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distance.
    â€œAaaaaaa!” Chloe screamed.
    â€œ Shh! ” Ally put her finger to her lips.
    â€œDid you see him?” Zee asked Chloe.
    â€œ Him? ” Ally asked. “It was probably a tree or a boulder or something.”
    â€œThat was the Mountain Man! Trees and boulders don’t move,” Chloe said.
    â€œHow do you know it moved?” Ally asked. “You had your flashlight on it for, like, a second.”
    â€œYeah, ’cause he moved.”
    â€œOoow!” Zee cried out as pain twisted her stomach.
    â€œShh!” Chloe said softly.
    â€œSorry,” Zee apologized. “My stomach hurts.”
    It was too late. The male chaperones’ cabin squeaked open.

    Mr. P stepped outside. “It’s midnight. What are you girls doing out here?” He didn’t sound happy.
    â€œUmmm…” Ally paused for a second. “Zee’s stomach hurts. We were just helping her to the bathhouse.”
    â€œIn case she throws up,” Chloe added. “Are you all right, Mackenzie?” Mr. P asked seriously.
    â€œYes, it’s just a little stomachache,”
    Zee assured him. She felt horrible butnot because of her stomach. The girls had just lied to Zee’s favorite teacher. But what could they do? Even though Zee didn’t mind talking about the mysterious creature with her friends, she wasn’t quite ready to tell her teacher. Not until she had more evidence that the Mountain Man existed.
    Back in the cabin, the other girls went right back to sleep, but Zee tossed and turned. Between her stomachache, the Mountain Man, and telling Mr. P a half-truth, her mind wouldn’t stop whirring. There was only one thing to do. She pulled out her diary.
    ----
    Hi, Diary,
    It’s me again. This must be a record—three times in one night!
    I thought I’d be okay with my friends here, but it’s definitely weird being out in the middle of nowhere without my parents. Who will protect me from the Mountain Man?
----
    Shuffle. Shuffle. Squeak. Footsteps passed by Zee’s cabin and entered another one.
    That’s weird, Zee thought. I wonder what took Mr. P so long to get back to his cabin? She quickly wrote her name atthe bottom of the entry, pulled the sleeping bag over her head, and tried not to think about what was lurking outside.
    Â 
    â€œI’m ready!” Chloe announced the next morning. “Everybody, hurry up, or we’ll be late for kitchen duty. We have to set up the dining hall for breakfast.”
    â€œWe get to eat before we start working as long as we are there on time,” Missy said. She looked as bright and cheerful as Chloe.
    Zee was still half asleep, and her blurry eyes had trouble focusing on the girls. “I don’t think I got even an hour of sleep last night.”
    â€œChloe told me about what you saw outside,” Jen said as she twisted a red ponytail holder around her thick hair. “Do you really think it was the Mountain Man?”
    Zee tied the shoelace of her red Converse high-top. “Who else could it have been?” she asked. Then shestood with the others.

    â€œUh, Zee,” Ally said, pointing at Zee’s feet. “I don’t think you want to go out like that.”
    â€œOhmylanta!” Zee groaned. On her right foot, she had put on her polka dot Converse. She quickly replaced the polka dot sneaker with the other red high-top. They went best with the pink top and red shorts she’d quickly grabbed from her suitcase when she woke up just a few minutes before.
    â€œLet’s go to the dining hall!” Chloe cheered. Everyone moved toward the door, except Kathi.
    â€œAre you coming, Kathi?” Jen wondered.
    â€œYou guys go ahead, and I’ll come later,” Kathi told her.
    A cramp in Zee’s stomach reminded her that she had more to worry about than the Mountain Man. “Ow!” she complained, clutching her middle.
    â€œOh my gosh!” Chloe said.