We watched carefully for a moment but the snake didn’t move. Its tongue looked suspiciously red. Olivia stamped her foot on the ground. ‘It’s not real,’ she said with relief. ‘Other wise the vibrations would have scared it off.’
We scooped up the fake snake. It was nearly a metre long and as thick as my wrist, and made of sturdy plastic. In the torchlight at night it would have seemed terrifyingly real.
‘Now for part two of the plan,’ I said.
We cut about a metre of fishing line from Nigel’s hand reel and borrowed a plastic peg from the clothesline. One end of the fishing line was tied around the snake’s neck, the other to the peg. Then we hid the snake in the ruins.
Now we just had to wait for the right moment. In the meantime we headed back to camp to help the others with the cooking. When we had a chance, we told Meg, Jemila and Sienna about our plan.
When Zoe rang the dinner bell, the other teams dawdled back from the beach and queued up at the table to get their kebabs, flat-bread, garlic-and-yoghurt sauce and salad. This was our chance.
Olivia disappeared and returned a few minutes later. She gave me a signal then sidled over to the queue. Meg, Sienna and I came up to the boys and started chatting to them.
‘So how many points did you guys score for the animals you spotted on the wreck?’ I asked. Connor, Rory and Caleb turned towards me. Olivia and Jemila snuck up behind Connor.
Connor scrunched up his face. ‘We saw a reef shark, that’s ten points.’
‘Cool,’ said Sienna.
‘I wish we’d seen a reef shark,’ said Meg.
Olivia frowned in concentration behind the boys.
Jemila bumped Connor on the arm to distract him. ‘Sorry, Connor.’
‘And we saw three huge wrasse fish,’ said Rory. ‘That’s another six points.’
‘And a stingray,’ added Caleb.
Olivia glanced at us and gave a quick thumbs up. Then she shrieked. ‘Snake! Snake!’
The boys glanced down in the dust, saw the black snake on the ground and scattered. Connor and Rory dashed towards the tents but the snake chased them, bouncing up and down, striking at their heels. Rory split away and the snake kept following Connor.
‘Help! Help!’ yelled Connor. ‘The snake’s chasing me.’
The Turtle team collapsed in fits of laughter. He really did look funny.
Suddenly, Connor realised that the snake ‘chasing’ him was his very own plastic toy, attached to his T-shirt by a peg and a length of fishing line. Connor charged back towards us, his face red with anger.
‘Who did that?’ yelled Connor.
Olivia and I grinned at each other.
‘It was just a prank, Connor,’ said Olivia, unpegging the snake from his T-shirt.
‘It wasn’t funny at all,’ said Connor.
‘I thought it was hilarious,’ said Sienna with a chuckle.
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Maybe you’ve just got to lighten up, Connor. You can’t play nasty tricks on us and then complain when we take our revenge.’
The Turtle team gave each other high fives.
‘Team Turtle rules,’ crowed Olivia.
Our barbecued kebabs tasted particularly delicious as we sat around the roaring campfire. It was our last night. Tomorrow we would be sailing home on the Wandering Albatross to Kira Island and our families. I couldn’t wait to hug Mum, Bella, Harry, Mimi and Papa again. And I was desperate to see how much Summer and Smudge had grown. I wondered if they’d be super-excited to see me too.
Charlie, Cici, Meg and I sat together on one log bench. Jemila and Ariana sat to our left, while Olivia, Willow, Sienna and Tash sat to our right. We toasted pink and white marshmallows on long, thin sticks until they were molten and golden-brown. Ariana snorted with laughter as Cici pulled a terrible face, pretending to be Connor escaping from the snake.
Olivia leaned over next to me with a friendly smile. She offered me a gooey pink marshmallow on a stick.
‘Isn’t Camp Castaway awesome?’ she asked.
I smiled back at her as I took the treat. ‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Being marooned on a deserted island with all our friends has been the most brilliant fun ever.’
At about the age of eight, Belinda Murrell began writing stirring tales of adventure, mystery and magic in hand-illustrated exercise books. As an adult, she combined two of her great loves – writing and travelling the world – and worked as a travel journalist, technical writer and public relations consultant. Now, inspired by her own three children, Belinda is a bestselling, inter nationally published children’s author. Her previous titles include four picture books, her fantasy adventure series, The Sun Sword Trilogy, and her seven time-slip adventures, The Locket of Dreams, The Ruby Talisman, The Ivory Rose, The Forgotten Pearl, The River Charm, The Sequin Star and The Lost Sapphire.
For younger readers (aged 6 to 9), Belinda has the Lulu Bell series about friends, family, animals and adventures growing up in a vet hospital.
Belinda lives in Manly in a gorgeous old house overlooking the sea with her husband, Rob, her three beautiful children, Sammy the Stimson’s python and her dog, Rosie. She is an Author Ambassador for Room to Read and Books in Homes.
Find out more about Belinda at her website: www.belindamurrell.com.au
BOOKS BY BELINDA MURRELL
Pippa’s Island
Book 1: The Beach Shack Cafe
Book 2: Cub Reporters
Book 3: Kira Dreaming
Book 4: Camp Castaway
The Locket of Dreams
The Ruby Talisman
The Ivory Rose
The Forgotten Pearl
The River Charm
The Sequin Star
The Lost Sapphire
The Sun Sword Trilogy
Book 1: The Quest for the Sun Gem
Book 2: The Voyage of the Owl
Book 3: The Snowy Tower
Lulu Bell
Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn
Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin
Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort
Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon
Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup
Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle
Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub
Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party
Lulu Bell and the Christmas Elf
Lulu Bell and the Koala Joey
Lulu Bell and the Arabian Nights
Lulu Bell and the Magical Garden
Lulu Bell and the Pirate Fun
DON’T MISS OUT ON ANY OF PIPPA’S ADVENTURES
COLLECT THEM ALL!
Pippa has just arrived at a new school, in a new town, and even living on a gorgeous island isn’t cheering her up. Her arrival causes ripples at Kira Cove Primary School – but Pippa soon starts to make friends with eco-warrior Meg, boho-chick Charlie, and fashionista and cupcake baker Cici.
Pippa’s mum plans to buy a rustic old boatshed and start a bookshop cafe, and Pippa worries they’ll lose all their money in this madcap venture – until her new friends come to the rescue to help get the grand opening back on track.
Will Kira Island ever feel like home?
OUT NOW
Pippa is settling in to her island home – she’s even learning to surf. School is abuzz when Mrs Neill announces the launch of a new student newspaper. But how will Pippa, Meg, Charlie and Cici decide what to write about when the four friends have such different interests? A fashion photo shoot could be fun – if it weren’t for bad weather, a naughty puppy and other disasters.
Just when things couldn’t get any worse, the cub reporters get a news scoop that could bring the whole town together at the Beach Shack Cafe. Cupcakes for everyone!
Whose story will make the front page?
OUT NOW
Kira Cove Public School is hosting a talent quest. Cici, Meg and Charlie couldn’t be more excited to perform, but Pippa gets butterflies at the though t of singing on stage. After a disastrous audition the girls get a second chance,
but can Pippa find a way to smash her stage fright before the VIP concert?
Meanwhile, at the Beach Shack Cafe a mysterious visitor is causing havoc when backs are turned. When Pippa finds a clue, she is determined to track down the mischievous cafe thief.
Will Pippa sing with the Sassy Sisters?
OUT NOW
Adventures are more fun with friends! There are thirteen gorgeous Lulu Bell stories for you to discover.
Love history? Escape to another time with Belinda’s seven beautiful time-slip adventures.
If you love fantasy stories, you’ll love Belinda’s Sun Sword trilogy.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Penguin Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Camp Castaway
ePub ISBN – 9780143783732
First published by Random House Australia in 2018
Copyright © Belinda Murrell, 2018
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.penguin.com.au
Addresses for the Penguin Random House group of companies can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
Cover and internal images: girl learning to surf Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock; young girl in summer park Andrey Arkusha/Shutterstock; girl backpacking Alohaflaminggo/Shutterstock; children resting Alohaflaminggo/Shutterstock; summer icon set Ksenia Lokko/Shutterstock; summer cards Ksenia Lokko/Shutterstock; hand-drawn summer creative alphabet Ksenia Lokko/Shutterstock
Cover and internal design by Christabella Designs
Ebook by Firstsource
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