Bats and Bones (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries) by Karen Musser Nortman

Author:Karen Musser Nortman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-11-08T23:00:00+00:00

********************

Happy Camper Tip #10

Glow Sticks: This wonderful invention is perfect for camping. Glow sticks can be formed into bracelets, necklaces, and dog collars to keep track of kids and pets in dark campgrounds. Kids can play tag with them and tape them to the spokes of their bikes. The only drawback is that my grandchildren believe they will last longer in the freezer, so it is not unusual for our freezer to rain glow sticks upon opening.

Chapter Eleven

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING

In spite of her late night, Frannie woke about 6:00 and lay looking at the soft morning light coming through the window blinds on her side of the bed. Suddenly she remembered the early morning search Agent Sanchez had planned. She sat up. Larry was already gone. She got up and, welcoming the early morning chill, pulled on old gray sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt and brushed her teeth. Outside, Cuba lay already tethered and raised her head to check out Frannie with only mild interest. She dropped her head back on the ground, worn out from too much excitement and activity the night before. There was no human activity that Frannie could see, and certainly none that Cuba was interested in.

The morning air was crisp and twenty degrees cooler than the morning before. At first it seemed like typical early morning quiet, but as Frannie listened, she could make out the distant sounds of people going through the woods. She headed straight out from the campsite into the woods in the direction Randy had gone the afternoon before.

Stepping over branches and watching out for poison ivy and stinging nettle, she fervently wished that a steamy mug of coffee would appear on one of the stumps along the way. She hadn’t even thought to bring water. However there was plenty on the ground. About every third step, her foot sunk into mud or a small pool of rainwater. At first she headed downhill into a gully, and as she got close to the bottom, she caught a glimpse of a couple of people going up the other side. They were moving slowly back and forth using walking sticks to check the underbrush. She could hear occasional calls of “Randy! Randy Burton!” Brigadoon again.

Bug spray. She had forgotten that also and spent a lot of energy swatting the pests. She could see now that one of the searchers directly ahead of her was Mickey.

“Mickey! Wait up!”

He turned and waved. She huffed and stumbled up the hill until she caught up with him.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” He gave her one of his famous—or infamous—grins.

“Couldn’t get to sleep last night, as tired as I was. Why is it always like that?” She batted the mosquitos swarming around her head.

“Bug juice?” he asked producing a bottle from a cargo pocket.

“You are a lifesaver!” She took the bottle from him and splashed some on her face, neck and arms, smelling like a chemical lab.

“I guess that’s what we’re all trying to do.” He became serious, unusual for him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.