by Annie Bryant
Glancing at the newspaper, Charlotte noticed that the only thing missing today was Isabel’s cartoon, but the size was standard, so they left a hole to slip it into. Jennifer said “no problem”; she was staying until everything was perfect. “It’s my job,” she shrugged.
When the bell rang, Charlotte ran to get her backpack so she could meet her friends on the front steps of the school. They were going “Lake Rescue shopping.” Charlotte couldn’t wait.
When Charlotte got to the front of the school she saw Isabel rushing toward her.
“Isabel!” Charlotte shouted to her friend. She was first at the steps. The BSG were going shopping with Katani’s mother. Katani had explained that shopping for Lake Rescue was a tradition. Her mom had done this for Patrice and Candice too. Charlotte got the idea that everyone in Katani’s family loved tradition. She also knew Katani felt like she was disappointing her family by not being a super athlete like her sisters. But Charlotte could tell that Mr. and Mrs. Summers were proud of all their daughters. You could see it in their faces when they looked at Katani.
“Isabel, did you turn in your cartoon?” Charlotte asked.
Isabel was breathing hard. “I was afraid I would be late.” She usually looked so cool, even with a spot of paint on her clothing. The mark of a true artist. Today her long black hair was tangled and a silver clip barely hung in place. Isabel knew she looked a mess. She collapsed on the steps and searched in her purse for a hairbrush.
“I turned it in just now. I thought I’d have time to finish it during library, but then Ms. O’Reilly assigned that new report.” In a couple of minutes, Isabel was back together, her hair glistening and pinned together, not a strand out of place. Her dangly silver earrings set off her long neck and glittered in the sunlight.
“How do you do that?” Charlotte asked. “If I had looked as frazzled as you did just now, it would have taken me three mirrors and an hour to get myself together.” She laughed.
“I guess when you dance in shows, you learn to change clothes and tidy up fast. The real stars even have help because they have to change costumes three or four times. But even amateur dancers like me learn to do the quick change.” Isabel sighed.
“You miss your dancing a lot, don’t you?”
Isabel shrugged. “I do. But I’d rather have a healthy knee. Otherwise, how could I keep up with my four awesomely best chicas.”
Charlotte understood. Sometimes she missed traveling, but right now, she wouldn’t trade the friendships she had made for anything. She just knew the BSG would be friends forever.
“Okay, your cartoon is in. My feature is finished, as well as the rest of the seventh-grade page. We can both relax and enjoy the ‘shopping experience.’ I called my Dad and he said he’d meet us at the store, too. I hope he remembers. He’s been acting like one of the original absent-minded professors lately. I’ve been wondering if he has a new project going on…he always acts a little spacey when he’s starting a new book,” Charlotte said, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice.
Isabel looked up at her friend. Did a new book mean a new place for Charlotte? She hoped not. The Beacon Street Girls without Charlotte just wouldn’t be right. They had had that scare already, when Mr. Ramsey considered moving to England for work.
“I can’t buy that much today,” Isabel admitted. “But Candice’s boots are a perfect fit. Let’s look at the list again.”
Charlotte had it folded in her purse. She pulled it out, smoothed the creases, and began to read out loud:
“Hiking boots. (Highly recommended. Too easy to turn an ankle wearing sneakers, especially if it’s muddy.)”
“It will rain if I go.” Isabel sighed. “I’m a rain magnet.”
“Since my specialty is disasters of all kinds,” Charlotte laughed, “I’ll have to get boots so I can cross sprained ankle off my list of things that might happen while we’re there.”
“Two pairs of jeans or cargo pants, not new”
“Why can’t they be new?” Isabel wondered.
“Blisters. And new jeans can feel like wearing sandpaper when you’re hiking or when you get wet. Trust me. This is the voice of experience speaking. Besides, they’ll get wrecked.”
“You know so much about travel, Charlotte,” noted Isabel. “Maybe we should write a book together when we grow up, and I could do all the illustrations. We could go around the world. We’d be a great team.”
“That would be my dream job,” Charlotte exclaimed. “We should totally do that right after college. My friend Anabel in Australia has an older sister who backpacked around the world for a whole year after she graduated from the University of Sydney. We could stay in hostels and…”
“Backpacks?” Isabel questioned. “How about a suitcase with rollers and cheap hotels?”
“Well, it depends how famous our books get.” Charlotte grinned, picked up her supply list and continued to read:
“-Two pairs of jeans or cargo pants, not new
-Two T-shirts
-Two sweatshirts
-Jacket or a warm coat
-Rain slicker
-One hat or baseball cap
-One or two pairs of shorts
-Six pairs of socks and underclothes”
“Why six socks and underwear?” Isabel said. “For four days?”
“I don’t know about you, but do you know how many times I can fall out of a canoe without even trying?” Charlotte asked.
Isabel hoped she was exaggerating.
“-Two bandannas
-Tennis shoes and water shoes for night or canoe
-Pajamas and personal items for overnight
-Sunscreen
-Bug repellent
“That’s a given.” Charlotte made a face. “If we’re near a lake the mosquitoes can be as big as hummingbirds.”
“I thought mosquitoes were gone by now.”
“You never know,” said Charlotte. “They can be devious little creatures. And I’m not taking any chances.” She picked up a medium-sized bottle of “Bug Off.”
“-Notebook
-New journal (a spiral notebook is fine)
-Several pens
Nice to have:
-Binoculars
-Identification books to record birds, trees, flowers, animals in area
Extras:
-A camera
-A paperback book”
“What kind of animals? I hope we see a moose.” Isabel set her backpack down. “Where is everyone? Are we in the right place to meet them? My horoscope said I was going to make a mistake today, but that it wasn’t really my fault. I hope this isn’t it.”
“I thought we were meeting here. But I was distracted this morning. Maybe everyone said lockers. They’ll find us. I think by animals, they mean mice or groundhogs or maybe snakes, bears, squirrels.”
Charlotte had buried the word bear in with the rest of the animals she could think of, but Isabel jumped on it.
“Won’t real bears be hibernating?” Isabel asked.
“It’s probably too early. They’re still eating, but they only eat berries, don’t they?” Charlotte laughed and kept reading:
“Personal snack food, things like:
-Energy bars, pretzels, fruit roll-ups”
“Here you two are.” Katani, Avery, and Maeve hurried up beside them. “I thought we were meeting at the office. Remember, my grandmother was giving me some money.”
“We said the front steps last time I heard,” Charlotte smiled.
Mrs. Summers pulled up to the curb, waved from her minivan, and the girls piled in, tossing their gear in the back.
“Charlotte, Charlotte, sit by me,” Kelley pleaded from the very back seat. She clutched Mr. Bear in one hand and patted the seat beside her with the other. “You are my best friend in the whole world, besides Mr. Bear. Marty is my favorite, too, but he isn’t a bear,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Almost,” Avery said. “Marty is cute as a little bear cub. We should have told yo
ur dad to bring him, Char.”
“To the mall? No way.” Charlotte let pictures flash through her mind of Marty, the wonder dog, loose in the mall. They could probably catch him easily, though, since he’d stop to let everyone pet him.
Kelley put her arm around Charlotte and hugged her tight. She loved everyone, and most of the time, everyone loved her.
“Everyone have her seat belt fastened?” Mrs. Summers called, looking in the rear mirror. “We’re off on an adventure.”
They were a tight fit but giggling helped, and they weren’t going far. “Good thing I didn’t eat too much for dinner last night,” Katani said.
“You did too, Katani,” said Kelley. “You ate fish and broccoli, and rice and pumpkin pie.”
That set them giggling again. Kelley was very literal. She said things exactly as they were.
Maeve piped in. “My mom made the best dinner—roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s my favorite dinner in the world. I could eat it every night.”
Charlotte laughed. Everything with Maeve was extreme. Things were the best, the most fabulous, or the absolute worst. It really made hanging out with her fun–it was kind of like having a character in a sitcom for a friend.
Mr. Ramsey was waiting for them in front of the outdoor store. Charlotte waved to him. When he had heard Mrs. Summers was taking all of the girls shopping for the trip, he called to ask if he could come along. Mr. Ramsey loved to plan trips…even for other people. He rubbed his hands together and said, “Okay, girls, big-time shopping. Let’s get started. Thanks for picking them up, Mrs. Summers.”
“Nadine, please, and I wouldn’t miss this trip for anything. I helped outfit my two oldest girls for their big Lake Rescue weekends. If we get separated, we’ll meet back at shoes. That’s easy to find.”
The BSG hurried off together. “I have to wear all my sisters’ hand-me-downs,” Katani complained. “Is that a major drag or what?”
“All of them?” Maeve said. “You can’t have anything new?”
“I can, but I have to buy a lot myself. I thought maybe I could afford a new vest and some socks.” Katani flipped through a circular display of vests, most of them plain blue, plain brown, plain tan.
“Look!” Charlotte pulled a khaki vest from the revolving rack. “This is almost as good as a photographer’s vest with all the pockets. I hate having anthing in my hands when I hike. My old shorts have good pockets and with a small backpack, I should be—”
“Free to catch yourself if you fall.” Avery finished the sentence.
Charlotte looked at Avery with a hurt expression. “Well, that too. You know, Avery, I’m not a klutz at everything I do. My dad and I have hiked around a lot of places.”
“I know that, Char…you know me. Open mouth, make joke, insert foot,” apologized Avery.
“Cool!” Katani had wandered off to a rack that held more colorful clothing. “Look! This looks just like a Juicy Couture vest.”
“If Juicy designs vests.” Isabel smiled. “It is cute. Is it lots more expensive than the plain ones?”
“I’m afraid to look.” Katani pulled out the price tag and her face fell at least a couple of inches. “Yeah, it is.”
“Your mother is talking to my dad and smiling,” Charlotte pointed out. “My dad almost always puts people in a good mood.”
Katani didn’t hesitate long. “Won’t hurt to try.” She took off with the vest to plead her case.
They moved toward shoes. Katani caught up. “Mom said okay, she’d advance me money, but I have to pay it back. At this rate, I’m going to be baby-sitting for about a year without pay. But it’s worth it. If I’m going to help Isabel make pajamas for us all, I don’t have time to sew a vest. Do you think I can find orange socks to match?”
“Go for it. But bright colors attract rattlesnakes,” said Avery with a mischievous grin.
Katani stopped and stared at Avery. “That’s not true. I know that’s not true.” She acted, though, as if she wasn’t positive that Avery was teasing her.
“Well,” interrupted Charlotte, “I don’t know about snakes, but I do know that bright colors attract bees.”
“That’s true, but I went on hikesafe. com. It said you should wear bright clothes so people can see you in the woods,” said Avery. “So actually, Katani, your vest is a good idea.”
“I have no hiking boots,” Maeve said. “Help me look, Charlotte. You’re buying boots, aren’t you? I’m not sure what to get.”
Charlotte nodded. She hadn’t packed her old boots when they left Paris. She looked around. Where to start? The store must have a million styles. Methodically, she made her way up one aisle and down another. Nope. No way. Maybe. Too expensive. Not at all practical. Her father followed her, but he waited for her to pick out some to try on.
“I keep thinking of what we’d need if we were in Africa or Australia,” he said. “You will need shoes suited for climbing in the mountains. Then again, we haven’t planned next summer’s vacation. We could go someplace wonderful to hike. Like the Grand Canyon, or the Appalachian Trail.”
“That would be so fun, Dad. Start collecting information.” A trip with her father was always an adventure. “Will you teach summer school?”
“Not if I can work on my new book. How about these?” Her father pulled a pair of medium high-tops off the shelf. They were a nice combination of dark brown and tan. “Try them on.”
Charlotte sat on a chair and piled her collection of clothes next to her. Before she could get her shoes off, Maeve showed up waving hot pink boots. “Look, Char, look! Aren’t these the best? Ms. Razzberry Pink will freak out when she sees them.” Maeve was a big fan of Think Pink!, Razzberry’s store for everything pink.
“Sit here by Charlotte and try them on, Maeve,” said Mr. Ramsey.
Once Maeve was wearing them, she jumped up and walked up and down the aisle. She looked in one floor mirror, then another.
“Does the sole feel very thick, Maeve? They don’t look as if they have lug soles at all, but flat ones. They might be a little slick walking in mud or rain. And I think your feet will get cold and wet quickly with so much canvas instead of leather on the sides.”
Mr. Ramsey made his argument against the pink boots without saying “no way will those work.” Maeve walked around a bit more. “I guess they are more for fun than for hiking. But they’re so Elle Woods.” Elle was one of Maeve’s favorite movie characters from one of her all-time favorite movies, Legally Blonde.
“Look at what I’m getting, Maeve.” Charlotte held up one foot. “What if you got something like this in charcoal gray and then replaced the shoelaces with some pink ones?”
Maeve tried on a pair of boots like Charlotte’s and walked around. “I see what your dad means. These feel much sturdier. But I hate being so practical. It’s just not my style.”
Mr. Ramsey disappeared, then showed up again holding a pair of hot pink shoelaces. “Look here, on the package.” He pointed to some writing that actually said, “Guaranteed not to be practical or even dorky.”
“Those are fabulous!” Maeve took the laces and placed them against the boots. “Thanks, Mr. Ramsey.”
Mr. Ramsey, Maeve, and Charlotte walked over to where Isabel and Katani were mesmerized by a book with lots of colored pictures…of snakes. Maeve looked over their shoulders. “Where are the New Hampshire snakes?”
Avery walked up behind them. “Most snakes are as afraid of you as you are of them. They get out of the way fast if they have time.” Avery spoke authoritatively. She knew a lot about snakes because she kept one, Walter, as a pet.
“That’s very true, Avery,” Mr. Ramsey concurred.
“I think you wear a bell,” Kelley said, hugging Mr. Bear tighter.
“No, that’s for bears,” Dillon Johnson interjected out of nowhere. “Did you get your bear bell, Maeve?”
“No, I plan to send you ahead on the trail.”
“Are you here alone?” Charlotte asked Dillon.
&nbs
p; “I think Nick and Sammy went home already. I was on my way out when I heard a familiar shriek.”
“Okay, okay, don’t let us keep you from your mission.” Maeve turned around and headed for the warm clothing section as if seeing Dillon at the outdoor store was no big deal at all.
But Charlotte could guess how fast Maeve’s heart was beating as she walked away. Dillon caught up and acted as if he was going to stay with them until they finished shopping.
“Look,” he whispered to Maeve and the rest of the BSG who had caught up. “I think that’s a bear right up there in the coat department.”
“Dillon, that’s so mean,” Maeve scolded Dillon.
The “bear” Dillon had pointed out was Chelsea Briggs, trying to fit into a brown fleece coat in the juniors’ department of the sporting goods store.
Charlotte caught Chelsea’s eye. It was an uncomfortable moment. Charlotte felt terrible for her classmate’s predicament. Because the word “embarrassed” was her middle name, Charlotte wouldn’t wish public humiliation on her worst enemy. She began to quickly walk away hoping everyone would follow her. Isabel caught on, pulling Maeve in a different direction. Dillon followed, but not without looking back.
“No, I was wrong, that’s Chelsea Bigg.”
“That’s really mean, Dillon,” Maeve said, in a firm voice. “Let’s go, girls. We have shopping to do.” Dillon’s smile faded and he looked as if he’d been given the big brush-off, which, of course, he had. Fortunately, he took the hint.
Charlotte looked around and, to her dismay, found that her friends had turned into the children’s coats section.
“These are little kids’ coats,” Kelley said, not understanding why they had made the detour. “We are not little children, Charlotte Ramsey,” she said firmly. “We want to go over there.” She pointed toward where Chelsea and her mother were talking.
“It’s okay, Kelley,” Charlotte said, putting her arm around Kelley. “I went the wrong way. We’ll go the right way in just a minute. Do you think Mr. Bear needs a new coat?”