Scavenger Hunt

by Erika McGann

  For Sam, Damhan,

  Séamus and Sadhbh

  Acknowledgements

  As always, thanks to Vince Reid, Helen Carr, Emma Byrne and all at O’Brien Press. And to my niece, Amara, who loves Cass as much as I do.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Have you ever been so excited about something that your feet felt fizzy and you thought your tummy might explode? I have. I had that feeling when I was marching down the laneway beside Mr McCall’s field; one hand was holding the printout of a flyer my parents got by email, and the other hand was pulling a shopping trolley full of detective brain-exercising equipment. I was on a mission.

  In case you don’t already know me, my name is Cass and I’m a genius detective. I solve mysteries, fight crime and have great adventures. I do all this with my two best friends, Lex and Nicholas. We’ve got a secret club (the Bubble Street Gang) and a secret clubhouse (hidden in the hedge at the end of Mr McCall’s field), and I’m only telling you this on the understanding that you tell NOBODY ELSE. This is top secret, highly classified, zip-your-lip kind of information. Understood? Good. Then I’ll get on with the story.

  When I got to the clubhouse Lex and Nicholas were already there. I slammed the flyer down on the clubhouse table, making Lex jump (she was in the middle of eating a mini Victoria sponge and she gave herself a strawberry jam moustache).

  Nicholas turned the flyer so he could read it.

  Celebrating autumn through the arts,

  food & drink, and family activities!

  Featuring:

  Botanical Gin Distilling Experience

  Bramble Patch Pumpkin Picking

  Literary Explorations through the Bespoke

  Walled Gardens

  Fairy Trail Adventure

  Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt

  and much more …

  Click here to download festival brochure

  ‘I heard about that,’ said Nicholas. ‘There’s an art competition, and a couple of exhibitions I’m going to check out.’

  Trust Nicholas to focus on the wrong thing entirely. I suppose he can’t help it; he’s really into acting and making costumes and all that artistic stuff. It comes in very handy sometimes.

  I stabbed my finger into the important line on the flyer.

  ‘That!’ I said. ‘That is the bit we’re interested in. The Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt. A scavenger hunt. And we are going to win!’

  Definition of scavenger hunt: an epic battle of wits and talent and speed. A mind-boggling, puzzle-solving adventure, where only the best and the bravest and the smartest succeed.

  ‘Where’s Rowan Tree Manor?’ asked Lex.

  ‘It’s Mr McCall’s mansion,’ I said. ‘My mum said he started calling it that last year.’

  ‘You mean we’d have to go into his garden?’ Lex shuddered. ‘But I heard he’s got a mini jail for kids who sneak onto his land.’

  ‘That’s totally untrue.’ I had no idea if it was true or not. ‘But even if it is true, he’s letting people in for the festival so he won’t be locking anybody in a mini jail.’

  ‘I dunno, Cass.’ Nicholas was frowning. ‘I think the scavenger hunt’s for teens as well. If it’s all about solving puzzles and stuff, how are we going to beat secondary school kids?’

  I was so glad he asked. ‘Practice!’

  I pulled the shopping trolley over to the table and started unloading.

  ‘What are these?’ said Lex.

  ‘Detective brain-exercising equipment.’

  ‘It just looks like books.’

  ‘Exactly! Books full of crossword puzzles.’ I dumped a pile right in front of her. ‘You get started on those. And Nick, you start on these.’

  ‘It’s Nicholas,’ Nicholas snapped. ‘And these aren’t crossword puzzles.’

  ‘No, yours are murder mystery novels. Start reading – I expect you to solve the murders before you’re halfway through each.’

  ‘Cass, I’m not reading all of these! They’re way too long.’

  ‘And I’m no good at crossword puzzles,’ Lex said, looking worried.

  I took a deep breath for patience. ‘You have to practise your problem-solving skills – it’s like exercise for your minds. Your brains need to be working at optimum capacity if we’re going to beat all the other teams in the hunt.’

  ‘Then where’s your giant pile of books?’ said Nicholas.

  ‘I don’t need books,’ I replied, ‘my brain is always working at optimum capacity. I need a different kind of training.’

  ‘What kind of training?’

  ‘We have to rebuild the obstacle course.’

  ‘Awwrgh!’

  Nicholas and Lex made the sound at the same time, and it made me suspicious.

  A while ago we built an awesome obstacle course in Lex’s back garden, so we could train to become a Super Sleuth Security Squad. I was excellent at giving the others orders during training (I’d promoted myself to general), but it didn’t last long because the obstacle course got wrecked. Lex said she found dog paw prints in the garden, and Nicholas said some of the stuff had been chewed up, but I didn’t see any of that and lately I’d been wondering if the sabotage really was dog-related.

  ‘What’s wrong with rebuilding the obstacle course?’ I said, narrowing my eyes.

  ‘Nothing,’ Nicholas said quickly.

  ‘I just …’ said Lex. ‘I mean … all the stuff is gone. And … and I don’t think my parents liked it being in the garden.’

  I narrowed my eyes even more (I could barely see out of them now).

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because …’ Lex went on. ‘I was on it all the time … like all day every day. And it got in the way of the washing line.’

  That did make sense. Lex loves anything to do with running and jumping and climbing and hanging. It probably was hard to have all that temptation in her back garden. And I could see her getting in the way of her parents trying to hang out the washing.

  ‘Actually,’ I said, brightening up, ‘maybe I don’t need the full obstacle course. I just need to practise running faster for the scavenger hunt, right? The house graveyard would be perfect for that.’

  ‘Why the house graveyard?’ said Nicholas

  ‘Cos there’s some obstacles in the way – all those concrete squares and the starts of houses that never got built – so I can practise running fast without bumping into things, like in a real scavenger hunt. Plus, it’s right outside the clubhouse so I can keep an eye on you two doing your problem-solving in here.’

  ‘Oh goody.’

  I frowned at Nicholas, but I was too excited to be mad.

  ‘This is going to be the best mission we’ve ever had!’

  Operation Scavenger Hunt

  Chapter Two

  After getting the best news in the world (that there was going to be a scavenger hunt), I then got the worst news in the world.

  On Monday Mr Freebs told us that we were going to be helping out with a garden project outside of school. (That wasn’t the worst news – I love when we leave school during school, like when you go on your school tour. It feels like you’re on holidays).


  The garden project was in Shady Oaks Nursing Home, a fifteen-minute walk from school. (That wasn’t the worst news either. My dad works at Shady Oaks and I go there a lot. I really like it there).

  We were being put into groups or pairs for the project. Lex was in a group with Arnie (who is really funny. I’d like to be friends with Arnie, but I splatted him in the face with blue paint once – while investigating the possible existence of an invisible boy – and now I don’t think we’ll ever be friends). Nicholas was paired with Eva (Eva is obsessed with movies and is constantly quoting from them, but that doesn’t bother Nicholas so much because he’s into movies a bit too). And me? I was being paired up with Nathan Wall. Nathan Wall.

  That was the worst news in the world. Because Nathan is my archenemy.

  Definition of archenemy: the absolute worst of the worst of all your enemies (enemy = bad, archenemy = WORST).

  Even though I can’t stand Nathan Wall, I can never get away from him because Mr Freebs (who is mostly very nice and fun) makes me sit beside him in class. Mr Freebs wants everyone to get along. He has noticed that Nathan and I do not get along. He makes us sit together hoping that we’ll eventually get along. It has been many, many weeks now and we still do not get along.

  And that’s because Nathan is a snob.

  ‘Have you seen the new Star Wars movie yet?’ he asked as we walked to Shady Oaks.

  It sounded like he was being normal and friendly. I was surprised.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I didn’t think it was out yet.’

  ‘It’s not,’ said Nathan. ‘Not until the weekend. I saw it at a special screening for VIPs. My mum’s got a really important job, so she’s a VIP. She knows everybody who’s anybody, so we get to do stuff like that – see the big new movies before anyone else. It’s deadly. What does your mum do again?’

  ‘She’s an Assistant Staff Officer in …’ I knew my mum’s job title, but I couldn’t remember the name of the thing she worked for. I guessed. ‘The Hospital Agency.’

  ‘Assistant? That doesn’t sound very important. Bet you don’t get any cool stuff cos your mum’s an assistant.’

  ‘I don’t care about cool stuff.’

  ‘Want to know what happens at the end of the movie?’ Nathan grinned.

  ‘No.’

  ‘I’ll tell you anyway. See, there’s this–’

  ‘Shut up!’ I said, sticking my fingers in my ears.

  Nathan kept grinning as he talked, and I could kind of still hear him.

  ‘Blaah, blaah, blaah!’ I sang to drown him out. ‘Blaah, blaah, blaah, bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-blaaaaaaaaah!’

  I could tell it was annoying him, so I sang the last blah really loudly and stuck out my tongue and everything.

  ‘Cass, what on earth are you doing?!’ Mr Freebs must have shouted because I heard him over myself. ‘That’s no way to behave in the street. You’re very lucky to get this trip outside of school, and I expect you to behave exactly as you would in my classroom. Is that clear?’

  ‘Yes, Mr Freebs,’ I said to the ground, feeling everyone stare at me.

  I knew Nathan wasn’t staring at me. But I knew he was smiling.

  I hate Nathan Wall!

  The garden project should have been fun. Shady Oaks has a really big garden and there’s lots of different parts to it. There’s a pond in one bit, lots of flowers in another, then there are sections with trees and benches and a new fountain.

  Lex’s group were planning a fairy village for their section, with tiny fairy houses hidden in the bushes and up the trees. It would be a really cool surprise for grandkids of residents who came to visit. I would have loved to work on the fairy village.

  Nicholas and Eva were planning a ‘red’ plot. They were going to use lots of plants with the colour red in them – red flowers, red leaves, red vines. It sounded really dramatic. I would have loved to work on the red garden.

  But I couldn’t. Because I was stuck with Nathan.

  ‘I don’t like flowers,’ he said. ‘Flowers are lame.’

  ‘You’re in a garden,’ I snapped. ‘There are going to be flowers.’

  ‘Not in my plot.’

  ‘It’s our plot.’

  ‘Well, well,’ Mr Freebs showed up, smiling at us, ‘how are you two getting along?’

  ‘Not very well,’ I said, trying to sound polite. ‘Nathan doesn’t want any gardeny things in our garden.’

  ‘I don’t like plants,’ Nathan grumbled.

  ‘Oh,’ said Mr Freebs. ‘Well, have you got a garden at home?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And you don’t like it?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Oh. What’s in your own garden that you like, then?’

  ‘Rocks,’ Nathan said.

  ‘Is that all?’ said Mr Freebs.

  ‘And gravel. Expensive gravel. It looks like gemstones.’

  ‘Huh. And no grass or plants or anything?’

  ‘There’s grass, but the gardener keeps it really short. My dad won’t have plants or flowers in the garden. He says they’re too needy.’

  ‘You’re too needy,’ I muttered.

  ‘Now, now,’ said Mr Freebs, ‘I’m sure we can reach a compromise.’

  The compromise ended up being mostly what Nathan wanted – a rock garden with lots of gravel and just a few measly plants thrown in.

  ‘I’m thirsty, Mr Freebs,’ I said, dying to get away from Nathan for just a few minutes. ‘Can I go inside and get a glass of water?’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Mr Freebs. ‘We haven’t got the run of the whole place now, we’re just visiting.’

  ‘Oh, it’s okay, my dad works here. I come here all the time, I know all the staff.’

  ‘Well, then I guess it’s alright. But be quick – you and Nathan still have lots to do on your … em, rocky plot.’

  It was a like a breath of fresh air getting away from the garden. I was hoping to talk to my dad inside the centre, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. So when I was passing the sitting room and saw Carmella, I went in and sat down.

  I love Carmella. She’s one of the residents at Shady Oaks. She has big, bright orange hair that makes her look a bit like a tree that’s caught fire. She’s always got lots of jewellery on, with blue and red and green stones, and bright red lipstick.

  ‘Hi, Carmella, it’s me, Cass.’

  ‘Hello, deary, hello!’

  Carmella always calls me ‘deary’ because she can’t remember my name, even when I’ve just said it, but I don’t mind.

  ‘I’m just on a break,’ I said, ‘so I can’t stay long. My class are helping out in the garden.’

  ‘What class is that, deary?’

  ‘My class at school. Fourth class.’

  ‘Fourth class? Oh, you must know Freddie. She’s your age.’ Carmella tapped her nose. ‘And she’s a divil.’

  Freddie is Carmella’s daughter, Frederica. She’s grown up now, but sometimes Carmella forgets and thinks she’s still a kid. I wish she was. Freddie did the funniest, wackiest things when she was a kid. Sometimes I think Carmella’s brain tells her Freddie is still ten so that she can talk about all those funny things.

  ‘Why is she a divil? What did she do?’

  ‘Deary,’ Carmella put her hand on my arm and went all serious, ‘she crawled into a hole in the wall behind the chest of drawers, after the hamster went in there.’

  ‘How did she get out?’

  ‘She didn’t. She got stuck. We had to call the Fire Brigade.’

  ‘No way! Did they get her out?’

  ‘Yes, but only after an hour. She went in further, looking for the hamster, then decided it was great fun knocking on the walls and scaring us all.’

  I laughed out loud. ‘Brilliant!’

  ‘When they finally got her out, she was missing a shoe. I asked her where it went and she said the hamster ate it.’

  ‘Did he?’

  ‘Not at all. She’d seen a new pair she wanted and this was her chance to get ri
d of the old ones. Divil. Always the divil.’

  ‘She sounds great.’

  ‘Want to see a picture?’ asked Carmella.

  ‘Sure.’

  She showed me the photo she’d shown me a hundred times before. It was in a big, gold locket around her neck, and Freddie looked about eighteen in it.

  ‘Well,’ I said, getting up, ‘I’d better get back to the garden. Have a lovely day, Carmella.’

  ‘Bye bye, deary.’

  Back in the garden Mr Freebs was kneeling next to Nathan with a crate full of different plants, and Nathan was pouting.

  ‘None of them. I told you, I don’t like green. Just gravel is better.’

  I sighed. It was going to be a long day.

  Chapter Three

  ‘Cass and the Diabolical Detectives,’ I said, thinking aloud. ‘No, Cass and the Intrepid Investigators. Wait, Cass and the Devious Daredevils. Ooh! Or what about Cass’s Turbo Team?’

  Nicholas’s lip was curling. ‘Nothing with “Cass and the” in it. It’s our team name, remember.’

  ‘Yeah, I know that. Hmm, how about The Okara Adventurers?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Okey-d’Okara?’

  ‘Nothing with your second name in it either.’

  ‘Fine, fine. How about …’ I thought hard. ‘The Original Crazy Amazing Reckless Adventurers?’

  Lex nodded. ‘That’s fine with me.’

  Nicholas squinted his eyes for a second. ‘Do the first letters make up your second name?’

  ‘No,’ said Lex. ‘O-C-A-R-A.’

  ‘I thought we could spell crazy with a “k”,’ I said, ‘to be different.’

  ‘No!’ said Nicholas. ‘Knock it off, Cass, we’re not just your team.’

  ‘Okay, okay. How about we all suggest names, and if you don’t like a name you can veto it. We all get one veto each.’

  ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’