Peril at Palm Shores (Kristi Cameron Book 7)

  PERIL AT PALM SHORES

  CYNTHIA S. GRIFFITH

  COVER ART BY SARAH LOWE

  Copyright © 2000 by Cynthia S. Griffith

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without prior written permission of the author.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One: A Zooper-Duper Surprise

  Chapter Two: To Grandmother’s House We Go!

  Chapter Three: A Feeding Frenzy

  Chapter Four: Three Snakes in a Bush

  Chapter Five: A Threat Lurks

  Chapter Six: Getting Ready for Jenna

  Chapter Seven: Stranded!

  Chapter Eight: The Wrath of Jenna

  Chapter Nine: Stolen in the Storm

  Chapter Ten: Fudge

  Chapter Eleven: Bejo and the Bad Guy

  Chapter Twelve: Good News and Goodbye

  _________

  CHAPTER ONE

  _________

  A Zooper-Duper Surprise

  “Robyn, you’ve got to get over here now! I’ve got big news! No, I’m not going to tell you over the phone. No! Just get over here as soon as you can, okay? I’m going to bust if I have to hold it in much longer! Okay. Uh-huh. I’m going to call Anna and have her come, too. I’ll tell you both at the same time. Okay. Hurry! Bye.” Kristi hung up the telephone and then dialed Anna’s number. A few minutes later Anna was on her way over to the Cameron house, as well.

  “Mom, do we have anything I can give the girls for a snack when they get here?” Kristi asked. She opened a couple cupboard doors and peered inside. “Whoa! Are these brownies for anything special?” She pulled a pan out and peeked under the foil.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” her mother said, rescuing the pan from her daughter. “They’re for supper tonight! Your dad specifically requested them, and I’m not letting you kids dig into them before then. There won’t be anything left for Daddy if you kids get hold of them.”

  “Aww, mom! That would only happen if Skeeter was around, but he’s at Mike’s house so they’ll be safe with us! How about if we each have just one with some ice cream, and then we’ll put the rest on a pretty plate? No one will ever know that we had a few before supper.”

  Rachel looked at her daughter suspiciously. “I swear, you are beginning to sound more like Skeeter every day, Kristi! Are you sure you’re not really him in disguise?”

  Kristi laughed. “Please, Mom?” she begged. “I’ll never say a word to Skeeter or Dan, I promise! I mean, a girl’s gotta get her chocolate every day, right?”

  Her mother burst out laughing. “Well, you’ve got a point there! Alright, just one brownie each, though! You can make brownie sundaes,” she gave in. “But wash the bowls out afterwards so there’s no evidence left!”

  “Yeah! Okay, Mom.” Kristi started cutting the brownies and getting the snack ready for her friends. “I can hardly wait to tell Robyn and Anna about Grandma’s invitation! It’s going to be so much fun! Anna, especially, will go crazy. You know what an animal lover she is. I hope they’ll be able to go.”

  “I called their moms this morning, Kristi, and cleared it with them already.” Rachel opened the freezer door. “Hmm, there’s chocolate almond fudge ice cream, cookies and cream, or mint chocolate chip—all of which have chocolate in them, may I point out. You girls should definitely get your chocolate quota for the day between that and the brownies.”

  Kristi laughed. “Ooh, yummy! Thanks, Mom.” They stood side by side at the dark granite island, their heads close together. The sunlight coming through the kitchen windows caught the rich auburn highlights in their hair. Kristi was nearly as tall as her mother now, and with their identical hair color and green eyes, they could have been sisters.

  The doorbell rang a few minutes later. “Wow! That was fast, Robyn!” Kristi said as she opened the door.

  Robyn rushed in, her blonde ponytail bouncing and her blue eyes sparkling as she gave her best friend a hug. “Of course! I didn’t waste any time—not when you’re being so mysterious about this big announcement! Okay, I’m here—now what is it? I’m dying to find out, Kristi, so start talking!”

  “Not so fast, Robyn!” Kristi laughed. “We have to wait for Anna.”

  “Kristi!” Robyn wailed.

  “Patience, my friend! She’ll be here any minute. She has further to come than you do. Come on into the kitchen while we wait.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Cameron!” Robyn said as they walked into the kitchen. “Oh, yum! Brownies!”

  “Hey there, Robyn! You sure got here in a hurry,” Rachel teased.

  “Uh-huh, I ran all the way, and now she won’t tell me what the big surprise is! The suspense is killing me!”

  Kristi chuckled, “You know what they say, Robyn—‘Curiosity killed the cat!’ I’d be careful, if I were you!” The doorbell rang just then. “Ah, saved by the bell! That must be Anna now!” The girls ran to the front door to let their friend in.

  “Hi, Kristi! Hi, Robyn!” Anna said breathlessly as she came in. “I got here as quickly as I could.”

  “Come on out to the kitchen, Anna,” Kristi said, giving her friend a quick hug. “We’re going to make brownie sundaes.”

  “Okay, Kristi—Anna’s here, so what is this big secret?” Robyn demanded as she climbed up on a stool at the island. Rachel had left the kitchen and the three girls were alone.

  “Let’s dish up the ice cream first, and then we can talk,” Kristi said as she went over to the freezer.

  “Kristi!”

  Anna giggled at her impatient friend. “Curiosity killed the cat, Robyn,” she said.

  “What is this? Do I look like I have whiskers and a long tail? That’s exactly what Kristi said!” Robyn exclaimed.

  “Okay, here’s the ice cream and a couple scoopers. Everyone dish up their own and I’ll tell you why I asked you to come over,” Kristi said, passing around the bowls and spoons. She set the chocolate syrup and whipped cream out on the counter and then sat down.

  “We got an e-mail from my grandma today,” she began. “You know she lives in Florida in a little town called Palm Shores. It’s right on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyway, ever since my grandpa died she’s been doing a lot of volunteer work here and there just to keep herself busy. She really loves it. She does a lot of stuff in her church and with the other ‘Golden Oldies’—that’s what they call the older people in their church—but she also works at the hospital one day a week, visits in a nursing home and volunteers at a zoo!”

  “You’re kidding! At a zoo? Wow—how cool is that!” Robyn exclaimed.

  “What does she do at the zoo, Kristi?” Anna asked.

  “The same thing she does at the hospital—she works in the nursery! In the hospital she just holds the sick little babies and rocks them when they need comforting or attention, or feeds them. The nurses are too busy usually so they depend on people like my grandma to help out with simple things like that. In the zoo nursery she does pretty much the same thing—she kind of steps in like a substitute mommy to the baby animals that have had to be separated from their real mothers for one reason or another. She feeds them with a baby bottle and plays with them and comforts them.”

  “Wow! That must be the coolest job in the whole world, Kristi!” Robyn said.

  Anna’s dark eyes were shining. “Oh, your grandma is so lucky, Kristi! I would just love to do something like that. I love animals—especially baby animals!”

  “I know you do, Anna. Anyway, tha
t brings me to the surprise! This zoo is very small. They have a lot of animals, but not much money and they depend a lot on volunteers and donations. They are about to have their tenth anniversary and they want to spruce up the place and make it a real showcase, if they can, so that they can attract more people and, hopefully, more donations. Grandma was telling her boss, the lady who runs the zoo, about us and we’ve all been invited to come and help them get the zoo ready for their big anniversary party!”

  “What? You’re kidding!” Robyn and Anna said together. “That is so fantastic!”

  “I know! Grandma’s been missing us, so I think she was looking for a good excuse to get us out there, and she wants you two and Pete to come, too. We can all stay at her place. She keeps complaining that it’s too big and empty since grandpa died, but she doesn’t want to move.”

  The ice cream had been forgotten for the moment, but now Robyn pulled the mint chocolate chip toward her and started scooping. “So when are we going?”

  “Next week. The anniversary party is a week from this Saturday, so they need the work done before then. We’ll be painting, cleaning, planting flowers—that kind of stuff.”

  “We won’t get to do anything with the animals?” Anna asked, a little disappointed.

  “Well, we’ll get to go behind the scenes at the zoo, Grandma said, and I’ll bet we’ll get to hold some of the babies, but as far as feeding the lions or cleaning up after the elephants, I don’t think so!” Kristi chuckled.

  “Thank goodness for that!” Robyn exclaimed.

  Anna brightened up. “Behind the scenes and holding the babies is fine with me!” she said. “It’ll be fun just being there every day, too. How are we getting there, Kristi? Is your dad going to fly us to Florida?”

  ‘Uh-huh. He and Mom are going to stay all week, too. So what do you think—do you want to go?”

  “Are you crazy?! You don’t even need to ask, Kristi! This sounds like so much fun!” Robyn exclaimed. “What about the guys? Are they excited about it?

  “Oh, yeah! Dan’s going to invite Pete this afternoon. Skeeter is over at Mike’s telling him all about it, I’m sure. It’s too bad Mike can’t go with us sometime, but his folks don’t want him to be too far away from home with his health problems. The plane wouldn’t hold another person, anyway.”

  “Skeeter doesn’t have a problem with hanging out with the rest of us, anyway,” Robyn said. “He’s pretty fun to be with even if he is your little brother, Kristi.” She licked her spoon and dropped it into her empty bowl. “Ooh, that was so good! Thanks, Kristi!”

  Anna was still enjoying her sundae. “I’ve been noticing lately that Skeeter’s not so much the little brother anymore, Kristi. He’s as tall as you now, even if he is two years younger.”

  “I know. Incredible, isn’t it?”

  Rachel walked in just then. “Who? Skeeter?”

  “Uh-huh. We were just saying how much Skeeter is growing up.”

  “Oh, I know! He’s not my baby anymore!” Rachel lamented.

  “No, but he’s still that loveable, bottomless pit, goof-off that we all know and love!” Kristi laughed.

  At that very moment Skeeter himself tripped through the front door yelling, “Hey, Mom! What’s for a snack?” The girls burst out laughing.

  Rachel whisked the wrapped plate of brownies away and into the cupboard above the refrigerator. She held her finger up to her lips, motioning for the girls not to tell, and called back, “We’re in here, Skeeter! How about some ice cream?” she suggested as he walked into the kitchen. Kristi took their sundae bowls over to the sink and started rinsing them out.

  “Great! I’m starving!” He tossed his backpack onto the table and joined the girls at the island. “Hi, Robyn and Anna. Hi, Kristi,” he said. “So, what do you think about working at a zoo?” he asked as he started helping himself to the ice cream. He piled a huge scoop of each flavor into his bowl.

  “We’re so excited!” Robyn answered. “Of course, not as excited as you, I’m sure! I mean, getting to see your cousins and all…” She made monkey faces at him and chanted, “Oooo, oooo, oooo, eeee, eeee!”

  Skeeter tossed his balled-up napkin at her and Kristi said, “Hey! Watch it, Robyn! Any cousin of his is a cousin of mine!”

  Robyn giggled. “Seriously though, Skeeter, we can’t wait! I’ve never been behind the scenes at a zoo before. What kinds of animals do they have there?”

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. I was really little and I barely remember it now, but Grandma says they have a quite a large number of animals, considering its size, including some of the bigger ones like giraffes, lions, tigers, a pair of elephants, bears and wolves. Then there are lots of small animals and reptiles, an aviary for the birds, and an arctic display with penguins and seals. It’s called The Little Zoo at Palm Shores,” Kristi said.

  “Well, I don’t know about you girls, but I’m planning to make friends with the lions and tigers while I’m working at the zoo,” Skeeter bragged.

  “Oh, I’m sure they’ll really like you, Skeeter!” Robyn said. For lunch, that is!” She tossed the napkin back at him.

  “It will be so nice to see your grandmother again, too, Kristi,” Anna said. “I always enjoy it when she comes for a visit.”

  “Oh, I know! The last time she came was six months ago. We try to visit her once a year, at least, and she comes here once a year, also, for two or three weeks, so it’s usually only six months between visits. We still feel really close to her, even though we live so far from each other.”

  Robyn added, “What I like about your grandma, Kristi, is that she seems so young for a grandmother! I mean, she’s fun, and energetic, and silly sometimes…”

  “Yeah, like me!” Skeeter cut in. “Pretty amazing for such an old lady, huh?”

  “Skeeter! Grandma’s not that old!” Kristi exclaimed.

  “Well, she’s gotta be in her forties, right? I mean, she’s really getting up there!”

  “Skeeter!” his mother screeched as she turned from the kitchen sink. She lobbed the wet dish cloth at her red-headed, freckle-faced son. “I’m in my forties, and the forties are not old! For your information, Grandma is sixty-three, and that’s not old, either! So watch it, buddy, who you’re calling old!”

  “Whoa! Sensitive, isn’t she?” Skeeter whispered loudly to the girls. He grinned. “Guess I’d better get out of here before she makes me wash those dishes,” he said as he sauntered past his mother and dropped the dish cloth back in the sink. “Love ya, Mom!” he called as he disappeared through the door to the garage.

  Rachel shook her head. “I should have made him wash the dishes!” she muttered as she turned back to the sink. She couldn’t hide her grin, though—the grin that was so like her youngest son’s. Skeeter could always make her laugh.

  “I’d better get going, Kristi,” Anna said. “I promised my mother I wouldn’t stay long. My baby brother Miguel is sick, and Mami needs my help fixing supper. He’s wanted someone to hold him all day long.”

  “I have to go, too,” Robyn said. “We’re going out to eat tonight for my dad’s birthday. I’m so excited about the trip, though! I can’t wait!”

  “Me, either! Call me later, okay, and we’ll talk about what to pack.” Kristi hugged Robyn and Anna, and walked them to the door. “See you later!” she called as they headed down the drive way. She waved one last time and then shut the door.

  It was fun to have a trip to look forward to, she thought, especially one going to Grandma’s house. It would be fun having her two best friends along, as well. And it would be so cool to get to work in a zoo for a week! Now, that would really be different! Oh sure, it would be a little bit of work, too, but mostly just fun, right? No worries, right? Right!

  How wrong she was!

  __________

  CHAPTER TWO

  __________

  To Grandmother’s House We Go!

  “Grandma!” Kristi yelled in excitement as she jumped out of the
van her father had rented at the airport. She raced up the sidewalk to the porch of her grandmother’s house and leaped into her outstretched arms. “Grandma, I’m so glad to be here! I’ve been missing you so much!”

  “Kristi Anne! Look at you! How could you grow up so much in just six months?” Grandma said as she hugged and kissed her granddaughter. “Oh, my goodness, and here comes, Skeeter! No, it can’t be! Skeeter, is that you? I declare, you must have grown six inches since the last time I saw you!”

  “Nah, just four inches,” Skeeter said, standing a little taller and prouder.

  “Well, you certainly have shot up past your poor old grandma!” she chuckled. “Oh, and there’s my handsome Dan! Dan, you’re all grown up now and such a fine young man! I’m so proud of you!” She gathered her grandchildren into her arms and hugged and kissed them all soundly.

  Skeeter could only take so much of that, though and soon he wiggled away. Grandma looked up and saw her grandkids’ friends. “Pete! Anna and Robyn! How wonderful that you could come! Welcome, welcome! I’m so happy to have you all here!” She hugged and kissed each one of them, as well, and drew them up on the porch.

  “Uh, hey there, Mom! Yoo-hoo? We’re here, too!” Rachel waved her hands at her mother, trying to get her attention.

  “Yes, yes, I see you, too, dear,” her mother said with a twinkle in her eye. She reached for her daughter and then for her son-in-law. “Steve, thank you so much for bringing the family. It’s a wonder to me that you can actually fly that thing clear across the country!”

  Steve Cameron laughed. “That little puddle-jumper? That’s a snap compared to those big jumbo jets I fly!”

  “Yes, dear, I know, but it’s still a wonder to me! Rachel, you look beautiful, as usual! Now, everyone come in! Your rooms are ready for you, and I’ve got dinner almost ready, too. Kristi, you and your friends are going to be in the guest room. It’s got a double bed and a trundle bed beneath it. You boys will be in Uncle Jack’s old room. There are the bunk beds, of course, and I asked my neighbor to help me move a cot in there. Rachel, you and Steve have your old room, as usual.”