The Great Scavenger Hunt (21 page)

“My career is over before it even started!” Fabiana wailed. “I wish we'd done the scavenger hunt. What is Mr. Moore going to do to me when he finds out? I'll be suspended and I won't be able to do the musical, and—oh!”

“Ah, Fabiana, I think maybe you are…” Maeve was afraid Fabiana was about to lose it.

Just then, Betsy and Danny came walking over, and between them strode the young blond man who until today, Maeve had only seen on the poster above her desk. Now, Fabiana had not only married him on film, but also sneezed in his face. Could the day get any stranger?

“Good news, Fabiana!” Betsy announced happily. “Ozmond
adored
that last take!”

Fabiana ignored her and stared at Ontario. “I, um…apologies, I mean, I'm sorry profusely…oops, I—”

“No worries!” Ontario smiled. “That sneeze was just the right thing to give me the perfect startled expression! And Ozmond loved the look in your eyes.”

“In other words…” Danny started.

“We're done!” Betsy snapped her fingers. “Now let's get crack-a-lackin' on that scavenger hunt!”

Maeve looked at Isabel. It was obvious they were both thinking the same thing. Betsy was
baaack
!

“Thank you, milady,” Ontario said suddenly, spinning Fabiana around by the waist like they were still in the movie. “And good luck to you!”

Macaroni Surprise

“Where are we
going
?” Nick repeated at the top of his voice.

Laughing, Patrice brought her bike to a screeching halt. “Nick Montoya, you are a genius! Gather round, Cods. We need to regroup and make a plan.”

“Well, I vote we forget clue number five and go right to clue number six,” Charlotte suggested.

“I agree,” said Katani. “It's a little crazy, but I think it might be our only shot of still coming in first.”

“You decide, team.” Patrice folded her arms and waited. Katani wondered what had gotten into Patrice—playing with the kittens had turned
her
calm and cool as a cat.

“Let's go to clue six!” Dillon said, and Patrice took out the envelope.

“Your eagle eyes spotted those kittens!” Patrice smiled at Dillon. “You be the announcer.”

He opened the envelope and read in a loud, slow voice: “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But from this spot in nineteen-oh-three, macaroni signaled across the sea.”

The group was silent. “Okay, would somebody like to tell me how a noodle can signal across the sea?” asked Dillon.

“Must be a pretty big noodle,” Nick chuckled.

“Maybe it's a famous explorer?” Charlotte suggested.

Patrice sighed. “I think one of us would remember if we'd learned about a famous explorer named Macaroni.”

“Well, if we can't figure this out, then what are we supposed to do?” asked Katani. She didn't come this far in her great outdoors exploration weekend only to spend the last hour slumped over her bike, completely stumped.

“Maybe we should head back to the final meeting place at Drummer's Cove and try our hardest to come up with an answer on the way,” Nick offered. “That way, if we don't get the points for winning the clue, at least we'll get them for coming in first.”

This sounded like the most logical plan yet, and the Cods pedaled off on the bike path.

“Who signaled America in 1903 with macaroni?” Charlotte asked out loud. “This is definitely the weirdest clue of all!”

Nick, who had been staring off into a clearing beside the bike path, suddenly hit the brakes. “Whoa! Check this out, guys! There's a huge pirate ship over there.”

“That must be where they're shooting the movie Ms. O'Reilly was talking about,” said Charlotte. She couldn't resist her curiosity. “You want to go check it out? Just for a second?”

“If we don't get back to scavenger hunting soon, I swear,
I am gonna lose it!
” joked Patrice as she followed her team across the clearing. An enormous wooden pirate ship lay at dock, surrounded by dozens of platforms and cameras. Some of the cameras were even suspended in the air to capture the shots from above.

“This is so awesome!” breathed Charlotte as she saw several actors in pirate gear swinging from the mast of the
ship. She took out the team camera and snapped a photo. They'd still needed something pirate-themed for one of their bonus items!

“What can I say, Char…. When you're right, you're right,” agreed Katani. Then suddenly her face turned sour. “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” she spouted.

“
Shhh!
” shushed the four other Cods. Katani's mouth opened and closed like a fish as she pointed at the boat. “It's…it's…it's…'” she stuttered.

Charlotte's eyes widened and she finished, “MAEVE AND FABIANA!”

Yurt Alert

Ben broke out the last clue as Kiki's boat roared away from the Wellfleet Animal Sanctuary. He had to shout to be heard over the rumbling motor:

“We're on the sea, and I don't see any signals!” Chelsea moaned.

“Wait,” Avery said, perking up a little bit. “What time is it, Kiki?”

“Four thirty-five!” the captain responded.

“That gives us twenty-five minutes to either look for this clue, or race to the finish line!” Avery shouted,
suddenly energized. “That Marconi thing is only three points, but finishing first gets us ten!”

“Let's go for it!” Kiki cheered.

“But,” Chelsea protested, “we have only
two
clues out of six!”

“Three!” Suddenly Yurt plucked the camera from Chelsea's bag, smiled, and pressed the button. He proudly handed the camera back to Chelsea and pointed at the preview screen. “Say ‘thank you'!” Yurt instructed.

“What for?” asked Chelsea.

“The answer to clue number one! We never figured out what a Yurt alert was. Maybe it's me!”

Avery smiled. “Hey…it's worth a try!”

Ben agreed. “We'll improvise!
Barnacle
style.”

The team cheered, and Kiki shifted the motor into high gear.

Superstars and Superheroes

The Cods tumbled on top of one another to get a get a closer look at the clearing. “They're all there!” Dillon gasped. “Maeve, Betsy, Danny, and…hey, isn't that guy spinning Fabiana around super famous?”

Suddenly, Fabiana landed right in the dirt and screamed!

Nick's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his head. “What is Ontario Plume doing to my sister?” he growled, turning to march into the middle of the set. Charlotte and Katani pulled him back.

“She's fine, Nick,” Katani assured. “Listen! I could be
wrong, but I think that director guy with the red pants…he's praising her like she's the star!”

“What?” Nick gulped and leaned forward.

“Such emotion!” The director shouted as he strode toward the Cranberry Boggers. “Perfecto, Ontario! Bravo, Princess Polly!” He helped Fabiana up and the whole group started applauding.

All of a sudden, out in the field looking in on the Boggers' celebration, Charlotte started to cry. “Nobody's even
trying
. Our great adventure is a flop.”

Patrice reached over and gave Charlotte a supportive hug. “Charlotte, if I know your friend Avery
and
Ben Briggs, there is no way that they aren't trying to finish this race. I say—”

“We go for it,” a determined Katani reached for Charlotte's hand and gave it a squeeze. There was nothing she hated more than seeing one of her BFFs with hurt feelings.

“Me too,” Nick grabbed her other hand.

“Group hug,” Dillon shouted as he tried to wrap his arms around the team.

Feeling completely foolish and completely blown away by her team's support, Charlotte snuffed back her tears while Patrice punched the air. “Winning this thing was our
destiny.
” She smiled at her group and added, “And also saving the kitties. We're kind of like superheroes. And superheroes always win.”

The Race Is On

As the determined Salty Cods pedaled furiously away from the clearing, something buzzed in Betsy's pocket.

“The walkie-talkie!” Maeve yelped.

“The scavenger hunt!” Fabiana hefted her canvas bag off the ground and turned to Ontario Plume and Ozmond, suddenly calm and composed. “It was a pleasure acting with you, sirs, but we have a very important scavenger hunt to take care of. BOGGERS, FOLLOW ME!”

From behind boxes and barrels, piles of feathered hats and rows of trailers, the entire team materialized.

“I got two more bonus items,” Isabel shared.

“That's six total,” Fabiana counted on her fingers. “If we ride as fast as possible, there's a chance—”

“—we could win those ten points for getting back first!” Riley finished.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Maeve cheered. “The race is on!”

Barnacle Style