Kelsey the Spy (23 page)

Authors: Linda J Singleton

BOOK: Kelsey the Spy

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But movement in front of Prehistoric Pizza catches my eye. I smile at the familiar dino face. Maybe Talla saw my brother. I can't get any more embarrassed than I already am.

“Talla,” I call out, coming over to the green-scaled dinosaur. “It's me again.”

The dino girl waves her promotional billboard like a hello.

“Have you seen my brother?” I ask, my breath starting to slow to normal.

She shakes her dino head, green scales shimmery in the sunlight.

“But he just came by here,” I say, frustrated. “I know he did. You must have seen him ride by on his bike.”

She turns away, shaking her costumed head and gesturing for me to leave.

My shoulders slump and I turn around.

A thought hits me, and I turn back. I study the tiny, round scales on the dinosaur costume. Green, shiny scales exactly like the tiny, green disk I found in Kyle's white boxâa box big enough for a dino costume. There's something different about Talla. She's taller with broad shoulders, not talkative, and instead of hazel eyes, hers are brownâlike my eyes.

“
Kyle!
” I say accusingly, pointing.

Dino backs away, moving toward the Prehistoric Pizza entrance. But a costumed dinosaur can't move as fast as a determined sister.

“It is you, Kyle!” I say as I come around to block him.

“Quiet!” My brother shushes me with his finger to his dino lips. “Don't shout my name. All my coworkers call me K. C. It's bad enough having to wear this crazy costume, but it would be brutal if the guys at school found out.”

“But why hide a job? You should be proud of it,” I say. “Do Mom and Dad know?”

“Yeah,” he admits. “But they haven't seen me in the costume. It's so embarrassing.”

I know all about being embarrassed, I think with a shudder and a glance toward the lawyer's office.

“So why work here if you don't like it?” I reach out to smooth my finger over Kyle's green-scaled arm.

“I'm saving money for college and was lucky to get a job I could do on weekends and after school. I had hoped to deliver pizzas but I don't have a car,” Kyle adds with a wince.

“I saw you carrying a white box out to your bike a few days ago.” I hesitate, not wanting to admit I also snooped in his room. “Was your costume inside?”

“Yes.” He lifts his floppy tail. “I keep it at work unless it needs to be cleaned. I had a pizza-sauce accident a few days ago and had to take it to the dry cleanersâwhich wasn't easy on a bike.”

I glance around the parking lot and shops. “So where is your bike?”

“My boss lets me keep it in a back storage room.” He gestures toward the alley beside Prehistoric Pizza, and then he itches his head. “Sometimes I clean bathrooms and mop floors, but lately it's all about this stuffy costume.”

“I think it's adorable.” I laugh. “I'll call you Dino Kyle.”

“No! Kelsey, you can't do that to me. Don't tell anyone you saw me here.” He clasps his clawed hands as if begging. “Please.”

“I won't,” I promise, crisscrossing my chest.

As I ride off a few minutes later, I'm grinning.

Another secret for my notebook.

When I get back home, I can smell a celebration even before I step into my house. Dad must be baking his special Happy Everything cakeâwith so many amazing flavors that I don't know what ingredients he uses but it's delicious.

My sisters pounce on me when I step into the living room, tugging me toward the kitchen. They usually scoff at wearing look-a-like clothes but are both in identical purple, silky pajamas and purple ballet-styled slippers. Kenya's black hair is twisted in a braid though, while Kiana's ponytail is tied at the top of her hair so it looks like an erupting black volcano.

“What's going on?” I look back and forth between their excited faces.

“
Dad has a job!
” they both scream.

I scream too and hug them, and we all dance right there in the living room. We haven't danced like this since we were little kids, and it's great. Mom joins in a few moments later, twirling me beneath her arm. My family has their faults, but when things get rough or wonderful, we support each other, and I love them.

After I catch my breath, I race into the kitchen where Dad is wearing an apron and whipping a concoction in a silver bowl.

“Congratulations!” I say, swaying back and forth like I'm still dancing.

“I'm pretty excited.” He grins. “And it's all your fault.”

“Me?” I touch my chest. “What did I do?”

“You used my recipe to make a few hundred cookiesâwhich sold out yesterday at the fund-raiser.”

I nod, already knowing this. Face painting lost money but the cookies, which Dad donated, made a huge profit. Becca told me that Tyla didn't even apologize for not helping, but she convinced Sophia to come back to the Sparklers and stay in the play. The play starts next week, and I'm looking forward to seeing Sophia perform. I don't have to be a Sparkler to be her friend.

“While I was watching the puppy races yesterday,” Dad continues, “a woman came over to compliment me on my cookies. We got to talking, and when she found out I was looking for a job, she offered me one as a personal chef to her employer. And I accepted.”

“Wow!” I jump up excitedly. “Best news ever!”

“Even better.” Dad sets down the mixing bowl and looks into my face. “The family I'll be working for owns a chain of resort hotels and lives on a large estate north of town in the hills.”

“That's near Becca's home!” I exclaim.

“Yes, I think it is.” Dad pokes his finger in the frothy concoction and licks his finger. “Just right. Anyway, the house is a modern castle with a huge kitchen just waiting for me. And here's the even-better part.”

I happily sink into a chair, staring up at Dad. “What?”

“My new boss wanted me to live in the castle so I can prepare meals all day. But when I explained that I couldn't leave my family, he offered the cottage houseârent free!”

“A house! For us?”

“It's not a mansion,” Dad says with a chuckle. “But there are five rooms. Go out to the computer. The photo is still up. Look for yourself.”

I race out of the room to find my sisters waiting for me by the computer.

“Check out our new home!” Kenya gestures with her hand like a model promoting a product.

“Sit here,” Kiana adds as she stands up to offer me the chair.

I stare at a photo of a white, two-story frame house surrounded by an orchard and with blooming flowers leading up to the house. The house may be called a cottageâbut it's huge! And the yard looks roomy enough our dog, Handsome, and my kitten, Honey. I can finally take my kitten home! Of course, I'll have to ask my parents, but I know they'll say yes. I can't wait to tell Becca and Leo.

Something else in the photo catches my eyeâa gigantic oak tree in the front yard that's taller than the house.

I imagine myself climbing into the tree and peering down from that high perch. Wild animals might come close without knowing they're being watched.

I might even discover a new animal mystery for the CCSC to solve.

About the Author

Linda Joy Singleton is the author of thirty-five books for children and young adults, including YALSA-honored The Seer series and the Dead Girl Walking trilogy. She lives in California.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Interior illustrations and hand lettering by Jordan Kost

978-1-5040-3179-0

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