Kate Read online

  © 2019 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Kate’s Philadelphia Frenzy © 2010 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Kate’s Vermont Venture © 2010 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Kate and the Wyoming Fossil Fiasco © 2011 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Kate and the Pennsylvania Pretzel Pickle © 2019 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

  Print ISBN 978-1-68322-854-7

  eBook Editions:

  Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-64352-129-9

  Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-64352-130-5

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  Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  Published by Barbour Books, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc., 1810 Barbour Drive, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

  Our mission is to inspire the world with the life-changing message of the Bible.

  Printed in the United States of America.

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Camp Club Girls: Kate’s Philadelphia Frenzy

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Camp Club Girls: Kate’s Vermont Venture

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Camp Club Girls: Kate and the Wyoming Fossil Fiasco

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Camp Club Girls: Kate and the Pennsylvania Pretzel Pickle

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Camp Club Girls: Kate’s Philadelphia Frenzy

  Calling All Supersleuths

  Cr-r-rack! The Philadelphia Phillies baseball player hit the ball with his bat and the noise split the air in the stadium. The dirty white orb soared over the field at lightning speed, heading right for the stands. Kate Oliver watched it, her heart thumping wildly as it sailed in her direction.

  All around her the fans hollered, “Catch it, catch it!” at the top of their lungs.

  Catch it?

  “Oh no! You don’t understand! I don’t know anything about baseball!” Kate murmured. The girl in front of her ducked, and Kate stuck her hand up in the air, knowing she couldn’t possibly catch a baseball, especially not one moving this fast! She started sweating as it flew closer, closer, closer!

  With a ka-thump, it smacked against her open palm. “Owie!” Man, did it hurt! She looked down at the ball, shocked. Shaking like a leaf, Kate whispered, “I did it! I really did it! I caught the ball!”

  All around her the fans cheered. The players on the field clapped their hands as they looked her way. Kate stood up, held the ball in the air, and bowed as the stadium roared, “Go, Kate! Go, Kate! Go, Kate!”

  Then—quite suddenly—she woke up.

  “What a dream!” Kate said with a groan. “I couldn’t catch a baseball if someone paid me a million dollars!”

  She trembled as she thought about the ball flying toward her. Why would she dream about baseball when she’d never even been to a game before?

  From the corner of the room she heard a strange ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk. Odd. The same sound as in the dream. Kate squinted her eyes in the summer morning light to see Biscuit, her dog, playing with a baseball. He rolled it with his nose across the hardwood floor until it hit the wall. Then he grabbed it in his mouth and began to chew on it. A few seconds later, he rolled it across the floor till it hit the wall once again. Ka-thunk!

  “Oh no!” Kate jumped out of bed and grabbed the gooey, chewed-up ball. “Not the ball Andrew’s dad signed for me!”

  Biscuit whimpered and tucked his tail between his legs. “Go ahead and apologize, you nutty dog!” Kate said. “It won’t do you any good. This ball is worth a lot of money!” She held up the slobbery ball and sighed as she saw the chew marks. “Well, it was worth a lot of money.”

  Clutching the ball, she suddenly realized why she must’ve dreamed about baseball. Oh, that’s right! I have a mystery to solve…a very important one! But she couldn’t do it alone. No, she needed help from one of the Camp Club Girls!

  Kate put on her glasses then tapped a button on the phone beside her bed and said, “Sydney.”

  The phone automatically dialed the number and Kate heard it ring. “Answer the phone, Sydney! C’mon, answer…please!” she coaxed.

  “H–hello?”

  “Sydney!” Kate squealed. “This is Kate. I’m so glad you’re awake.”

  “Awake?” Sydney sounded groggy. She groaned and said, “Kate, it’s seven in the morning…on a Saturday. I’m not awake yet. Can you call back later?”

  “No, please don’t hang up! I need you,” Kate said. “It’s really important.”

  The tone of Sydney’s voice changed. “What’s happened? Are you hurt? Is it one of the other girls? Who’s in trouble? What’s happened?”

  Kate couldn’t help but laugh. “Nothing’s happened to me or any of the other Camp Club Girls. We’re all fine. But something’s going on here in Philly—something really big—and I need your help. I sent you an email a couple of days ago, but you didn’t answer. Didn’t you get it?”

  “I’ve been at sports camp, remember?” Sydney said. “I sent you a text message last week.”

  “Oh yeah. I forgot. Sorry.” Kate started to explain why she called, but just then Biscuit came to the edge of the bed and started whimpering. Ar-ooo! Ar-ooo!

  Kate groaned. “Hang on, Sydney. Biscuit won’t stop cryin
g till I put him on the bed. He’s so spoiled.”

  “Okay.” Sydney yawned loudly. “But you’re the one who spoils him. You always have…ever since that first day when we found him at camp.”

  “I know, I know. I can’t help myself.” Kate reached down and lifted Biscuit—The Wonder Dog—onto the bed, and he gave her face a couple of slobbery kisses. “Eew, stinky breath! Gross!”

  Not that she really minded. She’d loved him from that first day when the Camp Club Girls found him on the golf course. Slobbery kisses or not! Chewed-up baseballs or not!

  He gave her one more kiss and almost knocked off her glasses. She pushed them back up with her index finger and turned to the dog using her sternest voice. “Down, boy!” He rolled over onto his back, ready for a tummy rub. “No, silly. I’ll do that later, if you let me talk on the phone!”

  He finally curled up at her side and she went back to talking to Sydney. “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, but what were you saying?” Sydney asked with another yawn. “’Cause if this can wait, I want to go back to sleep. I’m tired. They really worked us out at sports camp. We ran four miles every morning and played team sports for the rest of the day. Every muscle in my body hurts.”

  “I’m sorry, but please don’t hang up yet.” Kate didn’t mean to sound so firm, but she couldn’t help it. “That’s why I’m calling you, because you’re the biggest sports nut in the Camp Club Girls.”

  “Hey, are you calling me big?” Sydney pretended to sound offended.

  “No, silly.”

  “You’re calling me a nut?”

  “No.” Kate laughed. “I meant sports fan. I need a friend who knows something about baseball.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so? I love baseball.” Sydney, now sounding completely awake, began to talk about some of her favorite players and some of her all-time favorite games. None of it made a lick of sense to Kate, who cared nothing about baseball or any other sport.

  Kate didn’t want to interrupt her, but she had no choice. “Sydney, I’m sure those people are all great, but I need to tell you about something big that’s happening here in Philadelphia.”

  “What?”

  “Do you know Tony Smith? The Phillies shortstop?”

  “Are you kidding? Of course!” Sydney squealed. “Who doesn’t? Do you know how many awards that guy has won? He’s a great player. There’s such a cool story about how he came to play for the Phillies. He’s a free agent, you know. I read all about it online a few months ago.”

  “Yes, but have you read anything in the past couple days?” Kate asked. “’Cause now people on the web are posting stories, saying he’s not happy playing for the Phillies. They’re calling him all sorts of names and saying he wants to play for another team.”

  “No way.” Sydney gasped. “That’s too bad. I thought he liked Philadelphia. I guess I need to catch up on my reading.”

  “No, that’s just it. He does like it here.” Kate sighed. “Look, I don’t really know that much about baseball. Or basketball. Or football. Or any kind of sports, really. But Tony’s son, Andrew, is my friend. He says the stories aren’t true, that someone started rumors just to hurt his dad.”

  “Are you serious?” Sydney’s voice grew more excited. “Wait…you know the son of a pro baseball player? Can you get his father’s autograph? Tell him you have a friend in DC who wants a signed poster. If he says no, tell him I ran track and field in the Junior Olympics. That should do it. He can autograph it to Sydney Lincoln, the future Olympian.”

  “Slow down, slow down!” Kate laughed. “We can talk about autographs later. You’re not letting me finish the story. Andrew says someone’s out to get his dad by putting lies on the web. They’re making Tony look really bad. Some of the players and fans are mad at him over something that’s not even true. So Andrew asked me to help him figure out who’s trying to frame his dad, but I need your help.”

  “Sydney Lincoln, baseball fan, at your service. Just tell me what to do.”

  Kate giggled. “Well, you can pray, of course. But there’s something else too. Can you come to Philly and stay with me for a couple weeks till we get to the bottom of this? We’ve got to stop whoever is setting up Mr. Smith.”

  “Wait, what do you mean? Come to your house? Like, a vacation?”

  “Sure, why not? You’ll be here for my birthday. It’s on the Fourth of July, you know.”

  “Oh, that’s right! I remember. And right in the middle of baseball season. Talk about perfect timing!”

  “Better than you think! Andrew and his dad gave me tickets for the Tuesday night game. We’re going to sit just behind the dugout.”

  “No way!”

  “Yep.” Kate grew more excited as she spoke. “My mom will call your mother today to ask her if you can come. You can take the train from DC.”

  “To Philadelphia? Woo-hoo!” Sydney squealed. “Ooh! Puh-leeze pray my mom says yes. I want to come so much! Can you imagine how exciting this is going to be? Two supersleuths working together…again!” After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Have you let the other Camp Club Girls know yet?”

  “No. We’ll email them,” Kate responded. “But I need you on-site, Sydney, because you know about baseball. I really don’t know anything. To me, those guys in uniform just look like they’re running around. The whole thing is kind of, well, boring.”

  Sydney laughed. “There’s more to it than running in circles—and it’s not boring—but you can count on me to help you figure things out. And by the end of this, you’ll know a lot about baseball, I promise. Maybe I’ll even turn you into a fan!”

  “Now that would really be something!” Just then Kate heard a knock on her door. She hollered, “Come in!” then whispered, “Hang on a minute, Sydney.”

  Her mother popped her head in the door. “G’morning, sunshine! Is that Sydney? Did you ask her if she wants to come visit?”

  Kate nodded and smiled. “Yes!”

  “Great! I’ll call her mother after breakfast and see if she’ll bring her to Philly on tomorrow’s train. How does that sound?”

  “Delicious!” Kate shouted. A wonderful aroma filled the room. Kate closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Ooh, speaking of delicious, is that bacon I smell cooking downstairs?”

  “Yes. I’m making pancakes and scrambled eggs too.” Her mom winked. “Come down as soon as you’re done with your call.” She closed the door.

  “Mmm.” Kate turned her attention back to Sydney. “Sydney, I’ve gotta go. Breakfast calls. But talk to your mom quick, before my mother calls her, okay? That way she’s prepared. We want her to have time to think about it. Oh, and Sydney?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks. I really need you.”

  “Aw, you’re welcome.” Sydney giggled. “Just pray my mom says yes, okay?”

  “Okay. I’m praying.” Kate hung up the phone and bowed her head to pray. If she ever needed help from above…it was now!

  Gadgets and Gizmos

  After praying, Kate bounded down the stairs with Biscuit on her heels. He yapped, yapped, yapped the whole way! What a silly little dog!

  She stopped to look in the large round mirror that hung on the stairway wall. Her shoulder-length blond hair needed to be combed, and her glasses were smudged and crooked again. Oh well. No one cared, right? She couldn’t be a supersleuth and have perfect hair at the same time, could she? Oh, but if only she could do something about those freckles!

  As soon as she got to the bottom floor, Kate ran smack-dab into Robby, the robovac. As always, Biscuit started barking at the funny little vacuum cleaner that kept the floor clean.

  Ruff, ruff! Ruff, ruff! Biscuit took several steps backward but never stopped barking.

  “Stop it, Biscuit! I’ve told you a hundred times…Robby won’t hurt you.”

  “That’s right,” her mother called out from the kitchen. “And besides, Robby’s doing us a favor, picking up all of the dog hair that Biscuit sheds.”
r />   The dog reached out his paw and tried to tap the vacuum cleaner. It turned around and went the other way. Kate giggled. “See? You’ll never be friends if you keep hurting his feelings!”

  She went into the kitchen and practically drooled when she saw the yummy food. Bacon sizzled on the stove and a skillet filled with fluffy yellow eggs looked delicious. To the side of the stove she saw a big stack of pancakes. And the table was set with their nicest dishes, the ones mom only used on very special occasions. Something big must be happening. Kate the supersleuth would find out what it was…pronto!

  “Mom, what’s up?”

  “Your dad got a patent for one of his projects,” her mother said with a smile. “Remember that robotic security system he’s been working on in the basement?”

  “SWAT-bot?” Kate’s eyes widened. “The little robot with the police uniform? Really? That’s so cool!”

  “Yes, so we’re celebrating in style.” Her mom lowered her voice. “Be sure to tell him how proud you are, okay, honey?”

  “Oh, I am proud!” Kate wanted to be just like her dad when she grew up.

  “Good girl.” Her mother smiled. “After breakfast I’ll call Sydney’s mom. I know how much you need your friend’s help right now.”

  “I really do, Mom. She knows everything there is to know about baseball. And I think she and Andrew will be good friends.”

  “Andrew’s a great kid,” her mother said. “And I’m so happy the Smiths have been coming to church. I’ve enjoyed getting to know his mom.”

  “And Andrew loves it too,” Kate said. “But he’s been so upset over this thing with his dad that I’m afraid he’ll stop coming. Some of the kids in our class at church are saying mean things. They think his dad’s a traitor to the team, and Andrew’s really upset. That’s why I want to help him.”

  “That’s my girl,” Kate’s dad said, entering the room. “Always helping others.”

  Kate rushed to her father and hugged him. “G’morning, Dad!”

  “Good morning, pumpkin. What’s this about Andrew’s feelings getting hurt?”

  “People are spreading untrue stories about his dad,” she explained.

  “Ah. So the rumor mill is at work?”

  “Rumor mill?” Kate asked. “What’s that?”