“Make me!” I cried.
Uncle Joey shrugged. “Okay, I will. You're on latrine duty for a week, Max.”
I turned angrily to Tara. “Thanks a lot!” I shouted.
“You're welcome,” Uncle Joey said. “Now get back to your cabin.” He crossed his arms and glared at me.
I had no choice. I had a hundred things I wanted to ask Nicky and Tara. But with Uncle Joey watching, I turned and trudged up the path to the cabins.
Owls hooted in the trees. A strong breeze off the lake made the trees creak and shiver. Flying low overhead, a bat fluttered back and forth across the path.
I was almost to my cabin when I heard the whispers.
“Max … Maaaaaax … ”
Again. Someone whispering my name. From the empty cabin in the woods. The Haunted Cabin.
“Maaaaaaaax … ”
No. Not from the cabin. Too close.
Right behind me!
I spun around—and stared at the two insect creatures.
Taller than me, standing on their back legs. Buzzing excitedly. Whispering, “Maaaax … Maaaax … ”
Their tiny black eyes glowed in the moonlight. Their antennae rattled over their heads.
I let out a loud gasp and tried to run.
But they were too fast for me. One scrabbled in front of me, and I stumbled into it. Its ribbed chest felt hard as iron.
The other one bumped me from behind.
“Maaax. Maaax.” A raspy, metallic sound.
“Too slow, Max. You're too slow.”
“We need the pendant now. We warned you.”
“Too slow.”
“And now it's too late.”
With loud grunts, they shoved their hard ribbed bodies against me. One from in front, the other from behind.
Pain jolted my body.
They're crushing me, I realized.
They're not going to wait for Colin.
They're crushing me right now.
21
MY CHEST ACHED. I couldn't breathe.
I felt the warm vibrations of their chests as they tightened themselves against me, pressing harder, smothering me against their insect bodies.
Then I heard a loud crack.
My bones breaking!
But no. I heard a soft explosion. And then a powerful stinging odor spread over me.
It took me a second to realize what it was. The can of bug spray. Crushed between the two creatures, the can had exploded.
The stinging mist floated up around us.
I heard the creatures sigh.
Their chests went soft. I could feel the ribbed flesh collapsing.
They toppled off me and began to stagger crazily, coughing and sputtering. Their antennae drooped. The glow faded from their tiny round eyes. They grabbed at their chests, wheezing, heads tossed back, roaring hoarsely like elephants.
And then they collapsed. Their bodies made a wet smacking sound as they hit the muddy ground. Their heads slid into their shells. Their spindly legs curled into their chests.
They didn't move.
Dead. The two creatures were dead.
I stood over them, still panting. I pressed my hands to my knees and struggled to catch my breath.
The two insect creatures were dead. But I knew I couldn't celebrate. I knew Phears was still around.
Waiting to pounce.
Phears would be angry now. Phears would be coming after me soon.
And I knew it would take more than a can of bug spray to get rid of him.
22
AFTER KILLING TWO DANGEROUS CREATURES, mop-ping the latrines wasn't that difficult. In fact, it helped take my mind off my troubles. I held the mop in one hand and pinched my nose with two fingers of my other hand. No problem.
I mopped all six latrines after breakfast, and it only took an hour. While I worked, I made up word games in my head.
Did you know that an anagram for SmallCAMP SNAKE LAKE is SNEAK LAME PACK?
I know. It doesn't make any sense. But what do you expect from someone cleaning toilets?
I did the word games to keep my mind off Colin and the pendant and Phears. Artie told me that Colin was supposed to return from his canoe trip later that afternoon.
It was a chilly gray day. Dark storm clouds gathered overhead. In the woods, a white blanket of fog rolled along the ground.
Right after lunch, the rain started to come down. Thunder cracked overhead. We all gathered in the lodge.
Uncle Joey showed a movie on the big-screen TV. It was a Jackie Chan film, very funny with lots of kicking and guys flying through the air.
The girls groaned and complained about how stupid and violent it was. But the guys liked it.
Some kids sat cross-legged on the floor. Some sprawled on their backs and used other kids for pillows.
The rain pattered down on the roof of the lodge, making it hard to hear the movie. I couldn't concentrate on it anyway. I knew Colin would be back in camp any minute.
About halfway through the film, I sneaked out the back door. I stood outside the lodge and let the rain pour over me. It was almost as dark as night. I squinted into the eerie gray light, watching for my brother.
To my right, the pounding rain had turned the dirt path to the cabins into a river. To my left, the lake stretched dark and still. Raindrops sparkled like little diamonds as they hit the surface.
Thunder rumbled, far in the distance now. And I saw a pale streak of lightning high in the gray-purple sky.
I sighed. I could be home safe and sound in my room. Instead, here I was somewhere far out in the woods, surrounded by ghosts.
And just as I thought about ghosts, Nicky and Tara appeared in front of me. I watched the raindrops fall right through them and hit the ground at their feet.
They were standing in the rain, but they weren't getting wet.
“What's up, Max?” Tara asked.
“Is Colin back?” Nicky asked.
I opened my mouth to answer them but stopped. A figure moved down by the lake. A chill swept down my back. Phears?
No. I recognized Colin. Colin back from his trip, dragging a canoe, holding it upside down over his head as an umbrella. He was moving slowly, like some kind of lumbering animal.
“Th-there he is,” I said, pointing.
“Let me handle this,” Tara said, blocking my path.
“Handle it?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“He can't see me, right? I can just pull open his shirt and remove the pendant before he knows what's happening,” Tara said.
“But—but he's really strong. He'll fight you,” I said.
“I'll go with you,” Nicky said. “I'll hold Colin's arms behind him while you get the pendant off.”
“Let me help,” I said.
Tara pushed me back. “It's our mom and dad inside the pendant,” she said. “Let us rescue them, Max.”
Nicky and Tara became invisible.
The wind shifted, splashing cold rain in my face. Wiping it away, I watched my brother move slowly across the lakeshore. And I crossed my fingers.
23
THE RAIN POUNDED down hard. Colin trudged along the shore, holding the aluminum canoe over his head. Suddenly, the canoe rose into the air.
Colin let out a startled cry. He gripped the sides of the canoe. I knew Nicky and Tara were trying to pull it away from him. I watched my startled brother struggle to hold on.
“Stupid wind!” Colin shouted.
Did he really believe it was the wind?
Finally, the canoe appeared to sail away from him. It landed upside down on the ground. Colin stared down at it, looking confused.
Colin's hands suddenly flew behind his back. His eyes bulged. “Hey—!” he cried out. “Let go! Who's there?”
He was wearing a long-sleeved plaid shirt over a T-shirt. I watched the buttons start to come undone, one by one from the top down.
Hurry, Tara, I thought.
Colin stared down goggle-eyed as his shirt appeared to
unbutton itself. He squirmed and struggled. But he couldn't free his arms.
The third button came undone—and Colin's shirt flew open, flapping in the wind.
Colin let out a frightened shriek. Now he knew it wasn't the wind! The wind doesn't unbutton your shirt!
He squirmed and ducked and tried to twist free of whatever was holding him. “Who's there?” he screamed again. “I can't see you! Let me go!”
I loved watching him squirm. He always made fun of my ghost stories. Maybe he'd believe me the next time I told him I was haunted!
Suddenly, Colin dropped onto his back and started to kick his feet. “Stop it! Stop it!” he shouted, wriggling like a worm. “I'm ticklish!”
His open shirt flapped in the wind. “Max! Max!” Tara's shout rang out over the roar of the wind.
“Tara—what's wrong?” I called.
“It isn't here!” she screamed. “He isn't wearing it!”
24
“NOOOOOO!” I opened my mouth in a furious cry.
He stole that pendant from me, I thought, and we really need it.
A wave of anger swept over me.
That big jerk can't keep it from us!
I took off, running across the rain-soaked grass. My sneakers splashed up waves of water as I ran.
“Colin!” I shouted. “Colin! Colin!” I just kept shouting his name.
He jumped to his feet, his eyes wide with surprise. “Max? What are you doing out here? What's your problem?”
I lowered my head and ran right into him. I wrapped my arms around his knees and tackled him to the ground.
We both landed hard. “Way to go, Max!” I heard Nicky shout.
“Give me my pendant!” I screamed in a high, hoarse voice. “Give it to me! Give it to me!”
I climbed on top of Colin and sat on his chest.
He lay on his back, gasping in shock.
He'd never seen me lose it like this before. After all, he was the big tough dude and I was the weak geeky shrimp.
Only this time, I really wanted something. I was going to get that pendant back no matter what Colin did.
“Give it to me! Give it!” I started pounding his chest with my fists. “Give it!”
“Okay, okay.” Colin raised both hands in surrender. “Okay. No problem, Maxie. You can have your stupid, babyish pendant back.”
“Really?” I said, breathing hard.
“Just get off me, man. I'll give it to you. Promise.”
“No tricks?” I said.
“No tricks.”
Slowly, I climbed off his chest and stood up. My legs were shaky. My heart pounded in my chest. We were both drenched.
I knew Nicky and Tara were watching. But they were still invisible.
Colin kept his eyes narrowed at me. I think he was still in shock because little Maxie overpowered him like that.
So was I!
I pushed my wet hair out of my eyes. “Where is it?” I asked Colin. “Do you have it?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I have it. Why is it so important?”
“It's mine,” I said. “That's all.”
“It's definitely not around his neck,” Tara said. “He might be lying.”
“Where is it, Colin?” I demanded, holding out my hand for it. “Come on. Give.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “You really are a weird little creep, Max.”
“Save the compliments, okay?” I said.
“And of course I'm going to pound you to sawdust later. You're sawdust. You realize that, right, man?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Right. I'm sawdust. Give it, Colin.”
He reached into his jeans pocket and … pulled out the pendant.
Yesssss! He had it!
He held it high above my head. “You want it, Maxie? You want the pendant so badly? Well … you can have it. Go chase it!”
He pulled back his arm—and flung the pendant far out into Snake Lake.
25
I WATCHED IT DROP into the water. It made a little splash, bobbed on the surface for about five seconds, then sank out of sight.
“Ohhhhh.” A low moan escaped my open mouth.
Colin ran off, laughing at the top of his lungs.
Nicky and Tara appeared. They didn't look happy.
Tara turned away so I wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. Nicky stared down at the muddy ground, his hands shoved into his pockets.
Gusts of wind whipped the lake water into waves. The sky grew even blacker.
“Now what?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“You have to go get it, Max,” Tara said, wiping tears off her cheeks.
“Huh? Out in the middle of the lake?” I cried.
“If Mom and Dad are inside it … ” Nicky's voice trailed off.
“We can't leave them at the bottom of the lake,” Tara said. “We have to rescue them.”
“But what if the pendant is empty?” I said. “What if it's just a pendant?”
They stared at me and didn't answer.
I knew the answer anyway. We had to make sure.
I wiped rainwater from my face. I gazed out onto the dark lake. “It's supposed to be filled with snakes,” I said. “But it isn't true. I saw Colin and his friends swimming here. The rumors can't be true.”
“I have my eye on the spot where the pendant landed,” Tara said. “Go now, Max. Hurry. Get some goggles. Get a flashlight. You'll find it. I know you will.” Her voice cracked.
“Great day for a swim,” I said.
I turned and ran up the path to the cabins. My sneakers slid in the muddy grass. As I trotted by, I could hear the sound of the movie playing in the lodge.
Everyone else is dry and comfortable and having fun, I thought. And I'm going diving in that dark, creepy lake in a pounding rainstorm.
I was shivering as I pulled open the cabin door and stepped inside. The cabin smelled stale and moldy. Rain drummed on the flat roof, and water splashed down the windows.
My soaked sneakers squeaked on the floor-boards as I made my way to the chest where I kept my swimsuits.
“Hey, Max—what's up?”
The voice startled me. I jumped a mile.
Jakey gazed up at me from his bunk. He was sprawled on his back, reading a manga comic.
“Jakey, I didn't see you,” I said, catching my breath. “What are you doing in here? Why aren't you watching the movie in the lodge?”
He shrugged. “Too scary. So I came back here.”
I grabbed my swim trunks. Billy Wilbur had a pair of goggles hanging by his bunk. I grabbed them, too.
I pulled off my wet clothes and changed into the swim trunks.
“What are you doing?” Jakey asked, sitting up.
“Going for a swim,” I said.
“But it's pouring!” he cried.
“I love swimming in the rain. It's my favorite,” I lied. “Totally refreshing.”
Jakey stared at me, frowning.
“Whenever it rains back home, I run out as fast as I can and go swimming,” I said.
“Cool,” he muttered. But I could see he didn't believe me.
I straightened the swim trunks. Pulled the goggles onto my forehead. And grabbed a waterproof flashlight off the shelf by the door.
“See ya,” I called to Jakey.
He said something, but I was already out the door, back in the roar of the rain.
“Oh, wow!” I cried out as the cold water swept over my bare shoulders. I ran barefoot down the muddy path, splashing as I went.
Nicky and Tara were waiting at the shore. “Out there,” Tara said, pointing. “Swim straight out, Max. Keep in a straight line from here, and you'll find it.”
“Good luck,” Nicky said, his voice a whisper in the roar of rain.
And then they both disappeared, leaving me alone on the shore. Shivering, I gripped the flashlight tightly as if hanging on to a life preserver.
With a trembling hand, I pulled the goggles down over my eyes. I clicked on the flashlight and sent
a yellow beam of light out over the dark, tumbling water.
I thought about snakes. I couldn't help it.
I pictured them crawling along the muddy lake bottom. Fat, long snakes, their triangular heads raised as they slithered, tangling and untangling together. Tiny black eyes moving rapidly back and forth.
Waiting … watching for someone to swim by. Their jaws clamped tight … waiting … waiting for a chance to snap.
No. No way. Max, you saw the junior counselors swimming here. There are no dangerous snakes in Snake Lake.
I knew that was true. But I couldn't help thinking about them. I couldn't stop picturing them as I stepped into the lake.
My feet sank into the muddy bottom. The cold water washed over my ankles.
“Here goes,” I muttered, and walked deeper into the dark water.
26
A FEW STEPS IN, the soft bottom dropped away. The water rose to my waist.
I stopped for a moment to catch my balance. The air was so cold, the lake water actually felt warm. The waves were gentle. They tickled my skin as they rolled past.
I bent my knees and dropped underwater. Something else tickled my skin.
Whoa. Wait.
Only lake grass. Remember the lake grass, Max. Don't panic.
I kept the flashlight close and beamed it straight down. Staring through the goggles, I could see the mud of the lake bottom and tiny plants rippling with the current.
I straightened up. Pushed off with both feet. And started to float.
It was hard to move forward with the flashlight gripped in one hand. I kicked hard and tried to float in a straight line.
Something tickled my leg. I turned and ducked my head under the water. The flashlight beam fell on a cluster of snakelike weeds bobbing near the surface.
Stop thinking about snakes, Max, I told myself again.
The wind gusted hard. Rain washed into my face. I dove underwater, where it was calmer and warmer.
Floating facedown, I swept the light ahead of me. No sign of the pendant. The muddy bottom rippled and swirled beneath me.
I bobbed up and turned to shore. My eyes widened when I saw how far out I had swum.
Colin couldn't have thrown the pendant this far out. Should I swim back?