Hit the Beach

by Laura Dower

  And why did she keep touching Will’s shoulder?

  “What were you guys talking about just now?” Ann asked.

  “Hmmm. Not much,” Teeny replied.

  Teeny and Will started to walk toward one of the round wooden tables in the entry area of the ELC. Leonard had posted signs with the group names on the tables: Alligators, Butterflies, Crabs, Dolphins, Egrets, or Flounders. Suchita and Logan were already seated at the Egrets’ table.

  “Let’s sit next to each other,” Ann suggested. She linked arms with Madison as they walked over to the table.

  Madison didn’t put up any kind of fight, but Ann’s clinginess made her uncomfortable.

  A moment later, thankfully, Leonard clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, and Ann broke loose.

  “Everyone!” Leonard cried. “As you know, we have a big, big day today. So let’s get organized. Please take your seats at the tables if you haven’t done so already.”

  Madison glanced around at the other teams. She wished Ann were on the Butterflies or Flounders instead of on her team.

  “Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you?” Ann said, a little too enthusiastically, tugging on Madison’s T-shirt. She was too close, Madison thought.

  Way too close.

  Leonard reviewed the items on the list. “Now,” he explained. “Some of these things may seem a little impossible to find, but trust me—it’s all out there in the natural habitats. You are allowed to search for any of the items anywhere at the learning center.”

  Then Leonard passed out maps.

  “You will see on the map that there are defined areas to search. This includes a sandy beach area, a small pond near a wooden bridge made from old logs, and a mangrove swamp. But you can look anywhere at ELC if you need to. Remember that. Anywhere.”

  One kid from the Crabs’ table raised her hand.

  “So what do the points mean?” she asked tentatively.

  Leonard explained how the teams were supposed to keep track of items on the list, checking them off as they found them. “Keep notes on what you see, because I will be collecting every team’s notes in order to score the results,” he insisted. “And go for those extra-credit points. They will make all the difference.”

  “This sounds like way too much fun,” Suchita whispered to Madison.

  Madison wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. How much fun was too much? There was no such thing, she thought.

  Logan tapped out a drumbeat on the table. “Know what? We are winning this. I don’t lose, and we will not lose.”

  Teeny agreed. “You’re so right, Logan. This scavenger hunt is ours.” He threw his hand out and placed it on the center of the table.

  Immediately, Ann slapped her hand on top of Teeny’s. Then Suchita put hers down; and then Logan and Will after that. Madison laughed at her team’s determination. She liked it.

  “Well?” Will asked. “Are you in or are you out, Mad Dog?” That was the strange nickname he spontaneously gave to Madison.

  Sheepishly, Madison put her hand on top of Will’s hand. “I’m in,” Madison said. It felt so awkward to be touching Will—even though it was just a handshake pileup. Did this count as holding hands?

  “Go, team!” Teeny cried. The hands went into the air with a cheer, and Madison felt as if she had been in the locker room before a big game.

  The teams scrambled to leave the room as Leonard declared the official start of the hunt with a sharp whistle. His parting words were, “Have a good hunt, and be back by noon.”

  The Egrets hustled outside toward the mangrove swamp with everyone else. It was the closest spot on the map—and it would have many of the items on the list.

  Leonard and some of the other counselors joined the kids as they all marched toward the same places.

  “Maybe you should split up so that you aren’t all in the same area at the same time,” Leonard suggested. He disappeared back into the ELC.

  “So what now?” Teeny asked.

  Madison shrugged. “Let’s pick a place where no one else is headed.”

  They moved toward the small beachfront. It turned out to be a smart move. No one else was there.

  “I see a shell! No, I see two … no, three! Wait, there are, like, a hundred shells here,” Ann said. She raced around as if someone had wound her spring up and then just let go.

  Madison noticed the boys giggling at her antics.

  Suchita, who was taking the hunt very seriously, pointed to a grove of sea grape set back from the shoreline. “That’s on our list, too!” she said.

  “And there’s a pelican,” Logan said, pointing to the water.

  “And an alligator!” Will yelled.

  Everyone shrieked. Then Will cracked up and fell onto the sand in mock hysterics. Madison smiled. He’d played a good joke.

  “Now we need to find an egret,” Madison suggested as they lingered on the beach.

  “Why?” Teeny said. “It’s not on the list, is it?”

  “Because we are the Egrets!” Ann cried.

  Madison couldn’t believe that Ann was the one and only person in their entire group who understood. That was a major fluke.

  After leaving the shore, the Egrets headed to the mangroves, since the other groups had left by then. Along the pathway, Logan picked up a few rocks, and Ann found a rotting log. They examined the log for creepy-crawlies, moss, and extra points (of course). As they were taking notes and observing, two of the camp staffers came by to congratulate them on their hard work. One of the staffers snapped a photograph.

  After an hour went by, nearly all the items on the list had been found. They’d seen both a pelican and an ibis, or at least Will thought they had seen one. No one was really sure if they could tell one bird from another. The bird-watching lesson was happening on a different day.

  “So what’s left?” Logan asked, looking over the list.

  Ann was quick to point out all the things they’d missed. “Well, we didn’t see a crab,” she said, sounding rather bossy.

  “Yeah, we did,” Teeny said. “It was on the beach. Wasn’t it?”

  Ann looked at everyone. “We can’t say we saw it if we didn’t all see it.”

  “Why not?” Suchita asked. “I believe Teeny.”

  Ann put her hands on her hips. “Look, I don’t want to be a downer, but we have to play this fair, or we won’t win.”

  Will rolled his eyes. “What else did we miss on our list?”

  Ann spoke right up again, reading down through her list and notes. “Well, we saw about twenty of those little lizards. We found a set of animal tracks …”

  “Dog tracks,” Madison pointed out.

  “Are you sure?” Logan asked.

  “Yes,” Madison said right away, even though she wasn’t entirely sure. In fact, she wasn’t entirely sure about any of it. How could six total strangers be expected to agree on all of these things?

  “I think we saw the scrub jay, right?” Ann said. “You know, there’s a petition to make the scrub jay the state bird.”

  “Huh?” Teeny asked back. “What does that have to do with our scavenger hunt?”

  “Maybe we’ll get extra points for knowing that little factoid,” Ann suggested.

  “She’s right,” Madison said.

  “Factoid?” Teeny said, repeating the word with a laugh.

  “Okay. What about the alligator?” Suchita asked.

  Ann laughed out loud. “That was just a joke! Will even said so.”

  “What if it wasn’t?” Madison asked.

  Everyone stared at her.

  “Huh?” Ann said. “Of course it was a joke.”

  “Madison, you don’t think the camp expected us to see a real, live alligator, do you?” Logan asked.

  Madison shook her head. “No, but …”

  “But what?” Ann asked.

  Madison gazed off into the distance. She knew that Leonard would not have put the word “alligator” on the list if he hadn’t really expected it to b
e found—by someone, somehow. This was the best brainteaser ever.

  She wanted to solve it.

  “What if …” Madison thought aloud, “what if there really is an alligator somewhere around here?”

  “And what if he’s hungry?” Will teased.

  “That is so not funny,” Ann said.

  “Seriously,” Madison continued, “this is worth fifteen points. We should think about it for a minute.”

  “All we have is a minute,” Teeny said. “We have to get back soon. It’s almost twelve.”

  They started back on the path toward the ELC building. Will and Teeny were tossing around the little rocks they had collected near the beach. Suchita was in charge of the shells. Logan had stuck a dead beetle in his pocket—for proof that they’d seen the biggest bug. Ann had their master list in hand. She kept stopping to scribble new notes.

  Madison wondered what more she could be writing. Who had made her the group leader?

  As they all walked along, a cluster of kids from the Butterflies and the Crabs scuttled past. They laughed as if they knew something no one else did.

  “Hey,” Teeny called out to the two groups. “Did you see the alligator?”

  “Ha-ha; very funny,” retorted one of the other boys.

  “There’s no alligator!” a girl said with a laugh.

  Will turned around to catch Madison’s eye, as if to say, See, no one else thinks there’s an alligator either, so why don’t you just give up on the idea already?

  But Madison wouldn’t give up.

  She let the other groups pass and walked on behind her five teammates, surveying the path, checking the brush for signs of a real alligator. Was there one hiding in the pond that everyone had missed? The gator had to be somewhere. But where? Madison glanced up at the main ELC building. In a window of one classroom, she saw a miniature whalemobile.

  She stopped short.

  “Wait! That’s it!” Madison screamed out.

  Will and Ann turned around. The rest of the group raced back to where Madison stood.

  “I know where the alligator is,” Madison declared with a huge smile on her face. “I know! I know! Drumroll, please …”

  “Come on! Just spill. Where is it?” Logan asked. “We only have a few minutes before time’s up …”

  “Remember that place we saw on the tour? The room with the stuffed owl and the dolphin posters and …”

  “The giant plaster alligator!” Will said.

  “Wow,” Suchita said. “I didn’t even think of that! Leonard didn’t say it had to be real. A fake alligator. Of course! You are so smart, Madison.”

  Madison blushed at the compliment, especially at the idea that it came from someone who hardly knew her. “Thanks, Suchita,” she said.

  “You are a total genius,” Logan said.

  Ann nodded in agreement, but for the first time all day she didn’t say much. “I wish I’d thought of that,” Ann muttered under her breath.

  “Yeah, well,” Will said. “You didn’t. But that’s cool. We’re a team. All for one and one for all, right?”

  Madison started to laugh. “A team,” she said.

  Was she still blushing?

  “Shhhhh!” Teeny whispered. “I see the Flounder and Dolphin teams coming down the path.”

  The six Egrets stopped talking and tried to act cool as the other camp kids passed by. Once the other group had walked on (with suspicious looks on their faces, because they knew something was up), Ann took charge again.

  “So, now that we know we will win for sure,” she said in her most authoritative voice as she checked one of the last items off the list, “let’s celebrate.”

  “Not so fast,” Madison said.

  “Yeah, don’t count your eggs before they hatch,” Teeny said.

  “Chickens,” Suchita said, laughing. “Don’t count your chickens.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Teeny giggled.

  Madison, Will, and the others laughed again, too. Everyone was feeling a little looser now. They were this close to the finish line—and to winning.

  What could be better than that?

  As the groups approached the main building, Leonard and the rest of the camp staff welcomed back the scavengers with a loud round of applause. He told everyone that the staff had been observing the groups as they proceeded through the different areas of Camp Sunshine—from the mangroves to the pond to the beach. Then he asked a few random questions about animal habitats. Before the hunt, only a few kids could have answered the questions. But now everyone knew the answers. The scavenger hunt had been a success on many levels, and now everyone understood a lot more about Florida wildlife.

  Before the time came to review the scavenger-hunt sheets, Leonard and the camp staffers dismissed everyone for lunch. Madison and her fellow Egrets could hardly eat their turkey sandwiches and tangelos. They wanted to know who had won—for real.

  “Attention, everyone!” Leonard shouted. “We have our results. Would everyone give me your attention, please?”

  The groups sat patiently as the answers were read for each question. By the third question and answer, it was clear that the Butterflies, Crabs, and Flounders were all in trouble. They’d forgotten to cross off “lizard” or “rocks” or one of the other items on the list. Meanwhile, the Alligators, Dolphins, and Egrets were running neck and neck—until the question about fish came up. The Dolphins had said they had seen a fish, but hadn’t been able to identify it correctly. Madison’s group had named carp as the fish in the pond—and so had the Alligators.

  And so, the race for first place was between the Alligators and the Egrets.

  It all came down to the last question.

  “I want to congratulate the Alligators team,” Leonard said. “You guessed correctly that the alligator on the list was the sculpted one in the nature room. Of course, I figured maybe you guys would guess correctly, considering your team’s name …”

  The Alligators high-fived each other in celebration. One of the members cried out, “Number one!” with his finger held high in the air.

  “Wait!” Ann spoke up. “We guessed that, too—”

  Madison grabbed Ann’s arm. “Hold on,” she said. “Look at Leonard. He’s not done yet.”

  A smiling Leonard waved at the Alligators. “I’m afraid you weren’t the only team to find the alligator on the list,” he said.

  The Alligator team members stopped celebrating, just like that. They looked deflated.

  “Our Egrets team also answered correctly,” Leonard said.

  “So it’s a tie!” one of the Alligators cried out.

  “Not exactly,” Leonard said. “There was the extra-credit question, don’t forget.”

  Madison felt her whole body turn cold. The extra-credit question? They’d forgotten to fill that in. She wanted to sink through the floor. How could they have forgotten something so important?

  “Oh, no!” cried one of the kids on the Alligators. “The extra-credit question!”

  The entire Alligators team looked upset.

  Leonard, however, was still smiling.

  “Egrets,” he announced proudly, “you are our scavenger-hunt winners! You correctly answered enough of the items on the list—which, with your extra-credit notes, win today’s hunt. Congratulations!”

  The other campers and staff members let out a roar and started clapping like mad.

  Madison turned to her teammates, who were smiling from ear to ear.

  “How did we do it?” she asked aloud.

  Will shook his head. “We got all the answers.”

  “But—” Madison said. “We didn’t fill in the last part, the extra-credit part. We only put down where the gator was found—”

  “No,” Ann corrected Madison. “At the last minute, I saw that we forgot the extra credit. I filled it in.”

  “You?” Madison cried with disbelief. “Whoa. That’s amazing. You’re—”

  “Yeah, well …” Ann said with her all-knowing tone. “I told yo
u we’d win. And I was right, right?”

  Madison bit her tongue. Ann was right. They reached out and shook hands, but Ann quickly pulled Madison toward her for a squeeze.

  “I told you when we met that we would make the best friends, didn’t I? And if it wasn’t for you and me, we wouldn’t have gotten half the stuff on the list,” Ann gushed. “See? And so I was right about that, too.”

  Madison grinned. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her friendship with Ann just then, but she did know she was happier than happy to win.

  Later in the day, when Stephanie and the other parents and guardians came by to pick up the campers, the sky opened up. A hard, pounding rain poured from the gray clouds that had been threatening for part of the morning. It lasted only for a few minutes, but everything outside, including Madison and the rest of the Egrets, got drenched.

  Still, it was a case of perfect timing. The rain had held off long enough for the Egrets to win the prize—a tin trophy emblazoned with six words:

  CAMP SUNSHINE

  SCAVENGER HUNT

  FIRST PLACE

  Madison felt proud. She’d worked together with her teammates—even Ann—to win. Camp seemed like a positive adventure now, certainly more positive than it had the day before.

  She couldn’t wait to tell her BFFs all about it.

  Chapter 11

  THURSDAY MORNING BEFORE HEADING over to the ELC, Madison sat in front of Dad’s computer monitor. Her laptop was still acting up, although Dad had promised it would be repaired soon. But since he continued to let Madison use his machine, there was no problem.

  She logged into TweenBlurt.com and headed for the BloggerBlurt area, signed in with her password, and clicked the start key: NEW ENTRY.

  Madison had been thinking all night about what to write. She had a lot to say. Her fingers raced across the keyboard.

  08-12 early morning!

  OMG OMG OMG I am so XCITED we won this contest today. We = me and the other peeps in my group: Teeny, whose real name is Anthony, Suchita, Logan, Will, and Ann (who is really clingy but I’ll tell u more about that l8r). N e way, we’re called the Egrets. That’s a cool name, right? Don’t make some crack like we’re for the birds LOL—because we are truly THE BEST of everyone. We had to search for all this stuff on the beach today and in the woods, too. OMG again—am I making any sense? I just can’t believe we won something. I wish I could scan in a picture of this trophy and show you—winning first place in anything is such a cool feeling. Actually, I wish I could show u what all the other Egrets look like, too. It’s so weird becoming a part of this new group and having 2 get along w/everyone. We are ALL so different. These peeps are nothing like u guys. :>