As he ran to catch up with the others, he spotted something caught under a rock. “Hey, guys, look what I found,” he said, holding it up.
“E-e-e-w!” Andrew made a gagging sound. “It’s a yucky old shoe.”
“Maybe it belongs to the hermit,” said DJ. “Maybe he’s looking for it.”
Chris sighed. “Bring it back to camp, DJ. We’ll put it in the garbage.”
Later, Chris showed the boys how to build a campfire. They roasted hotdogs for dinner and toasted marshmallows for dessert.
The night grew dark and still. The moon was as pale as milk. A breeze blew across the lake. The trees swayed as if they were dancing.
“Let’s tell ghost stories,” said DJ. “I know a good one. It’s really scary. L-o-o-ong ago, on a d-a-a-ark, stormy night like this one—,” he began in a spooky voice.
“It’s not stormy tonight,” Andrew said.
Raj nudged Andrew. “Be quiet. I want to hear the story.”
“Some campers heard a cre-e-e-eping, sne-e-e-aking sound,” DJ whispered. He loved scary stories. “They were alone on a deserted island. Suddenly a horrible thing sprang from the darkness. It was the hermit’s ghost!”
Ernie moved closer to DJ.
“Their tent had blown away in the storm.” DJ’s voice rose. “They had nowhere to hide. But one of the campers was really brave. He knew how to do karate.” DJ whirled his arms around like a windmill. “He saved everyone because he was—Power Man!”
“Awesome story,” said Raj.
“It was boring,” said Andrew. “It wasn’t even scary.”
“It was so scary,” Ernie said. “I have goose bumps all over my arms.”
Andrew shrugged. “No dumb ghost story scares me.”
“Enough, Andrew,” said Chris. “It’s time for bed. Let’s go, guys.”
Late that night, DJ woke up. He heard a creeping, sneaking sound. He felt around in the bottom of his sleeping bag. Then he searched his backpack. Where was Sockster? DJ’s heart sank. Sockster was back at Camp Lots-o-Fun, hidden under his pillow.
DJ heard the creeping sound again. He froze. Wait a minute. He was Power Man. Power Man couldn’t be scared. DJ reached for his flashlight. He unzipped the tent flap and tiptoed outside.
The pale moon cast long shadows through the trees. Suddenly a ghostly sound echoed through the silence. “Whoo-hoo-oo! Whoo-hoo-oo!”
A hand grabbed DJ’s shoulder. DJ screeched. “Help! Help! The hermit’s ghost has got me!”
Chris’s voice rumbled in his ear. “DJ, what are you doing out here?”
DJ sighed with relief. “I heard a creeping, sneaking sound.” He gulped. “It must be the hermit’s ghost. He’s coming to get his shoe.”
Chris let out a groan. “There is no such thing as a ghost, DJ.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Get back into the tent and go to sleep.”
“But…,” DJ said.
Chris pointed at DJ. Then he pointed to the tent.
DJ scrambled inside. He slid into his sleeping bag. Why hadn’t he brought Sockster? Sockster was back at Camp Lots-o-Fun, all alone. And he was probably scared. Really, really scared.
CHAPTER NINE
PILLOW FIGHT
Dear Lots-o-Fun Journal,
We’re back at camp now. That old hermit’s ghost didn’t get us. I’ll bet my karate chops scared him off.
Remember the pinecones I was saving? Chris found them under my bed. They smelled kind of funky. Chris said they were full of bugs. He made me throw them away. So no pine forest for me.
We went blueberry picking. We got lots of deerfly bites. We hardly found any blueberries. I think that bear got to them first. We’re going to eat the blueberries for a snack. Maybe with ice cream. Yummers!
Buggily yours,
DJ, a.k.a. Power Man!
That afternoon the boys went swimming and played beach volleyball. They came back to the cabin to change before dinner.
“Listen up, guys,” said Chris. “Ernie’s not feeling well. I’m going to take him to the nurse. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He looked around the cabin. “No nonsense while I’m gone.”
The minute Chris and Ernie left, Raj grabbed his pillow. He whacked Andrew. Andrew grabbed his pillow and whacked Raj. Laughter exploded through the cabin.
DJ snatched up his pillow to join in the fight. A gray blur flew across the room. DJ watched in horror as Sockster landed at Andrew’s feet.
Andrew picked up Sockster. “Whose dolly is this?” he asked, dangling Sockster by his tail.
DJ stepped forward. “He’s mine. And he’s not a dolly. He’s a sock monkey.”
Andrew let out a snort of laughter. “Hey, Raj, let’s have a monkey fight.” He ducked around DJ and threw Sockster to Raj.
Raj caught Sockster and threw him back to Andrew. Back and forth Sockster flew as DJ tried to rescue him.
Sockster landed in Andrew’s hands. “If you want your dolly, go get him,” said Andrew. He whipped Sockster toward the doorway.
At that moment, Chris walked in the door. Sockster hit him in the face and fell to the floor.
The boys froze.
Chris snatched up Sockster. “Who does this belong to?” he asked in a voice like rumbling thunder.
DJ swallowed. “He’s mine,” he said.
Chris handed Sockster to DJ. “Does anyone care to tell me what’s been going on here?” he asked.
Silence. Finally DJ spoke. “We were having a pillow fight,” he said.
Chris glared. “Did you start it?” he asked.
“We all did,” said Raj.
“Get those pillows back on your beds,” Chris said. “It’s almost dinnertime.”
DJ turned to his bunk. As he put Sockster into his duffel bag, Andrew smirked. DJ pretended not to notice.
CHAPTER TEN
CREEPY CRAWLER
The next afternoon, the boys were in their cabin changing out of their swim trunks.
“DJ,” Andrew hissed, poking his head through the neck of his T-shirt. “Where’s your dolly?”
DJ clenched his jaw. He felt deep-down sad. He didn’t feel like Power Man anymore. He almost wished he hadn’t brought Sockster.
Chris’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Gather around, guys. We’re going to look at stars.”
“How can we look at stars now?” asked Ernie. “It’s still daylight.”
Chris took a book from his duffel bag. “We’re going to read up on stars. I also brought a DVD about constellations. We’ll watch it in the dining hall after dinner. Tonight we can do some serious stargazing.”
“Awesome,” said Raj.
DJ forgot his woes. “My dad has a telescope,” he said. “He showed me a whole bunch of constellations.”
“I know everything about constellations,” said Andrew. “They’re groups of stars that have names.”
“Everyone knows that,” said Raj. “Hey, maybe we can find a new constellation.”
“Fan-tabulous!” said DJ. “And we can name it too.”
“You don’t know anything,” said Andrew. “You have to be an astronomer to find a new constellation.” DJ didn’t hear him. Scurrying across the floor was the biggest, creepiest spider he had ever seen.
“A humongous spider ran under your bed, Andrew. I think it’s a tarantula!” said DJ.
Andrew jumped onto his bunk. He looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. “Get it out of here. I hate spiders!”
“Calm down, Andrew,” said Chris. He frowned at DJ. “There are no tarantulas around here.”
DJ shook his head. “It was humongous. It had fat legs and fangs like a tarantula.”
Chris looked under Andrew’s bed. “There’s nothing but dust under here.”
“But I saw it,” said DJ.
Andrew turned to DJ. “That was a dumb trick. You can’t fool me. There are no huge spiders in here.”
Raj grinned at Andrew. “You sure were scared when you thought there was one,” he said.
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br /> Andrew glared at DJ. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
DJ glared back. “I saw a humongous spider. And it crawled right under your bed.”
“Forget it, DJ,” said Andrew. “You’re not going to get me to fall for a dumb trick like that.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
STARGAZING
As soon as it was dark, Chris and the boys went down to the dock.
“There must be a million stars in the sky,” Ernie said, looking up.
“There’s Ursa Major.” Andrew pointed. “It’s the Great Bear. And see those seven stars?”
“That’s the Big Dipper,” said DJ.
Raj looked. “Where?”
“There. See? It looks like a pot with a long handle,” said DJ.
Raj followed DJ’s finger. “Awesome,” he said.
“Watch,” said Chris. He drew a line with his finger through the bowl in the Big Dipper. “There’s the North Star. Does anyone know another name for it?”
“Polaris,” DJ and Andrew answered together.
Andrew pointed. “Over there is Cassiopeia.”
“I just saw a falling star,” said DJ.
Ernie stared at the sky. “I can’t see it.”
“It’s gone now,” said DJ. “It must have fallen all the way to the ground.”
Andrew made a snorting sound. “Stars don’t fall to the ground.”
“They might,” said DJ.
“They don’t,” Andrew said.
“Hey, guys, look!” Raj pointed. “Those stars look like a dinosaur.”
“You’re dreaming,” said Andrew.
“They do look like a dinosaur,” said DJ. “Like a Tyrannosaurus rex. Hey, maybe we have discovered a new constellation.”
“It doesn’t look like any dinosaur I’ve ever seen,” said Andrew.
“How many dinosaurs have you seen?” asked DJ.
A shout came from a nearby cabin. “Quiet out there. We’re trying to sleep!”
“It’s late,” said Chris. “Enough stargazing for tonight.”
Back in Cabin Six, everyone fell asleep quickly. But they didn’t sleep for long. The still night was shattered by a scream of terror: “Help! There’s a huge spider crawling up my arm.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
POWER MAN
TO THE RESCUE
Chris flicked the lights on.
Andrew hopped around the room. His eyes were wide with fright. “Where is it? It was crawling up my arm!” he shouted.
“There it goes.” Raj pointed. A large spider scurried across the floor.
Ernie huddled in the top bunk. “I see it!” he said.
“I told you I saw a tarantula,” said DJ.
The boys went wild, screeching and shouting, “Tarantula! Tarantula!”
Chris rolled his eyes. “It’s not a tarantula.”
No one was listening.
Lights went on in other cabins. Mike appeared in their doorway. “What is going on here?” He glared at everyone. “You’re waking up the whole camp.”
“There’s a tarantula in our cabin,” said DJ.
Mike looked around the room. “I don’t see any spiders,” he said.
The spider had disappeared. Panic broke out again. Not seeing the spider was almost as scary as seeing it.
“Spiders like darkness,” said Mike. He grabbed a flashlight and looked under the beds. “There it goes.” He whistled. “It is a big one. But it’s just a harmless fishing spider. It won’t hurt you.” He wiggled the bed and the spider scurried out.
“Step on it! Squash it!” Andrew shouted.
DJ gasped. Kill it? No way. This was a job for Power Man.
DJ spotted the blueberry bowl. He grabbed it and clamped it over the spider. Blueberries rolled across the floor like marbles.
Andrew screamed. “Don’t let it get away.”
With a quick swoop, DJ flipped the bowl upright. The spider sat safely on the bottom.
“Good work, DJ,” said Mike.
Raj clapped DJ on the back. “You are so brave.”
DJ grinned. “Power Man has to be brave.” He turned to Andrew. “My mom’s scared of spiders too. I catch them for her all the time.”
Andrew shuddered. “Get it out of here.”
DJ looked in the bowl. The spider’s legs were long, but they weren’t fat, and it didn’t have any fangs.
“It looked a lot bigger on the floor,” said Raj.
“And a lot scarier,” said Ernie.
“It’s the one who looks scared now,” said DJ.
Mike reached for the bowl. “I’ll turn it loose outside.”
After Mike left, they cleaned up the spilled blueberries. “We forgot to have our snack tonight,” said Chris.
“Lucky we had the bowl,” said DJ. “Otherwise Power Man might have had to catch the spider with his bare hands.”
Ernie peered down from the top bunk. “Would you really pick it up with your hands?”
“That would be a dumb thing to do,” said Andrew.
Chris swung around. He put a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “I do not want to hear the word dumb coming from your mouth again,” he said. “Is that clear?”
Andrew’s face went fire-engine red. He stared at the floor. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“Back to bed, guys,” said Chris. “Let’s try to get some sleep.”
DJ didn’t go to sleep right away. Thoughts scurried through his head. Wouldn’t a spider make a great pet for Power Man? DJ sat up, almost bumping his head on the top bunk. Maybe I can ask all my friends to give me one for my birthday. Maybe I can have a whole family of spiders! Fan-tabulous!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LOTS-O-FUN DAY
Dear Lots-o-Fun Journal,
Whew, no more spider attacks last night. It was raining when we got up this morning. So I had to wear my Power Man jacket. And guess what? At breakfast, everyone was talking about the tarantula I caught last night. Mike told them it wasn’t a tarantula. It was just a fishing spider. No one believed him.
Today is our last day at Camp Lots-o-Fun. We’re all going home tomorrow. Today is Lots-o-Fun Day. We’ve had races and games and a whole bunch of fun stuff. Guess what else? Cabin Six got the most points. We each got a Camp Lots-o-Fun T-shirt. Fan-tabulous!
We’re supposed to be resting now. I told Chris that Power Man never needs to rest. Chris told me sometimes he needs a rest from Power Man. I think that was a joke. Chris has a weird sense of humor sometimes.
I think everyone has rested by now. Got to go—it’s time for our nature scavenger hunt.
Scavengely yours,
DJ, a.k.a. Power Man!
Chris handed Raj and DJ each a piece of paper. “This is a list of the things you have to find,” he said. “You’ll work in pairs. Raj, you work with Ernie. DJ, you work with Andrew.”
DJ and Andrew stared at each other. Andrew frowned. DJ frowned too. Before either of them could protest, Chris gave them their instructions.
“This is a nature scavenger hunt,” Chris said. “Only things you find in nature count.” He grinned. “Get busy, guys, and good luck.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SOMETHING LOST
DJ read the list again. “Something old, something new, something yellow, something blue. Something rough, something round, something lost, something found.”
“So far we have a rock for old and a mushroom for round,” said Andrew.
“And a pinecone for rough,” DJ added. Moments later, he picked up a twig. It was covered with tiny buds. “Here’s our new,” he said.
Andrew shrugged. “What’s new about a twig?”
“The buds are new leaves,” said DJ.
“Oh, yeah, okay,” said Andrew.
Raj and Ernie ran past. “We’ve already found five things,” Raj shouted over his shoulder. “Bet that’s more than you guys have.”
“Not for long,” Andrew shouted back. He turned to DJ. “I know what we can use for yellow,” he said. “Follow me.”
DJ saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a gray, black and white feather. He picked it up and stuck it in his cap.
“We need something blue,” said Andrew.
DJ thought for a moment. “Blueberries! Remember the blueberries I spilled when I caught the spider? We cleaned them up, but maybe we missed one.”
They raced into the cabin and started searching.
“I see one,” said Andrew.
DJ spun around. As he did, his foot came down, smack on top of the blueberry. “Oh, no,” he groaned.
“Maybe it’s stuck to the bottom of your shoe,” said Andrew.
DJ yanked off his shoe. On the bottom was a blue blob. He showed it to Andrew. “All we’ve got is a blobby blue blueblerry,” he said.
Andrew looked at DJ and burst out laughing. “No, we’ve got a bobby blue booblerry,” he said.
DJ clutched his stomach. “Or a blobbily blue booblerry.” He and Andrew collapsed in a giggling, snorting heap.
Outside, Chris’s whistle shrilled. “Time’s up,” he called.
DJ scrambled to his feet. “We haven’t got a lost yet, or a found.”
Andrew frowned. “Wait a minute.” He pointed to DJ’s cap. “Your feather can be our found.”
“But we still don’t have a lost,” said DJ.
Chris came into the cabin. Raj and Ernie were right behind him. “Did you find everything on the list?” asked Raj.
“We found everything except round,” said Ernie.
“We found everything except lost,” said Andrew.
“Let’s have a look,” said Chris.
Raj held their bag open.
Ernie pulled out a smelly pinecone for old and a seedpod for new. For yellow and blue they had a mushroom with a yellow cap and half a robin’s eggshell.
“What do you have for rough, lost and found?” asked Chris.
Raj produced a piece of bark for rough and a snail shell for found. “And look what we have for lost,” he said. He held up a slim brown object. “A porcupine quill.”
Adventures at Camp Lots-o-Fun Page 2