Jackson was grinning from ear to ear. I felt a bit awkward just standing there and staring at him. Beside me, I could sense Margaret, Russell, and Bradley felt the same.

"Everyone, who wants to tie me to the tree?" Jackson declared, smiling. This got me excited. I got to help tie Jackson to the tree!

Margaret and Eliza smirked. They were pleased with their new task. I looked over at Alex and Lena, who were both lost in thought as if they were planning a strategy. Bradley and Russell began to whisper to each other. There was a twinkle in Emma's eye. The group seemed excited to tie our instructor up.

"A few rules before we begin!" Jackson announced. "You will have five minutes to tie me up. Ally will be keeping time. Try to stick to sailing knots only! Once five minutes is up, we'll see how long it takes me to free myself from the tree. I must take five steps away from the tree in order to be considered free. Understand?"

Eight heads nodded, eight mouths curved into a smile. We were ready.

Ally sat down on her life jacket and clicked a few buttons on her watch. "Time.... Starts... Now!" She exclaimed.

At once, we rushed towards the bucket and grabbed as many lines as we could carry. We set to work, tying knots. Since bowlines were the most potent knots we knew how to tie, and I didn't know how to tie bowlines, I oversaw the others.

"Bowlines and square knots! Bind his hands behind the tree trunk! Add stopper knots to all loose ends! Russell, tighter!" I ordered. The others did as I commanded. We soon developed jobs for each person. Alex was an engineer. He was building a contraption of lines for Jackson's legs. Eliza and Lena were best at strategy. Emma, Russell, Margaret, and Bradley were knot-tiers, tying masses of bowlines and square knots. And I oversaw the entire operation.

"Times up!" We heard Ally call. We were feeling pleased with our work. We had bound Jackson's arms together and tied the, behind he tree trunk. His chest was tied to the tree. His legs were in almost a sling that Alex had made on the fly. I wondered how he came up with the idea and how he crafted it with knots.

"Okay..." Ally clicked a few more buttons on her watch. "Ready! Set! Go!"

Jackson began to try and untie himself. The other kids and I were jumping up and down and cheering and chanting. "No way in! Now way out!" We chanted, following Bradley's lead.

Jackson untied his hands rather quickly. Margaret bit her lip. Then he worked on his legs and his chest. Finally after a few minutes, he stood up and shook the remaining lines off his body.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five!" We cheered as Jackson took his steps away from the tree. Ally stopped her watch.

"Three minutes and forty five seconds!" She announced.

"Really? That short?" Jackson laughed. "Come on guys! I know you can do better than that!"

We stared at the ground, ashamed. Although, after that day, this knot tying game became known as No Way In, No Way Out (thanks to Bradley's chant) and it would soon become one of our favorite games that summer.