The Great Scavenger Hunt (10 page)

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.

M
aeve'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, half 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.”

Maeve wore a grin the size of Texas. Simon remembered. He totally remembered her from that time she was lost in New York City and he showed her the way to the
Teen Beat
fashion show!

“Maeve, me darling,” he addressed her in pirate speak. “I can't believe it's you!” With that, Simon swooped Maeve up and twirled her about in a big bear hug. “What are you doing here?” he asked when he put her down on her feet.

“Well, my friends…we were on this little scavenger hunt.” Maeve saw Fabiana's smile fade and she herself felt a little stab of guilt, but Simon grinning in front of her was just too fabulous. Guilt would have to wait. Staring up at Simon's handsome face, she continued with her tale. “We sort of stumbled on to the set when we were lost, and they asked us to be extras because the real extras never showed up…and here we are!” she gushed.

“Fight scene, take seven!” called Ozmond. “Have your little happy reunion later, Simon. We must press on! We have a movie to shoot…. Betsy…”

Simon tipped his feather pirate hat, winked at her, and said, “Later, Maeve.”

“You know Simon Blackstone and you never told me?!” Fabiana yelped.

Maeve whispered, “It's a
long
story.” She could tell that Fabiana could barely contain her excitement.

At Ozmond's direction, all the actors on the set, who had been frozen and silent, began shouting and performing the moves that had been finely choreographed. A few of them kept stealing glances at Maeve, probably wondering, Maeve thought, how a lowly extra like her was friends with the heartthrob of the century—Simon Blackstone! It was all so very thrilling. Maeve had to hug herself to keep from dancing a two-step!

Maeve and Fabiana were directed to stand behind the mast of the ship and cower. Maeve could do cowering. She reckoned Girl in Crowd 2 had cowered a lot back in the orphanage.

Simon was playing Black Sam Bellamy, the bad guy hero known as the Prince of Pirates. In the scene they were shooting, Black Sam had just burst through the wall Isabel had helped paint and now he was engaged in a fierce battle against the crew of the
Whydah
for all the loot and treasure on board. Ontario Plume was playing a young member of the
Whydah
crew trying to defend his ship by fighting off the pirates.

Isabel couldn't believe that Simon remembered Maeve. She herself wasn't fascinated with movie stars the way Maeve was. She was more interested in how the scene was coming together. With the cameras rolling, Isabel felt like she was watching a storybook come alive. She could almost hear the loud explosions and music…even though they would be added later.

When she relayed her impressions to Patrick, he nodded and smiled. “I understand—it's why I love my job so much.”

Isabel agreed. “It's like seeing your imagination come to life right before your eyes. Does that sound cheesy?”

“Nah!” Patrick assured her. “I get it.”

Isabel had been Patrick's helper all day, and it was one of the best days of her life. They spent almost two hours building wetus and repainting the figurehead of the boat a “more authentic color” (according to Betsy). Even though
Isabel had to listen to the actors complaining about their hot costumes the whole time, she was ecstatic that she got to sit on a blanket in her shorts and tie twigs together with some fellow art lovers. Who else would sit with her and talk about how different shades of blue could make you feel sad, happy, cold, or warm?

When the director finally announced, “That's a wrap, actor people!” the whole cast let out a collective sigh, including the stars. They were “being whisked off to some lux trailer where they could lie down, eat whatever they wanted, and listen to music,” Betsy explained. She seemed to have the total skinny on this movie set. Danny, Maeve, and Fabiana were also positively charged. “We are now officially movie stars,” exclaimed an effervescent Maeve.

Riley was less enthusiastic. “I feel like a total dweeb,” he said, tugging at the puffy hat he had to wear.

“Actually,” Fabiana commented, tilting her head, “You look more like a muffin.”

Riley let out an audible groan. “I'm gonna have to quit the band!” he lamented. “The rest of the Mustard Monkeys are never going to let me live this down.”

“You're in a band?” giggled a tall, thin girl. She and another girl who was shorter and pudgier circled around him. They both had blond hair (that Maeve was convinced was sooo not real!).

“Yeah, I mean, it's no big deal.” Riley was trying to look casual even though his cheeks were turning bright red.

“What do you play?” asked the shorter girl.

“Guitar and lead singer,” he replied bashfully.

“That's hot,” said the tall girl without much emotion, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. “Isn't that hot, Michele?”

“Totally hot. My dad's a music producer,” said Michele, the shorter girl. “He could, like, totally hook you up!”

“He's, like, famous,” the taller one added. “You should give Michele a demo. And your phone number…”

Maeve's ears were burning. Who were these two blond starlets circling around Riley?

“Riley,” Maeve tried to interrupt.

“My dad's, like, totally funding this movie,” the tall girl interrupted. “Funding movies is hot, isn't it, Michele?”

“Totally hot, Michelle.”

“Wait, hold on. You
both
have the same name?” Maeve asked loudly. No, she did not like these girls one bit.

Tall Michelle glared at Maeve then smiled sweetly at Riley. “Like, NO! I'm Michelle with two
L
s. She only has one.”

Michele pulled Riley's hand up, whipped out a pen, and scrawled her number on it. “When you get a demo tape together…call me.” She winked. “I'll talk to my dad and see what I can do.”

The two Michelles—or rather Michele and Michelle—waved coyly at Riley and sauntered away.

Riley looked pale. “That was truly frightening.”

Maeve couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. “Oh, Riley, you'll get used to it. I think you just survived your first groupies!”

Suddenly Betsy ran over. She seemed totally petrified. She was holding the walkie-talkie away from her and waving it around like it was on fire. “Somebody! Take it! Take it! I can't stand the pressure anymore.”

Maeve wrinkled her eyebrows. “What's going on?”

Betsy dropped her voice to a whisper and informed them, “It's Ms. O'Reilly. She's trying to buzz in to check on us and I don't know what to tell her.”

Maeve shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, Betsy! Just make something up.”

Betsy was stunned. “Make something up? Are you suggesting I
lie to a teacher
?”

Maeve rolled her eyes. “Not
lie
exactly, Betsy. It's called improv!”

Ms. O'Reilly's voice sounded through the speaker. “Cranberry Boggers? Are you there? Over! Darn, is this thing broken? Over. Over. Over.”

Maeve reached over and plucked the walkie-talkie out of Betsy's hand whispering, “
Watch
.” She pressed the talk button and said calmly, “Hey, Ms. O. What's shakin'?”

“Oh, thank goodness. I was just checking in to see how the hunt was going.”

Maeve glanced around the action-packed set of the movie and replied, “It's going great! We're having the most amazing time.”

The Boggers nodded. That was definitely the truth.

“Oh, excellent,” Ms. O'Reilly commented. “So are you finding any clues?”

“Clues?” Maeve waved her hand for help.

This was Isabel's clue to jump in. “Um, well, we're a little short on actual clues, but we're getting a lot of things on the bonus list!” She proved her point by holding up the preview screen on the team digital camera so everyone could see the pictures she had gathered around the set. The rest of the group gave her an approving, and relieved, thumbs-up.

Fabiana then took her turn with the walkie-talkie. “See, Ms. O'Reilly, sometimes having fun and learning new things is more important than coming in first, ya know?”

They heard Ms. O'Reilly laugh. “Kids, I couldn't agree more. Well, stay safe and I'll see you at the barbecue.”

“Bye!” sang a chorus of Boggers.

Fabiana tossed the walkie-talkie back to Betsy, and slapped Maeve and Isabel a high five. “And that,” Maeve stated, “is how improv is done.” Except she didn't feel as great as she sounded. Charlotte, Nick and Chelsea were suddenly front and center in her mind, but Simon Blackwell's greeting was still tap dancing in her head:
“Maeve, me darling!”
Maeve just didn't know how to feel.