Secret at Mystic Lake by Carolyn Keene Page A

Zoe, who shook her head. Caitlin smirked. “That’s cool, Drama Club,” she said, gesturing to the shovel. Zoe again raised it in the air. I instinctively backed away. “But I’m not quite convinced by your performance.”
    I swallowed hard. A plan was taking shape in the back of my mind, but I cowered down and made my voice high and desperate. “Please, guys,” I said, “don’t make me—”
    The girls swooped down on me, each grabbing me by an arm, and dragged me toward the door of the cabin. Zoe was holding the shovel in her other hand,and when we reached the porch, I was able to twist my right hand out of her grasp and reach up to pinch her armpit—hard. She dropped the shovel on her foot, letting out a shrill cry, and Caitlin loosened her grip just enough for me to pull away.
    I ran off the porch, down the path to the lake, and out onto the dock.
    By the time I dove in and started swimming for the canoe, they were following me, but neither one was brave enough to dive in after me. I grabbed the canoe from where it had drifted about fifty feet out into the lake and pulled myself up and in. Then I grabbed the paddle and started paddling.
    Just like before. Don’t think, just paddle.
    I went as fast as my arms could carry me.

    Caitlin and Zoe dragged a rowboat down from the bank of the lake and climbed in, but luckily, I had a big head start. Out on the lake, it took me a minute to get my bearings, but I soon recognized the direction I’d come from by the pattern of the trees and the angle ofthe moon—as I got closer, I could see the stream I’d waded through to get to the lake. I paddled back to the dock and jumped out, hoping that the canoe’s owners wouldn’t mind that I hadn’t bothered to tie the thing up. Terrified, I quickly glanced behind me, and, sure enough, Zoe and Caitlin were rowing furiously, getting closer and closer to the dock.
    I splashed through the stream until I thought I was in the area we’d camped, and then just started screaming. “BESS! GEORGE!” I splashed up and down the bank of the stream, peeping through the trees, trying to find any sign of life. “BESS! GEORGE!”
    When I’d been yelling for about two minutes, I heard Bess’s voice.
    â€œNancy! Is that you?”
    They came crashing through the woods. I ran to them like a starving man to a drumstick and threw my arms around them, letting out a moan of relief.
    â€œAre you okay?” George asked, grabbing my face and looking into my eyes. “We heard Zoe scream. We heard her tell you to run. We were scared as anything,but then nothing happened. No one came after us. We heard footsteps all around. After a few minutes we got up and started looking for you. But there was no sign anywhere.”
    â€œIt’s a long story,” I said, glancing back in the direction I’d come. Caitlin and Zoe would be at the dock soon, if they weren’t by now. We didn’t have a lot of time.
    â€œGuys,” I said to my friends, not for the first time, and probably not for the last, “we have to run!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Truth Comes Out
    â€œOH MY GOSH,” BESS WHISPERED , staggering over a tree root and nearly falling over. “I can’t believe we’re still in these woods. I can’t believe we’re not back in River Heights by now. How far have we come?”
    I inhaled a deep breath. It was morning. We’d been running, and then hiking, through the woods ever since I’d found my friends who knew how many hours before.
    â€œWe’ve probably walked a few miles,” I said. “The problem is, we don’t have any idea where we are, or where we’re going. So we’re probably walking in circles.”
    â€œI’m so hungry,” George moaned. “I haven’t evenseen any blackberries in this part of the woods. I’m about to eat some bark.”
    â€œDon’t do