The Great Scavenger Hunt (11 page)

M
an, I dig Cape Cod sea salt and vinegar chips. They are like…the work of some kind of mad food genius,” Dillon pronounced as he tossed a handful of the tangy snack into his mouth. The rest of the Salty Cods agreed as they scarfed down the last of Dillon's bag of potato chips and enjoyed the ocean view from their perch on the rocks.

Munching on a chip, Charlotte suddenly began to feel a little anxious. “Don't you think it's a little weird that we haven't seen any of the other teams even though we've found two clues?” she asked.

“You know, I was just thinking about that myself,” Nick answered as he munched loudly.

Katani, in a best friend tune-in, immediately caught on to what Charlotte was thinking. “What if the other teams got here first? It's already four o'clock. What if we're way behind?”

“Impossible!” Dillon scoffed. “We were riding like champions! There's no way the Barnacles and the Boggers are going faster.”

Katani gulped. “Maybe they found a shortcut…and remember Lance wannabe Armstrong,” Katani reminded Dillon. “The Barnacles have Avery on their team.”

Patrice, who had actually dozed off for a few minutes, was suddenly alert. “Team Salty Cods, we can't take any chances!” She jumped up and ordered everyone to get moving. “Come on, troops. Let's get cracking here.” She pulled envelope number three out of her bag and read.

The Cods were completely stumped. No one said anything until Dillon finally asked, “Who has a pool on the Cape?”

“Dude, it's a metaphor,” Patrice said.

“What?” Dillon's face wrinkled in confusion.

“Metaphor. You remember from English class? Something that means something else,” Charlotte explained. “Like when Ms. Rodriguez says that the classroom is a zoo. She doesn't
actually
mean that the classroom is a cage full of animals. She means everything is crazy.”

“Oh, I get it, as if we're all acting like animals…not me personally, of course,” he said, grinning.

Nick gave Dillon a noogie and grabbed his last chip. “Let Charlotte finish, dude.”

“It means that the pool in the clue is code for something else!” a very intent Charlotte continued.

“But for what?” Katani asked.

“Like a pond!” Nick snapped his fingers. “Let's check out the map.”

Patrice unfolded the map and everyone peered at the area surrounding Rock Harbor.

“Okay, so I gotta know. What's a pool full of brine? 'Cause if that is, like, a code for garbage or something…” Dillon trailed.

“Brine is like salt,” Nick answered. All the Cods, including Charlotte, looked at him, impressed.

“What are you, some kind of Albert Einstein, Nick? Who actually knows that stuff?” Dillon grabbed Nick in a friendly headlock.

“My parents own a restaurant, dude!” he said as he twisted his head out of Dillon's arm. “They use brining stuff all the time to preserve the meat for Montoya's famous breakfast sandwiches!” Nick looked at Charlotte as if she were the only one whose opinion mattered. Their eyes locked for a split second, and Charlotte felt like she was dancing.

“So, then, we're looking for a salt pond?” Katani asked. “Well, isn't that a salt pond right there?” Katani used her perfectly manicured nail to point out the tiny letters that read SALT POND in an area not far from Rock Harbor.

“Nice one, Kgirl!” Charlotte cheered.

“Sis, you've got the eagle eye.” Patrice smiled, giving her sister a hug. Katani squeezed her sister back. It felt good to be part of Patrice's team now.

They quickly boarded their bikes and zipped off, everyone on the team convinced that the Salty Cods were unbeatable. Within ten minutes the salt air was as strong as if they were still by the sea, and the Salty Cods knew they were close. They braked in front of a scenic vista overlooking the beautiful, marshy Salt Pond.

“Whoa, dudes! Check out that mad old windmill!” Dillon gaped.

The team turned to look at the windmill, which was like an illustration from a history book. And then, just like that, a light bulb went off in Charlotte's head. She turned to Nick. “That's it! See, there's the flag! It's a ‘wheel of air' that's totally ‘stuck in time.'”

“Way to go, Char!” Patrice cheered. They all ran over to the flag and posed as Katani took the camera and snapped their picture.

Charlotte felt Nick squeeze her hand just as the camera flashed.
I wonder if these pictures will go in the school newspaper.
Charlotte experienced a fleeting flicker of concern. She liked her special friendship with Nick but she didn't want to broadcast it all over the school.

“It's almost time for dinner,” Patrice noted. “Cods, are we ready to call it a day?”

The group gathered in a circle and bumped their fists together. “Three clues down, three more to go!” The Salty
Cods had given the scavenger hunt 100 percent of their effort and now visions of chicken wings and watermelon danced in their heads. They mustered up what was left of their strength and pedaled off to Kiki's house.

Barnacle Bluff

In exchange for letting Avery borrow her friend's surfboard, Avery allowed September and Chewie to break into the package of chocolate-chip granola bars that she had packed. Avery had decided that the granola bars would be the perfect thing for keeping her energy up on a fun-filled bike trip. September, Chewie (aka the Wookman), and the rest of the Barnacles were especially grateful for her planning.

“I haven't munched one of these since I was in junior high!” September admitted. “I used to make quadruple-decker granola bar sandwiches stuffed with peanut butter. They were the cheese!” she said as she stuffed a piece in her mouth.

“Mgghmmgg.” Chewie tried to get some words out but it was an impossible task as his mouth was full of granola bar crumbs. When he smiled he looked like a cartoon hillbilly who'd lost half his teeth. Avery and the Barnacles doubled over with laughter. Even Kiki, who had mellowed out from her day in the sun, let out a big hoot, but she wasn't looking at Chewie.

“You think that dude over there has been out in the sun yet this century?” she quipped to Yurt, pointing to a pale teenager trying to get up the courage to step into the freezing water. Yurt held his hands over his face like a
mask and intoned, “Another beachgoer falls victim to the Sunscreen Slasher!”

“Oh, shut up,” Kiki griped. But she was smiling when she said it.

Just then Avery felt the force. She was magnetically drawn to anything having to do with sports, like she had a sixth sense or something. In fact, her powers had come through again. Behind her, a group of kids were setting up a volleyball game.

Avery spun around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Hey, you guys need another player?” she hollered, again completely forgetting about anything to do with the scavenger hunt.

“Totally,” replied a dark-haired girl with a wide smile and hazel eyes.

A blond girl with short curly hair frowned. “I don't think—!” she whined.

“What? We
do
need another player.” The dark-haired girl interrupted her friend and smiled at Avery. “Just ignore Tracy. The more the merrier!”

“You know how to play?” asked another kid, a tall boy with lots of freckles and brown hair.

“Do I ever!” Avery barked, and launched the ball into the air with a superpowered serve.

The volleyball kids cheered. All but Tracy, who lunged to hit back Avery's serve and missed completely. “I didn't even want to play volleyball,” Tracy groaned. “We were
supposed
to be extras in a movie!”

“It's shooting in the middle of nowhere in the woods somewhere on Cape Cod,” explained a boy with a Red Sox hat on.

“Yeah. Turns out, they were sooo in the middle of nowhere that my mom couldn't even find the dirt road to the set!” Tracy said sarcastically. “We drove all over the place and finally got to this beach. By the time we called the movie people they said they'd found some other kids to replace us,” explained the girl huffily. “So now here we are on this gorgeous beach, but with no bathing suits, no towels, no anything.”

“But we had a volleyball and there was already a net,” added the boy. “That seemed like the next best thing.”

“So, let's do it!” Avery commanded. Soon, a full-on volleyball game was in motion. Avery played water volleyball every summer at her father's, in the annual Telluride, Colorado, Volleyball Tournament. (She had three MVP trophies!)

“You know,” she had explained to Charlotte, “if you have two brothers you just have to be into sports or you'll be left doing the dishes. And I hate doing dishes. I mean, if it wasn't for saving the environment and all, I would eat on paper plates every night and it wouldn't bother me at all.”

Champions of the Beach

“Ahhh, Avery,” shouted the Yurtmeister after a full hour of intense volleyball. “That last serve was absolutely killer.” Then he proceeded to do a Henry Yurt–style
dance complete with war whoops around the net. The Beach Barnacles had beaten the pants off the movie-extra kids.

As Avery went to shake hands, she promised herself that she would be sure to thank her brothers, Scott and Tim, for all their great volleyball tips. Avery also made sure to give Ben Briggs a thumbs-up. Who would have guessed the big football player had such grace when it came to leaping for the ball and tapping it across to just the right place? Kiki also surprised them all by not only playing, but also by stopping more than one spiked ball with her quick reflexes.

It seemed like nothing could ruin the Beach Barnacle's perfect mood. That is, until they heard a muffled noise starting to sound from Avery's beach towel.

“EARTH TO BARNACLES, OVER!” suddenly blared out of the walkie-talkie.

Avery stared at the walkie-talkie like it might detonate and blow up into a million tiny pieces. Kiki's eyes danced with mischief and she dove for the little yellow device. “Hi, Mrs. Moore!” she sang. “Ooover!”

“Are my young Barnacles discovering many a clue?” asked Mrs. Moore in her version of an Old English accent.

“But of course!” Kiki gushed. “We're on fire, Mrs. Moore. I think the Beach Barnacles might even win.”

Avery gave her a look. She didn't mind evading the truth a little bit, but Kiki was doing more than just evading. They'd spent the entire day playing and hadn't
found a single clue! There was no way they could win.

“That is mooo-arvelous news,” replied Mrs. Moore, switching back to her comfort zone of cow talk. “I had a feeling this mission would be udder-ly perfect for you Beach Barnacles. “Haven't lost anyone yet, right? Ha ha ha, I'm only kidding, of course. Okay, well, I'll see you at your place in an hour, Kiki. Over and out.”

After Kiki put down the monitor, she took a gander around the beach. “Come on, we've got to get back to my place! So…where's Chelsea?”

“Um, did anyone see her leave?” Ben's volleyball-victory expression drained away as the Barnacles glanced guiltily at one another with Ben and Avery looking guiltiest of all. Avery felt bad that Kiki Underwood, Empress of Mean, had noticed that Chelsea had gone missing before she had. Ben felt even worse because Chelsea was his own sister, and he was supposed to be in charge.

“Geesh! Where did she go?” Avery demanded.

Ben scratched his head. “Um, I thought she was just wandering around her with her camera. Maybe she went for a walk, but I didn't think she'd go that far….”

“Okay everybody, stay calm,” Yurt ordered. For a tiny boy, the president of the seventh-grade class had a way with demanding trust and attention. “She's gotta be on this beach somewhere. We just have to find her. Avery, you and Ben go left. Kiki and I are going to go right.”