Charmed Forces #19

by Melissa J Morgan

  Gaby, who had been begging Alyssa to lend her the amethyst. Who made it very clear that she wanted to try out a few psychic predictions for herself. And who was so crazy about Donovan, she’d do just about anything to win him over.

  Could Gaby have stolen Amy—and made it look like a prank so no one would suspect her?

  Alyssa heard Natalie in the bunk below, rolling over and fluffing her pillow. She wondered if anyone else suspected Gaby, or if she was the only one.

  For now, Alyssa decided to give Gaby the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.

  Besides, Alyssa hoped Gaby wasn’t the culprit. What could be worse than having a traitor—and a thief—in your own bunk?

  The Lakeview Tattler

  The residents of bunk 6B returned from the campfire sing-along last night to find their cabin in a shambles. Clothes were tossed around, underwear displayed in an undignified manner, the toilet wrapped in so much toilet paper they had to hack through it with scissors before they could use it. Written on the mirror in lipstick were these words: You’ve been pranked.

  So far there are no hard suspects in this case, though individual members of the bunk have their suspicions. Counselor Mandy reported the incident to Dr. Steve, who said he will investigate. He added that he hopes this won’t inspire copycat prankings and would hate to see the summer jeopardized by a rash of unpleasant incidents. Anyone caught pulling a prank will be punished, he warned.

  If you have any tips on this heinous crime, please report them to Brynn, care of this paper. Thank you.

  —Brynn

  “Hey.” Jordan read over Brynn’s shoulder as she typed her story into the computer at the newspaper office. “Why didn’t you give this story to me? I could have used it in my Bunk Roundup.”

  Brynn glanced around the office. It bustled with activity that morning. Jordan’s friend Winnie lurked at a nearby desk. She looked as if she were thinking hard about something, but Brynn suspected Winnie was eavesdropping on her conversation with Jordan.

  “I thought this was too serious a story for the Roundup,” Brynn said. “More hard news than chitchat. It is a crime story, after all.”

  “A crime story?” Jordan said. “Isn’t that taking things kind of seriously? I mean, your bunk got messed up, but nothing was stolen or anything like that, right?”

  Brynn hesitated, thinking of the amethyst. They had all agreed not to mention Amy in connection with the pranking. Alyssa thought it was best to keep the stone a secret until they figured out exactly what was going on.

  “No,” Brynn said. “Nothing was stolen. But still, people shouldn’t be allowed to just walk into your cabin and mess up your stuff. How would you like it?”

  Jordan raised his hands in surrender. “Of course I wouldn’t like it. Do you have any leads? Any idea who might have done it? And calm down, I didn’t prank your bunk.”

  Maybe it was her imagination, but Brynn thought she saw Winnie’s head lean slightly toward her, as if she were listening extra hard.

  “No, we don’t have any leads,” Brynn said. Of course, the girls of bunk 5C were major suspects. They’d already threatened to pull a prank on 6B after they lost to them in the obstacle course. But that was a couple of weeks ago, and Brynn had assumed everyone had forgotten about it. Maybe not.

  The other tie to 5C was the “lost amethyst” poster. The stone was to be returned to 5C—and now it was missing. But Brynn didn’t want to mention any of this in earshot of Winnie, who, after all, was in 5C. And that meant Brynn didn’t feel comfortable sharing it with Jordan, either, since he’d been spending a lot of time with Winnie, working on their “top secret” news story, whatever that was.

  It was a shame, Brynn thought. She would have liked to discuss the case with Jordan. The two of them might have investigated it together. She still thought they’d make a good team.

  The Lakeview Tattler

  Bunk Roundup

  by Jordan

  First division: The nine-year-old girls in first division are suffering from a stubborn case of homesickness. To distract themselves, they’re making rag dolls to send to poor children in South America. How sweet! Their counselor, Anita, reports that the project is working well.

  Second division: The charitable angels of second division are making rag dolls to help the poor homesick girls of first division feel better. Now that’s thoughtful.

  Third division: Competition between the three boys’ bunks in third division is heating up as they battle it out for their division’s soccer title. Thor Gersten of bunk 3F is a superstar scorer—they say his giant head makes him uncannily accurate when he heads the ball. But 3D has killer goalie Jon Cruz on their side, and 3E’s forward line is close to unbeatable. Watch the third- division soccer action every afternoon at four on the main field. Feel the heat!

  Fourth and fifth divisions: Yawn! Do something interesting, you guys!

  Sixth division: What’s going on in 6B? There’s the still-unsolved pranking, but beyond that sources report mysterious occult forces at work among the female sixth div’ers. Hard to get specifics out of anybody in that secretive crowd, but let’s just say we’ve picked up on a seriously mystical vibe. Broomsticks flying over the night skies of Camp Lakeview? Not sure we’d go that far, but something strange is going on in that bunk, and we’d like to know more.

  Got news? How about juicy gossip? We’re not picky! Tell it to us here at the newspaper office or—if you prefer to remain anonymous—drop us a note. Anything from arts and crafts projects to sports achievements to deadly vendettas welcome.

  “Brynn, have you been talking?” Chelsea snapped. She crumpled up the newspaper and tossed it at Brynn.

  “No,” Brynn said. “I haven’t. I swear!” She sat with Alyssa, Chelsea, and Natalie on the dock. They had all gotten out of their electives a little early and wanted to catch some rays.

  “Come on, Brynn,” Natalie said. “You can tell us. Jordan’s your ex, after all. Or have you guys gotten back together?”

  “We haven’t,” Brynn said. She picked at a splinter of wood on the dock. “Not yet, anyway.”

  “Well, what’s going on?” Alyssa said. “Where is Jordan getting this pseudo-information?”

  “I don’t know,” Brynn said. “I haven’t told Jordan anything. He knows about the prank, but that was no secret. I’ve never mentioned the amethyst to him, or Alyssa’s predictions, or anything like that.”

  Natalie uncrumpled the paper and reread Bunk Roundup. “Maybe he doesn’t really know anything. If you read this carefully, it’s all hints and guessing, but it doesn’t say anything specific. And broomsticks? Please. That’s way off the mark.”

  “Still, why would he write these hints in the first place?” Chelsea said. “Somebody must be talking to him. But what do they know? And if it’s not Brynn, who is it?”

  Everyone looked from Brynn to Alyssa to Natalie and back to Chelsea. Brynn read the same answer on all their faces. “Could it be?”

  “Gaby?” Natalie said.

  “I wouldn’t put it past her,” Alyssa said.

  “But I thought she was reformed,” Brynn said.

  Chelsea shrugged. “Reformed? Maybe that was an act. Or just temporary. You can’t ask a cat to stop being a cat. And you can’t ask Gaby to turn saintly in a few short months.”

  “Actually, it’s been eleven months,” Brynn said. “Don’t forget—you weren’t so saintly yourself last summer.”

  “I’m an angel now,” Chelsea said. “I swear!” Brynn exchanged a look with Natalie and Alyssa. Chelsea did seem nicer this year, but she was in no position to rag on Gaby.

  “If Gaby is leaking our secrets,” Natalie said, “why is she doing it? What is she up to?”

  “I don’t know,” Alyssa said. “But I do know she wants that amethyst—badly.”

  “Do you think we should confront her?” Natalie said.

  “I do,” Chelsea said. “Why not? Let’s see how she reacts.”

  Shi
elding her eyes from the sun, Brynn peered out at the boats on the lake. “Gaby’s boat is heading in now,” she said.

  Chelsea stood up. “No time like the present.”

  Gaby found a small welcoming party—Alyssa, Natalie, Brynn, and Chelsea—waiting for her on the dock. Only they didn’t look so welcoming. She was feeling low as it was, having accidentally dropped Donovan’s boating shoe in the water while they were sailing that afternoon. (Luckily, the shoe floated. The leather would never be the same, but Donovan didn’t seem too upset about it. At least he laughed.)

  She had a bad feeling about this posse, but she decided to pretend everything was fine. “What’s up, guys?”

  “We need to talk to you,” Chelsea said. Of course Chelsea had to be the enforcer.

  “What about?” Gaby asked, but she was pretty sure she knew what about—the amethyst.

  Donovan was tying up the Sunfish. Candace and Valerie were docking their boat. Gaby saw them look curiously at Gaby and her little welcoming party.

  “Maybe we should go someplace private,” Brynn said.

  “Fine with me,” Gaby said. They walked up the path to a small clearing in the woods. They sat on logs around a cold fire pit filled with ashes. Gaby shifted nervously on her log.

  “What do you know about the pranking?” Chelsea asked.

  “Nothing!” Gaby said. Why did they always blame her for everything? She was totally innocent! Well, pretty innocent.

  “Alyssa says you were in the cabin when she got there—alone,” Brynn said. “Why weren’t you with the rest of us at the campfire?”

  “I was cold,” Gaby said. It was a lie, but it felt true. It was windy that night. She probably would have gotten cold. “I wanted to get my sweatshirt. So I ran back to the cabin, and when I walked in—pow! Everything was a wreck! Two seconds later Alyssa walked in, and then the rest of you.” She couldn’t tell them the whole truth—that she had planned to take Amy herself. What difference did it make now? She didn’t prank the bunk, and she didn’t take Amy. That was the important thing.

  Alyssa shook her head. “Oh, Gaby. We thought you’d grown out of all your conniving and scheming. We thought you were reformed.”

  “But I am reformed!” Gaby cried. “I’m innocent! I didn’t do it!”

  The other girls just looked at one another sadly.

  “Why don’t you believe me?” Gaby said. “I’m telling the truth.”

  “Okay, Gaby,” Natalie said. “Calm down.”

  “How can I? You all think I pranked my own bunk and stole Amy. But I didn’t do it. And I’ll prove it!”

  “We better get going,” Brynn said. “We’ve got that swim relay against 5C, and I have to change into my suit.”

  “We’ve got to beat them,” Alyssa said. “To prove our obstacle course victory wasn’t a fluke.”

  “And to avoid wearing swimsuits to the dance,” Natalie reminded her.

  “Are you going to bring your new super-athletic ability?” Chelsea asked Alyssa. “Or is it going to be the same old dorky Alyssa out there, thrashing around in the water, asking which way to the finish line?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll bring it,” Alyssa said, but she looked kind of doubtful.

  Gaby was grateful that they’d changed the subject. Better they pick on Alyssa than on her.

  chapter TEN

  The Lakeview Tattler

  Sports Update by Brynn

  6B vs. 5C: The Rematch

  After their humiliating defeat on the obstacle course two weeks ago, bunk 5C challenged 6B to a swim relay, which took place this afternoon. Let’s just say the score is even now. As a member of 6B, I’d like to leave it at that, but it’s my duty as a journalist to report the whole story, no matter how painful.

  The two teams were neck and neck until the second-to-last lap, when 6B’s Alyssa forgot to touch the wall after her swim. Thinking everything was okay, 6B’s next swimmer, Candace, dove into the water to finish the race. She swam fast and edged 5C’s last swimmer, Winnie, by a nose. 6B thought they’d won the relay, but they were wrong. The referee disqualified 6B because Alyssa never touched the wall at the end of her lap. 5C won on a heartbreaking technicality.

  That means that we 6B-ers have to wear bathing suits to the Midsummer Dance! As many of you know, traditionally the sixth-division girls go formal to the dance, and a bathing suit is about as informal as you can get. But we have agreed to wear our suits under our dresses and dance in bathing suits to ONE SONG ONLY. The girls of 5C accepted this compromise after their counselor made them. Even they could see that depriving us of our one chance to wear the formal dresses we brought just for this occasion was too cruel.

  Brynn paused at the keyboard and sighed. She’d stopped by the newspaper office after dinner that night to write up a report about the depressing swim relay that afternoon. 5C had cheered and high-fived after the meet. Winnie was nice enough to come over to the sixth-division girls and say, “Tough relay.” It was a sportsmanlike gesture, Brynn guessed, but was there a hint of a sneer behind it? Was Winnie rubbing the victory in their faces?

  Brynn got her answer when another 5C girl said, “See you at the dance, girls—in your Speedos.”

  Brynn bristled at the memory. Then she thought she heard a noise outside the office. Was someone out there? She froze, listening, but all she heard was a gang of boys trooping by on their way to the lodge.

  She felt nervous at the newspaper these days. Weird things were going on. Like Jordan and Winnie’s secret story. When was that going to come out? When would they at least tell the newspaper staff what they were working on?

  Brynn had a bad feeling that secret story had something to do with bunk 6B.

  And what about the blind item in Bunk Roundup? Who was the source of all the rumors?

  She heard a noise again and swiveled around in her chair. Gaby stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light on the path outside.

  “I need your help,” Gaby said.

  “My help?” Brynn said. What could she do to help anyone? “What’s up?”

  “I’m innocent,” Gaby said. “I didn’t prank the bunk, and I didn’t take Amy. But no one believes me.”

  Brynn didn’t know what to say. Gaby did have a history of selfish behavior, even if she’d been better lately.

  “You believe me, don’t you, Brynn?” Gaby stood in front of Brynn, pleading, her eyes welling with tears. Or was that a trick of the light?

  Brynn sighed. The thing was, she did believe Gaby. She wasn’t sure why . . . something just told her Gaby didn’t do it. Usually, when she was up to no good, Gaby radiated a sense of pride in her badness. Now she just seemed sad that no one trusted her.

  “Yes,” Brynn said. “I believe you.”

  “Then you have to help me prove my innocence,” Gaby said. “You’re a reporter. You know how to find things out, right?”

  “Well . . .” Brynn really thought of herself as an actress. The newspaper was just one of her electives—though she had to admit, she was enjoying it.

  “Help me find out who really took the amethyst,” Gaby said. “We all want it back. It brought us good luck. I think we lost the swim meet today because we didn’t have Amy.”

  “Really?”

  “Remember how great Alyssa was in the obstacle course?” Gaby said. “That was right after she found Amy. She started having fantastic luck. Now Amy’s gone, and Alyssa forgets to touch the wall in a race? How weird is that?”

  “It’s not that strange,” Brynn said. “Alyssa’s not exactly a jock.”

  “She was when she had Amy,” Gaby said.

  Hmm. Brynn had wondered herself whether Amy brought good luck. Then there was Winnie and the weird secrets at the paper. Were they connected to the prank? To the amethyst? Maybe Brynn should look into it. After all, she was a reporter now.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll help you. Something strange is going on, and I want to find out who’s behind it and why.”

  “Excellent,” G
aby said. “You start interviewing suspects. I’ll snoop around a little.”

  “Don’t do anything too, you know, unethical,” Brynn said.

  “Hey,” Gaby said. “We’re a team. The unethical part is what you need me for.”

  Brynn flinched, but Gaby was right. Sometimes you had to fight sneakiness with sneakiness. And Gaby was the queen of sneaky.

  “Anybody want to listen to the Phillies game on the radio tonight?” Jenna asked at lunch the next day. Natalie was only half listening to the conversation. She was distracted by Logan, who sat across the mess hall with the boys in his bunk. He was totally staring at her. She stared back, and he looked away.

  “I want to hear the game,” Alex said, but most of the other girls shrugged, including Natalie. She wasn’t a huge baseball fan.

  “What’s the point of getting all worked up about the Phillies if we can’t go to the game next week?” Natalie said.

  “That’s true.” Jenna looked dejected.

  “You can always change your minds and go,” Mandy said. “There’s still time.”

  “No way,” Chelsea said. “I’m not a big believer in Alyssa’s psychic powers, but my face is too beautiful to be creamed by a baseball. I’m not taking chances.”

  “What’s your prediction on the game tonight, Alyssa?” Sloan asked. “Will the Phillies beat Arizona?”

  “Baseball’s not exactly my specialty,” Alyssa said.

  “Oh, come on, just a guess,” Priya said. “You can do it.”

  “Well, okay,” Alyssa said. “The Phillies will win. But don’t make any bets based on that.”

  “It’s just fun to see if you’ll be right or not,” Brynn said.

  Natalie looked up from her turkey sandwich. Logan was staring at her again. At first she thought it was a coincidence that he just happened to be looking in her direction. But after a few more bites and a sip of apple juice, she checked again, and he was still staring. What a weirdo.