“You’re getting more like me every day, kid.” With a sigh, Julian pressed a second nickel into his palm. “I’m very proud.” Then to Lucky, Julian said, “Well, I’m off to do important grown-up things.”
“You’re fourteen,” Lucky reminded her cousin.
“Almost fifteen,” Julian corrected her. He took a giant step away from Oliver. “Have fun.”
Oliver shook his head, refusing the idea.
“Then don’t have any fun,” Julian said, smiling. “You’ll save me two dollars.”
Lucky had to stop this madness. How had she gotten tricked into taking a kid who refused to talk, didn’t want to have fun so his brother wouldn’t have to pay her, and was getting paid nickels for his sabotage?
Two dollars, she reminded herself. They all wanted the money. Plus, there was the chance to save Oliver from being like Julian. She puffed out her chest and announced in a cheerful voice, “Come on! The scavenger hunt starts inside.”
Oliver gave one last look at Julian, then followed Lucky inside, where the kids were getting their instructions.
“The scavenger hunt is starting!” Pru broke the kids into groups. Turo took Lester and Lilly in his group. Snips, Stella, Mary Pat, and Bianca were in the other.
“Oh goody,” Bianca said, sidling up close to Snips. Mary Pat scoffed and stuck out her tongue at the sight.
Snips moved away from them both. “I think I should be on Oliver’s team,” he said, noticing that Oliver still didn’t have a team. “We could be a two-man crew. The mighty Camp Comrades.” Snips went and linked arms with Oliver, who didn’t protest. “Just the two of us, against the world.”
“Ah shucks,” Bianca said when Pru agreed to the group change. She blew a kiss to Snips. “See you at the finish line, sweetie.”
Snips rolled his eyes. “Not if we’re there first.”
That made no sense to Lucky, but Snips hardly ever did.
“Okay then, we have three teams.” Pru handed each group an envelope and an empty grain bag. “You need to find one of each thing on the list. Winners get an extra piece of the cherry pie that Abigail’s grandma made for dessert.” It was the first day of camp. The PALs wanted to start off the week by impressing the kids with their best prize—there was nothing better than Grandma Stone’s pies.
“I won’t be eating the pie,” Stella announced. “Cook will bring me my own dessert. So what do I get if I win?”
“Your team, you mean,” Pru said. “What will your team get?”
“Sure,” Stella said, frowning at Mary Pat and Bianca. “Them.”
“We want the pie,” Mary Pat countered. “Mrs. Stone’s pie is famous in Miradero. Don’t change the prize,” she begged Lucky.
“The prize stays,” Lucky agreed. “Sorry, Stella.”
Stella grumped. “My aunt will hear about this later.”
Abigail had a small copper bell. “When I ring the bell, the hunt is on.”
Lucky looked straight at Oliver. “Have a fun adventure,” she said, and winked.
He pinched his lips together and didn’t say anything. Snips still had his arm looped through Oliver’s. “Come on, Ollie, we gotta win us some pie.”
The bell rang and each team opened their lists.
On the paper were things that should’ve been easy to find:
Riding boots
A round rock
A green leaf
A horse bridle
Something red
A hoof pick
A summer flower
An old newspaper
A grooming brush
Since the kids could go anywhere in Miradero to find things, the PALs followed the groups on their horses. Every time Lucky passed by Oliver, she could see him staring at Spirit. It looked as if Oliver really wanted to ride a horse.
Lucky pulled alongside him and Snips as they were about to pluck a flower from old Mrs. Gerstein’s garden.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Lucky warned them.
“How are we supposed to get a dumb flower if we can’t pick one?” Snips asked. He sneezed. “I hate flowers.”
“Go ask Mrs. Gerstein,” Lucky said. The secret was that she, Abigail, and Pru had already visited several homes and asked if the kids could pick flowers. That meant if they asked, the answer would be yes. If they didn’t ask permission, their team would be disqualified from the pie prize.
Suddenly, Spirit reared back. There was a bee and he swished his tail at it, snorting and huffing for it to go away.
“Calm down, boy,” Lucky said, holding on for the wild ride. “It’s just a baby bumblebee. It’s looking for a pollen snack.”
Spirit relaxed, and the bee flew off toward a flower in the garden.
When Lucky looked back at Oliver, his face was flushed.
“The bee’s gone,” she told him. He shook his head. “Then what?” Lucky prodded gently. “Why do you look so scared?”
Oliver shook his head again.
“Come on, Oliver,” Lucky said as nicely as she could. “Julian isn’t around. You can tell me.”
Snips stepped up to his new friend. “He’s afraid of you, Lucky,” Snips teased. He grabbed Oliver’s wrist. “Come on, Ollie. You don’t have to talk to her. Or me. Or anyone. Just be yourself.” He tugged Oliver along. “Let’s go ask Mrs. Gerstein for a flower. She might give us a cookie, too. She’s nice like that.…” Oliver glanced back at Lucky and Spirit as Snips dragged him away.
When they all got back to camp, Pru collected each team’s bag and went through the items. Abigail, Pru, and Lucky had agreed when they’d first planned the scavenger hunt that it wasn’t going to be truly competitive. This first one was about team building and having an amazing day.
“The winner,” Pru announced at the end of lunch, “is everyone!”
All the kids cheered.
Abigail brought out a second serving of pie for all the kids, even Stella.
“I guess the first piece was pretty okay,” she said, licking her lips. “I think I should see if the second is any better. I mean, the recipe might be the same, but it’s a different pie… technically.”
Pru stood on a chair. “I’m surprised. No one missed anything on the list.” That was intentional. She playfully scratched her chin. “Tomorrow, I’ll make it harder.”
The first day had done exactly
