A different girl squeaked, hands flying to her mouth. “Maybe it was one of theboys!”
General pandemonium broke out at this suggestion. Several of the girls shrieked, pulling dressing gowns closed. Some of the ones already in her room tried to retreat to the corridor, only to bounce off the girls still craning their necks round the door. Honey glimpsed Beth at the back of the crowd, attempting to push through the crush.
“YOU’D BETTER COME OUT THIS SECOND!” Estelle yelled, with far more volume and aggression than should have been possible from a pint-sized kid in rainbow unicorn pajamas. “OR I’M GONNA STOMP YOUR WORMY BUTT!”
“I could stomp himwithmy butt,” Flora volunteered helpfully.
“Girls!” Honey shouted, putting on her ‘school voice.’ They all fell silent at once. “Calm down. It was just a rat. A perfectly ordinary rat.”
“Oh.” Estelle lowered her pillow, looking a little disappointed. “Yousureit wasn’t a boy?”
“Absolutely,” Honey said, very aware of the motionless shadow under the bed. “No boys in here.”
“Can I help you catch it?” a girl said eagerly. “I’m a fox. Foxes aregreatat catching rats.”
“Hey!”
“No offense, Maisie.”
Flora sniffed the air. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “Are you sure you saw a rat, Honey? I can’t smell any trace of one. Just you and—”
“OKAY EVERYONE, EXCITEMENT’S OVER!” Beth interrupted, finally fighting her way to the front. She grabbed Flora’s wrist, hauling her back. “You heard Honey, she doesn’t need any help. We should leave her in peace.”
“But,” Flora started.
“Everyone needs to get dressed!” Beth’s gaze flicked to the bed, then quickly away again. “Or we’ll be late for breakfast!”
“Beth’s right.” Honey shooed the rest of the girls out of her room. “Go on, you don’t want to miss out on pancakes. Beth, can you ask one of the other counselors to take our pack to the dining hall? I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
“Of course! Leave it to me!” Beth yelped, herding the rest of the pack ahead of her down the corridor. “We can swing past the boys’ cabin and pick them up too. Just in case Buck is, uh, late. No need to rush!”
“Why are you acting so weird?” Estelle asked suspiciously.
“I willtellyou,”Beth said through clenched teeth, “later.”
“Ohhhhh,” Estelle said, in very different tones. Suddenly all sweet compliance, she gave Honey a cheery wave. “See you at breakfast!”
Face set in a rictus smile, Honey waved back. She closed the door, put both hands over her face, and indulged in a long, silent scream.
“Right,” she said, dropping her hands. “Buck?”
“Good morning,” said a muffled voice.
“It really,reallyisn’t.”
“Yeah, I realized that was stupid the moment the words left my mouth. Are they gone?”
“Only into the next room, so keep your voice down. What are you doing under mybed?”
“At the moment, attempting to die of mortification.”
“Well, stop it!” she hissed, before realizing this didn’t make much sense. “I mean, come out this instant!”
A pause.
“There’s a slight issue with that,” he said at last.
“What kind of issue?”
