Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita Page A

made me think he knew what I was talking about. “Okay. Cole is a knight,” he said. “He’s been eyeing that costume for weeks.”
    YES! Now I just had to get to him before a group of pez did. “Thanks, Tim! I owe you one. Court, wish me luck!” I yelled as I took off running down the dirt path.
    “Don’t be a chicken!” Court yelled back.
    Before I even reached the cabins, I found my path blocked by Barney. Since I didn’t know who was inside the purple dinosaur costume, I quickly ducked behind a tree. I wasn’t fast enough though because Barney saw me. I looked into the spooky, darkened woods and heard an owl hoot in the distance. Or was it a wolf? The woods were my only chance of losing Barney. I’d done it once already, I could do it again. I turned on my flashlight, pushed a few branches out of the way, inhaled sharply and walked in.
    “Sam!” I heard a muffled voice yell. “SAM!”
    I turned around and flashed my light in the trees around me. Barney was wedged between two trees. I couldn’t just leave him there so I rushed over and pushed his purple tail till he wiggled free.
    “Thanks,” Barney said and pulled off his mask. It was Dylan! His face was dripping with sweat. It must have been so hot in that thing. “Grace told me you were a rag doll. That’s why I followed you. Have you seen Em?”
    I shook my head. “No, but she might be down by the lake, and that’s where I’m headed,” I said. “She’s dressed as Minnie Mouse.”
    “I’ll walk with you,” he offered. “Just in case I get stuck again.”
    I wasn’t about to protest. Walking with someone in the woods was much better than going alone. It took us fifteen minutes to get to the lake — Dylan got stuck about four times, I tripped over a few rocks, and then we had to search for my wig again (it was stuck on a tree branch) — and when we finally made it, the place was deserted. Either the campers had given up on the area, or whoever had been hiding down there was already captured.
    “Don’t look so disappointed. Em could still be down here,” Dylan said, not knowing who I was really looking for. “We’ll head in different directions.”
    “AH HA!” A group of pez popped out from behind a nearby tree. “We have you!”
    Dylan and I froze. I tried not to panic. I couldn’t be this close and get caught now. The pez were older than the peeps, usually nine to eleven, and much more savvy. They circled us like we were their supper. Every once in a while they would whisper something to one another. Dylan and I stood back-to-back, waiting.
    “You first,” one of the pez said to me. “Our first guess is Gabby!”
    “She’s already been captured,” I said in a high-pitched voice. “I saw it happen.”
    The group huddled together again, whispering. “Our next guess is Colleen!”
    I shook my head. Just one more guess…
    “Then you have to be…” A girl approached me and gave me the evil eye. “You have to be…” I held my breath. “You have to be Grace!”
    “Wrong again,” I squeaked. The pez looked disappointed, but I wanted to jump up and down and celebrate. They turned to Dylan. He had to get off too.
    “We captured Tim, and Gavin is the lion tamer,” the pez recounted out loud. “We’ve narrowed down who we think Cole and Hunter are so you must be… DYLAN!”
    I couldn’t believe it. They guessed right! Now Em would never get to tell him.
    Dylan removed his head. “You’ve got me,” he said with a smile. He looked at me and shrugged. “Good luck finding who you’re looking for. Let them know I was looking for them too,” he added cryptically.
    One of the pez grabbed his arm. “Let’s take him to jail,” he said.
    “Shouldn’t we look for Cole first? Someone on the path said they saw a knight heading this way a few minutes ago. He’s got to be down here somewhere.”
    “I don’t see anyone,” one of the others protested. “Let’s just take Dylan and score a point and worry about Cole