The Great Scavenger Hunt (15 page)

“It looked like”—Betsy pursed her lips and whispered—“a little boy.”

Isabel, Charlotte, and Maeve gasped, but Katani just rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You guys are crazy if you think you actually saw a ghost out there.”

Isabel looked relieved. “You don't believe in ghosts?” she asked Katani in a timid voice.

“No way!” Katani shook her head. “My dad, who is really smart, said there is no scientific proof of ghosts, spirits, or anything like that. It's just people's crazy imaginations.”

Kiki folded her arms. “If you think I'd make up something like that then
you're
the one who's crazy.”

“Ahem!” Avery said, sounding like a lawyer. “She does have a point, Katani.”

Charlotte pulled her journal and pen out of her bag. “Okay, can you describe to me exactly what you saw?” She didn't want to miss out on the description a real ghost, if there was one.

Betsy, not surprisingly, was the first to volunteer. “He was a small boy, younger than us, I think. He was dressed in—well, I couldn't really tell because it's so dark out—but it looked like he was crying.”

Charlotte was intrigued. “Crying, like how?”

Betsy bent over and placed her head in her hands and Chelsea, very cautiously, began to tiptoe over to the window. Isabel grabbed her arm to stop, but it was like Chelsea was in a trance. When she got to the window
she let out a yelp and cried, “He's here! He's here! Come see for yourselves!”

The girls leaped up and rushed over to the window. Sure enough, there was a tiny person kneeling by the dune. At once, all eight girls let out a hair-raising, bloodcurdling scream. And the screaming didn't stop until Ms. O'Reilly and all three chaperones appeared at their doorway. Ben's eyes were still half shut and Fabiana hovered in the doorway behind Patrice, but Ms. O'Reilly strode right into the room.

“What's going on in here?” she asked, genuinely concerned.

“G-g-g-
ghost
!” was all anyone could blubber. Even Katani looked a little shaken.

When Chelsea and Isabel burst into tears, Ben Briggs snapped into action.

He stormed up to the window, huge hands locked on his hips. “That's no ghost!” he growled. He jiggled the lock on the window, effortlessly pushed it open, and stuck out his head. “HENRY YURT! YOU GET YOUR FUZZY-HEADED SHORT SELF IN HERE!”

Then he turned to Chelsea and gave her a giant bear hug. “It's okay. I'll teach those boys not to pick on my sister and her friends!”

The “crying” person stood up and started running at lightning speed back to the house. Suddenly, from out of the bushes, four more runners appeared. “Looks like we had more than one ghost haunting the beach,” Ben grumbled. “Don't worry, Ms. O'Reilly. I got this one.”

“Are you sure?” asked Ms. O'Reilly.

“Oh, yeah. There's only one thing scarier than a ghost in the middle of the night….
ME
!”

Ben stomped down the creaky stairs to greet the merry pranksters upon their return. The girls scampered behind him, at once furious and dying of curiosity. Maeve couldn't help admiring how dashing and debonair Ben seemed, defending the honor of the ladies of the house.
How positively heroic,
she thought fondly.

Isabel sniffed up the last of her tears and felt her horror washing away. Now that she knew it was all a joke, she almost felt sorry for the boys.

“Nick, Dillon, Riley, Danny…and look who it is…our little ghostly friend, Yurtmeister!” Ben crouched down to look Yurt in the eye. “I just have one question for you punks: WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS SANE WERE YOU THINKING?”

The boys hung their heads, as the girls stole secret glances of smug satisfaction. The boys all looked so guilty and ashamed of themselves.
This is awesome,
thought Avery, who couldn't wait to tease them tomorrow.

“Now I think you owe these young ladies an apology. Before me and the guys on the football team start owing one
to you
!”

“Sorry,” the boys all mumbled. Charlotte noticed that a chagrined Nick was making eye contact with only her, as if to say, “Yeah, that was really stupid,” and she gave him a smile to show her forgiveness. It was impossible to stay angry at
him
. Besides, no one really got hurt or anything
and…it was kind of funny. She'd have to write up the whole story in her journal later. Maybe she'd even share it with Nick.

Dillon and Riley seemed to be seeking Maeve's approval, but Maeve was completely immersed in her role as the wounded damsel in distress. She just flounced the skirt of her nightgown, gave a little high-pitched, “Hmph!” and marched back up the stairs.

“You know we were totally kidding,” Danny confided to Betsy as she passed. “I'm real sorry.”

Betsy gave him burning snake-eyes. “You are not forgiven,” she sniffled.

“Poor Danny,” Isabel said to her as they climbed the stairs. She knew there was nothing Betsy detested more than being wrong, and she had definitely been wrong about the ghost in the yard. But it was obvious that Danny felt absolutely terrible about what happened. He had kept trying to get Betsy's attention, but she had refused to look at him.

“Betsy,” said Isabel, who believed in the power of forgiveness to solve problems. “He said he's sorry.”

“Ha! He deserves no sympathy, trust me,” an indignant Betsy charged.

“Wow, Betsy, isn't that a little cold? I mean, wasn't it just a joke and all?” Avery asked, then ducked into the BSG's room, leaving Betsy and Isabel alone in the hallway.

Betsy squinted in confusion. “What is she talking about, Isabel? You were really scared! And that trick was obviously
his
idea. He was the one telling the stupid ghost story.”

Isabel smiled. She was no expert in boys, but she knew Betsy had a lot to learn. “That trick was the idea of
all of them
. Haven't you heard that expression, ‘boys will be boys'?”

Betsy harrumphed. “I doubt it. Danny's the only one of that bunch capable of coming up with something so deviously clever!”

“You think he's smart?” asked Isabel. She was surprised Betsy was willing to call anyone else clever. Even in her anger, it sounded almost like Betsy was impressed!

Betsy shrugged. “Not as smart as”—she bit her tongue—“other people. But yeah, I guess he's pretty smart.”

“Well, Danny obviously thinks pretty highly of you,” Isabel said as they stood outside the door of Betsy's room. “He was practically drooling on the movie set today,” she added in a hushed voice.

“No!” Betsy objected, but she looked interested.

Isabel nodded. “Yes. And I bet he feels pretty terrible after how angry you were.”

Betsy swallowed. “I'm not really
that
angry, I guess.”

“Me neither,” Isabel confided. “You know, Danny's a sweet guy. You guys could be friends. Maybe think about being a little extra nice to him tomorrow.”

Betsy smiled. “Okay. I'll think about that.”

Isabel and Betsy said good night. As Isabel made her way to her bunk, it occurred to her that this scavenger hunt wasn't just about having fun with her best friends and going on an adventure; it was bringing people together in all kinds of new ways.

C
harlotte woke up the next morning feeling peachy fine. She'd dreamed that the Salty Cods had found 1,000 clues, including a humpback whale living in the Underwood's swimming pool, and somebody from the
Guinness Book of World Records
had called! After a big cat stretch, she squinted at the lovely sunlight streaming into their little room through the open window.

“Yum.” She breathed in the dewy, salty scent of the sea air. The fresh smell reminded her why she loved writing, traveling, and daydreaming.

She looked down from the top bunk at a sleeping Isabel and Maeve, then across at Avery, who had one arm hanging down the side of her bunk. Little chortling snores came from Maeve's sleeping bag. Charlotte thought it was kind of cute, but she knew Maeve would just die if she
ever knew she was a bit of a snorer. Charlotte got up and headed to the bathroom, where she found Katani already dressed and brushing her teeth.

“I just talked to Patrice,” Katani informed her. “And here's the plan. Nick and Dillon are already awake. They're playing soccer in the backyard. Patrice says if we hit the road now we'll have, like, an hour edge over the other teams.”

Charlotte smiled as she admired her own freshly polished pearly whites. “Your sister is such a leader. Do you think we really have a chance at winning this thing?”

“Maybe…if we get an early start,” Katani replied as she put her toiletries away in a stylish yellow pouch. “Besides, if we don't win, I'm never gonna hear the end of it. Believe it or not, my sister isn't the greatest loser. So let's get a move on.”

Charlotte feigned a look of shock. “A Summers sister…an unhappy loser. NO WAY!”

The girls packed up quickly, careful not to disturb their sleepyhead friends. Whatever noise they ended up making didn't matter because the rest of the BSG were out like lights. Charlotte wondered for a second if they were doing the right thing—not waking the other three girls.

They knocked on Ms. O'Reilly's door across the hall, just to let her know they were heading out. She was dressed, and had a mystery novel in one hand.

“I was just going to wake you girls after I finished this chapter.”

“Make sure you get some breakfast in the kitchen,”
she reminded them as they walked off. “And keep your walkie-talkie turned on. Good luck!”

After gulping down some cereal, Charlotte walked outside and caught sight of Nick Montoya. What was it about a big old camp T-shirt and backward Red Sox cap that made him look so cool? Charlotte used to think about herself and Nick as just good friends. But now his face lit up whenever he saw her.

“Morning, Char,” Nick greeted, kicking the soccer ball to her.

“Hey,” she replied, feeling her cheeks growing a bit pink. Charlotte jogged over to the ball, but as she bent her knee to kick it, she completely lost her balance on the wet grass and proceeded to wipe out on the lawn.
Oops! Charlotte “the Klutz” Ramsey strikes again.
She cringed.

Maybe if she just lay there, she hoped, somehow the horrible moment would just magically disappear,

“Nice one, Char.” Nick was standing over her offering a hand. “What number is it now?”

“Could we just pretend that I am a graceful dancer and they just polished the floor but no one told me?” Charlotte asked as she grasped Nick's hand.

“No prob.” Nick smiled as he helped her to her feet.

If Maeve had seen the moment, Charlotte knew she would have deemed it extremely swoon-worthy. Charlotte was just grateful Nick never made a big deal over her wipeouts.

As Charlotte brushed wet grass off the seat of her pants, Patrice sauntered over waving an envelope. “Okay,
Cods, we must be in the lead. So let's not blow it now.”

Katani shook her head. “That's motivational, Patrice—‘let's not blow it'?”

“What do you mean? I don't know about you guys, but I didn't come this far to lose in the homestretch,” Patrice stated matter-of-factly.

“I'm with Patrice! Let's open up that clue and get this show on the road,” commanded Dillon. “I want to kick the competition to the moon!” he shouted as he raised his fist in the air. “And before I forget—nice splat, Charlotte.”

“Thanks, Dillon,” Charlotte answered, shuffling from one foot to the other.

“Okay, let's focus, people!” Patrice said as she opened the envelope and read the clue.

“That's easy! A lighthouse,” Katani said as she folded her arms.

“Cool, but this is Cape Cod. There are like a gatrillion lighthouses!” Nick replied.

“Oh…so how are we supposed to know which it is?” asked a perplexed Dillon.

“Well, here's what we know. It's red and white. And it's directly north of the NEED Building,” Charlotte contributed. “There must be a lighthouse on the map that's close.”

Katani, who was turning into quite the budding cartographer, quickly located the NEED Building on the map and used the map key to find the lighthouse symbol. She then pointed out that there was indeed a lighthouse directly north of the NEED Building, and there appeared to be a path leading right to it. The only problem was that there were about six different paths departing from the NEED Building…. So which one was the one that went north to the lighthouse?

Dillon scratched his head. “Okay, I know how to figure this out. I got the ocean on my left, and the sun is riiiiight there, which means north is…” He spun around like a top, faster and faster and faster, and when he stopped, his arms were directed smack in front of a bike path shooting off into the woods. “…there!” he concluded proudly.

Nick gave his friend a light shove, and Dillon, dizzy from his spinning, toppled over like a Jenga tower. “This is a scavenger hunt, not spin the bottle, brainiac,” Nick joshed.

“I was solving it the old-fashioned way,” Dillon defended as he picked himself up.

“Or we could just check the compass,” Katani suggested.

She pulled Patrice's Outward Bound compass out of the pouch on the back of her bike. Everyone gathered round to watch the needle. Charlotte patted Katani on the shoulder, and Dillon gave her a thumbs-up when the needle pointed exactly the way he had indicated.

“Wow! You got some mad skills on that compass, Sis,”
Patrice said admiringly. “Now, enough goofing around, people. We have a scavenger hunt to win!” The rest of the Cods didn't need to be told twice and climbed on to their bikes with their eyes on the prize…whatever that was!

Barnacle Maneuvers

Avery felt a surge of energy shoot through her as soon as her eyes opened. She sat up in bed, so eager to start her day that she completely forgot that she was on the top bunk of a bunk bed and whacked her head on the ceiling.

“Yowch! Now I get why you guys wanted the lower bunks.” She yawned. “You guys…
you guys
?” She hung over the side of the bed. “What?” She was puzzled when she realized that she was the only one of the BSG left in the room. “This is a first,” Avery mumbled as she pulled on her clothes at lightning speed, trying to ignore the aches she was feeling as a result of her surfing adventure the day before. As an athlete, Avery knew that muscles you haven't exercised in a while could be sore at first. “This better not ruin my biking,” she said out loud to the empty room. “
Today
we have to get some clues!”

The halls were so quiet when Avery slipped out that she wondered if maybe everyone else had already gone. What if they'd forgotten about her?
Forget about me?
Avery had to laugh.
What, am I crazy?

Indeed, no one had forgotten about Avery at all. Outside, the Beach Barnacles were sitting around the picnic table, chatting and munching on cold cereal and yogurt. Kiki, in sunglasses and a bathing suit, flipped through a
fashion magazine, and Henry Yurt was carrying a pair of old flippers and snorkel that he'd found in the game room of the NEED Building.

“Finally! We thought you were going to sleep until noon,” said Kiki, closing her magazine. “Now can we go, Ben?”

Avery rubbed her hands together. “Ooh. Why didn't you wake me up? What's the plan? Where are we going? Have we solved another clue?”

Chelsea, who had been quietly reading through an historical book about Cape Cod, looked up. “No!”

Avery frowned. “What do you mean,
no
? We gotta get this wagon train a-movin', people!”

Chelsea looked sullen. “They said they don't feel like doing the scavenger hunt.” She motioned at the rest of the Beach Barnacles, including her brother. “They said that we don't have a chance of winning at this point anyway, so we might as well just go back to the beach.”

Kiki rolled her eyes. “I mean, why not?”

Chelsea was appalled. “No! No way! The point of this thing is to do a scavenger hunt that we worked really hard on and explore Cape Cod and
have fun
on the way. I don't want to let Nick and Charlotte down. It's not fair.” Chelsea stared at her brother as hard as she could, hoping she might be able to bore a hole in that thick skull of his.

Ben shifted uncomfortably. “Chels, I get that you worked hard and stuff, but we're so far behind, and everyone else kinda wants to just hang out, so—”

Avery stamped her foot. She had to intervene, even if
her heart secretly longed to get back on a surfboard. “Hey! No way can we give up. First of all, thanks to Chelsea over here”—Avery gave her a high five—“we nailed the bonus list yesterday, which means the Beach Barnacles are still in the running. I'm not sure, but it sounds like the Cranberry Boggers weren't exactly hardcore with getting points yesterday, either. I wouldn't be surprised if we were in second place.”

A look of pleasant surprise went around the picnic table. “Chels,” Ben said as he banged his fist on the table, “you're the chief, and Avery, you're a shaker! Barnacles, we might actually have a shot at winning this thing if we get cracking!”

“Yeah!” Avery cheered, starting to get revved up. “Besides, when I heard the others going on and on about finding the clues…well, I
really want to beat the pants off them
!” Ben, Chelsea, and Yurt burst out laughing. For such a tiny person, Avery's competitive spirit was off the charts.

“Oh, lame!” Kiki proclaimed. She fanned herself with her magazine and looked bored. “Can't we just go back to the beach and have, like, a chill day?”

“No,” Ben defended the group decision. “We have to give this scavenger thing a shot. I mean, I'm supposed to be keeping you guys on track…and if we go back to the beach, we're always going to wonder if we could have done it if we'd put in some effort…besides looking like complete losers.”

Kiki yawned loudly. “Not me.”

Avery glared at her. “Won't you feel guilty for coming on the trip in the first place?”

Kiki smiled. “Not even a little bit.” Kiki Underwood was a mystery to Avery. How could her parents be so nice, and Kiki be nice around them, and now it was like the Empress of Mean was back and worse than ever. “Well, if you guys don't want to go to the beach, that's okay. I can go alone. I know the way,” Kiki said coolly, leaning back.

Avery put her hands on her hips and snapped, “No way, José. If you won't go on the scavenger hunt, you can go home!”

“Please, Keeks,” Henry Yurt begged as he got down on one knee. “The scavenger hunt won't be the same without you.” Kiki completely ignored him.

Ben smiled and picked up the walkie-talkie. “Or I can just ask Mr. Moore if he needs an assistant for the day….”

“Hey, that's no fair!” Kiki yelled.

“But I'm sure he'd
love
to go to the beach,” Avery said with a giggle.

Ben picked up the walkie-talkie. Avery could tell he was enjoying the panicked look in Kiki's face almost as much as she was.

“Wait, stop! If you call Mr. Moore, I'll get real detention for sure,” Kiki pleaded.

“I am sick of this…. Just call Mr. Moore,” a frustrated Chelsea complained.

Avery was shocked. She'd seen Chelsea stand up to her brother, sure, but standing up to Kiki Underwood
was quite another story. Avery was impressed. She gave Chelsea a shoulder shrug in appreciation.

“No! I'm sorry. I'll be good. I'll participate and everything,” Kiki begged. “Just let me come.
Please!
I
want
to come…. I'm allergic to detention!”

Ben paused as if deep in thought and then put down the walkie-talkie. “Well, okay.” Team Beach Barnacle was back in the game! And Kiki looked like she'd just been pardoned from walking the plank of a real pirate ship.