by Annie Bryant
“Time to get ready, Charlotte,” her father called up to her. “Be down soon, Dad!” Charlotte pulled out her journal from her bottom desk drawer and slipped her lucky jean jacket over her shoulders. Charlotte’s journal was where she kept all her deepest thoughts and secrets, and the jean jacket was her most prized possession. It used to belong to her mother, who had died when Charlotte was little. She missed her mother dreadfully some days, but wearing the jacket, especially when she was writing, made Charlotte feel comfy and inspired. Her most creative thoughts came out when she wore that jacket.
She wrapped the jacket tightly around her shoulders, opened her journal, and began.
Charlotte’s Journal
Saturday is finally here! Nick Montoya’s parents took us to the Cape a few weeks ago to help brainstorm ideas, and somehow we came up with this scavenger hunt and actually turned it into a real live school field trip that IS HAPPENING TODAY!
I can’t wait to go adventuring and I am so excited that we are heading to one of my favorite places to go around here…. Cape Cod. When you open the window going over the Sagamore Bridge and smell the fresh sea air you understand. It’s like you’ve traveled to a different world where time is slower and you feel like you are living in a lovely postcard. And the big extra-special bonus is that I’m going to the Cape with all my friends…and Nick Montoya!
Go us! I think the trip will be amazing, but I’m a little nervous. Typical me. But still, I can’t help it.
What happens if the trip is a disaster? Everyone will blame me, because I organized it. Kiki Underwood is coming AND hosting a party at her house. I hope the Empress of Mean doesn’t have something terrible up her sleeve. I’m sorry, but I just don’t trust her.
Also, what if I’m not on a team with any of the BSG or Nick?? It’s been a while since our dreamy Valentine’s Day Dance kiss…my first and only kiss. I wonder if I will remember that kiss for my entire life?
Well, that’s the story, dear journal. Stay tuned to hear about our fabulous adventures to come. And with the BSG, you KNOW there will be!
“Knock knock,” said Charlotte’s father, rapping lightly at her open door. Charlotte turned as she heard the mournful yipping of the official BSG mascot, Marty, who was smart enough to know when Charlotte was going to be leaving him, even if only for an overnight. “Are you all packed and ready to roll?” asked Mr. Ramsey, poking his head into her room.
Marty leaped into her room and right into Charlotte’s arms, covering her with little dog kisses. Charlotte nodded, and rubbed the little dude’s belly. “I was packed on Thursday night. And, Dad?” Charlotte put on a pair of sunglasses and said in a low voice, “I was born ready.”
“That’s my global girl…ready to travel at the drop of a hat.” Mr. Ramsey chuckled and picked up Charlotte’s backpack to carry downstairs. “I really wish I was going with you kids. Too bad I have this conference in Chicago.”
“I know. But you’ll have fun in Chicago. You love those professor brainiac writing conventions.”
“Oh, yes. We professors do adore our brainiac conventions. I’m thinking of running for treasurer of the brainiacs,” Mr. Ramsey joked as he loaded up the car. “Say bye, Marty! You be good for Miss Pierce!” Marty howled a tragic good-bye bark as Ms. Pierce waved his paw. Charlotte blew him kisses from the car. The little dude would be just fine with the Ramsey’s kindly landlady and downstairs neighbor taking care of him for the weekend.
“I am a little sad that I’m not going along,” her father said on the ride over.
“Next time, Dad,” Charlotte promised. “I’ll fill you in on everything when we get back!”
But the truth was Charlotte felt a little relieved and excited that they didn’t have any parents chaperoning the trip. As much as she loved her travel writer father, Charlotte was looking forward to having a friends-only trip to the Cape. It made her feel so very grown up.
When she and her father arrived at Abigail Adams Junior High, the first thing Charlotte noticed was the mayhem. The parking lot was an absolute zoo of kids, cars, and worried parents trying to figure out who was in charge. Charlotte’s stomach did a little flutter. Who was responsible here?
“Are you sure you want me to leave you in this circus?” asked Mr. Ramsey. Charlotte almost giggled at her father’s face—he looked more nervous than she felt!
“I’ll be fine, Dad. If it wasn’t complete craziness it wouldn’t be a BSG adventure, right?”
As Charlotte hugged her father good-bye, she looked around for a familiar face.
Katani and Patrice marched over, looking especially cranky. “Some little boy in an army suit just spilled ice cream on my foot and ran away. Honestly, what kind of parent gives their kid ice cream at eight a.m. on a Saturday?” bemoaned Patrice. “And why are there little kids running around, anyway…and where is everyone?”
“We’re not morning people,” Katani grumbled in explanation to Charlotte, who looked a little uncomfortable at Patrice’s outburst.
“All I know is that we’d better get this game on,” Patrice declared. “’Cause our team is going to be one lean, mean, scavenger-hunting machine!”
“Yoo-hoo! Ladies!” Maeve Kaplan-Taylor skipped over. She was decked out in a pair of seashell pink shorts, a white-and-blue-striped sailor shirt, and matching starfish earrings and necklace. “You girls like my look? I call it Seagirl or Maeve on the Seashore…. I haven’t settled on an exact name yet.”
Charlotte shook her head. She couldn’t believe that she had a best girlfriend who actually named her looks, but she adored Maeve for being the kind of girl who did.
“BTW, have you guys seen my dad and my brother?” asked Maeve. “Sam has been on the warpath with his new squirt gun. I told them they could leave, but…”
“En garde!” piped a little boy wearing full army garb who suddenly jumped out from behind a Volkswagen, brandishing a squirt gun in one hand and a dripping half-eaten ice-cream cone in the other. “Take that!” And before the girls had a moment to run, they were all super soaked. “Ha ha! The ice-cream bandit strikes again!” Sam shouted in triumph and disappeared into the crowd leaving a trail of ice-cream puddles in his wake.
“Well, that solves that mystery!” Patrice remarked, shaking her sticky right foot.
“Your little brother, Maeve…is completely wild!” Katani moaned, wringing water out of her hand-beaded T-shirt.
“Sam’s not the only one here in a costume,” whispered Isabel, who’d just walked up from behind to join the group. “Check it out….”
Betsy Fitzgerald was waltzing over with a grown man in tow who looked like he’d just stepped out of the Revolutionary War.
“Are they serious?” Maeve’s eyes widened. The man was wearing britches and carrying a musket!
“Hey, be nice—that’s Betsy’s father,” Charlotte said, reminding her friends of Betsy’s little speech in class the week before.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me that this was where Nerd-opalooza was meeting?” Kiki Underwood sauntered over from a gleaming red convertible, speaking loud enough to evoke giggles from a few people around her.
Avery scowled. She did not find Kiki funny at all and she hated it when Kiki made fun of other kids.
Charlotte, for her part, was relieved that Betsy was so busy showing off her costumed father to Mr. Moore and spouting out facts about Paul Revere that she completely missed Kiki’s remark.
“Hey, Char, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Charlotte started when she heard the familiar voice. She couldn’t help feeling slightly off-kilter every time she saw Nick Montoya. Sure, it went away after a few minutes and then they were totally cool. Because Nick was just like her buddy…a buddy with deep, chocolate eyes and the most adorable little wave in his hair…STOP! Charlotte firmly ordered herself. This is Nick Montoya, and we planned this trip. Get a grip. Hey, that rhymed….
“Nicholas, there you are. Fashionably late as usual.” Maeve kissed the air near Nick’s head. N
ick looked at Maeve like a UFO might have just unloaded a half gorilla–half space creature hybrid onto the city of Brookline.
“Hi, Maeve. Um, Charlotte…we need to get going and no one is doing anything about it….” Nick gestured at the busy parking lot. In one corner Mr. Moore and his wife were talking to Henry Yurt’s father, a professor at MIT, about the positive effects of organic feed on cows. Ms. O’Reilly was rummaging around in the back of a minivan, and Dillon Johnson and Avery were flinging a Frisbee back and forth.
“Well, I found one chaperone who wants to make her team into a—” Charlotte began.
“Lean, mean, scavenger-hunting machine,” finished Patrice, folding her arms smartly. “So who’s with me?”
“Ummm…,” Nick started, glancing at Charlotte.
“I’ll get the team assignments,” she promised, and trotted over to Ms. O’Reilly, who had just pulled a canvas tote bag full of envelopes out of her van.
Charlotte handed out one bundle each for Patrice, Fabiana Montoya, and Ben Briggs, who had just arrived with his sister, Chelsea, toting all the team cameras. Patrice held up a manila envelope labeled TEAM SALTY and cleared her throat. “All right, shorties. Let me show you how the big kids play! Listen up, everybody! If you are any of the following people, please report to my office IMMEDIATELY!”
Patrice opened the envelope in her hand very dramatically, like she was announcing an Academy Award. Maeve clasped her hands together accordingly. “My team, the Salty Cods, are…Dillon Johnson, Riley Lee, Charlotte Ramsey, and my very own little sis, Katani Summers!”
Charlotte felt a sudden stab of disappointment. Nick wasn’t on her team? In a way it made sense; Mr. Moore had put Katani with her sister, so maybe Nick was with his sister. Or maybe the teachers thought there should be one trip organizer on each team.
“I’m Dillon,” shouted a voice from the Frisbee game, “and no one told me where your office was….”
“RIGHT HERE—you ready to roll?” Patrice cheered. Katani wanted to hide. Patrice sounded like a drill sergeant and their trip hadn’t even started! And wouldn’t you know it? All the other chaperones started to follow Patrice’s lead.
Ben Briggs of the Beach Barnacles, in a milder voice than Patrice’s, gathered his brigade—Avery Madden, Henry Yurt, Chelsea Briggs, and (gag) Kiki Underwood—with a direct “Barnacles, over here, now!” Fabiana Montoya’s team, the Cranberry Boggers, was composed of the remaining students: Betsy Fitzgerald, Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, Danny Pellegrino, Isabel Martinez, and Nick Montoya.
Maeve was elated to be on Nick’s older sister’s team. With her long, silky brown hair and colorful flowy shirts, Fabiana reminded Maeve of a pretty flower child of the sixties. She was always smiling and friendly, and an amazing actress. Exactly the kind of sister Maeve would have wished for if she had one of her own. And of course Isabel was a doll—always easy to get along with.
If only Riley were on the team, too! Maeve sighed. They could talk music; maybe even sing some songs together. Maeve glanced at Nick shuffling his feet beside his big sister and suddenly had a fabulous idea. She put on her sunglasses and imagined she was a secret agent on a mission to Malibu. She was sure Nick would go through with her plan.
“Okay, kids, I am impressed!” declared Mr. Moore. “You’ve done a very effective job organizing yourselves after all.” He smiled as Chelsea, the other trip organizer, took a picture of him in his black and white cow sweatshirt. Charlotte glanced at Nick with raised eyebrows, wondering if the grown-ups had left them alone on purpose. Maybe this do-it-yourself trip that they’d organized had a do-it-yourself theme. But Nick was busy talking to Maeve about something. Charlotte figured it was up to her to take charge.
“The team captains have sealed envelopes with all the clues and detailed maps of our search area!” Charlotte announced. The teams moved in closer. “They also have copies of your parents’ signed permission slips and emergency contact info. When we arrive at the Cape, the teachers will drop us off at the start point—Nickerson State Park—and meet up with us when it’s time for dinner.”
“Excellent work, Charlotte!” Ms. O’Reilly piped up. “We expect you kids to obey your high school chaperones and do everything they say.”
Avery rubbed her hands together. She couldn’t wait to start. Then she noticed Kiki filing her nails and looking totally bored. But without Anna and Joline around, nobody seemed to care one bit what Kiki thought about anything.
“Woo-hoo!” whispered Avery to herself.
“One last thing before you board your pirate ships, er, I mean automobiles, driven by your most beloved teachers,” Mr. Moore added. (This time Avery couldn’t help laughing a little. Mr. Moore was just too corny.) “I am presenting each team with one student-appointed Talkie Trekker. Any volunteers?”
Suddenly Avery wasn’t laughing anymore. Her arm shot up into the air. Walkie-talkies were one of her absolute favorite things in the world. When she was little, she’d even made some walkie-talkies the old-fashioned way by connecting two cans to a string. Mr. Moore, appreciating her enthusiasm for the job, granted her the bright yellow, brand-new device.
Meanwhile, Betsy and Danny Pellegrino were arguing over their team’s walkie-talkie. Finally Danny suggested they play rock, paper, scissors, and he immediately creamed her scissors with rock. “No fair. You know it’s always best two out of three!” Betsy protested.
“Fine. Two out of three.” Danny then pummeled her again by covering her rock with paper. While he was doing a little victory dance, Betsy smiled brightly. “Danny, that was just so chivalrous to offer me the privilege,” she said as she accepted the portable high-tech trophy from Mr. Moore.
Danny opened his mouth, then closed it, obviously completely confused about what just happened.
“And what about the Salty Cods?” asked Mr. Moore.
“Ooh! I’ll do it!” cried Dillon. But it was as though Mr. Moore couldn’t even hear him.
“What about you, Katani? I think you’d be a marvelous Talkie Trekker. Don’t you?”
Katani almost balked. “Me? But Mr. Moore…I’m not very outdoorsy.”
Mr. Moore placed the walkie-talkie in her hand and explained, “But it’s not about being outdoorsy, Katani. It’s about being responsible. Now come, Salty Cods! You are with me. To the Cowmobile,” he cried.
Henry Yurt = Not a Clue
From the outside, Mr. Moore’s white van seemed innocent and ordinary enough. But inside, it was a whole other story. Mr. Moore and his wife had gone to town with cow decorations. The seats all had cow-print covers—the black and white Vermont cow-print that was oh-so-hot right now. The air freshener was “barn grass,” the horn on the wheel went “moooooo,” and there was a little cow bobblehead doll in a lei and hula skirt jiggling beneath the windshield.
As Charlotte and Katani mooed out the wide windows to Avery, Isabel, and Maeve, Charlotte worried for a moment that maybe they were being hauled off to a dairy farm in another galaxy far, far away. “If I come back from this trip mooing…I’m blaming you!” Katani whispered, pointing at Charlotte.
“Ready, set…” Mr. Moore hit the horn and a low “mooooo” sound filled the van.
“Wait! Where’s Riley?” Patrice held up her Salty Cods team list and looked from face to face.
Just then, the sliding door opened, and Nick popped his head in. “Hi, Mr. Moore, Patrice, Charlotte, everyone…I’m on your team now, guys!”
Charlotte felt her cheeks go pink. “Did you…switch with Riley?” she asked, thinking to herself That is so sweet!
Nick nodded. “Uh-huh. Let’s go, Salty Cods!”
Mr. Moore honked the horn again, and started up the engine. “Well, I never said you couldn’t switch…so I’ll let it slide. We need to get mooo-ving!”
Nick looked at Charlotte and they dropped their heads to keep from bursting out laughing at the cow man’s directions. Katani moved over so Nick could slide into the center seat next to them, and the Cowmobile was off. All the Salty Cods
knew that traveling with Mr. Moore would be a mooo-arvelous adventure in itself.
“Now listen up, troops!” Patrice turned around from the front seat, and tore open an envelope labeled MISSION. She unfolded the paper and read in the same take-charge voice she’d used in the parking lot:
Greetings Brave Scavenger Hunters of Abigail Adams Junior High School,
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is simple. You must find the 6 “treasures” specified in the clues. For each treasure you find and photograph, you will receive 3 points. The team that reaches the finish line first will receive 10 points. The team to reach the finish line second will receive 5 points. The team who reaches the finish line last gets 0 points. I know it is sad, but as the age-old saying goes, “The early bird catches the worm!”
But never fear! If any of you turns out to be Pokey McSlowpokes, there is always the bonus point list:
fox
surfboard
sandpiper
street named after an animal
scallop shell
pirate-themed anything
sailboat
tide pool
sand dune
park ranger
If you spot any of these items and take a picture of it, you will be rewarded 1 point for each item photographed.
Happy scavenger hunting!
Patrice glanced back at her team and pulled down her sunglasses from her nose to look ultraserious. “Um, guys, we’re coming in first, uuuh-huh!”
Nick high-fived Charlotte, Katani, and Dillon. Katani wasn’t feeling so gung ho about the whole thing, however. This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing weekend with her friends…after all, they were only bike riding and figuring out a few clues. But her sister really expected them to beat the other teams. What if, Katani thought nervously, I slow my team down? What if Patrice wouldn’t want to wait for her little sister to catch up? Katani stared out the window wishing that there had been some way for her to back out of this trip.