Free The Case of the Cool-Itch Kid by Blanche Sims

CHAPTER 1
    D AWN B OSCO LOOKED around her room. “What a mess.”
    Boxes were all over the place.
    So were clothes.
    Orange and white T-shirts.
    A shiny red bathing suit.
    Blue plaid socks.
    “Hurry,” said Noni, her grandmother. “Get dressed. Everything has to go into the suitcase.”
    Dawn sat on her bed. “I think I changed my mind.”
    Her mother popped her head in the door. “Camp day. Camp Wild-in-the-Woods.”
    “I guess I’m not going after all,” said Dawn.
    “Just think,” said Noni. “Swimming in Lake Wild-in-the-Woods.
    Dawn shivered. “Snakes.”
    “Walks in the woods,” said her mother.
    “Bears,” said Dawn.
    Noni looked up at the ceiling. “Horseback riding.”
    “I forgot about that,” Dawn said.
    “Cookouts with marshmallows,” said her mother.
    “You’re right,” said Dawn.
    She pulled on her Polk Street School T-shirt.
    She yanked on her sneakers.
    She stood up and hopped over her suitcase.
    She landed on her Polka Dot Detective Box.

    The box sailed across the room.
    Dawn sailed with it.
    She banged her head on the floor.
    “Ouuuu-ch.”
    “Rub it hard.” Noni clicked her teeth. “Why are you taking that detective box anyway?”
    “I never went to western camp before.”
    Noni smiled. “You never went to any camp.”
    “I know.” Dawn swallowed. “That’s why I have to take everything.”
    Dawn’s father came down the hall. “Hurry. You’ll miss the bus.”
    “Ready?” asked Noni.
    Dawn looked around. “Not ready.”
    Noni sighed. “Now what?”
    “My hat. The one that says POLKA DOT PRIVATE EYE .”
    “The bus is across the street,” her brother, Chris, yelled. “It’s in front of the Polk Street School.”
    “Hurry,” yelled Noni.
    Dawn crawled under her bed.
    Not there.
    She dived into her closet.
    Last winter’s boots were there. An old coloring book. Her tulip costume.
    She held up the costume. “Maybe I’ll bring—”
    “There isn’t even room for a toothpick,” Noni said.
    Dawn reached deeper into her closet. “Here!”
    She shoved the hat into her detective box.
    She took a breath. “Now I’m ready.”
    Her father picked up her suitcase.
    “I think the bus is leaving,” said her mother. “Run.”
    Noni reached out. “Quick. Take this. It’s a Remember Me Bag.”
    “Thanks.” Dawn grabbed the paper bag. She raced down the hall.
    “Don’t open it until there’s nothing to do,” Noni called after her.
    Dawn sped down the stairs.
    “Don’t miss that bus,” Chris said. “My summer will be ruined.”
    Dawn wrinkled her nose at him.
    She whooshed up her mouth.
    It was her anteater face.
    Then she dashed out the door.
    She could see the bus. It was red. The license plate was the same as her house: 195.
    Jill Simon stuck her head out the bus window. “Hurry,” she screamed.
    Dawn raced across the street. She climbed up the steps of the bus.
    Her father handed her the suitcase.
    “Wait,” she said. “I think I forgot something.”
    Too late.
    The doors closed. The bus started up.

CHAPTER 2
    D AWN HEADED DOWN the aisle.
    She pushed her suitcase ahead of her.
    She passed Miss Perry, the counselor.
    Miss Perry was as skinny as a pretzel. She winked at Dawn and waved her whistle.
    The bus was filled with girls.
    Not one boy.
    That was because Camp Wild-in-the-Woods was a girls’ camp.
    Almost all the girls were wearing blue T-shirts.
    They said COOLIDGE SCHOOL .
    Dawn sounded it out.
    Cool-Itch.
    The Cool-Itch Kids didn’t look friendly.
    No, not friendly at all.
    Dawn bumped down the aisle.
    “I saved you a seat,” Jill Simon yelled.
    “Coming.” Dawn sighed. Jill Simon was the only girl she knew.
    Dawn wished some other girls from her class had come, too.
    Everyone else had something to do.
    Emily was at her grandmother’s house.
    Sherri was at the beach.
    Linda had a sprained wrist.
    Dawn gave her suitcase a push.
    It smashed into a girl’s leg.
    “Watch out, Polk Street.” The girl had a fresh face with a pointy