“Yes, way,” she said.
Just then, Crystal’s mom pulled up and Crystal jumped out of the car and ran over to where Elsie and Hannah were standing.
“I was just about to tell Elsie how I found the lost bracelet,” she told Crystal.
Crystal’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so happy you found it. What happened?”
Hannah told them about how she saw the falling star and made a wish, and how then she went into the barn and Stardust showed her where the bracelet had been hiding the whole time.
“That is amazing,” Crystal said. “It was here the whole time.”
“I can’t believe you saw a falling star last night,” Elsie said. “I’m so jealous.”
“It was one of the most magical moments of my life,” Hannah said. “I wish you both could have been there with me. Next week I’m going to ask Mama to take me into town so I can get a charm for the bracelet. It’s my turn to add something to it. Can you guess what kind of charm I’m going to get?”
At the exact same time, both Elsie and Crystal said, “A star!”
The three girls giggled. “Ding, ding, ding,” Hannah said. “You win the prize!”
“Which is what?” Crystal asked.
“How about a ride on a fantastic mule?”
“Sounds good to me,” Elsie said. “Do you want to ride first or talk about our project first?”
“I’m pretty sure I know what Hannah wants to do,” Crystal said. “Seeing as how Stardust is basically her hero right about now.”
Before Hannah could respond, her father called from the front door. “Hey, I just remembered, I have an old telescope in the attic. Want me to pull it down for you to use?”
“Okay,” Hannah said, smiling. “We’ll be inside later to check it out. Right now, we have our own special Stardust right here who deserves our attention.”
And with that, they took off running toward the barn.
The four girls took their spots in the friendship circle underneath the pine trees. It was the first time they’d had friendship circle since they’d returned to Camp Brookridge. The sweet smell of pine filled the air around them. Hannah silently wondered if the smell of pine would always remind her of friendship circle. She hoped it would.
“Welcome to another meeting in the friendship circle,” Caitlin said. “As it’s been since the beginning, our friendship circle is secret, safe, and special. Speak your mind, but please be kind. And always remember …”
Hannah, Mia, and Libby joined in, with lots of enthusiasm. “No matter what, wherever we go, we’re friends forever, this we know.”
The girls held up their arms and cheered. Then they all laughed.
“It’s sooooo good to be back here with y’all again,” Hannah said, resting her elbows on her knees. “I missed you girls something awful.”
“Me too,” Mia said with a slight grin. “I was a little worried for a while I wouldn’t make it back here. But everything worked out.”
“Awesome,” Caitlin said, and the girls laughed, because it was the perfect word to say to Mia.
“Is that still your favorite word?” Libby asked Mia. “Or do you have a new one?”
“I still love it,” Mia said. “Except I do like that word you used in one of your letters to me. It’s a funny little word one of your friends likes to say. Do you remember?”
“Of course,” Libby said. “How could I forget? Everything is nifty to Sabrina.”
“Nifty,” Hannah said, trying on the word for size. “I like it. Sounds like something you’d hear at the beauty shop back home.”
“You know what I think is nifty?” Caitlin asked with a twinkle in her pretty brown eyes.
“What?” the three girls said in unison.
Caitlin reached over and took Hannah’s arm and lifted it in the air. “Our bracelet. Don’t you guys love how it turned out, with the four charms we picked out?”
“I’m so glad there was enough time to send it around again, so we each could wear it once more, with all of the charms on it,” Mia said. “When I wore it the first time, it only had the flower charm that Caitlin had bought.”
“Well, when I wore it home from camp, there weren’t any charms,” Caitlin said. “What did you say, Hannah, about the bracelet not having any charms?”
“I believe I said, it looked as sad as a dog without a bone.”
Caitlin laughed. “Yep. That’s what you said, all right.”
“I got so many compliments on it when I wore it with all four charms,” Libby said. “I don’t think I could have gotten any more compliments if I’d been wearing a tiara.”
“Oooh, that’d be fun,” Hannah said. “Should we get one of those to pass around next year?”
“It wouldn’t be very easy to mail,” Caitlin pointed out.
“I’m pretty sure surfing while wearing a tiara is illegal,” Mia said, as she reached back and tightened her ponytail. “And if it isn’t, it should be.”
Everyone laughed.
“No, I think we should stick to our lucky bracelet,” Mia said.
“The question is,” Hannah said softly, “do we really think it’s lucky?”
“If we had our camp journals, that could be our question of the day,” Caitlin said.
“But we haven’t been to the arts-and-crafts building yet,” Libby said. “So we’re just going to have to go around the circle and say if we think it’s lucky or not, and why.”
“Is everyone okay with that?” Caitlin asked.
The girls nodded.
“Okay, who wants to start?”
Hannah spoke up. “For a long time, I wasn’t sure if it was lucky. But I think it is. As you all know, since I wrote to you about it, I lost it for a little while, but when I finally found it again, my friend Elsie got to stay in Soddy-Daisy because her dad found a job. I was able to keep Stardust even after something terrible happened. And, I rode in the Valentine’s Day parade, which was so much fun, you guys. More fun than a kid in a bouncy house, I’m telling you what.”
“Yeah,” Mia said. “I think it’s lucky too. Lacy Bell and I have the best time going bird watching together. I think the lucky bracelet helped bring us together.”
“That’s how I feel about my friends at school,” Caitlin said. “Like, I didn’t win the election while I had the bracelet, but in the end, it wasn’t that important to me anyway. What really mattered was making friends. And I ended up with a couple of great ones.”
“Me too,” Libby said, nodding. “That’s how I feel about Cedric and Sabrina.” She paused. “But lucky or not, it doesn’t really matter that much, right?”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked.
“We have each other,” Libby explained in her adorable British accent. “And we’ll always have each other, whether we have the bracelet or not. That’s not just lucky.”
She paused and looked around at each of her friends.
“It’s awesome,” Mia said, jumping in.
“Nifty,” Libby said, smiling.
“Better than dozens of gorgeous flowers,” Caitlin said.
“More amazing than a shooting star,” Hannah said.
And so it was, as the best of friendships always are.
Lisa Schroeder is the author of several books for young readers, including the Charmed Life series, It’s Raining Cupcakes, Sprinkles and Secrets, and Frosting and Friendship. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two sons. You can visit her online at lisaschroederbooks.com.
Charmed Life
Caitlin’s Lucky Charm
Mia’s Golden Bird
Libby’s Sweet Surprise
Hannah’s Bright Star
Caitlin’s life at summer camp with her new best friends — Hannah, Mia, and Libby — is charmed. But at home? Caitlin’s dad might be losing his job, her mom is making her do volunteer work, and Caitlin’s going to a new school, where none of the girls are as fun or friendly as her Cabin 7 BFFs. At least Caitlin has a good-luck charm — a good-luck ch
arm bracelet. The Cabin 7 girls bought it together, and Caitlin is taking the first turn wearing it. She’s sure it will help … but when?
Mia loves two things: surfing and photography. When she breaks her foot, she tries to stay busy making scrapbooks, but she’s still bored. Then one day Mia’s photos catch someone’s eye: the famous actress Lacy Bell! Lacy is a bird-watcher with her grandmother and offers to pay Mia to be their photographer! It’s perfect — until the kids at school start gossiping. Mia’s glad she has her lucky charm bracelet — she’s going to need it!
When she’s not at her family’s sweets shop, Libby loves walking her dog. Especially because she always meets interesting people — like Cedric, another dog owner her age. When Libby finds out Cedric’s family owns a new candy store in town, she tries to keep her family business a secret. She really likes Cedric and wants to be his friend. But the truth has to come out … and Libby will need her BFFs’ lucky charm bracelet’s help!
Nora loves everything about Paris, from the Eiffel Tower to chocolat chaud. Of course, she’s never actually been there — she’s only visited through her Grandma Sylvia’s stories. And just when they’ve finally planned a trip together, Grandma Sylvia is suddenly gone, taking Nora’s dreams with her.
Nora is crushed. She misses her grandmother terribly, but she still wants to see the city they both loved. So when Nora finds letters and a Paris treasure map among her Grandma Sylvia’s things, she dares to dream again …
She’s not sure what her grandma wants her to find, but Nora knows there are wonderful surprises waiting for her in Paris. And maybe, amongst the croissants and macarons, she’ll even find a way to heal her broken heart.
Text copyright © 2014 by Lisa Schroeder
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, November 2014
Cover photos by Michael Frost
Charms by Coherent Images
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
e-ISBN 978-0-545-60517-5
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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