When a van pulled up in front of the studio the next day at 6:00 a.m., none of the girls were excited—and they were barely awake.
“This is barbaric,” Liberty said, yawning. “Who ever heard of packing a backpack? All my luggage has wheels.” She struggled to hoist the sack over her shoulders and make her way over to where the rest of the Divas were waiting.
“Toni said to pack light,” Rochelle pointed out. “What do you have in there?”
“Just the bare necessities,” Liberty replied. “Pedicure kit, moisturizer, cordless curling iron, cell phone charger, cashmere blanket—oh, and my lamb Pillow Pet of course!”
Rochelle rolled her eyes. “How about some canned food and water?”
“Nope, but I do have several issues of Teen Vogue for when we get bored!”
“I brought a compass,” Anya volunteered. She held up a tarnished silver disk on a chain. “My dad said it belonged to my great grandpa Alexei in Russia. It’s kinda my good-luck charm whenever I travel, but it might actually come in handy this time.”
“Who needs a compass when I have this?” Bria held up her phone and pointed to her GPS app. “I can find anywhere on the planet with this.”
“Assuming you can get a cell phone signal in the woods,” Rochelle reminded her. “I wouldn’t count on Wi-Fi wherever Toni is taking us.”
“Or a bathroom,” Scarlett said. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a ladies’ room in the wild.”
Liberty wrinkled her nose. “That is so disgusting! How am I supposed to do my nighttime beauty ritual without a sink?”
Rochelle shook her head. “You’re worrying about your beauty? I’m worried about my life! What if there are ferocious beasts out there? I don’t want to be some grizzly bear’s midnight snack!”
Scarlett tried to keep them all calm. There was no use in freaking out … yet. “I’m sure Miss Toni wouldn’t put us in any danger,” she said. “She’s our teacher, after all.” She saw her dance coach loading up the van with assorted camping gear and hoped there was an air mattress in there as well.
“I hope she got me a pink sleeping bag,” Gracie commented. “Pink is my fave color, though purple would be okay, I guess.” Her backpack was filled with stuffed animals: Petunia Pig, Gerdie Gorilla, and her latest addition: a red cat she named Ketchup Kitty.
“You couldn’t leave a few of those at home?” Rochelle asked her.
Gracie shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I need them to keep me snuggly at night.”
Scarlett had already been through this discussion at 5:00 a.m. When Gracie’s canteen, change of clothes, and warm socks wouldn’t fit in her bag, her mom handed them to Scarlett to carry in hers.
“But Mom,” Scarlett had whined. “I have my own stuff to take.”
“You are the big sister, so you have to look out for Gracie,” she warned her. Gracie then presented her with Tessie Teddy Bear. “You can carry her for me,” she said. “Thanks, Scoot.”
“Let’s face it. We’re all clueless.” Bria sighed. She was going through a checklist her mother had prepared for her. “I think I forgot to pack a toothbrush.”
“I’m not clueless,” Anya spoke up. She was checking to make sure her canteen was filled with water. “I went camping once when I lived in California.”
“Really?” Liberty raised an eyebrow. “Your backyard doesn’t count.”
“It wasn’t my backyard,” Anya defended herself. “It was in a state park with my Brownies troop.”
“Brownies? How old were you?” Rochelle asked.
“Seven or eight. I know it had to be in second grade …”
Bria chuckled. “Oh, great. That makes me feel so much better!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Scarlett said, trying to keep everyone calm. They hadn’t even left on the trip yet, and they were already bickering! “We’ll learn as we go along.”
“Miss Toni says she wants us to learn an important lesson,” Gracie reminded them.
“Yeah,” Bria said. “I just hope that lesson doesn’t involve a pack of wild werewolves.”
“You’ve seen one too many movies.” Rochelle chuckled. “Come on? Werewolves? Bloodthirsty coyotes, sure. Maybe poisonous snakes. But no werewolves.”
“Snakes?” Liberty gulped. “I don’t like snakes … at all.” She unzipped her bag and pulled out a can of bug repellent. “Do you think this keeps away snakes, too?”
Gracie held up her stuffed animal. “Miss Petunia Pig will protect us,” she said. “She’s very brave.”
Scarlett seriously doubted a tattered pink pig with a missing ear would help them fend off wild animals, but it was a nice thought.
“Okay, everyone on board,” Toni said. She glanced down at Liberty’s pink sequined sneakers. “Really? That’s what you’re hiking through mud and rough terrain in? I thought I told you to wear hiking boots.”
“The hiking boots my mom bought me were hideous,” Liberty sniffed. “I don’t do ugly footwear.” She pulled up her leggings to reveal socks with pink stars on them. “There’s no reason why camping has to be unfashionable.”
The campsite was two hours away. The roads were long and twisty and seemed to climb higher and higher into the hills. The sun rose above the trees in a red ball.
“Are we going up a mountain?” Bria asked, peering out the window.
“Would you prefer to hike up or down?” Toni asked. “I thought I was being nice by making it easier on you. You’ll hike down to the site.”
“If she wanted to make it easier on us, she could have just taken us shopping at the mall,” Liberty muttered under her breath.
When they arrived, a park ranger was waiting to greet them. “Ladies—or should I say Divas—welcome to Black Boulder Forest! I’m Ranger Sam and I’m at your service.” He sounded so enthusiastic, like this would be the best trip of their lives. But no one was buying it.
“Can you please show us to our accommodations?” Liberty said, dragging her backpack behind her. “I could really use a nice shower and spa treatment right now. Where’s the hotel?”
The ranger laughed. “I’m sorry, but your only accommodations are the tents you’ll set up when you make your way to the bottom of the mountain.”
Miss Toni held up a vinyl duffel. “Got ’em right here! I hope they’ll be to your liking, Liberty. I rented the top-of-the-line model with high-wind protection.”
“That’s great!” Ranger Sam replied. “It can get very cold out there at night. You’re in for a treat.”
Scarlett glanced over at Liberty. She looked like she was going to keel over. “What? No hotel? Not even a villa or cabana or something?” she exclaimed.
“Where are the beds?” Scarlett asked. “There are beds to sleep in, aren’t there?”
Miss Toni smiled brightly. “Of course there are! I got each and every one of you your very own comfy sleeping bag.” She tossed a green sack at Liberty. “Catch!”
Then she handed a lantern to Scarlett, a bag filled with pots and pans to Rochelle, and two totes stocked with food to Bria and Gracie. “I highly recommend the powdered hummus and the dehydrated sweet potatoes,” she said. “Yum!”
“What about breakfast?” Gracie piped up. It was her favorite meal of the day, and she couldn’t imagine it without a heaping pile of pancakes or her mom’s apple-cinnamon oatmeal.
“Glad you asked!” Toni replied. She handed her a dry box of bran cereal. “Help yourself. There’s no milk, of course.”
Bria rifled through the bag. There was absolutely nothing appetizing and her stomach was growling. “Maybe we can make a campfire and roast some s’mores,” she suggested.
“That would be nice,” Toni answered, “if you had any marshmallows and knew how to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Good luck with that!” She walked over to Ranger Sam. “You guys should definitely hit the trail right away. It’ll take you several hours to reach the bottom, and you don’t want to lose the daylight.”
Bria gulped. “You mean, we’ll have to walk through the woods in the dark?” She tugged on Rochelle’s sleeve and whispered, “Werewolves!”
Scarlett held up her lantern. “I guess that’s why we have this.” She looked at Miss Toni. “What happens if we get lost or in trouble?”
Ranger Sam handed her a whistle. “We won’t be far behind, and I’ll be keeping an eye on you. But you girls are leading us, not the other way around.” He held up a pair of binoculars. “If you get into a bind, just toot for help.”
Toni crossed her arms over her chest. She was not about to change her mind and let them all just go home. “Tick tock,” she said. “Time to hit the trail.”