Chapter Eight

Polly’s Ice Cream Shop was crowded. There was a long counter in front. Beneath the counter, under glass, were tubs of ice cream. Above the counter was a large sign listing all the flavors sold at Polly’s.

“Hey, look,” Eric said. “You can get a bubble-gum ice cream cone or blueberry raspberry swirl.”

“We’re not here for ice cream,” Cam said. “We’re here for Karen.”

There was a long line of people waiting to buy ice cream. Cam and Eric looked for a five-year-old girl wearing an avocado green shirt.

Karen wasn’t in line.

Behind the line were several small round tables.

“Excuse me,” Cam and Eric said as they tried to get to the other side of the line.

“Hey,” a man shouted at them. “No pushing ahead. Get to the back of the line.”

“We’re not here for ice cream,” Cam told the man. “We’re looking for someone.”

Cam and Eric got to the other side of the line. They saw people standing and sitting by the tables. At a corner table they saw a small girl. She had red ribbons in her hair and was wearing an avocado green shirt.

Cam said, “Maybe that’s her.”

“But she’s sitting with people,” Eric said. “It looks like that girl is with her family.”

“Karen! Karen Kramer!” Cam called as she walked toward the table.

The girl looked up.

When Cam reached the table she asked, “Are you Karen Kramer?”

The girl nodded.

“Come with us,” Cam said. “We’ll take you to your father.”

The girl shook her head. She wouldn’t go.

“Do you know this girl?” a woman sitting by the table asked. “She seems to be lost. We tried to help her, but she won’t talk to us.”

The girl’s head was down. She wasn’t looking at anyone.

“Karen,” Cam said. “Come with us. We’ll take you to your father.”

“I can’t talk to strangers,” she whispered. “I’m waiting for my daddy or the police.”

“That’s what she told us,” the woman at the table said.

“Come with us,” Eric said, “or you’ll miss your flight.”

Karen Kramer shook her head. She wouldn’t go.

“You stay here,” Cam told Eric. “I’ll get her father.”

Cam hurried to the information desk. “I found her,” she told Mr. Kramer.

“Where is she?”

“She’s at Polly’s Ice Cream.”

Mr. Kramer, Mr. Jansen, and Spaghetti Max followed Cam to Polly’s. Mr. Kramer hurried to his daughter. They hugged.

“I was so worried,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“I was lost,” Karen said as she got up from the table. “You told me to go to the police when I’m lost. So I came here. But the police didn’t come. I think they’re busy.”

Mr. Kramer took his daughter’s hand. He looked at his watch.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We have to catch our plane.”

He told Cam and Eric, “I should give you two a reward.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Cam said. “You should hurry to gate eighteen.”

Mr. Kramer smiled. “I can’t thank you enough for finding Karen,” he told them.

Cam, Eric, Mr. Jansen, and Spaghetti Max watched Mr. Kramer and Karen hurry toward the security check by the boarding gates.

“We should go home now,” Mr. Jansen said.

“Oh, no,” Spaghetti Max told his friend. “That man was right. These children deserve a reward. Let’s have some ice cream.”

“I know what flavor I want,” Eric said. “I want blueberry raspberry swirl.”

Cam said, “I want a bubble-gum cone.”

Spaghetti Max said, “I’ll have a strawberry cone with chocolate sprinkles.”

Mr. Jansen looked at the large sign which listed the many flavors of ice cream sold at Polly’s. He thought for a few moments. Then he said, “I’ll take a dish of vanilla ice cream.”

“Vanilla!” Max said loudly. “All those choices, and you want vanilla?”

“I like vanilla.”

“It’s been almost thirty years since I saw you, and you haven’t changed,” Max said. “You always liked things plain and simple.”

“You’re right,” Mr. Jansen said. “I haven’t changed. I still like vanilla ice cream, and I still have the same good friend.”

“Are you BFFs?” Eric asked. “Best friend forever?”

“Maybe,” Mr. Jansen and Mr. Miller said.

Cam looked at Eric.

Eric looked at Cam.

“That’s what we are,” Eric said. “We’re BFFs. Best friends forever.”