“Truly,” said Bess.
I smiled. “Well, I hope Mini-Nancy, Mini-George, and Mini-Bess become as good friends as we are,” I said. “And I hope their friendship lasts just as long.”
Bess and George looked over at me warmly.
“Hear, hear,” said Bess, raising an imaginary glass.
“However,” George piped up, raising a finger, “I hope that if Mini-Bess comes to Mini-Nancy and Mini-George with the really awesome idea that they should all be counselors at a semi-haunted camp in the wilderness, Mini-George and Mini-Nancy will have the good sense to say no.”
Bess feigned an outraged look and swatted George. “Come on! We had fun!”
We all broke up laughing.
“We did,” I agreed, looking over the now-quiet cabins with a sigh, “but it will sure be good to get home!”
Dear Diary,
* * *
* * *
* * *
OKAY, SO TROUBLE DID FIND me, but it was worth it to get to know my fantastic campers, especially Harper. I’m so happy that she was finally able to settle in and make a few new friends.
I do feel bad for Sam. If only she had realized earlier that hurting other people never makes right an old wrong. Scaring the Camp Cedarbark campers didn’t solve any of her problems! I hope she changes her ways—and that her family and friends will be able to get her the help she needs.
* * *
* * *
READ WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT MYSTERY IN THE NANCY DREW DIARIES,
The Ghost of Grey Fox Inn
“WHAT DO YOU THINK, GIRLS?” I called to my best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne. “Should we drive with the top up, or down?”
Bess twisted to look back at George, who was sitting in the backseat of the white convertible we’d just rented from Charleston International Airport. “That’s a silly question, Nancy,” George said. “It’s eighty degrees, the sun is shining, and we’re on vacation—put the top down!”
I grinned and pushed a button on the dashboard to lower the car’s roof. The South Carolina sun was a welcome change from the stormy late-summer weather back home in River Heights. “It’s perfect weather for a wedding!” Bess exclaimed, taking a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses out of her purse.
“It certainly was nice of Charlotte to give you ‘plus two’ for the wedding, Bess,” I said, pulling onto the main road toward town and enjoying the wind blowing through my hair. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to have this little getaway together.” Bess’s cousin Charlotte was getting married in two days, and she had invited Bess to be one of her bridesmaids. Because Charlotte was marrying a handsome news anchor, the wedding was all over the news and the Internet—everyone was calling it the wedding of the year. George and I were delighted to come along—maybe we’d even be able to squeeze in a little time on the beach!
“I can’t wait for you guys to meet Charlotte,” Bess said. “The girl is so organized, I bet she’s got the entire wedding planned down to the millisecond. I wonder what color she’s picked for the bridesmaids’ dresses? I never got a chance to ask. A warm peach would be perfect for this time of year—or maybe cranberry!”
I could almost hear George rolling her eyes from the backseat. “What does it matter? It could be lime green or neon orange—boys would still be falling over themselves to talk to you.”
“Lime green?!” Bess exclaimed in horror. “Ugh. Well, Charlotte isn’t exactly a fashion bug, but I think she’ll have picked something more suitable than that.”
I shook my head and smiled. Bess and George may be cousins, but they couldn’t be more different. I glanced over at Bess, who looked like an old-fashioned movie star, with her dark sunglasses on and her blond hair tucked neatly back into a silk scarf. Bess had been gushing with excitement about this wedding ever since she got the invitation a couple of months ago. Besides all the hype, both families were fairly wealthy, so it was bound to be quite the elegant affair. And more than that, Bess simply loved the romance of it—the flowers, the dresses, the music . . . everything.
George, on the other hand, couldn’t have been less interested in the idea of attending a wedding. Charlotte was from the other side of Bess’s family, so George wouldn’t know anyone there. Even so, she was all too happy to travel to a new city and check out the sights. Wedding or no wedding—it was an excuse for an adventure. Peeking in the rearview mirror, I spied George taking pictures of the passing landmarks with her smartphone, her short black hair flying in the breeze. She was dressed in jeans and a thrift-store T-shirt—the official George Fayne uniform for everyday comfort.
“Check it out!” George called suddenly. “It’s Rainbow Row!” I slowed the car as we drove up to a line of beautiful row houses painted in pastel colors.