The Great Scavenger Hunt

by Annie Bryant

  Betsy carried the notebook over to Ozmond, and placed it back in his hand. “Betsy Fitzgerald rides again,” Isabel whispered.

  CHAPTER

  8

  Why Wookiees Can’t Surf

  With the sun streaming down on their backs, the Beach Barnacles raced down the bike path. By the time they reached Nauset Beach, they were hot, sweaty, and totally wiped out. But Team Barnacle’s mood lifted considerably when they saw the sparkling blue ocean stretched out across the horizon before them. To Avery the blue water dotted with sailboats looked like the most inviting thing she’d ever seen…or at least the most inviting thing she had seen today.

  “Check out the surfers!” she gushed, staring at the kids gracefully riding the waves down below. “Ooh! I would give my right foot to get on a surfboard right now!”

  “Ha!” laughed Yurt. “Without your right foot, you wouldn’t get very far.”

  Avery smiled. “Come on, Yurt. It’s me! I can do anything…. One foot, two foot, red foot, blue foot…”

  “Betcha can’t beat me to the water!” Yurt challenged his feisty friend.

  “You are on, dude,” Avery retorted as she and Yurt sent up a sandstorm blasting off to the waves, Road Runner–style.

  “My dermatologist says salt water isn’t good for my complexion,” announced Kiki. “I’m going to go work on my tan.” She swished off to find a clear spot to lie down on the sand. A grinning Yurt decided to give Avery the race and follow Kiki instead.

  “I’m pretty sure she has that skin stuff backward,” Chelsea confided to Ben.

  “When she’s forty, that girl’s gonna look like an alligator!” Ben agreed as he slathered on some suntan lotion. “Me, I love salt water. I dig it. I can’t get enough, in fact. Ready, Chels?”

  He began to run in the direction of the ocean, but stopped when Chelsea shouted, “BEN, WAIT!”

  “What? This sand’s hot, Sis,” he grumbled as he jumped from foot to foot.

  Chelsea laughed but her voice was full of urgency. “Ben, it’s like, one o’clock already. Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?”

  Ben stared into her face, looking puzzled, then he burst into a smile. “Oh, duh! The reason why I was so excited about coming to this beach in the first place. Blue slush!”

  “Ben.” She stamped her foot. “That’s not what I meant.” But her brother was off and running to the snack bar. Left alone on the dune, Chelsea shook her head, convinced that her brother was a 12-year-old boy dressed up in a high school suit.

  The Beach Barnacles are turning into scavenger hunt disasters! Chelsea felt like pitching a fit as she watched all her team members take off down the beach. The adventure that she, Charlotte, and Nick had worked so hard to prepare was spinning out of control. Am I the only one on this team who even cares about winning this scavenger hunt? she asked herself as she continued to huff down the beach.

  The worst part was that not only was the hunt falling apart, everyone on her team was wearing a bathing suit underneath their clothes—except her, of course. Even though she had lost weight and worked really hard on getting into better shape, Chelsea still hated bathing suits. She just couldn’t help feeling like a whale in a tutu even though Katani had taken her shopping and helped her pick out a flattering green suit with shorts.

  When she tried it on, Katani had exclaimed, “Chelsea—you look so…athletic!” Chelsea almost hugged the Queen of Style for that comment. But today she didn’t feel like wearing a bathing suit at all, especially with Kiki Underwood sitting around catching rays in the most stylin’ two-piece suit she’d ever seen. Grrr!

  Surf Bunnies and Barnacle Blues

  Oh, yes! Avery was in luck and impressed. The East Coast surfers were catching some super rad waves. The coolest surfer was this one blond girl wearing a blue wet suit. Not only did Miss Blue Crush totally dominate those waves—she made it look easy! “Hey, you!” the girl called, running out of the tide. “You got a board?”

  “I don’t have it with me,” Avery said. “I’m on a school trip, but I love to surf…and skateboard…and snowboard.” She counted on her fingers.

  “You’re on a school trip to the beach and you are mad for boards? That’s too cool.” The girl grinned, offering up a high five. Then she introduced herself.

  “I’m September…and I like your style.” September was a bit taller than Avery, but definitely short for her age—just like Avery was.

  “Sweeet name!” Avery gave the surfer a thumbs-up.

  “Thanks,” laughed September. “I like it too. September’s my favorite month…and my birthday month.”

  “I love September too!” Avery agreed. “It’s when soccer season starts.”

  “Down here the water can still be warm in September, all the tourists have left, and we own the beach. Plus, September on the Cape—well, it has super gnarly surfing conditions.” The girl clutched her board and looked away dreamily as if it was September right now and she had just caught the perfect wave.

  Then September said the magic words, “You want to borrow a board? I mean, the water’s kind of icy today, but I don’t mind. Plus I try to spend as much time as possible above the water—not in it…if you know what I mean. Not like Chewie over there.”

  She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Hey, Chew! It’s a surfboard, not a diving board, buddy.”

  “His name’s Chewie?” asked Avery as she tried to control her excitement. “Do I want to borrow a board?…Oh, yeah!” She started digging her foot in the sand to keep from jumping in the air.

  “Well, Chewie’s real name is Aaron Feldman but we call him Chewbacca ’cause he looks like a big Wookiee.”

  As Chewie bobbed up from the water, Avery almost burst out laughing. He had the biggest, craziest fuzzball hair Avery had ever seen…even worse than Henry Yurt’s. He really did look like a Wookiee! “Oh, I get it. And what’s your real name?” she asked.

  September gave her a weird look and replied, “September.”

  Chewie, the Wookiee, ran in, covered in sand and seaweed, clutching his board. “That was mad harsh, dude.” He held up his hand and the two slapped a high five.

  “Hey, Wooks! What’s up, fool?” September greeted him. “This is my new pal Avery. She’s gonna be a triple threat.”

  “Whoa, that’s bad!”

  “Totally,” Avery agreed.

  “Don’t you just love surfer lingo?” exclaimed September. “I mean, it’s so much fun. ‘Bad’ means ‘good,’” she continued. “‘Sick’ means ‘right on.’”

  “‘Gnarly’ means ‘awesome,’” the Wookiee piped up.

  “The important question is, will you be able to handle this puppy?” She grabbed the board out of Chewie’s hands and tossed it to Avery.

  “Is it okay?” Avery glanced at the hairy kid.

  Chewie shrugged. “Yeah, man. Go for it.”

  Avery grabbed the board but it was immediately apparent to everyone that it was way too big for her. Her heart sank. The waves were calling.

  “Oh.” September made a sad face. Then suddenly she snapped her fingers. “Wook man, go get Snow Bunny’s board and wet suit. The Bunny had to go back to work and she’s not too much bigger than this munchkin here.”

  “Dude, you shred brilliance!” With that, the boy with the giant fuzzball took off and ran toward the snack bar.

  September turned out to be as awesome a teacher as she was a surfer. Before they even went in the water, she started giving Avery some helpful tips on catching the waves properly. Avery was a little annoyed with September’s “short joke,” but she hung on to the aloha girl’s wave wisdom. Avery could surf, but she wasn’t an expert just yet.

  “The currents can be weird off this beach,” September explained. “You have to catch the wave perfectly or you’ll miss it.’”

  By the time the Wookiee returned with the board and the wet suit, Avery was practically drooling. The surf was definitely up and the cresting waves were calling her—Avery, Av
ery. When she finished suiting up, she and September raced down to the water with their boards.

  “Nauset Beach is famous for its freezing water!” September shouted as she dove into the waves. “Brace yourself!”

  Avery had never surfed on this side of the Cape before. “Yikes!” she yelped as she jumped in. September wasn’t kidding about the water—it was like swimming at the North Pole! Her toes felt like they had turned into ice cubes, while her skin that wasn’t in the wet suit had morphed into major porcupine mode. But Avery didn’t care. In fact, the cold was downright refreshing after her long, hot bike ride.

  She and September swam out and treaded water as they waited for the perfect wave. September gave a thumbs-up to the lifeguard who paddled past her. “Hey, Nicky, go save a seal, will you!” she teased. Avery liked this September girl!

  “A huge part of this sport is being a great watcher. You need to know the difference between the good waves and the duds. That’s Chewie’s problem. He always gets way too eager to ride off and he goes for the duds. Then the wave dies and he crashes and burns in front of everyone…and I laugh.” September winked. “But I’m his best friend.”

  “Cool.” Avery nodded. She was totally into having guys as friends. Hanging out with Dillon and the Trentinis at home was a blast times seven.

  “Hey, let’s rock this one,” Avery pointed toward a big swell coming toward them.

  September shook her head. “Not with these currents. You wait. By the time it gets here, it will be nonexistent.” Sure enough, the wave peaked just before it got to Avery and September, but it did manage to leave them soaked in its wake.

  “Okay, this is our guy,” September said, pointing. “See how small it is. Watch!”

  As the wave approached, Avery waited for it to get bigger and bigger, but it still looked like a pathetic little thing. “Are you sure, September?”

  September smiled. “Are you questioning the master?”

  Avery grinned back. “Of course not, Yoda.”

  September laughed but then her face got very serious. “Can you handle this? It’s gonna be a long ride.” Avery nodded. September looked over her shoulder and added, “When I say go, paddle like there is no tomorrow, okay?”

  Avery was about to say okay, when September cried out, “GO!”

  Avery used all her arm strength to boost herself onto the board just before the swell hit them. Then the whole thing came together like a jigsaw puzzle. She remembered it all: balance, position, direction. The wave wasn’t gigantic at all, but it sure was strong. Avery glided down the crest, loving the sensation of speed and power rolled into a thunderous surge of water—it was like the ocean showed up to give her its own personal amusement-park ride.

  As they rode, Avery cut back and forth, showing off some of the tricks she had learned with her father. When they surfed all the way into the shore, the kids on the beach offered a ripple of applause. “Whoa, girlfriend, you sure had me going. You’re an experienced wave rider!” September exclaimed as they leaped off their boards.

  Avery could feel herself glowing. “Thanks! My dad and brothers and I have been surfing in Hawaii for the past three summers.”

  “Hawaii?” September exclaimed. “I would just die for a chance to surf the big waves!”

  “It’s gnarly all right, but this surfing today was better than anything I could have imagined. I mean, who knew a little wave like that could give you such a great ride.”

  “Ah, young Aloha-Jedi, remember,” September said, putting her arm around Avery’s shoulders. “It’s not the size of the wave; it’s the motion of the ocean. Never underestimate the small ones.”

  Avery pointed her thumb at herself. “Trust me. I never do.”

  “Aloha-Jedi! Groovy surf name, little sister!” The Wookiee came running over to give Avery a high five.

  “Wanna do it again?” asked September.

  Avery nodded eagerly. She could surf all day! But where were the rest of the Barnacles? When she looked around, Ben Briggs and Yurt were having a blast splashing around on the shore. They didn’t even see her totally rocking the surfboard. That was okay by her. After catching such an awesome wave, Avery felt like the only person in the world…or the ocean, for that matter.

  She and September grabbed a few more waves with the Wookman, and Avery didn’t even realize that she’d been surfing for an hour until she came up on shore to hear Chelsea yelling at Ben, “This is crazy. The day is flying by and we haven’t gotten a single point yet, Ben. Not one.”

  Avery felt a stab of guilt. She thanked September and the Wookiee and jogged over to her teammates. “Yo, chill out, Chels. It’s all good.”

  “All good?” Her voice rose up about ten octaves. “We’re going to lose this scavenger hunt and look like the biggest losers in the class.” Chelsea stared at her brother, then at Avery. “This is bad, Avery. Bad.”

  September waved. “Haven’t you heard? ‘Bad’ means ‘good.’”

  Ben grinned. “I like it.”

  “But you guys…,” Chelsea objected. “Charlotte and Nick are going to be so upset with our team.”

  “We’ll work on it tomorrow,” Avery promised. “They’ll understand.”

  “What if they don’t?” Chelsea countered.

  “Would you quit with the nervous Nellie routine?” Ben demanded. “You’re the only person on this trip who isn’t having fun!” Chelsea almost cried but managed to gulp back her tears. She wasn’t going to let her annoying brother get her upset anymore today.

  “Fine. Do whatever you want.” And she turned to march away.

  “Chelsea,” Ben groaned. “Don’t be like that.”

  “I’m fine. I’m fine,” Chelsea called but she wouldn’t turn around. She regretted the moment she’d ever asked Ben to come. She should have known that her fun-loving older brother would do what he did best…have fun.

  And she wasn’t a nervous Nellie either. She was the only Beach Barnacle doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

  Chelsea charged along the shore mumbling, “I’m not a nervous Nellie…. I’m not.” If they won’t do this scavenger hunt, she thought, then I will! There must be some bonus items around here.

  Chelsea pulled the bonus list out of her backpack and set off to do what she came to Cape Cod to do: HUNT.

  CHAPTER

  9

  Once a Monkey, Always a Monkey

  Maeve’s role in the movie was Girl in Crowd 2, a scullery maid. Fabiana was Girl in Crowd 1, a kitchen wench. As the crewmembers ran around the set like chickens with their heads cut off, Maeve was working on getting into character. Just who really was Girl in Crowd 2?

  “I’m an orphan,” she whispered to Fabiana.

  Fabiana gave her a weird look. “What?”

  “My character. Girl in Crowd 2. My parents were lost at sea when I was a baby. I had to go live in this horrible orphanage, run by the most horrible, mean, grumpy lady. She yelled at me a lot. Can you believe her nerve, Fabiana? Anyway, all I had from my parents was a locket with a picture of them. I never gave up hope that maybe my parents were still out there somewhere and we’d all be together again. Then this guy adopted me.”

  “Let me guess…he was rich, right?” Fabiana smiled, not quite believing how wrapped up in her made-up story Maeve had become.

  Maeve shook her head. “No. He was poor. Very poor. And he stole a loaf of bread to feed me. Then he got arrested and I ran away and hid in an old opera house where this weird man in a mask taught me to sing and I turned into a big star. And when he took off the mask, guess what?”

  “He was a phantom?” ventured Fabiana.

  “No! He was scarred all over from a shark bite. Can you believe it?” She drew her finger along her cheek and over her eye. “And even though he’s, like, totally hideous, he had my eyes—Girl in Crowd 2’s eyes.”

  Maeve was starting to choke herself up a little bit. “And then I realize that he’s my father and he’s been with me the whole time…well, like, hal
f the time.”

  “But if he was wearing a mask, couldn’t you already see his eyes?” asked Fabiana.

  “It wasn’t that kind of mask,” Maeve replied.

  “And if you’re a big opera star reunited with your scarred voice-teacher father, then why are you washing dishes on a pirate ship?”

  Maeve adjusted her bandanna and said primly, “Because Girl in Crowd 2 lost her voice after her father was so overcome from hearing her sing on stage for the first time that he, you know…passed away. So she got fired and had to go back to being a servant girl. It was like a totally terrible situation,” she ended with a sigh.

  Maeve was getting a little overwhelmed by her story at this point. So when Ozmond yelled, “Hey! Girl in Crowd, quiet on the set!” Maeve was relieved. Although, she was very miffed that Betsy Fitzgerald put her finger to her mouth for Maeve to be quiet. The nerve of that girl, Maeve thought as she stuck her nose in the air.

  As the pirate scene unfolded before her, Maeve thought that if Ozmond knew what was good for him, he’d at least give her a line or two. Girl in Crowd 2 was way more interesting than any of the goofy pirate people running around waving swords at one another.

  Suddenly two of the pirates who were brandishing their swords at each other turned around and clashed their swords together right before her eyes. One of them winked at her!

  She grabbed Fabiana’s arm. “Oh, I can’t believe it…look.” Her finger shook as she pointed.

  Fabiana swung around to look at what Maeve was trembling about. Fabiana’s eyes widened and she began to stutter.

  “Maeve, is that who I think it is?” She was shaking too. “Yes! It’s…it’s Simon Blackstone and Ontario Plume!”

  “Maeve, they are the biggest stars in the whole world,” Fabiana gushed. “Oh, I can’t believe it…. Simon Blackstone is coming this way! I think I’m going to faint.”