“Maybe it’s us. Belle. 5A.” Tori clasped her hands together and tilted her head back in the rain. “Oh please, oh please, oh please.”
“Maybe it’s not,” Gaby said.
Tori unclasped her hands.
They crept quietly back the way they had come, then pushed away pine branches and took a few steps backward, concealing themselves. By silent agreement, they turned off their flashlights.
Valerie hunkered down between Gaby and Tori, her view partially obscured by a thick tree trunk. Her heartbeat pounded in her forehead and neck. Her chest tightened; she was holding her breath and she couldn’t make herself exhale.
They waited shoulder to shoulder. With her free hand, Gaby took Valerie’s hand. Valerie had her flashlight in the other hand, or she would have passed the squeeze on to Tori, the way they were taught to do last year.
All three girls stood like statues. Valerie still couldn’t breathe. She was beginning to get dizzy. As the rain pelted her eyelids, she forced herself to stare into the darkness, alert, engaging all her senses in case she had to protect herself.
Lightning crackled overhead, and she jumped. Gaby gave her hand a tight squeeze. Thunder roared like a lion. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, the fog lifted.
“Oh,” Tori whispered.
It was a trio of deer. Beautiful and sleek, two does and a little fawn sauntered past, seemingly unaware of the girls. The three exhaled, Valerie hanging onto the trunk as she regained her composure.
“I don’t think those deer would be so calm if there were humans coming right behind them,” Valerie said after they had disappeared.
“They were calm around us, and we’re humans,” Gaby said.
“They didn’t know we were here,” Valerie shot back. “We weren’t moving around. Do you hear anything now? No one is crashing through the forest.”
“So you think it was the deer making all the noise?” Tori asked.
“I don’t hear anything, but I see a truck,” Gaby said.
“Maybe there’re two teenagers inside, making out or something,” Tori ventured.
“In a storm?” Valerie countered. “I can see it now. The two teens run out of gas. They’re kissing, not realizing that Cropsy is about to yank open the truck door and murder them both . . .”
“Don’t, okay?” Tori said. “I’m scared enough.”
Valerie was about to apologize when lightning flashed and the side mirror glinted. She took a step forward.
Tori said, “What are you doing?”
“The rain will hide us,” Valerie said. “If we sneak up on the truck now, at least we’ll be able to see if there’s anyone inside when the lightning flashes again. But if it stops raining . . .”
“Oh, no,” Tori moaned. “Let’s stay away from it.”
“Tori, we’re lost,” Valerie said. “Maybe it’s the truck of that guy who was chasing us. Maybe he’s waiting out the storm to scare us some more. Or maybe it is teenagers kissing. But what if it’s deserted, and someone left their keys in the ignition? If they left the keys, we can get out of here and go for help.”
“I don’t know how to drive,” Gaby said. She looked at Valerie. “Do you?”
“Sort of,” Valerie said. “I could fake it.”
“I totally do,” Tori announced. They looked at her. “Hey, L.A. girl here. A stunt guy taught me during a lull in Michael’s dad’s shoot.”
“Hollywood, I love you,” Gaby said.
“But there’s a problem, chicks,” Tori continued. “People don’t leave their keys in their cars. That’s just a movie thing.”
“Some people do, too, out here in the country,” Valerie insisted.
“She’s right,” Gaby said. “They do.”
“That’s incredible,” Tori said. “That would never happen in L.A. Okay, let’s watch it for a little longer and see if anyone gets out.”
“Why would they get out in the middle of a storm?” Gaby argued.
“Well, if there are bad guys in there, we can whap them over the head with our flashlights.” Valerie looked at the other two. “There are three of us, and we’re strong.”
“You’ve got that right,” Gaby said.
“I take Pilates,” Tori announced. She flexed her bicep. “Check it out.”
“We should keep our flashlights turned off,” Valerie reminded them. “We’ll have to move with the flashes of lightning and the moonlight.”
“Oh, I can’t believe this is happening,” Tori moaned.
“Well, it is,” Valerie said. “We’ll take over the truck and drive to safety and report what’s going on to the State Troopers.”
“The police?” Tori said faintly.
“Yes, the police,” Gaby said firmly. “People are missing, and someone was chasing us. This is serious.”
There was a beat, as if Valerie was giving each girl time to change her mind. Then there was another flash of lightning, and Valerie shifted her weight. She didn’t want to do it alone, but she was beginning to think she might have to.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Tori said.
“Tori, listen, we should stick together,” Gaby said. “That’s how we got messed up in the first place, by everybody going off in different directions. You’re the one who knows how to drive. We need you.”
“We’ll put you in the middle for protection, and then we’ll just sneak right up there,” Valerie said.
“I’m never going camping again,” Tori muttered. “From now on, it’s hotels.”
“So you’ll do it,” Valerie said.
“I’ll do it,” Tori agreed.
“Group hug,” Gaby insisted.
“Gotta love the bonding,” Valerie quipped, and they all laughed.
Bending down, they moved as stealthily and silently as they could, even though the rain was falling noisily and the rolls of thunder were deafening. Valerie listened hard for voices, music from a radio—anything to warn them that the truck was occupied. But she could hear nothing.
Then, just as abruptly as it had started, it stopped raining. There was one more rumble of thunder, and the storm was over.
Yikes, bad timing, Valerie thought, wincing as her shoes crunched on gravel. Beside her, Gaby put her finger to her lips. She pointed to her own feet, and Valerie saw that she was tiptoeing. Valerie did the same.
They reached the back of the truck, squatting so they couldn’t be detected in the mirrors, and paused. Valerie couldn’t imagine actually hitting anyone with a flashlight, but she carried it in her right hand, preparing herself just in case.
Tori, on the left, gestured that she would go along the truck toward the driver’s side. Valerie nodded, and indicated that Gaby should sneak over to the passenger’s door on the right. She decided that she should go with Tori, because it was more likely that there was a driver than just a passenger inside.
Two flashlights over the head are better than one, she thought grimly.
She mouthed a count, and on three the girls bent way over and scooted from the back of the truck to the doors.
What if they’re locked and someone is inside? Valerie wondered, but it was too late to do anything about that now.
Tori depressed the opening mechanism on her door handle. It clicked.
She blinked at Valerie. Then she yanked it and pulled it open and the two looked in, flashlights raised over their heads.
Deserted!
Gaby’s door opened, too, and she climbed in and drew the door shut very quietly. Then she locked it.
“Look, there’s no key,” she said, leaning across the seat to touch the ignition.
“Oh, no,” Tori murmured.
“Move, please,” Valerie told Tori. She dropped to her knees—the gravel stung—and felt underneath the side for one of those magnetic key holders, like her father had put on his Camry just in case.
Her hands brushed a plastic rectangle. Applying a little bit of effort, she pulled it off and slid back the lid. Sure enough, there was a key inside.
&nb
sp; She held it up. “Ta-da!”
“You’re the best!” Tori whispered, throwing her arms around Valerie.
Valerie climbed into the cab and scooted into the middle. Tori got in next and shut and locked the door, all in one terrified motion. Then she jammed the key into the ignition, pressed her foot on the gas, and turned it on. It roared to life.
“Here we go,” she whispered. She shifted. The truck began to roll.
“Yesss,” Gaby whispered.
Tori didn’t turn on the headlights. Smart move, Valerie thought as she kept watch in the rearview mirror for someone to tear out of the woods and race after them.
After they had driven in the dark for about three minutes, Valerie let out a strangled, hoarse whoop. Tori and Gaby did, too.
“We did it! We rock!” Gaby rasped.
“We are so amazing!” Tori agreed.
They high-fived one another, laughing and squeaking.
“Should I turn on the lights now?” Tori asked them.
“Yes,” Valerie said. “Unless they can run really fast, they won’t be able to stop us from leaving. Now, let’s go get some help for Bunk 5A!”
They laughed and cheered some more.
chapter FOURTEEN
As the rain stopped, Monsterthe dog kept whining and growling at shadows.
“Easy, Monster. Down, boy,”Dan urged him.
But the hair along Monster’back rose, his body tensing as he stared at something Nat couldn’t see. The noises he made sounded very threatening.
“I don’t like this. What’s he growling at?” Belle asked Dan. She was walking beside him. Nat and Jenna were behind them, followed by Clarissa.
“He’s a hunting dog. He probably hears some birds,” Dan said. “Monster, here ”
“Is it possible he’s senChelsea or some of the other girls?” Belle asked She cupped her mouth with her hands. “Chelsea! Camp Lakeview! Can you hear me?”
There was no ans
“I think we’re alback to the campsite,” Clarissa told Nat and Jenna with a hopeful smile. “We’ll gather everybody and get to that market for some hot chocolate and something to ea
“Okay,” Nat said gratefully. She could hardl wait.
“What about our stuff?” Jenna asked.
“I don’t care about our stuff. I’ll buy you new stuff,” Nat told her. “I just want to get out of here and I never want to go camping again!”
“I’m really sorry,” Dan muttered. “Things just totally got out of hand.”
“You’ve got that right,” Belle snapped. “Chelsea!” she shouted. “5A!”
“I hope everybody else is still at the campsite,” Jenna told Nat. “Chelsea, too. Once we find her, I’m going to give her all my candy and my cupcakes.”
“I won’t lose my temper around her ever again. And Gaby, too. I’ll make sure this is the best summer they ever had.”
“I’m so happy to hear that, girls,” Clarissa said. “I’m sure Chelsea and Gaby will be, too.”
Nat blushed. She didn’t mean for Clarissa to overhear them. But as she thought about it, she decided she was glad that she had. It would help Nat to remember her resolution.
“Thanks,” Jenna said. She nodded and held up her right hand. “New leaf. That’s a promise.”
They kept slogging through the mud until, at last, Nat recognized their surroundings—the big bush and the granite boulder.
“We’re back!” she cried. She and Jenna hugged and did a little dance as the group hustled to the campsite.
But there were no campers. Not one. There was no one in the tents.
“Oh, no,” Belle moaned. She ran her hands through her hair as she climbed on the edge of the fire ring and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Camp Lakeview!” she bellowed, turning right, left, straight ahead. “Camp Lakeview!”
“Oh my God,” Clarissa said, as she picked up a flashlight that someone had dropped. “Where could they be?”
“Tell me again what you two were planning,” Belle ordered Dan. “Walk me through the whole thing.”
“Okay. We listened to you from up there.” He shone his flashlight on the road above them, where Bob had parked the bus. “Then we left to go get the chain saw and the hockey mask. After Monster took off, I left. But the plan had been for us to hide behind that rock”—he pointed—“and we were going to make a bunch of noise.”
“Okay, I’m with you so far,” Belle said.
“Then I was going to yell, ‘Where is my arm?’ Jer was going to jump out with the hockey mask and the chain saw. He’s got a broken arm, so we figured he’d look the most like Cropsy.”
“Well, they’d figure it out fast enough, wouldn’t they?” Clarissa said. “That it was a prank?” She looked really scared. Nat could relate.
“It doesn’t look that way,” Belle snapped. She tried her cell again, and when it obviously didn’t work, Nat thought she was going to throw it on the ground and stomp on it, she looked so angry.
Then Dan got a funny look on his face. “We were working on our boats. They’re just down at the lake.”
“Show us,” Belle said. She looked at Clarissa, Nat, and Jenna. “Everyone, stick together. No wandering off.”
Flashlights on, they walked past the tents. They continued on, reaching an embankment. Dan was in the lead.
Dan swept his flashlight over the shore as Belle, Nat, Jenna, and Clarissa reached the top of the slope. All Nat saw was the shoreline.
“Where are the boats?” Belle asked, standing beside him.
Dan cleared his throat. “They’re gone.” He aimed his flashlight at a section of ground just below them. “We left them right there.”
Nat and Jenna traded frightened looks.
“Is it possible they got unmoored in the storm?” Clarissa asked.
“They were beached.” Dan looked at Belle. “If they took them . . .”
She spoke over him. “Why would they take your boats? Where would they go?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe Jer scared them so badly they took off in our boats.”
“In the dark?” Belle asked. She gestured for everyone to start down the embankment. Nat and Jenna hopped to. So did Dan and Clarissa. Monster bounded ahead, barking.
“If the girls took your boats, then where’s Jeremiah?” Clarissa asked.
“Maybe he went to get help.” He looked over at Belle, and Nat couldn’t read his expression in the darkness. “There was a hole in my boat,” he confessed.
Oh, no, Natalie thought. Suddenly the happy ending that had been so closely within reach was falling apart.
Belle stopped walking. She faced him squarely and shone her flashlight in his face. “A hole . . . like a hole that would make it sink?”
Dan gazed hard at the water, as if studying it inch by inch. “Maybe. It would depend on how many people were in it. If it was Jer using my boat, going after the girls in his boat, that would probably be okay. There wouldn’t be much weight in it.”
But not the other way around, Nat translated. If he has the good boat all to himself, and they’re in the broken one . . .
“Oh my God,” Clarissa wailed.
“Clarissa, focus,” Belle said sharply. “We need to stay calm. We need to think about what to do.”
Clarissa swallowed and nodded. “Sorry.”
“Were there any life jackets in the boats?” Belle asked.
He sighed. “Yes. Two in mine and one in his.” He sucked in his breath. “But we didn’t bring my oars. Just his.”
“Maybe someone else took the boats,” Jenna suggested. Her voice shook. “Do lots of kids come up here to fish?”
“Not really,” Dan said, hedging.
He’s hiding something, Nat thought.
“Why not?” Belle asked. “A big lake like this would have lots of fish.”
He swallowed hard. “Usually. It’s been quiet lately. But boating’s not permitted.”
“Because . . . ?” Belle asked.
�
��Dead Man’s Falls. They’re dangerous.” He pointed to the left. “They’re a couple of miles down that way. The pull here is real strong. A boat without oars would have a lot of trouble staying away from them.”
Belle’s face grew paler, if that were possible. She touched her fingertips to her forehead as if she were trying to steady herself. Nat saw that her hand was shaking. Then she lowered her arm to her side and turned to Clarissa.
“Try to call 911,” she said. “Now.”
Clarissa did as she asked, while Nat and Jenna walked to the water’s edge and hoarsely yelled the names of all their bunkmates at the top of their lungs. Nat didn’t care if she ruined her voice forever. She didn’t care about anything except finding her friends alive and safe.
“Chelsea!”
“Gaby!”
“Brynn!”
It went on, a 5A roll call. Their voices echoed in ghostly ripples over the fog-laden surface.
No answer. Freaking, Nat turned around to ask her counselor for instructions on what to do next.
Belle was standing very still with her head cocked, listening to the phone. Finally she took a deep breath, flicked it shut, and raised her chin. She looked at Dan.
“Is there any chance he loaded up the boats and took the girls to the market?”
“I guess,” he said, “but I doubt he’d bother doing that in the storm. He’d just turn the boats over and leave them on shore.”
Without another word, Belle jogged up and down the shoreline, scanning every inch with her flashlight. Nat, Jenna, and Clarissa joined in. Monster raced up and down.
Out of breath, Belle planted her hands on her knees and bent over. “We’re moving to Plan B,” she informed them.
Plan B was to get to Dan’s truck and go for help. Nat’s head was spinning. The idea that her friends might have drowned . . . she couldn’t go there. Jenna started crying. So did Nat.
“It’s going to be okay,” Clarissa said.
Nat wanted to lash out at her, because it might not be okay. Stuff like this really happened. People really did go out on dangerous lakes in leaky boats. Then other people told campfire stories about the Missing Bunk of Camp Lakeview.
They half walked, half ran through very dark, dense woods. They kept yelling for everyone. Monster barked insistently.
Hide and Shriek #14 Page 15