Witch Twins at Camp Bliss (7 page)

“That’s because the rebel witch is Ella Edsel, and she’s got it out for me, not Pam,” said Claire. She burped and blew it in Ella’s direction.

Luna shook her head. She was sure the rebel witch was not Ella Edsel. For one thing, Ella did not care about food. Luna knew this, because once she saw Ella eat one of Gladriole’s fruit leathers out of the Pillowcase Fund. Nobody could stomach those fruit leathers. They tasted like honey-coated tires.

Before the mystery could be solved, the food returned to its same bad taste. Again, the spaghetti sauce was runny as tomato juice. Again, the tacos sogged. The lemon squares turned back to dust-crusted bricks.

“I guess Chef Sue lost interest,” said Tammy sadly.

“I guess rebel Ella is sick of cooking spells,” Claire confided to a doubtful Luna.

It wasn’t long, though, before the rebel witch struck again. This time, the spells were odd in a completely different way. For the next couple of days, Camp Bliss seemed extra blissful. The counselors started wearing wisteria and ivy flower wreaths. Nighttime story hour began to stretch late into the night. It seemed as if everyone had a poem or a song or a feeling to share.

“This is the greatest, most beautiful group of campers, ever!” Pam rasped one evening, her voice hoarse from so much singing. “There is such peace in the air! Come on, girls, let’s sing another round of ‘Hawaiian Rainbows’!”

“It’s like the rebel witch cast some sort of sappy-feelings spell,” said Claire. “Yuck.”

Privately, Luna was glad that the rebel witch had decided to use her powers on nice food and sappy feelings. It was better than tripping Pam or casting wild weather.

Soon the flowers and songs stopped, too. Everything went back to normal. Unfortunately, Luna sensed danger in the air. The danger of a thing about to happen, she thought.

All week during her office duty, she tried to phone Grandy. First to confess about the long-lost Marigold Zest, and then to ask what to do about the rebel witch and the danger in the air.

Nobody was home at Bramblewine. After leaving her fourth message on their answering machine, Luna figured that Grandy and Grampy must have gone on a vacation somewhere. Her grandparents had lots of zest for vacations, especially for places where they could play golf.

She hung up the phone and turned her attention to the “Luna’s News” Web update. Lots of parents had e-mailed Luna about how much they enjoyed “Luna’s News,” and some of them had asked her for personal updates about their daughters. Also, the campers themselves liked to be singled out for their special talents. Luna did the best she could, recording the scores of games and keeping track of when a girl had done something exceptional.

There’s never a dull moment here at Camp Bliss, she typed. Blue-and-Buff Day is tomorrow, so we are spending plenty of time outdoors preparing for this exciting sports event. Yesterday,
Anne Chapman
caught the most Frisbees in the practice tournament.

“Luna?”

She looked up. Lakshmi stood at the office door.

“Hi, Lakshmi. Are you feeling better?” Luna asked. Yesterday, Lakshmi had had a bad headache and had spent the day resting in the first-aid office.

“Oh, my head’s fine,” said Lakshmi. She flopped down in the chair opposite the desk. “I came here because I have something good and something bad to tell you.” She smiled. “The good thing is that I came in second place in this morning’s two-mile run! Please put that in your Web update.”

Luna made a note of it. “And the bad thing?”

Lakshmi frowned and lapsed into silence.

“It couldn’t be
that
bad,” said Luna in her calm doctor voice.

Lakshmi bit her bottom lip. Her cleft chin trembled slightly. “It’s just that you were so nice yesterday, giving me that cold compress for my headache. I have to confess and clear my conscience.” She took a deep breath. “I stole your nice yellow powder. And I’m very sorry.”

“Oh.” Luna blinked. “Why did you take it?”

“I guess because I was in a bad mood to be at camp, and it smelled so outdoorsy it cheered me up,” Lakshmi answered. “After I took it, I liked the powder so much I
couldn’t
give it back to you. Now it’s too late, because someone has stolen it from me.”

“The powder has been stolen—again?” asked Luna.

“Yep. Poof! It’s gone.” For a moment, Lakshmi looked irate. “I’m sorry, Luna. I want to give you replacement money for it. I also wondered where I could get some more. It smelled so nice, like flowers, like a field of—”

Luna held up her hand. “Wait a sec—
how
did you use the powder?”

“Why, I’d sprinkle it on after my shower, of course. It’s talcum powder, right?”

“And did anything mysterious happen when you used it?” Luna asked.

Lakshmi looked sheepish. “Well … it might sound silly, but whenever I used it, my day seemed extra-lucky. It made me feel … oh, I don’t know … it made me feel …”

Luna leaned forward. “Zesty?”

“Yes, that’s it. Zesty!” Lakshmi’s usually loud voice quieted. “Like, anytime I was mad at Pam—and I was pretty mad about the Pillowcase Fund—well, she would just trip and fall down. Just like that! I know she’s probably a klutz to begin with, but it seemed to happen on purpose when I wished it! Or once, when I was enjoying Claire’s good ghost story, I thought, oh, wouldn’t it be great if we had lightning and rain, to make the night extra scary? And remember? It really happened!”

“And then, when you wanted the food to get better …” Luna could not help grinning. Thank goodness, the “witch” had been found!

But Lakshmi shook her head. “No. Somebody took the powder from me before the food improved.” Her mouth gaped open. “It
is
magic, isn’t it? It’s wishing powder! That means I tripped Pam! I made the ghost story scarier! Please, Luna, you
have
to tell me where—”

“Oh, no, you’ve got the wrong idea.” Luna quickly dropped her smile. “I was just joking along with you. What you took was plain old ordinary cornmeal foot powder. You must have been imagining your luck. On the bright side, my grandmother would call that the power of positive thinking! But thanks for telling me. I’d been wondering where my foot powder went. My feet haven’t been the same.” She stood up from the desk. “Now I’ve got to find my sister.”

Leaving Lakshmi behind, Luna ran out of the office as fast as she could to the pasture, where Claire was practicing archery, a few last-minute bull’s-eyes before Blue-and-Buff Day. Claire dropped her bow when Luna gave her the news.

“Then who do you think stole the Zest from Lakshmi?” she asked.

“Someone who likes crunchy tacos and chewy lemon squares,” Luna answered.

“Well, we know who that is! Let’s go!”

Together, they ran across the field and up near the cabins to the hammock, Penelope’s favorite spot, where she was catching a catnap. She confessed immediately.

“Yes, I took the powder from Lakshmi’s shower kit. But I only had it for a couple of days,” Penelope said sheepishly. “It smelled so good, like my favorite spices. I couldn’t resist. Since Lakshmi hadn’t given to the Pillowcase Fund, I figured I’d borrow it and lend it to someone else. I used it as seasoning. It made my food so tasty that I sneaked into the kitchen and sprinkled it in the soup, on the tacos, the chili, even on some stale lemon squares. I couldn’t believe one little seasoning could do so much! What’s it made of?”

“It’s plain old cornmeal foot powder,” said Luna.

“Foot powder! Wow! You have to tell me where you got it,” said Penelope. “It sure had a lot of zest. I gave the bottle to Gladriole. Since she’s a vegetarian and all, I thought she might like an extra kick in her salads. If you want to talk to her, I think she’s in the pottery shed.”

“Crow’s feet and cobwebs!” Claire exclaimed as the twins ran to the pottery shed. “I had no idea that
everyone
at Camp Bliss was casting spells.”

“Not
casting,
exactly,” corrected Luna. “Just
wishing
.”

“That Marigold Zest is powerful stuff,” said Claire.

“Grandy warned me not to let the powder get into the wrong hands. She said Marigold Zest could work wonders on even a non-witch’s wishes. Now I think I know what she meant.” Luna blew out her cheeks. “Boy, did I ever mess this one up.”

“Come on, nothing terrible has happened, Loon. None of these wrong hands have been too wrong.’”

“Not yet, anyway,’” Luna answered. She shivered. The closer they came to finding the powder, the nearer she felt to a peculiar kind of danger.

Glad was sitting in the windowsill of the pottery barn. She was embroidering a gladiolus design onto a denim cloth wallet.

“Penelope’s power powder? Oh, sure! I had it for a couple of days. But I didn’t use it on my food! I sprinkled it on my hair before campfire nights, so everyone could share the scent. It gave off a supercool vibe in the air.”

“Do you think we could use some of it?” asked Luna.

“Sure! Yesterday, I put it in the Pillowcase Fund for everyone to share.”

“Thanks, Glad,” said Claire.

“By the way, Luna, I made the longest daisy chain in freestyle crafts time. You might want to put that in your ‘Luna’s News’ update,” said Glad.

“Will do,” Luna answered.

In no time, the girls had doubled back to Sleepy Hollow. They raced to the pillowcase.

The only thing to be found in the Pillowcase Fund was the copy of
Eternally Eustacia
that Luna had donated.

Claire stamped her foot. “So close, but no Zest! And Camp Bliss is too big to question everybody.”

“Hmm, but think, Clairsie. If the powder fulfills the wish of whoever has her hands on it,” said Luna thoughtfully, “all we have to do is wait for the next wish, and trace it to the logical wish-er. Right?”

“Right,” Claire said softly.

“Like, if everyone starts laughing really hard or wants to play softball all day, then it’s Min Suh who has the Zest. Right?”

“Right,” squeaked Claire, even more softly.

“Or if people start talking about Bermuda and French manicures too much, then it’s Haley who has the Zest. Right?”

“Right.” Now Claire’s voice sounded soft and squeaky as a mouse.

“Claire, this is no time for funny voices,” Luna said strictly. “I’m trying to do some detectiving. Speak up, and stand up straight.”

“I am speaking up and standing up!”

Luna looked at her sister from head to toe. “Clairsie,” she said, trying to keep her own voice relaxed. “Do you realise that you’re shrinking?”

“I am not!” said Claire, jutting her chin high. Yet there could be no doubt that she was standing a full head smaller than her sister. And she was losing height rapidly.

“What is happening to you?” Luna gasped. Now her sister was at her chest, and in the next ten seconds, her waist.

“Make it stop!” Claire commanded. Her voice was shrill as a doll’s teakettle.

“I don’t know how!” Luna cried. Now her twin was knee-high. “You’re knee-high!” she exclaimed, but no sooner were the words out than Claire had shrunk to Luna’s shin, then her ankle. “Claire, where are you going?”

“Hide me!” squealed Claire, climbing up onto Luna’s big toe. “Put me somewhere safe, before I disappear from sight!”

Quickly, Luna scooped up her clothespin-sized sister and dropped her gently into a paper cup that was resting on top of one of the bureaus. “We’ll go to the first-aid office,” she said. “Stay calm. Either you have come down with an incurable shrinking disease, or a rebel wisher has struck.”

She hurried out of the cabin and down the hill to the office, the safest place she could think of. She peeked in the cup. “Crumbs, Clairsie, you’re teeny! Who would be cruel enough to wish you down to the size of a matchstick?”

“I’m much bigger than a matchstick!” Claire peeped haughtily. “Hurry!”

“I’m running as fast as I can!” said Luna. “Let’s try to access the Book of Shadows from the Internet. Well have you back to normal in no time. Now keep quiet, because I see somebody walking up over the hill.”

The somebody was Ella Edsel.

“Is that Claire or Luna?” she asked, squinting and shading her eyes.

“Luna,” said Luna.

As she got closer, Ella smiled. “Just who I was looking for. By the way, I can tell you from your sister because you have way prettier eyes.”

Inside the cup, Claire squeaked with rage.

“Talita sent me to find you,” Ella continued. “Your grandmother is calling long distance. You need to get to the office, pronto!”

“Thanks,” said Luna. “She’s just the person I wanted to talk to.”

“By the way, have you seen Claire around?” Ella smirked. “We’ve got relay races in fifteen minutes. Last practice before Blue-and-Buff Day tomorrow.”

“Um, no,” said Luna. “But I’m looking for something, too. I wanted to borrow some yellow powder from the Pillowcase Fund. Have you seen it?”

“You mean that foot powder? Too late now,” Ella answered. “I used it all up on my feet. It feels great, like I have extra kicking energy! That’s why I know for sure that Blue is gonna win!”

Now Claire let out a squeak so loud and angry that Luna had to fake a sneeze to cover up the noise.

“Hope you’re not getting a cold before Blue-and-Buff Day” said Ella. “By the way, Luna, make sure to add in your news bulletin that I kicked the winning goal in soccer practice.”

“No problem,” said Luna.

“Nothing personal, but I’m gonna blow your sister away tomorrow!” Ella cackled. “In my opinion, she’s no more than a little flea!”

C
LAIRE COULD HEAR THAT
Grandy was annoyed. She was talking on her cell phone from a golf course somewhere in the Poconos. “What did I say about not letting the powder fall into the wrong hands?” she yelled. Claire covered her ears. Now that she was flea-sized, all voices sounded loud as thunder.

“I’m sorry” answered Luna. “Grandy, this is a real mess. Claire’s smaller than a paper clip. Ella Edsel wished it, and her wish is coming true!”

“Nice one, Fred!” shouted Grandy. “That’s two birdies and a hole in one!”

“When will the wish wear off?” Claire yelled, jumping up and down in the paper cup. The sound of her voice was hardly a sound at all. Luckily, Grandy’s ears were better than a bat’s.