Page 18 of Let's Go To Camp!

And it was heading straight toward the women.

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.