by Zoe Quinn
“Watch out for Zander,” he said in a low voice. “He's a glory hound. He'll try to steal the show.”
Before I could reply, he'd skittered away and started whispering something to Dave.
I hoped it was something more positive than what he'd said to me. I was beginning to think Simon was not the best counselor in the world—he sure didn't know the meaning of the words pep talk!
“On the count of three,” Bertram's voice boomed, “teams, read your lists. One…two…three!”
Amanda opened the folded sheet and we all leaned in to see.
Amanda read the first riddle aloud.
“It's rude not to wave back at someone who waves to you,” said Casey.
I giggled. “It's not rude if the someone waving to you is a flag,” I said.
We all looked to the top of the flagpole, where our camp banner was snapping proudly beneath Old Glory.
“That's the answer,” said Dave. “The first item is a flag. But which one?”
“Not the camp flag,” said Howie. “Look at the clue. The American flag can never be allowed to touch the ground. ‘Grounded is something I never should be.’ And you stand up when you pledge allegiance to it.”
In the next second, Zander had run—at normal speed—to the flagpole, lowered the flag, and carefully removed it from its rope. He and Dave folded it without letting it touch the ground.
“One down,” said Howie. “Three to go.”
We studied the rest of the clues on the page.
“Whoa,” said Megan, “these are pretty tough.”
I looked around at the other teams, struggling with the riddles. So many people talking at once, so many clues and interpretations—there had to be a better strategy.
“I think we should split into pairs,” I suggested.“Each pair can take one riddle and just focus on that.”
Zander glared at me. “Zoe, you can't just start making up rules.”
I remembered what Simon had said about Zander wanting to hog all the credit. “It's not a rule,” I snapped. “It's a suggestion!”
“A good suggestion,” said Howie.“Let's try it. Megan, you and Dave take the second clue. Zander, you and Casey can work on the third one. Zoe and I will take the fourth.” He took the page from Amanda and tore it into three pieces, then gave each pair their assigned riddle.
“I'll hold on to the flag for you,” said Amanda. “As you find the items, bring them back here to me. And Simon …” She turned to tell him what he could do to help.
But Simon was nowhere to be found.
“He's probably helping Bertram with something,” Amanda guessed. “Now, you guys, get moving!”
Howie and I took our clue and sat down at a picnic table.
“‘A symbol of victory,’” I read, then frowned. “A medal? A blue ribbon? Some sort of prize?”
“I think you're on the right track,” said Howie.
“But they won't be handing out the prizes until Saturday. So I don't see that there will be any medals lying around yet.”
“Let's try the second half,” said Howie. “‘My symbol is Ag.’” He smiled. “Gee, could it really be that simple?”
“Doesn't sound simple to me,” I confessed.
“Ag is the symbol for silver on the periodic table.”
Since I didn't know half as much about science as Howie did, I was willing to take his word for it. My stomach fluttered excitedly. “A silver symbol of victory… the Courageous Cup. The actual cup. The trophy!”
Howie and I looked at each other, smiled, then bolted for the main lodge.
With all the campers and counselors outside for the scavenger hunt, the lodge was empty and very still. Howie and I stepped inside and walked slowly toward the huge glass trophy case at the back of the lobby. There on the top shelf sat a large silver loving cup—the very cup won by my grandpa Zack and his teammates.
Howie stood on tiptoe and read the inscription. “‘This cup is awarded to the most magnificent team ever to participate in the Courageous Cup.’”
“Their names are on it,” I said.
Howie kept reading. “‘Zack Richards—Zip, Zeb Richards— Zeal, Battlin' Bertram Billings, and…and …’” I heard his breath catch. “‘Gil “The Hunter” Hunt.’”
“Howie, your grandfather was on that team, too!”
Smiling, Howie opened the glass doors of the trophy case and reached up for the silver cup.
“Help!”
I froze. Was that someone's voice I just heard? At least, I thought it was a voice—it was such a tiny squeak, I could barely make it out. “Someone's calling for help,” I said. “But where are they?”
“Help!”
“They're in here,” said Howie, his tone half amazed, half horrified.
“In where?”
“In the cup.”He looked inside, then tilted the cup so I could see.
Sitting in the shiny silver bowl of the cup was our missing teammate, Sam.
“SAM!” I screamed.
“Get me out of here!”
His little bitty voice echoed inside the silver cup.
Howie reached in and let Sam—who was about the size of a pickle—climb into his palm. Sam wrapped his arms around Howie's thumb and Howie carefully lifted him out.
“What happened?” asked Howie.“How did you get so small?”
“I got shrunk,” said Sam. “Duh.”
“But how?”
“Simon did it,” said Sam. “He took me to the parking lot and he froze me with his breath, and while I stood there like a giant icicle, he tore apart Bertram's car. Then he thawed me out and looked at me in this weird way and the next thing I knew, I was miniature! He brought me here and dropped me in this stupid cup, and that's where I've been for the last two days. I thought I'd be in there until the awards ceremony on Sunday!” He turned his tiny face up to mine. “Got anything to eat? I'm starving!”
“Sorry, I don't.” “Zoe,” said Howie in a strangled voice. “Think about what Sam just said. There's only been one Super who could freeze and shrink people…the Sweep!”
I stared at him in astonishment.“But…but that means Simon is the Sweep! He was supposed to be our coach! Why would he try to sabotage us?”
“I don't know, but we've got to tell the others,” said Howie. “They could be in trouble! Zoe, you go on ahead at superspeed. I'll bring Sam.”
I was out the door before he even finished talking.
“Going somewhere, Zoe?”
The familiar English-accented voice called out to me just as I was rounding the side of the main lodge; I skidded to a halt and came face to face with Simon. There was a cold glint in his eyes. In the distance I could hear the sounds of the scavenger hunters working on their riddles. Here in the shadow of the lodge, Simon and I couldn't be seen.
“We know all about you, Simon,” I said, forcing myself to sound courageous. “Or should I say Sweep?”
“So you solved the little mystery, then?” He laughed; it was a cruel sound.“It was all so easy. You campers with your obsessive teamwork…and yet I planned this out all by myself. I set fire to that cabin with my own eyes, and then made Melanie think she did it by mistake.”
“So the boulder and the rapids were your doing, too?” I asked, feeling the anger ignite in me.
“I can hold my breath for hours,” he boasted. “I dove into the river, and when your raft approached, I used my superstrength to churn up a major rapid. The rocks were a piece of cake with my incredible strength. I just moved them from where the map said they were to where you wouldn't expect them.” He laughed. “Oh, and that sneezing attack of yours during the trust fall? When everyone was looking at you and Howie, I blew that dandelion fluff directly at your nose. That little gag might have been my favorite. It wasn't super, but it was very resourceful.”
I glared at him.“You wanted me to drop Howie, even though you knew he wasn't super. He would have gotten hurt!”
The Sweep rolled his eyes. “Hel-lo…That was th
e point!”
“What about Sam?”
“Also simple. My freezing breath caught him by surprise, so his strength was no use to him. When I shrank him, his powers shrank, too. If I'd known Bertram would choose his stupid trophy as one of the items for the hunt, I'd never have hidden Sam in there. Ah, well, too late now. But I'll be long gone before anyone knows any of this, since I'll be escaping with the power of superspeed.”
“You don't have superspeed, Sweep,” I reminded him.
“No…” He reached out and grabbed my arm.“But you do!”
I tried to break free, but he was too strong.
“You're going to piggyback me out of here at top speed!” Simon commanded.“I wish it had been Zander who happened along, though.”
“You still think he's faster than me?” I asked.
Simon laughed. “I don't know. I do think if I'd taken him, I might have had a chance to sway him over to the side of evil.”
“Zander would never do that!”
“Maybe not,” Simon conceded. “I did my best to come between you two. You see, you were the whole reason I formed this plan to begin with.”
“Zander and me?”
“Yes. Everyone thinks the Federation are holding out for another all-powered hero, like me”—except you don't have superspeed, I wanted to remind him— “but they've actually picked out you guys as the Next Best Thing. There are two of you, and you're of the same line! So apparently working together will magnify your powers!” He gave a snort. “There's that sickening teamwork concept again. The best get better when they team up, so they keep telling me…. Well, I was the best and the brightest of my day, so I wanted to bring you down the way they brought me down. I wanted to show you how it felt to fail—and to prove that nothing can be as good as a single all-powered hero.”
I was about to tell him that everyone failed at some point in their life; the important thing was learning how to deal with it and move on. But I didn't get a chance. Because all of a sudden, Howie was there.
Howie. Totally un super Howie. Standing there holding a big silver trophy, scowling at the most powerful villain in the history of the world as if he were nothing more than a playground bully.
“Howie,” I said, “go get help!”
“Oh, please,” said Simon.“Don't you get it? No one can help you against me!”
“No one maybe,” came a voice.“But what about a whole team?”
I craned my neck and saw Zander, Dave, Casey, and Megan stepping around the side of the cabin.
“Fine,” said Simon, dragging a hand through his hair and sounding thoroughly bored.“Give it your best shot.”
“I can't believe we ever thought you were cute!” said Megan.
“I've got him,” Dave yelled; he reached out his arms and wrapped them around and around Simon like a rope.“All I have to do is squeeze….”
Simon rolled his eyes. “You're kidding, right?” He puffed up his cheeks and blew out a long, frosty breath on Dave's arms.
“He froze me!”Dave yelped, staring in horror at his arms, which had turned a disturbing shade of blue.“Now I can't squeeze.”
Simon wriggled out of Dave's frozen arms—they fell to the ground and Dave started shaking them to try to retract them— and gave us an evil grin. “What else ya got?” He looked at Megan. “Maybe you should fly me around and see if I get queasy?” He laughed.“Although I've been flying for years and I haven't gotten sick yet.”
“He's right,”said Howie.“There's nothing we can do to him.”
I whirled to face Howie. “What? How can you say that?”
“It's true,” said Howie, still clutching the big, shiny silver cup. “He's the super-est of all. I mean, you and Zander may be way faster than he is…”
Simon snarled. “You had to bring that up, didn't you?”
“…but he's got too many other powers. For example, he could…oh, I don't know, just shrink us with his eyes, like he did to Sam.”
“Howie, shhh!” said Zander. “Don't give him any ideas.”
“Well, he could,” said Howie.“He could just shoot those shrinking rays out of his eyes and miniaturize each of us, one at a time.”
“Excellent!” Simon let out a wicked cackle of laughter. “I'll admit, I hadn't thought of that, but it's a wonderful plan. And I think I'll start with you, Howie.”
“Well,” Howie said calmly, “if you must, you must.”
I watched in horror as Simon narrowed his eyes and sent two brilliant red rays shooting in Howie's direction.
“Gotcha!” cried Howie, holding up the silver cup to shield himself.
The rays hit the metal cup, which acted like a mirror, reflecting the beams right back at Simon.
“No!” screamed Simon. “No!”
But he was already growing smaller and smaller. In seconds, Simon was shivering on the ground like a little shaggy blond chipmunk.
“Howie,” I cried, running over to him. “That was amazing!” Howie bent to pick up the tiny counselor, then looked into the cup, where mini-Sam was peering up at him.
“Sam,” said Howie, “have you ever heard the expression 'pick on somebody your own size'?”
Sam let out a tiny laugh. “Sure.”
“Now's your chance,” said Howie, sliding Simon into the cup.
We all leaned in to watch as Sam made a little bitty L with his
finger and thumb and pressed the L to his forehead. “Looooo-ser!”
It was Friday night. I was lying on my bunk, reading the letter I'd just finished writing to Melanie out loud to my cabinmates.
“You forgot to tell her the part about Howie shrinking Simon,” said Megan.
“And Sam putting Simon in a headlock until he promised never to do anything like this again. If he ever makes it back to full size, that is.” Which was looking unlikely, since Director Bertram seemed more than happy to keep Simon in the trophy cupboard until he could hand him over to the Federation. At least one of the other kids at camp had the eye-shrink thing going on and had been able to restore Sam to full size.
“And you forgot to tell her that Howie and I have a date to go canoeing tomorrow before the awards ceremony,” said Casey, giggling.
“And that Zander is your cousin,” said Megan.
I laughed, scribbling the additional news in a PS.
“Tell her about the soccer play we learned from Emily.”
“Tell her Sam still hasn't finished his sister's change purse!”
“Tell her Dave is gonna teach me to do a backflip off the raft.”
I was writing as fast as I could…superfast! In fact, I was writing so fast that my pen began to throw off sparks; the next second, the paper I was writing on went up in flames!
“Yikes!” I cried.
Casey hopped up, grabbed a blanket, and put out the fire.
“Well,” I said, brushing the ashes off my hands, “I guess it would be better just to call her on the communication device and tell her the whole crazy story.”
“Yeah,” said Megan.“Of course, we'll never be able to tell anyone else.”
“It's been great having you guys to talk to,” I said.“And being able to use powers without worrying about getting caught. It's gonna be weird going back home and having to keep it all a secret again.”
But deep down, I couldn't wait to get home. I missed my parents and my friends, and even though I hadn't had a chance to think about him for a whole week, I was really excited to see Josh Devlin, who'd be back from baseball camp—probably with a great tan.
Across the cabin, Megan yawned loudly.
“We'd better get some sleep,” said Casey. “The awards ceremony starts early tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” said Megan. “Nighty-night.”
“Sweet dreams,” said Casey.
I put my head on the pillow and closed my eyes.“Good night, Intrepids. You're the best,” I said.
And I meant it.
THE awards ceremony was what my mom would call bittersweet.
Everyone was happy and proud, receiving ribbons and trophies and hearing the applause, but there was a sad note underneath it all. In just a few short hours, we'd be saying our good-byes.
The visitors' day visitors, of course,were a very select group of family members—only Super relatives could attend, since the true purpose of the camp was a secret. Howie's visitor was his grandpa Gil.
I joined Howie in the mess hall just before he approached his grandpa.
“Just because you didn't get your powers this week doesn't mean they aren't on the way,” I said.
“Actually,” said Howie, “it kind of does.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bertram and I had a long talk this morning,” he said. “He told me he's really proud of the way I captured the Sweep, and
that I've been a great addition to Camp Courageous. But…”
I didn't like the sound of that but.
Howie sighed.“But he's seen thousands of superkids in his day and he's pretty certain that I'm not going to be one of them.”
I felt a lump form in my throat. “Oh, Howie.”
“Don't feel bad, Zoe,” he said, smiling. “I had a great time here. No other ordinary kid in the world will ever get to see the stuff I saw. And I'm okay with not being super, honest. Frankly, I don't think I could handle it. The pressure must be nuts!”
“Well, there is that,” I replied truthfully.
“Bertram had a great suggestion,” Howie went on.“He thinks I could still be part of the superworld by becoming—get this— a dispatcher!”
My eyes lit up with excitement. “Like Thatcher!”
“Exactly,” said Howie. “Of course, I won't have that whole rhyming-name thing happening. But Bertram says that dispatchers have to be able to think fast, and he said I've already proven that I'm great at that. And Thatcher and I have become pals over the last few days, so he's agreed to mentor me when the time comes.”
“And when will that time be?” I asked, eager for Howie to get to do his part.
“Not for a while,” he said. “I need to go to high school and college and maybe even graduate school first. But in the meantime, you can still talk to me about all your supermissions and stuff. Bertram said that would be perfectly okay, and I can even help you like I did here at camp.”