" HA KING ME!!" Cried Harold. Arnold looked up at him with a confused look on his face.
" Harold? This is chess. Kinging someone is in checkers." He shot back. Arnold, Gerald, Sid and Harold were the only ones in the dinning hall. They were sitting at Winter Skies table, a cabin on the East Side. It was so early that there still was a hazy mist over Windwalker Lake and the colors of the sun rise were still vibrant. The tops of the trees began to turn gold because of the sun. It was bitter out, but very warm in the hall and the sounds of the kitchen staff setting up and cooking were heard.
" AW YOU'RE CONFUSING ME!" Cried Harold. Sid sighed imaptiently.
" Look, why do I take over?" He asked. " No!" Snapped Harold taking his turn.
" But you can't play!" argued Sid. Arnold took his turn a patiently waited for Harold. " Your turn." He said.
" Apperantly you can't." Said Sid raising his voice.
" Why not!" Yelled Harold.
" Your turn." repeated Arnold. Harold continued aruging with Sid
" You confused the game with checkers!" said Sid.
" So what!" said Harold. Arnold sighed. " Your-turn." he said impatiently.
" So...you don't know how to play!" said Sid.
" AWWWW SHUT UP!!!" yelled Harold. " Your turn!" Yelled Arnold. Harold still continued arguing.
" Make me." said Sid. " I'LL POUND YOU!!!" yelled Harold.
" YOUR TURN!!" belowed Arnold. Harold and Sid stopped.
" Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." said Harold quickly taking his turn. " it's okay." said Arnold.
" Yeah like you ever pay attention." said Sid. Just before Harold could respond, Martine came in.
" Well, if it isn't Mr. Bradly Martinez lurking in the shadows. Morning Martinez." said Gerald. Martinez walked over.
" Morning Johansson." He said smiling. " Why you guys up so early?"
" We just woke up early." said Arnold. " Ha. Checkmate." He added smiling and Harold glared.
" What are YOU doing up?" asked Gerald. Martinez sat down. " I run this place. I'v been awake since four." He said smiling. " And it's seven thirty." Arnold made a disgusted face.
" Seven thirty and I'm awake...how NOT normal." He said.
" I'm not going to be here today though. I have to go to a funeral." said Martinez.
" Aww I'm sorry. Who died?" asked Arnold. " My sister-in-laws grandmother." answered Martinez. " Why do you have to go? She's not related to you." asked Harold.
" She was the camp owners mother..normally I wouldn't go, I never met this woman before. All I know is that she stayed here once and her last name was like..De La something..I don't know but if I don't show up, I'll have my butt fired so fast it's not funny." answered Martinez.
" How old was she?" asked Arnold.
" Uhh...like eighty-nine." said Martinez. A few girl scouts came in along with some girls from Oriannas Lodge on the West Side. Taja and Lila walked in. Taja looked like she hadn't slept the entire night.
" Hey guys! Over here!" yelled Arnold. Taja and Lila looked over and joined in.
" What an ever so beautiful morning!" said Lila batting her eye lashes at Arnold and sitting down next to him.
" Uh Yeah." He said then looked over at Taja.
" Mmm...morning.." said Taja tiredly sitting down on the other side of Arnold.
" feeling better?" He asked. Taja nodded and yawned. Helga then walked in.
" Hey guys." She said. Just before she walked over, another troop of girl scouts came in. They stared at eachother ferociously.
" Well if it isn't little Miss Orchestra.' said the blonde girl emerging from the crowd.
" Oh ouch. That REALLY hurt." said Helga sarcastically.
" We hope you like the little surprize we made you." said the girl and walked away. Helga walked over to Arnold and the gang.
" Stupid little snits." She mumbled. More and more people came in and Arnold,Gerald, Sid and Harold moved over to the Windigo's table.
" What surprize are they talking about?" asked Arnold.
" How should I know football head?!" said Helga as she Lila and Taja sat down at The Windermere.
" Howdy fellas." said Stinky as he, Curly and Eugene moved in. The tables filled quickly and the hall was even louder than yesterday.
" How long have you been here?" asked Curly.
" Since seven." answered Arnold. Fox, Rex and Jonothon came over and sat down.
" Well looky hre! It's great to see that your nose is still there!" said Sid. Fox looked up at him confused.
" What are you talking about?" He asked. Arnold, Gerald and Sid all looked at eachother and smiled.
" Alright. Orchestra help your selves then Girl scouts." said Martinez on the microphone then quickly skittered towards the door. The girl scouts jeered at the orchestra as they made there way towards the buffet.
" They think they're SO great." said the blonde girl glaring at Helga and Arnold.
" You said it Jane." said the red head next to her. Jane smiled deviously.
" Heh heh heh just wait until they see their band shell." She cackled. She got her food and walked past the orchestra smirking.
" What's their problem!" exclaimed Arnold. He quickly finished his breakfast and walked back to the North Side. He was the only one there. He ran inside The Windigo and grabbed his stuff, then ran back out to the cabin ring. A cool breeze dance by and the leaves skittered infront of him. The sun was warm and bright in the clearing and he looked down at the lake. The sun sparkled like diamonds and the color was a deep blue.
" What are you doing out here?" asked Park as hemade his way towards Hunter.
" Waiting out here. It's too nice to stay inside." said Arnold. Everyone started trickling in and once again the North Side was filled with noise. One by one they began moving towards the band shell.
When Arnold arrived, he saw everyone crowded around a sign mumbling. He spotted Taja and walked over.
" Whats going on?" He asked. Taja turned around
" Our friends, 'zee girl scouts, made us some sort of 'ate poster." She answered.
" Whats is say?" He asked again.
" I don't know. I 'havn't see 'eet." She replied non chalantly. Arnold nodded and pushed himself through the crowd. He found Helga infront of a banner that read:
CAMP WILLOW WHISP SUPPORTING THE GIRL SCOUTS FOR OVER SEVENTY YEARS .....NOT ORCHESTRA....
" Why those rotten little snits." growled Helga. Arnold glared.
" Yeah I know." He said. Miss Zoltowksy moved in and looked at the sign.
" Well I never!" She said in a shocked voice and moved over to the podium. " Come one everyone. Lets show those girl scouts what the Youth Orchestra can do!!" Everyone cheered and quickly ran to their seats and unpacked their insterments.
" Today we'll start off with Overture 1812 then Pachebels Canon followed by Rhapsody, Shenedoah,and Concerto in F. Peapod, you're on piano for Rhapsody and Concerto. The rest is to be announced." said Miss Zoltowsky.
" Try not to zonk out on us again Arnold!" said Fox smirking. He waited for Rex and Jonothon from the French Horn section to laugh. Arnold glared.
" Oops..I didn't mean to let that slip out." Fox added.
" Why dont you shut up?" said Nadine sitting next to him. Arnold looked straight ahead and stood up. He silently walked towards Fox with his eyes fixed on him. A few isolated mumers arose. Arnold stood infront of Fox with his arms folded across his chest and his trumpet in one hand.
" What are you going to do? Sick the piano ghost on me?" snickered Fox. Then, without hesitation, Arnold lifted his trumpet over Foxes head and released the spit valve. The entire band shell shook with laughter. even Miss Zoltowsky snickered. Foxes face turned three shades of red.
" Sorry. Guess my finger slipped." Arnold sneered and walked back to his seat.
" Quiet, quiet everyone." said Miss Zoltowsky trying not to laugh. Everyone quieted down.
" Good job. He deserved that." Whispered Gerald. They began playing as loud as possible. They echoed through out the camp grounds. Evern the girl scouts on the South Side, aross the lake, could hear them.
Jane sat silently on Juliette Hall's deck with a scowl on her face. The red head walked out and sat down next to her.
" I guess they found our sign huh." She said.
" Yeah. Now they're playing louder than EVER!" said Jane viciously. " How come none of my evil schemes work Brit?!" She complained. They sat there silently.
" I'v got an idea!" said Britany smiling evily. " Tonight we go back up to the camp ground where that girl is with Amy's troop and sing as loud as we can."
Jane grinned mischeviously. " I like the way you think." She said. " We'll give those Orchestra snobs what they deserve!"
" This had to be the LONGEST practice day EVER!" said Gerald tiredly as he and all the North bounds dragged themselves along Windjammer trail towards the North Side. The sun was begainning to set and the air was cooling off.
" It would have been alot better if Zoltowsky hadn't had us play every piece of music we owned three times!" said Arnold equally as tired. The reached the cabin ring and dragged towards The Windigo. Everyone else was already in the bunk area. Arnold flung his trumpet case onto the floor and collapsed on his bed.
" I haven't been so happt to see a bed in my life." He mumbled with his face buried in a pillow. Gerald rolled his eyes.
" Tell me about it." He said. " Oh," He added taking a mouth piece out of his pocket. " You dropped this."
Arnold tiredly looked up and took the mouth piece.
" Thanks." He said picking up his trumpet case.
" Oh no." He groaned.
" What?" asked Gerald.
" This isn't my trumpet." said Arnold taking a silver trumpet out of the case. " I must have taken some one else's...obviously." Gerald looked at it closly. " Well, who's is it?" He asked
" I don't know. It looks like Park's. I'll find out." said Arnold turning to his window and opening it.
" HEY PARK!" He bellowed. Everyone was clamoring and there was no response.
" ATTENTION HUNTER'S LODGE!! PARK, IF YOU'RE THERE, I THINK YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN MY TRUMPET ON ACCIDENT!!" Everyone in The Windigo was staring at him strangly.
" HEY ARNOLD!" Yelled Park from a window in Hunter. " I DON'T HAVE YOUR TRUMPET. SOMEONE ELSE DOES!"
Arnold sighed.
" ARE YOU SURE?" He bellowed.
" YEAH SORRY!" Bellowed Park.
" WAIT A MINUTE, ARNOLD? DO YOU HAVE A REALLY PRETTY BRASS TRUMPET THAT FEELS LIKE YOU'VE SPENT A MILLION DOLLARS JUST HOLDING IT?" cried Nadine from Windermere. Arnold smiled.
" YEP THAT'D BE MINE. YOU GOT A SILVER ONE?" He asked.
" YEAH!!" said Nadine.
" OKAY THATS ALL WELL AND GOOD FOOTBALL HEAD. NOW SHUT UP BEFORE I CONE OVER THERE AND SHOVE MY FLUTE DOWN YOUR THROAT!!!" bellowed Helga.
" SORRY!" yelled Arnold then he shut his window. He put the trumpet back in it's case.
" Be right back." He said heading towards the door. He walked out. The whole North Side rang with talking and laughter. He walked up to the Windermere and knocked on the door. Rhonda answered it.
" Oh hi Arnold. Come on in." She said. he walked in. Taja smiled at him as he walked by her to Nadines bunk.
" Hey! sorry about the mix up." She said handing him his case.
" Thanks." He said placing her trumpet on her bunk. Suddenly, Rhonda and Nikki screamed.
" AHHHH! A SPIDER!! GET 'EET OUT!!! GET 'EET OUT!!!" yelled Nikki.
" Criminy you guys! 'eet's just a spider!" said Taja. Nadine jumped up and ran over to the spider. Arnold walked out then back towards The Windigo. Suddenly he heard singing off in the distance coming closer and closer.
" Oh no." He said to himself. He began to walk then stopped again. He turned facing the cabin ring. The singing grew louder. He glared and walked to the ring. He stood on the top of the hill. The singing echoed through out the forest and two girl scout troops walked up. They saw him and stopped once again. Jane walked up to him grinning.
" We meet again huh." She said. He stood there silently. Jane looked down at him trumpet and grinned even more.
" Gonna try and drown us out?" Arnold's glare turned into a mischevious grin.
" Maybe I am." He said. The girls broke out into laughter.
" Alrighty then. Lets find out. You never will, but bring it." said Jane. Then they began. The girls sang at the tops of their lungs and Arnold began playing as loud as he could. A few boys from Hunter yelled at the girls to shut up. Arnold kept playing as many songs as he knew without his music, then began his solo in An American In Paris. The longest trumpet part he memorized. The girls stopped singing except for Jane. All the kids started looking out their windows.
" What's he doing?" asked Eugene as he and all of The Windigo looked out from the windows. Gerald backed away and smiled.
" Somthing that's going to need out help." He said. " Grab your insterments. We're going to go help Arnold drown out the girl scouts." He and all the others grabbed their insterments and walked out to the cabin ring. As they walked past the Windermere, Helga smiled.
" Lets go girls." She said grabbing her flute. All the girls joined the Windigo. Arnold continued playing, then was accompained by the flutes and cellos. He smiled and continued on. This time, everyone from the cabins joined in. The girls began singing again. Screeching as loud as possible. The entire camp was filled with An American In Paris and loud inaudiable singing. Everyone around the camp stopped and listened. The orchstra from the West Side began to walk towards the North Side, then was accompained by The East Side and the rest of the South Side's girl scouts. They all filled the North Side's path behind the singing girl scouts. Neither the North Side orchestra or girl scouts noticed the audience. They were too busy upstaging eachother. The girl scouts became hoarse and stopped singing. The orchestra kept playing An American In Paris. Jane stood there as angry as a hornet. The song ended and a huge round of applause arose. Jane's jaw dropped open as she turned around. The North Side orchestra began cheering as well. Mostly to Arnold. He stood there smiling.
" NO FAIR!!! THEY HAD MORE PEOPLE AND INSTERMENTS!!!" screeched Jane glowing with fury.
" Oh give it up." said Arnold.
" Yeah. We're better and you know it!!" cried Helga laughing. The girl scouts stomped back towards the South Side.
" We'll show them." said Jane. " You just wait and see. We'll show them." she added and they walked on. Chapter seven Back to the domain |
