Lights Out!

by Laura Dower

  “Not with a ghost on the loose,” Fiona said, giggling.

  Egg giggled, too. “Yeah. What she said.”

  “I think the noise is coming from the haunted cabin,” Madison said.

  “Well, you would think that, wouldn’t you?” Joan the drone said. She turned to a cute boy from Egg’s cabin. “Don’t you think we should just stay here and stop talking about ghosts? I do.”

  Madison heard another scratching noise, only this one sounded like it was closer than the ghost cabin, on the perimeter of their own.

  “We have to go and investigate,” Madison suggested. She looked over at Hart and bravely said, “Will you come with me?”

  Hart’s jaw slackened. His eyes bugged out.

  Madison was sure he would say no. And then he smiled.

  “Totally,” Hart said.

  “I’ll go, too,” Dan said. “I don’t believe in haunted cabins, but I’ll go.”

  None of the other girls wanted to come along.

  “I’ll watch from here.”

  “I’m allergic to ghosts.”

  “I don’t want to get caught by Mrs. Goode.”

  Apparently the assistant principal was more threatening and scary than the haunted cabin.

  Madison gulped as she headed for the darkness outside.

  Ivy grabbed her arm. “You don’t have to be such a show-off, Maddie. You look really dumb, you know,” Ivy whispered.

  Madison turned to face the enemy. “I don’t care,” she said calmly, and pushed open the cabin’s screen door.

  “Go, Maddie!” Lindsay cheered.

  Aimee took Madison by the shoulders. “What if there really is a ghost?” she asked with mock seriousness. Then she burst into a horsey laugh. “HA! HA!”

  Joan and Rose laughed nervously. Madison took note since the drones were so rarely speechless.

  Chet hooted. “Ghost hunt!”

  Fiona made a face. “Why aren’t you going out there, brother?”

  Chet made a face right back. “I like it in here,” he said, wearing an evil grin. He was still busy checking out the seventh-grade girls.

  “Well, I won’t miss out on the fun,” Egg called out, following Hart, Dan, and Madison out of the cabin. Fiona went out the door right after him.

  The air outside was thick with weird fog.

  “This wasn’t here when we came by a little while ago,” Hart said. He was following Madison and the superbeam Lindsay had loaned her.

  There was always pea-soup fog in horror movies like The Werewolf, Madison thought.

  Madison had to admit to herself that she was a little scared. Every little thing that went bump in the night sent a giant shiver down her spine.

  And it got worse.

  No sooner had Madison, Hart, and the rest of the small group been outside together than raindrops started to fall, slowly at first. But then they were falling more steadily. Egg stood in one place and stuck out his tongue, like he was getting a personal drink from the skies.

  And it got worse.

  Madison heard the scratching noise again. She wandered around the cabin with the flashlight shining, but it started to blink a little. And then it went out completely. Dan yanked his flashlight out of his pocket and loaned it to her.

  “Let there be light,” Madison joked.

  The first person she saw in the new yellow light was Hart. He smoothed back his wet hair. The rain was starting to fall even harder.

  “Hey!” a voice yelled out in a loud whisper from the cabin windows. “What are you guys doing?”

  Madison shone the high beam into the cabin. Everyone ducked.

  “Force of habit,” Aimee said afterward, standing back up.

  The rain felt warm on Madison’s forehead. Her raincoat wasn’t doing its water-repellent thing, but she plodded onward. Hart was right behind her, like in her dream fantasy sequence, only better. All Madison needed was the kiss under the tree—and an eraser to make all these other people go away.

  Egg, Dan, and Fiona were right behind them. Madison could hear them whispering.

  “You really think our surprise was fun?” Egg asked Fiona.

  Fiona sounded like she’d been practicing this for weeks. “You know how I feel, Egg,” she said.

  Dan groaned. “Quit getting all sappy,” he said. “You guys are so weird.”

  Madison wanted to turn and jump into the air in a half-split “hoorah!” over the reconciliation of Egg and Fiona but (a) she didn’t know how to do any kind of split, especially not in the rain, and (b) she didn’t want to jeopardize things between herself and her BFF any more than she already had.

  “Okay, my feet are soaked. I’m going back,” Egg said abruptly.

  Dan agreed. “Yeah, it’s wet,” he said. “Besides, I don’t want to get caught. The teacher cabin is just over there.”

  “It is?” Madison asked. She glanced over at it. Half the lights were on.

  “We should go back,” Fiona said. “Maybe the ghosts have gone to sleep.”

  “Very funny,” Madison said.

  The boys turned to walk away—even Hart.

  “I think we’re rained out,” he said.

  “Are you all leaving me here?” Madison asked.

  In the half darkness, Fiona made her way to Madison’s side. “Do you want me to go all the way to the haunted cabin with you? We can do it together….”

  “What!” Madison said. “Is this some kind of trick? An hour ago you didn’t even look me in the eye. And you were talking to Ivy!”

  By now, the boys had wandered out of earshot, back to their cabin.

  “I know,” Fiona said. “I was doing that to make you mad. I was mad.”

  “Wow,” Madison said. “I was so worried.”

  “I was mad about Egg before, but I’m not anymore.”

  “Huh?” Madison asked. “Why were you mad about Egg?”

  “I’m not sure. But now it’s over and I want my friend back,” Fiona said.

  An owl whoo-whooed, and Madison nearly leaped out of her skin.

  “Let’s get back,” Madison said. “This is creepier than creepy.”

  Fiona grabbed Madison’s arm and squeezed so she wouldn’t fall down. But Madison knew what was really going on. That squeeze meant “I’m sorry” in BFF body language.

  “I’m so glad we made up,” Fiona said.

  Madison sighed. “Not as glad as me.”

  Chapter 12

  FILE: Ghosts

  This field trip has been SUCH an eye-opener. I thought that I would be in the dark about so many things—and the truth is that I am just as brave as anyone who’s been going to camp for a million years. Turns out that the mysterious noises last night were birds on the roof of the cabin, BTW. We saw them there this morning, nesting. They must have been rebuilding because of all the rain. Go figure.

  Right now I am sitting on the cabin steps, looking out at the pine trees around us. They look a lot less scary in daytime. We made it all the way to the haunted cabin last night and were looking around for ghosts, but then Fiona got tired, so we left.

  I wish I had my Ouija board or even just my Magic 8-Ball. Something to help me find out for real if there are ghosts here or not. I feel like there must be. I just have this ghost vibe. Can’t wait to write Bigwheels all about this. She’d probably say I should go ask the blowfish on TweenBlurt.com. But I can’t do that here, either. No online hookups in the middle of the woods—although there may be some other kinds of hookups, LOL!

  I still miss my laptop sooo much.

  “Maddie!” Fiona called out.

  “There you are!” Aimee said. Their voices echoed. The stillness of the early morning air amplified every noise and motion as if the volume had been turned way up.

  Madison closed her orange notebook, leaving the pen inside to mark her place.

  “Good morning,” Madison said.

  Fiona and Aimee sat on either side of Madison, making a BFF sandwich. They squeezed hard.

  “I’m s
o glad you and Fiona are talking again,” Aimee said with a sigh.

  “I hate fighting,” Madison said. “Even though what happened wasn’t really classified as a fight, I hated it.”

  Fiona nodded. “Me too.”

  “It’s warm today,” Aimee said, tugging off her fleece.

  “Should we go to breakfast?” Fiona asked. She stood up and brushed off her pants. “We find out who won the talent show today. I can’t wait! I thought about it all last night. After the guys, of course.”

  Aimee giggled. “What else is on our schedule?”

  “Well, we have to pack,” Madison said. “Since we’re going home. It seems like we just got here.”

  “Home? I’m not ready to go home until we have our award luncheon,” Fiona said, smiling. “We won something. I can feel it!”

  “Everyone wins something,” Aimee said. “That’s how camp works. No one feels left out.”

  “Don’t forget the Tower climb,” Fiona said.

  Madison lowered her head. The Tower? With all the other excitement, she had nearly forgotten. Madison had a vision of herself swinging from ropes and vines like Tarzan, slamming into the side of the Tower with a bone-breaking thud.

  That would make for a good photo on the school website.

  “Maddie, what’s wrong? Aren’t you psyched for the Tower?” Aimee asked.

  Madison flashed a grin. “Sure, I am,” she said, not believing a word.

  As they walked to breakfast, they caught up with the boys, just as they had the morning before. Ben was with the boy group today, and Aimee wasted no time getting closer to him. He talked about sunlight, the properties of mud, and the direction of the wind. Not exactly romantic stuff, Madison thought, but Aimee looked smitten. Once again, Fiona and Egg walked as an item, too. It almost looked like they were touching hands.

  Watching her friends paired off with boys was difficult for Madison, but she shrugged it off. She loped toward Hart, hoping he’d get in step with her, but that didn’t work. Hart walked ahead with Chet and Drew instead. Dan came up to Madison and gave her a little shove.

  “Why so glum, chum?” Dan asked. “Hungry?”

  Madison laughed. “Not really. But I’d be willing to guess that you are.”

  Now Dan laughed. “Yeah, but I’m sick of this camp food. I’m ready to go home.”

  “Me too,” Madison said. “And I don’t want to climb that Tower.”

  “Me neither,” Dan admitted.

  Madison was relieved that someone else was nervous about scaling the wooden monster. The two vowed to cheer each other on once the climbing started.

  Inside the snack shack, the camp staffers had made a special breakfast for day three of the Jasper Woods field trip: hotcakes. Trays of silver-dollar cakes filled a long table that also held buckets of syrup, sliced bananas, berries, and crisp bacon.

  Dan licked his lips. “Now, this is better than cereal,” he cried, getting on line for his own plate piled high with food.

  “Hey, Finnster,” Hart said, finally acknowledging Madison on the breakfast line. “Way to go last night.”

  “Yeah, Maddie,” Egg joined in. “You’re like the scare patrol or something.”

  “Shh…don’t tell anyone,” Madison said. “If the teachers found out—”

  “Your secret is safe…” Hart said. The corners of his mouth turned up. His hair was doing that cute “flop” thing over his brow.

  Madison fiddled nervously with the tablecloth on the serving table. Without realizing it, she knocked over a bowl filled with little plastic containers of butter. They hit the floor and scattered.

  “Here, let me help,” Hart said, bending over.

  Madison got down to retrieve them, too. She was practically nose-to-nose with Hart.

  “Thanks,” Madison mumbled, embarrassed.

  “HART!” Ivy’s voice pierced the air. She continued to whine over Madison’s head. “Hart, I was looking for you. We saved you a seat over here. Come on. Come on!”

  Hart glanced at Madison and stood up. He dumped the butters in his hand back into the bowl. “See ya,” Hart said, turning toward Ivy.

  “Yeah,” Madison said. “See ya.”

  By now Aimee, Ben, Fiona, and Egg were all on bended knee, helping Madison pick up the mess. Madison watched Hart follow Ivy over to a table with the drones. Ivy glanced back, snickering. She always gets what she wants: Madison thought—especially when it comes to boys.

  As she looked down, Madison realized that her jeans were now dirty from the floor where she’d been kneeling. “Great,” Madison said aloud to herself. “Not only do I feel bad. Now I look bad.”

  Madison’s bad luck with pants continued.

  Mrs. Goode called the room to attention to announce the morning plans. But Madison wasn’t really listening that well. She couldn’t take her eyes off Hart and Ivy. Many of the kids were sitting in different seats than the day before. Cliques were mixed together now.

  It was every camper for himself or herself.

  “Before we get started,” Mrs. Goode said, “we have some business to attend to. Last night there were some reports of students in the woods after lights-out…reports that I am hesitant to acknowledge”

  Chet giggled, and Mrs. Goode looked over at him quizzically.

  “Something you wish to share, Mr. Waters?” she asked. He shook his head rapidly.

  Aimee gave Madison a thumbs-up. Luckily, none of the boys or girls who had been at the ghost hunt would talk. This was one secret the seventh-grade boys and girls could share together—even Poison Ivy would keep a lid on it.

  Mrs. Goode eyed the crowd as if some additional clues might mysteriously drop from the rafters or glow on kids’ foreheads—but none did.

  “Lucky for everyone involved, the night stroll happened without incident,” Mrs. Goode continued. “And we will leave the matter at that. Am I understood?”

  Aimee sat next to Madison on a snack shack bench. On the other side of Aimee, Ben explained how with one tiny flick, he could send a forkful of pancakes toward Mrs. Goode’s head at a 180-degree trajectory. Madison wanted to laugh—he sounded like such a smarty know-it-all. But Aimee looked genuinely happy to be sitting near him, listening to all he had to say.

  After stuffing themselves, the kids lined up for the morning hike to the Tower. Everyone had on sneakers for climbing. Madison noticed Ivy was wearing a cool pair of blue ones with a white stripe that Madison had seen in the Boop-Dee-Doop catalog. Even at camp. Ivy always made a fashion statement.

  After leaving breakfast, all 103 seventh graders marched across the lawn, into the woods, and over to the giant Tower. The sky had gotten cloudy all over again, and a light mist was falling. Madison hoped it would rain now because that meant no climbing.

  But she had no luck in that department. The rain was only a sprinkle. The climb was on.

  The Tower itself was nearly sixty feet high. Beneath it, camp staffers waited along with FHJH faculty members, each holding many-colored flags. Off to the left was an elaborate obstacle course with cones and ropes and pits filled with mud. There was mud to spare at this camp.

  Kids were divided into blue, green, red, orange, and yellow teams of about twenty. Madison crossed her fingers so she’d get into the orange group. Unfortunately, she was put into green. But Lindsay was orange, so they switched. At least I have my favorite color going for me, Madison thought.

  Pam, the camp director, explained that the groups would spend the majority of time getting kids up and down the Tower. In the meantime, those not climbing would run the obstacle course. Each student was timed for speed through the course. Best time meant a prize that day at lunch.

  Madison leaned back and arched her neck to see what she was up against. Every level had wide beams and rope steps. Pam said there were twenty different ways to get up to the top. The camp staffers handed out helmets and harnesses to the first kids who wanted to climb. Madison was not among the first crop of climbers. She, along with everyone else, watched
the adventure unfold on the ground.

  Hart pulled on his helmet before anyone else. He bragged that he’d climbed a forty-foot tower once before, at a wilderness camp he visited two summers earlier. Madison swooned at the sight of him in his gear. He waved to the rest of the seventh grade and began his ascent.

  “Go, Hart,” Drew said.

  “Yay!” Madison said, cheering him on.

  Everyone around them was clapping. Ivy had her hands high in the air. “You can do it!” Ivy shrieked so loud, kids plugged their ears.

  After Hart, Egg, Chet, and Drew grabbed the ropes and shimmied, lifted, and climbed their way to the top. Dozens of kids jumped to the front of the line and celebrated their climbs.

  But Madison was the leader for a group of “I can’t do it” seventh graders. Some felt self-conscious about the way they looked. Others had a fear of heights. Others felt too weak. Members included Ivy Daly, Rose Thorn, and Phony Joanie, whose brazen excuse was, “This tower is stupid.” Since the activity wasn’t for a grade or merit, no drone saw the point in climbing. As each girl was called for her “turn,” they each found some excuse.

  “I don’t want to hurt myself,” Ivy told the camp staffer who was trying to get her into a harness to climb. “And I don’t want to break one of my nails. That would be even worse.”

  Madison knew Ivy just wanted to hang out around James, the cute staff counselor, who was supervising the obstacle course.

  “Ms. Finn.” Pam was reading from a list of names. “Can we get your gear on for the climb?”

  Madison felt woozy. She was as scared as she’d been all morning.

  “Um…”

  Her throat felt parched. All around her was a hum of kids with climbing gear and fall leaves and…

  “Okay,” Madison said, leaving her fear in the dirt and approaching the helmets. “Can I wear the orange helmet?” she asked.

  Pam nodded. “Go right ahead,” she told Madison, winking.

  Madison knew Mom and Dad would be proud of her accomplishments in forty-eight short hours. But it was Hart who Madison really wanted to impress. Had he finished his obstacle course yet? She almost wanted to climb aboard the Tower and scream, “HEY, HART! LOOK OVER HERE!”

  The air still felt damp, but it didn’t make the Tower slippery, so the climbing continued. Madison’s climb was all systems go. Another six kids from class ascended at the same time. One of the climbers in Madison’s little group fell backward but dangled in his harness. Those watching from below gasped. The camp staffers waved. “It’s okay! Everyone’s okay!”