The Sign in the Smoke (Nancy Drew Diaries Book 12) Read Online Free Page B

couple of minutes before she reached the float. “Okay!” she yelled, struggling to make her voice carry over the yards that separated her from the pier. “Now I’m going to— aaugh! ”
    In the blink of an eye, it looked like Deborah was suddenly yanked downward —into the lake! Where she’d floated a few seconds earlier, holding on to the float, was a little whirlpool of churning water.
    I looked uneasily at George. “What just happened?”
    George shook her head. “Do you think she’s okay? Should we—”
    But then the surface of the lake was broken again, and an extremely wet, slick-haired Deborah came up sputtering.
    “Are you okay?” Maddie yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth.
    Deborah held up one finger to say wait one minute . She pushed her hair back from her face, still blinking and gasping—clearly whatever had pulled her down had surprised her, too.
    “I’m okay,” she said after a few seconds. “That was the darnedest thing! It felt like someone . . .” She looked down into the water, biting her lip.
    “Someone did what? ” Charla called, looking openly worried now.
    Deborah frowned, peering beneath the surface of the water. I turned to look at George again, and she returned my glance with a furrowed brow. Nobody was saying it—but I knew we were all thinking of the story Bella had told the night before. The camper who’d drowned in this very lake. The camper who supposedly haunted the camp.
    All at once, Deborah shook her head and turned back to us, smiling. “Nothing,” she said. “Just ignore me! I’m sorry, folks, there are some reeds and plants down there, and my foot must have gotten snagged on one of them. No big deal!”
    “What about us ?” Charla murmured, too quietly for Deborah to hear. “I don’t want to get caught by any weed.”
    I swallowed hard. I wasn’t proud to admit it, but I was thinking the same thing. I wasn’t a terribly strong swimmer to begin with. The last thing I needed was some angry “weed” pulling me down.
    If it really is a weed.
    Deborah demonstrated the rest of the test: treading water for two minutes, then swimming back. Nothing else happened that would be considered out of the ordinary. When Deborah crested the ladder that led back up to the pier, she held out her arms for applause, and we all clapped politely.
    “ Thank you,” said Deborah with a smile. “I deserve that, for being the first one to brave that cold water! Who’s next? Let’s see. . . .” She walked to the edge of the pier and picked up a clipboard. “Sam and Bella were interested in the lifeguard test, right? So let’s do the basic tests first. Alphabetical order?” Without waiting for us to answer, she squinted at the paper on her clipboard. “Benson, Charla?”
    Charla cringed, but nodded and bravely moved forward. In what seemed like no time, she’d jumped into the water and headed to the float. She passed her test with flying colors, and then Maddie took and passed hers. I was beginning to feel calm again when Deborah called out, “Drew, Nancy? I think you’re up!”
    Great. I raised my hand, trying to muster up a not-miserable expression.
    Deborah smiled encouragingly. “Okay. A little advice from someone who’s been there: jump in from the end of the pier. Rip off the Band-Aid, you know? You get used to the water faster that way.”
    I took a breath and glanced at Bess. You. This was your idea. But she just smiled like we were all having a great time. I strolled to the edge of the pier and bent my toes over. The water looked deep green up close, and I couldn’t see much beyond the surface.
    A shrill whistle sounded behind me. I cringed and turned around.
    Deborah was holding up a whistle she’d looped around her neck and grinning. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just, we have a lot of swim tests to get through. Maybe we should hur—”
    She was right, I realized before she even finished. So I jumped.
    Splash!
    The water wasn’t too cold. It