Chapter Nine
It quickly became clear that it wasn’t a wild animal barreling toward Maisie, Naomi, and Sophia.
It was four people, with dark masks covering their faces, blasting away with water guns and silly string.
“Run!” Maisie shouted.
The Littles took off up the trail, going in the direction of their cabin.
“If we can just get inside…” Sophia puffed through labored breaths.
It was tough going up the slope, but Maisie managed to pump her legs hard, all while staying ahead of the attackers. Their guns had far reaches, though, and by the time the cabin came into view, she was soaking wet! What made it worse was sodden, heavy string hung in her hair, clung to her skin, and covered the back of her dress.
Yuck.
Naomi reached the cabin first and hurriedly punched in the code to unlock the front door. She held it open for her friends. “Hurry! Come on!”
Sophia and Maisie ran inside and then helped Naomi in. They all three slammed the door and Maisie locked it, breathing a sigh of relief.
Sophia and Naomi hurried to the window that was on the right and peered out.
“They’re still there!” Sophia cried.
As if on cue, a wet wad of string splattered on the window, causing her to jump back in fright, even though she was in no danger of being hit.
“Who are they?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but there are four of them,” Naomi said, the meaning of her words reaching Maisie loud and clear.
“Derek!” she said in anger, walking toward the window.
“That would be my guess,” Naomi said.
“It does make sense,” Sophia agreed.
They watched as the four assailants spread out and continued to send shots at the cabin. The water wouldn’t do anything. The string, though, would be a mess to clean up in the daylight.
The four continued to holler.
“They’re just trying to scare us now,” Maisie said. “And I’ve got a notion to go out there and give them a piece of my mind!”
“Don’t!” Sophia said. “You’ll get blasted!”
“I’m already covered in it,” Maisie said, though the thought of taking more string and water wasn’t exactly appealing. And this time, she’d be facing them instead of running away. They’d have clear shots at her face.
She kept her feet planted on the floor for a moment as she continued to watch out the window. A second later, three new people came around the bend, charging onto the scene.
“What’s going on here?” one of them yelled, their authoritative voice being heard even inside the cabin.
Maisie instantly recognized it as Declan, and her heart grew happy as a smile turned her lips upward.
“You all stop that right now!” a woman yelled. Even though it was dark, and the sound was muffled through the cabin’s walls, Maisie recognized it as the camp director, Chloe’s, voice.
She had no idea who the third person was.
The trio of Littles continued to watch the drama unfold outside. The four with the guns quickly scattered, disappearing in multiple directions, running away through the dense trees.
The three newcomers gave chase for a moment, but gave up quickly when it became evident that they wouldn’t catch up. Instead, they approached the cabin.
Maisie threw the door open. “You scared them off! My hero!” she cheered to Declan.
She wasn’t trying to lay it on thick. That was just her genuine reaction. Declan had rescued her and her friends, like a knight in shining armor.
He smiled as he stepped onto the porch. “We heard the screaming and came to investigate.”
“What happened exactly?” Chloe asked.
Going onto the porch, Maisie, Sophia, and Naomi explained.
“Hmm. Sounds like just a camp prank. Though I don’t like that level of shenanigans taking place under my watch. I won’t stand for it,” the camp’s director said.
The third man—who’d introduced himself as Marcus Johnson—shook his head. “Man, this crap is starting on the first night of the week. Dang.”
“This is normal?” Naomi asked.
“Unfortunately, we see our fair share of pranks,” Marcus answered.
“Are you all okay?” Declan asked, his eyes assessing the Littles.
“Yeah. Just…messy,” Maisie replied. She then blushed hard. “I don’t mean my diaper or anything.” She laughed uneasily. “It’s clean and stuff. Like…not messy.” She groaned and quickly looked away.
Gosh, Maisie, could you be any more awkward?
When she chanced a glance back at Declan, she saw he was smiling, and the look in his eyes indicated he found her cute.
Whew. She’d take cute. That beat awkward.
“Well, you best get cleaned up,” he said with a chuckle.
“And don’t worry about anything,” Chloe said. “We have security personnel who takes their jobs very seriously. They patrol at night. If any naughty Littles are running around playing pranks, they’ll be caught.”
“Thank you,” Maisie said.
She and her roomies watched the three Bigs trot off the porch. Part of her wanted to hug Declan but she didn’t want to be weird. So she just watched him go and waved back when he turned around and waved at her.
That was better than nothing, at least.
The Littles went back inside and locked the door.
“That was Derek and his friends. I know it was,” Maisie said.
“Does he even know where our cabin is to be waiting for us like that?” Sophia asked.
“Well, not that I know of,” Maisie admitted, suddenly second-guessing her suspicion. “You think maybe we were just the recipients of a random prank?”
It was Naomi who answered as she started pacing the main room, reminding Maisie of one of those movie detectives who gathers everyone in a house to review the evidence and piece all the clues together.
“Well, let’s think about it. The other cabins—the ones with Bigs staying in them and supervising—are back that way.” She jerked her thumb in the direction they’d walked earlier. “So are the Lovers’ Lane cabins. Toward the front of the camp. Along with the big tents.”
Maisie knew what she was referring to. Some Littles opted for a very authentic camp experience, sleeping in tents that were on elevated wooden platforms. Each one was big enough to hold seven beds. That was a little too primitive for her liking, hence the “glamping” cabin she’d chosen.
“Yeah?” she said.
“Well, it would be easy to verify that we weren’t in the tents. And they could have watched who went in and out of the other cabins,” Naomi continued. “Not to mention that they could have been looking out for us all day. We’ve made multiple trips to and from this place. It would have been easy for them to just follow us one of those times. There are plenty of trees and stuff to conceal someone.” She laughed. “We learned that the hard way tonight.”
“So you’re saying it was them!” Sophia chimed in.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Naomi said. “I’m just saying it’s possible. This Derek guy doesn’t seem to like you—” She looked at Maisie, “—any more than you like him.”
Maisie nodded. “That’s fair.”
“So,” Naomi went on, “he has motive.”
“Wow, you could be a detective!” Sophia noted.
Naomi looked proud as she giggled slightly. “Thanks. I am practicing for when I get a role. Or at least audition for one. What if I landed a police procedural show some day?”
“You’d be so great on it!” Sophia said.
“Sure would be,” Maisie agreed. “And I think you’re onto something. This seemed coordinated. Not random.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Naomi agreed.
Maisie was still pondering it all when she yawned. It caused a chain reaction, with Naomi and Sophia joining in.
“I think I need to go to bed,” Sophia said.
“Me, too,” Maisie said. She sighed. “Maybe tomorrow we can find out for sure who did this.” Her eyes lit up as a devilish smile took over her face. “And strike back.”
The other Littles giggled and nodded.
Tomorrow seemed as if it was going to be very, very naughty.