The lakeside campfire cracked and sizzled, sending glowing embers skyward it the chilly autumn night. The aroma of burning pine hung heavy in the air as eager faces of young boy scouts gathered around listening intently to Scoutmaster Weathersby as he began weaving his story.

"On this very spot the two Indian braves began to fight for the love of the Indian Princesses. Each of them had a knife in their hand as they began to circle one another, stabbing and slashing, probing at the others' defenses. Then Shooting Arrow found his chance and lunged in, delivering a fatal thrust to Darting Wolf's heart. Darting Wolf's sank to his knees. Shooting Arrow watched as his mortally wounded adversary crawled toward the lake. In the heat of the moment, Shooting Arrow jumped on Darting Wolf's back and cut off his head, letting it roll into the lake. Rising up he then spit on the headless body and kicked it into the lake.
It was over Shooting Arrow had won the right to marry the Indian Princess, Falling Rain, for his bride."
"Wow," said Tommy Patterson.
"Is that it?" asked Steve Cook.
"No," replied Scoutmaster Weathersby. "Falling Rain didn't want to marry Shooting Arrow and was so grief stricken, she drown while trying to recover Darting Wolf's remains from the lake. It's said that every Harvest moon, Darting Wolf's moss-covered, headless body rises from the depths of his watery grave in search of his head. Should he encounter anyone, he cuts off their head and tries it on for size."
Silence fell over the campsite.
"What's a Harvest Moon?" asked Tommy breaking the silence.
"That's the full moon nearest the time of the September equinox." Answered Nathan Martin as he adjusted his glasses.
"Isn't this September?" asked Tommy.
"Why yes it is," answered Mr. Wheatersby.
"Isn't that a full moon shining on the lake?"
All heads turned towards the lake. The boys stared in silence at the moon's reflection on the water. SPLASH. A bullfrog dove into the water. The boys jumped up and ran yelling back to the safety of their tents.
Mr. Weathersby chuckled and strolled to camp behind them.

"Do you think it's true?" Tommy asked as they climbed into their sleeping bags in their tent.
"Sure it is," said Steve. "I would go out there tonight if I were you."
"But what if I have to go to the bathroom?"
"You better be able to hold it until morning then."
Tommy looked worried.
The other boys started to giggle.
"It's not true," Nathan said trying to comfort Tommy.
"Mr. Weathersby and Steve said it was."
"It's not. Mr. Weathersby was just telling a campfire story and Steve was just teasing you."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"If I have to go to the bathroom, will you go with me?" Tommy asked Nathan.
Steve laughed.
"Yes Tommy, I'll go with you."
"Will you wipe my butt too?" laughed Steve.
"That's not funny Steve," said Nathan trying to hide a grin.
"Yeah, It's not funny Steve!" said Tommy.
"You boys be quiet in there and get some sleep." Mr. Weathersby said from outside the tent. "Lights out."
The boys got quiet and Nathan turn down the lantern.
After a few minutes Steve whispered, "Hey, when everyone's asleep , let's go exploring."
"Sure," said Nathan. "It sounds like fun."
"I'm not going out there with that monster roaming around," said Tommy.
"There's no monster," said Nathan.
"Well, I'm not going."
"What are you going to do? Sit here by yourself?" asked Steve.
"No, Nathan will stay here with me. Won't you Nathan."
Nathan looked from Tommy to Steve back to Tommy.
"Tommy, you'll be fine here. The other scouts are close by. Nothing will happen to you."
"But the monster."
"There's no monster, you'll be fine."
"No! I don't want you to go." Tommy's eyes started to water.
"Hush, you'll wake everybody up," said Nathan.
"I don't care. I don't want to be left alone."
"Quit being a baby," said Steve.
"I'm not a baby."
"Well big boys don't cry, they stick together and go exploring and do neat things like that," said Steve.
"They do?" Tommy asked drying his eyes. "What if they are afraid?"
"Big boys learn to face their fears. Most the time they learn they were afraid of nothing," said Nathan.
"Really?" asked Tommy.
"Really. The story Mr. Weathersby told was just that. A story. Nothing to be afraid of. It's just a tale to entertain us," said Nathan.
"So there is nothing out there?"
"Nothing but the trees, animals and woods."
"I you know what's out there, then why go exploring?"
"Because things look different at night and there are animals you don't see during the day."
"Yeah," Steve chimed in, "Like headless Indians."
Nathan shot Steve an angry glare.
"Liar," said Tommy.
"If you believe that's true, why don't you come along?" asked Steve.
"I will."
An hour later the boys slipped out of camp into the night.

"Hey, where are we going?" asked Tommy.
"We are going to raid other camps," said Steve.
"What do you mean by raid?" asked Nathan. "I'm not going to steal other people's belongings."
"No, we are going to play some tricks. You know move things around. Stuff like that," said Steve.
"I guess that's all right," said Nathan.
"What about the animals you only see at night?" asked Tommy.
"Oh, we'll see them too."
Ten yards later Steve ran into a tree and bounce off, landing on his rump. The front of his shirt got damp from the impact.
"Hey, this tree is slimy," Steve said as he wiped at his shirt with his hand.
Nathan shined his flashlight over at Steve to make sure he was okay. His beam shone on a man shaped figure standing over Steve. The creature was covered with a thick green slimy substance that was dripping with water. It's left hand was reaching around for Steve. The right hand was raising a an ancient tomahawk. The most noticeable thing about the creature was that it's head was missing.
"It's him! Run Steve!" said Nathan.
"Yeah, right," said Steve as he fumbled around for his flashlight. He felt a hand grab him by the shoulder. It was wet, cold and slimy as it groped for his head. A cold chill went through Steve's body as he back away from the thing. It lunged for him as he turned to run. The smell of stagnant water filled Steve's nostrils.
"Feet don't fail me now!" Steve said as he turned and slipped on wet moss.
"Gangway!" yelled Nathan as he charged the creature like a jousting knight with a limb tucked under his arm, trying to drive the monster back and buy some time for his friend.
The monster stagger back a step as the limp slid into it's body. Steve got to his feet and grabbed Nathan's arm for support.
"Let's go!" Steve said to Nathan who didn't need much encouragement.
They ran for a mile before slowing down to rest. They looked around and listened while gasping for breath.
"Do...do...you... think... we.. lost... him?" asked Steve.
"I... don't... know... I... think... we...may... have... out..distanced him... Where's Tommy?"
"I thought... he was... with you."
"Great... now we .... have to find... him before it...does."
"Do you think...he went back...to camp?"
"He doesn't know...the way."
"Do you know...the way?"
"I thought you did...You're the one who....wanted to go ex....exploring."
"Wait a minute...Did you hear that?
The boys got quite. They could hear rustling in the bushes.
"Tell me that's not that thing," Steve said as both boys were preparing to run.
"You boys shouldn't be out here by yourselves" said the familiar voice of their Scoutmaster. Both boys sighed in relief.
"We're glad to see you Mr. Weathersby," said Nathan. "We have to find Tommy."
"He's fine. I took him back to camp already," explained Mr. Weathersby. "I haven't lost a troop yet in the thirty-five years I've been a Scoutmaster. I'm not about to start. Now you two have got some explaining to do when we get back."
"Mr. Weathersby we have to get out of here before it catches us," said Steve.
"It?" Mr. Weathersby's eyebrows raised.
"The monster in the story you told us earlier. You know the one about the headless Indian," said Nathan.
"Oh that monster. Boy's that's just a story to scare young campers like you into staying put. Of course in your case it didn't work. There are no such things as headless Indians, witches, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or any of that nonsense. It's made up to entertain people around campfires and on dark stormy nights. Now come along boys, it'll be daylight soon."
Mr. Weathersby led the way back to camp with the two boys it tow. After thirty minutes he stopped. "All right you two, camp is just over the hill. I'll join you as soon as I take a little nature break. Don't make me come after you. Just go straight to camp."
Yes Sir," They both said in unison.
From the crest of the hill they saw two paramedics loading a gurney into an ambulance. On the gurney was a body covered with a bloody white sheet. They ran the rest of the way to camp to see what had happen. As they approached, a sheriff's deputy stopped them.
"Sorry boys, you shouldn't be seeing this," he said with a solemn tone.
"What happen?" asked Nathan.
"There's been an accident. I'm afraid this year's summer camp will close early. Go to your tent and gather your things. I'll radio for someone to take you home."
They looked around camp and saw for the first time other than the paramedics and the sheriff's deputy, they were the only ones there. They did as they were told and returned to the deputy.
"Where's Mr. Weathersby?" asked Nathan. "He was right behind us when we came back to camp."
The deputy gave him a concerned look as he squatted down to the boys eye level. "Son," he said while taking off his hat. "I'm afraid that's not possible."
"Sure it is," said Steve. "He came out, found us and led us back to camp before the sun came up this morning."
The deputy shook his head and replied, "Boys, you might want to sit down for this. Your Scoutmaster, Mr. Weathersby. He couldn't have been with you. One of the other scouts' found his body early this morning. His head had been cut off while he slept."
The boys looked at each other, then back to the crest of the hill. They Mr. Weathersby wave to them as he became more and more transparent until he disappeared.