The Great Scavenger Hunt

by Annie Bryant

  Charlotte smiled as she admired her own freshly polished pearly whites. “Your sister is such a leader. Do you think we really have a chance at winning this thing?”

  “Maybe…if we get an early start,” Katani replied as she put her toiletries away in a stylish yellow pouch. “Besides, if we don’t win, I’m never gonna hear the end of it. Believe it or not, my sister isn’t the greatest loser. So let’s get a move on.”

  Charlotte feigned a look of shock. “A Summers sister…an unhappy loser. NO WAY!”

  The girls packed up quickly, careful not to disturb their sleepyhead friends. Whatever noise they ended up making didn’t matter because the rest of the BSG were out like lights. Charlotte wondered for a second if they were doing the right thing—not waking the other three girls.

  They knocked on Ms. O’Reilly’s door across the hall, just to let her know they were heading out. She was dressed, and had a mystery novel in one hand.

  “I was just going to wake you girls after I finished this chapter.”

  “Make sure you get some breakfast in the kitchen,” she reminded them as they walked off. “And keep your walkie-talkie turned on. Good luck!”

  After gulping down some cereal, Charlotte walked outside and caught sight of Nick Montoya. What was it about a big old camp T-shirt and backward Red Sox cap that made him look so cool? Charlotte used to think about herself and Nick as just good friends. But now his face lit up whenever he saw her.

  “Morning, Char,” Nick greeted, kicking the soccer ball to her.

  “Hey,” she replied, feeling her cheeks growing a bit pink. Charlotte jogged over to the ball, but as she bent her knee to kick it, she completely lost her balance on the wet grass and proceeded to wipe out on the lawn. Oops! Charlotte “the Klutz” Ramsey strikes again. She cringed.

  Maybe if she just lay there, she hoped, somehow the horrible moment would just magically disappear,

  “Nice one, Char.” Nick was standing over her offering a hand. “What number is it now?”

  “Could we just pretend that I am a graceful dancer and they just polished the floor but no one told me?” Charlotte asked as she grasped Nick’s hand.

  “No prob.” Nick smiled as he helped her to her feet.

  If Maeve had seen the moment, Charlotte knew she would have deemed it extremely swoon-worthy. Charlotte was just grateful Nick never made a big deal over her wipeouts.

  As Charlotte brushed wet grass off the seat of her pants, Patrice sauntered over waving an envelope. “Okay, Cods, we must be in the lead. So let’s not blow it now.”

  Katani shook her head. “That’s motivational, Patrice—‘let’s not blow it’?”

  “What do you mean? I don’t know about you guys, but I didn’t come this far to lose in the homestretch,” Patrice stated matter-of-factly.

  “I’m with Patrice! Let’s open up that clue and get this show on the road,” commanded Dillon. “I want to kick the competition to the moon!” he shouted as he raised his fist in the air. “And before I forget—nice splat, Charlotte.”

  “Thanks, Dillon,” Charlotte answered, shuffling from one foot to the other.

  “Okay, let’s focus, people!” Patrice said as she opened the envelope and read the clue.

  Directly north of where you slept is where this landmark thing is kept. Alone it stands all red and white, known for miles by its strong light.

  “That’s easy! A lighthouse,” Katani said as she folded her arms.

  “Cool, but this is Cape Cod. There are like a gatrillion lighthouses!” Nick replied.

  “Oh…so how are we supposed to know which it is?” asked a perplexed Dillon.

  “Well, here’s what we know. It’s red and white. And it’s directly north of the NEED Building,” Charlotte contributed. “There must be a lighthouse on the map that’s close.”

  Katani, who was turning into quite the budding cartographer, quickly located the NEED Building on the map and used the map key to find the lighthouse symbol. She then pointed out that there was indeed a lighthouse directly north of the NEED Building, and there appeared to be a path leading right to it. The only problem was that there were about six different paths departing from the NEED Building…. So which one was the one that went north to the lighthouse?

  Dillon scratched his head. “Okay, I know how to figure this out. I got the ocean on my left, and the sun is riiiiight there, which means north is…” He spun around like a top, faster and faster and faster, and when he stopped, his arms were directed smack in front of a bike path shooting off into the woods. “…there!” he concluded proudly.

  Nick gave his friend a light shove, and Dillon, dizzy from his spinning, toppled over like a Jenga tower. “This is a scavenger hunt, not spin the bottle, brainiac,” Nick joshed.

  “I was solving it the old-fashioned way,” Dillon defended as he picked himself up.

  “Or we could just check the compass,” Katani suggested.

  She pulled Patrice’s Outward Bound compass out of the pouch on the back of her bike. Everyone gathered round to watch the needle. Charlotte patted Katani on the shoulder, and Dillon gave her a thumbs-up when the needle pointed exactly the way he had indicated.

  “Wow! You got some mad skills on that compass, Sis,” Patrice said admiringly. “Now, enough goofing around, people. We have a scavenger hunt to win!” The rest of the Cods didn’t need to be told twice and climbed on to their bikes with their eyes on the prize…whatever that was!

  Barnacle Maneuvers

  Avery felt a surge of energy shoot through her as soon as her eyes opened. She sat up in bed, so eager to start her day that she completely forgot that she was on the top bunk of a bunk bed and whacked her head on the ceiling.

  “Yowch! Now I get why you guys wanted the lower bunks.” She yawned. “You guys…you guys?” She hung over the side of the bed. “What?” She was puzzled when she realized that she was the only one of the BSG left in the room. “This is a first,” Avery mumbled as she pulled on her clothes at lightning speed, trying to ignore the aches she was feeling as a result of her surfing adventure the day before. As an athlete, Avery knew that muscles you haven’t exercised in a while could be sore at first. “This better not ruin my biking,” she said out loud to the empty room. “Today we have to get some clues!”

  The halls were so quiet when Avery slipped out that she wondered if maybe everyone else had already gone. What if they’d forgotten about her? Forget about me? Avery had to laugh. What, am I crazy?

  Indeed, no one had forgotten about Avery at all. Outside, the Beach Barnacles were sitting around the picnic table, chatting and munching on cold cereal and yogurt. Kiki, in sunglasses and a bathing suit, flipped through a fashion magazine, and Henry Yurt was carrying a pair of old flippers and snorkel that he’d found in the game room of the NEED Building.

  “Finally! We thought you were going to sleep until noon,” said Kiki, closing her magazine. “Now can we go, Ben?”

  Avery rubbed her hands together. “Ooh. Why didn’t you wake me up? What’s the plan? Where are we going? Have we solved another clue?”

  Chelsea, who had been quietly reading through an historical book about Cape Cod, looked up. “No!”

  Avery frowned. “What do you mean, no? We gotta get this wagon train a-movin’, people!”

  Chelsea looked sullen. “They said they don’t feel like doing the scavenger hunt.” She motioned at the rest of the Beach Barnacles, including her brother. “They said that we don’t have a chance of winning at this point anyway, so we might as well just go back to the beach.”

  Kiki rolled her eyes. “I mean, why not?”

  Chelsea was appalled. “No! No way! The point of this thing is to do a scavenger hunt that we worked really hard on and explore Cape Cod and have fun on the way. I don’t want to let Nick and Charlotte down. It’s not fair.” Chelsea stared at her brother as hard as she could, hoping she might be able to bore a hole in that thick skull of his.

  Ben shifted uncomfortably. “Chels, I get t
hat you worked hard and stuff, but we’re so far behind, and everyone else kinda wants to just hang out, so—”

  Avery stamped her foot. She had to intervene, even if her heart secretly longed to get back on a surfboard. “Hey! No way can we give up. First of all, thanks to Chelsea over here”—Avery gave her a high five—“we nailed the bonus list yesterday, which means the Beach Barnacles are still in the running. I’m not sure, but it sounds like the Cranberry Boggers weren’t exactly hardcore with getting points yesterday, either. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were in second place.”

  A look of pleasant surprise went around the picnic table. “Chels,” Ben said as he banged his fist on the table, “you’re the chief, and Avery, you’re a shaker! Barnacles, we might actually have a shot at winning this thing if we get cracking!”

  “Yeah!” Avery cheered, starting to get revved up. “Besides, when I heard the others going on and on about finding the clues…well, I really want to beat the pants off them!” Ben, Chelsea, and Yurt burst out laughing. For such a tiny person, Avery’s competitive spirit was off the charts.

  “Oh, lame!” Kiki proclaimed. She fanned herself with her magazine and looked bored. “Can’t we just go back to the beach and have, like, a chill day?”

  “No,” Ben defended the group decision. “We have to give this scavenger thing a shot. I mean, I’m supposed to be keeping you guys on track…and if we go back to the beach, we’re always going to wonder if we could have done it if we’d put in some effort…besides looking like complete losers.”

  Kiki yawned loudly. “Not me.”

  Avery glared at her. “Won’t you feel guilty for coming on the trip in the first place?”

  Kiki smiled. “Not even a little bit.” Kiki Underwood was a mystery to Avery. How could her parents be so nice, and Kiki be nice around them, and now it was like the Empress of Mean was back and worse than ever. “Well, if you guys don’t want to go to the beach, that’s okay. I can go alone. I know the way,” Kiki said coolly, leaning back.

  Avery put her hands on her hips and snapped, “No way, José. If you won’t go on the scavenger hunt, you can go home!”

  “Please, Keeks,” Henry Yurt begged as he got down on one knee. “The scavenger hunt won’t be the same without you.” Kiki completely ignored him.

  Ben smiled and picked up the walkie-talkie. “Or I can just ask Mr. Moore if he needs an assistant for the day….”

  “Hey, that’s no fair!” Kiki yelled.

  “But I’m sure he’d love to go to the beach,” Avery said with a giggle.

  Ben picked up the walkie-talkie. Avery could tell he was enjoying the panicked look in Kiki’s face almost as much as she was.

  “Wait, stop! If you call Mr. Moore, I’ll get real detention for sure,” Kiki pleaded.

  “I am sick of this…. Just call Mr. Moore,” a frustrated Chelsea complained.

  Avery was shocked. She’d seen Chelsea stand up to her brother, sure, but standing up to Kiki Underwood was quite another story. Avery was impressed. She gave Chelsea a shoulder shrug in appreciation.

  “No! I’m sorry. I’ll be good. I’ll participate and everything,” Kiki begged. “Just let me come. Please! I want to come…. I’m allergic to detention!”

  Ben paused as if deep in thought and then put down the walkie-talkie. “Well, okay.” Team Beach Barnacle was back in the game! And Kiki looked like she’d just been pardoned from walking the plank of a real pirate ship.

  CHAPTER

  15

  Dancing and Divas

  By the time the Cranberry Boggers hit the road, they were already thirty minutes late, and it was a fifteen-minute bike ride to the set. “It’s cool,” Maeve assured the Boggers. “They expect stars to be fashionably late.”

  “Maeve, I hate to burst your bubble,” retorted Betsy, who had been the only one of the team to be up on time. “But I don’t exactly think anyone here would qualify as a star.”

  “Ahhh, Betsy, if you don’t think you are a star, you’ll never be a star,” explained Maeve cheerfully.

  When they finally arrived at the set, it seemed that Bethany shared Betsy’s opinion. “Where have you all been!” she fumed. “I was about to try to call those kids from yesterday!”

  “We rode as fast as we could. We’re on bikes, remember?” Danny Pellegrino spoke up. Though Betsy was still avoiding him after the incident last night, Isabel noticed their eyes meet. Mmm, thought Isabel, Betsy must have forgiven Danny. Maybe things will actually work out between them, and I will be free of Danny Pellegrino forever.

  Unfortunately, at that moment, Danny turned and said, “It’s not like we’re getting paid for this, right, Izzy?” He practically winked as he looked right at her. Maybe she had spoken too soon; Isabel cringed as she gave him a little half smile.

  Betsy’s little smile faded into a look of pained discomfort. Any more of Danny’s over-the-top confidence could get them kicked right off the set!

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Bethany took a deep breath and began to pace back and forth like a worried sandpiper. “We’re shooting the wedding banquet scene, when Black Sam Bellamy interrupts the dinner to save Princess Polly from her loveless marriage to the brutish Sir Eric Bonewagon,” Bethany explained. “Maeve, you are going to be a flower girl. Fabiana, you’re a wedding guest.”

  “A flower girl!” Maeve gushed as she twirled around in her imaginary flower girl designer dress. She had always wanted to be a flower girl, and she could only imagine what the dress was going to look like! Perhaps light pink lace layered over white? Or maybe dark rose with a scalloped neck? Did flower girls wear crowns back then?

  “Riley, you’re reprising your role from yesterday as the powder monkey,” Bethany informed him. “And, get this, Ozmond even wrote in a few lines for you. Everyone thought you looked ‘appealing’ in your little pirate outfit!” She smirked.

  Maeve’s dress fantasies were rudely interrupted by a twang of jealousy—both for Riley getting a speaking role, and that someone other than she (certain blond girls, probably) thought he was adorable.

  Life is so unfair. She gritted her teeth. Maeve was supposed to be the only one who knew and appreciated Riley’s adorableness. That was the whole point of having a crush on the band cutie who no one ever noticed until you did.

  “What about me?” Danny asked.

  Bethany looked at her sheet. “Um, I don’t need any more extras today. Thanks anyway, though!”

  Danny looked completely crushed. “But my historical outfit was perfect, except for the shoe buckles, and I had an idea about those—”

  Betsy spoke up before he could get them in even more trouble. “Danny can help me with the consulting today,” she told Bethany. “He has a wealth of historical information at his fingertips.”

  Danny gave Betsy such a look of puppy-dog adoration that Isabel was happily convinced meant that she would be safe from a Danny Pellegrino crush for the rest of her junior high days. Now she could actually be pleasant to Danny and not have to worry that he would glom on to her like superglue ever again.

  Bethany didn’t look too impressed, but she answered. “Hey, I’m in wardrobe, so I’m going to go ahead and say why not.”

  “Although,” she added, as she checked her wardrobe list, “I personally don’t get why Ozmond wants you kids following him around, but then again no one understands a thing a crackpot does….” Bethany strode off with her clipboard, muttering to herself.

  “I guess I’ll go find Patrick and Poppy,” a relieved Isabel announced, running off to search for her favorite set designers.

  Maeve let out a big sigh of relief as a grateful Danny sidled up beside Betsy. “Thanks for letting me help,” he said as they wandered around the set looking for Ozmond, who was supposedly off somewhere getting coffee.

  “Well,” Betsy said. “That girl was not nice. I mean, you just can’t take everyone from a group and leave one person out…. It’s highly inappropriate social etiquette…but movies are a bu
siness. We have to go with the flow, you know.”

  “Betsy, you are something special, you know?” Danny looked at her again, this time his eyes wide with fascination.

  Betsy giggled. “Maybe she was afraid that if she gave you a part, they’d have to pay you a zillion dollars or something!”

  Danny’s eyes sparkled. “Maybe they do! Maybe they have to pay everyone! Ha ha, just kidding. Man, I’d do this for free any day.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, helping the director is fun stuff,” Betsy assured him.

  “Really?”

  “Oh, yes. Ozmond totally listens. He wants things to be right. Maybe we could even add this to our list of extra-curriculars.”

  Danny’s face brightened. “So I can just tell him about a couple of anachronisms I’ve noticed?”

  Betsy blinked. “Yes! Isn’t that the greatest thing ever?”

  Cranberry Boggers Dance a Jig of Sorts

  It was taking the film crew absolutely forever to start filming. There was some sort of technical difficulty or something.

  Fabiana asked everyone if they wanted to wait it out or get going. Maeve was conflicted. What she did know is that for the first time ever she was having the most amazing time not being filmed, but what about her friends? Fabiana asked for a show of hands—no one wanted to leave.

  Maeve couldn’t help voting to stay. She was thrilled because the flower girl (not just an orphan anymore!) got to do a little jig with the powder monkey boy. Dance a little jig…with Riley. That was what the script said.

  Maeve was hoping the jig was interpretive and maybe she could convince the director to let them do a ballroom dance instead, but Danny (grrr) said that that would be completely unrealistic. So…a little jig was exactly what she and Riley were practicing.

  I had no idea that a little pirate jig could be so much fun! She and Riley spun each other around and around until they began staggering from dizziness. Maeve’s heart leaped when Riley reached out his hand to steady her. Or, was it she who offered her hand to Riley? He was, after all, beginning to turn a rather alarming shade of green.