Count Me In Read Free Page B

8+13=21.
    â€œI’m serious!” Ashley said.
    â€œThere aren’t any rattlesnakes around here. Jason was lying.”
    â€œMom, Cedar won’t believe me. There are rattlesnakes in BC, right?”
    â€œIn the Interior. Not around here,” Tess said.
    â€œWell, maybe Jason was wrong about the rattler, but I’m sure he saw a snake.”
    Cedar snorted. “Right. Or maybe he thought he’d tell a good story.”
    Tabitha stuck her fingers in her ears to block out their voices. 13+21=34. Cedar must be right. There couldn’t be any snakes this high in the mountains. And definitely not any rattlers.
    Once she shut out the noise from downstairs, it didn’t take long to fall asleep—somewhere around 987. In the middle of the night she woke up and needed to pee so badly, it hurt. She lay there, tossing and turning, willing her body back to sleep. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to recite the Fibonacci string, but it didn’t work.
    She sat up and tried to unzip her sleeping bag quietly. Loud breathing ate up the air in the room. Tess’s was the high-pitched whistling breath, Cedar’s the rumbling followed by a snort and Ashley’s—she paused. There wasn’t a third breath.
    â€œWatch for snakes,” a low voice called from Ashley’s bunk.
    Tabitha froze. “There aren’t any snakes. Nobody believes your story.”
    â€œHow do you know? Maybe I’m right and they’re all wrong. Maybe it’s hiding in the outhouse, waiting to slither out and bite you.”
    Ashley was so full of it. Tabitha stalked to the ladder, no longer trying to be quiet. But as she climbed down, a cold feeling threaded its way from her stomach to her throat. What if there really was a snake hiding in the outhouse? She shook her head to get rid of the idea. Ashley was trying to scare her. She’d probably made up the whole story just so Tabitha would hear it.
    The light from her headlamp flashed on Max, sleeping by the door. She grabbed her jacket. “Wake up and come with me.” Max didn’t move. “Let’s go for a walk.”
    He labored to his feet, took a few steps away from the door and plopped back on the floor.
    â€œFine, I’ll go by myself.”
    She started shivering the moment she stepped out the door. A mottled, inky sky loomed over her. No moon lit the path. Not even one star winked at her. She hurried to the outhouse, scanning back and forth with her headlamp.
    The outhouse door squeaked as she pushed it open with her toe. She shone the light into the pit. Disgusting. But no snakes. She closed her eyes, held her breath and peed as fast as she could, imagining writhing serpents below her butt.
    Her headlamp bounced on her head as she hurried back to the hut. Max’s snores greeted her at the door.
    â€œNight. Some help you were.” She clambered up the ladder and into her sleeping bag.
    Everyone else was sleeping. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but the fresh air and the fear left her wide awake.
    Ping . Something clanged on the metal roof. She tensed, listening hard. More pings . Louder and faster. Was the hut being attacked by squirrels? What if they found a hole in the roof and came looking for food?
    Her body relaxed as she figured it out. Not squirrels, rain. A lot of rain by the sounds of it. The pings grew closer and closer, faster and faster, until they blended into a solid roar. She’d made it back from the outhouse just in time.
    She groaned. Tess had planned for them to hike to a nearby peak the next day. Would she make them go in the rain? Which would be worse, hiking in the downpour or being stuck inside the hut all day? If they stayed inside, Ashley would spend the day reminding Tabitha that she didn’t like her. She rolled over and tried to find a comfortable position. It was no use. The wooden slats of the bunk pushed through the thin foamie.
    Finally she drifted off. Minutes later, it