Роберт Стайн: The beast from the east

1

When I was a really little girl, my mom would tuck me into bed at night. She would whisper, "Good night, Ginger. Good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

I didn't know what bedbugs were. I pictured fat red bugs with big eyes and spidery legs, crawling under the sheet. Just thinking about them made me itchy all over.

After Mom kissed me on the forehead and left, Dad would step into my room and sing to me. Very softly. The same song every night. "The Teddy Bears' Picnic."

I don't know why he thought that song made a good lullaby. It was about going into the woods and finding hundreds and hundreds of bears.

The song gave me the shivers. What were the bears eating at their picnic? Children?

After Dad kissed me on the forehead and left the room, I'd be itching and shaking for hours. Then I'd have nightmares about bedbugs and bears.

Until a few years ago, I was afraid to go into the woods.

I'm twelve now, and I'm not scared any longer.

At least, I wasn't scared until our family camping trip this summer. That's when I discovered that there are a lot scarier creatures than bears in the woods!

But I guess I'd better begin at the beginning.

The first thing I remember about our camping trip is Dad yelling at my brothers. I have two ten-year-old brothers — Pat and Nat. You guessed it. They're twins.

Lucky me — huh?

Pat and Nat aren't just twins. They're identical twins. They look so much alike, they confuse each other!

They are both short and skinny. They both have round faces and big brown eyes. They both wear their brown hair parted in the middle and straight down the sides. They both wear baggy, faded jeans and black-and-red skater T-shirts with slogans no one can understand.

There is only one way to tell Pat from Nat or Nat from Pat. You have to ask them who they are!

I remember that our camping trip began on a beautiful, sunny day. The air smelled piney and fresh. Twigs and dead leaves crackled under our shoes as we followed a twisting path through the woods.

Dad led the way. He carried the tent over his shoulder, and he had a bulging backpack on his back. Mom followed him. She was also loaded down with stuff we needed.

The path led through a grassy clearing. The sun felt hot on my face. My backpack began to feel heavy. I wondered how much deeper into the woods Mom and Dad wanted to go.

Pat and Nat followed behind us. Dad kept turning around to yell at them. We all had to yell at Pat and Nat. Otherwise, they never seemed to hear us. They only heard each other.

Why was Dad yelling?

Well, for one thing, Nat kept disappearing. Nat likes to climb trees. If he sees a good tree, he climbs it. I think he's part chimpanzee.

I tell him that as often as I can. Then he scratches his chest and makes chimp noises. He thinks he's really funny.

So there we were, hiking through the woods. And every time we turned around, Nat would be up a tree somewhere. It was slowing us down. So Dad had to yell at him.

Then Dad had to yell at Pat because of his Game Boy. "I told you not to bring that thing!" Dad shouted. Dad is big and broad, kind of like a bear. And he has a booming voice.

It doesn't do him much good. Pat and Nat never listen to him.

Pat walked along, eyes on his Game Boy, his fingers hammering the controls.

"Why are we hiking in the woods?" Dad asked him. "You could be home in your room doing that. Put it away, Pat, and check out the scenery."

"I can't, Dad," Pat protested. "I can't quit now. I'm on Level Six! I've never made it to Level Six before!"

"There goes a chipmunk," Mom chimed in, pointing. Mom is the wildlife guide. She points out everything that moves.

Pat didn't raise his eyes from his Game Boy.

"Where's Nat?" Dad demanded, his eyes searching the clearing.

"Up here, Dad," Nat called. I shielded my eyes with one hand and saw him on a high branch of a tall oak tree.

"Get down from there!" Dad shouted. "That branch won't hold you!"

"Hey — I made it to Level Seven!" Pat declared, fingering frantically.

"Look — two bunny rabbits!" Mom cried. "See them in the tall grass?"

"Let's keep walking," I groaned. "It's too hot here." I wanted to get out of the clearing and back under the cool shade of the trees.

"Ginger is the only sensible one," Dad said, shaking his head.

"Ginger is a freak!" Nat called, sliding down from the oak tree.

We made our way through the woods. I don't know how long we walked. It was so beautiful! So peaceful. Beams of sunlight poked through the high branches, making the ground sparkle.

I found myself humming that song about the bears in the woods. I don't know what made it pop into my head. Dad hadn't sung it to me in years and years.

We stopped for lunch by a clear, trickling stream. "This would make a nice camping spot," Mom suggested. "We can set up the tent on the grass here by the shore."

Mom and Dad started to unpack the equipment and set up the tent. I helped them. Pat and Nat threw stones into the stream. Then they got into a wrestling match and tried to shove each other into the water.

"Take them into the woods," Dad instructed me. "Try to lose them — okay?"

He was joking, of course.

He had no way of knowing that Pat, Nat, and I would soon be lost for real — with little hope of ever returning.

2

"What do you want to do?" Nat demanded. He had picked up a thin tree branch to use as a walking stick. Pat kept slapping at it, trying to make Nat stumble.

We had followed the stream for a while. I saw a million tiny, silver minnows swimming near the surface. Now we were making our own path through the tangle of trees, low shrubs, and rocks.

"Hide-and-seek!" Pat declared. He slapped Nat. "You're It!"

Nat slapped him back. "You're It."

"You're It!"

"You're It!"

"You're It!"

The slaps kept getting harder.

"I'll be It!" I cried. Anything to keep them from murdering each other. "Hurry. Go hide. But don't go too far."

I leaned against a tree, shut my eyes, and started to count to one hundred. I could hear them scampering into the trees.

After thirty, I counted by tens. I didn't want to give them too big a head start. "Ready or not, here I come!" I called.

I found Pat after only a few minutes. He had crouched behind a large white mound of sand. He thought he was hidden. But I spotted his brown hair poking up over the top of the sand.

I tagged him easily.

Nat was harder to find. He had climbed a tree, of course. He was way up at the top, completely hidden by thick clumps of green leaves.

I never would have found him if he hadn't spit on me.

"Get down, creep!" I shouted angrily. I waved a fist up at him. "You're disgusting! Get down — right now!"

He giggled and peered down at me. "Did I hit you?"

I didn't answer. I waited for him to climb down to the ground. Then I rubbed a handful of dried leaves in his face until he was sputtering and choking.

Just a typical Wald family hide-and-seek game.

After that, we chased a squirrel through the woods. The poor thing kept glancing back at us as if he didn't believe we were chasing after him. He finally got tired of the race and scurried up a tall pine tree.

I glanced around. The trees in this part of the woods grew close together. Their leaves blocked most of the sunlight. The air felt cooler here. In their shade, it was nearly as dark as evening.

"Let's go back," I suggested. "Mom and Dad might be getting worried."

The boys didn't argue. "Which way?" Nat asked.

I glanced around, making a complete circle with my eyes. "Uh. . that way." I pointed. I was guessing. But I felt ninety-nine percent sure.