Get Lost! (2 page)

“I hope we don’t have to wait around all day for him,” Jeremy said, as he took the seat across the aisle from Katie and Suzanne. “I want to get to camp!”

“There he is!” Kevin’s voice rang out from the back of the bus. “Hurry up, George!” he shouted through the open window.

But George wasn’t hurrying. In fact, it looked as though his dad was dragging him across the playground to the bus. George had a very angry scowl on his face.

Mr. Brennan marched George straight up to the yellow bus. “Have a good time, son,” Mr. Brennan said.

“Fat chance,” George barked back.

Mr. Brennan sighed. “It’s just a few days at Science Camp, George. It’s not like you’re joining the army.”

George didn’t answer. He walked to the back of the bus and plopped down in the seat across from Manny and Kevin.

Kevin smiled at his pal. “Am I glad to see you. You wouldn’t believe the amazing things I snuck into my suitcase.” Kevin leaned over to whisper in George’s ear. “I packed all kinds of practical joke stuff—plastic bugs, pepper gum, and a whoopee cushion.”

Usually, George was really into things like whoopee cushions. But not today. He just sat there, staring out the window with his hands crossed over his chest. “Big deal,” he muttered.

Kevin looked surprised. “Come on. We’re going to have so much fun!”

George shook his head. “No we’re not. This whole Science Camp thing is dumb.”

Jeremy looked back at him. “You’re nuts, George. Camp’s the best. ”I should know. I went to camp last summer.”

Suzanne sighed. “You’ve only told us that about a million times.”

“Well, I don’t think camp’s cool,” George argued. “Who wants to go to camp when you can sleep in your own bed and have cable TV?”

As the bus drove away, Katie looked out the window and watched her mother become smaller and smaller. Soon, Katie couldn’t see her mom at all. A really lonely feeling came over her.

Katie wasn’t the only one feeling sad. Katie could see a tear falling down the side of Suzanne’s face.

“Hey, you want to share a bunk bed?” Katie asked, trying to cheer her pal.

Suzanne smiled ... a little. “Can I have the top?”

“Sure.”

Jeremy turned to Katie and Suzanne. “You guys want to hear a camp cheer?” he asked.

“Why not?” Suzanne said.

Jeremy smiled broadly as he began to cheer. “Brrr. It’s cold in here. There must be 3A in the atmosphere. All hands clap. All feet stamp. We’re the coolest kids at Science Camp!”

Soon the kids in class 3A were shouting Jeremy’s cheer. Mandy Banks and Miriam Chan were even doing a hand-clapping game to the rhythm. Everyone was having fun.

Everyone except George. He looked miserable.

Katie joined in. She felt a little bit better. As Katie looked over at Jeremy’s smiling face, she hoped that she would be as happy at camp as he’d been.

But Katie couldn’t help feeling that something awful was going to happen at Science Camp.

As the bus turned a corner, the kids caught a glimpse of the camp sign. Suddenly, everyone seemed to be talking at once.

Everyone but George, that is. He sat there like a lump.

“We’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here ... ” Jeremy began singing another one of his camp songs.

“Ooh, are those the cabins?” Mandy asked, pointing to the tiny little wooden huts that dotted the campgrounds.

“Did you see that lake?” Zoe added. “It’s so blue.”

“I wonder where the nature shack is,” Manny said. “Mrs. Derkman told me they have goats and sheep there.”

“Do you think they have full-length mirrors in the cabins?” Suzanne asked.

Before Katie could answer, the bus rolled to a stop. Immediately, the kids unbuckled their belts and bolted for the door.

One by one the children filed off the bus. Katie looked around. Science Camp was really pretty. The trees were blossoming. She could hear birds singing in the distance. And there was a clean smell to the breeze that circled gently around her head.

Suddenly Katie had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Quickly she looked at her classmates. Their hair was blowing in the wind, too.

She stared at the trees. The leaves and blossoms were moving.
Phew.
It was just a normal, everyday breeze. For a moment there, Katie had been afraid that the
magic wind
had followed her all the way to Science Camp.

The magic wind was a tornado-like wind that twisted and turned—but only around Katie. It was really scary. But the scariest part happened after the wind
stopped
blowing. That’s when Katie turned into someone else!

It all started one really awful day. Katie had ruined her favorite jeans and burped in front of the whole class. That had been so embarrassing. Katie had wished that she could be anyone but herself.

There must have been a shooting star flying overhead or something when she made that wish, because the very next day, the magic wind blew, turning Katie into Speedy, the class hamster! Katie had spent a whole morning gnawing on wooden chew sticks and running on a hamster wheel.

Luckily, Katie had changed back into herself before anyone stepped on her!

Katie never knew who the magic wind might turn her into next. Already it had switcherooed her into the school lunch lady, Lucille, and the principal, Mr. Kane. And once the magic wind turned Katie into
Jeremy
. What a mess that had been!

Katie never knew when the magic wind was coming. She just hoped that the wind wouldn’t be able to find her at Science Camp. It was going to be hard enough being away from home. She didn’t want to have to be away from her body, too.

Manny, George, and Kevin were all huddled together on the grass behind the bus. Manny and Kevin were whispering to each other and giggling. George just looked bored.

Finally, Manny walked up to Mrs. Derkman and stared at her arm. At first, he didn’t say anything. Then he asked her, “Mrs. Derkman, what’s black and green, has six legs, a furry body, and two antennae?”

Mrs. Derkman shrugged. “I don’t know, Manny.”

“I don’t know either, but it’s crawling up your arm!” Manny told her.

“Aaaahhhhhh!”
Mrs. Derkman screamed so loud, Katie was sure they could hear her back at Cherrydale Elementary School. The teacher jumped up and down, slapping her arm. “Get it off me! Get it off me right now!”

Suddenly, a woman with a deep, booming voice came up behind Mrs. Derkman. “What is going on here?” she demanded.

Katie gasped. The woman was very tall. Her muscles were bulging out of her green army uniform. She looked like she never smiled ... ever. She seemed scarier than any bug.

“Th-th-there’s a hairy bug on my arm,” Mrs. Derkman stammered.

“Oh, give me a break,” the woman in the army uniform barked. “Bugs are part of life out here. Get used to it, soldier.”

Mrs. Derkman looked at her curiously. “Excuse me?” she asked.

“Um ... I mean, there’s nothing on your arm,” the woman said.

Mrs. Derkman glanced at her bugless arm and sighed. “George Brennan, come here!”

George moped his way over toward the teacher. “I didn’t do anything,” he insisted.

“Maybe not. But I have a feeling that was your idea of a joke,” Mrs. Derkman said.

“It wasn’t. Honest,” George insisted.

“I wouldn’t worry about any more jokes.” The woman in the uniform assured Mrs. Derkman. “I’m Genie Manzini, the head counselor. I don’t allow for any joking at Science Camp.” Genie glared at George.

“Maybe we should call her Genie the
Meanie,”
Suzanne whispered to Katie.

Katie wanted to laugh, but she didn’t dare. Who knew what Genie the Meanie might do?

“Okay troops ... I mean,
boys and girls,”
Genie corrected herself. “I want you to meet the staff. To begin with, I am the head counselor.
Everyone
here answers to me.”