The Great Scavenger Hunt (6 page)

“Isn't the point of this trip
supposed
to be the scavenger hunt?” she asked. But no one heard her over Henry Yurt and Avery's loud cheering.

Let the Hunt Begin!

The vehicles all pulled up to Nickerson State Park at the same time. Mr. Moore filmed from the front seat of his van as the Salty Cods jumped out of the Cowmobile with their
backpacks on like it was a well-practiced military maneuver. “Come on, Cods, I mean it. Move, move, MOVE!” barked Patrice.

The Cranberry Boggers and the Beach Barnacles watched in disbelief as Patrice traced a few places on her map to her group and they raced off into the park, clearly on a mission for victory.

“Remember,” Mr. Moore bellowed after them, turning off his video camera. “Keep your walkie-talkie on at all times, and meet us at Kiki's house for the barbecue at five sharp! Your leaders have the directions.”

The only one on the Salty Cods team who wasn't huffing and puffing out of the parking lot was Katani. She wanted to be as excited and enthusiastic as the rest of her fellow fishes, but her sister Patrice's
we-can-win
attitude was beginning to grate on her nerves.
How come all the other kids are following her and doing exactly what she says?
Katani took her sweet time making her way to the NON-precipices. It was sort of gratifying, she thought, that Patrice had to slow down so she could catch up.

Back in the parking lot, Mrs. Moore waved good-bye to the Beach Barnacles while Ms. O'Reilly made sure all the Cranberry Boggers had full water bottles and well-adjusted helmet straps.

“Remember, Fabiana,” Ms. O'Reilly reminded Nick's sister. “You have your team's permission slips and photo release forms in the envelope with all the clues! So be careful not to misplace it,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“I'll guard it with my life!” Fabiana promised.

As she tugged her helmet tighter, Isabel noticed that Betsy looked miserable. She figured it was the sight of Avery Madden cheering on her team as they disappeared from sight down the bike path while the Salty Cods were already long gone and probably miles ahead of everyone else.

“We Cranberry Boggers need some of that gung ho spirit!” Betsy complained. “We just got here and we're already in last place!”

“Cheer up!” Fabiana grinned, flipping her brand-new map around 180 degrees for the third time. “This isn't a race, really.”

“Yeah, but it's a
hunt
,” Danny said from right behind Betsy's shoulder. “That's almost the same thing.”

“I don't know if this map is really kid-friendly enough,” Maeve remarked.

“The
old
map had all the names of landmarks in big, bold letters,” Fabiana sighed. “I guess this one is more for a car driver. Sorry, guys,” she said as she looked up at her team's downcast expressions.

“Hey, maybe we could just skip ahead to the second clue,” Betsy suggested.

The group glanced at each other as if they were all thinking,
Typical Betsy, always trying to skip ahead to come in first.

“Think about it,” Betsy continued. “If we stay in this park all day looking for precipices we'll miss out on the other clues! We can always come back once we figure it out.”

“It's actually not a bad idea,” Fabiana contributed.

“Not a bad idea at all. Let's read clue number two!” Danny shouted. Maeve, being very perceptive in the ways of boys, secretly took note of how enthusiastic Danny was to help Betsy. She wondered if Betsy could pull her head out of the clues and maps long enough to notice too.

Fabiana produced another envelope and handed it to Betsy to do the honors. Maeve supposed Betsy was the only other person in the group who genuinely enjoyed having all eyes on her as much as Maeve did.

Betsy opened her mouth to comment, but before she had the chance to announce her opinion, Danny shouted, “The rotary! The Orleans Rotary…it's right here on the map.”

Betsy leaned over to Maeve and whispered, “Should we clue poor Danny in that no one likes a know-it-all?”

Maeve—for the first time in a long time—was speechless. Betsy's cluelessness about her own know-it-all attitude was shocking.
Doesn't Betsy know who she is?
Maeve wondered.

“Hey, according to the map, the Orleans Rotary is four miles away,” Fabiana informed them. The collective groan from the team was loud enough to disturb a flock of sparrows that flew off in a rush.

“Well, let's go!” Isabel urged, and with that, they climbed on their bikes and finally left the parking lot—dead last.

A
t Cliff Pond and Little Cliff Pond, the Salty Cods had bigger fish to fry. “I need more information about this Henry Yurt kid,” Patrice demanded. “Who is he? What does he do? Did he leave something here?”

Charlotte was certain that she'd given Patrice her best journalist-quality report about Henry Yurt, but it didn't make a difference. They'd ridden their bikes around the pond three times and absolutely nothing had jumped out at them as particularly “Yurty.”

“Whoa! Check out those mad weird tents over there in the clearing!” Dillon called the group over to examine a clearing that had been filled with mustard-colored structures set up in a circle. There were bikes leaning up against one of them, and the voices of campers discussing plans for the day echoed from inside another.

Suddenly, Charlotte burst out laughing. “Guys, those tents are called
yurts
.”

“I thought Yurt was just Henry's last name,” Dillon said.

“Yurts are also what the Mongolian nomads called their homes. They are like huge tents that can easily be set up and taken down. The Mongolians were
nomadic,
which means that they liked to move around from place to place,” Charlotte explained. “I guess this campground set some up as, like, a tourist attraction.”

“‘One is big, the other small, and neither a precipice at all. Near these places, in the dirt, get ready for a yurt alert!'” Patrice read the first clue aloud again.

“Hey,
check it out
! There's a flag in the middle!” Dillon cried as he ran over and plucked the red flag from the ground. In the middle of the flag someone had stamped the letters
AAJH
—Abigail Adams Junior High.

“Cods, it looks like we just got ourselves three points!” Patrice announced proudly. “Let's take a picture and move on down the road,” she said with a little
Wizard of Oz
shuffle for emphasis.

Charlotte took out her digital camera and captured the yurts in the clearing. As the group examined the snapshot on the screen, Katani noticed a little orange blur in the woods out of the corner of her eye. “Hey, isn't that a—”

“FOX!” Nick finished, pointing at the tiny fiery flash taking off into the woods.

Patrice began running. “Come on, guys, what are you waiting for? That fox was part of the bonus point list.”

Charlotte, Dillon, and Nick took off after her. Katani was left standing alone to watch the bikes. “Hey, guys,
a fox is only worth one point, and isn't the goal of this thing to be the first team to finish?” she cried after them. “Besides,” she added, “it's not safe to chase wild animals.” But there was no one there to listen to her warning.

Barnacle Wishes

For creatures famous for their ability to stay put on a rock or seashell for their whole lives, the Beach Barnacles were definitely
not
living up to their name. As soon as Avery climbed on her bicycle, she was off like a rocket.

She couldn't understand what all the other teams were making such a big deal about with the maps and the clues. The scavenger hunt had to be super easy if the first clue was Henry Yurt! In her opinion, the most important, nobrainer reason to have a weekend trip to Cape Cod was to go biking.

As she pedaled her feet at warp speed, churning through the gears of the bike, Avery felt like she might actually lift off the pavement and fly into the air. Now
that
was a great idea…flying bicycles…just like in
E.T the Extraterrestrial
! Why hadn't anyone invented one of those puppies yet?

“C'mon, slowpokes!” Avery taunted. “Last one to the beach is a rotten snail. Get it?” She consulted Henry Yurt, who was the only person on the team riding next to her.

“On top of it, Ms. Barnacle,” he retorted and adjusted the setting on his, like, 120-speed bike as he raced by her. Henry and his dad were avid bikers and could be seen all over Brookline with their matching father-and-son frizzball
hair poking out of their bike helmets. Just as Henry was really taking off, who went whizzing by him and Avery but Mrs. Moore—on a cow-painted bicycle no less.

“Woo-hoo! See you at the barbecue tonight!” she teased as she passed the two bewildered students, leaving them in a cloud of dust. Avery and the Yurtmeister heaved and huffed to go faster. Not wanting to look like the loser of the group, Kiki stepped up her game and quickly caught up to the other two.

“Whoa, looks like I'm going to have to break a sweat after all,” Ben Briggs remarked. Ben was the type of kid people called “big-boned” who really
was
big-boned. There was nothing tiny about Ben Briggs. In fact, Ben was one of the strongest underclassmen on the high school varsity football team. When he kicked his bike into high gear, he was soon at the head of the group.

The only one who didn't feel like going quite so fast was Chelsea. Actually, it wasn't so much that she didn't feel like it…. It was just that no matter how hard she pushed down on those pedals, it just didn't seem to make her bike go as fast as her teammates'.

By the time she finally caught up to the group, Chelsea's heart was beating like a drum solo. A year ago she might have felt bad that she was last, but now her attitude was,
I'm in the game and that's what counts!
She gave herself an imaginary pat on the back for keeping up.

Still, she suggested to her brother, “Hey, Ben…maybe we could slow down a bit. I've passed, like, three things on the bonus point list already. Don't you think it would be a
good idea to stop and take a few pictures?” Chelsea gulped.

“Chels, are you crazy? If we slow down now, we'll lose our lead. And that's the one edge we have in this competition!” Avery argued.

“Avery's got a point, kid,” Ben agreed. “Just hang in there. It won't be much longer.”
Betrayed by my own flesh and blood!
Chelsea couldn't believe it. After what seemed like an eternity, the bike path finally merged with civilization—and there was the adorable little town of Orleans.

“So are we still looking for a yurt alert or not?” a frustrated Kiki asked. She had a valid point. In Chelsea's opinion it was a genius point. The group had biked for miles and they had no idea if they were even headed in the right direction or what they were looking for.

“Hey, dude, I'm aaall the Yurt alert you'll ever need,” sang Henry Yurt. He got off his bike and did a weird little Yurt dance around Kiki, who stared at him with a horrified expression on her face. The group cracked up at the antics of their class president and Kiki's reaction to him.

“Let's check out the second clue,” suggested Chelsea. “Maybe we'll get somewhere with that one.”

Ben nodded. “Good idea, Chels,” he conceded, patting her on the back and handing the next envelope over. “You do the honors,” he said and bowed to his sister. Chelsea wanted to bonk him over the head.
Ben is so goofy sometimes
, she thought as she opened up the envelope and began to read. “From the Orleans circle round, toward a coastal town you're bound. There is much for you in store at the harbor's rocky shore.”

Avery's face lit up. “Hey, you guys! Do you have any idea what this means? Orleans circle…coastal town…this clue is talking about Nauset Beach in Orleans, and we're practically already there! I love that beach!”

“Are you sure the clue is talking about Nauset Beach, though? Is that the only beach in Orleans?” Chelsea asked.

“Who cares about the other beaches?” Kiki said dismissively. “Nauset Beach is the only cool one. Besides, I know an awesome shortcut. This way we won't have to go through the rotary.”

Avery shrugged. “I'm in. Hey, maybe it'll put us in the lead.”

Avery and Kiki were off immediately in the direction of Nauset Beach, and the group followed right behind. Chelsea, who had spent a good amount of her life being on the shier side, knew a thing or two about leaders from observing them in action. People tended to do exactly what the leader said or did without even thinking about whether or not the plan made any sense at all. It could be very frustrating.

As she followed her team zipping down the bike path to a destination that might have nothing to do with their scavenger hunt, Chelsea was pretty sure that the Beach Barnacles weren't thinking about the scavenger hunt at all.

Dandelion Dreams

When the Cranberry Boggers finally reached the famous Orleans Rotary mentioned in clue #2, the whole team burst
out in cheers. “We have to be doing something right!” Betsy chirped to Danny Pellegrino.

“I agree!” he announced, but then he grabbed his stomach and complained, “I'm starving! When's lunch?”

“It's only ten thirty!” Betsy balked.

Danny shrugged. “I'm too hungry. I need high octane fuel to ride…. Give me a cheese…burger!

“Eat an apple and a piece of cheese. We have to figure out this clue first!” Betsy commanded as she pedaled over to Fabiana who was guarding the second clue with new resolve. “Look at that sign for Rock Harbor,” Betsy directed. “Didn't the clue say something about the harbor's rocky shore? I vote we go that way.”

“I vote we take a snack break,” Danny piped in again as he popped a cheese chunk in his mouth.

Riley gave him a thumbs-up and agreed, “I'm with you, dude!”

“He's kidding,” Betsy persisted. “They're both kidding. What do you think, Isabel?”

Isabel, who wasn't a big fan of being put on the spot, murmured, “I guess that beach sounds like a good idea.” Plus, it was really hard to resist Betsy's intimidating attitude.

Maeve, who loved being put on the spot and was disappointed that Betsy
hadn't
consulted her, declared in loud voice, “Well, come on, then! Boggers unite! Fabiana, lead the way! NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER!”

Maeve loved being a cheerleader. It was definitely in her future to be on the squad when she got to high school.
If she could just get Betsy to loosen up a bit and realize Maeve and Isabel were on her side, they might actually stand a chance to win this.

“Yeah, Maeve! Let's go, Boggers!” Riley echoed in a deep singsong voice. As the group took off down the path, he stuck close to Maeve. “I'm really glad Nick switched groups with me,” he confided. “Cranberry Boggers is a much cooler name than Salty Cods! I mean, who would want to be a smelly fish?”

“I totally agree!” Maeve's heart thumped in her chest at the way Riley's hair flew back as he pedaled his bike. “I'm glad, um, Nick had the idea to switch groups too. I mean,” she whispered conspiratorially, “we performers need to stick together.” Then she flashed him her A+ movie-star smile. She was very pleased to see Riley's cheeks flush and his front tire wobble as he turned away.

Halfway to the beach, Isabel hit the brakes on her bike. Betsy had to swerve to stop herself from flying off the path and into a thorny wild rosebush. “You guys, look!” Isabel said in a hushed voice. “I think that bird over there might be a sandpiper. Isn't that one of the items on our bonus list?”

“Excellent, Isabel!” Fabiana cheered, but just as the words escaped her lips, the bird skipped off into the bushes.

“Oh, shoot,” an embarrassed Fabiana muttered. “Did I do that?”

“Don't worry about it,” Maeve assured her. “Pipers are all over the Cape, and I've seen my brother track 'em a billion times. I'm practically a professional.”

Betsy groaned. “A professional piper tracker? Is that
even a real thing? Besides, pipers only hang out on the
beach
, not in the
woods….
”

But no one was paying any attention to her. Betsy looked horrified as Isabel, Danny, and Maeve turned their bikes down a little dirt path and took off after the little bird with the Speedy Gonzales stick legs.

Not even Fabiana, the authority figure in the group, felt like barking any sense into the runaway Boggers. Their fearless leader took her Red Sox hat out of her bag, plopped it on her head backward, giggled, and announced, “When in Rome.” Then she zoomed off behind the kids, leaving Betsy stunned on the bike path.