“I’ve never noticed anything out here before,” Peggy said in surprise.
“It’s half buried, but it almost looks like a bone,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother.
“It is a bone, or was a bone,” said her father. “Probably a thighbone.”
“What animal has a bone that big?” asked Amelia Bedelia, poking it with a stick.
“A dinosaur,” said her father.
“My guess is that this bone is a couple of hundred million years old.”
“A fossil!” said Mrs. Evans. “Hot diggity!”
“Wow,” said Amelia Bedelia. “A real-live fossil.”
“Fossils are real-dead,” said Amy.
“I have a friend at the university who specializes in dinosaurs,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “I bet she’d love to come over and take a look at this.”
“Call! Please!” said Mrs. Evans. “I’ll be on the edge of my seat.”
Then Mrs. Evans bent down and scratched Finally behind her ears. “As for you, my canine friend, you’ll be getting a special treat for dinner tonight.”
Annette began laughing. “Amelia Bedelia, your parents are truly drôle. What a silly joke!”
“What joke?” asked Amelia Bedelia.
“About you leaving us and going home,” said Annette.
“I didn’t want—”
Annette reached out and began tickling Amelia Bedelia under her chin.
“Ha-ha-ha,” said Amelia Bedelia.
“See, you think it is ridiculous, too,” said Annette.
“Very funny,” said Alisha, tickling Amelia Bedelia under her arm.
“Make sure you stay away from her neck,” said Amelia Bedelia’s father. “That always drives her crazy.”
“Dad!” hollered Amelia Bedelia.
“Did you try behind her ears?” asked Amelia Bedelia’s mother.
“Mom!” yelled Amelia Bedelia.
The rest of the Polaris girls had surrounded Amelia Bedelia, who was now wriggling on the ground. Amy was tickling her armpits. Alice was working on spots behind both knees. Even Finally was helping by licking her face and neck.
“Mercy, mercy!” cried Amelia Bedelia, gasping for air between laughs.
Turning to Amelia Bedelia’s parents, Annette said, “As you can hear, I have been teaching Amelia Bedelia how to speak French.”
“Mercy,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Mercy, mercy, mercy!”
“Merci means thank you,” said Annette. Turning to Amelia Bedelia, she continued, “You are so welcome. We will take good care of you during the next four weeks.”
“Lift on three!” said Alice. “One, two, THREE!”
Alice, Alisha, Annette, and Amy hoisted Amelia Bedelia into the air and onto their shoulders and carried her back to their cabin like ants carrying a prized crumb back to their nest. She felt like the beloved beat-up teddy bear the girls had been fighting over when they first met.
Amelia Bedelia laughed and let her head flop back so she saw everything upside down. Her parents and Mrs. Evans and Peggy and even Finally were all upside down. She recognized them. She knew who they were. But like her summer, everything had been turned upside down by coming to Camp Echo Woods.
Now, like her mother, Amelia Bedelia could not imagine her life without Camp Echo Woods. Amelia Bedelia might not be able to see where she was going, but one thing was certain—she was looking forward to her next four weeks of camp.
Back Ads
Bonus Material
Credits
Cover art © 2017 by Lynne Avril. Cover design by Sylvie Le Floc’h
Copyright
Gouache and black pencil were used to prepare the black-and-white art.
Amelia Bedelia is a registered trademark of Peppermint Partners, LLC.
AMELIA BEDELIA CHAPTER BOOK #11: AMELIA BEDELIA MAKES A SPLASH. Text copyright © 2017 by Herman S. Parish III. Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Lynne Avril. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-06-265840-1 (hardback)—ISBN 978-0-06-265839-5 (pbk. ed.)
EPub Edition © April 2017 ISBN 9780062658418
“Greenwillow Books.”
17 18 19 20 21 CG/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FIRST EDITION
Greenwillow Books
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Amelia Bedelia Camps Out Page 5
