Get Lost!

by Nancy Krulik

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  For my swimming buddies,

  Marie and Cathy—N.K.

  Text copyright © 2003 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright ©

  2003 by John and Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset

  & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young

  Readers, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY, 10014. GROSSET &

  DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Putnam Inc. Published simultaneously

  in Canada. S.A.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Krulik, Nancy E.

  Get lost! / by Nancy Krulik ; illustrated by John & Wendy. p. cm.—(Katie Kazoo, switcheroo ; 6)

  Summary: Katie Carew’s third grade class spends three days at

  Science Camp, where Katie magically changes places with the

  strict Head Counselor while on a hike and gets her group hopelessly

  lost. Includes directions for making all natural soap.

  [1. Camps Fiction. 2. Camp counselors—Fiction. 3. Magic—

  Fiction. 4. Lost children Fiction.] I. John, ill. 11. Wendy, ill.

  III. Title. IV. Series: Krulik, Nancy E. Katie Kazoo, switcheroo ; 6.

  PZ7.K944Ge 2003 [Fic] dc21

  2002015624

  eISBN : 978-1-101-14200-4

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  Chapter 1

  Katie Carew bent down and kissed her cocker spaniel on the nose. “Don’t be afraid, Pepper,” she told him. “I’m not going away forever. It’s just three days.”

  Pepper sniffed at Katie’s mouth. Then he licked her—right on the lips.

  Katie let out a big yawn. It was 7:30 Monday morning. Usually, that was the time Katie got out of bed. But not today. Today Katie had already eaten breakfast. She was already dressed. And she was already at school!

  Katie yawned again. She was so tired. She hadn’t slept at all the night before. She’d been too nervous. She was about to go away to Science Camp—for three days and two nights!

  Just then, a big yellow school bus pulled into the parking lot.

  “Yahoo! The bus is here!” Manny Gonzalez shouted excitedly. “Science Camp, here we come!”

  Katie’s class had been talking about Science Camp since the first day of school. The third grade made the trip every year.

  Some kids were really excited to go. Katie was more nervous. She had never been away from her family for that long before.

  “Hey Katie, are you psyched or what?” Katie’s best friend Jeremy Fox called out, as he and his mother walked onto the school playground.

  “Or what,” Katie answered nervously.

  “Come on. Camp is great! I spent two weeks at sleepaway camp last summer. It was the best time of my whole life.”

  Jeremy was wearing hiking boots and carrying a water canteen. He’d packed his clothes in a waterproof camp duffel bag. His sleeping bag was made of camouflage material.

  Katie was wearing her everyday sneakers. Her mother had packed her clothes in the beat-up suitcase she used when she visited her grandma. Suddenly, Katie’s Cuddle Bears sleeping bag seemed kind of babyish.

  Katie’s mom gave her a big squeeze. “You’re going to have a great time. It’s only two nights. Think of it as a long sleepover.” Mrs. Carew pointed toward the edge of the playground. “Oh, look—here comes Suzanne!”

  Suzanne Lock was Katie’s other best friend. Katie figured she must have been planning for a really long sleepover. After all, she was wheeling a huge hot pink suitcase and carrying a small overnight bag. Her father was carrying the matching duffel bag.

  Quickly, Katie hurried over to help Suzanne with her bags.

  “Why do you have so much stuff?” Katie asked as she took the overnight bag from her friend. It was very heavy.

  “A girl’s got to be prepared for anything, Katie.” Suzanne smiled as she unloaded the rest of her luggage beside Katie’s. “If it’s cold at night, I’ll need a jacket. If it’s warm during the day, I’ll need shorts. And I don’t want to wear the same outfit at night that I wore all day, so ...”

  “We’re going camping!” Jeremy shouted. “You’re supposed to rough it!”

  “I am! I didn’t bring my blow-dryer.”

  Katie giggled. She was scared to go to Science Camp, but she was glad her two best friends would be there with her. She loved them both—even if they didn’t always like each other.

  “Hey, Katie, have you seen George?” Kevin Camilleri asked as he came running over. “Manny and I have to talk to him.”

  “I don’t think he’s here yet,” Katie told him. “What’s so important?”

  “It’s a secret,” Kevin said. “We aren’t telling anyone but George.”

  Just then, Mrs. Derkman stepped onto the playground. Katie could hardly believe that this was her teacher. Usually, Mrs. Derkman wore dresses and high heels. Her hair was always perfect, and she smelled like sweet perfume.

  But today, Mrs. Derkman was a mess! She was wearing sweatpants and sneakers. Her hair was covered by a huge, floppy hat. Worst of all, she smelled like bug spray.

  “Whoa! Check out Mrs. Derkman!” Kevin shouted. “She looks like a regular person.”

  A tall man with a beard and moustache walked over to Mrs. Derkman. “Here are your bags, honey,” he said. “Your suitcase is so heavy. What do you have in there?”

  “Bug spray, bug candles, and bug cream,” Mrs. Derkman answered. “Those creatures aren’t getting anywhere near me this year!”

  “Did you hear him?” Kevin whispered to Katie. “He called Mrs. Derkman honey.”

  “That must be Mr. Derkman,” Katie’s mom said to Mrs. Fox. “He seems very nice.”

  Katie gasped. Mrs. Derkman’s husband?

  “We’d better go now,” Mrs. Derkman said, nervously looking at her watch.

  Mr. Derkman smiled. “See you in three days,” he said. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

  Mrs. Derkman’s eyes bulged. “Don’t say that!” she squawked. Then she kissed her husband on the cheek.

  The kids stared at their teacher in amazement.

  “Okay, class, let’s get on the bus!” Mrs. Derkman ordered her class. “We have no time to waste.”

  Katie sighed. Mrs. Derkman still sounded like herself.

  “Well, this is it, sweetie,” said Katie’s mom. “Better get on line.”

  “You’ll stay until the bus leaves?” Katie asked nervously.

  Her mom nodded. “Of course, honey.”

  Katie gave Pepper one last pat, and then headed toward the bus. But before she could get on board, Manny started to yell.

  “Mrs. Derkman, we can’t leave!” He shouted out. “George isn’t here yet!”

  The kids all looked around. Where could George Brennan be?

  Chapter 2

  “Please, Mrs. Derkman, we have to wait!” Manny begged as the class began to board the bus. “Camp won’t be fun without George!”

  “We still have a few minutes before all the luggage is loaded onto the bus,” Mrs. Derkman assured him. “I’m sure George will be here by then.”

  Katie found a seat near the window in the middle of the bus. Suzanne hopped into the seat beside her.

  “Do you think George is coming?” Katie asked Suzanne as the girls buckled their seat belts.

 
“I won’t miss him if he doesn’t. George is always telling dumb jokes,” Suzanne said.

  Katie frowned. Sometimes Suzanne could be pretty mean. Katie liked George’s jokes. They were really funny. She liked George, too. He was the one who had given Katie her extremely cool nickname—Katie Kazoo.

  “I hope we don’t have to wait around all day for him,” Jeremy said, as he took the seat across the aisle from Katie and Suzanne. “I want to get to camp!”

  “There he is!” Kevin’s voice rang out from the back of the bus. “Hurry up, George!” he shouted through the open window.

  But George wasn’t hurrying. In fact, it looked as though his dad was dragging him across the playground to the bus. George had a very angry scowl on his face.

  Mr. Brennan marched George straight up to the yellow bus. “Have a good time, son,” Mr. Brennan said.

  “Fat chance,” George barked back.

  Mr. Brennan sighed. “It’s just a few days at Science Camp, George. It’s not like you’re joining the army.”

  George didn’t answer. He walked to the back of the bus and plopped down in the seat across from Manny and Kevin.

  Kevin smiled at his pal. “Am I glad to see you. You wouldn’t believe the amazing things I snuck into my suitcase.” Kevin leaned over to whisper in George’s ear. “I packed all kinds of practical joke stuff—plastic bugs, pepper gum, and a whoopee cushion.”

  Usually, George was really into things like whoopee cushions. But not today. He just sat there, staring out the window with his hands crossed over his chest. “Big deal,” he muttered.

  Kevin looked surprised. “Come on. We’re going to have so much fun!”

  George shook his head. “No we’re not. This whole Science Camp thing is dumb.”

  Jeremy looked back at him. “You’re nuts, George. Camp’s the best. ”I should know. I went to camp last summer.”

  Suzanne sighed. “You’ve only told us that about a million times.”

  “Well, I don’t think camp’s cool,” George argued. “Who wants to go to camp when you can sleep in your own bed and have cable TV?”

  As the bus drove away, Katie looked out the window and watched her mother become smaller and smaller. Soon, Katie couldn’t see her mom at all. A really lonely feeling came over her.

  Katie wasn’t the only one feeling sad. Katie could see a tear falling down the side of Suzanne’s face.

  “Hey, you want to share a bunk bed?” Katie asked, trying to cheer her pal.

  Suzanne smiled ... a little. “Can I have the top?”

  “Sure.”

  Jeremy turned to Katie and Suzanne. “You guys want to hear a camp cheer?” he asked.

  “Why not?” Suzanne said.

  Jeremy smiled broadly as he began to cheer. “Brrr. It’s cold in here. There must be 3A in the atmosphere. All hands clap. All feet stamp. We’re the coolest kids at Science Camp!”

  Soon the kids in class 3A were shouting Jeremy’s cheer. Mandy Banks and Miriam Chan were even doing a hand-clapping game to the rhythm. Everyone was having fun.

  Everyone except George. He looked miserable.

  Katie joined in. She felt a little bit better. As Katie looked over at Jeremy’s smiling face, she hoped that she would be as happy at camp as he’d been.

  But Katie couldn’t help feeling that something awful was going to happen at Science Camp.

  Chapter 3

  As the bus turned a corner, the kids caught a glimpse of the camp sign. Suddenly, everyone seemed to be talking at once.

  Everyone but George, that is. He sat there like a lump.

  “We’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here ... ” Jeremy began singing another one of his camp songs.

  “Ooh, are those the cabins?” Mandy asked, pointing to the tiny little wooden huts that dotted the campgrounds.

  “Did you see that lake?” Zoe added. “It’s so blue.”

  “I wonder where the nature shack is,” Manny said. “Mrs. Derkman told me they have goats and sheep there.”

  “Do you think they have full-length mirrors in the cabins?” Suzanne asked.

  Before Katie could answer, the bus rolled to a stop. Immediately, the kids unbuckled their belts and bolted for the door.

  One by one the children filed off the bus. Katie looked around. Science Camp was really pretty. The trees were blossoming. She could hear birds singing in the distance. And there was a clean smell to the breeze that circled gently around her head.

  The breeze!

  Suddenly Katie had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Quickly she looked at her classmates. Their hair was blowing in the wind, too.

  She stared at the trees. The leaves and blossoms were moving. Phew. It was just a normal, everyday breeze. For a moment there, Katie had been afraid that the magic wind had followed her all the way to Science Camp.

  The magic wind was a tornado-like wind that twisted and turned—but only around Katie. It was really scary. But the scariest part happened after the wind stopped blowing. That’s when Katie turned into someone else!

  It all started one really awful day. Katie had ruined her favorite jeans and burped in front of the whole class. That had been so embarrassing. Katie had wished that she could be anyone but herself.

  There must have been a shooting star flying overhead or something when she made that wish, because the very next day, the magic wind blew, turning Katie into Speedy, the class hamster! Katie had spent a whole morning gnawing on wooden chew sticks and running on a hamster wheel.

  Luckily, Katie had changed back into herself before anyone stepped on her!

  Katie never knew who the magic wind might turn her into next. Already it had switcherooed her into the school lunch lady, Lucille, and the principal, Mr. Kane. And once the magic wind turned Katie into Jeremy. What a mess that had been!

  Katie never knew when the magic wind was coming. She just hoped that the wind wouldn’t be able to find her at Science Camp. It was going to be hard enough being away from home. She didn’t want to have to be away from her body, too.

  Chapter 4

  Manny, George, and Kevin were all huddled together on the grass behind the bus. Manny and Kevin were whispering to each other and giggling. George just looked bored.

  Finally, Manny walked up to Mrs. Derkman and stared at her arm. At first, he didn’t say anything. Then he asked her, “Mrs. Derkman, what’s black and green, has six legs, a furry body, and two antennae?”

  Mrs. Derkman shrugged. “I don’t know, Manny.”

  “I don’t know either, but it’s crawling up your arm!” Manny told her.

  “Aaaahhhhhh!” Mrs. Derkman screamed so loud, Katie was sure they could hear her back at Cherrydale Elementary School. The teacher jumped up and down, slapping her arm. “Get it off me! Get it off me right now!”

  Suddenly, a woman with a deep, booming voice came up behind Mrs. Derkman. “What is going on here?” she demanded.

  Katie gasped. The woman was very tall. Her muscles were bulging out of her green army uniform. She looked like she never smiled ... ever. She seemed scarier than any bug.

  “Th-th-there’s a hairy bug on my arm,” Mrs. Derkman stammered.

  “Oh, give me a break,” the woman in the army uniform barked. “Bugs are part of life out here. Get used to it, soldier.”

  Soldier?

  Mrs. Derkman looked at her curiously. “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “Um ... I mean, there’s nothing on your arm,” the woman said.

  Mrs. Derkman glanced at her bugless arm and sighed. “George Brennan, come here!”

  George moped his way over toward the teacher. “I didn’t do anything,” he insisted.

  “Maybe not. But I have a feeling that was your idea of a joke,” Mrs. Derkman said.

  “It wasn’t. Honest,” George insisted.

  “I wouldn’t worry about any more jokes.” The woman in the uniform assured Mrs. Derkman. “I’m Genie Manzini, the head counse
lor. I don’t allow for any joking at Science Camp.” Genie glared at George.

  “Maybe we should call her Genie the Meanie,” Suzanne whispered to Katie.

  Katie wanted to laugh, but she didn’t dare. Who knew what Genie the Meanie might do?

  “Okay troops ... I mean, boys and girls,” Genie corrected herself. “I want you to meet the staff. To begin with, I am the head counselor. Everyone here answers to me.”

  The children all turned around to see what Mrs. Derkman would say to that. Mrs. Derkman didn’t like answering to anyone.

  But Mrs. Derkman didn’t seem to have heard anything Genie had said. She was too busy spraying herself with bug spray. “Get off me, you miserable ant!” The teacher muttered as she sprayed her sneaker.

  Genie pointed to a small woman with short brown hair and a cheery smile. “This is Tess,” she said. “She runs our animal program.”

  “Hi everyone,” Tess greeted them. “I hope you will all visit the nature shack and help with the animals.”

  Katie grinned. Tess seemed nice. And maybe visiting the animals in the nature shack would keep her from missing Pepper so much.

  “And this is Carson, our nature arts instructor,” Genie said, pointing to a tall, thin man wearing sunglasses and a tie-dyed T-shirt.

  “You won’t believe all the things we can create with nature’s art supplies,” Carson told them. “We’re going to have fun here, right?”

  “Right!” the kids shouted back.

  Genie did not look pleased.

  Just then, a loud bell rang out over the campground. “Okay, that means chow time,” Genie told them. “You have exactly twenty-seven minutes for lunch. Now line up.”

  The kids formed a straight line.

  “March,” Genie ordered. “Hup, two, three, four. Hup, two, three ... ”

  As Katie marched toward the mess hall, she remembered what George’s father had said about Science Camp not being the army.