Summer Camp Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  “I know,” Jessie said miserably. “I can’t stop thinking about last night when Ginny told me to look over the rules about watching the campers. I already know the rules. The problem is, I can’t get Lizzie and Kim to follow them. I’ll see you later.”

  Henry went to the storage room when he got to Evergreen Lodge. He found the tape recorder and an extension cord. He plugged it in and brought the recorder outside. He pressed the start button. Then he blocked both ears.

  The awful recorded bugle music drowned out the peaceful sounds of the ocean lapping in the distance. Two seagulls on the roof of Evergreen Lodge flew away in a hurry.

  Henry checked his watch, then he returned to the storage room. “Where are those flags, anyway?” Henry said to himself as he looked around. “I know I put them in here last night after the campfire.” He checked the shelves, then the closet. Nothing.

  By this time, Ginny and Rich had arrived at their office.

  “Morning, Henry,” Rich said. “Mr. Pines will be here with your trunks when the ferry arrives. After the Flag Ceremony, you can bring them to the cabins.”

  Henry still felt bad about the missing trunks. He sure didn’t want to tell the Gullens that the flags were missing, too.

  “It’ll be great to hear you blow a real bugle when your trunk gets here,” Ginny told Henry. “That tape is pretty worn out by now. Our cat hides under the bed when she hears it.”

  “So do some of our campers!” Rich said with a laugh. “Live or recorded, the bugle wake-up is a Camp Seagull tradition.”

  Ginny smiled at Henry. “You did a nice job during the Flag Ceremony after the campfire last night, Henry. This morning the campers will watch the flag-raising, then sing the Camp Seagull song.” Ginny paused. “What’s the matter, Henry? Are you nervous? Don’t be. You’ll do fine again.”

  Henry shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, you see . . . actually, I can’t find the flags right now. I remember folding them after the ceremony last night. I thought I put them away with the tape recorder. But now they’re not in the storage room.”

  Henry noticed a tiny frown pass over Ginny’s face. This was the same look she’d given the Aldens when she discovered their trunks had been left behind.

  “Oh, dear,” Ginny said quietly. “Rich and I will look around here. Run back to your cabin. See if you brought them there by mistake.”

  As campers streamed toward the flagpole, Henry dashed off to his cabin. Those flags just had to be there!

  “Where’re you going?” Henry’s Driftwood Dolphins wanted to know when they saw him going the other way.

  Jessie and Violet wanted to know the same thing when Henry passed by.

  “Henry, it’s almost seven o’clock,” Jessie said. “Did you forget something in your cabin?”

  Henry pulled Jessie to the side. “Did you notice what I did with the flags last night? I can’t find them anywhere. I’m almost a hundred percent sure I put them in Evergreen Lodge with the tape recorder. But they’re not there now.”

  Jessie was upset for her brother. “I feel terrible. There was so much going on that I didn’t see where you went or what you did. Sorry.”

  Zach came over to Jessie and Henry. “Your trunks are by the dock. Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of the Flag Ceremony right now?” He checked his watch. “It’s in ten minutes. Flag Ceremony is always at seven o’clock in the morning — unless Ginny and Rich changed that, too.”

  Jessie’s Dolphins looked confused by the delay. “Come along,” she said, leading her campers toward the flagpole.

  “Hurry up!” Kim ordered her group. “You can’t be late for Flag Ceremony or we’ll lose points.”

  Henry tried not to panic. Still, his heart was racing. “I have only a few minutes.” He burst into Driftwood Cabin. He checked around as best he could in the short time he had. “It’s no use. I know I didn’t bring those flags here.”

  He felt sick inside. He didn’t want to let down the whole camp. All he wanted was to set his eyes on those two flags. He wanted to listen to the hush that would come over the campers as he raised the flags to begin the day.

  He turned back toward Evergreen Lodge. His legs felt like wooden blocks. As he ran back, he had a new dark thought: The Dolphins are probably going to have a trillion points taken away from them because I lost those flags.

  When he came to the clearing, Henry saw the expectant campers waiting for him. The ferry had brought in the day campers. He saw Benny waving.

  Henry’s mind slowed down. What was he going to say to everyone? How could he tell them that, for the first time ever, Camp Seagull wouldn’t be starting the day with the Flag Ceremony?

  As he was trying to come up with the words, Jessie appeared. Trailing behind were some of the Cedar Cabin Dolphins. Jessie was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Did you find the flags?” Henry asked, barely able to get the words out.

  Daisy handed Henry two stiff posters. “Here. Jessie told us what to do. She found some poster board in the arts and crafts room, and markers, too. We drew the flags on them. The flags aren’t very pretty. We only had time to draw a bunch of lines.”

  Henry couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the two hand-drawn flags. One of them had a bird in the middle that almost looked like the one on the Camp Seagull flag. The other had stars and stripes — most of them, anyway.

  “Thanks,” Henry said to the Cedar Cabin Dolphins. “These are the nicest flags I’ve ever seen.”

  Rich made a move to start up the bugle tape. “They’re almost as nice as the real ones, Henry,” he said, “wherever they are. Ginny just gave the Dolphins twenty-five points for the Quick Thinking Award. Of course, losing the flags cost you twenty points, but you Dolphins made a five-point gain anyway.” With that, Rich blasted the recorded bugle music to get everyone’s attention. It was time for the famous Camp Seagull Flag Ceremony.

  Henry attached the handmade flags to the ropes and pulled them gently. Up went the Stars and Stripes. Up went the Camp Seagull flag, which was soon flapping in the wind.

  “Crawk! Crawk!” some of the campers cried when the flag reached the top.

  Everyone cheered the Cedar Cabin Dolphins, who had saved the day. Then they gave a cheer for Henry Alden, to make him feel better.

  Well, not quite everyone. When Jessie looked around to check on Lizzie, she noticed she was over with Zach and Kim near the dock. They were sitting on the Aldens’ trunks, and they weren’t cheering at all.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Switch

  After the Flag Ceremony, Henry and Jessie fetched their trunks. They quickly dropped them off at their cabins. In no time, they caught up to everyone heading to Evergreen Lodge for breakfast. It was Blueberry Pancake Day. Nobody wanted to miss that!

  Jessie’s and Henry’s tables were next to each other. Luckily for Violet, Kim’s table was nearby as well. The Aldens liked meeting new campers. But they also liked seeing one another at camp.

  Jessie turned around to see how Benny was doing. “Are you going to eat that whole stack of blueberry pancakes?” she asked.

  Benny wiped some sticky maple syrup from the corners of his mouth. “Grandfather said I should only have a tiny piece of toast in case my stomach did flip-flops on the ferry. I saved being hungry for breakfast at camp.”

  “I guess you did, by the look of your plate,” Henry said. “Now the Dolphins don’t have to worry about losing points for the No Food on the Floor Award.”

  A loud drumming sound boomed over the noisy dining hall. Ginny was onstage banging a metal serving spoon against a metal soup pot from the camp kitchen.

  “I think Ginny and Rich are about to announce who won the Big Idea,” Jessie said. “I hope the Dolphins have a good chance.”

  Daisy squeezed Jessie’s hand. “I can’t wait. Maybe our cabin will win. Do you want to know what our idea is?” Daisy asked a boy Dolphin at Henry’s table.

  “Shhhh, no telling,” Jessie told Daisy just in time.

>   After everyone finally quieted down, Ginny tapped the microphone. “I know you’re all eager to find out who the Big Idea winner is. We won’t keep you waiting any longer. As your counselors told you, for our new Olympics we asked all the cabins to think up ways to make Camp Seagull the best ever. The Big Idea Medal is for the best of the bunch — the idea that pulls the whole camp together.”

  Ginny stepped away from the microphone so Rich could speak. “We were up half the night trying to decide on the winner. There were so many great entries, we’d have to run Camp Seagull all year ’round to try them all out. Now, after I announce the idea we chose, I’d like the winning counselor to come up. Drumroll, please.”

  Ginny banged on the soup pot again. The campers banged on their tables with their silverware. Evergreen Lodge was jumping!

  “And the winner is . . . Me and My Buddy!” Rich yelled into the microphone.

  “We won! We won!” the Dolphins at Jessie’s table yelled.

  “We won! We won!” the Seals at Kim’s table yelled.

  Ginny banged the soup pot again to get everyone’s attention. “For the first time this summer, we have two identical outstanding ideas,” Ginny announced when everyone quieted down. “Because Me and My Buddy is so special, I’d like to recognize Jessie’s Dolphins. Come up here and take a bow, Jessie.”

  Jessie stepped onstage, confused. The audience was confused, too. Only a few campers clapped.

  “Now let’s hear it for the Seals, who submitted their idea first,” Ginny cried. “Come on up for your group, Kim.”

  “What? No fair,” one Dolphin after another muttered.

  Jessie tried to say something to make her campers feel better, but her lips wouldn’t move.

  Ginny tapped the microphone with her pencil. “Now, now. Let’s all be good sports. It’s only fair to give the medal to the group that came up with the idea first.”

  Rich took the microphone. “I hereby award one hundred points to the Seals, along with a special banner to the girls of Birch Cabin.” Rich shook Kim’s hand, then gave her the Cabin of the Week banner. “The Seals move to the front in the Olympics. Let’s hear it for the Seals and for Birch!”

  The Birch Cabin Seals ran to the stage. They helped Kim hold up the banner.

  “Go, Seals!” the Seals roared.

  When the cheering died down, Rich explained the winning idea and then made the morning announcements. “Now it’s time to clean your tables and bring your plates to the kitchen. Then you’ll return to your cabins for morning cabin inspection. After that, everyone goes to activities. Meanwhile, we hope you will find Buddies and Buddies will find you to help each other the rest of the week.”

  The Dolphins were quiet as they cleared their tables.

  Jessie wiped up every drip and speck. She didn’t want the Dolphins to fall further behind. “I’m so sorry I somehow let you down,” Jessie said to the girls as they were cleaning up. “I never thought someone else would come up with our same idea and that I should have gotten it to Ginny before the Seals did.”

  Jessie’s Dolphins were too disappointed to say anything.

  “Dolphins,” Henry said to make everyone feel better, “the Seals are ahead now, but this is only the beginning of camp.”

  “I’ll be your Buddy, Jessie,” Daisy said as the group walked back to the cabins for inspection.

  This made Jessie smile. “If there’s a Big Heart Award, you’ll win it, Daisy.” She turned to the other Dolphins. “Here are your schedules for today’s activities. Start walking to the first activity. Henry and I will meet you there in a few minutes.”

  “Can I stay with you?” Benny asked his brother and sister. “Henry gave me my schedule already. Look, here comes Violet.”

  The four Aldens stood on the porch without speaking. They looked at the campers below, who were excited to start the day. Were they ever going to feel that way about Camp Seagull?

  “We just arrived at camp,” Jessie began, “and too many things keep happening that don’t make sense. First our trunks are left behind. Next you can’t find the flags, Henry. Then Kim’s group somehow comes up with the same idea as the Dolphins.”

  “And Lizzie doesn’t obey and keeps on disappearing,” Henry said. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Right,” Jessie went on. “I have a feeling she and Kim tried to scare the Dolphins with the monster footprints so we’d lose points for screaming. But the big thing is what just happened. I have a feeling Kim somehow got Me and My Buddy from our group. But how?”

  Henry looked at Violet. “I know you can’t really talk about how your cabin decided on its Big Idea. But did anything happen that seemed suspicious?”

  Jessie stopped her sister before she could answer. “Violet, you really shouldn’t say anything about this.”

  Violet wanted to help, but she stopped herself. She knew Jessie was right.

  Henry shook his head and said, “There’s got to be a way to find out if Kim copied you.”

  Jessie turned to Violet. “It’s time to send you on your way,” she said. “It wouldn’t be fair for you to hear our plans for solving this mystery.”

  Violet walked slowly back to her cabin.

  Benny looked over at Henry. Henry’s eyebrows were scrunched together. Benny knew what that meant. Henry was cooking up a plan.

  Henry began, “On Costume Night, we’ll let the Dolphins think we’re going to dress up one way, but we’ll really have secret costumes!”

  “You mean, we’ll tell everybody we’re going to be ghosts, but then we’ll be pirates?” Benny asked.

  “Exactly!” Henry said. “The only problem is figuring out how to let Ginny and Rich know what our real costumes are ahead of time.”

  “We could give them a letter in an envelope beforehand,” Jessie suggested, “and tell them not to open it until after the costume contest. If somebody shows up with the same costumes, then they’ll know who the copycats are.”

  “Not the Aldens,” Benny said. “We’re not copycats.”

  “Let’s do it,” Henry said.

  CHAPTER 9

  Secret Disguises

  For the next two days, Henry, Jessie, and Benny were busy every minute. They worked hard to win points and to pull close to the Seals in the Olympics.

  The Dolphins won the most points for all the cabin inspections. They picked up the First One in the Freezing Water at Swimming Lessons Medal. When they decorated their fruits like circus clowns, they won the Dress Up Your Favorite Fruit Medal. Benny picked up ten points all by himself. He made people laugh more than any other camper. His table didn’t lose a single point for dropping food on the floor, either. As the week went on, the Dolphins were catching up to the Seals.

  Jessie checked the points board one morning after the Flag Ceremony. “I sure wish you could find those flags, Henry. Maybe Rich and Ginny would give the Dolphins back some of the points you lost after they disappeared.”

  Henry groaned. “Uh, don’t mention those. My cabin is trying to sew another seagull flag, but they haven’t gotten very far. They’re too busy working on their costumes. Plus I’m busy working on two sets of costumes for the Dolphin boys — the secret ones and the fake ones.”

  “Well, I’d help you, but I’m busy with our girls’ costumes,” Jessie whispered. “I stayed up half the night with my flashlight by my side making a lobster head out of a cardboard box. I found some old oven mitts the kitchen was throwing out. So I made claws out of them. I can only work on the costumes while my campers are asleep. I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.”

  “Well, I’ve got a little free time now,” Henry told Jessie. “Dave’s at the playing field with our campers. That means I’ll have the cabin to myself to finish the secret costumes. I’m making underwater creature headpieces out of boxes I’ve been sneaking from the office trash.”

  “My costume’s easy,” Benny whispered so no one walking by would overhear. “The other kids think I’m making an astronaut suit from the gray sweat
shirt Dave gave me. But it’s going to be a whale outfit.”

  “Sounds good,” Henry told Benny. “My campers are going wild on their space outfits. Wait until I tell them they have to be lobsters and sharks and clams, not space aliens. I hid the masks and headpieces way under the cabin. Rich and Ginny never check there during cabin inspection. We still haven’t had a surprise inspection yet, so we have to be on the lookout all the time.”

  “What about the letter to Ginny and Rich?” Jessie asked.

  “Done!” Henry pulled a sheet of lined paper from his pocket. He looked around. “Good. Nobody’s coming. I’ll read it to you.”

  Dear Ginny and Rich,

  The Dolphins would like to register our idea for Costume Night ahead of time. Everybody thinks we’re going to be space creatures. But we will really show up as underwater creatures.

  Yours truly,

  Henry Alden

  “That sounds fine,” Jessie said. “Here’s the envelope I wrote. It says: ‘To Be Opened After Costume Night Begins.’ We’ll give it to Ginny and Rich tomorrow.”

  “I wish we could tell Violet about our plan,” Benny said when he saw her walking toward him. “I like it when we all have the same secret.”

  Violet seemed shy around her sister and brothers now that they had secrets from her. “Hi,” she said. “Is it okay to visit with you?”

  Henry gave his sister a hug. “Sure thing, Violet. Being on different teams isn’t much fun.”

  Benny had a question. “What are your costumes?”

  Violet grinned, then shook her head. “Teams aren’t allowed to tell each other their ideas.”

  “Can you tell if Kim picked one of your ideas?” Benny asked. “You always made the best costumes for the Greenfield Halloween parade.”

  Violet nodded. “I did give Kim one idea. We started on it. But since your team has gotten so many points in the last couple of days, she was afraid my idea wasn’t strong enough to win. All of a sudden, she came up with something else. That’s what our cabin is working on now. I can’t say what it is.”