March Mischief (4 page)

“We’d better get home,” Ralphie said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Bradley said.

“See you guys,” Ben muttered. He and Ralphie trudged toward Robin Road.

Bradley, Brian, Lucy, and Nate went to the twins’ house.

Bradley found a note from his mother:

“Where is Pal?” Lucy asked.

Bradley whistled. Pal didn’t come.

Brian clapped his hands. Pal still didn’t come. “Geez, don’t tell me somebody stole him, too!” Brian said.

“Let’s go look,” Nate said.

The four kids split up and searched the house.

Bradley checked the bedrooms. Josh
was on his bed reading and eating a sandwich.

“Have you seen Pal?” Bradley asked.

“He was in the kitchen when I made my sandwich,” Josh said.

“He’s not there now,” Bradley said. Next, he went to the bedroom he shared with Brian. Pal’s tail was sticking out from under Brian’s bed.

“There you are,” Bradley muttered. He flopped down on the floor next to the bed. “Hi, Pal. Come on out.”

Pal didn’t move.

“I’ll give you a cookie,” Bradley said.

Pal wasn’t interested.

“Are you mad at me?” Bradley asked.

Pal didn’t make a sound.

Bradley peeked under the bed. Pal’s big brown eyes looked back at him.

“What have you got there?” Bradley asked. Pal was lying on something brown and fuzzy.

Bradley pulled out the two sleeves he’d cut off his old sweater.

“You miss your sweater?” Bradley asked. “Is that why you’re mad? I had to use the sweater for the leprechaun.”

Just then the other kids walked in.

“I found him,” Bradley said. He showed them the two sweater sleeves. “Pal’s mad because we took his old sweater.”

Brian, Lucy, and Nate got down on the floor. They all looked under the bed. Pal looked back at them.

“I have an idea,” Lucy said.

“He’ll come out when he gets hungry,” Brian said.

“No, I mean about finding the leprechaun,” Lucy said. “Maybe Pal can find it for us!”

The other three just looked at her.

“He loves that old sweater, right?” Lucy said.

Bradley nodded.

“And we put the sweater on the leprechaun, right?” Lucy said.

“Yup,” Bradley said.

“Well, Pal is a hound dog. Detectives use hound dogs to find missing people. So maybe Pal’s nose can lead us to the sweater. And then we’ll have the leprechaun!”

“Great idea, Lucy!” Bradley said. “And if we find our leprechaun, the other two will probably be with it!”

Bradley put his face under the bed again. “Pal, want to go for a walk?”

Pal wriggled out from under the bed. “Woof!” he said.

Bradley snapped on Pal’s leash. He held the sweater sleeves under the dog’s nose. “Find the sweater, Pal!” Bradley said.

The basset hound led the four kids down the stairs and onto the porch. He sniffed the porch floor.

“That’s where we left the leprechaun,” Brian said.

Pal tugged on his leash and the kids followed. They all cut through the school grounds to Main Street. Soon they were headed down Bridge Lane.

“He must be taking us back to the O’Learys’ house,” Nate said.

At the big blue house, Pal went straight to the red wagon. He sniffed it all over.

Just then the front door opened. Ben and Ralphie came out. “What’s going on?” Ben asked.

“Pal is helping us find our leprechaun,” Bradley said. “He led us here.”

“He knows you put it in your wagon,” Lucy said.

“He’s right,” Ralphie said.

“Can you let Pal sniff Lucky’s gym clothes?” Bradley asked.

Ralphie giggled. “Sure, but they’re pretty stinky,” he said. “Come on in.”

Pal and the four kids followed Ben and Ralphie inside. A bunch of redheaded kids were playing hide-and-seek. The fairy-princess leprechaun stood in a corner.

“Lucky’s room is down the hall,” Ben
said, leading the way. The bedroom was messy, but the bed was made.

Pal went right to a closet door. He sniffed and barked and scratched at the door.

Ben opened the closet door. The floor was covered with gym clothes. “This is where we hid them,” Ralphie said.

“So somebody snuck in here and stole them,” Nate said. “I wonder who.”

“Do you keep your front door locked?” Bradley asked the two brothers.

Ben and Ralphie shrugged. “Mom takes care of that,” Ben answered. “I guess she locks it at night. But during the day, she leaves it unlocked.”

Pal left the closet and headed through the bedroom door. His leash trailed behind him.

The six kids followed.

Outside, Pal bolted for an old car sitting in the driveway. He put his front
paws on the car door and started barking.

“Maybe the leprechauns are in the car!” Nate said.

“That’s Lucky’s car, and we already looked,” Ben said. He opened the car door. Pal jumped inside. He sniffed all the seats. He found a French fry and gobbled it up. Then he barked.

“Maybe Pal thinks we’re looking for Lucky,” Lucy said.

Bradley pulled Pal away from the car. He let him sniff the sweater sleeves again. “Find the sweater,” he told his dog. “We already know where Lucky is.”

“Yeah, he’s in jail,” Ben said. “And it’s our fault!”

Pal sat on the driveway. He looked at the kids. He looked at the car. Then he went to sleep.

Bradley checked his watch. “Let’s go home and eat,” he said. “Then we can decide what to do next.”

The kids woke up Pal. They all hiked back along Bridge Lane. When they got home, there was no car in the driveway. “Mom’s still not home,” Brian said.

“She left sandwiches,” Bradley said.

Inside, the kids lined up at the sink and washed their hands. Pal crawled under the table to wait for crumbs.

Bradley pulled a plate of sandwiches from the fridge. Brian got out milk and glasses for everyone.

“We have tuna, peanut butter and jelly, and egg salad,” Bradley said.

“Tuna!” Brian yelled.

“Egg salad!” Lucy said.

Bradley and Nate both had PB&J.

Bradley thought about Lucky and Officer Fallon. He still wondered who had told Officer Fallon that Lucky was the thief.

“We have to talk to Lucky,” Bradley said.

“Why?” his brother asked.

“He might know who told Officer Fallon to arrest him,” Bradley answered.

“But Lucky’s in jail,” Brian said.

“So we can ask Officer Fallon to let us see him,” Nate said. “They let prisoners have visitors.”

“How do you know?” Lucy asked.

Nate grinned. He had a milk mustache. “I saw it on TV,” he said.

Ten minutes later, the kids walked up the steps of the police station. Pal pulled on his leash.

The police station was warm and quiet. A radiator hissed. A clock ticked.

“It’s creepy in here,” Nate whispered.

“Just be glad you’re not Lucky,” Lucy said. “He’s in a jail cell!”

“Yuck,” Brian said. “I heard they sleep on cement beds! With spiders and rats!”

“And all they feed you is bread and water!” Nate said.

“You guys watch too much TV,” Lucy said.

Just then the door opened. Ben and Ralphie walked in.

“Hey, what’re you guys doing here?” Ben asked.

“We came to see your brother,” Bradley said.

“We did, too,” Ralphie said. “We brought him some cookies.” He held up a lumpy bag.

Ben looked around. “Where’s his cell?” he asked.

“I think it’s downstairs,” Brian said.

“There’s Officer Fallon’s office,” Bradley said. “Come on.”

A small sign hung from Officer Fallon’s doorknob.

It said:
GONE TO LUNCH
.

“It’s almost one o’clock,” Bradley said. “He should be back soon. Let’s wait.”

The six kids sat on a long bench under the clock. Ralphie held the lumpy bag on his lap. Bradley could smell the cookies. He wondered what kind they were.

Pal was sniffing the floor. Suddenly
he raced to a closed door. He began whimpering.

Bradley followed Pal. “What’s the matter, boy?” he asked.

Pal’s tail was going crazy. He let out a low growl. He put his front paws on the door.

Bradley opened the door. The room was dark. He found a wall switch, and a light came on.

Bradley saw mops and pails and other cleaning supplies. Against the back wall stood a huge old desk. It was partly covered with a sheet. A dusty computer sat on the desk. Spiderwebs made it look creepy. In a corner stood a tall trash barrel.

Then Bradley saw something else.

“Guys,” he whispered. “Guess what Pal found?”

The five other kids hurried over to Bradley and Pal.

“Look,” Bradley said. He pointed inside the room.

On a table stood three leprechauns. One had floppy ears and a doggy nose and wore part of an old sweater.

Pal leaped into the room and licked his sweater.

“You’re awesome, Pal!” Nate said.

“Let’s give these to Officer Fallon!” Ben said.

“And get Lucky out of jail!” Ralphie added.

“Wait a second,” Bradley said. “Let me think.”