Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult - Erica Rodgers [18]
“That would be great,” said Bailey. “Can we blow up the picture on this computer?”
Alexis messed around with the keyboard for a few minutes and then sighed. There were hardly any programs loaded onto it.
“No, we can’t,” said Alexis. “I mean, there might be a way, but I have no clue how to do it without the program I’m used to using at school. I wish Kate were here. She would know how to do it.”
Bailey laughed so loud that someone talking outside their hotel room abruptly stopped.
“Come on, Lexi! Do you or do you not know how to e-mail?”
Alexis couldn’t help it. She began laughing, too. Why had she forgotten all about the Internet? It was her main link to the rest of the Camp Club Girls.
“Right,” Alexis said, going to work at the keyboard again. “All I need to do is cut out this piece of video and send it to Kate. I hope the file won’t be too big.”
After a few minutes of tweaking the video file, Alexis typed an e-mail to send to their friend, the technogeek, and copied in the rest of the Camp Club Girls so they’d know what was going on. If anyone could help them, Kate could.
Dear Kate,
Bailey and I were going to see sleeping bears today when someone woke them up! Apparently the person shot a BB gun into their den (and hit me with one, too!). I have a video with a person in the background. The person is too far away to see now, but I was hoping you would know how to zoom in and maybe get a few still pictures. I hope this isn’t asking too much. As Princess Leia said in the old Star Wars movie: “You’re our only hope!”
This could be the big break we need. Bailey says, “Hi, Katie Cat!” We love you and miss you!
Alex and Bailey
“Hopefully she’ll get to it soon,” said Bailey.
“Are you kidding? Kate checks her e-mail every five minutes. If she’s not already asleep, she’ll probably get it tonight.”
Just then there was a gentle knock at the connecting door, and Mrs. Howell popped her head in.
“Hi, Mom. We’re done with the computer now,” Alex announced.
“Oh, that’s okay. I didn’t come in for that,” Mrs. Howell explained. “I got a call from the restaurant. They said I left my purse there, and they’ve taken it to the front desk. I’m trying to get your brothers to bed, so I wondered if you girls would run down and get it for me.”
“Sure, Mom,” Alex said with a smile.
“Great. I’ll call them and let them know you’re on the way,” Mrs. Howell said.
The girls quickly entered the elevator and rode to the lobby.
“I wonder how Angelo’s doing,” Bailey said.
“Hmm. Maybe we should call him and invite him to join us tomorrow,” Bailey said.
As the girls picked up Mrs. Howell’s purse, Alex noticed a “house” phone near the front desk—a phone for guests to use to call the hotel rooms. She punched in the operator’s number and asked for Angelo’s room.
No one picked up in Angelo’s room. She left him a message and told him to meet them at the bus stop if he was interested. Then they headed up to the room.
The girls got back in the elevator talking about their plans for the next day. When they got off the elevator, they could already hear the commotion coming from their room at the end of the hallway. To Alexis’s surprise, a hotel manager was standing at their door, knocking. She and Bailey stood slightly behind him to see what was going on as Mrs. Howell opened the door.
“Yes? Can I help you?” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” said the manager. “I wonder if you could have your little ones calm down a bit? It’s just that we’ve had a number of complaints from your floor—”
“Oh, I’m so sorry—”
“And the floor below you—”
“Sir, I promise they won’t—”
“And the floor above you as well,” the man finished.
Alexis’s mother looked sorry, but Alexis could tell that underneath she was furious. Not at the manager, but at her twin sons.
“Thank you, sir,” she said through clenched teeth. “It won’t happen again.” The man smiled and walked back toward the elevator. Alexis barely caught the door before it closed, and she and Bailey made it into the room just in time to hear the melee that ensued.