The girls were panicking when they suddenly realized Liberty was still outside, screaming.
“Hurry up! Let her in!” Scarlett said, pushing Rochelle toward the zipper on the tent.
“Let me think about that for a sec …” Rochelle hesitated. “I mean, she did call me a hideous monster who smells like moldy cheese.”
Scarlett grabbed her around the shoulders. “Rock! This is a life-and-death situation! Open the tent!”
Rochelle unzipped the flap and pulled Liberty inside.
“Oh my gosh! That was so close!” Liberty said, hugging Rochelle tightly. The tent was dark and she could barely see a thing.
“Take it easy,” Rochelle replied, squirming. “You’re okay.”
“Ick! Did I just hug you?” Liberty said. “Let go!” She backed away, and felt something long and slithery fall across her shoulder. “Eek! A snake! It’s a snake! It’s choking me! Help!”
Liberty grabbed Rochelle.
Rochelle grabbed Anya.
Gracie tripped over Bria and landed on top of Scarlett.
Rochelle tried to open the front panel of the tent, but the zipper was jammed. She panicked and pushed with all her might until the tent’s poles came apart and the entire thing collapsed on top of them. As they scrambled to escape, Bria found the flashlight app on her phone. She shined it right in Liberty’s face. “Is everyone okay?” she asked breathlessly.
“I was attacked by a king cobra!” Liberty cried. “How do you think I am? I’m lucky to be alive!”
Bria held the flashlight up to Liberty’s neck. “Is this your snake?” she asked, holding up the shoulder strap of Rochelle’s bag.
“Well, it felt like snake skin,” she said, flicking the bag away.
“It’s pleather,” Rochelle said, laughing. “Liberty, you are such a wimp!”
Liberty stood up, dusted herself off, and stared Rochelle straight in the eye. “I am not a wimp,” she fumed.
“And you’re also not hurt anymore.” Anya pointed to Liberty’s bruised knee. “You can stand up!”
Scarlett giggled. “It’s a miracle, Liberty.”
Liberty shook her knee out. It did feel much better. Even she had to smile with relief. “Wow. I guess I forgot all about it when the werewolf and snake attacked me. I’m a lot braver than I thought.”
“I don’t think it was a werewolf,” Gracie said, pointing to a high tree branch just above the tent.
A small gray owl was perched on it, gazing dreamily into the light of the full moon. “A-woooo!” it hooted.
“He’s so cute!” Gracie cooed. “Can we take him home as a friend for Mr. Mustard?”
“I guess we overreacted a little.” Bria sighed.
“Ya think?” Rochelle said, laughing. “And what’s with the ‘we’ business? You were the one who made a beeline for the tent to escape Taylor Lautner’s bite.”
“If it was Taylor Lautner, I would not have run away.” Bria giggled. “He’s one werewolf I would be okay meeting!”
“Mommy says there’s no such thing as werewolves,” Gracie insisted. “She says they are just thinkments of our imagination.”
“You mean figments,” Bria corrected her. “But I get what you’re saying, Gracie. I let my imagination run wild.”
Liberty shrugged. “Me, too. But when you’re in the wild I guess that’s the place to do it.”
“The point is you’re all okay and you all worked together,” said a voice in the darkness. It was no werewolf.
“Miss Toni!” Gracie ran to her teacher and threw her arms around her waist. “Boy, are we glad to see you!”
“I don’t know. You girls looked like you were doing pretty well without my help. Except for the falling-tent episode.”
“But we did need your help when Liberty got hurt,” Scarlett said. “I blew the whistle and you didn’t come.”
“We were watching everything. We were never more than a few feet behind you,” Ranger Sam explained. “I’m an expert at camouflage.”
“And I knew Liberty would survive a skinned knee,” Toni said and winked. “But it was fun to see you all take turns carrying her down the trail. And I truly enjoyed the choreography down the path and across the stream. Though the wicked-witch dance-teacher tale I could have lived without …”
Liberty gulped. “You know I was just kidding, right?”
Gracie tugged on her teacher’s sleeve. “I built the tent, but it kinda fell down when the werewolf and poison snake showed up,” she told her.
Ranger Sam looked confused. “Werewolves and poisonous snakes? At Black Boulder? I don’t think so, girls.”
“Do you need a hand putting it back together?” Toni offered. She bent down to pick up the broken pieces of the tent.
“Nuh-uh,” Gracie insisted. “We can do it.”
Toni looked at her team. They were dirty, battered, and bruised, but they had stuck together. She was proud of them. “I do believe you can. But at least take this.” She tossed Scarlett a bag of marshmallows. “It’s not a campfire without a marshmallow roast,” she said. “See you girls in the morning, bright and early.”
“We’re going back home?” Bria asked. She’d never missed her mom, dad, and sister so much. She didn’t even mind if there were textbooks and homework waiting for her on her desk. All she could picture was her warm, comfy bed and a nice, hot bubble bath.
“I miss Mr. Mustard,” Gracie said. “I can’t wait to see his furry little face.”
“I miss my closet,” Liberty added. “I can’t wait to get into something that’s not wrinkled or stained.”
“We are going home—but we have a short stop to make before we do. We’re going to a little dance competition in Millville called Curtains Up, and this time, my bathing beauties are going to take home first place.”
She didn’t have to say it—every Diva could read her mind:
“Or else!”