Anton Gutman is the sworn enemy of me and my friends, but especially me. I’ll be the first to admit that whenever a crime is committed on a field trip, I point to Anton as my prime suspect.
Usually it’s not him. But can you blame me? He’s always starting trouble. He’s always telling lies. He’s always calling me and my friends names.
So there we were, starting a canoe trip through the Everglades that would probably last hours, and Anton was in our boat.
Worse, he was the official sidekick to the meanest, nastiest park ranger in the whole national park system.
“Pick up the pace up there!” Ranger Chavez shouted.
I guess my mind had been wandering. The other canoes had gotten pretty far ahead in the man-made canoeing lane through the grassy river. I turned around to say I was sorry, and I realized she and Anton weren’t even paddling! Egg and I were doing all the work.
“This is some field trip,” I grumbled to Egg. “We’re the labor, and she sits back there, lounging with her new best friend, Anton the Deputy.”
Egg was having a hard time too. Since he was so busy paddling, he couldn’t take any photos.
Egg loves taking pictures. It’s all he thinks about on field trips. And this was definitely a place where he’d want to take photos. There was super tall grass and funny-looking groves of trees growing right in the middle of the water! I also spotted some birds.
From pictures we’d seen in science class, I recognized a heron, an egret, and an osprey. I’m pretty sure I even saw a crocodile.
“It was probably an alligator,” Anton said, after I shouted about the crocodile.
Ranger Chavez clucked her tongue. “Deputy Gutman is right,” she said. “Alligators are far more common. Now pick up the pace.”
Egg glanced at me over his shoulder from the front of the canoe. He was sweating a lot, and I was too.
From the look on his face, I could tell that he was also starting to think the worst of Ranger Chavez.
The ranger put a small bullhorn to her lips. “Attention, all canoes!” she shouted. I yelped. Right there in the canoe with her, it was deafening.
“Stop and head to the left-hand shore,” the ranger bellowed through her megaphone.
Mr. Spade yelled back, “Okay!”
Ranger Chavez cleared her throat, with the megaphone still raised up to her lips. The sound rang out loudly across the river of grass.
“I mean,” Mr. Spade shouted, “okay, Ranger Chavez!”
The ranger put down the megaphone.
“Okay, deputy,” she said. “Help these two troublemakers steer the canoe to the left shore.”
“When did I become a troublemaker too?” Egg whispered over his shoulder.
I shrugged. Then I struggled with my paddle to move us toward the shore.
“You heard Ranger Chavez,” Anton said through a sneer. “Let’s move it!”
I was glad she hadn’t given him a whip. He probably would have used it, and Ranger Chavez probably would have cheered.
Before we reached the shore, Ranger Chavez stepped out of the canoe. I guess it was pretty shallow there. Plus she was wearing these big boots that went to her thighs. I noticed she left the covered bundle in the canoe, though.
She walked over to where the canoes had all stopped. Everyone was pulling their boats halfway onto a small island covered with plants and tall trees.
“This is a hammock,” Ranger Chavez said as she reached the shore. She pulled off her sunglasses and spotted me. I was standing with Egg, and we’d found Sam and Cat pretty quick, too.
“And I don’t mean a rope bed for lazy gum-chewers,” the ranger said. Then she put her sunglasses back on. “Hammocks are the only dry land in the park,” she went on, “besides the parking lot. Here you’ll find several types of hardwood trees, and most of the animals that can’t stay in water all day.”
“What are some examples?” Mr. Spade asked. “Um, Ranger Chavez.”
The ranger said, “There are deer, rabbits, frogs, snakes . . . they’re all pretty elusive. I’m hoping we’ll spot one of the most elusive — and rare — creatures in the park: the Florida panther.”
At the very word “panther,” the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A chill ran up and down my spine and then up again. I shivered.
“You okay, Gum?” Sam asked. She snickered.
“Laugh if you want,” I said. “But I don’t plan on being eaten by a giant cat on this field trip.”
“They won’t eat anyone, Gum,” Cat said. She put a hand on my shoulder. “Trust me, they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”
“I think that’s bears,” Egg said.
I shook my head. “Couldn’t be bears,” I said. “Nothing could be more scared of anything than I am of bears.”
“Good point,” Egg said.
“Excuse me, Ranger Chavez?” I said politely. I raised my hand and everything.
“Yes?” she said through clenched teeth.
“Um, what should we do if we come across a panther?” I asked. “I mean, by accident, of course.”
“It’ll hear you coming,” she said. “Look at it this way. If you manage to surprise a panther, I’d go play the lottery if I were you. You look like you’d have a hard time sneaking up on a log.”
Anton thought that was hilarious. He nearly fell over laughing.
“But,” Ranger Chavez said, “I intend to find a panther today, with you kids. It will be the thrill of your life.”
She turned to start walking deeper onto the hammock. “Now,” she said, “if you’ll all follow me —”
But then a great crack burst across the small island. It was another gunshot, and this time it was closer.
“Stay here!” Ranger Chavez snapped at us.
The whole class — including the parent chaperones and Mr. Spade — snapped to frozen attention. Henry’s mom even said, quite loudly, “Yes, Ranger Chavez!”
Henry tried to chuckle. “My mom was a Marine,” he said.
The ranger ran into the deep growth of the island. Anton started to follow. Ranger Chavez stopped and spun to face him.
“What are you doing?” she snapped. “What part of ‘stay here’ did you not understand?”
Anton’s face went white. “B-but,” he said. “I’m your d-d-deputy.”
The ranger looked confused for a moment. Then she burst out laughing. When she headed into the undergrowth, she was still laughing.
“I am not Anton’s biggest fan,” Sam said in my ear, “but that was just mean.”
She was right. Even I had to admit it. Something about this ranger was not on the up and up. My friends and I would have to find out what.