CHAPTER NINE
Happy Birthday, Becky (Almost)
The cabin smells of baking.
Dad hands Mom the pickles.
“We found them in a cave,” I tell her. “The peanut butter was there too. But someone ate it.”
“While you were gone,” says Mom, “I bumped into a couple from another cabin. They told me there’s been a lot of food stolen lately. Even some clothes. Maybe there’s a homeless person living in that cave. If so, we should help him out.”
Dad agrees. “Poor guy, having to steal food.”
“Meanwhile,” says Mom, “take a look at Becky’s birthday cake.”
We head for the kitchen.
“Whoa,” says Becky when she sees it.
It’s chocolate on the outside and Mom says it has vanilla icing and custard on the inside. On top is Becky’s name in pink icing and a candle shaped like a number six.
I get out my camera and take a photo. It’s lucky I do.
“Let’s leave it here so the icing sets,” Mom says. “How about we go boating now and then eat the cake later?”
Dad looks at Bagels. “You’d better stay here,” he says. “There aren’t enough life jackets.”
“He can wear mine,” says Becky.
“Absolutely not,” says Mom.
Dad closes the kitchen door so Bagels won’t get in.
We’re halfway across the lake when Becky asks, “Dad, why do they call it Sasquatch Lake?”
“Just some silly story,” says Dad. “One of the old pioneers thought he saw a Sasquatch here years ago.”
“It’s supposed to be some creature that looks like a human but has hair all over its body,” says Mom. “Some guy even took a photo of one once. But it was fake.”
“How did they know it was fake?” I ask.
“Because,” says Dad, “the man who faked it eventually owned up to what he’d done.”
“So there’s no such thing as a Sasquatch?” asks Becky.
“I doubt it,” says Dad.
I wonder.
Just then we hear “All Shook Up.” Dad’s phone is beside him on the seat. He’s busy rowing, so I answer it.
Mom’s number shows up on the screen.
“Hello,” I say. I hear a grunt.
I also hear Bagels barking in the background.
Then the phone goes dead.
“Dad,” I say, “we have to get back.”
“Was it the guy who sounds like King Kong?” asks Dad.
I nod. “And Bagels.”
Dad rows us back to shore.
As we get out of the boat, I hear Bagels.
“Woof, grr, woof, gerrerr, smrfflllrr.”
Dad pulls the boat onto the shore. “What’s with Bagels?” he says as they all take off their life jackets and throw them in the boat. All except me. I don’t want to waste any time.
I run to the kitchen side of the cabin.
I see someone heading for the forest.
He’s wearing Dad’s Spider-Man pajamas, a baseball cap and a Hudson’s Bay blanket.
“Hey,” I shout. The guy turns. His face is hairy. And I mean hairy. Only there’s white stuff all over it. And something that looks a lot like custard.
He smiles. He has teeth like yellow mahjong tiles. He waves Becky’s Blanky at me before he disappears into the forest.
“Dad,” I yell as I run into the cabin.
Dad’s in the kitchen.
“BAGELS!” he shouts.
“Smrffllr?”
Bagels is sitting on the kitchen table. His mouth is filled with cake.
Becky lets out a wail of woe. “MY CAKE!”