“No,” Maya says. “She doesn’t.”
“I can answer for myself, Maya,” Kaitlyn says. “And I would love some orange sauce.” So Addie and I whip up some orange sauce for Kaitlyn. We mix that mustard and ketchup up on a paper plate and then plop it right on her hot dog. Plop, plop, plop.
“You will love this orange sauce,” Addie tells her.
“Yes,” I say. “It is fabulous-o.”
“Thank you,” Kaitlyn says.
She gives me a big smile. And I give her one right back. I think maybe I will forgive her for being mean to me. I think we might even be sisters again.
After our campfire, I am very sleep, sleep, sleepy. It has been a very long weekend with a visit from Mr. Tuttle and a wrecked sand castle and finding a disaster area of a tree house. I think maybe my mom and dad are very tired, too. On account of how much golf my dad played. And on account of how my mom has been very busy taking Maya to get her hair fixed and helping her put on poison ivy lotion.
So we are all in bed falling asleep after our campfire. Until I hear some noises that are waking me up! And those noises are Kaitlyn and Maya sneaking right out of the camper! I see them going right out the door.
“Addie,” I whisper. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” I am poke, poke, poking her through her sleeping bag.
“Mmmm,” Addie says. She is rolling over and not really waking up even.
“Wake up!” I say again.
“What is going on?” Maybelle whispers. She is on the pillow next to me, and she is rubbing her eyes and looking very sleep, sleep, sleepy.
“Where have you been?” I ask.
“I have been off feeling sorry for myself,” she says. She takes a big sniff. Her nose is very red, red, red like maybe she has been crying.
“Well, I was very worried about you,” I say. “You missed dinner, and we had orange sauce and everything.”
“I love orange sauce!” Maybelle says.
“I know.” I try to wake up Addie Jokobeck again, but she is not waking up. So finally I have to give her a small little pinch on her arm.
“Ow!” She rubs her arm. But she is awake! “What’d you do that for?”
“You have to wake up,” I tell her. “Kaitlyn and Maya Greenbert have snuck right out of this camper! And we need to find out what they are doing. You know, like Russian Spies.” They are probably going down to that witch’s tree house. But I do not tell Addie Jokobeck about that. Since she is very afraid of it. And since we promised my dad we would not go back there without even crossing our fingers about it.
“Russian Spies is stupid,” Maybelle says. “Everything is a big old disaster of a mess.”
I gasp. “It is not stupid!” I say.
“What is not stupid?” Addie Jokobeck asks. Good thing she is still kind of half asleep.
“Oh, nothing,” I say. “Just talking to myself.”
“I think we should go back to bed,” Addie Jokobeck says. She is looking at the clock on the table next to us. The big hand is on the twelve, and the little hand is on the eleven. “The clock says it is eleven o’clock! I am not supposed to be up until eleven o’clock. Only on New Year’s. And even then, only if I get a special permission.”
“But Kaitlyn and Maya have snuck right out!” I say. “They are gone. So we need to follow them.”
I am up and out of bed, and I am putting on my Russian spy clothes of a black sweatshirt and sweatpants. Those clothes will blend in very good with the night, thank you very much.
“Hailey!” Addie whispers. “Please, please, please come back to bed.” She is sitting up and looking at me with very frightened eyes.
“It is okay,” I tell her. “I know you do not like going out to play Russian Spies. So you stay right in here where it is nice and toasty.”
“You can’t go out there all by yourself!” Addie says. I am not going to be by my own self. I am going to be with Maybelle. But Addie Jokobeck cannot know that. So she is getting up and out of bed. Because she does not want me to be by myself. That is called being one very true friend.
Addie Jokobeck puts on a black hat and black pants and black shorts and even black sneakers and socks. I do not have any black sneakers or socks. All I have are some purple flip-flops. I do not think Russian spies wear purple flip— flops. But they will have to do.
Then we go sneak, sneak, sneaking out of the camper. Quiet, quiet, quiet like two little mice. Three little mice if you count Maybelle. But she does not have to be quiet. On account of that no one can hear her anyway.
And then I spot them! Maya and Kaitlyn! They are ahead of us, walking very fast toward the beach.
Addie puts her hand out, and I take it. “Hailey, this is very scary,” she says.
“Yes, Hailey,” Maybelle says. “This is very scary. And it is not very fun.” Maybelle is not even wearing her spy clothes. That is how fast we ran out of there. It is a really good lucky thing that no one can see her.
“I am scared, too,” I say. Addie Jokobeck squeezes my hand. We take a few more steps, and then I cannot take it anymore. “I think we should maybe go back to the camper,” I say. All of a sudden I am starting to think this might not be the very best idea or plan. It is too dark, dark, dark out here. And there are mosquitoes that are biting me all up. And maybe even ghosts and vampires and ghouls that are lurking all around this place!
But then something horrible happens. We hear Kaitlyn and Maya say something about how they are going to the tree house. And I know they are talking about that tree house in the back of the woods that is very scary and dangerous and might even have a witch living back there!
“Did you hear that, Addie?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says. Her eyes are wide, wide, wide in the dark, like two very big circles. “Hailey, we should go and tell your mom and dad.”
“We can’t,” I say. “It will be too late. We have to follow them and make sure they are okay.”
So we go run, run, running after them. But Kaitlyn and Maya have very long legs. And by the time we catch up with them, we are already at the woods! And they are climbing up into that disaster area of a tree house.
“Maya! Kaitlyn!” I yell.
They turn right around. “What are you doing here, Hailey?” Kaitlyn asks. She seems very, very mad at me. I guess she has forgotten all about how nice I was to make her some orange sauce for her hot dog. “You are supposed to be home and in bed!”
“Yes, and so are you,” I tell her. I put my hands on my hips. “You cannot go up into that tree house, young lady!”
“Hailey is right,” Addie Jokobeck says. “It is not safe, not even one little bit. Your dad even said so!”
“Go home,” Kaitlyn hisses. “We are meeting our friends out here.”
Probably they are meeting some spiky— haired boys. Kaitlyn and Maya are really in love with spiky—haired boys. But spiky— haired boys are not a reason to get into a lot of danger!
“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Maybelle is saying. She is getting very scared about all of this. And I am, too, I must admit. And then Maya starts climbing up the ladder! To the tree house!
“Kaitlyn!” I yell. “Please do not go up there!”
“Hailey,” she says. “Go home right this instant!” And then before I know it, she is climbing up there behind Maya.
“Wow,” I say. “Those two really do not know how to listen to rules.” It is very different to be the one who is trying to get people to listen to rules. Now I know how Addie Jokobeck feels when she is trying to get me to listen to lots and lots of rules. It feels like a very big frustration.
And then something very bad happens. Kaitlyn and Maya are right up in that tree house! And then it starts to shake, shake, shake. And the ladder falls right down!
“Uh-oh,” I say.
“Uh-oh,” Addie Jokobeck says.
Maya screams. “Ahhhhh!”
I want to tell her that is what she gets for not listening to me. But I do not think this is the time to bring that up.
/> “Hailey!” Kaitlyn yells. “Push the ladder back up to us so that we can get down immediately!”
“Come on, Hailey,” Addie Jokobeck says. She is already over by the ladder trying to pick up that heavy thing.
“I will help you!” I yell. “Hailey Twitch to the rescue!” I grab one end of that ladder. But it is very, very heavy. Two heavy for two seven-year-old girls. But I am not giving up that easy. “Come on, Addie,” I say. “Use your strong muscles!”
Addie is using her strong muscles. And I am using my strong muscles. But it is just not enough. That ladder is very much too heavy for us.
“Hailey!” Kaitlyn yells. “Go and get Mom and Dad, quick!”
“Okay,” I say. “Me and Addie will go and get them. You two stay up there and do not move a muscle!” Which is a very funny thing to say when you think about it. Since they could not move a muscle even if they wanted to.
Addie and I start to rush, rush, rush right back to the camper to get my mom and dad. Even though now we are all going to be in very big trouble. Like the biggest trouble ever. It is going to be a very bad group of punishments at the Twitch house. And the Jokobeck house. And I am definitely going to be called a bad influence.
“Wait a minute,” Maybelle says. “I am going to use my magic to make that ladder lighter.”
“No,” I whisper. “You cannot do that, Maybelle! You are not very good at magic yet.” Maybelle might do something that is not helping the situation. Like make the ladder disappear maybe. And then we will be in even worse trouble than we are to begin with.
But Maybelle points her wand right at that ladder before I can stop her. She waves it all around, and the ladder lights right up with sparkles. And then Maybelle says, “Now try to lift it, Hailey!”
I do not think this is going to work. Because Maybelle is a very huge disaster with magic. But I say, “Addie, let’s try one more time.”
“Hailey, no!” she says. “We have to get your parents, let’s go! Maya is crying.” I look up. And Maya is crying. Big glop, glop, gloppy tears that are making a very big smudge out of her face. Wow. I guess she is not so tough after all.
“Please, Addie,” I say. “I know we can do it this time.”
So me and Addie lean down. And we push that ladder! And we pull it! And finally, it goes up!
And Maya and Kaitlyn come down from the tree house.
“Oh my God!” Kaitlyn says. “Thank you so much!”
“Thank you so much!” Maya says. And then they both throw their arms right around me and Addie. We are all hugging and laughing and feeling very relieved in our hearts.
And when I look over, Maybelle is grinning from ear to ear.
The next morning, we only have a few more hours before it is time to go home. My dad makes us some delicious breakfast sausages on the grill. And my mom makes us all scrambled eggs. And we sit around the picnic table and eat those eggs and spicy sausages right up!
“I think,” I tell Addie, “that we should put orange sauce on our eggs!” And I make some up before my mom can see and tell us no, no, no.
“Would you like some orange sauce on your eggs?” I ask Addie.
“Yes, please,” she says.
“Would you like some orange sauce on your eggs?” I ask Kaitlyn.
“Yes, please,” she says.
“Would you like some orange sauce on your eggs?” I ask Maya Greenbert.
“Yes, please,” she says. She gives me a smile.
And later, Maya Greenbert helps me pack up my stuff. And she even gives me one of her sparkly pink T-shirts that is too small for her now!
So maybe me and her are going to be friends.
When we get home from camp, I am very much exhaustified. It was a very long ride in that car. And then we had to bring Maya home. And Addie home. And Maybelle was driving me crazy since she was so happy about learning to use her magic. She kept singing this song that goes, “I am veryyyy good at maggggic, yes, I ammmm!” It is very stuck in my head now.
I am supposed to be in my room unpacking all of my things. But instead I am trying on the new pink T-shirt Maya gave me and admiring myself right in my mirror.
“Yes,” I am saying. “I am the very famous girl who made the stuffed animals come out of that machine. But there are no autographs, thank you very much.”
Then Kaitlyn is standing in my doorway.
“Hi, Hails,” she says.
“Hello, Kaitlyn,” I tell her.
“I just wanted to say thank you for helping us last night.” She sits down on my bed. “I’m sorry if Maya and I were mean to you.”
“That’s okay,” I say. “I know that sometimes I can be a pest.” It is very true. Sometimes I am a very big pest. Like when Kaitlyn will not let me in her room, and so I knock on the door over and over and over, forever and ever and ever, and I do not go away no matter what.
“You’re not a pest,” she says, giving me a hug. “You are the best sister ever.”
I am feeling very hap, hap, happy. And then Kaitlyn says, “Tomorrow me and Maya are going to the mall. You can come with us if you want.”
“Okay!” I say. It has always been my one true dream to go to the mall with Maya and Kaitlyn. They put on makeup and shop for clothes and order orange smoothies, and it seems very fun, fun, fun. I am hoping my mom will let me go and not remember about that punishment she owes me for playing Russian Spies.
“Maybelle!” I say when Kaitlyn is out of the room. “You have done so good! You saved the day—you saved Maya and Kaitlyn!”
“Yay, yay, yay!” Maybelle says. We are jumping up and down, and Maybelle is flying all over. I put my arms out and zoom all around and around the room. “I am a sprite, too!” I say. “I am a flying sprite!”
Then I stand up on my bed and jump right down. But I do not fly, of course. Because I am not a sprite, I am a girl. So I just land on the floor with a big thump.
“Hailey!” my mom yells. “What is going on up there?”
“Nothing!” I say. “Just doing some flying!”
“Flying!” she says. “Well, stop it this instant! And please come down here so that we can talk about your punishment.”
Drat.
“I guess we have to go downstairs,” I say to Maybelle. That is called facing the music.
But before we can, there is a flash of blue lightning, and Mr. Tuttle pops right up!
“Mr. Tuttle,” I say. “You need to get out of here immediately. I am very much late to find out my punishment.” But then I have a good idea. “Unless you are so good at magic that you can take away punishments.”
“No,” Mr. Tuttle says, looking at me through his glasses. “But don’t worry, this will not take long.” He looks down at his clipboard. “Is it true that Maybelle saved Kaitlyn Twitch and Maya Greenbert from a tree house?”
“Yes!” I say. “It was a very big disaster area of a tree house, and it had a ladder that was very heavy. It was even taller than me,” I explain. “And it weighed about three hundred pounds, I think.”
“Good,” Mr. Tuttle says. He makes a big check mark on his clipboard. “So it is all set,” he says. “Maybelle can go back to being a magic sprite.”
“Yay!” I say.
“Oh my goodness!” Maybelle says. She is very excited and clapping her hands.
But then Mr. Tuttle says something very horrible. He says, “Are you ready?”
And he holds his hand right out to Maybelle.
“Ready for what?” Maybelle asks.
“Yeah, ready for what?” I ask. This is sounding very suspicious.
“Ready to go back,” he says. “Now that you have learned to be fun, and have control of your magic, it is time for you to go back to the castle.”
“No!” I say. “Maybelle cannot leave! She can stay here and live here in the Twitch house with her magic.”
“Sorry,” Mr. Tuttle says. “But those are the rules.”
“Says who?” I ask.
“Says the Department of Magi
c,” Mr. Tuttle says.
Hmm. If there is one thing I am not so good with, it is rules. And so I am already coming up with a fab, fab, fabulous plan. A fab, fab, fabulous plan that will get me and Maybelle right out of those rules. A wonderful, perfect plan that will let her stay right here in the Twitch house!
“Excuse me, please,” I say to Mr. Tuttle in my very best polite voice. “But I would like to talk to Maybelle in private.”
I pull Maybelle right out into the hallway. And then I start to whisper my plan right into her ear…
Thank you so, so, so much to:
My awesome agent, Alyssa Henkin
My editor, Rebecca Frazer
Everyone at Sourcebooks for all their support, including Dominique Raccah, Kelly Barrales-Saylor, Kay Mitchell, Kristin Zelazko, and Aubrey Poole
My mom and dad
My sisters, Krissi and Kelsey
My BFFs, Kevin Cregg and Scott Neumyer
Lauren Barnholdt loves reading, writing, and anything pink and sparkly. She’s never had a magic sprite, but she does have four guinea pigs. She lives outside Boston with her husband. Visit her website and say hello at www.laurenbarnholdt.com.
Suzanne Beaky grew up in Gahanna, Ohio, and studied illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design. Her expressive illustrations are commissioned by children’s book, magazine, and educational publishers worldwide. She and her husband live in Kirksville, Missouri, with their cats who insist on sitting in her lap while she works and often step in her paint.
Lauren Barnholdt, Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch
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