The Tree House Mystery

Chapter 18

Ned and I stand up and emerge out of the bush we were hiding behind, dusting ourselves to remove the dried leaves sticking to our body and clothes.

"We need to do something," I say, looking him straight in the eyes, once I am done.

"You're right. They must be smuggling goods, but what? And how do we find out?" He asks.

I look over to the spot in the trees on the other side of the stream, where the men had vanished, and try to think how we could stop them. I suddenly remember the hole in the ground where my feet had got stuck yesterday.

"Ned, I need to tell you something."

But is it the right time to tell him? I have a hunch, and to me, it's quite strong. Nevertheless, I decide to keep that to myself until my suspicion is confirmed.

Ned nods, signaling for me to continue.

"Umm...uh...right. So, yesterday, I was talking to Jade, and...she told me that Raquelle and Robert don't get along so well with each other. I mean, Raquelle's quite nice to everyone, and so I thought, you should ask Robert the reason why he's so rude and brash to her. Will you?" I mentally face-palm myself for making up such a weird story. But then, it's not often that I have to lie, so of course I'm far from being good at it.

Ned looks somewhat confused too, at first, because of the abrupt change in the topic of conversation; but then his expression quickly changes to one of concern, and he smiles and nods at me to assure me that he will.

I smile back at him, feeling very bad for hiding something from him. But I know I'll tell him as soon as I know for sure that I'm correct.

"We'll think about what those men were planning, later. First, we need to get back to camp or else someone will find us, and then..."

"...we're screwed! Come on, Ashlee, race me back to camp!" Ned completes my sentence and takes off running.

I follow behind, my speed increasing by the minute. Not many people know how good of an athlete I am, so in about a minute I reach camp, where more students are awake now, milling about the camp packing and cleaning up things. Ned follows me, late by just a second, and I shoot a triumphant smile at him before waving and jogging to my own tent.

"Ashlee! Where've you been?" Jade asks, crossing her hands over her chest, and giving me a stern look.

Raquelle tries to copy her, but ends up looking more comical instead, and I start giggling hard.

She too cracks a grin and starts laughing. But Jade still remains firm, not a hint of a smile on her face. I quickly control myself seeing the same expression still on her face, and say, "I just went for a stroll. It was a heavenly morning, and two sleepyheads weren't about to wake up at 5:30, so I had to go alone." I shrug, completing my answer.

"And has your leg healed enough for you to go on your own?" Jade demanded to know.

"Yes, Sir!" I say and adopt a straight-backed, serious posture as if obeying the command of a high-ranking military officer.

"Good. Because we were planning to go on an adventure today." Jade says, a glint in her green eyes and a wide grin on her face.

"Adventure?" Now it's my turn to be confused, as I look between Jade and Raquelle, who're exchanging mischievous glances.

"Yep," Raquelle says, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the tent.

"Wait. Care to explain to me, what's going on?" I look back at Jade, who's following us.

"Nah. Not yet. You'll see for yourself, in just a while. But first, we'll get breakfast with the others and then start on our adventure." Raquelle winks at me and says, before pulling out a chair for me and making me sit down at the makeshift dining table, which is fast filling up with students.

Jade and she take seats just beside me so that on my left is Jade and Raquelle is on the right. When I look up to see who's across from me on the table, I'm surprised to see Ned. Interestingly, on his right is Evan and on his left, Jack, who's just getting seated, seemingly after getting Ned seated in a similar fashion as Jade and Raquelle here got me seated.

Just then Ned looks up too, and seeing me in front of him apparently surprises him as well. I smile at him, and he smiles back. Then we both begin eating hungrily, gorging on the tasty food laid out on our plates, served by a group of campers who had this duty as punishment for losing some game.

I finish my breakfast almost at the same time the others do, so we get up and carry our plates to the makeshift sink, to wash them. Of course we're made to do this, because by now, according to Ms. Bella, we should be able to do everything our parents or someone else does for us in daily life, be it at home or at school. And I admit she's quite right; we're fifteen now, and we should know everything necessary to survive on our own. I guess.

When we're all done, the teachers give us an hour free to roam around the place as much as we like so that we can feel light again after eating, and proceed to do some adventure camp activities.

It's now that we all gather in a big group—Jade, Raquelle, Robert, Evan, Jack, Ned and me—and as soon as we're ready and assembled, Jade takes charge.

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Oops! Sorry, I intended to update yesterday, but so much happened that I really couldn't. And sorry, also, for the short and uneventful chapter. :(

Anyway, no more updates until after Christmas, so from my side. . . A Merry Christmas to all, and a very Happy New Year!! :D

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