by Sheryl Berk
Bria looked nervous. She’d never “roughed it” before. “What if we don’t want to go?” she asked.
“Then you certainly don’t have to. I won’t force you,” Toni said. “You can just hand in your Dance Divas jacket and find another studio to dance at.”
She turned and walked out the door, leaving the girls behind to discuss her proposition.
“So we have no choice,” Anya said. “We have to go on Toni’s camping trip or get kicked off the team.”
Scarlett flipped through the forest guide. It looked huge, with lots of hills, trails, and lakes. “Maybe it will be fun,” she suggested. “A Divas’ adventure.”
“Did you see The Hunger Games?” Liberty asked her.
“If we have to go, then we should try and make the best of it,” Scarlett insisted. “It’s only one night. We’re tough. We can do it.”
She raised her hand in the air for a Divas’ cheer: “Divas rock, divas roll! Divas are always in control!” None of the others joined in—except for Bria, who had her own lyric to add:
“Divas alone in the woods? None of this sounds very good!”
Chapter 11
Camp Diva
When a van pulled up in front of the studio the next day at 6:00 a.m., none of the girls were excited—and they were barely awake.
“This is barbaric,” Liberty said, yawning. “Who ever heard of packing a backpack? All my luggage has wheels.” She struggled to hoist the sack over her shoulders and make her way over to where the rest of the Divas were waiting.
“Toni said to pack light,” Rochelle pointed out. “What do you have in there?”
“Just the bare necessities,” Liberty replied. “Pedicure kit, moisturizer, cordless curling iron, cell phone charger, cashmere blanket—oh, and my lamb Pillow Pet of course!”
Rochelle rolled her eyes. “How about some canned food and water?”
“Nope, but I do have several issues of Teen Vogue for when we get bored!”
“I brought a compass,” Anya volunteered. She held up a tarnished silver disk on a chain. “My dad said it belonged to my great grandpa Alexei in Russia. It’s kinda my good-luck charm whenever I travel, but it might actually come in handy this time.”
“Who needs a compass when I have this?” Bria held up her phone and pointed to her GPS app. “I can find anywhere on the planet with this.”
“Assuming you can get a cell phone signal in the woods,” Rochelle reminded her. “I wouldn’t count on Wi-Fi wherever Toni is taking us.”
“Or a bathroom,” Scarlett said. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a ladies’ room in the wild.”
Liberty wrinkled her nose. “That is so disgusting! How am I supposed to do my nighttime beauty ritual without a sink?”
Rochelle shook her head. “You’re worrying about your beauty? I’m worried about my life! What if there are ferocious beasts out there? I don’t want to be some grizzly bear’s midnight snack!”
Scarlett tried to keep them all calm. There was no use in freaking out … yet. “I’m sure Miss Toni wouldn’t put us in any danger,” she said. “She’s our teacher, after all.” She saw her dance coach loading up the van with assorted camping gear and hoped there was an air mattress in there as well.
“I hope she got me a pink sleeping bag,” Gracie commented. “Pink is my fave color, though purple would be okay, I guess.” Her backpack was filled with stuffed animals: Petunia Pig, Gerdie Gorilla, and her latest addition: a red cat she named Ketchup Kitty.
“You couldn’t leave a few of those at home?” Rochelle asked her.
Gracie shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I need them to keep me snuggly at night.”
Scarlett had already been through this discussion at 5:00 a.m. When Gracie’s canteen, change of clothes, and warm socks wouldn’t fit in her bag, her mom handed them to Scarlett to carry in hers.
“But Mom,” Scarlett had whined. “I have my own stuff to take.”
“You are the big sister, so you have to look out for Gracie,” she warned her. Gracie then presented her with Tessie Teddy Bear. “You can carry her for me,” she said. “Thanks, Scoot.”
“Let’s face it. We’re all clueless.” Bria sighed. She was going through a checklist her mother had prepared for her. “I think I forgot to pack a toothbrush.”
“I’m not clueless,” Anya spoke up. She was checking to make sure her canteen was filled with water. “I went camping once when I lived in California.”
“Really?” Liberty raised an eyebrow. “Your backyard doesn’t count.”
“It wasn’t my backyard,” Anya defended herself. “It was in a state park with my Brownies troop.”
“Brownies? How old were you?” Rochelle asked.
“Seven or eight. I know it had to be in second grade …”
Bria chuckled. “Oh, great. That makes me feel so much better!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Scarlett said, trying to keep everyone calm. They hadn’t even left on the trip yet, and they were already bickering! “We’ll learn as we go along.”
“Miss Toni says she wants us to learn an important lesson,” Gracie reminded them.
“Yeah,” Bria said. “I just hope that lesson doesn’t involve a pack of wild werewolves.”
“You’ve seen one too many movies.” Rochelle chuckled. “Come on? Werewolves? Bloodthirsty coyotes, sure. Maybe poisonous snakes. But no werewolves.”
“Snakes?” Liberty gulped. “I don’t like snakes … at all.” She unzipped her bag and pulled out a can of bug repellent. “Do you think this keeps away snakes, too?”
Gracie held up her stuffed animal. “Miss Petunia Pig will protect us,” she said. “She’s very brave.”
Scarlett seriously doubted a tattered pink pig with a missing ear would help them fend off wild animals, but it was a nice thought.
“Okay, everyone on board,” Toni said. She glanced down at Liberty’s pink sequined sneakers. “Really? That’s what you’re hiking through mud and rough terrain in? I thought I told you to wear hiking boots.”
“The hiking boots my mom bought me were hideous,” Liberty sniffed. “I don’t do ugly footwear.” She pulled up her leggings to reveal socks with pink stars on them. “There’s no reason why camping has to be unfashionable.”
The campsite was two hours away. The roads were long and twisty and seemed to climb higher and higher into the hills. The sun rose above the trees in a red ball.
“Are we going up a mountain?” Bria asked, peering out the window.
“Would you prefer to hike up or down?” Toni asked. “I thought I was being nice by making it easier on you. You’ll hike down to the site.”
“If she wanted to make it easier on us, she could have just taken us shopping at the mall,” Liberty muttered under her breath.
When they arrived, a park ranger was waiting to greet them. “Ladies—or should I say Divas—welcome to Black Boulder Forest! I’m Ranger Sam and I’m at your service.” He sounded so enthusiastic, like this would be the best trip of their lives. But no one was buying it.
“Can you please show us to our accommodations?” Liberty said, dragging her backpack behind her. “I could really use a nice shower and spa treatment right now. Where’s the hotel?”
The ranger laughed. “I’m sorry, but your only accommodations are the tents you’ll set up when you make your way to the bottom of the mountain.”
Miss Toni held up a vinyl duffel. “Got ’em right here! I hope they’ll be to your liking, Liberty. I rented the top-of-the-line model with high-wind protection.”
“That’s great!” Ranger Sam replied. “It can get very cold out there at night. You’re in for a treat.”
Scarlett glanced over at Liberty. She looked like she was going to keel over. “What? No hotel? Not even a villa or cabana or something?” she exclaimed.
“Where are the beds?” Scarlett asked. “There are beds to sleep in, aren’t there?”
Miss Toni smiled brightly. “Of course there are! I got each
and every one of you your very own comfy sleeping bag.” She tossed a green sack at Liberty. “Catch!”
Then she handed a lantern to Scarlett, a bag filled with pots and pans to Rochelle, and two totes stocked with food to Bria and Gracie. “I highly recommend the powdered hummus and the dehydrated sweet potatoes,” she said. “Yum!”
“What about breakfast?” Gracie piped up. It was her favorite meal of the day, and she couldn’t imagine it without a heaping pile of pancakes or her mom’s apple-cinnamon oatmeal.
“Glad you asked!” Toni replied. She handed her a dry box of bran cereal. “Help yourself. There’s no milk, of course.”
Bria rifled through the bag. There was absolutely nothing appetizing and her stomach was growling. “Maybe we can make a campfire and roast some s’mores,” she suggested.
“That would be nice,” Toni answered, “if you had any marshmallows and knew how to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Good luck with that!” She walked over to Ranger Sam. “You guys should definitely hit the trail right away. It’ll take you several hours to reach the bottom, and you don’t want to lose the daylight.”
Bria gulped. “You mean, we’ll have to walk through the woods in the dark?” She tugged on Rochelle’s sleeve and whispered, “Werewolves!”
Scarlett held up her lantern. “I guess that’s why we have this.” She looked at Miss Toni. “What happens if we get lost or in trouble?”
Ranger Sam handed her a whistle. “We won’t be far behind, and I’ll be keeping an eye on you. But you girls are leading us, not the other way around.” He held up a pair of binoculars. “If you get into a bind, just toot for help.”
Toni crossed her arms over her chest. She was not about to change her mind and let them all just go home. “Tick tock,” she said. “Time to hit the trail.”
Chapter 12
Not-So-Happy Trails
Scarlett looked around, trying to get her bearings and figure out where they were on the map. “You’d think they would have marked it with an ‘X’ …,” she said. “You think we’re here?” She held up the map so Rochelle could see it.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Rochelle replied.
“Let me see,” Liberty said as she pulled it out of Scarlett’s hands.
“Why? You think you’re Dora the Explorer?” Rock teased.
“No, but I can find my way expertly around the Riverside Square Mall floor plan. This can’t be much harder.” She pointed to a spot at the top of the map. “Here. This is where we are.”
Scarlett shrugged. “Okay. I’ll buy that. We’re clearly way up high and the campsite is way down low.”
“I want to snap a picture of us to post on Instagram!” Bria said, digging her phone out of her pocket.
“Great. Take a picture before we’re eaten alive by wild animals,” Anya said.
“Don’t say that!” Bria hushed her. “Seriously! The wild animals might hear you. Don’t give them any ideas!”
Liberty struck a pose. “Okay, everyone behind me and say cheese.”
Rochelle frowned. “Behind you? Why do you get to be front and center?” She gave her teammate a shove so she could stand next to her. “Scarlett, over here next to me.”
Bria rested her phone on a rock and set the auto-timer. “Okay, everyone get in. On the count of three, say ‘DIVAS!’ ONE TWO THREE …”
The flash went off before they could open their mouths.
Bria looked at the picture. The only person you could see was Gracie. Everyone else was cut off at the shoulders.
“I guess we have to scooch down to Gracie’s height,” Bria suggested.
“Scooch? You want me to scooch in my designer jeans?” Liberty groaned. “I am not getting all filthy so you can get a photo.”
“Aw, come on,” Rochelle taunted her. “You’re not afraid of a little dirt, are ya?” She took a handful of soil and rubbed it into Liberty’s studded leather jacket. “Oops! Looks like you’ll have to send this to the dry cleaners!”
Liberty’s face got bright red. “Do you have any idea how expensive this jacket is?” she screamed.
“Nope, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me,” Rochelle replied.
“It’s one-of-a-kind! It was a gift from Gaga!”
“Gaga gave you a jacket?” Bria gasped.
“No. She gave it to my mom and I kind of borrowed it from her closet … She’s gonna kill me!”
Anya giggled. “It’s a Gaga-tastrophe.”
“It isn’t funny,” Liberty said, trying desperately to rub the stains out. “None of you are funny.”
“I’m funny,” Gracie piped up. “You wanna hear a joke?” She didn’t wait for Liberty’s answer. “Why did the lion lose at Monopoly? Because he was playing with a cheetah!” She cracked herself up. “Get it? A cheet-ah?”
“I still need a photo for Instagram,” Bria reminded them. “Can we all just maybe sit over there on those rocks?” She pointed to a spot a few feet away. “Look, there’s even a pretty backdrop.”
Rochelle looked over. “Pretty backdrop? All I see are trees, trees, and more trees.”
“Exactly,” Bria said, pushing her into position. “It’s very rustic.”
“THREE TWO ONE … SAY ‘DIVA!’ ”
This time when the camera flashed, they were all in the photo—but none of them were smiling and Gracie blinked.
“I give up,” Bria said, sighing.
“This isn’t a photo shoot. It’s a do-or-die challenge,” Anya reminded her.
“I think we should stop posing and get moving,” Scarlett said, taking the map up again. “There’ll be plenty of time for pics once we make our way down.”
“Toni’s totally enjoying torturing us,” Liberty grumped. She could barely walk with the backpack over her shoulders and the bulky sleeping bag duffel in her arms.
Scarlett led the way, clutching the map, and tentatively making her way down the steep path. “This map has so many trails. I don’t know which one to choose,” she said.
Liberty peered over her shoulder. “Choose a short one. One that goes straight down and gets us out of here.”
“There aren’t any straight ones.” Scarlett sighed. “And they all have these weird names. Like Sleeping Bear Dunes and Biscuit Basin.”
Gracie still had breakfast on the brain. “Go for the biscuit one. Maybe there’s a pancake house on the way.”
Scarlett studied the map from every angle. “I think we should take the Full Moon Trail,” she said. “It winds around a big lake at the bottom, so we can wash up there, and it looks like there are some little rest stops along the way.” She pointed to several brown triangles dotting the path.
Anya looked closely at the key. “Those aren’t rest stops. They’re bird-watching points. The only reason to stop there is if you want to get a look at the yellow-bellied sapsucker!”
“Oh,” Scarlett replied. It had been a good guess.
“I think we should take this one. It seems the shortest,” Bria suggested. She pointed to a curvy black line labeled ‘OVERLOOK TRAIL.’
“As if I’d ever trust you—with trails or with costumes,” Anya said.
“Guys, come on,” Scarlett pleaded. “We have to make a decision, and Bria’s path is just as good as any.” She pointed to the left. “We go that way.”
The path at the beginning of the trail was steep and narrow. “How are we supposed to walk on this and not break our necks?” Rochelle asked.
“Tippy-toes,” Gracie suggested. She rose up in her hiking books on relevé.
“She means like we do in pointe class—and it’s a great idea!” Scarlett said, taking tiny, quick, even steps down the path. “Everyone, pas de bourrée, one foot in front of the other.” The girls formed a single, straight line and made their way down about twenty feet.
“Nice job,” Scarlett said when they got to a more open area of the trail. She pointed to the map. “Now we can take a shortcut across this little trickling stream.” But when they arrived at
the spot, it was bigger and wetter than anticipated.
“That’s no trickle!” Liberty exclaimed. “My shirt is one hundred percent silk, and I am not getting it soaking wet and ruined.”
“It’s so hard to tell from the map,” Scarlett apologized. “I guess we could go back …”
“No, that’s a huge waste of time,” Anya said. “There’s a stone path through the stream. We just have to skip between the stones.”
Bria looked across the water. “That is no hop, skip, and jump. Those stones are really far apart.”
“Bri, you have an amazing grand jeté. You can do it!” Scarlett cheered her on. “We all can.”
She demonstrated by leaping from the shore to the first flat stone in the middle of the stream. “See? As Gracie would say, ‘Easy-peasy!’ ”
“Easy-peasy for you to say,” Rochelle groaned. “Okay. Everybody jeté! And make it as grand as you can.”
They each followed behind Scarlett, leaping gracefully from stone to stone. Gracie wobbled on the last one, but Scarlett caught her arm and pulled her ashore.
“Good job,” she told her little sister. “You’re as good a leaper as Mr. Mustard.”
Gracie smiled. “Ya think?”
“I think we’re all in trouble,” Bria said, studying the map over Scarlett’s shoulder. “Does that say what I think it says? Did you just lead us to Nowhere Man’s Path?”
Scarlett squinted at the tiny print. The trail they were standing on did have a pretty ominous name. “Well, lucky for us we’re not men—we’re Divas,” she said. “Onward!”
Chapter 13
Carried Away
When Scarlett glanced at her watch, she couldn’t believe it was only 10:00 a.m. It felt like they’d been walking for days, not just two hours.
“I’m starving,” Anya said, sitting down on a rock to rest her aching feet. “Gracie, give me some of that cereal.” Gracie shook the box; it was empty.
“You ate it all?” Liberty exclaimed. “That was supposed to be for all of us to share!”
“I couldn’t help it,” Gracie replied. “I was really hungry.”
