“Round and Round”
Listen to this chapter, “Campfire.”
After supper, Mr. Marcos built a bonfire on the bank of Strawberry Creek. In the twilight, skating forms glided across the cool, smooth ice. When the skaters grew tired, they came to rest in the glow of the flickering fire where they could roast marshmallows or join in the singing of the campfire songs accompanied by Ken on his guitar. For a long while, the silhouetted figures skating back and forth crowded the hard ice. Then, one by one, as the shadows deepened, the skaters dropped out and came to join the ever-increasing number around the bonfire.
“Why don’t you and Ken come on and skate?” Julie called to Sandra once or twice as she and Eddy whizzed by the group. “It’s lots of fun!”
Sandra made no reply. She didn’t want to embarrass Ken in front of everyone. But when Julie stopped to rest, Sandra told her the plain truth. “Ken can’t skate. He doesn’t know how.”
Later, when Sandra and Julie were sitting side by side, Julie looked around the group. Then she nudged Sandra.
“Are Ella and Cynthia still skating?” whispered Julie.
“No, I don’t think so,” answered Sandra.
“I don’t see them any place, do you?”
Sandra looked around. She, too, could not see them anywhere. She looked back at Julie, who was staring blankly into the blazing fire.
Just then Julie saw a lone figure dart from behind a tree. But she said nothing because it could have been a shadow. Later, however, when Julie looked up, she saw two familiar faces in the glow of the dying coals. She nudged Sandra and nodded lightly in that direction. Sandra saw Ella and Cynthia, who had not been there before. She looked back at Julie, a suspicious look on her face. Julie returned the glance. But Ken had strummed the last chord on the lone guitar, Mr. Marcos smothered the dying coals, and Sandra and Julie made their way to their cabin.
The morning dawned all too quickly. This was the day of departure back to Riverdale. While everyone was busy packing, an atmosphere of gaiety seemed to prevail. Then, suddenly, a cry of dismay came from the little cabin.
“It’s gone! It’s gone!” gasped Julie.
“What’s gone?” asked Sandra.
“M-my story,” said Julie. “Our door was unlocked last night when we were skating, wasn’t it?”
“Why, I guess so, but—”
“And remember last night when Ella and Cynthia were missing?”
“Well,” said Carolyn, “what are your conclusions?”
“I’m not accusing them,” said Julie, “at least not yet.”
“What was the story about, anyway?” asked Sandra. She knew how Julie loved to write.
“It was really very harmless, but in the hands of Ella and Cynthia, it could be a very dangerous weapon.” Julie explained, “the title of it was One More Night. It was about two extremely jealous rivals. The story begins in their childhood and finishes when the girls are old ladies. Anyway, some incidents were like things that have happened between Cynthia and me. One girl is a beautiful strawberry blonde and very rich. The other is a little girl from the other side of the tracks. Of course, the rich one has an advantage over the other one. In later life, the fellow whom they fight over is a rich society man. But he chooses the poor girl, and the other has a very horrible defeat.”
“Oh, I see,” drawled Sandra, with a very understanding look. “Are you sure you’ve looked every place?”
“I’m positive,” Julie assured her. “The only reason I brought it with me is that I planned to stop at the house of the magazine editor who lives halfway down the hill and give it to him. They were going to publish it in the February edition of ‘The World and Its People’.”
“I bet you they took it,” said Carolyn.
Julie shook her head sadly. “Well, hope for the best and expect the worst.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Sandra.
“I don’t know,” said Julie. “But just pretend you don’t know anything has happened. And if you two, either of you, see anything of it, well, let me know.”
Both girls nodded.
Hours later, Ken and Sandra and Eddy and Julie were in the car waiting for Steve and Carolyn. Soon Carolyn appeared, but without Steve.
“Where’s Steve?” asked Ken.
“He’ll be here in a minute,” answered Carolyn coolly. “He’s talking to Ella and Cynthia.” At that statement, Ken and Eddy looked at Carolyn in surprise for taking it so lightly. But Julie and Sandra only gave her a look as if to say, “Smart thinking!”
When Steve finally came, he had a large envelope in his hand. When Eddy questioned him about it, he replied it was some kind of business letter from Dr. Donaldson for his dad. Carolyn only looked at him in her own sweet way, then settled back on the seat beside him.
Halfway down the hill, Steve spoke to Ken, who was driving. “We need to stop here,” he said, pointing to Ken’s left. “Turn right there on Anchor Court.”
There was a small metal sign on an old building. It read “The World and Its People—Editorial Office.” Julie secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ll be right back,” Carolyn announced, getting out of the car, envelope in hand.
“Hey, where is she going with Dr. Donaldson’s letter to Steve’s dad?” Eddy asked. But no one answered, so Eddy just scratched his head and shrugged.
Carolyn gave Julie a quick wink as she was coming back to the car. “Thank you,” she whispered to Steve, snuggling up beside him again. But only Julie found out what Carolyn had promised Steve if he would get Julie’s story from Ella and Cynthia’s cabin when they were out. It would be Julie’s very first published story, and she knew she would be forever grateful to Carolyn Bullenhacker.
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