Ready! Set! Hawaii!

by Annie Bryant

  He smiled again, and her heart did a little leap. “I’m Chad,” he responded. “Um, I think my horse wants to be first. He keeps passing everyone. Excuse me!”

  Tall, good-looking, and polite! Maeve thought as Chad and his horse went bouncing past.

  But then Maeve’s lazy horse picked up the pace for the first time all morning! It was as if he didn’t want to be left behind. “Whoa!” she shouted, but it didn’t seem to work.

  “Pull back on the reins,” Chad suggested, laughing. He sounded sort of like Maeve’s brother, Sam, when he got stuck in a high-pitched giggling fit, but of course Chad was sooo much cuter. Maeve pulled on the reins, and her horse slowed, right next to Chad’s.

  “Are you doing okay?” he asked. “You were looking a little wobbly there,” he said, sounding half concerned and half amused as he shook in his saddle, imitating her.

  Maeve brushed aside her suspicions that this boy acted like her little brother. Boys just took longer to mature than girls. Those were the facts of life. “First-time jitters. I’ve never been horseback riding before.”

  “Neither have I,” Chad confessed. “But I learn quickly. I live in California, so I’m mostly the surfing type.”

  Maeve was right! He was a surfer boy! “California! As in Hollywood?” she asked.

  “Los Angeles,” he replied. “My parents took me and my friend Will on this trip to celebrate my birthday. It’s in a couple of days.”

  “Happy early birthday!” Maeve said. She wondered how old he was going to be. He was tall, so maybe fourteen? Just as she was about to ask, another kid—Chad’s friend Will, she guessed, rode up and gave Maeve a thumbs-up.

  “Rad moves, horse girl!” he said.

  “Shut up!” Chad shoved at his friend. “We can’t wait to try out a coupla of moves we’ve been practicing on these rad Hawaiian waves. Do you surf?” he asked.

  “I do now!” she exclaimed. Will looked confused, but Chad laughed. He gets my sense of humor! Maeve blushed. “Actually, my friend Avery’s the only one of us who’s even been to Hawaii before, and she’s a pretty good surfer—” She looked around to introduce Avery. “Where’d she go?”

  Chad gently tugged at his reins, slowing down his horse. “That’s not her, is it?” he asked, pointing behind him.

  Avery was about fifteen feet behind the group on her horse, which wasn’t moving at all. “Ave, are you okay?” Maeve called back.

  “He won’t budge,” Avery responded. Her dark brown horse’s nose was buried in a nearby bush, and he chewed happily on the leaves.

  “I’ll get help!” Maeve yelled back.

  Avery sighed. Great, everyone was now going to see than she had no idea what she was doing on horseback. Didn’t Kai say these horses knew what to do? It’s more like they do what they want!

  “Giddyap?” Her horse didn’t move, except to shake his mane and make a whuffing sound as he poked around for more food. “Oh, c’mon, please?” Avery begged.

  Maeve called ahead. “Excuse me! Kai!” Kai couldn’t hear her over the buzz of the forest, so Chad put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

  That got Kai’s attention! “We need your help back here!” Maeve explained.

  Kai raised his arm, signaling all riders to stop. “Hang on, we’ve got a small situation.”

  “Situation?” Mr. Madden asked.

  Avery could hear everyone discussing her up ahead. Great, Dad didn’t even realize I was gone, she thought. He probably would have noticed if it were Andie!

  “Sometimes the horses get a little fussy,” Kai said. “It’s important not to let them start eating the vegetation, or they won’t stop! Just hold on.” He turned his horse around and galloped back toward where Avery was stuck.

  Avery realized everyone had stopped and turned to look at her. There hadn’t been a sport yet that she wasn’t able to conquer, but it looked like horseback riding was going to be the first. There was nothing more embarrassing than having to be rescued! It made her look so helpless—her worst nightmare. And naturally, it had to happen in front of Kazie!

  “Kai to the rescue!” Kazie whooped.

  Avery just knew the K’s were all laughing at her. She dropped her reins on the horse’s neck just as a bird burst out of the bush he was chomping on!

  The horse took off at a gallop! She grabbed for the reins and held on tight as her horse took off down the trail, shooting past the entire group of riders. Everything was rushing past her in a blur.

  “Pull back!” Avery heard everyone yell. Maeve and Chad were shouting loudest of all. And is that Kazie’s crazy laugh I hear? Avery finally managed to grab the reins and pull back, and the horse suddenly came to a halt.

  Kai caught up with her. “Well, that was quite a scare. Looks like your horse got spooked by that bird. You okay? You did a super hero job of catching him up.”

  Avery caught her breath and waited for her heart to stop beating a million times a minute. She was terrified, but she wasn’t about to let anyone know! “I’m fine.”

  Kai looked skeptical. “Okay, but how ’bout you ride up here next to me? You’ll be my riding buddy!”

  Katani rode up alongside Avery and the guide. “Slapping the reins against your horse’s neck is a cue for him to go faster,” Katani warned her. “So you’ve got to be careful. Also, if you sit back and concentrate all of your weight in back, it’ll be an easier ride. Here, look at me.”

  Avery didn’t want Katani’s tips! Or anyone else’s, for that matter. She just wanted this ride to be over—NOW. Humiliation. That’s what this is.

  “Chill out, Katani,” Avery muttered through gritted teeth, “I’m fine. Go back to the Kgirl club.”

  Katani bit her lip. It was clear that Avery wasn’t fine at all. She stared at her for a long second then pulled her horse back and let Avery continue on.

  Oblivious to Avery’s embarrassment, Kai continued the horseback tour. “Now what we’ve got coming up here are rock formations and the caves of Mahaulepu,” he said. “You’ll see some ancient petroglyphs carved on the rock faces.”

  “What’s inside the caves?” Charlotte asked.

  “Cave wolf spiders,” Kai replied.

  “Ewwwwwww!” everyone groaned.

  Spiders? Avery perked up a little. Maybe the rest of the ride wouldn’t be so bad after all. “Tell me more about these wolf spiders?” she asked Kai, ignoring the Kgirls, who of course preferred to ride a safe distance away from the creepy caves.

  CHAPTER

  9

  A Sight for Sick Eyes

  Later that evening, all the girls paraded through the maze of hallways to the infirmary, eager to show off their party attire and tell stories about their day to Mr. Ramsey. The evening’s dinner theme had been “Tropical Black Tie.” Maeve stopped to admire herself in a mirror as they passed by the ship’s lounge.

  I could wear this dress to the Oscars, she decided. It had been a fairy-tale day so far. She almost fainted at the sight of Chad in a tuxedo and floral bow tie, and he said she looked like a “movie star.” Maeve knew it was destiny that landed them both on the same cruise!

  Avery doubled back to retrieve her. “Maeve, your reflection will always be there, but visiting hours are only for another thirty minutes!”

  Maeve blew herself a kiss in the mirror and they caught up to the rest of the girls.

  Avery had been feeling pretty good ever since she managed to actually spot one of the endangered wolf spiders near the end of the ride and earn Kai’s eternal gratitude for promising to start a save-the-nenes-and-wolf-spiders campaign as soon as she got back home. The rest of the BSG weren’t sure how AAJH would feel about this new plan for the Green Machine club, but knew better than to argue. Maybe the spider thing would pass.

  Katani looked down at her watch. “I don’t want to be late to meet the Kgirls at the pool.”

  “Nope, wouldn’t want to be late for that,” Avery said. She sounded cheerful, but Charlotte knew better. Even a new environmental cause wasn�
��t enough to dissolve the tension building between Avery and Katani.

  “C’mon, guys, it’s just this way,” Charlotte said, motioning them forward. There wasn’t anything she could do about that tension right this second!

  “Everyone’s invited to hang out with us,” Katani insisted, “just so you all know.” She wished the BSG would just give the Kgirls a chance. Kazie and Kara-Lee were the coolest people Katani had met in a long time, but her best friends kept forcing her to choose who to hang out with! I can spend as much time as I want with the BSG when we get back home, Katani told herself. My only chance to hang out with the Kgirl Club is now, on this cruise. And it’s not my fault nobody wants to hang out all together, is it?

  None of the girls said anything more. Instead they followed Charlotte in silence as she led them up a small stairwell. They turned left, then right, and then went up another flight of stairs. Suddenly they were standing in front of a door that read INFIRMARY.

  “Okay, I’m all turned around. I can’t believe you and Izzy didn’t get totally lost coming here, Char,” Maeve remarked.

  Charlotte smiled at Isabel. “Oh, we did!” She held open the door to the infirmary and the girls tiptoed in, not wanting to wake anyone who might be resting.

  “Charlotte, Isabel, so nice to see you again,” said Dr. Steve. “I just checked on your father. He’s doing much better.”

  “Is he well enough to leave?” Charlotte asked hopefully.

  “Not quite,” he said, “but here are some masks and gloves so you can go visit him. He’s awake.” He handed out blue paper masks to all of the girls.

  “Does this come in pink?” Maeve asked. Dr. Steve laughed and shook his head. “Oh well, still très dramatique!” Maeve quipped to Charlotte.

  Charlotte didn’t answer. She looked befuddled as she struggled with the ties on her mask. Isabel came over to help her. “Just pretend it’s Halloween! Or you’re on Maeve’s TV drama,” she said.

  Dr. Steve opened the door to Mr. Ramsey’s room. “You can go in now.”

  The girls filed into the small room, where Mr. Ramsey was propped up on a pillow, reading a book. “Well, there’s a sight for sick eyes.”

  Charlotte rushed over to her father’s bedside and gave him a quick hug. “When can you leave?”

  Mr. Ramsey sighed. “Careful, there. I’m still contagious! I need to stay for another couple of days. But they’re taking great care of me here. I’ll be right as rain in no time.”

  “But without the rain part,” Avery said seriously. “There’s still surfing to do.”

  “Gotcha,” Mr. Ramsey replied. “Marisol stopped by before dinner to fill me in on everything you’ve been up to.”

  Isabel and Charlotte shared a quick look. Not everything they were up to, they were sure about that! When they got back on the boat after horseback riding, Marisol had been there to greet them, and let them know that a certain someone named Franco had been delivered safely to Mr. Ramsey’s closet. They’d been in such a hurry to get ready for dinner, though, that they hadn’t yet had a chance to tell the rest of the BSG!

  “You guys are going easy on Mr. Madden and Andie, right?” he teased.

  “They’ve been just lovely!” Maeve exclaimed. “It’s so delightful to have a dash of romance in the trip.”

  Mr. Ramsey looked at Maeve with a bemused expression. Of all Charlotte’s best friends she was definitely the quirkiest.

  Avery groaned. She was tired of Maeve’s romance obsession, although the more she watched her dad and Andie, the more she realized that Maeve was right. It was one thing visiting her dad in Telluride and seeing him there with Andie, but seeing them together, here, just a few months later, was just too weird to handle.

  “It’s been great, Mr. R., but we’re ready to have you back,” Avery added. “Y’know, back to normal.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re having a really amazing time,” Katani added. “Kazie and Kara-Lee are way fun. They’re practically like Beacon Street Girls now!”

  If Katani thinks Kazie’s ever going to be part of the BSG, Avery thought, I’ll start calling her Crazy Katani!

  “Oh, good,” Mr. Ramsey responded. “But I have to confess, I’m a little concerned about my article. While I can write about my excellent care in the infirmary and the competence of the shipboard doctors, I don’t think that’s what they’re looking for in my piece.”

  He started folding the corner of the page in the book he was holding back and forth. Charlotte knew this was something her dad did only when he was nervous. “It’s okay, Dad, Isabel and I totally have you covered.”

  Charlotte held out her journal. “I’ve started a piece about the feral parrot problem, and I jotted down some observations about today’s horseback riding trip through Mahaulepu. I’m also taking lots of photos.”

  Isabel retrieved her small sketchpad from her purse and handed it to Mr. Ramsey. “These are just quick drawings, but I’ll turn them into larger sketches.”

  Mr. Ramsey’s whole face lit up with astonishment. “Girls, if I weren’t contagious I’d give you both giant bear hugs!” He coughed into a napkin. “Excuse me—cough—this is—cough—just wonderful…very creative!”

  Flipping slowly through every page of Charlotte’s journal, Mr. Ramsey kept nodding and smiling. “Charlotte, I do believe you inherited the Ramsey writing gene!” He was equally mesmerized by Isabel’s sketches. “It looks like this bird could just fly off the paper! And you drew this on horseback?” He handed the sketchpad and journal back to the girls. “Thanks to you two, I can stop worrying about my article and concentrate on getting better.”

  “Which means you’re one step closer to recovery,” Dr. Steve said from the doorway. “But for now, Mr. Ramsey needs his rest.” He held the door open while the girls said their good-byes and filed out of the room.

  Charlotte untied her mask and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well that’s one less thing to worry about.”

  “One less thing?” Maeve asked. “Is there something else to worry about?”

  Isabel took a deep breath. “There’s something that Charlotte and I have been meaning to tell you guys.”

  “Actually, it would be better to show you,” Charlotte continued. “But it’s back in the room.”

  Katani checked her watch. “I’m totally late to meet Kara-Lee and Kazie at the pool. You can show me later, right?”

  “Yes, but…,” Isabel started.

  “It won’t take long. And it’s kind of important,” Charlotte finished.

  Katani shook her head. “I’m beyond late. Why don’t you guys just come to the pool and we can do that later?”

  All four girls shook their heads. We have to feed Franco, first! Isabel was thinking. Of course Avery wasn’t interested, and Maeve was too intrigued by whatever it was her friends had to show them all to take a detour up to the pool.

  Katani sighed. “Listen, I told them I was coming, so I’m going to just go meet them and I promise to catch up with you guys real soon.” She waved and took off down the hallway.

  Charlotte was in shock. “Didn’t she hear me say this was important?”

  “I don’t know,” said Isabel. She was just as confounded as Charlotte was at Katani’s behavior.

  Maeve sighed. “Listen, I like Kara-Lee and Kazie. I do! But this whole Kgirl club thing? It seems kinda like a clique.”

  “She did just invite us to hang out with them,” Isabel said, defending Katani. She could see Maeve’s point, but she didn’t want to take sides.

  “You’re right, Izzy. But did she really want us to come?” Charlotte wondered. “I don’t want to sound mean or anything, but she’s been spending way more time with them than us. We were supposed to stick together so my dad could get all our different perspectives on cruise ship life!” Charlotte was feeling energized by her dad’s enthusiasm for her writing. But how am I supposed to fill in for him if the BSG can’t even get along?

  Finally, they get it! Avery thought. “Kazie is trouble. I’
ve been trying to warn you guys all along!” she exclaimed.

  “Okay, this is our room,” Isabel declared, cutting off an argument before it could get started. “Prepare yourself for something pretty cool.”

  The Newest Member of the BSG

  Inside the room, Isabel instructed everyone to change out of their nice clothes and into jeans and T-shirts.

  “What sort of surprise do you have to dress down for?” Maeve wondered.

  “Just trust us,” Charlotte instructed her.

  Once everyone was changed, Isabel led them over to the adjoining door to Mr. Ramsey’s stateroom. She knocked first, but Marisol wasn’t back yet. She’d been called away for a staff meeting while the girls visited with Charlotte’s dad.

  “Ready?” Isabel asked. Maeve and Avery nodded. Isabel looked to Charlotte.

  “Whenever you are, Izzy!” Charlotte stepped aside.

  Isabel opened the door.

  “FRANCO LOVE IZZY!” Franco declared.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!” Maeve screamed.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!” Franco screamed back, imitating Maeve.

  Avery burst out in a fit of giggles. “Maeve, that was so awesome! You totally freaked! And freaked out this poor guy—”

  “His name’s Franco,” Isabel said. It obviously hadn’t taken him long to not only escape his cage, but get out of the closet as well.

  Isabel retrieved the escape artist bird from his haphazard perch on Mr. Ramsey’s travel radio and carried him over to her friends. “Franco, please meet Avery and Maeve.”

  Maeve caught her breath and turned her head to one side to get a better look at the parrot. He bobbed up and down on Isabel’s arm, clearly excited at all the activity, then turned his head to one side, just like Maeve! “Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to mimic people!” she scolded.

  Franco bowed his head, looking ashamed. “Franco bad!”

  Avery giggled again. This trip suddenly got a whole lot better! “So who does he belong to? Is he ours?”

  “I wish!” Isabel sighed. She explained the situation with Marisol, the promise she made to her aunt, and how she snuck out that first morning to take care of Franco. “She’s taking him to a bird sanctuary in Maui,” she finished sadly.