“No. My mom says I have a strong immune system.
I’ve never even had a cold.”
“Everyone has had a cold,” I said.
“Well, I haven’t,” said Hailey. She always had to be the best at everything.
We returned to the group and worked on on our pumpkins. When we were finished, we had three smiling jack-o’-lanterns, a laughing jack-o’-lantern, two scary jack-o’-lanterns, and a goldfish. We also had a jack-o’-lantern covered with lots of scribbles.
“My jacky-latwen is silly!” Brady said, pointing to it and bursting into a fit of giggles.
I grinned at him.
“You crack yourself up, don’t you, Brady?”
“Yep.”
I paid special attention to Stanley’s. If there was ever a smug jack-o’-lantern, Stanley had drawn one. The right corner of the pumpkin’s mouth turned up into a smirk.
“My jack-o’-lantern is named Simon,” said Stanley.
At the mere mention of Simon’s name, Tori’s head swung in the direction of Stanley’s pumpkin. When she noticed the snotty grin, she frowned.
“It looks just like him,” Stanley said.
“You mean your brother has a pumpkin head?” I asked.
Stanley nodded. “Yeah, I would say so.”
By lunchtime I knew what my costume was going to be. I had brown pants and a brown T-shirt in my suitcase, just right for an apple tree. We’d brought more than enough apples for the apple-bobbing game. Now I just needed a bunch of leaves.
I started to take off for my leaf gathering when Tori yelled, “Piper Reed, don’t forget Bruna! It’s your turn.”
Tori walked over with Bruna. She slapped the leash in my hand and dug in her pocket. “Here are the L-I-V-E-R L-U-M-P-S,” she spelled.
“Liver Lumps!” Sam yelled. She could never resist showing off her reading skills.
Bruna barked and wagged her tail. I gave her a Liver Lump. Then we started on the trail.
“Don’t go alone,” Mom called out from the Airstream window.
“I’m not. Bruna is with me.”
“Take a friend, and don’t go too far.”
At her trailer window, Nicole called out, “I’d go with you, Piper, if I weren’t sick.”
“How are you feeling today?” I asked.
“Better, but not a hundred percent.”
Nearby, Hailey was writing on a piece of paper.
I went over to her. “Do you want to walk with me?”
Hailey didn’t even look up. “I’ve got to finish my homework. My mom said if I went camping, I had to make sure I finished it.”
Mom overheard and asked, “Do you have homework, Piper?”
“Nah, I don’t have any.” It was true. I didn’t have any homework with me. I left out the part about forgetting to bring it. I rushed off so she didn’t have a chance to ask more questions.
Michael couldn’t go either. He had to help his dad collect wood for that night’s fire.
Stanley was sitting under a tree, listening to Sam read her book to him. Nicole was at the window listening, too. I could tell Nicole was interested even though she had her own copy of Princess Samantha, Ruler of the Fair Land of NAS Pensacola. But Stanley was digging his heel in the dirt. He’d made a pretty big hole, probably looking for a way to escape underground.
“Hey, Stanley,” I yelled, “do you want to walk with me?”
Stanley jumped to his feet. A grin spread across his face.
Sam stared up, frowning. “He’s listening to my story.”
Stanley’s shoulders slumped as he sat down.
“Mom said I can’t walk by myself,” I told her. “He can hear your story later.”
“I promise I will,” Stanley said, standing once again.
“When?” Sam asked.
“Before we go back home,” said Stanley.
“I want to hear the rest,” Nicole said.
Stanley and I walked quickly away.
“Don’t you love Halloween, Stanley?”
“Yep, I do.”
We walked along the trail and I started picking leaves from trees on the lower branches and Stanley helped. Most of the leaves hung from higher branches that we couldn’t reach.
“Trick-or-treating is my favorite thing to do on Halloween,” said Stanley. “Are we going to trick-or-treat?”
“Well, there are only two trailers and a pop-up tent at our campsite. And I don’t think the parents are going to let us go to the other campsites.”
“I like to trick-or-treat until my sack fills up. Then I go home and dump it and go back for some more.”
“You’re not supposed to go back to the same houses, Stanley.”
“I didn’t know there were any official Halloween rules.”
“I guess there aren’t any official rules. It’s just one of those things everyone knows.”
Stanley shrugged. “If you say so.”
Most of the leaves were on branches that towered above our heads, but soon we discovered a patch of vines wrapped around the trunk and growing on the ground at the foot of the tree.
“Look!” Stanley pointed at the vine.
“Great find, Stanley! See, your Boy Scout skills have come in handy.”
“Those leaves look familiar,” said Stanley, “but I can’t remember why.”
Each leaf had three points and there were plenty of them. We picked and picked until we filled up the sack. Then we headed back.
“That was easy,” Stanley said.
“Thanks to you,” I told him.
Stanley held his head high as we made our way back to camp.
My hands began to itch. “I wish I’d used insect repellant before we left.” I scratched, and when I did, the itchy feeling traveled up my wrists.
“Me, too.” Stanley dug his fingernails into his arms.
“Those were sneaky bugs. They attacked and left before I got a glimpse of them. Did you see them?”
“Nope,” Stanley said. “I wonder if it was a brown recluse spider. Simon said a brown recluse is very tiny but if they bite, you could lose a body part.”
I counted my fingers. They were all there. But they sure did itch.
After lunch, I took a needle and thread from Mom’s sewing kit and sewed each leaf onto my T-shirt. Then I tripled the thread and tied it around the stem of the apples, attaching them to the T-shirt and my baseball cap. Now not only did my hands and wrists itch, but so did my forearms. By the time I was finished sewing on the leaves, my entire arms felt like I’d been bitten by a bunch of brown recluse spiders. I sure hoped I didn’t lose both of my arms. If I did, how would I ever be a Blue Angel pilot?
When it was time to put on my costume, my arms and hands were covered in red dots. I tried hard not to scratch, but it was useless.
I decided not to say anything. If my parents suspected I’d been bitten by a brown recluse I’d probably have to go to the hospital. At the very least, I’d be stuck in the trailer like Nicole. That was no way to spend Halloween. I went outside to join my friends.
Stanley wore a Superman costume. “Hey, Super Stanley!” I said.
“I’m Superman,” he told me.
“I like Super Stanley better,” I told him.
Stanley pushed at his glasses. “It’s Halloween. I can pretend to be who I want.”
Michael was dressed as a dill pickle, his favorite food. “How are you doing, Dill?”
“Not so sweet,” Michael said.
“Hardy-har-har,” I said. “I thought you’d sour for Halloween.”
“Are you an apple tree?” asked Stanley.
“Yes,” I stood tall and stretched my arms to the side. A few apples hung from my sleeves.
“Oh.” He didn’t sound impressed. Suddenly my idea didn’t seem as fabulous as I thought it was. And I was itching like crazy. It seemed to get worse after I put on my costume.
Even though Hailey wasn’t feeling well, she wore her mom’s lieutenant uniform shirt and hat and waved to u
s from the open window. Dressed in his crown and cape, Prince Brady settled next to Princess Elizabeth.
Our parents pulled out the lawn chairs and sat. It was time for the costume parade. Sam and Brady were first. I wish I’d been first. That way I could get out of my itchy costume.
“Princess Elizabeth and Prince Brady!” Tori announced in her anchorwoman’s voice. I liked how Tori thought she was too old for trick-or-treat, but didn’t want to miss out on all the fun.
“Pwince Billy Bob,” Brady said.
“Billy Bob?” Sam was not pleased. “There is no Prince Billy Bob.”
“Yep,” Brady said. “That’s me.”
They walked together in front of the parents. Brady held his crown as he inched carefully by, but Sam had lots of practice with a crown on her head. She pranced a few steps in front of him. I guess Princess Elizabeth didn’t want to be caught walking side by side with a prince named Billy Bob.
“Mr. Dill Pickle,” Tori called out with a wave of her arm.
Michael wiggled as he walked, a kind of pickle dance, I guessed.
When Michael finished, Tori said, “Is it a bird?”
Everyone yelled, “No!”
“Is it a plane?”
“No!”
“There’s no need to fear. Superman is here!”
Stanley climbed atop the picnic table, jumped, and flexed his skinny biceps. Then he stretched out his arms and ran by the adults, stopping just short of a tree. Blue sleeves hid his arms, but I could see his pink polka-dotted hands. I looked down at my hands. They were covered with the same pink dots. So were my arms. I hummed “Yankee Doodle” to try and keep my mind off the itching.
“An apple tree,” said Tori. She said it as if she was having to fight off a yawn.
My body itched all over. I continued to hum. I felt like twirling to keep from wanting to scratch. Then I had an idea. I wasn’t just an apple tree.
“Apple tree in a tornado,” I whispered to Tori.
“Huh?” She wrinkled her nose. “Okay. Apple tree in a TORNADO.”
I closed my eyes and hummed “Yankee Doodle.” I twirled and twirled. The apples fell off to the ground with a thump. Get off the bus! I was like a real tornado.
Even though I was dizzy, I peeked, trying to see Chief’s reaction. His mouth dropped open. “Piper, what on earth did you get into?”
I stopped and tried to focus. Everything and everyone was still spinning. The lake looked like it flew into the sky. I fell to the ground.
“Are those real leaves?” Abe asked, standing above me.
“Yep. Stanley and I found them on the trail.”
Mom bent over and took a close look. She gasped. “Piper! That’s poison ivy all over your costume! Get out of those clothes quick!”
At first I froze. Then I rushed into the trailer and shed my clothes. From inside, I heard Stanley say, “I knew there was something familiar about those leaves. We learned about poison ivy in Boy Scouts.”
Then Abe hollered, “Stanley, you must have gotten into it, too. Run to our tent and change.”
Mom put on Chief’s work gloves and threw my apple tree clothes and hat in a garbage sack. She spread pink lotion over my arms and hands. She made me swallow some medicine for the infection. And then she took the lotion and medicine over to Abe so that he could help Stanley. His parents’ note said he wasn’t allergic to anything. It was a good thing his name wasn’t Nicole Austin.
A few minutes later, dressed in plain clothes, Stanley and I joined the others. That was the quickest amount of time I had ever worn a Halloween costume.
Suddenly Sam said, “I know what Piper and Stanley are.”
“What?” I asked.
“Pink polka-dot monsters with the creepy crawly disease.”
Everyone laughed. I was just glad the pink lotion made most of the itching go away.
Later we bobbed for apples. When it got dark, we sat in a circle around the fire and listened to Tori tell scary stories. Only they weren’t scary.
“She opened the door and BOO!” Tori said. But Brady and Sam grabbed hands and squealed. Even Nicole squealed. From her window.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take another of Tori’s boring stories, something hit my head. Worms! It was raining big glowing worms. We all screamed then. Until we discovered Chief and Abe up in the tree above us.
Then we went trick-or-treating. When we knocked on the Airstream door, Mom and Chief answered. Mom wore a witch’s hat and a cat mask covered Chief’s face.
At the tent, Yolanda and Abe were dressed like a caveman and cavewoman.
Mr. and Mrs. Austin wore cowboy hats. “Howdy, partners,” they said, tipping their hats.
After they dropped candy in our bags, I glanced down in my sack. This was the puniest amount of candy I’d ever got on Halloween. Then I announced, “Hey, maybe we should trick-or-treat Stanley style.”
Everyone followed Stanley and me as we rushed back to the Airstream. We held our sacks out, ready to shout, “Trick or treat!”
The door slowly opened, and to our surprise, a ghost stood there.
“Ahh!” we yelled, jumping back.
“Aw, it’s only Tori under a sheet,” I said. But secretly I wanted to yell “Get off the bus!”
My sister had actually surprised me, only for a second, though.
Yolanda and Abe became firemen on their second round. The Austins put on redbird masks. We returned, again and again, to the trailers and tent, never knowing who we’d find behind the doors. It really felt like we were trick-or-treating at different homes. Only it was better.
Suddenly Mom said, “Piper, where is Bruna?”
I jumped up and gasped. “Bruna!”
The last time I’d seen her was hours ago when I was still an apple tree and Stanley was still Super Stanley.
10
CALLING BRUNA
Little beams from our flashlights bounced against the woods.
“Bruna! Bruna!” We called out.
“Boona,” cried Brady.
We were all there except for Nicole and Mrs. Austin who stayed behind at the campsite.
My heart felt like it had dropped into my stomach. It was my fault. I was in charge of Bruna. I’d been the one to convince Mom and Chief to let her come camping with us. Now she was lost.
I thought about the day we went to pick her up at the poodle lady’s house. I’d wanted a German shepherd instead of a poodle until I saw those little floppy ears and her bobbed tail with a pom-pom. I thought about how she slept with me and kept my cold feet warm at the foot of the bed. I thought about the tricks I’d taught her and how we almost won the Gypsy Club Pet Show. A big lump lodged in my throat. It was so big, I couldn’t even call out her name.
The wind blew through the tree branches and made a crackle sound. Above our heads I heard a hoot-hoot.
“What’s that?” asked Sam.
“An owl,” Mom said. Then she and Sam went back to calling, “Bruna! Bruna!”
A thin cloud drifted in front of a full moon. It felt like a Halloween night with all the eerie sounds and sights. Now I really was scared. I was scared for Bruna.
That big knot in my throat kept me from joining in with the others. Then I noticed Stanley wasn’t calling her name either. He was fiddling with the flashlight, turning it on and off.
I walked closer to him.
“I’m thinking,” Stanley said.
“About what?” I asked.
“Bruna. You know if I was a dog, it might scare me if a whole bunch of people were yelling my name. I’d think I was in trouble.”
Stanley had a point. He continued explaining. “And if I was a dog out exploring in the woods, having a fun time, I’d have to have a real good reason to stop.”
“Yes?”
Stanley shined his flashlight under his chin so that his entire face glowed. “What does Bruna like better than anything in the whole world?”
I thought hard, trying to think of what it was that Bruna liked t
he most. I slipped my hands in my pockets. That’s when I knew.
Then above everyone’s voices calling out “Bruna!” I yelled, “Get off the bus!”
Every flashlight turned toward me. It was so bright I covered my eyes until they pointed them to the ground.
“What’s wrong, Piper?” Chief asked.
“I have a great idea. I mean Stanley has a great idea.”
“You’re kidding,” Hailey said.
“No.” I frowned at her and continued. “It’s a really, really great idea. Stanley said we should think about what Bruna wants more than anything in the world.”
“And just what would that be?” Tori asked.
“Liver Lumps!” I said.
Mom nodded, smiling. “Great idea, Stanley. Piper, why don’t you give it a try? And the rest of us will keep quiet.”
I took a deep breath and yelled at the top of my voice. So loud that everyone covered their ears. “Bruna, Liver Lump! Liver Lump, Bruna! Liver Lump, Liver Lump!”
We began to walk again, the light from our flashlights dotting the trail. My voice was the only one, calling, “Liver Lump, Bruna.” I made sure to make my voice sound happy like Bruna had done something good even though running away was bad. Still we couldn’t blame her for wanting to explore. She was a dog, after all.
My arms felt itchy again. I scratched and scratched as we walked and walked. I was starting to think Stanley’s brilliant idea wasn’t so brilliant. That big knot came back and my eyes went all blurry. I didn’t want to know what it was like to not have Bruna in my life. But it looked like I was going to have to find out.
Then I heard a bark. A familiar bark. Sam covered her mouth with both hands, but she jumped up and down. Brady joined her, covering his mouth, too.
Soon we heard some bushes rustling. We pointed our flashlights in the direction of the shaking bush. And then we saw the little floppy ears, the bobbed tail with the pom-pom.
Piper Reed, Campfire Girl Page 5