Amber Brown Horses Around

by Paula Danziger

  “It’s perfect,” Kelly says. Her voice sounds funny because she is pinching her nose shut.

  “Perfectly disgusting,” Brandi says. “Which is exactly what we want! Operation Cushie: Stage One commences tonight at nineteen thirty hours.”

  “What the heck is nineteen thirty hours?” I ask.

  Brandi sighs. “That’s seven thirty.”

  Kelly scowls at her. “Well, why didn’t you just say that?”

  Brandi smiles. “I think we should use military time for Operation Cushie. They use a twenty-four-hour clock. I learned about it from my uncle, the one who’s in the navy.”

  I review the plan in my mind. First, we’re going to make a “Cushie footprint.” This will be a shallow hole scooped out at the edge of the path to our bunk area. It’s where I will pour the manure tea when the time is right. We can’t do it in advance because it won’t take long for the water to sink into the ground.

  After supper, everyone will be going back to their bunks to change because it is “pajamas at the movies” night. Kelly is supposed to keep Hannah talking down at the mess hall so that all the other kids will be ahead of them.

  I will be hiding in the trees near the “footprint,” and Brandi will be the lookout. When Brandi signals that Kelly and Hannah are coming, I’ll pour the “tea” into the “footprint,” then scoot back to hide in the bushes.

  The rest will be up to Kelly.

  • • •

  I, Amber Brown, hate mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, however, seem to love manure tea. I think I am surrounded by every mosquito in camp.

  I remind myself that sometimes you have to suffer for art. And I want Operation Cushie to be a work of art, one of the greatest pranks ever pulled, gold medal for our age group.

  I hear Brandi whistling the camp song. That’s my signal. I step out of the bushes and pour the tea into the “footprint.” I slip back into the bushes. A moment later, Brandi is beside me. “They’re almost here!” she whispers. She sounds really excited.

  We peek through the leaves.

  Kelly and Hannah are chatting away. Suddenly Kelly stops. “Eeeuuuw,” she says. “Do you smell that?”

  Hannah stops and sniffs. Then she sniffs again.

  I think it is funny that when people think they smell something bad, they sniff twice to make sure.

  “Oh, yuck,” she says. “What is that?”

  “Who knows,” Kelly says. “Let’s get going. I don’t want to be late for the movie.”

  They walk a few more steps, then Kelly stops. “Look!” she cries, sounding scared.

  I did not know she was such a good actress.

  They both stop at the edge of the stinking puddle.

  “Footprint,” Kelly whispers.

  “What?” Hannah asks.

  “Footprint!” Kelly hisses. “Cushie footprint.”

  “Yeah, right,” Hannah says.

  “All I know is that everyone in our bunk says Cushie is on the move. She’s coming up from the lake and snooping around near the cabins. If you see a pool of stinking water, that’s one of her footprints. Don’t get any on you! That’s supposed to attract her.”

  Hannah walks carefully around the pool of yucky water.

  Brandi gives me a thumbs-up.

  Stage One of Operation Cushie is complete!

  • • •

  I, Amber Brown, am wide-awake. Usually I am one of the last in our bunk to get up, but this morning I am awake even before the bugle sounds. That is because I am so eager to see if Stage Two of Operation Cushie is in motion.

  The reason I don’t know for sure is that it was up to Brandi and Kelly. Were they able to sneak out of their cabin last night and put the slime on the window by Hannah’s bunk?

  Finally I hear the bugle. I stretch and pretend to yawn. Then I climb down from my bunk and head for the bathroom. I pass Hannah’s bunk. YES! The slime is there!

  “Yikes!” I cry, pointing. “What’s that?”

  Treasure and Hannah sit up. “What’s what?” Hannah snarls.

  I just point. Hannah turns toward the window.

  Treasure jumps down from the top bunk. “Whoa, girl,” she says. “That is nasty.”

  It really is nasty . . . . . a long streak of green slime smeared across Hannah’s window.

  All the girls gather around Hannah’s bunk to stare at the slime.

  “I heard a rumor that Cushie is on the prowl,” Grace whispers.

  Carrie comes out from her room. “What’s going on?”

  We all point at the window.

  Carrie bends so that she can see it. She rolls her eyes, then goes outside. We watch her through the window as she examines the green streak.

  “Well?” Hannah says when Carrie comes back in.

  She scowls. “It must have been one of the boys. Typical middle-of-the-summer stupid boys’ trick.”

  Hannah doesn’t look convinced.

  • • •

  Brandi stands next to Hannah in the breakfast line. I stand three people behind them so I can listen.

  “Is it true?” Brandi asks Hannah.

  “Is what true?”

  “Everyone is saying that the lake monster slimed your window.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it!”

  “Well, it would make sense if she did,” Brandi continues. “I’m doing a news story on Cushie, so I’ve been talking to some of the older kids. One of them told me that she always goes for the prettiest girl in camp.”

  Kelly comes up to them. “I heard about the slime on your window,” she says to Hannah. “That must have been scary.”

  “She doesn’t want to talk about it,” Brandi says.

  “Did you tell her about who it goes after?” Kelly asks.

  We are so, so bad.

  • • •

  It is afternoon free period. Kelly and I are standing under Herbert, waiting for Brandi. I am starting to get worried. “What if she couldn’t do it?” I say.

  “Stop fussing,” Kelly says. “Look, there she is.”

  Brandi comes running up, a big smile on her face. “Who rocks?” she demands.

  “It depends,” Kelly says. “Do you have it?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Brandi says.

  “You rock!” Kelly and I say together.

  What Brandi has is the recording that will give us our topper.

  “Can we hear it?” I ask.

  She looks around, then says, “Gather close. We don’t want anyone else to hear. I’ll set the volume real low.”

  We make a circle, and Brandi turns on the recording.

  Out comes the weirdest voice I have ever heard . . . . . . low and burbly . . . . . . almost as if it’s coming from underwater. Even though it’s broad daylight and I know it’s just a recording, it gives me a chill.

  “Holy mackerel!” Kelly says. “Is that you?”

  Brandi shakes her head. “I got Orion, our counselor from the camp radio station, to do it.”

  “What did you tell him?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” Brandi says. “He likes goofing around with sound and electronics, so he just thought it was fun to do.” She hands me a small plastic thing. “Okay, this is the remote. You push here to start. I’ll slip over to your bunk tonight before lights-out and put the recording I made on the ledge outside Hannah’s window. Wait until after lights-out. Then, whenever you want . . . push the button!”

  I put the remote in the pocket of my shorts.

  I am so happy!

  • • •

  “Lights-out,” Carrie calls.

  We scramble into our bunks. I have no intention of going to sleep, of course. I need to stay awake so I can play the recording.

  Then Carrie surprises me by saying, “I need to have a short meeting with Maria about the
next talent show.”

  Maria is the counselor for Brandi and Kelly’s bunk.

  “We’ll be on the path halfway between the two cabins if you need me. But I want it quiet, understand?”

  I told myself that I would wait at least half an hour after lights-out before pushing the button, but now I think it would be better to do this while Carrie is out of the bunk. I wonder how long she will be gone. I wish she had told us, then I realize it wouldn’t make any difference because I don’t have a way to tell time. Now I wish I hadn’t left my pig-taking-a-bubble-bath alarm clock at home.

  I decide to wait ten minutes.

  I start counting in my head. “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.” Then I stop and try to figure out how many Mississippis it will take to get to ten minutes. Six hundred! That’s too many. And why did Mississippi get to be the timekeeping river anyway? I bet the Amazon is jealous. Just because it’s missing one syllable?

  The bunk is really quiet. No one is even whispering.

  Finally I can’t stand it anymore.

  I push the button.

  The voice that comes through the window is not as loud as I expected, but somehow that makes it even scarier.

  “Haaannnnaahhhhh! Hannnaaahhhh! I waaaaaannt yoouuuuuu. I neeeeeeeeed youuuuuuu.”

  I thought that would be it, but it starts again, this time even louder.

  “HAAANNNNNAAHHHHH! HANNNAAAHHHH! I WAAAAANT YOOUUUUUU. I NEEEEEEEEED YOOUUUUUUU.”

  Hannah shrieks and bolts for the door. I figure she’s going to get Carrie, but a few seconds later, I hear her scream.

  Suddenly the lights go on. I see that Grace has hit the switch.

  “What’s happening?” Cleo cries. “Where did that voice come from?” She sounds terrified, which makes me feel guilty.

  The other girls are out of their bunks. I join them. They all want to know where the spooky voice came from. I know, but I don’t know what’s happened to Hannah, and I’m kind of scared about it.

  “We have to go see if Hannah needs help,” Grace says. “Grab your flashlights!”

  “I don’t think we should go out there,” Cleo says.

  “We have to!” Treasure declares.

  But as we start out the door, we hear Carrie shout, “Back inside, all of you! Get in your bunks. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  We wait. It seems like a long time. I expect Carrie to come back into the bunk with Hannah any second. I know she’ll yell at us like she did when Hannah put hair gel on my pillow, but that would be better than this waiting.

  Carrie finally comes back. She looks serious. Hannah isn’t with her. I get a bad feeling in my stomach.

  Everyone starts to call out questions again.

  “Quiet, everyone!” Carrie yells.

  The bunk falls silent.

  “All right, everybody . . . . . I want you to stay in your beds. I have to take Hannah to the infirmary. I’ll have a counselor come in here to take over in a minute. In the meantime, nobody move. Is that clear?”

  Her voice is fierce.

  We all nod.

  “Is Hannah all right?” I ask.

  “I said no talking!”

  I shiver in my bed.

  As soon as Carrie leaves, everyone does talk, of course. Everyone but me.

  A few minutes later, a counselor comes in, and everyone asks about Hannah.

  “I don’t know anything,” she says. “But it’s after lights-out and Carrie asked me to make sure you stay quiet.”

  I lie in my bunk, staring at the ceiling. I still have one more thing to do, but I can’t do it until everyone is asleep. I do not worry about falling asleep myself . . . . . I am too upset for that.

  I wait until the room is completely silent . . . . . . then I wait some more. The counselor has gone into Carrie’s room. I know she is asleep because I can hear her snoring. Normally I would think that was funny, but right now nothing is funny.

  When I finally think it is safe, I slip out of my bunk. If anyone wakes up, I will say I am just getting up to pee.

  No one does.

  I open the door as quietly as possible and slip out of the cabin. Then I go to Hannah’s window and get Brandi’s recording. I don’t want to do this, but I owe it to Brandi. I don’t want her to get blamed for this mess.

  When I am back in my bunk, I still cannot sleep. I can only think one thing. I am not a bad kid, but I’ve done a bad thing. I am not a bad kid, but I’ve done a bad thing. I am not a bad kid, but I’ve done a bad thing.

  I think it all night long.

  Chapter Sixteen

  As the sun rises, my spirits sink.

  Hannah’s bunk is still empty.

  I am terrified. What if something really bad happened to her?

  I have never been so scared.

  Miss Flo comes into our bunk and I am even more scared.

  Miss Flo claps her hands and orders, “Girls! Circle! Now!” Quickly we form up around her.

  Miss Flo looks at us. “My first announcement is that Hannah is going to be okay.”

  Everyone cheers, including me.

  Miss Flo holds up her hands and we get quiet. “However, she does have a badly sprained ankle and will have to stay off it for a while. We have called her parents, and Hannah has asked to stay at camp. I am proud of her.

  “I am not proud of what happened here last night. I am not saying that someone from your bunk is responsible for the prank that scared Hannah, but I do want to assure you that we will find out who did it. If any of you have information you think we should know, come to Carrie or me. All right, that’s it for now. Make your beds and get dressed for breakfast.”

  I am relieved. I am terrified. I did not know it was possible to feel both things at once.

  Everyone is whispering. I keep wondering if they know it was me.

  Can you go to jail for a prank?

  As we head for the mess hall, I realize that Brandi and Kelly won’t know what happened. Fortunately we have already planned to meet at Herbert right after breakfast. I am not looking forward to it.

  They were just helping me. What if we all get kicked out of camp for what we have done? It will be my fault.

  “Amber, are you all right?” Carrie asks. I did not realize that she was walking next to me.

  “Sure,” I say. “I’m just thinking.”

  She gives me a funny look but walks on.

  Breakfast is awful . . . . . . and I’m not talking about the food. Cleo is sitting at a table with Kelly. As Cleo whispers to her, Kelly’s eyes widen. She twirls around and stares at me, looking panicked.

  “At the tree,” I mouth.

  She nods. Then she goes over to Brandi and whispers to her.

  Justin comes over to where I’m sitting. “I just heard about Hannah. Is she okay?”

  I can’t answer him. I think I am going to cry.

  “Wow, I never thought you would get so choked up about something happening to Hannah,” he says.

  That only makes things worse.

  • • •

  The first thing Brandi says to me when we get to Herbert is “Did you get my recording?”

  She looks terrified.

  “Right here.” I hand it to her.

  She heaves a sigh of relief.

  “So what happened, anyway?” Kelly asks. “I mean, I know Hannah got hurt, but I want to know the whole story.”

  When I am done telling them, Kelly says, “I don’t think they’ll know it was us.”

  “Why not?” Brandi asks.

  “Remember Amber said Carrie thinks the slime was a stupid boy trick? If we’re lucky, they’ll think the whole thing was a prank cooked up by some of the boys. But since it wasn’t, they won’t be able to prove it. That way no one gets in trouble.”

  “So we’ll be in t
he clear.” Brandi sounds relieved.

  I nod. But somehow I don’t feel relieved. “I never wanted Hannah to get hurt.”

  “None of us did,” Brandi says. “But it’s not really our fault that she tripped.”

  I’m not sure that is true.

  • • •

  As the day goes on, I start to relax a little. I still feel terrible about what happened to Hannah, but the idea that we might not get caught is better than a milk shake on a hot summer day.

  Like a milk shake, it doesn’t last long. Especially because it actually is a hot day, and Hannah shows up at the lake during swimming. Her ankle has an ACE bandage on it and she is using crutches.

  Soon there is a small crowd around her. Hannah loves being the center of attention, so it’s almost like I’ve done her a favor. At least I try to tell myself that, but the idea is so dumb it embarrasses me.

  I feel like I should go over and tell her how sorry I am that she got hurt. But I worry that if I try, I will blush and give myself away.

  I tell myself Hannah wouldn’t want sympathy from me anyway, since she has never liked me. But then Cleo comes up from behind and grabs my arm. “Hannah is here!” she exclaims. “Let’s go see her.”

  When we reach the group surrounding Hannah, Cleo says, “It’s so brave of you to come to the lake after you were so afraid of the Cushie Monster.”

  Hannah looks up at her. “The Cushie Monster isn’t real!” she snaps. “I know that. I wasn’t afraid. I was just going to get Carrie.”

  I know that’s a big fat lie, but I can’t say it out loud.

  “I was just the victim of a stupid prank,” Hannah continues. “Carrie told me that whoever did it is going to get in big trouble.”

  She unwinds the bandage. “The nurse told me that swimming is good for my ankle,” she says. Then, sounding tragic, she adds, “It’s about the only thing I can do.”

  Treasure and Grace help her hobble into the lake.

  “Isn’t she brave,” Cleo murmurs.

  “Brave,” I agree, since I can’t think of anything else to say.

  “I’m gonna go swim too,” Cleo says. “See ya later.”

  I think I had better get over to where Pete is waiting to give me my Polliwog lesson. But before I can take a step, Brandi is beside me. Her eyes are wide and she is pale.