January Joker Read online

  January Joker

  A strange yellow light filled the backyard. The snow and the barn had turned yellow.

  “See, I told you!” Bradley said. He stepped out onto the porch. Brian, Nate, and Lucy followed him.

  Next to the barn, two small creatures hopped around in the middle of a big circle in the snow. They looked like broccoli spears. They had large heads, short arms, and tiny legs.

  “Aliens!” said Bradley.

  To my niece, Desiree Roy

  —R.R.

  To Rhys, Issac, and Connor

  —J.S.G.

  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, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2009 by Ron Roy

  Illustrations and map copyright © 2009 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  www.ronroy.com

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at

  www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  January joker / by Ron Roy; illustrated by John Steven Gurney. – 1st ed.

  p. cm. – (Calendar mysteries) “A Stepping Stone Book.”

  Summary: Seven-year-olds Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy make observations and gather clues that convince them that their older siblings, cousin, and animals have been captured by hungry space aliens.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-77169-8

  [1. Mystery and detective stories. 2. Extraterrestrial beings–Fiction. 3. Twins–Fiction.

  4. Brothers and sisters–Fiction. 5. Cousins–Fiction. 6. Practical Jokes–Fiction.]

  I. Gurney, John Steven, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.R8139Jan 2009 [Fic]–dc22 2008016534

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1. Spooky Lights

  Chapter 2. Circle in the Snow

  Chapter 3. Aliens Have Three Toes

  Chapter 4. Phone Home

  Chapter 5. Lucy’s List

  Chapter 6. The Plan

  Chapter 7. The Trade

  Chapter 8. They Are Listening

  Chapter 9. Aliens in the Attic

  Chapter 10. Mop Swap

  Chapter 11. Calling the Cops

  Chapter 12. Aliens Appear

  Chapter 13. See the Real, Live Aliens!

  Bradley Pinto sat up in bed. His red hair was flat on one side. He blinked and rubbed his sleepy brown eyes.

  Bradley thought he’d heard a strange noise outside his bedroom. Yawning, he climbed out of bed. He tiptoed by his twin brother’s bed. He stepped over the two lumpy sleeping bags on the floor.

  Bradley put his ear to the door. No noises. He opened the door. Nothing out there.

  Then he noticed a bright light outside his bedroom window.

  “Oh my gosh!” he said.

  Bradley ran to his brother’s bed.

  “Hey, Brian. Wake up!” Bradley whispered.

  “Umph,” Brian mumbled.

  Bradley poked Brian’s leg. “Bri, wake up! There are weird lights in the backyard!”

  A sleeping bag sat up. Inside it was Nate Hathaway, one of Bradley’s best friends. “Let me see!” Nate said. He crawled out of his bag. Nate had black hair, like his sister, Ruth Rose. The twins’ older brother, Josh, was best friends with Ruth Rose and her neighbor Dink Duncan.

  The other sleeping bag popped up. It was Lucy Armstrong. She was Dink’s cousin, visiting for a year from California. Her parents were helping build a school on a reservation in Arizona.

  “What’s going on?” Lucy asked. Her blond hair was tied in pigtails. She wore Wonder Woman pajamas.

  Brian grinned from his bed. “Bradley is having a dream,” he said.

  “I am not!” Bradley said. “There’s something out there, and I’m going to see what it is!”

  Bradley put on his slippers and stepped out into the dark hallway.

  “Wait for us!” Nate said behind him.

  The four kids tiptoed through the house and down into the kitchen. Bradley pulled open the back door.

  A strange yellow light filled the backyard. The snow and the barn had turned yellow.

  “See, I told you!” Bradley said. He stepped out onto the porch. Brian, Nate, and Lucy followed him.

  “What is it?” Lucy whispered.

  “It’s cold out here!” Brian complained.

  “Oh my gosh, look!” Nate squealed.

  Next to the barn, two small creatures hopped around in the middle of a big circle in the snow. They looked like broccoli spears. They had large heads, short arms, and tiny legs.

  “Aliens!” said Bradley.

  “What are they doing?” Nate asked.

  “J-jumping up and down to get warm!” Brian said. “I can see my breath!”

  “Are they really aliens?” Lucy asked.

  Nate giggled. “They sure aren’t raccoons,” he said.

  “They’re definitely aliens,” Bradley said. “I saw pictures just like them in my space book.” Bradley had gotten UFOs and You for Christmas.

  “What’s that circle in the snow?” Nate asked.

  “It must be where their spaceship landed,” Bradley said.

  Brian snorted. “Brad, you’ll believe anything,” he said.

  “Well, what do you think they are?” Bradley asked.

  “I think Nate is pulling another practical joke,” Brian said.

  “Me?” Nate squeaked.

  “Yeah, you,” Lucy said. “Like last week when you sent Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose postcards telling them they’d won a million dollars.”

  Nate giggled. “Boy, they were mad when they found out it wasn’t true,” he said.

  All four kids laughed.

  “So how did you do it?” Brian asked Nate. “How’d you make those two little guys and the circle in the snow, and that yellow light?”

  “But I didn’t do it!” Nate insisted.

  Suddenly the light in the yard went out. The two creatures disappeared in the darkness. There were just the dark barn and the moon on the snow.

  “Where did they go?” Bradley asked.

  “Ask Nate,” Brian said. He turned around and went back inside.

  “I’m innocent!” Nate said. He followed Brian into the warm kitchen.

  “Let’s go in, Bradley,” Lucy said. “I’m shivering!”

  Bradley watched the empty backyard for another few minutes. He didn’t see the light or the aliens again.

  “Come back,” he whispered. “Please come back.”

  The next morning, Bradley beat Brian to the table. They were dressed alike in warm shirts and jeans. Nate and Lucy came down the stairs next. They wore snow pants, sweaters, and boots.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were making breakfast. Josh’s dog, Pal, was under the table, chewing his favorite toy, a rubber hot dog.

  Brian and Bradley’s parents rushed into the room. They pulled on coats and hats.

  “Dad and I are meeting Dink’s and Ruth Rose’s parents for breakfast,” said Bradley’s mother. “We’ll be back in a couple of hours. Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose are in charge.”

  “I saw
space aliens in the backyard last night!” Bradley told his parents.

  “That’s nice, dear,” his mother said. “Tell me all about it when we get back, but now we have to scoot.”

  “You younger kids listen to the big kids,” Bradley’s father added.

  “We don’t need babysitters!” Brian said.

  Brian and Bradley, Lucy, and Nate were all in first grade. The three older kids were in sixth.

  “Yes, you do,” his mother said. “Bye-bye!”

  Then they were gone. Just the seven kids and Pal were left in the kitchen.

  “Chow time,” Josh said. He and Dink and Ruth Rose brought pancakes, syrup, and glasses of milk to the table.

  “Did you see lights in the backyard last night?” Bradley asked Josh.

  “Nope. I was dreaming of surfing in Hawaii,” Josh said.

  The seven kids gobbled up all the pancakes.

  “We cooked, so you have to clean up,” Josh told the younger kids.

  “I’m not doing any dishes!” Brian yelped.

  “Just wipe the table and put your dishes in the sink,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Then come out and we’ll take Polly for some exercise,” Josh said.

  “Can we ride her?” Lucy asked.

  “Sure, we all will,” Josh said.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose tugged on their coats and boots and left the house. Pal followed them, carrying his rubber hot dog in his mouth.

  Lucy and Nate put everything in the sink. Bradley wet a sponge and wiped the table. “You’re supposed to help, Bri,” he said.

  Brian grinned. “Nope, I’m older than you.”

  “Yeah, by one minute,” Bradley said. He tossed the sponge at his brother.

  Brian caught it. “Let’s go out,” he said. “Maybe Bradley can show us where the spaceship landed last night!”

  “I thought you didn’t believe me,” Bradley said.

  “I don’t,” Brian said.

  “A lot of people in California see UFOs,” Lucy said.

  “See?” Bradley said to his brother. “Come on, I’ll prove it.”

  The four kids grabbed hats and coats and mittens. They clumped down the back porch steps in their snow boots.

  Bradley led the way toward a flat space next to the barn. The other three kids followed him like ducklings.

  The snow came up to their ankles. They left bootprints as they trudged across the yard.

  Bradley was the first to reach it.

  “See, I told you,” Bradley said. His breath made puffs in front of his mouth.

  The other three kids stopped next to him.

  “Awesome!” Nate cried.

  They were looking at a circle in the snow. It was as big as a swimming pool.

  The perfect size for a spaceship.

  “You were right,” Lucy whispered to Bradley.

  “This doesn’t prove a spaceship landed here,” Brian said. “Anything could have made this circle.”

  “Like what?” Nate asked.

  “Um, like kids fooling around on bikes?” Brian offered.

  “Then where are the bike tracks?” Bradley asked.

  There were no bike tracks.

  Just one perfect circle in the snow.

  “What are these funny marks?” Lucy asked.

  She pointed to a trail of prints. Each print left three small dents in the snow. They led toward the barn.

  “Look, there are others, too!” said Bradley.

  These were bigger, the size of pancakes.

  “Those look like Polly’s hoofprints,” Brian said. “We’d better go check on her.”

  The kids ran to the barn. Bradley was the first one inside. He flipped on the light switch.

  Polly’s stall was empty.

  “She’s gone!” Bradley said.

  Her fresh straw was there.

  Her feed and water buckets were full.

  But Polly the pony was nowhere to be seen.

  “Hey, where are Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose?” asked Nate.

  “Maybe they took Polly for a walk,” Lucy suggested to her friends.

  Bradley ran to the barn door. “There are no other footprints in the snow,” he called. “Just Polly’s and those funny pointy ones.”

  “They must have gone back in the house,” Brian said. “Let’s go check.”

  “Bri, they wouldn’t take Polly in the house,” Bradley said. “Besides, the only footprints are ours. And they’re coming from the house, not to the house.”

  “Well, I’m checking inside anyway,” Brian said. “Kids don’t just disappear.”

  The four kids clumped back up the porch steps. They stomped the snow off their boots. Brian shoved open the door. “Josh?” he yelled.

  There was no answer.

  The house was silent.

  No TV noise, no computer sounds, no video game beeps.

  “Where are they?” Nate whispered.

  “This is very, very weird,” Lucy said.

  “They’ve been taken by the aliens!” Bradley whispered.

  Nate giggled.

  “Let’s try upstairs,” Brian said. “I’ll bet they’re just hiding.”

  The kids tugged off their boots and followed Brian.

  The first room was Josh’s. The door was closed. A sign on the door said: NO HUMANS ALLOWED.

  “Josh, are you in there?” Bradley called.

  No answer.

  Brian knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

  “Oh my goodness!” Lucy said. “A burglar has been here! Josh’s stuff is all messed up!”

  The bed was unmade.

  Clothes were all over the floor.

  “This is how he always keeps his room,” Bradley said.

  “Josh’s computer is on,” Brian said. He walked over to his big brother’s desk.

  “He was on a Web site about UFOs!” Nate said.

  Lucy picked up a paper from the tray of the printer. “Uh-oh,” she said.

  “What?” Brian asked.

  Lucy handed him the paper. The others gathered around to read what Josh had printed:

  Scientists feel that space aliens have landed on Earth.

  In China, sixteen children have disappeared.

  In France, farm animals have vanished.

  In each case, a large circle was found on the ground. Small, three-pointed footprints were found near the scenes as well.

  Dr. Barney Piper is a well-known expert on space. He was asked what he thinks of these strange occurrences:

  “I have always known there was life on other planets,” Dr. Piper stated. “I think these aliens have run out of food. It is my belief that they are hungry and coming to Earth. They are taking our children and animals back into space to their home planet.”

  Bradley poked his brother. “That’s what I saw last night,” he whispered. “The aliens were stealing Polly!”

  Just then the telephone rang in the hall.

  Bradley ran to answer it. “Hello?” he said. “Josh, is that you?”

  The other kids hurried over. They pressed their ears close to the phone so they could hear.

  “Josh, I can hardly hear you!” Bradley yelled into the phone. “Where are Dink and Ruth Rose?”

  “They’re here with me!” everyone heard Josh say. “Polly’s here, too.”

  “But where are you?” Bradley asked.

  “Aliens got us!” Josh answered. “We’re in a spaceship!”

  Then the line went dead.

  The four kids stared at each other.

  Lucy’s eyes were as big as meatballs.

  Brian was tugging on his red hair.

  Nate shook his head. “This has to be a joke,” he said.

  “Josh sounded far away,” Bradley said.

  “Wait a minute!” Lucy yelled. “How could he call you from space? Do spaceships have phones?”

  “Josh never goes anywhere without his cell phone,” Bradley said.

  “I still think it’s a trick,” Nate said. He grabbed the tel
ephone.

  “Who are you calling?” Lucy asked.

  “Ruth Rose,” Nate said. “I saw her put her cell phone in her pocket.”

  The four kids sat in a circle on the floor. Nate dialed his sister’s number.

  Everyone leaned toward the phone.

  “It’s ringing!” Nate whispered.

  Then they all heard Ruth Rose’s voice. “… little people with … feet … don’t know what … we’re going … try call … again.…”

  Then they heard something roaring, then nothing.

  “Oh my gosh!” Bradley said. “What should we do?”

  Nate started to giggle. “We’re home alone!” he said.

  “This isn’t funny,” Lucy said. “And we’re not alone. We have each other. Besides, Pal is here.”

  “He is?” Brian said. “Where?”

  “Oh no!” Bradley screeched.

  The four kids pounded down the stairs.

  They yelled, “PAL! COME, PAL!” as they ran.

  “You guys split up and search the house!” Brian said. “I’ll look outside.”

  Bradley, Nate, and Lucy looked in every corner of the house.

  They checked all the closets.

  They peeked into kitchen cupboards and under chairs and in the basement and up the chimney.

  Pal was gone.

  “We have to call the cops!” Nate cried.

  “And tell them what?” Brian asked. “They’ll just laugh at us.”

  “We have to do something!” Bradley said. “Everyone is disappearing!”

  “Don’t panic,” Lucy said. “Let’s just make a list.”

  “Ha!” Nate barked. “A list of what?”

  “A list of clues,” Lucy said.

  “Okay, we’ll make a list,” Brian said. “But you sound just like your cousin Dink.”

  They sat at the kitchen table.

  Bradley gave Lucy a pen and paper from off the counter.

  Lucy wrote the word CLUES on the top of the page.

  “Okay, what are the clues we’ve seen so far?” she asked.

  “The circle in the snow,” Bradley said.

  Lucy wrote it down.

  “The funny footprints,” Nate added. “But I still don’t think aliens have invaded Green Lawn.”

  “Nate, people are vanishing!” said Bradley. “My horse and dog are gone!”