by Blanche Sims
“Well, what is it?” asked Know-It-All.
“I don’t know exactly,” said Miss Perry. She started to laugh. “Meat, I hope. Good healthy meat.”
Dawn looked around.
There was nothing else but bread and butter. The bread was tan. The butter had crumbs all over it.
Just then the woman came with a bowl of apples.
Everyone dived for one.
Dawn and Fresh Face grabbed for the last one.
“Mine,” yelled Dawn.
“Mine,” yelled Fresh Face. She opened her mouth for a huge bite.
Dawn drew in her breath.
There was something on Fresh Face’s T-shirt.
It was a pin.
A pink and purple I LOVE MY GRANDMOTHER pin.
CHAPTER 5
LAKE WILD-IN-THE WOODS was cold. Freezing.
The bottom was muddy.
No one else seemed to mind, though.
Fresh Face and the Ex-er-cise Girl were swimming around like crazy.
Jill was doing a doggy paddle.
Her head was high above the water.
She didn’t want to get her western hat wet.
Dawn went as fast as everybody else.
Her arms curved over her head.
They dipped down into the water.
Her feet stayed flat on the bottom, though.
She couldn’t swim one bit.
She could hardly float.
For a while she circled around Fresh Face.
It was a good thing she was a detective, Dawn thought.
Fresh Face hadn’t guessed she had seen the pin.
Dawn could just keep watching.
Sooner or later she’d find out where her gorgeous shell mirror was.
Then she’d grab the pin.
She’d grab the mirror.
She’d tell Miss Perry that Fresh Face should be arrested.
Then she’d call Noni one two three.
She’d be home in no time.
Perfect.
After a while she got tired of waving her arms around.
She waded out of the water.
She checked to make sure there were no snakes hanging around in the grass.
Then she sat down.
She wished she could speed things up a little.
She was sick of waiting around for something to happen.
Then she sat up straight. She had thought of something.
Just then Jill came out of the water. She pulled off her western hat and squeezed out her braids.
“Listen,” said Dawn. “Sit down. I want to tell you—”
“Sit down? Are you crazy? With a million snakes probably . . .” She stopped for a breath. “And those things with the legs . . . hundreds of legs.”
“Will you listen? There’s something we have to do.”
Jill nodded. “You’re right. We have to eat. I’m starving to death.”
“No, not that. Something else. We’re going to sneak up to the cabin.”
“Sneak? Why don’t we just walk?”
“We’re going to search. We’ll look in the closet. We’ll—”
“Nothing in the closet. Just a bunch of glue and blankets.”
Dawn raised her shoulders. “We’ll look in the beds. Under the—” Dawn broke off.
Jill looked as if she were going to cry.
“What’s the matter?”
Jill shook her head. “Nothing.”
“You’re afraid,” Dawn said. “Afraid of a silly thief.”
Jill stuck out her lip.
“Good grief.” Dawn closed her eyes.
“Why are your eyes closed?” Jill asked.
“I’m waiting for you to listen.”
Jill’s lip quivered. “I am listening.”
Dawn raised one hand. “Don’t be afraid for a minute. Just follow me.”
She looked around.
No one was watching.
She was looking up at the sky.
She picked a little blue flower.
She kept backing up toward the trees.
She stopped to take a quick look at Jill.
Jill was taking huge tiptoe steps.
One hand was out for balance.
The other covered her mouth.
Dawn gritted her teeth.
Everyone in the water must be watching.
She stood there.
What should she do?
Then she darted back into the trees.
Let everyone watch that silly Jill.
In the meantime, she’d take a good look at the cabin.
She raced up the path.
Her feet were bare.
The pebbles hurt.
She tried not to pay attention.
She climbed the three wooden steps.
Inside she went straight to Fresh Face’s bunk.
She looked under the pillow.
Nothing there but an old fur cat.
Half the tail was missing.
Fresh Face had probably stolen it from some poor baby.
Dawn ran her hands over the blanket.
Smooth.
Nothing hidden under there.
Maybe underneath.
Yes, something.
A box with cats all over it.
It reminded her of something.
What?
Just then the door burst open.
Something peered in the door.
A horrible something.
It had no hair on its head.
Its eyes were huge and strange.
Dawn backed away from it.
Something was in the way, though.
A suitcase.
She threw out her arms.
She couldn’t stop herself.
She was sliding, falling.
And the thing was coming closer.
CHAPTER 6
“WHO’S SCREAMING LIKE THAT?” Dawn asked. “Who’s making all that noise?”
“You,” someone said.
“Oh.” Dawn looked up.
A circle of faces was looking down at her.
Jill.
The Ex-er-cise Girl.
Gold Fingernails.
Jill helped her up. “What happened?”
“Something horrible.” Dawn’s knees were shaking.
“I hope you’re not going to cry,” said Know-It-All. “Some big baby is always—”
Dawn drew herself up. “Not me. I don’t cry. I never—”
“I think I heard you last night,” said the Ex-er-cise Girl. “I heard somebody.”
“Get to the something horrible,” said Gold Fingernails.
“It had no hair. It had big eyes. Green, I think. Or maybe gray.”
“No such thing as a ghost in this camp,” said Know-It-All.
“I want to go home,” Jill said.
“Good thing Miss Perry was out on the raft,” said Gold Fingernails. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
Fresh Face stared at Dawn.
She squeezed her eyes together into little slits. “Yes,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
Dawn looked around.
Everyone was staring at her.
Everyone was waiting.
She opened her mouth.
She tried to think of something to say.
“Wait a minute,” said Know-It-All. “What was that noise?”
“I heard it, too,” said Gold Fingernails.
“It’s Miss Perry’s whistle,” said Jill. “Hurry. We have to get dressed.”
A few minutes later, everyone dashed out of the cabin.
Everyone but Dawn and Jill.
“I want to go home,” Jill said again.
“Me, too,” said Dawn. “I’m writing to Noni. Right this minute.”
“Tell her to get me, too,” said Jill.
Dawn nodded. “Don’t worry.”
Miss Perry’s whistle was getting closer.
Dawn reached under her bed quickly.
She pulled out the pink swirly p
encil.
She grabbed a piece of Cool Cat writing paper.
Now they could hear Miss Perry’s voice. “Time for a snack,” she was saying. “Isn’t everyone starving?”
Jill looked at Dawn. “I wonder what it is.”
“Probably GJ,” said Dawn. She pulled her shirt over her head.
“Maybe it’s something good,” Jill said. “Marshmallows.”
Dawn shoved the swirly pencil over her ear.
She stuck the Cool Cat writing paper in her pocket.
They raced outside.
Everyone was standing around Miss Perry.
She was handing something out of a box.
Dawn stood on tiptoes to see.
“It’s old CC,” said Know-It-All.
“Chocolate cook . . .” Jill began.
Know-It-All shook her head. “Caterpillar crunch.”
Dawn backed away from everyone.
She went around to the back of the cabin.
She took a good look at the grass and the rocks.
No snakes.
No horrible things.
She sank down on a log and pulled out the Cool Cat paper.
DEAR NONI:
COME AND GET ME.
GET JILL TOO.
THIS PLACE HAS TERABUL FOOD.
IT HAS HARIBLE THINGS.
IT HAS A THIEF.
LOVE AND KISSES,
DAWN BOSCO
P.S. I NEVER GOT TO RIDE THE HORSE.
P.S. AGAIN. I DON’T EVEN HAVE MY POLKA DOT DETECTIVE BOX.
“I knew it,” said a voice behind her.
Dawn looked up.
It was Fresh Face.
She was wearing a black hat.
It had fur all over it. A long tail hung down the neck.
“I am the Cool Cat Detective,” said Fresh Face. “And you have stolen my Cool Cat detective paper.”
CHAPTER 7
DAWN STOOD UP.
She put her hands on her hips.
She put her nose up close to the Cool-Itch Detective.
“You have some nerve,” she said. “One, you are wearing my pink and purple I LOVE MY GRANDMOTHER pin. Two, I’m a detective, not a thief. I’m the Polka Dot Private Eye.”
Fresh Face blinked.
Dawn opened her mouth again.
Then they both started to talk at once.
“. . . my pin,” said the Cool-Itch Detective.
“. . . my initials on the back,” said Dawn.
“. . . my writing paper,” said Cool-Itch. “My special Cool Cat black-and-white writing—”
“My gorgeous mirror with the beach shells all over—” Dawn broke off. “My chocolate chip cookie. You took a big bite.”
Cool-Itch shuddered. “I hate chocolate.”
They stopped for a breath.
“Will you please get your nose out of my face?” said the Cool-Itch Detective.
Dawn sat down on the log again.
The Cool-Itch Detective sat down, too. “What’s your name anyway?” she asked.
“Dawn Bosco. Just look at the back of the pin. You’ll see it. D. B.”
The Cool-Itch Detective pulled at the pin. “You’ll see in one second,” she said. “No name. No letters.”
“What’s your name?” asked Dawn.
“Lizzie Lee.” She pulled off the pin. “Hey.”
Dawn leaned over and looked at the pin. She straightened up. “You are now the Cool-Itch Thief.”
Lizzie Lee scratched her head. “D. B. You’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right,” said Dawn. “What do you think . . . I made this whole thing up?”
“Hmm,” said Lizzie Lee. “I guess I made a mistake.”
Dawn was about to say, “You certainly did.”
She didn’t, though.
She had thought of something else.
She leaned forward. “We’ve got a horrible thing at this camp. It sneaks into the cabin—”
“No hair?” asked Lizzie. “Green eyes?”
“You saw it, too?”
Lizzie took a deep breath. “I’m the horrible thing. I have a bald wig. I have a mask with green eyes. It’s stuff from my detective box.”
Dawn opened her mouth. Then she closed it again. If only she had her own detective box.
“I didn’t take your pin,” said Lizzie Lee.
Dawn looked at her.
Lizzie Lee didn’t look so fresh anymore.
“I didn’t take your paper either,” said Dawn.
“We could team up,” said Lizzie. “Find out about your pin . . . and my writing paper.”
“And my beach shell mirror?”
Lizzie nodded.
Dawn thought for a minute.
Why not?
I guess so,” she said. “But I’ll be the main detective.”
Lizzie put her hands on her hips. “Unh-unh,” she said. “Both the same.”
“Well . . .”
“Besides, I have a great idea.”
Dawn didn’t have an idea.
Not one.
“All right. Both the same.”
She leaned over.
She couldn’t wait to hear the idea.
CHAPTER 8
IT WAS DARK.
Black.
Dawn opened her eyes wide.
She still couldn’t see.
She had a Cool-Cat Detective Flashlight. She couldn’t turn it on, though.
Not yet.
She and Lizzie Lee were sneaking out of the cabin.
Outside, it was noisy.
They could hear crickets and tree frogs.
Dawn walked on tiptoes.
She didn’t want to step on anything. Snakes, or lizards, or crackly things.
In a minute they were in the woods.
In front of her Lizzie stopped. “Which way? We don’t want to get lost.”
Dawn shivered.
She wished she had remembered a sweater.
If only she had her Polka Dot Detective Box.
It had a compass inside.
She just had to learn how to use it.
She looked around. “I see a light. That way.”
“You sure?” Lizzie asked.
Dawn crossed her fingers. “Of course.”
They marched toward the light. “See,” Dawn whispered. “There’s the flagpole. There’s the gate. . . .”
“Whew,” said Lizzie. “And there are the buses.”
They started to run toward them.
The parking lot looked strange at night. Tall lights with mist around them.
Pale buses.
“Which one?” Lizzie asked.
Dawn pointed. “I remember the number. One-nine-five.”
“Good detective work,” said Lizzie.
“You’re right,” said Dawn. She had never thought of that.
They pushed open the doors.
“Can you remember where you sat?” Lizzie asked.
“Of course.” Dawn looked for the window with the cracks like a spider web.
“Now,” said Lizzie. “My idea.”
“Our idea,” said Dawn.
“Yes. The Cool-Cat Detective Book says start at the beginning.”
“That’s what the Polka Dot Detective Book says.” Dawn crossed her fingers again. She couldn’t remember what her detective book said.
“Think about the beginning,” said Lizzie.
Dawn squinched her eyes shut tight. “I had everything here on my seat. All my stuff.”
Dawn opened her eyes.
Lizzie’s eyes were shut. “My Cool Cat writing paper was on my seat.”
“I was sick of the ride,” said Dawn.
“Me, too,” said Lizzie. “All the bumps.”
“Then we stopped,” said Dawn. “Everyone got off the bus.”
“Drinks of water,” said Lizzie.
“Triple Dipple Bubble Gum,” said Dawn. She frowned. “I know what happened.”
“What?” Lizzie asked.
“The
bus went over a bump before it picked us up.”
“Everything fell off the seat,” said Lizzie.
“When we picked up the stuff . . .”
“You’re right,” said Lizzie. “It got all mixed up.”
She held out her hand. “Shake. Great detective work.”
Dawn shook her head. “Not such hot work. Not even a great mystery.”
“Not a mystery at all,” said Lizzie.
Dawn knelt.
She ran her hand under the seat. “My shell mirror must be right here.”
She could feel something under her fingers.
She reached for it.
Just a piece of shell.
No mirror.
She sat back on her heels, thinking.
Who had taken that mirror?
Who had taken a bite of the cookie?
Just then there was a sound.
The bus door.
It began to open quietly.
Dawn could feel her heart pound.
“Who’s there?” yelled Lizzie Lee.
The door banged shut.
Someone began to scream.
Dawn scrambled to her feet.
In the mist it was hard to see.
“Look,” she said.
A shape. Someone moving across the parking lot.
Someone she knew?
Yes.
But who?
CHAPTER 9
MISS PERRY BLEW HER whistle. “It’s a great day, everyone. Open your eyes.”
Dawn opened one eye.
It couldn’t be morning yet.
She had just gotten to sleep.
She’d been dreaming . . . dreaming about running.
Something kept catching her feet.
Glue.
A whole parking lot filled with glue.
Dawn opened the other eye.
Yellow patches shone on the cabin wall.
Miss Perry was right. It was a beautiful day.
Dawn sat up straight.
She snapped her fingers. “I’ve almost got it. I’ve almost solved the crime.”
“Oh, no,” said Lizzie Lee. “I wanted to solve it first.”
In the bunk above, Jill turned over. “Too tired,” she said.
“Wake up, lazybones,” Miss Perry said.
Lizzie Lee jumped out of her bunk. “Tell me,” she said to Dawn.
Dawn pulled a comb through her hair. “I don’t exactly have it. Not yet, I mean. I know it has to do with glue.”
“Today is Wednesday,” said Know-It-All. “The best breakfast. It’s pancakes.”
Dawn was starving.
She rushed out of the cabin with the others.
