"Hey, Betty," Kaitlyn said. "Show Mrs. Wrath and Mrs. Albers your new trick!"
"It isn't perfected yet," the girl hedged.
"Just do it," Lauren begged.
"You did it for us," Inez encouraged.
Betty looked at each of us before dramatically getting to her feet. "It's kinda rough."
She took her place on the other side of the fire and began waving her arms in the air.
"Alakazam! Booby booby poo!" Her hands sprang open, and a puff of green smoke rose up from the fire. It cleared almost instantly.
Betty was gone.
CHAPTER TWELVE
We applauded and cheered. Not a bad trick for a kid her age. I assumed that she'd dropped to the ground and crawled into the lodge. I didn't have a lot of experience with magic, but that seemed to make sense.
Another burst of smoke (red, this time) and the girl reappeared, wearing hiking boots that looked similar to mine. I looked down to see myself standing there in my socks. But that wasn't all. She was wearing Kelly's baseball cap, Kaitlyn's bandana around her neck, Lauren's Cookie the Pony bracelet, Inez's green camping socks, and Ava's sunglasses.
"Ta-da!" Betty said before going back to sit down.
Kelly and I stared at each other.
"Isn't it cool?" Lauren asked as she and the other girls collected their things from Betty.
"How did you…" I looked down at my stocking feet.
"Betty!" Kelly gushed. "You're a genius!"
"Yeah." Betty nibbled from a blackened marshmallow that was more coal than food. "I know. It still isn't ready yet."
"How did you get my shoes?" I finally found my words.
"Really?" She stared at me. "I thought you'd figure it out."
The other girls looked at me curiously.
"Yeah, Merry." Kelly smirked. "How could you not have figured it out?"
"Oh, like you have." I walked over and sat down next to Betty so that I could put my boots back on.
Kelly winked. "Alright, ladies. Let's clean up."
While they went inside, I got my flashlight and investigated the dying fire pit. I was going to figure this out before we went home.
Thirty minutes later, I was still confused. Betty was starting to scare me—more than usual.
"I think we should call it a night," Kelly announced once everything was put away.
To my surprise, the girls didn't protest. Were we going to get away without a night hike two nights in a row?
"We're tired," Kaitlyn explained. "And we want to start up the investigation tomorrow."
Something was up.
"I told them it had been a busy day," Kelly explained as we brushed our teeth. "With the lazy river and all that."
"That worked?" I said through a mouthful of toothpaste. It sounded more like "Maat murk?" But she got the gist.
"Believe it or not, they're exhausted. We've had a full day."
I brushed my teeth, but I wasn't so sure. We were exhausted. I knew that. But these girls could go for three days straight without slowing down. I rinsed and turned to my co-leader.
"What did you promise them?" I asked.
"What makes you think I promised them anything?" she said without making eye contact.
"That!" I pointed at her. "That says it. You've never been a good liar. You don't look at me when you do."
She sighed. "I promised them you'd get in the mud pit with them."
I relaxed. "That doesn't sound so bad."
"You have to promise to slide down the slide and let them throw mud at you," Kelly added.
"It's good for the skin. I'm looking forward to it," I lied.
The lights were out and the girls were sleeping when we slid into our sleeping bags. I was out before I even pulled up the covers, and I dreamed of being smothered in mud by the ghost of Princess Badger Tooth.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The girls woke us up first thing in the morning with breakfast in bed. Kelly was alarmed when they brought us scrambled eggs and toast, but Lauren said they made it all in the microwave and cleaned it up after.
"They're in a hurry," I said as I pulled yet another piece of eggshell out of my mouth.
The troop brushed their teeth while we ate.
"Hey." Kelly surveyed the kitchen a few minutes later. "Not too bad. I could get used to this."
"Alright!" I clapped my hands and five little girls appeared, dressed and ready to go. "We need a plan of attack to find the remaining clues today."
"We do," Lauren said.
"Yes." I repeated, "We do."
The girl shook her head. "No, I meant we do. You have a hair appointment."
I'd totally forgotten about that. I looked at Kelly, and she waved me off. "We'll be fine. You have your own investigation to do."
"Hey, Basil!" I shouted as I walked through the door of his salon ten minutes later.
I'll admit to being a little put out on being left out of the house search. But this was an opportunity to get more information, so I needed to make the most of it.
"I was saving you a seat." He patted a chair.
There wasn't anyone else in the place.
"Are you closed?"
He laughed. "No one gets up this early around here." Basil performed a deep bow. "Madame, I'm at your service."
Good. We could talk candidly. My outlook improved. This was going to go a long way toward helping me decide what to do.
The place was very shabby chic cozy inside, and I felt a little twinge of excitement. I hadn't been to a hairdresser in a long time. Mostly, I just cut my hair over the bathroom sink when a piece got too long. I sat down in a chair, and he wrapped a purple, glittery cape around me, fastening it at the neck.
"You've been cutting
