Goosebumps: The Curse of Camp Cold Lake (6 page)

The other campers are standing around me. Watching. Watching Liz save my
life.

“I’m—ALIVE!” The word burst from my throat.

I sat up. And gazed around.

Everyone is back! I realized. It’s summer again. The leaves are back on the
trees. The sun is beaming down.

And everyone is back. Including me!

Liz uttered a sigh and sank back on her knees. “Sarah, are you okay?” she
asked breathlessly. She mopped sweat from her forehead with the back of her
hand. “Are you okay?”

“I… I think so,” I murmured.

I had a sour taste in my mouth. I still felt a little dizzy.

Behind Liz, some campers cheered and applauded.

“We thought you were gone for a moment.” Liz sighed. “You stopped breathing.
What a scare!”

Two counselors helped me to my feet. I tried to shake off my dizziness. “I’m
okay!” I cried. “Thank you, Liz. You—you saved my life!”

I hugged Liz. Then I turned and hugged Aaron.

Briana and Meg were standing nearby. I startled them by hugging them too.

I was so happy to be alive! So happy to be away from that gray, gray winter.
Away from that frightening ghost girl in the empty camp.

“Sarah—what happened?” Liz asked, placing a hand on my still-wet shoulder.
She gently brushed back my hair.

“I’m not sure,” I told her. “I’m really not sure.”

Liz shuddered. “When you stopped breathing, I… I got so scared.”

“I’m fine now,” I told her with a smile. “Thanks to you.”

“She did it for attention,” I heard someone mutter.

I turned—and saw Jan whispering to another girl. “Now everyone has to say
‘Poor Sarah’,” Jan whispered nastily. “Now everyone has to be nice to her.”

I felt hurt. I opened my mouth to say something to Jan.

But I was so happy to be back, so happy to be
alive,
I just ignored
it.

I rested a hand on Aaron’s shoulder and let him walk me back to my cabin.
“I’m going to enjoy the rest of camp,” I told my brother. “I really am.”

The nurse checked me out carefully. Then I rested all afternoon. I took a
long nap.

When I woke up, I was starving. I realized I hadn’t eaten all day.

I pulled on jeans and a camp sweatshirt and hurried to the campfire. As I
trotted down the path toward the clearing by the woods, the aroma of hot dogs
and hamburgers on the barbecue drifted out to me.

Richard greeted me at the campfire circle. “Sarah, you look great!” he
exclaimed. “I heard about… what happened at the lake this afternoon.”

“Well, I’m fine now,” I told him. “I feel great.”

“Hey—no more close calls,” he scolded. “Or else you have to swim in the
kiddie pool.”

“I’ll be careful,” I promised.

“You’d better—because we don’t
have
a kiddie pool!” he joked.

I laughed.

“Take a seat,” he said, pointing to the circle of logs. “Take a seat,
everyone!” he called out. “We’re going to have a meeting before we eat!”

Most of the campers had already taken their places. I glanced around the
circle quickly, searching for a place to sit.

“Sarah—?” A voice called to me.

“Sarah—over here.”

I let out a shocked cry when I saw Della.

Della. By herself on a log back near the woods. Her blond hair shimmering
around her pale face. The pink evening sunlight shining through her body.

Shining right through her.

“Noooo!” I moaned.

“Come over here, Sarah!” Della called. “Please—sit over here with me. Be my
buddy!”

I raised my hands to my cheeks and let out a shrill scream.

“No! You’re not here!” I wailed. “You’re a ghost! You don’t belong here! I’m
alive now! I’m alive!”

I turned and saw Richard and Liz hurrying toward me.

Across the circle, Aaron jumped up and came running over. “Sarah—what’s
wrong? What
is
it?” he cried.

“Don’t you see her?” I shrieked. I pointed to the log near the woods. “She’s
a ghost! But I’m alive!”

Liz wrapped her arms around me. “It’s okay, Sarah,” she whispered. “You’re
okay now.”

“But—but she’s
sitting
there!” I sputtered.

Everyone turned to the log.

“There’s no one there,” Richard said. He narrowed his eyes at me.

“You had a terrible shock,” Liz said softly. “A terrible shock. You’re still not quite yourself, Sarah.”

“But—but—” I stammered.

I saw Briana, Meg, and Jan huddled together, talking softly. Watching me.

What are they saying about me? I wondered.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your cabin?” Richard asked.

I shook my head. “No. I’m starving!”

Liz laughed. “Maybe
that’s
your problem. You’re so hungry, you’re
seeing things! Let’s get you a hot dog—fast.”

After a couple of hot dogs, I started to feel better. The campfire meeting
began. I sat next to some girls from a different cabin.

As Richard talked, I gazed around the circle. Stared at the campers’ faces,
orange from the flickering campfire. Searching for Della.

Della the ghost…

Was she still here? Still watching me? Still waiting for me to be her buddy?

I sat forward tensely. My whole body stiff. My eyes straining to see her
pale, pale face.

But she had vanished.

For now.

Liz took over the meeting. Most campers groaned when she started another
lecture on water safety.

“We had a close call today,” Liz said. “A frightening close call.”

I knew everyone was staring at me. I could feel my face growing hot. I gazed
into the yellow flames of the campfire.

When I raised my eyes, I saw Briana, Meg, and Jan on the next log, whispering
together. About me?

“Our water safety rules are so important here at Camp Cold Lake,” Liz was
saying. “Some campers joke that having so many rules is the
curse
of Camp
Cold Lake, because we talk about the rules so much.”

She pressed her hands against her sides. Her eyes moved from camper to
camper. “But as we saw this afternoon,” she continued, “the Buddy System isn’t a
curse—it’s a blessing.”

A face rose up behind the darting flames of the fire.

I gasped.

Della!

No. A girl from another cabin, climbing up to get more food.

I sank back.

I have to get
away
from this camp, I decided. I can’t have a good time
here. Not if I always have to keep an eye out for Della.

Liz rattled on about the water rules.

Richard made a few announcements.

Everyone sang some camp songs.

When the campfire ended, I jumped up quickly and started along the path to my
cabin. I had gone only a few steps when I heard fast footsteps behind me. And heard someone
calling my name.

Was it the ghost?

I turned to see Aaron jogging up to me. “What was that screaming about?” he
demanded. “Did you
really
think you saw a ghost?”

“Why should I tell you?” I snapped. I continued along the path, walking
rapidly. “You’ll only laugh at me.”

“Try me,” he replied, running to catch up. “I won’t laugh. I promise.”

“I saw a ghost girl,” I told him. “I swear I did. She called to me. She wants
me to be her buddy.”

Aaron laughed. “No. Really,” he said. “What did you
really
see? Be
serious.”

“I
am
serious!” I cried. “I have to get away from here, Aaron. I’m
going to run away. Get to a phone. Call Mom and Dad. Tonight. I’m going to tell
them to come get me.”

“You can’t!” Aaron replied. He grabbed my arm and forced me to stop walking.
I could see kids staring at us as they walked past.

“Mom and Dad won’t want to make more than one trip up here. So if you call
them, they’ll make me come home too,” Aaron protested. “And I don’t want to
leave. I’m having a great time!”

“You don’t understand,” I told him. “I can’t stay here. I can’t—”

“Please, Sarah,” he begged. “Try to stick it out. Give it a little more time.
You’re just a little messed up because of the lake this afternoon. But you’ll be okay. Give it
some time.”

I didn’t say yes, and I didn’t say no.

I just told Aaron good-night and headed to my cabin.

I stopped outside the door. All the lights were on. I heard Briana, Meg, and
Jan talking softly.

They stopped talking as soon as I stepped inside.

All three of them stared hard at me. Their expressions were tense. They moved
quickly.

Moved toward me as I started across the room.

They formed a circle around me. Surrounded me.

“What
is
it?” I cried. “What are you going to do?”

“We want to apologize,” Briana said.

“We’ve been kind of rough on you,” Jan added in her scratchy voice. “We’re
really sorry.”

“We’ve been talking about it,” Briana said. “We—”

“We decided we’ve been really unfair,” Meg interrupted. “We’re sorry, Sarah.”

“I—I’m sorry too,” I stammered. I was so stunned by their apologies, I
could barely speak.

“Let’s start all over,” Briana suggested. She grabbed my hand. “Nice to meet
you, Sarah. My name is Briana.”

“Excellent. A fresh start!” Jan declared.

“Thanks. I’m really glad,” I told them. And I meant it.

Jan turned to Briana. “When did you do that to your nails?”

Briana grinned and raised both hands. Her fingernails were a shiny, bright
purple. “It’s a new color,” she said. “I did it after our swim.”

“What color is it?” Meg asked.

“Grape Juice, I think,” Briana replied. “They all have such crazy names.” She
dug the bottle of nail polish from her pack and held it out to me. “Want to try
it?”

“Well…
sure
,” I replied.

All four of us stayed up far past Lights Out, making our fingernails purple.

Later, I lay in my bunk, drifting off to sleep. I had a smile on my face,
thinking about my three bunk mates. My three
friends.

They had really cheered me up.

But my smile faded when I heard a whispered voice float across the dark
cabin. “Sarah… Sarah…”

I gasped.

And then the frail voice—soft as the wind—was so close… so close to my
ear.

“Sarah. I thought you were my buddy, Sarah. Why did you leave me?”

“No—please—” I begged.

“Sarah, I waited so long for you,” the ghostly voice whispered. “Come with
me. Come with me, Sarah….”

And then an icy hand gripped my shoulder.

“Ohhhhh!”

I bolted up in the bunk. And stared out at Briana’s dark eyes.

She let go of my shoulder. “Sarah,” she whispered. “You were whimpering in
your sleep.”

“Huh? What?” My voice quivered. My heart pounded. I realized I was drenched
in sweat.

“You were whimpering in your sleep,” Briana repeated. “Crying and moaning. I
thought I’d better wake you.”

“Uh… thanks,” I choked out. “Must have been a bad dream, I guess.”

Briana nodded and crept back to her bunk.

I didn’t move. I sat there trembling, staring out across the dark cabin.

A bad dream?

I didn’t think so….

“You can skip the long-distance swim today if you want,” Liz told me at
breakfast the next morning. She leaned over my chair as I downed my cornflakes. I could smell
the toothpaste on her breath.

“Well…” I hesitated. “How long is the swim?”

“We’re swimming halfway across the lake,” Liz replied. “Halfway out, then
back. I’ll be in a boat at the halfway point. It isn’t really that far. But if
you feel like skipping it today…”

I set down my spoon. I could see Meg and Briana watching me from across the
table. Beside me, Jan was struggling to choke down a half-toasted, frozen
waffle.

“Come on. Swim with us,” Briana urged.

“I’ll be your buddy,” Jan said. “I’ll swim with you, Sarah.”

Our frightening canoe adventure flashed into my mind. Once again, I pictured
that horrible moment when Jan jumped from the canoe. Tipping it over. Leaving me
there.

But things were different now.

We were friends. All four of us were friends now. I had to forget about what
happened with the canoe. I had to forget about our bad start.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Thanks, Jan. I’ll be your buddy.” I turned back to Liz.
“I’m ready to swim.”

The morning sun still floated low in the sky. It kept fading behind broad,
gray clouds. And each time the sun disappeared, the air became as cold as the
water.

The lake was so cold in the early morning!

As I waded in, I suddenly realized why it was named “Cold Lake”.

We all stepped carefully into the water, shivering and complaining. The water
lapped over my ankles, stinging them. I stopped with a gasp and waited to get
used to the cold.

I raised my eyes at the sound of a motorboat and saw Liz chugging to her
place in the middle of the lake. When she reached the spot, she cut the engine.
Then she picked up an electric megaphone.

“Warm up first, everyone!” she instructed us.

We all laughed. “Warm up? How are we supposed to warm up? It’s freezing!”

Two girls near the shore began splashing each other.

“Stop it! Whoooa! It’s
collld
!” one of them shrieked.

Taking another few steps over the soft lake bottom, I adjusted the top of my
blue swimsuit. “We need wet suits,” I told Jan.

She nodded, then waded out until the water lapped at her waist. “Come on,
Sarah. Stick together.” She motioned for me to follow.

I took a deep breath—and plunged into the water.

A shock of cold swept over my body. But I dove under the water and swam out a
few strokes. Then I raised my head and turned back to Jan.

“Show off,” she muttered. She dipped her hands in the water, still struggling
to get used to the cold.