Chapter 8
Omar seemed to have his own plans for Moosie. The next morning, Peichi found a Polaroid picture next to her plate. It was of Moosie—standing on a snowboard! Peichi couldn’t help laughing as she passed the picture around to her friends.
“The guys must have gotten up pretty early to take this picture,” Amanda said. She was just joining the table after returning the un-stuck silverware and place mats from their prank.
“Getting up early...hey, that gives me an idea!” Peichi said excitedly. “I know how we can get back at them. Here’s the plan: we—”
“Hi, Mom!” Natasha yelled so loudly that kids at nearby tables turned to look at her.
Wide-eyed, Peichi turned around to see Mrs. Ross standing behind her. Yipes! Peichi thought. Did she hear me? I hope not!
Mrs. Ross smiled and greeted the girls good morning. Then, she sat down at the table with them!
Poor Natasha, Peichi thought. You can tell she’s embarrassed. Kind of like the way I feel about Moosie being on the loose...I’ll have to tell her that later!
Fortunately, Mrs. Ross didn’t stay long. “I saw on the Chore Chart that you girls have cooking today,” she said brightly. “I’m sure tonight’s meal will be the most delicious one yet! Now, tell me, are you all having a good time? Are you warm enough? Do you need anything at all?”
“We’re fine, thanks,” Amanda spoke up, remembering her manners. “Are you having a good time?”
Mrs. Ross nodded. “Oh, yes, it’s beautiful up here,” she said. “Though I must admit, I prefer golf to skiing. Well, if any of you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask Mr. Ross or me. We promised your parents we’d take good care of you.” She leaned over to kiss Natasha on the cheek, then said, “Bye-bye! Have fun in the kitchen!”
As soon as her mother was out of sight, Natasha buried her head in her hands. “Argh!” she moaned. “I’m sorry, guys. It’s bad enough my mom treats me like a baby. But she should leave you guys alone!”
“No, Natasha, it’s fine,” Molly said. “We don’t mind.”
“Yeah,” echoed Elizabeth. “It’s kind of nice, the way your mom wants to look after you.”
Natasha remembered how Elizabeth had lost both of her parents in a car accident when she was just a baby, and immediately felt guilty. Real nice, she chided herself. You keep complaining about your parents, and Elizabeth doesn’t even have hers. Natasha decided then that she would stop complaining about her mom and dad—no matter how embarrassing they were.
The girls spent the morning on the slopes again. After lunch, they walked through the back of the dining room to the kitchen.
“I wonder what we’ll have to do to cook ‘colonially,’ ” Molly said. “Like, will we churn our own butter?”
“Well, we milked our own cows yesterday,” Amanda joked. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to churn our own butter, too!”
“Actually, all the milk our cows make is processed at Green Mountain Dairy down the road.” Mrs. Hudson entered the kitchen, tying an apron around her neck. “So we don’t have to churn our own butter, thankfully—it’s an awfully hard job! Now, let’s see, would everyone please write their names down on a name tag? We’ll begin as soon as the other group gets here.”
As Molly wondered which group would join them, the doors burst open. Angie strode into the kitchen, followed by the other cheerleaders in her cabin.
Shawn winced. The Chef Girls exchanged glances that said, Oh, no!
“Excellent! Everyone’s here!” Mrs. Hudson exclaimed. “I always begin the cooking sessions by giving a tour of what a colonial kitchen was like. Women did virtually all of the cooking. Ovens and stoves were rare—women usually cooked right over an open fire. It was a dangerous life. Many women died when their long dresses caught fire.
“Almost all kitchen utensils were made of wood—pewter tools were very expensive. Because cooking can be dangerous, we’ll be using modern tools. But our recipes are authentic! We’ll make corn chowder, frie chicken with cornmeal coating, mashed potatoes, and spiced carrot cake.”
After the tour, Mrs. Hudson assigned the kids to different jobs. Shawn was relieved to not be in Angie’s group. Hopefully, we can just stay out of each other’s way and everything will be fine, Shawn thought as she started grating carrots for the cake.
And everything was fine—until Shawn noticed Angie putting the cooked chicken back in the pan that had held the raw chicken pieces. “Angie! Don’t do that!” Shawn called across the kitchen.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Shawn, then Angie. Angie’s eyes narrowed. She looked angrier than Shawn had ever seen her.
“What’s the problem, Shawn?” Angie snapped, her face turning red.
“Um, you’re not supposed to put cooked meat back in the same dish that held raw meat,” Shawn tried to explain gently. “If the raw meat had any germs in it, the germs get all over the cooked meat. That’s one way people can get food poisoning.”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks, Shawn. You’re such a big help,” Angie sneered. “If you think you could do such a great job, why don’t you just do it yourself?” She threw her apron on the ground and stormed out of the kitchen, her long hair flying behind her.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“Well, goodness,” said Mrs. Hudson. “Shawn, would you please take over the fried chicken for us?”
Shawn nodded silently. As she passed Mrs. Hudson, she whispered, “I’m sorry. I was only trying to help.”
“No apologies necessary, dear! I’m glad you noticed. It would have been terrible if people had gotten sick.” Mrs. Hudson smiled at Shawn, but it only made her feel a little better.
That night at dinner, Peichi found another picture of Moosie at her place. This time, he was ice fishing with a tiny pole made out of a twig, with a paper fish taped to the end of the line. The girls cracked up as they passed the photo around.
“Omar’s going all out for this one,” Molly said. “I have to admit, I’m impressed.”
“I’m impressed with the dinner we made!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I’ve never cooked anything like this before. It’s so good!”
“Looks like everyone agrees with you,” Amanda said as she watched the other students and the chaperones eagerly eating the corn chowder and fried chicken.
“Everyone except Angie,” Shawn said in a quiet voice. “She’s only eating the salad.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Seriously, she is such a baby,” she whispered across the table. “I couldn’t believe the way she acted earlier. Like, grow up! It would have been so much worse if Shawn didn’t tell her about it. What if everybody got sick?”
“I guess Angie doesn’t think like that,” Elizabeth spoke up. “She was only thinking about herself.”
“Listen, not to totally change the subject or anything,” Peichi interrupted, “but who cares about Angie? We have bigger things to talk about. Like our prank tonight! Ooooh, it’s gonna be so funny!”
“Okay, okay,” Molly said with a laugh. “What’s the plan?”
“This one is called...Attack of the Alarm Clocks,” Peichi whispered, her eyes twinkling. “We only need one alarm clock in our cabin, right? But we all brought one.”
“Well, Amanda and I are sharing one,” Molly said.
Peichi waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. We still have six extra travel alarm clocks. So, after dinner, we’ll sneak into the guys’ cabin and hide the alarm clocks all over the place. And each one will be set for a different time. So they’ll be ringing at crazy hours all night long— midnight, one a.m., two-thirty a.m., three a.m.! And besides being woken up, like, six times during the middle of the night, they’ll have to find the alarm clocks before they can even turn them off! It’s gonna be great!” Peichi paused to take a deep breath, and the girls laughed.
“I love it! It’s genius!” Amanda cried.
“So, here’s what I was thinking,” Peichi continued. “We should have two people hide the clocks. And two people can be lookouts. How does that sound?”
“I’ll be a lookout,” Natasha quickly volunteered.
“Me, too,” Elizabeth said.
“Okay, I want to hide the clocks,” Peichi said.
“So do I!” Molly exclaimed.
“Sweet! Okay, at seven- thirty, the four of us should start to casually leave the lodge. Just one at a time, so no one gets suspicious. Then we’ll meet back at our cabin to set the alarms and get our flashlights.”
“Peichi, I’m impressed,” Iris said with a smile. “You’ve really thought this through.”
“You bet!” Peichi said cheerfully. “I just wish we could be there to see the guys’ faces every time the alarms go off!”
A few hours later, Molly, Peichi, Natasha, and Elizabeth huddled outside the boys’ cabin, ready to sneak inside.
“Natasha and Elizabeth, stand on either side of the path,” whispered Peichi. “Pretend like you’re walking to the lodge if anyone comes by. If there’s trouble, start talking really loud. Or hoot like an owl. Like this—hoot! Hoot!”
The girls tried to muffle their laughter, and Peichi rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay,” she said. “Just make sure you let us know if anyone is coming. We could get seriously busted if anyone finds us in the boys’ cabin.”
“Got it,” Natasha replied, nodding seriously.
“All right! Let’s do this!” Peichi whispered.
Silently, Molly and Peichi snuck into the boys’ cabin and turned on their flashlights. They scurried around the room, searching for the most difficult hiding places they could find. Peichi hid her first clock in the far corner of the room, behind someone’s suitcase; Molly hid one under a bed and another in a drawer of clothes, making sure to leave the drawer open just a bit so the sound would come through.
Peichi wanted to hide her last clock in the perfect place. She spotted a rectangular black case near someone’s bed. Great! she thought. I’ll hide the alarm clock in here, then hide the case! She quickly unzipped it, then covered up her mouth to keep from laughing.
“Check it out!” she whispered. “This case is full of shaving stuff! As if!”
Molly giggled. “I wonder which one of the guys pretends that he needs to shave,” she said slyly.
Suddenly, Natasha’s voice rang through the cabin. “Oh, hi, Connor!”
The girls froze.
Yipes! What are we gonna do now? Molly wondered, staring at Peichi with wide eyes.
“Sure! I’d love to go for a walk!” Natasha yelled.
Peichi crept over to the window.
“Natasha’s leaving with Connor,” she reported in a whisper. “We’d better get out of here! Are all the clocks hidden? Okay, let’s go!”
Molly and Peichi snuck out of the cabin and raced down the path with Elizabeth. When they reached the safety of their own cabin, they slammed the door behind them and started laughing hysterically.
“What happened? What happened?” Amanda shrieked.
“Ohmigosh, we almost got caught!” Peichi squealed. “Connor came down the path! But Natasha intercepted him, and they went on a walk or something.”
“They went on a walk?” Shawn asked. “That’s weird.”
Elizabeth pressed her hand over her chest. “Can you believe we almost got caught? Imagine if Connor had been with the rest of the guys! Or if their chaperone had come back!”
“That was a really close call,” Molly agreed. “But what a blast!”
“I wonder where Natasha and Connor are going,” Peichi said.
“We’ll just have to ask her all about it when she gets back,” Amanda said.
Connor didn’t say much as he and Natasha walked along the path. “So, um, where are we going?” she finally asked.
“It’s just up here a little way,” replied Connor. They passed Natasha’s cabin and came to a fork in the path. Natasha had never been down this way before.
Suddenly, Connor grabbed her arm. “Right here,” he said, gesturing out to a small clearing between the mountains. The full moon shone brightly on the untouched snow, which glittered like a million tiny diamonds.
“Wow,” Natasha breathed. “It’s so beautiful!”
“Yeah,” Connor said softly. “I took a walk out here last night. When I saw it, I thought of you. I, um, I thought you might like to see it.”
Natasha’s cheeks had turned pink from the cold, and her pale blue eyes sparkled. “Thanks for showing me. It’s amazing.”
They stood for a minute in silence. Eventually, Natasha turned to Connor to suggest they go back to camp, when, to her surprise, he leaned over and quickly brushed his lips against hers.
Whoa, Natasha thought, stunned. I didn’t see that coming! What do I do now?
“Are you, um, mad?” Connor asked nervously.
“No, I’m just, uh, surprised,” Natasha replied, blinking.
“Natasha?” asked a voice behind them.
Natasha turned around to see someone standing behind them on the path.
It was Mrs. Ross!
Oh, no! She must have seen Connor kiss me!
“Would you come here, please?” Mrs. Ross asked formally, a forced smile on her face.
Connor’s eyes grew wide. “Uh, see you tomorrow, Natasha. Good night, Mrs. Ross,” he stammered before hurrying away.
“Come back to my cabin. I want to talk to you,” Mrs. Ross said firmly.
Uh-oh, she’s really mad, Natasha thought as she climbed the stairs to Mrs. Ross’s loft.
“Exactly what is going on? Who was that? Was that that Connor boy? How long has this been going on? Natasha, I am just shocked that you have been sneaking around like this! When I tell your father—”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Natasha interrupted her mother. “Stop jumping to all these conclusions! Connor just told me he wanted to show me something, and then he suddenly leaned over and kissed me. I’m as surprised as you are!” Natasha looked her mother straight in the eye. “Please don’t be so suspicious of me! I don’t sneak around on you and Dad. But—I need some privacy!”
“Privacy? Natasha, I’m your mother. It’s my job to keep you out of trouble!”
“But why do you think I’m going to get into trouble?” Natasha asked. “I’ve always been a good kid. You can’t stop trusting me just because I’m a teenager now!”
Mrs. Ross sighed deeply and rubbed her temples. “Honestly, Natasha, I just don’t know if I’m ready to deal with you and boys,” she said.
“I know, Mom,” Natasha said quietly. “Molly and Amanda’s mom doesn’t let them date.” She took a deep breath. “I...like Connor. I do. And I guess he likes me, too. But there’s nothing else going on. I promise. And if he does ask me out or anything, I’ll tell you all about it.”
Mrs. Ross smiled at Natasha. “You’ll always be my little girl, sweetheart. That’s why it’s easy for me to forget you’re growing up. You’ll have to help me through it, okay? Let’s make a deal—you’ll keep Daddy and me informed, and we won’t jump to conclusions. And we’ll try to respect your privacy. Okay?”
“Okay, Mom,” Natasha replied, smiling. “I love you.”
“I love you, Natasha,” Mrs. Ross replied, brushing Natasha’s bangs off her forehead. “Well, it’s almost nine o’clock. I’ll walk you back to your cabin.”
“Just partway?”
“Okay.” Mrs. Ross chuckled. “I can do that.”
Late that night, after the other girls in Cabin Four had fallen asleep, Natasha lay awake, thinking about Connor—and about her first kiss. Natasha hadn’t told anyone else about it. It seemed too private, too special to share with the entire bunk.
I can’t believe he kissed me! Natasha thought dreamily. I wonder if he uses ChapStick. He smelled nice, too. Like apple soap or something...
Though Natasha had promised her mother that she wouldn’t start dating, she couldn’t help but wish she could kiss Connor again. Maybe someday, she thought, a small smile creeping over her face.
