Trouble at Camp Treehouse

by Carolyn Keene

  Bess put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “What a fake,” she said under her breath.

  “Don’t make me laugh,” Nancy said, trying not to smile.

  “Fake, fake,” Bess said, giggling.

  Nancy giggled, too. “Shhh,” she said. “Dana will hear. Then she’ll know we’re following her.”

  Nora and Joanna pouted. “We wanted the treehouse, too,” they said.

  “Maybe tomorrow,” Mary Ann said again.

  Finally Nora and Joanna signed up for canoeing.

  When all the Bluebirds were ready, Mary Ann sent Nora and Joanna to the canoes.

  Then she took the other four girls to the volleyball court. Ten other kids were already waiting there.

  “I’m the coach for volleyball,” Mary Ann explained. “Let’s choose up sides.”

  “Oh, no,” Bess said. “Look! It’s him again!”

  “Who?” Dana asked.

  “That stupid David Mulholland,” Bess said.

  Nancy squinted into the sun. David was standing on the other side of the volleyball net. He had a sneaky grin on his face.

  “I’m not going to play with him,” Bess said. She crossed her arms on her chest.

  “Don’t be silly,” Lauren said. “He’s just a boy. We’ll beat him.”

  Then Lauren glanced down at the silver locket around her neck.

  “I’d better put this somewhere safe,” she said. She took the locket off. Then she pulled a tissue out of her pocket. She carefully rolled the locket up in the tissue, and set the tissue on top of a huge boulder near the volleyball court.

  “Let’s go!” Mary Ann called, blowing her whistle. “Time to warm up!”

  For the next few minutes, the two teams practiced hitting the ball over the net.

  Then the game started for real. On the first serve, the ball came to Bess.

  “Get it!” Nancy yelled. “Come on, Bess!”

  Bess put her hands up to hit the ball. But she also ducked. She looked as if she didn’t want the ball to hit her.

  Dana came running up from behind. She smacked the ball with her palms. But she bumped into Bess at the same time. Bess fell sideways, twisting her ankle.

  “Ow!” Bess said as she hit the ground.

  “Are you okay?” Nancy asked, running over.

  “No,” Bess said. She stood up and hobbled off the court. “I have to sit down. My ankle hurts.”

  Mary Ann hurried over, too. She checked Bess’s ankle. It wasn’t sprained. Mary Ann told Bess to sit and rest for a while. Bess moved down to the far end of the field.

  When Mary Ann was gone, Nancy leaned down and whispered in Bess’s ear.

  “Keep an eye on Dana,” she said. “She’s our suspect, don’t forget.”

  The game went on, even though Nancy’s team was short one player. Nancy scored two points for her team. Lauren scored three. Dana scored the most—six points. But she was not a good team player. She ran all over the court, trying to hit the ball, even when it came to someone else.

  When the game was over, Lauren gave Nancy a high five. “We won!” she said. “Even without Bess.” Then she hurried over to the boulder.

  “Oh, no! What’s going on at this camp, anyway?” Lauren cried. She put her hands on her hips.

  “What’s wrong?” Nancy asked.

  “Now my locket is gone!” Lauren said, her eyes filling with tears.

  6

  Campfire Fun

  Not again!” Nancy said, running toward the boulder. “I can’t believe it! Someone stole your locket, too?”

  “It was right here!” Lauren cried, her voice rising.

  Nancy felt her own face getting hot. How could this happen? How could someone steal Lauren’s camera and her locket? It was so mean!

  Maybe this time it was David Mulholland, Nancy thought. She turned and glared at him.

  But just then Bess came walking toward Nancy and Lauren. She had been sitting at the end of the field. “What’s wrong?” Bess asked.

  “My locket is gone,” Lauren told her.

  “No, it’s not,” Bess said quickly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue. The locket was still rolled up inside.

  Lauren wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked happy and surprised.

  “Sorry,” Bess explained. “But I lost a special locket once. So I know how it feels. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to yours. I kept it in my pocket during the game.”

  “Oh,” Lauren said. “That was nice. Thanks. But I wish you’d told me first.”

  Bess blushed. “I guess I should have.”

  Now that the locket was found, Nancy wanted to talk to Bess and Lauren about the missing camera. But she didn’t have a chance. Mary Ann sent them up to their cabin for rest time.

  During rest, no talking was allowed. Nancy took out her special blue notebook and lay on her bunk. She went over her clues and wrote them down.

  Okay, Nancy thought. Dana was alone in the cabin on Friday night. But so what? That didn’t prove anything.

  It meant that Dana could have stolen the camera. But did she?

  And what about Nora and Joanna? Nancy wondered. They were such close friends, they always kept to themselves.

  I’m going to keep an eye on them, Nancy decided.

  She glanced over at Nora. Nora and Joanna weren’t talking. They were painting nail polish on each other’s toes.

  Maybe one of them stole the camera, Nancy thought. But how will I ever find out?

  Maybe this mystery was too hard, Nancy thought. Maybe she couldn’t solve it.

  When rest time was over, all the Bluebirds went for a hike in the woods. On the hike, Mary Ann Remar took Nancy aside.

  “I meant to thank you, Nancy,” Mary Ann said. “For bringing my glasses back.”

  “Oh, you’re welcome,” Nancy said.

  But secretly she thought: now if I could only find who took Lauren’s camera and bring the camera back to her.

  After dinner that night, everyone went to the campfire. It was held in the big clearing, under a sky full of stars. The night air was chilly. The fire felt good. It was Nancy’s first campfire ever.

  “This is going to be so much fun!” Nancy said to Bess with excitement.

  She found a place to sit on the ground with Bess and Lauren. But Lauren was glum.

  “Look,” Lauren said. “Mike Silver has a camera. He’s taking pictures of all his friends at the campfire. That’s what I wanted to do.”

  “You will,” Bess said. “Just wait and see. Nancy will find your camera for you. She always does.”

  What if I don’t? Nancy thought. What if I can’t, this time?

  For the next few minutes, the counselors stood in the middle of the circle and taught the campers some new songs. Philip, the music counselor, played the guitar. He taught them a song about a ham that jumped off the table and ran away to a shopping mall.

  Nancy thought it was funny. She liked the part about the ham wearing pineapple rings as earrings.

  Nancy, Bess, and Lauren all sang along. But Nancy kept an eye on her other cabin mates at the same time.

  Nora and Joanna weren’t singing at all. They were talking and giggling.

  Then Nancy glanced at Dana. Dana was singing. But when the song was over, Dana suddenly got up. She started walking around the circle.

  “Where’s she going?” Nancy whispered to Bess, nodding toward Dana.

  “I don’t know,” Bess said.

  “I’m going to find out,” Nancy said. “Be right back.”

  Nancy stood up and hurried around the outside of the campfire circle. She had to walk slowly, because it was dark. She didn’t want to trip on any stones.

  Philip strummed his guitar and started to sing “Good Night, Campers.”

  Nancy didn’t sing along. She kept her eye on Dana. I’ve got to follow her, Nancy thought. Even though it’s dark and spooky.

  “Nancy? Dana?” one of the counselors called. It was Linda, the Arts and Crafts
counselor. She was sitting by the campfire, but she reached out and tapped Nancy’s leg. “Where are you going?” Linda asked.

  “I was just following Dana,” Nancy said, pointing in Dana’s direction.

  “But where is she going?” Linda asked, starting to get up.

  Dana walked straight toward a picnic table under some trees. It wasn’t far away. In the moonlight, Nancy could see something lying on the table. Something yellow.

  Dana picked up the yellow thing. Then she turned around with it in her hand.

  “Hey,” Nancy said out loud when she saw what Dana was holding. “That’s a camera!”

  7

  A Big Mistake

  Hey!” Nancy called again, marching toward Dana.

  Dana didn’t seem to hear her. The singing and guitar playing drowned out the sound of Nancy’s voice.

  “The m-o-r-e we are together, the h-a-p-p-i-e-r we’ll be,” everyone sang.

  Without looking in Nancy’s direction, Dana started walking back around the campfire. She was headed toward Lauren and Bess. She didn’t even try to hide the camera in her hand.

  “Both of you girls, go back and sit down,” Linda called.

  “We will,” Nancy said. Then she ran to catch up with Dana. By the time she did, Dana was right in front of Lauren. She held her hand out to Lauren just as the song ended.

  “Look what I just found,” Dana said to Lauren. “Your camera.”

  “You found it?” Lauren said. “That’s great!”

  Then Lauren looked at the yellow camera in Dana’s hand. She frowned. “That’s not my camera,” Lauren said. “My camera is a real camera, not the kind you can throw away when you’re finished with it. And it’s black.”

  “Oh,” Dana said. Her face fell. “Oops. I saw it sitting on a table over there, and I thought it was yours.”

  “No,” Lauren said. Her shoulders slumped. “But thanks anyway.”

  “Oops, again,” Dana said. “I guess I just took someone else’s camera by mistake. I’d better go put it back.”

  Nancy felt herself blushing as she watched Dana skip off.

  “Oops on me, too,” Nancy said. “I almost accused her of being a thief.”

  Bess scooted over to make more room for Nancy to sit down. “Oh, well,” Bess said. “Now you can cross one more suspect off your list.”

  When the campfire was over, Nancy, Bess, and Lauren walked up the hill to their cabin together. Nora and Joanna were right behind them. Dana ran ahead. The crickets chirped loudly in the night.

  “Let’s tell ghost stories,” Nora said as they reached the cabin door.

  Nancy shivered with excitement. “That sounds like fun,” she said.

  “Okay,” Bess said. “But I get to go first.”

  “Really?” Nancy was surprised. Usually Bess was afraid of ghost stories.

  “Sure,” Bess nodded. “That way, I won’t be so scared.”

  When all the girls were in their bunks, Bess started her story. It was about a girl with a black ribbon around her neck. Everyone kept asking her to take it off, but she never would. Then finally one day she did. And her head fell off!

  “Cool!” Nora said.

  “That was creepy,” Joanna said.

  “Now someone else tell one,” Nora said. “How about you, Lauren.”

  Nancy looked over at Lauren. She was lying with her back to everyone, facing the wall. “No, thanks,” Lauren said quietly.

  Uh-oh, Nancy thought. She must be really upset about her camera.

  Nancy didn’t blame her, either. It was terrible to lose something special.

  I wish I could find the camera for her, Nancy thought. But she was running out of ideas.

  Maybe Nora and Joanna both stole it, Nancy thought. Maybe they were covering up for each other.

  Or maybe it was someone else. . . .

  Or maybe . . .

  Nancy yawned. Her eyes were heavy. Maybe I’ll figure it out tomorrow, she thought as she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

  “Okay, Bluebirds,” Mary Ann said at the breakfast table the next morning. “We get to sign up first for morning activities today. You can choose anything you want, so let’s go!”

  Nancy had barely finished eating her cereal. She took a last gulp of juice and swallowed quickly. Then she jumped up from the dining table and ran outside.

  “I want the treehouse!” Dana yelled, jumping up and down.

  “You’ve got it,” Mary Ann said. “Now, who’s next?”

  “I want swimming,” Lauren said, stepping forward eagerly.

  “You’ve got it,” Mary Ann said. “How about you, Nancy?”

  “I want swimming, too,” Nancy said.

  “Oh, no!” Bess said. “Please, Nancy. Anything but swimming.”

  “But this is my last chance,” Nancy said, turning to her friend. “Tomorrow we go home. And I really want to swim in that lake.”

  “I know, but please,” Bess begged. “How about archery, instead? That sounds like fun.”

  “Go ahead,” Nancy said firmly. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going swimming in the lake.”

  “Fine,” Bess said. She stomped off.

  Oh, great, Nancy thought. Now my best friend is mad at me.

  Mary Ann watched Bess walk over to a big tree and sit down under it.

  “Don’t worry,” Mary Ann said to Nancy. “You girls go get your bathing suits on. I’ll talk to Bess.”

  “Thanks,” Nancy said. But she still felt bad.

  A few minutes later, Nancy and Lauren walked down to the lake. The sun sparkled on the water as other kids splashed around.

  “Let’s go on the dock and use the slide,” Nancy said, dropping her towel on the grass.

  “Okay,” Lauren said. Then she stopped. “Uh-oh,” she said. “I forgot to take off my watch in the cabin. I’d better put it away.”

  Lauren took her watch off and rolled it up in her towel. She set it carefully on the grass.

  “There,” Lauren said. “Now it won’t get lost.”

  “You’re so careful,” Nancy said. “That’s the third time you’ve done that.”

  “Done what?” Lauren said.

  “Rolled your watch or something up in a towel or something,” Nancy said.

  “Yeah,” Lauren said. “Well, my mom taught me that. She said it’s the best way to take care of things and not lose them.”

  All of a sudden Nancy’s eyes lit up. She turned around and grabbed Lauren’s hands.

  “What did you just say?” Nancy asked excitedly.

  “Huh? I said my mom—”

  “Never mind!” Nancy cried out. “I heard you. And I think I know where your camera is!”

  8

  Lauren’s Neat Ending

  Where is it? Where is my camera?” Lauren cried.

  “Just wait,” Nancy said, her eyes dancing. “You’ll see.”

  Nancy ran down the grass toward the water. The swimming counselors were all standing there. Quickly Nancy told Jenny, the counselor in charge, that she wanted to go back to her cabin. She explained that Lauren had lost her camera, and Nancy thought she knew where it was.

  “Okay,” Jenny said. “But you and Lauren must stick together. And don’t go anywhere else.”

  “We won’t,” Nancy promised. Then she almost bounced all the way back to Lauren. “Let’s go!” Nancy said.

  When they got to the cabin, Nancy ran to Lauren’s bunk and pointed to her duffel bag. “Open it,” Nancy said.

  Lauren shook her head. “It’s not in there,” she said. “Believe me, I looked.”

  Lauren pulled the duffel out from under her bed anyway. She unzipped the top and opened it wide. Nancy looked inside.

  “See?” Lauren said. “I told you. My camera’s not here.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Nancy said. Nancy reached in and picked up a sweatshirt. It was rolled up in one corner. As soon as she felt it, a big smile spread across her face. “Feel this,” Nancy said.

  Lauren to
ok the sweatshirt and felt it. It was lumpy. “Ah!” she gasped as she unrolled it quickly. Her camera was inside!

  Nancy was so excited, she started dancing around the room.

  “I knew it!” she cried. “I knew it!”

  “But how did you know?” Lauren asked, amazed.

  “I saw you rolling everything up,” Nancy said. “Your watch, your locket. You were being so neat and taking such good care of your things. Then you said your mom taught you that. So I figured she probably did the same thing when she packed.”

  “You’re a genius,” Lauren said. She ran over and gave Nancy a big hug.

  “Who’s a genius?” a voice called from the cabin door.

  Nancy looked over and saw Mary Ann coming in. Bess was right behind her.

  “Bess,” Nancy called, happy to see her friend. “What are you doing here?”

  “I changed my mind,” Bess said. “I’m going swimming.”

  “Really?” Nancy asked. “Great! But how come?”

  “I didn’t want to spend the whole day without my best friend,” Bess said. “Besides, there are only a bunch of boys over on the archery field, including David Mulholland.”

  Nancy laughed. “But what about blowing bubbles? Are you going to put your face in the water?”

  “Oh, she doesn’t have to do that,” Mary Ann said quickly. “I talked to the swimming counselors. They said she can just wade if she wants to. It will be okay.”

  Nancy was so happy, she wanted to jump on her bed and bounce around. But bouncing on the mattresses wasn’t allowed.

  “Well, great!” Nancy said, giving Bess a hug. “Let’s go!”

  While Bess changed into her bathing suit, Lauren told her and Mary Ann all about how Nancy had found her camera. Then they all hurried down to the lake. Lauren brought her camera with her.

  “This is going to be the best day of camp ever,” Nancy said as she headed toward the water.

  “I know,” Lauren agreed. “Finally, I get to take some pictures of my friends.”

  Bess waded into the water up to her knees and just stood there.

  Lauren snapped a picture of her. Then she took a picture of Nancy diving. Then she wrapped her camera up in her towel so that it would be safe. She ran into the water and splashed around.