Camp Rules! (6 page)

It was cool and damp inside the log. And if Katie wasn’t mistaken, there was something crawling up and down her leg. It was gross in there. But at least she was safe.

At least for now.

A few moments later Katie heard voices outside her log.

“I’m not sure where that raccoon went, but it better not show up again,” Katie heard Shannon say.

“Yeah, it better not,” Chelsea echoed. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a ghost. But it sure disappeared like one.”

“It’s probably hiding in a tree or a hollow log,” someone answered Shannon. Katie thought she sounded like Carrie, the nature counselor. “The thing is, raccoons won’t usually go near people unless they’re sick or frightened,” Carrie explained to Shannon and Chelsea. “That’s why I always tell kids to stay away from them. If a kid gets bitten by a raccoon, it means a trip to the hospital.”

“This raccoon did seem a little crazy,” Shannon said. “It wasn’t acting like a normal raccoon.”

Katie frowned. That was for sure. Maybe because this raccoon was actually a ten-year-old girl!

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch it,” Carrie assured her. “I’ll put a little peanut butter in this trap, and sooner or later the raccoon will come out to get it.”

“You won’t hurt the raccoon, will you?” Chelsea asked her.

“Oh, no,” Carrie told her. “I wouldn’t hurt any animal. This is a humane trap. The raccoon just gets stuck in this little cage. Then I’ll take it far out in the woods.”

After a few more minutes, Katie heard footsteps moving away from the hollow log. When she was certain everyone was gone, she poked her little head out of the log.

Sure enough, the smell of peanut butter was wafting through the air. But this time Katie was too smart to go after it. She knew where the peanut butter was hidden. It was in that little cage.

She couldn’t get caught in that. After all, Katie wasn’t really a raccoon. She was a fourth-grade girl in a raccoon’s body. Suppose she was stuck in that cage when the magic wind came back to turn her into Katie again?

The real Katie would never fit in that tiny cage.

And the real Rocky wouldn’t like it very much in there, either.

Chapter 10

Katie hopped out of the log and scampered up to a branch on a nearby tree—well out of the reach of any traps or counselors. She needed time to think.

Katie knew she had to get away from there before Shannon and the kids came back. But if she ran off into the woods, she was liable to get lost.

What if she got lost in the woods forever, walking around and around in circles and never finding her way back to camp? She could be stuck here forever. She’d never see Cherrydale again.

Suddenly Katie was very homesick.

If Katie were a human she might have started to cry. But raccoons didn’t cry. They could, however, feel scared and alone. And that was exactly how Katie felt.

Just then Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on her back. Her whiskers twitched slightly. There was a change in the air.

It was actually getting kind of chilly. Now
that
was weird for summer. Katie leaped out of the tree and started back toward the hollow log. At least she would be warmer there.

But a log was no match for this wind. This was the magic wind. And before Katie could crawl into the hole in the log, it began blowing wildly—only around Katie! The tornado circled fiercely now. She shut her little raccoon eyes and dug her claws into the log, holding on tight—trying not to get blown out into the deep, dark woods.

And then it stopped. Just like that.

Katie Carew was back. And so was Rocky. He was standing a few feet from her, with his head up in the air.

Katie watched as he sniffed at the air for a moment and then began running toward the smell of the peanut butter.

“Rocky, no!” she shouted out. “It’s a trap!”

The sound of Katie’s voice startled Rocky. He jumped slightly and scampered up a tree—away from the trap.

Rocky was safe now. But Katie knew that wouldn’t last long. Sooner or later the smell of that yummy peanut butter would be too much for him. He would come down and try to get it. And then he would be trapped.

Katie couldn’t bear the thought of Rocky being stuck in a cage—even if it was just for a little while. Wild animals didn’t belong in cages—
ever
.

She glanced over at Rocky. He looked so confused, as if he had no idea what had been happening to him.

Which of course he didn’t. The people (and animals) Katie turned into never did.

But if Rocky was confused now, imagine how he would feel if Carrie took him someplace where he’d never been before. He would be lost and alone.

Maybe forever.

That wasn’t fair at all! Katie was going to have to find a way to get Rocky to a safe place where he would be happy.

But how?

This mess was too big for Katie to fix on her own. She knew that. She would need assistance.

There was only one person who could help her: someone who wasn’t afraid of animals. Someone who liked animals almost as much as she did.

Quickly Katie ran off toward the nature shack. There wasn’t a moment to spare.

 

 

“I know we were wrong,” Katie apologized to Carrie after she explained about leaving food for Rocky.

“Yes, you were,” Carrie told her.

“But he was so tiny and all alone,” Katie said. “Like he was lost or something. We just wanted to take care of him.”

“Well, we’ll get Rocky,” Carrie said. “And I’ll take him where he’ll be safe and away from us.”

“You can’t put him in a cage,” Katie pleaded. “That would be like punishing him. He didn’t do anything wrong. Rainbow and I did.”

“We have to get him out of here, Katie,” Carrie insisted. “We have to make sure the campers stay safe.”

“There has to be another way,” Katie tried again.

Carrie thought for a minute. “Maybe there is,” she said. “Come with me.”

 

 

 

That evening Katie found herself hiking through the dark woods with Carrie by her side. With every few steps they took, Carrie dropped a few bits of animal feed. Much to Katie’s amazement, soon Rocky appeared and followed behind them. He stayed far away—he was very scared of people. But he was following them just the same, eating the feed as he went.

Before long there were so many big, thick trees Katie could barely see the sky. The woods were scary at night. Katie was glad she was with a grown-up. It would be terrible to be alone out here. Katie sighed. Rocky probably felt pretty lonely right now.

It was as if Carrie realized what Katie was thinking, because she said, “If we can get him far enough out into the woods, maybe he can find some other raccoons.”

“What if we can’t?” Katie asked her.

Carrie stopped short and pointed her flashlight down to the ground. The light fell on some animal tracks. The front-paw tracks were short, with five fingerlike lines. The back-paw tracks were longer and thinner. But they had fingerlike lines, too.

“Raccoon tracks!” Katie cried out.

“Shhh . . .”
Carrie whispered. She pointed to a nearby tree. “I think this story is going to have a happy ending.”

Katie looked toward where Carrie was pointing. A big mother raccoon and her baby were sitting on a low branch. The baby looked a lot like Rocky.

“Is that Rocky’s mom?” Katie asked her.

Carrie shrugged. “Could be. Anyway, he won’t be alone with her here. She’ll take care of him. He’s got a family now.”

Katie nodded.

“Come on, we’d better get back to camp,” Carrie told her.

“Okay,” Katie said. She felt kind of sad. She was going to miss Rocky. And so would Rainbow.

But thanks to Katie, Rocky was going to be a very happy raccoon. As she and Carrie headed back through the dark woods toward Camp Cedar Hill, Katie began to cheer. “I’m Katie Kazoo. Couldn’t be prouder. And if you can’t hear me, I’ll shout a little louder!”

Chapter 11

Alicia’s angry voice was the first thing Katie heard when she entered the Bumblebee cabin.

“Who knocked all my stuff onto the floor?” Alicia demanded angrily.

“Not me,” said Chelsea, who stood by the bathroom mirror brushing her long, silky hair. “I was playing basketball.”

“It wasn’t me,” Gianna told Alicia. “I was at arts and crafts, cooking, and tennis this afternoon. I haven’t been back to the bunk since lunch.”

“And Rainbow’s on that hike,” Alicia recalled. She stomped across the cabin toward where Katie was standing. “Which means it had to be you!” she shouted. “You’re the one who dumped all my clothes out of my cubby.”

Katie bit her lip. That was sort of true. Except she hadn’t been Katie when she’d done it.

“Alicia, stop yelling at everyone,” Shannon said as she walked into the cabin. “It’s your own fault that your clothes are on the floor. You left food in your cubby. A raccoon came in here looking for it. Then he escaped through that window.” She pointed to the torn screen.

“A raccoon!” Alicia gulped. She knew she was in trouble.

“And that’s why tonight, while the rest of us are at a campfire roasting marshmallows, you’re going to be here, helping someone from maintenance fix the window,” Shannon continued.

Alicia said nothing and kicked at the ground. Katie could tell she was upset about missing the campfire.

Katie bit her lip. After all, the torn window was as much her fault as it was Alicia’s. She should probably be staying behind to help with the work, too.

But Katie could never explain how she’d torn the window to Shannon and the other Bumblebees. They’d never believe her.

Still, Katie felt pretty bad about what had happened. “Let me help you fold your clothes,” Katie offered.

“Why? So you can snoop through my stuff ?” Alicia demanded.

“No,” Katie said. “I just thought you could use the help. I could fix the window with you, too, if you want.”