The Great Scavenger Hunt (20 page)

I
think I'll call this one Pleather,” said Dillon as he held a tiny strawberry blond kitten close to his face and rapped, “Yo Pleather! Yo Pleather! Who's in style? You are! You are! Kitty cat wild.”

“Pleather?” Katani grimaced in distaste.

“Hey, Kgirl, don't dis the Pleather. It's soft, inexpensive, environmentally friendly…and very stylish,” he said in his fake TV-announcer voice.

“Dude, you are so going to regret this,” ranked Nick as Charlotte snapped a picture of Dillon posing like a British Invasion rock star…with a kitten plastered on the top of his head.

“No way, Montoya. Pleather and I are going straight to the top…. Aren't we, cat man?” Dillon's grin suddenly turned to a grimace as the kitten began to dig his tiny claws into Dillon's scalp.

Charlotte and Katani exploded into laughter at the
sight of the desperate Dillon trying to pry little Pleather off his head.

“Seriously, will somebody please get this killer tiger off me before I need a hair transplant?” he begged.

Nick, who had been watching his goofy friend lose his cool, took pity on Dillon, and carefully released the kitten's claws from his scalp. Nick set Pleather down on Charlotte's lap as Dillon fell to the grass in a heap, pretending he had been mortally wounded.

“What is taking those Animal Rescue people so long?” a frustrated Patrice groaned. She was pacing back and forth like a coach whose team was down by one point in the last quarter of the championship game.

“They'll come,” Nick assured her. “Sometimes it takes a little while.” When Patrice checked her watch for the zillionth time, Katani lost it.

“Would you
please relax
, Patrice?” she pleaded. “You're really stressing everyone out,” she complained as she grabbed for the kitten that was attacking her shoelaces.

Patrice turned to face the Cods. “You kitten-loving people should be the ones feeling stressed out! If we don't get on those bikes soon we'll be hangin' our heads in shame—beaten by a bunch of Boggers and Barnacles.”

The Salty Cods shifted uncomfortably, like they weren't quite sure how to respond. Finally, Charlotte said what all the others were thinking. “Umm, Patrice, we agreed it's more important to save these kittens than win the race.”

Patrice looked like she had just been told she'd committed a terrible crime. Katani, rushing to her sister's defense,
immediately stood up and sputtered, “Patrice just…she just wants to finish the race….”

Patrice put her arm around Katani and made a motion for her to be quiet. “It's okay. Charlotte's right. We can wait…a few more minutes.” A subdued Patrice knelt down and reached in the box for one of the kittens.

“Look at this monster here,” she said, holding up the biggest kitten in the litter, a black one with white socks. “I think we should call you
Brontosaurus
! What ho, Bronty!” she said and began to stroke Bronty on top of his head. As the kitten began to purr, Katani watched her sister chill out about a hundred degrees.

“Look.” Dillon pointed. An official white van pulled over by the side of the road, and a pleasant-looking woman got out of the car and walked toward them. “Hi! I'm Dory. Are you Charlotte Ramsey?” she asked Patrice, who was cuddling Bronty.

Charlotte raised her hand. “I am. You must be the Animal Rescue people.”

Barnacles and Butterflies

“Hey, check this out!” a very excited Avery called out to her Barnacle Buddies. “There's a hummingbird and butterfly garden in this place! Can you dig it? Hummingbirds!”

Avery, lover of all creatures great and small…including snakes (she had one named Walter), wanted to check out every corner of the Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary.
Its lovely lush marshes and acres of natural habitat provide sanctuary for
a spectrum of wild animals,
Avery read to herself on a plaque outside the entrance.

“You guys, we can't miss this!” Avery protested as she caught sight of a small bird whizzing by.

“We have to go, Ave,” Ben yelled. “Remember, we're on a mission now!”

“Let's just quickly check out the hummingbird garden…. Five minutes, okay? Oh, man, I just saw a huge monarch!”

“Butterflies are not my thing, dude, but ask the rest of the team,” Ben said with a shrug.

Avery turned excitedly to her teammates, sure that no one would want to pass up the chance to get up close and personal with some cool-looking hummingbirds and supersized monarch butterflies.

But before she could beckon her teammates to follow her, Captain Kiki took the wind out of her sails. “Come on, everyone, we just figured out a clue. Can't we just take a picture and move on? With all the bonus points Chelsea found, we might have a chance to win.”

“
Five minutes,
Kiki. You don't like nature?” Avery accused.

“Of course I like nature. Only doodlebrains don't like nature,” Kiki huffed. “But the longer we stay here, the more time we
won't
have to find the rest of the clues. Besides,” she added with a sneaky smile (her specialty, noted Avery), “you don't want to let your friends down…do you?'

Yurt, Chelsea, and Ben turned to Avery—their faces all
expressing the same
she does have a point, dude
sentiment. “But…the hummingbirds,” Avery protested weakly knowing that Kiki really
did
have a point.

“Okay, let's get this photo op done,” an impatient Chelsea directed. She bunched the Barnacles into a picture overlooking the vast, creamy turquoise marsh. Everyone wore huge smiles—except for a disappointed Avery, who could only manage a tiny crooked smile. She had so been looking forward to having butterflies swirl around her head and maybe even land on her shirt!

“Come on everybody! Back to the boat!” Kiki ordered, clapping her hands together. The Beach Barnacles sprinted back to the Boston Whaler and struggled to clip their life jackets as quickly as their fingers could manage. “Great job, Yurt. Okay, let me help you into the boat, Chelsea,” Kiki encouraged. “Give me your hand, Avery.” She stuck out her hand to help Avery step down.

Being such a good sport herself, Avery had to hand it to Kiki. She really was an excellent boat captain. “You should join the Navy when you grow up, Kiki,” she said as Kiki helped her untie the lines.

“That's a great idea,” the Yurtmeister pronounced. “Kiki could be the first girl commander of a Navy destroyer or something. Let's hear it for Captain Kiki, everyone!”

The boat erupted in hoots and claps as Kiki started the boat and steered it away from the dock. Kiki rolled her eyes at Henry Yurt, but Avery could tell she was pleased. She kept biting her lip to keep from smiling.

What would happen if Captain Kiki ever used her powers for good instead of evil back at school?
Avery wondered.

Herding Cats

“We better get these little guys boxed up and back to the Animal Rescue shelter. We need to give them all their shots and check them out,” explained Dory as she began placing the mewling kittens one by one into a nice plastic cat carrier.

You could have knocked Charlotte over with a feather when Dillon, who was cuddling Pleather again, resisted. “Could I adopt him?” he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice, as Dory reached over to take Pleather.

Charlotte was even more surprised when Patrice put her arm around Dillon's shoulders and told him, “Dude, I'll call your parents and put in a good word for Pleather.”

Dillon flashed Patrice a grateful look. “Word,” he answered.

Suddenly sirens filled the air. Almost immediately the Cods were surrounded by flashing lights and TV cameras. “What the heck is going on here?” a bewildered Dillon asked as two policemen, followed by an attractive photographer, hurried toward them.

Patrice grabbed Katani's hand as she reached for Charlotte's arm. “Did we do something wrong?” Charlotte asked Dory nervously. She could see the headlines now:
SCHOOL GROUP ARRESTED FOR TAMPERING WITH WILDLIFE.

Dory shook her head and put her hands on her hips.
“That big policeman heading toward us is my own darling husband.”

As the officers approached, the still nervous Salty Cods stood huddled together like the kittens they had just rescued. A grinning Dory called out. “What are you doing…checking up on me?”

The shorter cop said. “Nah, Dana called to see if there was any news for tonight's broadcast and we told her about the kids rescuing these little rodents here.”

“They're not rodents. They're high quality kittens!” an indignant Dillon blurted out. Charlotte covered her mouth to keep from laughing as Katani whispered, “The Dillon Johnson we know and love is back.”

In what seemed like a matter of seconds, Dana, the reporter and photographer from the town paper
Nauset Lighthouse
, snapped a picture (Dillon insisted on taking Pleather out of the carrier and putting him back on his head for the shot) of the kitties and the kids from Brookline who saved them, and promised to let the school know when the picture would run.

“I'll run it with an article about the Animal Rescue league and how people shouldn't abandon defenseless animals!” Dana informed them.

Charlotte hated having to say good-bye to her little gray kitty Gus, but Patrice was nudging them all toward their bikes after thanking Dory for coming to their aid. Dory, heading back to her white van, gave the group a grateful good-bye. “Remember, if you ever know of an animal in need or that has been abandoned, you can always
call your local Animal Rescue League chapter. That's what we're here for.”

“Good-bye, Pleather…I'll see you soon…I hope.” Dillon, sounding tragic, waved as the truck sped away.

“That was a really great thing we did!” Katani triumphantly shared.

The others nodded, and Patrice said, “I agree. Now…Salty Cods…Are we ready to pump it?” This time, even Katani joined in. “PUMP IT UP!” they all shouted as they ran for their bikes.

“Patrice,” yelled Nick as they pedaled wildly down the bike path. “Where
are
we going?”

The Perfect Sneeze

Fabiana paced back and forth in front of Maeve, who had recovered completely from her moment of theatrical distress under the willow tree. Now, she was back under the same tree trying to calm Fabiana, who was muttering to herself.

“Ontario Plume, I, Fabiana, apologize profusely…no…Mr. Plume, please accept my apologies…. Wait, is that too formal? Help me, Maeve!”

On about the gazillionth take of the wedding scene, Fabiana's dress—which was sprinkled with talcum powder and dirt stains to make it look like she'd endured a battle to be with her beloved—finally got the better of her and she sneezed all over her betrothed, Ontario Plume! They had to pause everything while hair and makeup fussed over the handsome superstar.

“These kinds of things happen in show biz,” Maeve assured Fabiana, who was clearly mortified.