A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is a little shorter and I'm sorry, I am throwing a baby shower for someone tomorrow and it's a miracle I managed to even get this done today.

Chapter 14:

When everyone had returned back to the campsite, the lists were checked with the collected items, along with what order the groups had returned, and Alice's group was declared the winner. They clapped excitedly as Alice tossed a bunch of silver tokens in the air around them as their reward. At least all the other campers had enjoyed themselves, and after lunch they were eager to settle in at their cabins or outside to recount the day's events with one another or to catch up with their friends.

Despite my own personal wariness about combining the words shopping and Alice in the same sentence, I decided I had better take the opportunity to lead my campers to the little shop to cash their tokens in; I'd put it off long enough. Of course Alice's group followed us there, probably making their second trip of the day to the shop at the rate she passed those tokens out.

When we arrived at the little whitewashed building, Alice and her kids bounded past us and ran right in. My group followed and once inside we paused in amazement at the sight surrounding us. The walls were all lined with racks of little clothes, all organized by color, one side girls and one side boys. In the center of the shop was a table containing all kinds of accessories – hair ribbons, barrettes, clips, belts, socks, and bows. Twinkle lights draped from the ceiling giving the small room a magical feel; I noticed more than a few of my campers were still blinking, trying to take it all in.

Alice's group was crowded around the rack of light yellow clothes, pointing and exclaiming over their desired selections excitedly as they passed Alice their tokens.

"So, um…do you guys see anything you want?" I asked, still adjusting to the atmosphere. None of my girls seemed very interested in the clothes or accessories. I had to wonder what the boys that had been here had thought – then I realized that was probably why they didn't bother coming here much. Boys – especially this young – just weren't interested in shopping for much of anything that didn't involve toys.

"Alice, is there anything here aside from clothes and stuff? You know…maybe some crayons, or paper - something of that sort?" I asked, knowing from my campers' hobbies their parents had listed on their information sheets they'd most likely prefer something along those lines.

Alice sighed as she crossed her arms. She paused, looking back and forth from my campers to me as if trying to assess how long it would take her to change their personalities. After a minute or two she must have decided it would be more trouble than what it was worth, and she dropped her arms to her side in defeat.

"You're as bad as the boys, Bella. Hold on," Alice said as she leaned over and pulled out a box from under the accessories table and brought it over to us. "I just knew your group would be this way," she whispered quietly enough so that only I heard. "You girls might find something in here you like," she added louder, setting the box down.

Inside were all kinds of stickers, coloring books, crayons, paper, and other things like jacks and card games, such as Uno and Go Fish. At least she'd taken the other kids into consideration when stocking her little shop. Thankfully my campers found items that suited them quickly and we left Alice and her group to return to the campsite. Much to my relief my campers seemed happy with their 'purchases' and not all that eager to return to the shop anytime real soon. They were kids after my own heart.

Considering the realization that my team had been helped all the way through the scavenger hunt and we still hadn't won, I was more than eager for the day to end. I was grateful to Edward for trying to help us but still a bit disgruntled with the results, which meant I was more than happy that dinner progressed with mostly the others recounting the day's events to Carlisle and Esme. Of course I joined in when needed and added things here and there, but more than anything I just wanted to get my campers to bed and have some quiet time with Edward before I had to succumb to sleep myself. Rosalie was regarding Emmett suspiciously since the turtle episode, but the conversation kept veering back to the kids and the fun they'd had which kept her distracted. As she told Carlisle and Esme her camper's excitement of finding the four-leaf clover, her eyes shone with sheer bliss. They smiled back at her sharing her moment of happiness, although there was also a hint of regret in Carlisle's expression. Given the selfless compassionate person he was, I could only imagine he was questioning his choice in saving Rosalie, as he had often done with Edward. Having heard Rosalie's history and what had happened to her, I couldn't believe he could even think for a second it would have been better if he'd left her to die. Sometimes the man was simply just too hard on himself.

The scavenger hunt seemed to have tired the kid out, and they didn't take long to get settled in after the nightly campfire festivities. After all they were all in bed, the rest of us gathered back around the campfire except for Rosalie – she was still in her cabin, finishing another story for her kids. I wasn't quite as tired as I usually was and I wanted to be able to spend some time with Edward – we hadn't had a lot of together time since we'd been here, or at least not nearly as much as we're used to. Mike didn't appear too eager to stay up with us; it seemed a day of trudging through the woods and sifting through the dirt for miscellaneous items had taken its toll on him. Angela had already turned in, admitting she was very much drawn into a book she simply couldn't put down. I'd smiled understandingly as she'd headed to her cabin – I knew how that felt. The second Mike got up to head off to bed Jessica went running as well, apparently anything but eager to sit around with me and the Cullens.

Mike was almost to his cabin when Emmett called out to him. "Hey Mikey – you didn't go anywhere near that stream that runs through the north side of the woods today, did you?" he asked seriously.

Mike paused, looking over his shoulder. "Uh…yeah, I guess I did, why?"

"You did?" Emmett said, his eyes widening. "Oh – well surely you didn't get in the water, right? I mean, you didn't go into the actual stream, of course," he added. Even though it was dark out, I didn't miss the wink he threw in Edward's direction.

Now Mike turned fully around, giving Emmett all of his attention. "What if I did? Is there some kind of problem with it? I had to rinse my hands off after digging through the dirt for those stupid things on the list – what's it matter to you?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oh! Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about – you know, you should be just fine," Emmett answered, doubt written all over his face.

Mike stepped forward more. "What are you talking about, Cullen? What's the problem?" he asked, becoming irritated.

"Well, I can't believe you didn't hear about it in the news before you came to camp," Emmett started. "There's some sort of nasty flesh-eating virus that got into that stream. Thank goodness it doesn't run into the lake where the kids swim. You say you washed your hands in it, huh? Ah – you should be fine. You probably would have felt something by now if you'd been infected…although I have heard it can take up to twenty-four hours for symptoms to show up…to start feeling the stinging pains and the tearing at your skin…oh well – have a good night, then," Emmett finished, turning back to the fire.

Mike paused. "There's no way that's true - Sue would have warned us when we got here, and she didn't say anything about it," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I'm sure you're right – can't be true. Probably just rumors," Emmett murmured, while making a display of shaking his head at the rest of us.

Hesitating for another moment, Mike seemed unsure of what to do, but then he turned back to his cabin and began to fade into the darkness. He turned around a couple of times, as if he were going to say something, but then kept moving. After he was completely gone I turned to Emmett.

"What the heck are you doing, trying to give him permanent nightmares? We should really just re-name this camp to 'Let's make Mike Newton miserable,' I hissed, once again feeling pity for the guy.

"That does have a certain ring to it," Edward murmured almost to himself as he gently stroked my hair.

"Well, after what Edward told me today about what he'd been thinking during your little kite episode, I couldn't help myself. Besides – that was nothing. That was only planting the seed of insanity," Emmett laughed, glancing back at Edward.

Just then Rosalie came out of her cabin and joined us, and Emmett moved over so she could sit next to him.

"Edward, what is he going on about?" I asked.

Edward fought to suppress a grin. "Let's just say that he's found an interesting way to get Newton out of bed in the morning," he began.

"All right, the humans are in bed – most of them anyway," Alice interrupted, smiling at me, "which means that I'm off to Jasper's – you guys can carry on constructing plans for the demise of Mike Newton, but I'm tired of it. Bella – I don't suppose you're going to come with me tonight?" she asked half-heartedly, her eyes wide with hope.

I paused, considering my options. True, there was the chance I wouldn't get any sleep at all if I went with Alice, but if I stayed here, Edward might go insane scheming over Mike. Ok, maybe that was exaggerating, but I knew he wouldn't agree to me staying with him since last night he'd tricked me, and I really was worried about him. He needed to get away, and if I stayed, he'd stay.

Alice's focus blurred, and then her eyes gleamed with anticipation in my direction.

"No – absolutely not, Bella, you're exhausted, and you're not going," Edward said, having watched Alice's vision of my decision.

"I'm afraid I am, Edward, which leaves you with a choice – either come with us or stay here and think about Mike all night," I replied with certainty, linking arms with Alice who was hopping up and down, causing me to bounce in place.

"What if your campers wake up? You need to be here for them," he tried to argue.

"I'll take care of them," Rosalie said. "I can always say Bella isn't feeling well, and that I'm watching them in her place. Same goes for your campers, Edward – if any of them have a problem, I'll drag Newton out of bed and tell him you're sick and he has to deal with it. Bella's right, you really need to get away from here for a night."

"Sure, just tell them they have diarrhea," Emmett said cheerfully. "No one will bother you then – trust me," he added. I immediately flushed a million shades of red, turning my face away so Edward couldn't see me.

Edward sighed, clearly defeated. "Shut up, Emmett." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes. "All right, I'll go. But she'd better get some sleep tonight Alice, or you'll be sorry," he muttered under his breath.

"Great – now we'll all be happy," I replied, eager to get away from Emmett before he started with the comments again. "Let me grab my toiletries bag and we can go. Alice – Jasper does have a bathroom, doesn't he?" I asked; it's not like he needed it, but surely a normal camp employee would need one.

"He certainly does, Bella. I think you'll be pleased," Alice replied, beaming happily at me.

"Awesome – about time you decide to have fun," Emmett said, slapping Edward on the back. "Let's go, the girls can catch up." Emmett began dragging Edward off in the direction of Jasper's, while Edward looked worriedly over his shoulder at me.

I waved him on promising we were right behind them, and went to collect my overnight things. I refused to let Alice's over-exuberant nature make me nervous – after all, if Edward was able to have peace of mind for the night, anything would be worth it.

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