Charmed Forces #19 Page 13

  “She went to the newspaper office,” the counselor said. “To work on some story before breakfast.”

  “Thanks.” Brynn hurried up the path to the newspaper office. She burst in and found Winnie and Jordan working together on one of the computers.

  “Hey, Brynn,” Jordan said.

  “Hi, Jordan,” Brynn said. “I need to talk to your partner about some of her unethical journalistic practices.”

  “What?” Jordan looked at Winnie, who blanched.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Winnie said.

  “I think you do.” Brynn held up The Smart Girl’s Guide to Astrology. “One of our investigators found this in your bunk. Care to explain?”

  “What? I’ve never seen that before in my life,” Winnie said.

  “Then what was it doing hidden next to your bed?” Brynn said. “With your reporter’s notebook?”

  “What? What were you doing snooping around my bed?”

  “I personally didn’t snoop,” Brynn said. “But since you were the one who snooped first, it seems like fair payback.”

  Winnie lowered her eyes and twisted her fingers together. Then she glanced guiltily from Jordan to Brynn.

  “All right,” she said. “I admit it. I knew something big was going on in your bunk, but no matter how much asking around I did, no one would tell me what it was. I couldn’t stand not knowing! I still don’t know. It’s driving me crazy!”

  Brynn suppressed a grin. This confession was too sweet. But she didn’t want to look like she was gloating over Winnie’s defeat—especially in front of Jordan.

  “So I snuck into your bunk to look around a little,” Winnie said. “I emptied half your cubbies looking for clues. That’s all I meant to do. I didn’t want to steal anything or cause any damage. But then I accidentally knocked over a couple bottles of nail polish and I was afraid someone would notice. And I’d made such a mess and I couldn’t remember where everything went . . . so I messed the place up even more, hung some underwear up, and made it look like a prank.”

  “And you wrote ‘You’ve been pranked’ on our bathroom mirror just in case we didn’t get the message,” Brynn said.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Why did you steal Alyssa’s book?”

  “I didn’t mean to steal it,” Winnie said. “I just wanted to borrow it. It was the only thing I found in the cabin that seemed connected with the mystery. I thought there might be a clue in the book. But I looked through it and it’s just a bunch of horoscopes.”

  Jordan gaped at Winnie, his jaw hanging open. “I can’t believe what a criminal mastermind you are,” he said.

  “Is that a good thing?” Winnie said.

  “Maybe to some people . . .” Jordan said.

  “I’m really sorry, Brynn,” Winnie said. “I never meant to cause so much trouble for you guys. Please apologize to everyone in your bunk for me.”

  “Why don’t you do it yourself?” Brynn said. “A public apology in The Lakeview Tattler would be nice.”

  “In The Tattler?” Winnie gulped.

  “I think you should,” Jordan said.

  “I’ll write it up after breakfast,” Winnie said. She got to her feet. “Now I think I’d better get to the mess hall.” She ran out, red-faced.

  “Wow,” Jordan said. “That was amazing. If Winnie was as good at detective work as you are, we might have cracked the mystery of bunk 6B story. But we still don’t know what’s going on with you guys.”

  “And you won’t,” Brynn said. “Until we’re ready to tell the world. We superswore not to tell anyone. And impossible as it sounds, we all actually stuck to our vows.”

  “Well, I’m very impressed,” Jordan said. “You’re one heck of a reporter, Brynn. Smarts and moxie all rolled up in one very cute girl.”

  “Thank you.” Brynn blushed. Was Jordan flirting with her? His praise made her bold. “Speaking of detective work,” she said. “I have a little question for you. Are you and Winnie just a reporting team, or is there something . . . I don’t know . . .” Now the words were hard to say, but she forced herself. “. . . something more going on?”

  “Something more?” Jordan said. “No. There never was. And now we’re not even reporting partners. I don’t want to work with someone who has such low standards. Though I’m pretty sure she learned her lesson.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Brynn regretted the pompous sound of her voice. Why be so high-handed about it? She knew Winnie wouldn’t pull a stunt like that again.

  chapter THIRTEEN

  Alyssa checked the little purse at her hip to make sure Amy was still there. She’d decided to carry the stone with her whenever possible. If she had to go swimming or something like that, she’d leave the amethyst in her pillowcase. Her bunkmates had proven that she could trust them.

  Mandy herded the bunk to breakfast, even though Brynn wasn’t back yet from her showdown with Winnie. Alyssa was dying to know what happened.

  Finally, as the pancakes were being served, Brynn strolled into the mess hall looking triumphant.

  “All right!” Sloan said. “Something good happened.”

  “She has avenged me and restored my good name,” Gaby muttered.

  “What?” Alyssa said.

  “Nothing,” Gaby said.

  Brynn sat down at the table. “Well?” Valerie asked. “What happened?”

  “Winnie confessed to everything,” Brynn said.

  The table cheered.

  “She knew something strange was going on in our bunk, so she searched it for clues,” Brynn said. “All she found was Alyssa’s astrology book. But she broke something by accident—”

  “My nail polish?” Tori said.

  Brynn nodded. “So she made the whole thing look like a prank. She confessed to everything except taking the amethyst. She didn’t say anything about it. I don’t think she knows it exists.”

  Alyssa patted her little purse protectively. Yep, Amy was still there.

  “See?” Gaby said. “I told you I had nothing to do with any of this.”

  “Funny,” Chelsea said. “It looked so much like something you’d dream up. The whole scheme felt like a Gaby Production.”

  “I totally believe Gaby.” Alyssa rubbed Amy and got a strong Gaby-is-innocent vibe. “In my dream I just knew somehow that Amy rolled away on her own. She was lost, not stolen. We all owe Gaby an apology.”

  Everyone stared, silent. Apologize to Gaby? Somehow it just went against the grain. It was counterintuitive. It didn’t feel right.

  Gaby frowned. “I’m disappointed in you all. How could my own bunkmates not trust me?”

  Alex rolled her eyes—and she wasn’t the only one. “There are lots of reasons why we might not trust you, Gaby. You’ve done some pretty sneaky things in the past.”

  “But I’ve reformed,” Gaby said. “At least, I’m in the process of reforming.”

  “Good for you,” Mandy said.

  “We’re all glad,” Valerie said.

  “Let’s apologize and leave Gaby alone now,” Mandy said. “Clearly she did nothing wrong.”

  “This time,” Chelsea said.

  “Chelsea . . .” Mandy’s voice took a tone of warning. She was a pretty tough counselor. Maybe that was a good thing, Alyssa thought.

  “We’re sorry, Gaby,” Priya said.

  “We’re sorry,” the others echoed.

  “Thank you,” Gaby said with a smug grin.

  “This is all very nice,” Mandy said. “But you’re forgetting one important thing. And this is something you girls just do not seem to want to remember.”

  “What?” Brynn asked.

  “The ‘lost’ poster,” Mandy said. “It’s still up on the mess hall porch. Someone in 5C is missing her amethyst, and Alyssa should give it back right away.”

  “5C,” Gaby said. “Winnie’s bunk. That’s a weird coincidence.”

  “Or is it a coincidence?” Alyssa said. She wasn’t so sure.

  “Alyssa�
��” Now Mandy used her warning voice on her. Alyssa decided Mandy was a little too tough.

  “All right,” Alyssa said. “I’ll find the owner and give the amethyst back.”

  “Right away?” Mandy said.

  “Right away,” Alyssa said.

  As they walked back to the cabin, Sloan, Brynn, and Gaby caught up with Alyssa. “You can’t give Amy back now,” Gaby said. “Think of all the weird things that have happened lately. They’re all connected to 5C. Winnie’s bunk. What if this is a trick? Amy could fall into the wrong hands!”

  “I know you’re right,” Alyssa said. “But what can I do? I promised.”

  “Well, there’s no time to give it back now,” Sloan said. “We’ve got swimming lessons in five minutes. You can do it after lunch.”

  “Good idea.” Alyssa stashed Amy in her pillowcase and put on her bathing suit. Whoever owned the amethyst—if she really did lose it—had waited all this time to get it back. She could wait a few more hours.

  That afternoon, a new edition of The Lakeview Tattler came out. Alyssa flipped through it on her way to nature, stopping on page three.

  A Public Apology

  I, Winnie Jackson, wish to apologize for any distress I may have caused the residents of bunk 6B. I didn’t mean to scare them or mess up their things, but I did, and I’m sorry. I’m also sorry if any innocent parties were blamed for my actions. In my zeal to investigate a story, I crossed a line and went too far. And to the camp at large I’d like to say, pranking might seem like innocent fun, but it can mess with people’s heads. Don’t do it.

  Apologetically yours,

  Winnie Jackson

  Alyssa appreciated the apology, but she hardly found it comforting. Winnie Jackson was in bunk 5C. What if she put up the “lost” poster as part of her “investigation?” What if it was a trap, a trick to get Alyssa to give Winnie a chance to try the amethyst’s powers?

  Her fears were totally possible. On top of that, deep down Alyssa didn’t want to give up Amy. She hated to admit it, but it was true. She’d missed her so much when she was lost. Now they were reunited again, only to be separated once more. Alyssa hated the thought of giving up Amy. That’s all there was to it.

  Who can blame me? she thought. Anyone who’d felt the connection she had with that stone would understand.

  chapter FOURTEEN

  “Okay, girls,” Mandy said. “I’m going to ask you one last time: Have you changed your minds about the baseball game? Can we please be sensible and go?”

  Why does Mandy keep harping on this? Alyssa wondered. Nothing had changed since she’d had her dream of Chelsea’s terrible baseball attack. To Alyssa, that dream was as indisputable as fact. Why would they change their minds?

  “What’s the alternative?” Priya asked.

  “We stay here and help clean out the boathouse,” Mandy said. “Or, if you prefer, we can weed the vegetable garden.”

  “Ohhhh.” Everyone in bunk 6B groaned. Most of them cast annoyed glances at Alyssa.

  “Cleaning or weeding,” Gaby said. “That’s a great way to spend a beautiful day like today.”

  “I told you, you can still change your minds.”

  All eyes were on Alyssa. “I don’t think we should go. Sorry, guys.”

  “Alyssa’s right,” Natalie said. “It’s just too big a risk.”

  “Suit yourselves,” Mandy said.

  “We might have a boring day,” Alyssa said to her bunkmates. “But just think—we’ll be saving Chelsea’s life!”

  “We sure better be,” Chelsea said. “I didn’t come to summer camp to miss baseball games and weed the vegetable garden.”

  “Good job, girls,” Mandy said. “The garden looks great. Hit the showers.”

  “Phew,” Alyssa wiped a strand of damp hair from her face. It was another scorching day and weeding was hard work.

  “That was rough,” Brynn said.

  “Good exercise, though,” Alyssa said. She was determined to make the best of this situation. “And think how great the vegetables will taste now.”

  “I’m not crazy about vegetables in the first place,” Chelsea said. “But I do think I sweated off about five pounds.”

  They trudged back to their bunk, tired and cranky. As they passed the main lodge, the first bus pulled in, just back from the baseball game. The bus doors opened and kids poured off, cheering and babbling with excitement.

  “Who won?” Valerie shouted to the arriving campers.

  “Philly!” Jordan said. He and David, Jenna’s boyfriend, ran over to give them the rundown. “10-8. It was a great game. Both teams were knocking home runs left and right. And hey—guess who sang the national anthem?”

  “Who?” Brynn asked.

  “You’ll never guess,” David said.

  “Kanye West?” Chelsea said mockingly.

  “Close,” Jordan said.

  Alyssa felt her forehead break out in a sweat. Close! How is that possible? It was just a dumb baseball game.

  “50 Cent?” Alyssa asked. She needed to determine exactly how close close was.

  Both David and Jordan shook their heads. “OK, now you’re overshooting a little.”

  “Maroon Five?” Brynn tried.

  “Better than that,” David said. “Give up?”

  “Yes!” Alyssa said. “Tell us!”

  “Justin Timberlake!” David said. “It was amazing!”

  “Justin Timberlake!” Brynn cried. “You’re lying.”

  “No way,” Chelsea said. “Not my Justin!”

  “I swear,” Jordan said. “Justin Timberlake sang the National Anthem. We saw him with our own eyes!”

  “Wow,” Brynn said. “Justin! I love him.”

  “So do I,” Chelsea said. “And we missed it! I can’t believe we missed it!”

  Alyssa didn’t like the sound of this at all. Something important was missing from Jordan’s game summary.

  “But what about the terrible accident?” she said.

  “What terrible accident?” Jordan said.

  “Didn’t someone get hit in the head by a baseball?” Alyssa said, a nervous feeling creeping into her neck. “Didn’t one of the players knock the ball into the stands and seriously injure a spectator?”

  “Huh?” Jordan said. “I didn’t see anything like that. Did you see anyone get beaned at the game?” he asked David.

  David shook his head. “Nothing like that happened.”

  “It had to,” Alyssa said. “Maybe you missed it. They called an ambulance and took the victim out of the stadium on a stretcher?”

  “Where did you hear this?” David said. “On the radio?”

  Alyssa didn’t say that she’d heard it in her own head. Because that would mean revealing the secret of Amy. It also might mean sounding a little wacko. “Um—I thought I heard a news report,” she said. The other girls looked at one another, unsure what to say.

  David looked at Jordan. The boys shrugged. “If anything like that happened, we totally missed it. And I don’t see how we could have. It was a perfect baseball day. You girls really should have gone. Why didn’t you go, anyway?”

  “Um, we had things to do,” Alyssa said.

  “Yeah,” Jenna said. “We had to weed out a few things.”

  The boys looked confused. “Whatever,” Jordan said. “See you at dinner.”

  The Lakeview Tattler

  Bunk Roundup

  by Jordan

  Campwide News: Saturday’s trip to Philadelphia for the Phillies-Mets game was definitely one of the highlights of the summer. The game was tight, with the score going back and forth until the ninth inning, but local favorites Philly won handily, 10-8. The day was hot and sunny with a nice breeze, the hot dogs and pretzels were ballpark-perfect, and a good time was had by all, from the youngest campers to the oldest counselors. Best of all was the surprise, unannounced appearance of pop superstar Justin Timberlake to sing the National Anthem. The girls were screaming their heads off! He even tossed a few Phill
ies bandannas into the crowd, and the third division’s own Becca Johanson caught one! She’s having it framed and hanging it on her bunk wall. Thanks for a fantastic and memorable day, Dr. Steve!

  Bunk 6B: For some unknown reason, the girls of 6B refused to attend Saturday’s baseball game. No one can get a straight answer out of them as to why they didn’t want to go, but rumors abound that tensions are flaring. This bunk continues to be a source of rumor and mystery. Your intrepid reporter conducted interviews with several 6B-ers in search of answers.

  Reporter: Why didn’t your bunk go to the game today?

  Valerie: Um, next question.

  Brynn: No comment.

  Priya: I plead the fifth.

  Alex: Why don’t you ask Alyssa?

  Gaby: We were trying to do something nice for somebody in our bunk.

  Reporter: How does missing a ball game help anyone?

  Gaby: If you don’t get it, I can’t explain.

  Jenna: Why don’t you ask Alyssa?

  Sloan: The planets were not well aligned, and if we had gone, a terrible tragedy could have happened. We couldn’t live with the guilt.

  Reporter: I don’t understand.

  Sloan (pulling out and unfolding a pocket astrological chart): See this placement of Pluto? It was in the same place when Brad left Jen for Angelina and when Britney Spears shaved all her hair off. You see how serious that can be. You don’t mess with Pluto in Sag while Mercury is retrograde.

  Reporter: I still don’t understand.

  Sloan: Ask Alyssa.

  Candace: I never really understood why we couldn’t go, but everyone seemed to agree.

  Natalie: We can’t talk about it, but we had our reasons.

  Tori: Ask Alyssa.

  Chelsea: My life was in danger, okay? That’s what they told me. I’m beginning to wonder now if it was ever true.

  Alyssa: I’m afraid we can’t talk about it publicly. The girls of bunk 6B would like to ask everyone at Lakeview to please respect our privacy during this difficult time.

  There you have it, folks. As far as I can figure out, the 6B-ers stumbled on a conspiracy to threaten Chelsea’s life if they went to the game. Why, we don’t know, but they’re clearly cowed, shaken, and afraid to talk. More on this story as it develops.