(harder version)

 
Have you ever been camping? Recently Barney and Danny begged me to take them camping, and remembering the fun times we used to have camping when my children, Tony and Terri were small, my husband, Bill, and I agreed. Thank goodness the weather was warm and sunny.

"This is so fun!" said Danny, browning his marshmallow near the coals. "Did you used to make s'mores when you came camping, Aunt Mathilda?"
 

"Yes we did!" I said, taking a big bite of chocolate bar and melted marshmallow between two graham crackers. "It was my favorite thing!"

"My favorite thing was telling stories and singing songs around the camp fire," said Uncle Bill.

"My daddy used to tell us ghost stories and I could never get to sleep" I remembered.

"Do you remember any? asked Danny, excitedly. "Tell one!" he begged.
 

"Don't make it too scary," added Barney. "I want to get some sleep tonight!"

I thought a while. I really didn't want to scare the boys. "Well, I was just thinking of a story I heard once about ghosts. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes!!" The boys said unison, so I began.

"Once upon a time there were 12 boy scouts who were camping out – around here I think. Their names were Bob, Glen, Hank, Adam, Charlie, Josh, Everett, Ian, Larry, Doug, Frank, and Kevin.
 

"Its really dark" warned Larry. "We might get lost."

"We'll stay close together and hold onto this rope so no one gets separated," suggested Josh.

"Good idea!" said Ian. "Let's line up in alphabetical order."

The scouts started out, walking along in the dark, dark woods. They heard owls hooting. Still they walked on. They heard tree branches creaking. Still they walked on.
 

"Boooo…" said, one ghost in his little ghost voice.

Still the boys walked on.

"Booo..Booo.." said both ghosts in their little ghost voices.

"These boys don't scare easily!" said the ghosts to each other. "Let's tickle 'em!" said the first ghost.
 

Three ghosts began to follow them.

"Booo" said one ghost in his little ghost voice, but still the boys walked on.

"Booo, boo.." said both ghosts in their little ghost voices, but still the boys walked on.

"These boys don't scare easily!" said the ghosts to each other.

"Booo, Boooo, Booooo" said all three ghosts in their little ghost voices, but still the boys walked on.

"Let's tickle them!" Said the first ghost. "

Oh, I'm getting tired of just tickling people. I want to make a plan this time of who I am going to tickle," said the second ghost. "I am going to tickle the first scout, skip the second one and keep up this pattern until I get to the end of the line.

'OK" said the first ghost. "I'll tickle in a pattern too. Here's my plan. I'll skip two scouts and tickle two scouts, and keep up this pattern until I get to the end of the line."

"Me too!" said the third ghost. "I'll tickle every third scout. I'll tickle them real good!"

Following this plan, the ghosts began their night attack. In the next minute, some scouts giggled once, some scouts giggled twice, some scouts giggled three times, and some scouts said, "What's the matter with you guys!?" Since it was so dark, there was no way to tell who said what…or was there?
 

"Hah! Good story, Aunty," giggled Danny.

"Glad you liked it, Danny," I said laughing. "I hope it wasn't too scary for you, Barney."

"Gee, Aunty," moaned Barney. "It wasn't scary at all, but I still won't be able to sleep!"

"Why?" Uncle Bill asked him.

"He will be trying to figure out who said what all night!" laughed Danny.

What do you think? Will Barney be able to figure out which scouts laughed once, twice, not at all? Can you figure it out? I hope you are "itching" to give this challenge a try. Remember you solution should include not only your answer but also how you arrived at it.

Aunty Math