Free The Great Scavenger Hunt by Annie Bryant Page A

whispered. “Doesn’t it seem weird that in a place as tiny as Cape Cod we can’t find any signs of intelligent life around?”
    â€œI was just thinking the same thing,” said Isabel as she clutched her friend’s hand. “I mean, what if we’ve like stumbled through one of those portals into another timeperiod, you know, like those kids in A Wrinkle in Time ?”
    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice boomed in the distance, “Arg, avast me buckos!”
    Everyone froze—just like in the statue game. Riley looked like he was drumming. Betsy had her arms crossed like a stern first-grade teacher, and Fabiana looked very perplexed, with her head cocked to one side.
    Maeve would have giggled if a horrified Isabel, her brown eyes wide with fear, hadn’t said in a trembly voice, “What was that?” Poor Izzy. Maeve knew her friend hated anything scary. She reached over, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it gently.
    â€œIt sounded like pirates—real ones,” said Danny in a high-pitched voice.
    Betsy nodded. “In pirate lingo that sentence translates to: ‘Who goes there, mates?’ He sounds angry.”
    Riley and Maeve looked at Betsy, who turned to look at Fabiana, who for some strange reason didn’t seem nervous at all. Is that a good sign, Maeve wondered, or has Fabiana already been taken over by the alien pirates?
    Finally, Riley asked “Where are we?”
    Betsy’s face turned white. “The path should be right ahead….”
    â€œBetsy!” Maeve exclaimed. “There is no path. The bug-eyed aliens are going to come join forces with the pirates, and the prince will never make it out of the swamp…. Oh,” she wailed, grabbing her hair, “why, why didn’t we follow that map?”
    â€œAre you okay, Maeve?” Riley looked worried.
    For once, Betsy had nothing to say. She just hung her head, and shoved a couple of twigs around with her foot.
    Fabiana ran ahead and turned around. “Please tell me someone else can see that.”
    Isabel crept up to join her and gasped. “It’s a…a… village ! And is that a—”
    â€œPirate ship?” Fabiana finished and exhaled deeply. “Yes! Thank goodness. I thought I was losing my mind.”
    â€œThank goodness?” Isabel squawked. “No, no, no, not thank goodness. A pirate ship is a bad, bad, very bad thing.”
    Maeve agreed and began to feel a little dizzy. Before them, in the clearing, was a village full of pirates and women in shabby gowns, carrying buckets of water. There was even a cow walking down the street.
    â€œThey look like real people,” Danny said matter-of-factly.
    â€œAnd that’s where they live,” Isabel whispered, pointing to the tiny little thatched houses and huge, colorful Native American tepees surrounding an enormous, very old-looking pirate ship. Men in raggedy britches were hoisting sails and shouting “Arrgh!” and “Shiver me timbers!” at each other, and the women, looking angry and feisty, were carrying trays of silver mugs overflowing with frothy liquid.
    So this isn’t just my imagination , Maeve thought. They really had stumbled into another century, maybe even another dimension. Could we actually be in Neverland?
    â€œOh, no,” groaned Isabel. “That man over there just saw me. Should we run?”
    Fabiana touched Maeve and Isabel on the shoulder and motioned for the Cranberry Boggers to stand still and be quiet. Just as Maeve was wondering if Fabiana would be able to protect them, she heard a voice yell, “CUT!”

CHAPTER 7
Real Pirates Don’t Wear Makeup
    W ith mouths agape, the Cranberry Boggers watched as the villagers stopped what they were doing and began acting normal. The pirates stopped talking like pirates, and, from out of nowhere, regular-looking people appeared, handing them coffee and water bottles.
    â€œOh, wow!” Riley