Camp Nowhere by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page B

back and get the canoes,” Marty said.
    “Get the canoes? Why?” Erin asked.
    “We’ll need them to get back to camp,” Marty replied. “You don’t want to walk all the way back, do you? It would take days.”
    “He’s right,” I agreed. “Let’s get the canoes.”
    We turned and started back. Our shoes crunched over the sand and rocks.
    “Paddling upstream is going to be rough,” Erin muttered.
    “Once we’re past these rapids, we’ll be fine,” Marty told her. “Besides, you want to work on those biceps, right?”
    Erin rolled her eyes in reply.
    “Wow. Look at that tree,” Charlotte said, pointing. “Weird. I don’t remember passing that.”
    The tree was twisted and gnarled. The trunk bent in the middle. The leaves were faded and gray. It reminded me of a bent-over old man.
    “I don’t remember it, either,” I said. “And look at those birds!”
    I was staring at a wall of vines, covered with bright red berries. Dozens of blackbirds clung to the vines, hungrily pecking up the berries.
    “Weird. The birds look as if they’re growing out of the vines,” Marty said.
    “Did we pass this before?” Charlotte asked. “I don’t remember the blackbirds or that bent tree.”
    The riverbank grew rockier as we followed the curve back toward the falls. The five of us started tojog as we neared the canoes.
    Charlotte stopped suddenly. She turned to the rest of us, her face twisted in confusion. “Where are they?” she murmured, “Where are the canoes?”
    I stepped beside her, my eyes searching the riverbank. “Are you sure this is where we left them?” I asked.
    “Yes, of course,” Charlotte replied sharply.
    I swallowed hard. And stared at the empty ground.
    “Th-they’re gone,” I whispered.

15
    “Did they slide into the water?” Charlotte asked.
    We turned and stared downriver. No canoes bobbing in the water.
    Marty and David ran farther along the bank, searching both sides of the river. They stopped when they reached the tiny falls and came walking slowly back.
    “No canoes,” David said.
    “I don’t see them anywhere,” Marty called.
    David shook his head and frowned as he stared at the brown river. “Do you think someone took them?” he asked.
    “No way,” I replied. “Who would take them? There’s no one around for miles.”
    “Except for Ramos!” Erin exclaimed, her eyes flashing. “I’ll bet he sneaked back here through the woods. Waited for us to leave. Then he hid the canoes to pay us back for our little joke.”
    I bent down and examined the sand. “No way,” Isaid. “There are no tracks in the sand. Check it out.”
    We all stared at the sandy ground. No slide marks from the canoes.
    No tracks at all.
    Erin’s mouth dropped open. “And no footprints,” she muttered.
    “She’s right,” I agreed. “If Ramos had returned, he would have left footprints.”
    “Whoa! Wait a minute!” Marty exclaimed. He pulled off his baseball cap again and squinted down at the ground. “Where are our footprints?”
    We all turned to Marty.
    “Our footprints are gone, too,” he said. “This is where we started walking, right? When we tried to follow Ramos? Well? Where are our footprints?”
    I gazed down at the ground. Marty was right. The sand was totally smooth.
    A chill prickled the back of my neck.
    What is going on here? I asked myself.
    I gazed at the smooth, sandy ground, thinking hard. “It means we’re standing in the wrong place,” I said. “This isn’t where we left the canoes. Let’s keep walking.”
    “But this has to be the spot,” Charlotte insisted. “Look. The falls.” She started to point—and let out a startled cry.
    “Oh, wow,” Erin muttered.
    We all saw it at once. The tiny, trickling falls had vanished!
    “But that’s impossible!” Erin gasped. “First our canoes. Then the falls…”
    “We’re definitely in the wrong place,” Charlotte muttered.
    “We’d better start walking,” Marty said. “I’m starving already. And