Grace found herself reflecting on the last year. She couldn’t believe they had already reached the summer. Last summer, the summer before fifth grade, her parents had dropped the biggest news of their lives on her and Donny. Her father, John, who was an Episcopalian priest, had been assigned to an Episcopal church in Kenya for two years. He and Mary Grace’s mother had chosen to take it. Mary Grace’s mother, Jen, was a civil engineer, and water systems were her specialty. So, they packed up their home in Wichita, Kansas, and left for Africa, where they helped on two fronts: bringing faith to a small village and ensuring they had clean water.

In the meantime, Mary Grace and her five-year-old brother Donny were sent to Lompoc, California, to live with their Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve on their ranch. When she first heard the news about their parents’ assignment, Mary Grace was furious, and she was devastated about leaving her home in Kansas. In fact, when Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve brought a new dog home to replace their dog Toby, who had died, Mary Grace suggested they name her Kansas to remind her of home.

Now, a year later, she wasn’t sure how she felt. On the one hand, she had settled into life well in California. Over the past year, she had made several friends, including Penelope and Justin, and she’d also helped solve several mysteries together with Grandma Cathy and her good friends La Shana and Elizabeth, who the newspaper had dubbed The Grandma Gang because they had helped solve the mystery of who was stealing candy from the Lompoc Seven-Eleven. It had been an exciting year, full of new things, and as they snaked along the side of the Santa Ynez mountains, the vast, dazzling Pacific Ocean visible to their right, she had to admit that California was a beautiful place.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but miss her parents. It had been almost an entire year since she had seen them in person. She couldn’t believe it. True, they FaceTimed with her and Donny every week. Her mother had shown her all around the village where they lived and let her see the work they were doing, but Mary Grace wanted to hug her mother and father. She wanted to sit in the same room with them, enjoy the same meal, and be in the same place. At least we’re halfway through, she thought. If I can make it through one whole year, I guess I can make it through two.

When her thoughts returned to what was happening around her, Mary Grace heard Donny say, Papa Steve, are you staying with us?

Well, no, Donny, Papa Steve said with a laugh. And you are such a brave boy; I’d never have thought you would ask!

Donny fidgeted with his hands. Is Grandma Cathy coming? he asked.

She’ll be back with me for Parents’ Day, Papa Steve said. So will Penelope’s parents and Justin’s parents. And, come to think of it, I think there may even be some special surprise guests showing up to camp on Parents’ Day.

Who? Mary Grace asked at once, thinking of her parents and suddenly feeling deeply sad that they were not there to see her in her new camp.

Can’t tell ya! Papa Steve said happily. Or it wouldn’t be a surprise. And then, directing himself to Donny once again, But you get to stay in camp on your own. Won’t that be exciting?

But I want you to stay! Donny said. Or Grandma Cathy! I’m scared of camp! I’m scared of camp!

Justin kindly reached over and patted Donny on the back. Donny, he whispered. I’ll be with you the whole time, remember? Donny nodded.

Mary Grace reached out and put her arm around Donny as well. Don’t worry, Donny. I’ll be in camp too.

But not with me! Boys and girls are not together, you said! he exclaimed.

I know, Donny, but I’ll be really close to you, so you can always find me, she said.

Really? Donny asked.

Grandma Cathy asked them to put our cabins close to each other, Mary Grace said, so I can show you where I will be, and you can come find me whenever you want to.

Donny was taking deep breaths. And I asked if I can put my bed next to yours, Donny, Justin said. I’m going to be the junior counselor in your cabin. So, if you ever need to find Mary Grace, you can just ask me, and I can help you.

As Donny calmed down and began to accept the other children’s reassurances, Papa Steve turned off Highway 154 onto a dirt road. They snaked past a large pool, which everyone ogled from their windows, and then curved around with the road and pulled up in front of a large wooden building.

After Papa Steve parked, Mary Grace, Donny, Penelope, and Justin all got out of the car. Everywhere they looked, they saw towering oak trees. Donny exclaimed, This is the best day of my life!

Though Mary Grace and Donny were used to being around a lot of nature, having spent the last year living on Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve’s ranch and vineyard, this felt somehow different. They could hardly hear any cars. They could feel a slight breeze and somehow noticed the way it