The Sign in the Smoke (Nancy Drew Diaries #12)(37)

“Where’s your proof?” she asked now, crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive posture. “Why on earth would I try to sabotage this camp? I came here when I was a kid! I love it here!”

I briefly explained what I’d already told Deborah. With every word that came out of my mouth, her eyes looked harder and angrier.

“And I found these in your bunk,” I said finally, gesturing to the book of matches and the wig that now sat on Deborah’s desk.

Bella let out a rueful laugh. She looked so angry and tense, I was ready for her to explode.

“Do you know why I have matches?” she asked. “And why I smelled like smoke last night? God, Nancy Drew, what kind of detective are you?’

I stared at her. “Because you . . . started the fire?” I asked, thinking it was pretty obvious.

“Nooooo!” Bella lifted her finger into the air and waved it in my face. “I’ve been burning sage to purify our cabin and keep the angry spirits out.” She turned to Deborah, her expression changing from furious to hopeful. “That’s what I was doing last night, when the fire must have been lit! I know it’s not really allowed, so I try to do it when no one else is there. I went back to the cabin as soon as I finished dinner and burned some sage. That’s why my clothes smelled like smoke later. But I didn’t see anything, I swear.”

Deborah looked unconvinced. “That doesn’t explain the wig, Bella. Or the sneakers.”

Bella sighed. “The wig. I brought the wig for the same reason I brought the sparkly dress. I was going to get all dressed up for the end-of-camp party,” she said.

Deborah raised her eyebrows. “End-of-camp party?”

“Don’t you remember?” Bella asked. “The kids at Camp Larksong always talked about this big costume party the counselors had after the kids left at the end of the week. I figured, since it was a Camp Larksong tradition, we’d be doing the same at Camp Cedarbark.”

Deborah closed her eyes. “I remember,” she said. “But the end-of-camp dance was called off the last year of Camp Larksong because . . . well, because. I didn’t plan to keep the tradition going here. I’m not sure why you would just assume we’d be having the dance.”

“I told you,” Bella said. “Because I thought Camp Cedarbark would be the same as Camp Larksong. And I wanted to be prepared.”

“Why silver?” I asked, not bothering to try to hide my skepticism. “You just happened to bring a silver wig and not, say, pink or blue or any color not worn by a fake ghost in the lake?”

Bella looked at me like she was almost afraid. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said. “I wore that wig for my Halloween costume two years ago. I thought it looked really cute on me. That’s all.”

“What about the sneakers?” I pressed.

Bella looked at me with disdain. “You mean the same Converse sneakers every other teenager in America wears? Yeah, that’s some real incriminating evidence there.”

I glanced at Deborah, wondering whether she was buying this. Her expression told me she wasn’t. “I’m sorry, Bella,” she said after a few seconds. “But I just don’t believe you. I’m not going to press charges, but I want you to leave this camp immediately. Call your parents from this phone to pick you up, and I’ll escort you over to pack your things. I can’t put my campers at further risk. I can’t. And if you try anything to further sabotage this camp, I will call the police.”

Bella shook her head like she couldn’t believe this. “You have no proof!” she cried. “I’ll sue you! We’ll sue!”

Deborah looked tired. “If you want to sue me over losing one day of your summer job, Bella, have at it. But I’m afraid you still have to leave.” She began walking toward the door, and I stepped aside to let her pass. She took Bella’s arm as she passed her and said, “Come on.”

Bella glared at her, then turned her ferocious stare on me. “I won’t forget this, Nancy,” she said in a low voice. “If our paths ever cross again . . . Mark my words, you’ve made a lifelong enemy!”

With that, she whirled around and followed Deborah out of the cabin. I watched them walk across the clearing, past the burnt GO HOME message in the grass, and toward Bella’s cabin.

Well, I thought, straightening up as the words lifelong enemy replayed in my mind, you certainly won’t be the first.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





Stormy Night


“ARE WE ALMOST THERE YET?” Kiki asked, grabbing my arm and walking up beside me. “Just kidding! Ha-ha! Remember the first day when we hiked to the creek, what wusses we were? This feels like nothing now.”

I smiled, but I couldn’t quite agree with her. We were making the long hike up Hemlock Hill to the site of the camp-wide campout, and my legs were burning. Of course, some of my tiredness might just have been from the fact that it had been a long day for me. After Bella’s parents came to pick her up—they hadn’t seemed terribly thrilled by Deborah’s decision either—I’d had lunch with my bunk and a session of serious friendship bracelet-making. It was only about five o’clock, but I felt ready to climb into my sleeping bag and say good night to this day.