"He laughed at me!" Joan moaned. Her slender shape paced back and fourth in front of the dancing flames of the campfire. "I fell off the horse, right in front of Stephen, and he just stood there, laughing!"
She stopped pacing to glare at Alex, Charlie, and Louise. "You three don't even care!" The other members of the gang were stretched out on the sand around the blazing fire. The four of them had been out pony trekking all day at a nearby riding stable. Now they were back at Charlie's comfortable old cottage, on the lake shore.
"Falling off a horse is nothing to be ashamed of," Charlie shrugged, "and don't listen to Stephen Piggot. He's such a goof! Come on, Joan, sit down."
Joan plunked down on the sand. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life," she groaned. "I ride like a pro all day, and then, when we get back to the stables, the horse jerks to one side, and I fly off and land at Stephan's feet like a sack of cement!"
"Forget about falling off the horse." Charlie shook her finger at Joan. "Concentrate on the important thing. Do we have enough food to last all night? I brought marshmallows, drinks, a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies…" For Charlie, food was always the important thing.
"Who cares about food?" Louise sighed happily. "It's just great to be together." She smiled around at the three familiar faces – Joan with her bright blue eyes and long brown hair, Charlie with her mischievous face, Alex with her wide grin and mop of curls. This was the best part of the summer, Louise thought. They still had two whole weeks before school started. She threw herself on her sleeping bag and stared up at the darkening sky, where pinpricks of stars had just started to appear.
Alex reached for a stick of fire wood. "Louise is right," she agreed. "I've always wanted to have a campfire sleepover – to sleep out under the stars on a warm night like this." She added her stick to the fire and a stream of sparks shot into the air.
Charlie bounced up and danced around the campfire, "who said anything about sleeping?" she cried. "It's my turn to tell a ghost story. After you hear this one, you might not sleep at all!"
Louise gave a shutter and burrowed deeper in her bag. Suddenly, the night didn't seem so warm. What would it be like, out here in the dark, with only the fire, and no walls to keep them safe? "You're always saying you don't believe in ghosts," she shivered.
"Normally I don't," Charlie agreed. "But up here it's easy to believe in the unbelievable." She gestured at the shadowy hills around the lake. "There's a lot of old stories. Did you know there's supposed to be a lake monster right here in this lake?"
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the sound of the fire crackling. Then Charlie tossed a stone into the dark water and they heard a plop sound as it sank.
"Well," Joan said, at last. "Tell us about the lake monster."
Charlie came back to crouch by the fire again. "People say its like a huge snake, with bulging, evil eye," she began. "But it can only see… in the dark!"
"Why?" Alex asked. She put another stick on the fire.
"Because the lake is so deep light can't reach the bottom in the caves where it lives." Charlie went on. "The lake monsters have lived down there for thousands of years. They only come to the surface… to feed!"
Louise gave a shudder. "Wha….What do they eat?"
"Anything they can catch," Charlie whispered. "They just slither up far enough to see what's on the shore. Then the snatch it into their huge jaws and… crunch!"
"Stop!" Louise cried. "I get the picture. Maybe we should sleep a bit further from the edge of the water." She scrunched her sleeping bag further up the edge of the sandy shore. "You're not going to tell us one of those old lake monster stories tonight, are you?"
Charlie stared across the fire at Louise's pale face. "No. My story is about a horse and a ghostly rider."
"No horses!" Joan groaned. "KI never want to see, or hear, or think about a horse again as long as I live."
"Just because you fell off?" Charlie peered into Joan's face. "You didn't even hurt yourself. The horse was standing still!"
"That does it! I'm not going to stay here and be made fun of!" Joan stood up and stalked away toward the water and dock.
"You shouldn't teas Joan." Louise protested. "Her pride was hurt. She feels bad because Stephan laughed at her. I think she kinda likes him."
"This isn't like her," Alex said "Joan is usually in the middle of things getting us organized – she's crazy about ghost stories."
"You're right," Charlie nodded. "Joan, come on," she shouted. "There's tons of junk food here, and I'm going to tell a truly terrifying ghost story. I promise you'll love it."
"In a minute…" Joan called back. In the gathering darkness they could only see her slim figure, poised on the edge of the floating dock. "Is that Stephan's cottage down there? Where I see lights?" They watched her point out over the water.
Charlie leapt to her feet. "Joan! Step back. Watch out!... oh no!"
The dock suddenly tipped violently, as if a huge hand had seized it. There was an enormous splash! As Joan hit the water on the far side.
"The lake monster!" Louise cried.
The gang were on their feet, running down toward the dock.
"Joan, are you alright?"
"Has it got you by the leg?"
"Let us help you…"
As they crowded onto the floating dock, the other three could see Joan's wet head and white face break the surface of the water. "I'm fine." She choked, spitting out a huge mouthful of water.
"Swim around to the ladder at the end," Charlie instructed. "Don't try to climb out on the side or you'll flip us all in. My parents always say they are going to fix the dock but they never do. Its fine as long as you don't stand by the edge."
"Come on, Joan," Alex kneeled down to reach out a hand. "I've got you." She pulled Joan, sopping wet in her clothes, onto the dock.
"I feel like such an idiot," Joan muttered wringing out the wet T-shirt. "That's twice in one day I've made a fool of myself."
Just then a hideous laugh floated up over the lake, freezing them all in their spots.
"What was that?" Joan cried, grabbing Louise by the arm. The four of them stared out onto the darkening lake.