March Mischief (2 page)

“The leprechaun is gone!” Bradley said.

Brian sat up. His hair was all spiky. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Bri, it’s not on the porch where we left it!” Bradley said. “Someone must have stolen it.”

Brian yawned. “Who’d want a smelly old leprechaun?” he asked.

Bradley tossed a pillow at his brother. “I want it!” he said.

Brian ducked from the pillow. “What are you gonna do?” he asked.

“Look for it,” Bradley said. He pulled on his sneakers. “And you’re gonna help.”

Two minutes later Bradley and Brian were in the backyard.

“Brad, if someone stole it, why are we searching our own yard?” Brian asked.

Bradley peered inside a clump of bushes. “Maybe someone hid it out here to play a trick on us.”

The brothers looked under shrubs, in the barn, and even up in trees.

Their mother opened the back door. “You boys come in and eat some breakfast!” she yelled.

Bradley and Brian walked back into the kitchen. Before sitting down at the table, Bradley called Lucy. “Someone stole the leprechaun!” he told her. “Call Nate and come over.”

“Maybe someone just took it for a joke,” the boys’ mother said after Bradley hung up. She looked at Josh.

“Don’t look at me!” he said. “It’s probably your buddy Nate. He loves playing jokes on people.”

Bradley thought about Nate. Would he steal the leprechaun they had all worked on so hard?

While they were eating oatmeal, the phone rang. Josh jumped for it.

“Hello?” he said. “Just a minute.”

Josh placed the phone next to Bradley’s orange juice. “For you,” he said. “Someone with a bad cold.”

Bradley picked up the phone and said, “Hello?”

“Lucky O’Leary stole your leprechaun,” a hoarse voice said.

Then the caller hung up.

Bradley stared at the phone.

“Who was that?” his mother asked.

“I don’t know,” Bradley said. “But whoever it was said Lucky O’Leary took our leprechaun.”

“Lucky?” said the boys’ mother. “That’s absurd. He’s such a nice boy.”

“It can’t be Lucky,” Josh said. “He’s away at college.”

“He comes home for weekends sometimes,” Brian said.

Just then someone knocked on the door. Bradley let Nate and Lucy in.

They sat at the table while Bradley told them about the phone call.

“Who is Lucky O’Leary?” Lucy asked.

“He’s this college kid we know,” Josh said. “Trust me, he’d never steal anything.”

“And he’s rich!” Nate said. “Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose helped him find a million-dollar lottery ticket!”

“Wow!” Lucy said. “And you don’t know who called you?”

Bradley shook his head. “He had a hoarse voice, though,” he said.

“Could it have been a girl?” Lucy asked.

Bradley shrugged. He tried to remember the voice. “It was so hoarse I couldn’t tell. It could have been a girl, I guess,” he said.

Bradley took the last bite of his
oatmeal. “Come on, let’s go to Lucky’s house.”

“What are we gonna say to him?” Brian asked. “We can’t just accuse him.”

“I won’t,” Bradley said. “I’ll tell him about the phone call.”

The kids all wore sweaters. The day was windy but not too cold. Pal was on his leash. He trotted along happily, sniffing the ground.

“Where does Lucky live?” Lucy asked as they cut through the school playground.

“On Robin Road,” Nate said. “He’s got about a hundred brothers and sisters. And every one of them has red hair!”

The kids hiked down Main Street. They took a right on Bridge Lane, next to the fitness center.

When they came to Robin Road, Bradley pointed. “That’s where Lucky lives.”

It was a big blue house. The front yard was covered with bikes, balls, and other toys. Three boys with red hair were kicking a soccer ball.

A short girl with red hair was sitting on the porch steps. A leprechaun statue stood next to her. It was exactly like Bradley’s statue, except it wore a dress, a blond wig, and lipstick. Cardboard wings were glued to its back. The wings were shiny with silver glitter.

“Don’t look!” the girl yelled when she saw Pal and the kids. She stood up to block her fairy-princess leprechaun.

The kids walked toward the blue house.

“Hey, guys!” one of the redheaded boys shouted.

Bradley let Pal off his leash. Pal trotted over to a red wagon and began sniffing.

“Is your brother Lucky home?” Bradley asked.

“He’s in the house,” the girl said. Her face was all freckles and a big smile. She walked over to pet Pal.

“He came home from college for the leprechaun contest,” one of her brothers said.

Nate nudged Bradley on the arm.

Just then the door opened. A tall guy with red hair stepped onto the porch. He looked at all the kids. Then he glanced at his watch.

“Hi, Lucky,” Bradley said. All of a sudden he felt foolish. Was it possible that Lucky would steal a silly leprechaun? But what about that phone call?

“Yo, Bradley, or is it Brian?” Lucky said.

“Bradley,” he said. “Um, I got a phone call this morning, and—”

Suddenly they all heard a siren. Seconds later a police cruiser turned the corner and parked in front of the blue house. Two police officers got out.

Bradley recognized Officer Fallon and Officer Keene.

Bradley’s mouth fell open. Pal barked at all the excitement. All the kids stopped playing. The little girl hugged one of her dolls.

“Hi, kids,” Officer Fallon said. He smiled under his floppy mustache. “Hello, Lucky. How’s school?”

“School is cool,” Lucky said.

A woman with red hair came out
onto the porch behind Lucky. Two of his redheaded brothers stepped out after her. Bradley knew they went to the same school, but he didn’t know their names.

“Hello, Roberta,” Officer Fallon said.

“Hello, Officer Fallon,” Mrs. O’Leary answered. “What brings you our way?”

“I’m afraid there’s been some mischief in town, Roberta,” Officer Fallon said. “Someone’s been stealing leprechauns.”

“Ours got stolen, too!” Bradley said. “Right off our porch!”

“Huh,” Officer Fallon said. “That makes three so far, then. Mr. Paskey at the Book Nook said his was taken last night. He left it out for the paint to dry. And Mrs. Wong at the pet shop says hers got swiped off her deck.”

“But what does that have to do with us?” Roberta O’Leary asked. “We still have Josephine’s leprechaun.” She pointed
to the fairy-princess leprechaun on their porch steps.

Officer Fallon gave Lucky a strange look. “I’m arresting Lucky for the thefts.” He and his partner walked toward the porch. Officer Keene was holding handcuffs.

Bradley couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Lucky O’Leary was no thief. He tutored high school kids who needed extra help. He was a volunteer fireman. He’d never go around stealing leprechauns!

“I didn’t steal anything!” Lucky said. He took a step backward.

“My son is innocent!” Roberta O’Leary said.

“That’s not what we heard,” Officer Fallon said. He took Lucky by the arm. “Come with us to the station, son.”

Lucky’s little sister Josephine began to cry. “He didn’t do anything!” she said.
“You leave my brother alone!”

The officers put Lucky in the cruiser’s backseat.

All the redheads charged up onto the porch. “Mommy! What’s happening?” they all asked.

“Everything will be fine,” Mrs. O’Leary said. Then she herded her gang into the house.

Bradley couldn’t move. He felt like a statue.

The cruiser took off. All the O’Learys were in the house. The yard was quiet. The fairy-princess leprechaun stood all alone on the porch.

“Boy, that was weird,” Nate said.

The kids and Pal started walking toward Main Street.

“Do you think Lucky really took the leprechauns?” Lucy asked.

“No. Lucky is honest,” Brian said.

“But someone must think he did it,”
Bradley said. “Someone called the cops on him.”

“Maybe Mrs. Wong or Mr. Paskey saw Lucky do it,” Nate said.

“I’d bet anything he didn’t steal them!” Bradley said. “This has to be a big mistake.”

“I feel bad for Lucky,” Lucy said. “But how can we get our leprechaun back? The contest is tomorrow morning!”

“We’ll figure something out,” Bradley said. “If we can find the real thief, Lucky will get out of jail. And we’ll get our leprechaun.”

When the kids and Pal reached the twins’ house, they got a surprise.

Two beat-up bikes leaned against the porch. Two of Lucky’s brothers were sitting on the steps. They stood up.

“Hey,” Bradley said. “How’d you get here before us?”

“We took River Road,” one of the
boys said. “I’m Ben, and this is Ralphie. We have something to tell you.”

All six kids sat on the porch. Pal found a tennis ball to chew on.

“Sorry about Lucky,” Brian said.

“That’s why we’re here,” Ben said. “Lucky didn’t take your leprechaun. We did. We took the others, too.”

“We called you this morning and blamed it on Lucky,” Ralphie said.

“But why?” asked Bradley.