Adventures at Camp Lots-o-Fun (3 page)

“Are we going into the woods?” asked Ernie. “What if we get lost again?” His eyes darted toward the trees. “What if that bear swam over here?”

“Don't worry, Ernie,” said DJ. “Bears can't swim.”

Andrew folded his arms across his chest. “Yes, they can,” he said. “Bears can swim anywhere.”

Ernie shivered. “I'm not going into the woods.”

Chris raised both hands. “I don't want to hear another word about bears,” he said. “There are no bears on Hermit Island. Follow me, guys. We'll walk along the beach.”

DJ followed the others, practicing his karate chops, just in case.

CHAPTER EIGHT
N
OISES IN THE
N
IGHT

DJ picked up a stick and wrote
Power Man Was
Here
in the wet sand. That would scare away any old ghost.

As he ran to catch up with the others, he spotted something caught under a rock. “Hey, guys, look what I found,” he said, holding it up.

“E-e-e-w!” Andrew made a gagging sound. “It's a yucky old shoe.”

“Maybe it belongs to the hermit,” said DJ. “Maybe he's looking for it.”

Chris sighed. “Bring it back to camp, DJ. We'll put it in the garbage.”

Later, Chris showed the boys how to build a campfire. They roasted hotdogs for dinner and toasted marshmallows for dessert.

The night grew dark and still. The moon was as pale as milk. A breeze blew across the lake. The trees swayed as if they were dancing.

“Let's tell ghost stories,” said DJ. “I know a good one. It's really scary. L-o-o-ong ago, on a d-a-a-ark, stormy night like this one—,” he began in a spooky voice.

“It's not stormy tonight,” Andrew said.

Raj nudged Andrew. “Be quiet. I want to hear the story.”

“Some campers heard a cre-e-e-eping, sne-e-e-aking sound,” DJ whispered. He loved scary stories. “They were alone on a deserted island. Suddenly a horrible thing sprang from the darkness. It was the hermit's ghost!”

Ernie moved closer to DJ.

“Their tent had blown away in the storm.” DJ's voice rose. “They had nowhere to hide. But one of the campers was really brave. He knew how to do karate.” DJ whirled his arms around like a windmill. “He saved everyone because he was—Power Man!”

“Awesome story,” said Raj.

“It was boring,” said Andrew. “It wasn't even scary.”

“It was so scary,” Ernie said. “I have goose bumps all over my arms.”

Andrew shrugged. “No dumb ghost story scares me.”

“Enough, Andrew,” said Chris. “It's time for bed. Let's go, guys.”

Late that night, DJ woke up. He heard a creeping, sneaking sound. He felt around in the bottom of his sleeping bag. Then he searched his backpack. Where was Sockster? DJ's heart sank. Sockster was back at Camp Lots-o-Fun, hidden under his pillow.

DJ heard the creeping sound again. He froze. Wait a minute. He was Power Man. Power Man couldn't be scared. DJ reached for his flashlight. He unzipped the tent flap and tiptoed outside.

The pale moon cast long shadows through the trees. Suddenly a ghostly sound echoed through the silence. “Whoo-hoo-oo! Whoo-hoo-oo!”

A hand grabbed DJ's shoulder. DJ screeched. “Help! Help! The hermit's ghost has got me!”

Chris's voice rumbled in his ear. “DJ, what are you doing out here?”

DJ sighed with relief. “I heard a creeping, sneaking sound.” He gulped. “It must be the hermit's ghost. He's coming to get his shoe.”

Chris let out a groan. “There is no such thing as a ghost, DJ.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Get back into the tent and go to sleep.”

“But…,” DJ said.

Chris pointed at DJ. Then he pointed to the tent.

DJ scrambled inside. He slid into his sleeping bag. Why hadn't he brought Sockster? Sockster was back at Camp Lots-o-Fun, all alone. And he was probably scared. Really, really scared.

CHAPTER NINE
P
ILLOW
F
IGHT

Dear Lots-o-Fun Journal
,

We're back at camp now. That old hermit's ghost
didn't get us. I'll bet my karate chops scared him off.

Remember the pinecones I was saving? Chris found
them under my bed. They smelled kind of funky. Chris
said they were full of bugs. He made me throw them
away. So no pine forest for me.

We went blueberry picking. We got lots of deerfly
bites. We hardly found any blueberries. I think that
bear got to them first. We're going to eat the blueberries
for a snack. Maybe with ice cream. Yummers!

Buggily yours,
DJ, a.k.a. Power Man!

That afternoon the boys went swimming and played beach volleyball. They came back to the cabin to change before dinner.

“Listen up, guys,” said Chris. “Ernie's not feeling well. I'm going to take him to the nurse. I'll be back in a few minutes.” He looked around the cabin. “No nonsense while I'm gone.”

The minute Chris and Ernie left, Raj grabbed his pillow. He whacked Andrew. Andrew grabbed his pillow and whacked Raj. Laughter exploded through the cabin.

DJ snatched up his pillow to join in the fight. A gray blur flew across the room. DJ watched in horror as Sockster landed at Andrew's feet.

Andrew picked up Sockster. “Whose dolly is this?” he asked, dangling Sockster by his tail.

DJ stepped forward. “He's mine. And he's not a dolly. He's a sock monkey.”

Andrew let out a snort of laughter. “Hey, Raj, let's have a monkey fight.” He ducked around DJ and threw Sockster to Raj.

Raj caught Sockster and threw him back to Andrew. Back and forth Sockster flew as DJ tried to rescue him.

Sockster landed in Andrew's hands. “If you want your dolly, go get him,” said Andrew. He whipped Sockster toward the doorway.

At that moment, Chris walked in the door. Sockster hit him in the face and fell to the floor.

The boys froze.

Chris snatched up Sockster. “Who does this belong to?” he asked in a voice like rumbling thunder.

DJ swallowed. “He's mine,” he said.

Chris handed Sockster to DJ. “Does anyone care to tell me what's been going on here?” he asked.

Silence. Finally DJ spoke. “We were having a pillow fight,” he said.

Chris glared. “Did you start it?” he asked.

“We all did,” said Raj.

“Get those pillows back on your beds,” Chris said. “It's almost dinnertime.”

DJ turned to his bunk. As he put Sockster into his duffel bag, Andrew smirked. DJ pretended not to notice.

CHAPTER TEN
C
REEPY
C
RAWLER

The next afternoon, the boys were in their cabin changing out of their swim trunks.

“DJ,” Andrew hissed, poking his head through the neck of his T-shirt. “Where's your dolly?”

DJ clenched his jaw. He felt deep-down sad. He didn't feel like Power Man anymore. He almost wished he hadn't brought Sockster.

Chris's voice cut into his thoughts. “Gather around, guys. We're going to look at stars.”

“How can we look at stars now?” asked Ernie. “It's still daylight.”

Chris took a book from his duffel bag. “We're going to read up on stars. I also brought a
DVD
about constellations. We'll watch it in the dining hall after dinner. Tonight we can do some serious stargazing.”

“Awesome,” said Raj.

DJ forgot his woes. “My dad has a telescope,” he said. “He showed me a whole bunch of constellations.”

“I know everything about constellations,” said Andrew. “They're groups of stars that have names.”

“Everyone knows that,” said Raj. “Hey, maybe we can find a new constellation.”

“Fan-tabulous!” said DJ. “And we can name it too.”

“You don't know anything,” said Andrew. “You have to be an astronomer to find a new constellation.” DJ didn't hear him. Scurrying across the floor was the biggest, creepiest spider he had ever seen.

“A humongous spider ran under your bed, Andrew. I think it's a tarantula!” said DJ.

Andrew jumped onto his bunk. He looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. “Get it out of here. I hate spiders!”

“Calm down, Andrew,” said Chris. He frowned at DJ. “There are no tarantulas around here.”

DJ shook his head. “It was humongous. It had fat legs and fangs like a tarantula.”

Chris looked under Andrew's bed. “There's nothing but dust under here.”

“But I saw it,” said DJ.

Andrew turned to DJ. “That was a dumb trick. You can't fool me. There are no huge spiders in here.”

Raj grinned at Andrew. “You sure were scared when you thought there was one,” he said.

Andrew glared at DJ. “I'm not afraid of anything.”