I ran a little bit farther, this time with Madison at my side, to a cluster of bushes that I like to use as my first hideout every year.
I dropped behind a bush and heard the familiar sound of growling and Frisbees being clapped together.
“Get down, Madison,” I whispered. “They’re coming.”
Madison crouched down next to me.
“What if we got a big group together and talked them into ganging up on the Goliaths? We could storm them in a line, all together at first, but then we’ll tell Team Pinkeye to retreat at the last minute.”
What was she doing? Strategizing?
“Except one person. We should keep at least one out front so that no one suspects that we’re setting them up.”
She was a devious one—that was for sure.
“It could work,” I said. “Let’s try it next round. We’ll fill everyone in during the break.”
Madison smirked. “Why wait till the break? I’ll go talk to them in heaven right now.”
And with that, she walked out from the bushes, put her Frisbee on her head, and disappeared.
I made it to Open Field, but when I emerged from the woods I spied most of Team Pinkeye in heaven, huddled over by Madison and hanging on her every word. Ruby had survived with me and we found ourselves standing across the center line from Bliss, who was doing some out-of-control winking.
“I think she’s planning to protect us so we make the final five,” Ruby said.
“Nah,” I waved her off with my Frisbee. “The Goliaths never protect anyone.”
“But Bliss is new. Maybe she doesn’t know that.”
And sure enough Ruby was right. As soon as Johan blew the airhorn, Bliss ran toward us, backed us into the corner of the field, pretended like she was going to throw the Frisbees, but never let them fly.
We zigged and she zigged. We zagged and she zagged. But not one of us threw a Frisbee.
Bliss winked again, then looked back over her shoulder at the other Goliaths who were taking down Davids left and right.
She finally threw one but way off course. I’m sure it was on purpose. And after just a few minutes into the battle Johan blew the airhorn again.
The only Davids left standing were me, Ruby, Hunter, Nathan, and some tiny, but quick girl named Destiny from the Cabin One Solar Flares.
Score for round one: Lightning Bolts, two million, Team Pinkeye, two million, and Solar Flares, one million.
Bliss ran up to us but didn’t high-five. Probably because she didn’t have her hand sanitizer. Instead, she just pointed an index finger in our direction.
“I’m all about points for Team Pinkeye. That’s my strategy.” Then she turned and ran back with her fellow Goliaths.
By the time Ruby and I got back over to the sidelines the Davids had unionized.
“We’re goin’ with Madison’s plan,” Kendall said. “When the airhorn blows, we’re all headin’ south. We’ll form a line back behind where the old scoreboard blew down, and when we hear the clapping Frisbees we’ll charge ’em. It’ll be epic! Madison and Boys’ Six will be out in front leading the way.”
Hunter jumped up and down with excitement. “Goliaths are going down!”
Madison wants to lead the way? And sacrifice herself?
“Okay, Campers! This is the last round since lunch is almost ready. Let’s get started!” Johan led us all out to the field and then blew that airhorn long and loud.
All us Davids charged south.
I heard Johan laugh in the bullhorn. “Looks like they’re making it easy!” Then he counted to sixty in the speaker—which he never does. And the Goliath Frisbee clapping began.
In the meantime, the Camp 99 Pines middle-school campers formed something even better than a line. It was more like a flying V—like how geese fly. We huddled together, all hundred or so of us—until we heard the stomping and the screaming of wild, weird counselors who enjoy bruising kids with Frisbees.
“Three, two, one . . . charge!” Hunter yelled.
And we charged.
The three kids out front were Hunter, Parker, and Madison. The Madison thing still puzzled me, but whatever. And she was the first one hit—with a hard bonk to the forehead! I could have been mistaken, but it looked like she ducked so the Frisbee would hit her there. She then called, “Head shot!” and retreated to the back, where Team Pinkeye was dropping back to meet her.
The war was brutal but swift, and it was gratifying to see Goliaths with their red Frisbees on their heads, marching to heaven. I’d never seen an assault like this launched ever in my summer camp experience. Of course, a lot of Davids went down to defeat too, but Madison was right—there were more of us than there were of them, so in a matter of five minutes, all the Goliaths were in heaven.
And every single member of Team Pinkeye was still alive.
Score: eighteen million points for Team Pinkeye.
And no one suspected a thing.
Madison ran over and gave me a high-five.
“I told you we could do it, Allie.”
I smiled. “I’ve never seen anything like it, Madison.”
Madison pointed to her forehead. “Is my goose egg hideous?”
I gently poked the enlarging bump. That thing would be black before the end of lunch.
“It’s ghastly,” I said. “You’re gonna want some ice on that. Let’s go see Nurse Tammi.”
Madison put her hand out. “Okay, but first I need to go change out of these filthy clothes. I mean, really, why does this place have to be so dirty? I prefer clean wars.”
I shook my head, and the bell rang for lunch.
CHAPTER 14
Clues from the Past
Madi, the hero!” Bliss jumped up from the edge of her bunk, where she was sitting reading the camp schedule. “Way to use your brain to rack us up some big points, and . . . wow—that’s a huge bump!”
Bliss came over to Madison and looked at the goose egg more carefully.
“She used her brain and her head,” I said.
“Hang on a minute.” Bliss walked over to her suitcase, lifted the unzipped cover, and pulled a little flashlight out of the netted pouch. She came back and flicked a light in Madison’s left eye, and then the right eye.
“Hmmm. Your pupils are working.” Bliss smiled. “I’ve always wanted to do that. How many fingers am I holding up?”
Bliss held up three fingers.
“I don’t know,” Madison said. “You blinded me with your flashlight.” She reached up and grabbed Bliss’s hand. “I feel three fingers. Am I right?”
Has Madison always been this funny, or is it her head injury talking?
I laughed. And then I laughed harder when Bliss ran right over to use hand sanitizer.
“Well, you seem okay,” Bliss said, “but you better check in with Nurse Tammi. We’ve got BBs and archery this afternoon so I don’t want to take any chances that you’ll start shootin’ the wrong thing.”
“We’ll go see the nurse after we change,” I said. “And then we’ll head to lunch.”
I dug into my suitcase for a change of clothes.
“Hey, Madison, do you need a pair of socks? I brought about eighty pairs.”
Madison looked over at me and smiled. “Sure, do you have any in purple?”
I looked through the mass of gray, black, teal, orange, red, tan, green, and yes—pink camo socks. One pair of gray had purple stripes. I held the pair up.
“Are these good?”
Madison came over and snatched them out of my hand. “They’re perfect.” Then she stared down into my suitcase. “You’re not kidding about bringing a lot of socks.” She reached in and stirred them around with her hand, which uncovered the plastic bag that Mamaw had given me with the scrapbook in it.
I put my hand on my forehead. “Oh, man! I need to get this to Miss Lindsey!”
Bliss popped her head over our way. “Whatcha got there?”
I pulled out the bag and took out the scrapbook. “These
are some pictures of the camp from when my Mamaw came here. Miss Lindsey’s collecting them for the 50th year anniversary gala.”
“Oooh, can I see?” Bliss reached for the scrapbook, and I placed it in her hands. “Do you know what years these pictures were taken?” She opened the book, and the yellowed plastic pages crackled as she carefully turned them.
“From the looks of them, I would guess a long time ago. Mamaw said she was here as a camper the first year the camp opened. I think she was in high school at the time.”
“This is amazing,” Bliss said. “I love history.”
She sat down on my bed (but didn’t touch my pillow), and flipped through the pages.
“Looks like the sign at the front entrance hasn’t changed.”
Madison sat down next to Bliss and leaned in. “Yep, the cabins look the same too. Just as I suspected. No upgrades for fifty years.”
Bliss looked up from a picture of a bunch of girls standing in front of a cabin. “Is one of these girls your Mamaw?”
I took a seat on the other side of Bliss and squinted to make out the faces in the black and white photo. It wasn’t hard to pick her out, with her dark hair, fair skin, and charming smile.
I pointed. “That’s her. Mamaw Kat.”
Bliss picked up the book and pulled it closer to her face.
“Your Mamaw’s name is Kat? Like in Katherine?”
“Yeah, but no one calls her that anymore.”
Bliss dropped the book in her lap. “This is unbelievable! There’s my Great Aunt Betsy!” She pointed to a girl standing next to Mamaw Kat. I peered in close—the girl was the spitting image of Bliss.
Madison gasped. “And look what it says right here!” She pointed to some scribbled handwriting in the bottom border of the picture.
High School Girls, Cabin 6
Bliss picked up the book and scrutinized the writing. “That has to be a five that just looks like a six. The girls’ village has never had a Cabin Six. Aunt Betsy never mentioned that she was in Cabin Six.”
“Sounds like a big cover up if you ask me,” Madison said.
“Madison, it’s a Christian camp. Why would anyone want to cover anything up? That would be deceiving. What would be the goal?”
Madison shrugged. “I don’t know, but I just deceived a whole Christian camp for a few million points.”
Bliss shook her head. “There has to be a good explanation for this.” Then she looked up at me. “Allie, can we keep this scrapbook here until dinner? I want to look at it during afternoon free time.”
I shrugged. “Sure. Mamaw just asked me to give it to Lindsey. She didn’t say when.”
Bliss smiled. “Great. Wow, girls! It looks like we’ve stumbled onto the mystery of a missing cabin!”
Madison crossed her arms. “I know. And last night, I told Allie I’d find it.”
“Want some help?” Bliss wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “Counselors have access to a few more resources . . .”
Now they had me totally sucked in.
“Yes! Let’s do it.”
“Oh, and you know what else we should do?” Madison had her sneaky, goose egg, game face on.
“What?” Bliss’s eyes got wide.
“Let’s take the dinger out of the bell!”
Madison sat on the cot in Nurse Tammi’s office with an icepack on her forehead.
“There’s a kid with hives I have to go track down,” Nurse Tammi said. “You’re looking good, sweetie. You’re free to go if you want. Keep the icepack.”
She walked out the screen door toward the mess hall.
“Madison—I can’t believe you told Bliss about the dinger.”
Madison lowered her icepack. “Why? She’s just like us—I can see the rascal in her. And I know she wants us to win cabin champs.”
“But counselors aren’t usually involved in big plans like that, since it involves sneaking around at night.”
Madison leaned forward. “Do you think I’m gonna be wandering around at night knowing Zola Simms is out there, without an adult by my side? NO. This is much safer.”
“Madison, the Zola Simms story isn’t true.”
Madison stood up and brushed herself off. “And until today you didn’t think that Cabin Six ever existed either. So maybe it did burn down, and maybe Zola is waiting to snatch the last camper. What do you think of that?”
I shook my head. “I still say that there’s a reasonable explanation for the disappearance of that cabin.”
“And we’re also going to be reasonable by involving our counselor in the disappearance of the bell dinger. Hey—let’s do it tonight! Early in the week—Johan won’t be expecting it. I bet he’s still reeling from losing at David and Goliath.”
Who is this girl? It’s like she went from being a whiny, scaredycat to being camp director.
I sighed. “I think you’ve sprained your brain. Let’s go have lunch.”
We had barely stepped out of the nurse’s hut, when we were met by two groups of people coming from separate directions.
One group was made up of three grownups. Two older men, both wearing dark suits, and a blonde woman wearing a butter-colored suit, who I knew. Her name was Ellen and she worked for Best Bayou Realty. She was the agent who sold our house to the Doonsberrys back in November.
“Allie Carroway! It’s so great to see you!” Ellen came over to shake my hand. “I hear your new house is almost ready. I’m so happy for you!”
I tried to put on a smile. “Thank you, ma’am.”
One of the guys—the older, pudgy one with the receding hairline and little round glasses—scowled. “Ellen, come along. We’re not to bother the campers.”
Ellen looked over at him and put on a serious face. “Of course, Mr. Gables. I’m very sorry.”
Ellen grinned at me and waved a little but then scooted back over with the serious gentlemen.
Mr. Gables? Could that be Patterson Gables?
The trio turned away from me and as they did the other group, made up of boys from Cabin Six, came flying from the other direction.
“Blaze killed a snake!” Hunter yelled. “We gotta find Hawk!”
Hawk is the camp dean. He’s in charge of serious things. Like snake sightings and kills, and well . . . snake sightings and kills. That’s all I’ve ever seen Hawk really taking care of. Hawk’s speech to campers the first night is always the same:
Stay away from snakes. Do NOT try to kill them. Report all sightings to me, and DO NOT swim in the lake or in any water on camp grounds except the pool.
And the tradition is, whenever a counselor kills a snake, they have to skin it and mount it on the wall in the counselor’s resource room. I’ve been in there a few times with my dad and it’s quite a slithery collection.
Nathan was in the group of boys who came running, looking for Hawk. So was Parker.
“What kind of snake was it?” I asked.
Hunter huffed and puffed. “Blaze thinks it’s a coral snake.”
“Is that poisonous?” Nathan asked. When he did his dimples sank in on both sides of his cheeks.
“Yes,” I answered. “But at least it wasn’t a copperhead. I hate copperheads.”
“Hey—there’s Hawk over there.” Parker pointed to the path that leads to Bluff Springs Lake, where campers can go boating during free time.
“Hawk!” Hunter yelled. “We got ourselves a dead snake over here!”
Hawk, who looks huge even from a distance, carried a hatchet and began a fast jog toward us.
Madison put her fingers up to her goose egg.
“Can we go, Allie? I don’t want to be present when the . . . dead reptile arrives.”
“Sure, let’s go see if there’s any lunch left.”
Madison and I scurried off, even though I kind of wanted to talk to Nathan about snakes . . . and pretty much anything else.
“Hey, Allie! Come sit with us!” Kendall yelled from her table, where only she and Lola remained from Cabin Five. Ruby was sitt
ing with them too.
I stood there, between Madison and my cousins, trying to figure out what to do.
“Allie,” Madison said, “go sit with them. I’ll be fine over here with Shelby and Brooke.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. You’ve been looking out for me all morning. And except for the concussion, I’m fine . . . fine . . . fine . . . fine . . .”
As she said that, she jerked her head back and forth, like she was a robot, stuck in a program.
I cracked up.
Madison then took her hand and slapped her cheek, which stopped the “fines.”
Then she laughed. “I’ll see you later, at archery.”
Who is this girl? She’s acting normal. And she’s funny.
And yet, I still couldn’t trust that she had entirely good motives for sending me over to the cousins. Too much stuff from the past. Building trust takes time.
I picked up my pace and placed my tray down in between Lola and Kendall.
“How’s the princess cabin?” Kendall asked. “That was quite a victory at David and Goliath. I think y’all set us up.”
I smiled. “I’ll never tell.”
Lola wiped some spaghetti sauce from her mouth with a napkin.
“Allie, have you seen that grumpy old guy walking around with those other two people? Everyone says that’s Patterson Gables. I can’t believe he would have the nerve to come around when campers are here. Doesn’t he care that our hearts are breaking?”
“I think that other guy with him is the buyer,” Kendall said. “At least that’s what Parker said.”
“And that lady in the butter-colored suit is the realtor who sold our house,” I added. “So yes, Parker’s probably right.”
Ruby twisted her fork around in her noodles. “What are we gonna do, Allie?”
I shrugged. “I’m fresh out of ideas.” I glanced over at the Cabin Four table, where Madison was showing off her goose egg to Shelby and Brooke. “But you know what, I bet Madison would have some suggestions if we asked her.”
“Madison?”
‘Yeah. I mean she has a devious streak to her. She already outsmarted all of you and the counselors at David and Goliath, and now she’s making plans to take the dinger out of the bell . . .”
Finding Cabin Six Page 7