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went to the ticket area. No Hayley. I described her to the woman taking tickets, and she shook her head.

Chapter 18

    Toby and I changed in the locker room and walked back to the other park. On the way I noticed Ashley’s friend Hayley talking with a girl I hadn’t seen before. The girl held a huge stuffed giraffe, and Hayley looked concerned. I wondered where Ashley was, since they were supposed to be buddies, but by the time I got to her, Hayley had run the other direction into the crowd.
    You learn a lot about people at an amusement park. Working with them in class is different than playing, and Toby was a lot of fun. I started feeling bad about thinking his dad had stolen Mrs. Watson’s jewelry. The facts were not adding up. Plus, if he stole stuff at Hayley’s house, how did he get in without tripping the alarm?
    “Bryce! Over here!” someone called.
    It was Ashley, waving frantically. I hurried over, looking at my watch.
    “Hayley’s gone,” she said. “Disappeared.”
    “I just saw her run that way,” I said.
    “What? But it’s time—”
    “She’ll meet us there,” I said. “Come on.”

Chapter 19

    I’ve never seen Mr. Scarberry so upset. I told him I would keep looking for Hayley, but he gritted his teeth and ordered me to sit down. He made the whole group stay put—“the consequences,” he said, “for breaking the rules.”
    “This stinks!” somebody said.
    One of Bryce’s percussion mates scowled at me. “Why’d you have to mess it up for the rest of us?”
    I racked my brain, trying to think where Hayley might be. There couldn’t have been a mix-up about the meeting place. But what about Bryce seeing the girl with the stuffed giraffe? What had she said to Hayley to upset her? Could someone have kidnapped her? My knees trembled.
    Duncan walked past Bryce and didn’t say anything, which was unusual.
    The smell of corn dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and funnel cakes wafted over us. It should have been such a happy day, but people were glaring at me.
    “Look,” Toby said.
    A girl walked by carrying a huge giraffe.
    Bryce said, “That’s her!” And we both bolted for her.
    Mr. Scarberry yelled at us, but I wasn’t about to stop.
    The girl turned and stared like we were space aliens. She was about our age, with freckles and red hair. An oversized hockey jersey reached her knees. She took a step back, clutching her giraffe.
    “You talked to my friend Hayley,” I said. “What did you say to her?”
    She frowned. “Are you Ashley? You don’t look hurt.”
    “What do you mean, hurt?”
    “These two girls said they’d give me this giraffe if I’d do them a favor. They pointed to this girl Hayley on the Brain Buster and said a friend of hers, Ashley, was hurt really bad. They said they had to go or they’d get in trouble and would I give Hayley the message. She was supposed to meet the ambulance in the parking lot.”
    Mr. Scarberry ran over, but before he could scold us, I explained.
    “Let’s hope she’s still there,” he said. He turned to Giraffe Girl. “Do you see the two girls who gave you the giraffe?”
    She scanned the crowd and shook her head. Frankly, I didn’t see them either.
    Mr. Scarberry found a security guy to radio someone and have them look for Hayley. The parking lot was on the other side of the park.
    Several minutes went by. The walkie-talkie clicked. “No response here. Sorry.”

Chapter 20

    Soon it seemed everyone was whining about being stuck here. Some waved their soggy swimsuits.
    “Come on! Let us go!”
    Mr. Scarberry stood on a table and announced that Hayley was missing. “No one’s going anywhere until we find her.”
    Some flute players gathered around Ashley, but Liz and Denise didn’t join them. I found them at the back of the meeting area and was about to point them out to Giraffe Girl when an alarm sounded and the loudspeaker system came to life, paging Hayley Henderson throughout the whole complex.
    Rumors spread like dust bunnies