White House White-Out Read online

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose

  aren’t the only kid detectives!

  What about you?

  Can you find the hidden message inside this book?

  There are 26 illustrations in this book, not counting the one on the title page, the map at the beginning, or the picture of the White House that repeats at the start of many of the chapters. In each of the 26 illustrations, there’s a hidden letter. If you can find all the letters, you will spell out a secret message!

  If you’re stumped, the answer is on the bottom.

  Happy detecting!

  This book is dedicated to my parents, who gave me my first book.

  —R.R.

  To Zebediah Metlei Frederick Knapp and Augustus Flapjack

  —J.S.G.

  Josh stuck out his tongue into the cold December air.

  “What are you doing?” Ruth Rose asked him.

  “Trying to catch snowflakes,” Josh said. “I’m hungry.”

  Dink laughed at his friend. “You’ll freeze your tongue off,” he said. Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan, but his friends called him Dink.

  Josh looked at his two best friends through the falling snow. “Really?”

  Ruth Rose nodded. She liked to dress all in one color, a different color each day Today it was red, from her boots to her gloves to her knitted cap.

  “Bummer,” Josh said.

  The kids were in Washington, D.C. It was the week before Christmas, and they had taken the train from Connecticut with Dink’s father. While the kids were sightseeing, he would be doing research in the Library of Congress. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose had visited the National Zoo first and had just left the Washington Monument.

  “How much farther to the White House?” Josh asked as they trudged through the snow. It was six inches deep, covering the sidewalks, lawns, and most of their boots.

  Ruth Rose pulled out her guide to Washington, D.C. She opened to a map of the city. “We’re right here, on Seventeenth Street,” she said. They were headed toward their hotel on K Street.

  “Here’s the White House,” Dink said. He put a gloved finger on the map. “Only a few more blocks.”

  “And there’s our hotel,” Ruth Rose said, moving her finger on the map. “It’s only a little way past the White House.”

  “When we get back, I’m having steak for supper,” Josh announced. “With a mountain of mashed potatoes and a giant piece of chocolate cake for dessert.”

  Dink rolled his eyes.

  “Look, there’s the National Christmas Tree!” Ruth Rose said. She pointed to the right. Through the falling snow, they could make out the tall tree. Its thousands of Christmas lights glowed like jewels through the dim, snowy afternoon.

  “Wow!” Josh said. “That must be the tallest Christmas tree in the world! Let’s go see it.”

  They turned right and walked about two hundred yards to the base of the tree. A few tourists were there taking pictures. A couple of little kids were trying to build a snowman.

  “Guys, look,” Dink said.

  Josh and Ruth Rose turned around and followed Dink’s gaze. Only a few hundred yards away stood the White House. Even through falling snow, the building was easy to see. The front was surrounded by a curve of black fence. Lights shone through dozens of windows.

  “Gosh, it’s so… white,” Josh said.

  “It’s the oldest public building in D.C.,” Ruth Rose said.

  “I heard Lincoln’s ghost walks around inside,” Josh said.

  Ruth Rose grinned. “Ooooh, Josh believes in ghosts,” she said.

  “I wish we had time for a tour,” Dink said. He looked at his watch. “It’s four-thirty and I told Dad we’d be at the hotel by five.”

  Ruth Rose consulted her book again. “The next tour is tomorrow at noon,” she informed the boys.

  The kids hiked through the snow toward the White House. They stopped at the tall black fence and stared through the iron bars.

  Ruth Rose opened her guidebook again. She read a paragraph:

  “President Zachary Thornton and First Lady Lois Corcoran Thornton are the White House’s current residents. They share the White House with the First Lady’s daughter, Katherine, and their many pets.”

  “Wow, it must be awesome to live in the White House,” Josh said. He put his face up against the fence. “Think of all the rooms you could play hide-and-seek in!”

  “How many rooms are there?” Dink asked Ruth Rose.

  Ruth Rose looked in her book. “One hundred and thirty-two,” she said. “But most of them aren’t open to the public.”

  Just then a dog came bounding through the snow inside the fence. The dog was tall and gray, with long, skinny legs. It was wearing a red sweater with cutouts for the legs and tail.

  A boy and girl about the same age as Dink raced after it, both covered with snow. They saw Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose looking through the fence.

  Their dog trotted over and stuck its snout between the rails.

  Dink noticed some words stitched in white on the dog’s red sweater. The words said first dog.

  “Is your dog friendly?” Dink asked the two kids.

  “Sure,” the girl said. “Natasha is a greyhound, and she loves everyone!”

  Dink noticed red hair sticking out from under the girl’s hat.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose took off their gloves. They put their hands through the fence bars and patted the dog’s sleek head.

  “My name is KC,” the girl said. “This is my friend Marshall. We’re trying to teach Natasha a Christmas trick. But she doesn’t like the snow, so she’s trying to escape.”

  “I’m Dink Duncan, and these are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose,” Dink said. “We’re here with my dad. We live in Connecticut.”

  The five kids all shook hands through the fence. All the hands made it confusing, and they burst out laughing.

  “Are you the president’s daughter?” Josh asked KC.

  “Nope, I’m his stepdaughter,” KC said. “He and my mom got married last year.”

  “Sweet!” Josh said. “So what’s it like living in the White House? Do you get to do any cool stuff?”

  “She gets to do anything she wants!” Marshall piped up.

  KC poked Marshall. She looked through the fence at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “Would you like to come in?”

  Dink gulped. “In there?” he asked. “In the White House?”

  KC grinned. “Sure. My folks aren’t home, but I know they wouldn’t mind,” she said. “I just have to get you clearance.”

  “Wicked!” Josh yelled.

  Ruth Rose laughed. “Just hide your food,” she told KC. “Josh will eat anything.”

  Dink glanced at his watch. “Um, we can’t stay long,” he said. “My dad’s expecting us back at our hotel in a half hour.”

  “Which hotel?” KC asked.

  “It’s the Royal Grove on Sixteenth Street,” Ruth Rose said. “That’s not far, right?”

  “Nope, just a couple of blocks behind the White House,” KC said. “You’ll make it in plenty of time.”

  “So how do we get clearance?” Josh asked.

  “Go around to the next gate,” KC said, pointing to the right. “We’ll meet you there with one of the marine guards. He’ll give you special passes.”

  “That’ll be great,” Dink said. “Wait’ll I tell my dad!”

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose raced each other to the next gate. They stood there, peering inside as snowflakes covered their eyelashes.

  Finally they saw KC, Marshall, and Natasha coming toward them through the snow. With them was a tall marine. He wore shiny black boots and a dark green uniform under a long coat. His hat and shoulders were white with snow-flakes.

  Th
e guard looked at the kids closely before he unlocked the gate. He handed them each a pass. “Please clip these onto your clothing,” he said. He asked their names and wrote them on a clipboard. He also took down Dink’s father’s name and the name of the hotel. Then he said, “Welcome to the White House,” and walked away toward a small guard hut.

  “Okay, follow me,” KC said. She led everyone to a rear door.

  At least ten small trucks and vans were parked near the entrance. Each one had about six inches of snow on top, as if they’d been parked there for hours. Men and women wearing clearance badges pulled boxes from the vans and lugged them into the White House. Three men were sliding a Christmas tree out of one of the trucks.

  “The White House is getting decorated today,” KC explained. “When they’re all done, the public gets to come in for tours.”

  “They have ten Christmas trees!” Marshall said. “And about a zillion wreaths. Wait’ll you see!”

  A woman carrying a green wreath stopped to pat Natasha on the head. Natasha licked her hand before KC led the kids into a hallway, where they hung their coats and hats. Dozens of people rushed around carrying wreaths, strings of lights, garlands of greenery, and armloads of ornaments. Dink loved the smell of pine, and it was everywhere.

  KC led them along the hallway. They stepped over boxes and around the workers. Dink peeked into a room and saw a Christmas tree covered with white paper cranes.

  In every window someone had hung a wreath. Red ribbon dangled from chandeliers. Golden plastic fruit that looked real lay in piles waiting to be arranged on tabletops. No matter where you looked, someone was decorating something.

  “This is amazing!” Dink said as they walked through the confusion.

  “I can’t wait till they’re all finished,” KC whispered. “My mom and stepfather are getting our own little tree for upstairs. We’re going to decorate it tonight after everyone else is gone.”

  “Tell them about your present for your stepdad,” Marshall told KC.

  KC peeked into a small room that looked like an office. “Come on in here,” she said to the rest of the kids.

  The room had a soft carpet, and they all sat. “A few months ago, we adopted Natasha as a surprise for the president,” KC said. “He’s been trying to teach her tricks, but she won’t listen to him. He’s so funny! He says, ‘Natasha, you have to listen, I’m the president!’”

  Everyone laughed.

  “So Marsh and I are trying to teach Natasha to sing when I blow a whistle,” KC went on. “That will be my present to my stepfather.”

  KC pulled a silver whistle from her pocket. “It’s silent to human ears,” she said. “But dogs can hear it.”

  “Can you show us?” Josh asked. He looked around the room. “Where is Natasha, anyway?”

  “Begging for food somewhere, probably,” Marshall said.

  “Just like Josh,” Dink said.

  KC blew on the whistle. When Natasha didn’t show up, the kids went looking for her. They peeked into every room, asking the decorators if they’d noticed the dog anywhere.

  No one had.

  “Maybe she went outside again,” Dink suggested.

  KC shook her head. “She hates the snow,” she said. “She only goes out when I take her.”

  “Why don’t we split up and search?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Good idea,” KC said. “Marsh, you take Dink and Josh and look down here. I’ll check the upstairs with Ruth Rose. Meet back here in ten minutes in front of this clock, okay?”

  Dink looked at his watch. They had to be back at the hotel in about twenty minutes. He glanced out one of the windows. It was beginning to get dark.

  The five kids split off to begin their search. They called the dog’s name and asked everyone they saw, and KC blew on the whistle. Ten minutes later, they met under the clock.

  No one had seen Natasha.

  “She’s nowhere,” KC said. “I even went upstairs to our private rooms. I looked under all the beds, her usual spot to hide from us. How could a sixty-pound dog disappear?”

  CHAPTER 2

  Dink could tell that KC was upset. “Let’s try looking outside,” he suggested. “Maybe one of the decorator people accidentally locked her out.”

  “I guess it’s worth a try,” KC said.

  The kids scrambled into their coats and headed into the snow. It was falling harder. Earlier the snowflakes had been large and fluffy, coming down softly. Now the flakes were small and were swept by a stiff wind. Dink had to squint his eyes to see through the stuff.

  “Does anyone see her?” KC asked.

  No one did.

  Workers hurried back and forth, bringing in more things to make the White House look Christmassy.

  All five kids called and whistled. Natasha did not come bounding through the snow as they all hoped she would.

  Dink noticed a man scraping snow off the windshield of one of the trucks. “Wait a sec,” Dink said to the others. He scuffed through the snow up to the man.

  “Excuse me, have you seen a dog?” he asked. “She’s gray and skinny.”

  The man turned. His nose and ears were red from the cold. “Over there, where the vans are parked near the fence,” he said. “I saw a woman with a dog about ten minutes ago.”

  Dink told the other kids what he’d learned. They all raced through the parking area. Then KC began shouting Natasha’s name. There was no answering bark.

  “Look for footprints,” Ruth Rose said.

  Five pairs of eyes studied the snow-covered ground. What prints they saw were all made by human boots. Even these were quickly getting covered with fresh snow.

  “Why don’t you try your dog whistle?” Marshall suggested.

  KC beamed at Marshall. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  She put the whistle in her mouth and blew as hard as she could.

  Dink and the others heard no sound.

  “Are you sure that thing works?” Josh asked. “I mean, what if—”

  “Shhh, I think I heard something,” Ruth Rose said.

  The five kids stood silently, listening as the snow fell softly around them. Dink heard only the wind and the hum of traffic.

  KC tried the whistle again.

  This time they all heard a dog howling.

  “NATASHA!” KC yelled. “Come, girl! Come, girl!”

  They heard more howling and barking.

  “Maybe she’s in one of these vans or trucks,” Josh said.

  “How could she be?” Marshall asked.

  “Well, she’s not coming,” Ruth Rose said. “KC, who owns all these cars?”

  “The people inside doing the decorating,” KC said. “They pulled up to the door to unload their stuff, then they parked over here.”

  “Would Natasha jump inside someone’s car?” Dink asked. “Maybe to get out of the snow?”

  “I don’t know,” KC said.

  “Keep using the dog whistle,” Dink said. “And we can walk around and look in all the windows.”

  The kids split up and began wiping truck and van windows. KC kept blowing the whistle.

  Dink approached a long white van. A sign on the side said flowers by jo. There were no rear windows, so Dink walked toward the front of the van. He called out Natasha’s name loudly. Suddenly he heard a howl from inside. “Over here!” Dink cried. “I think I found her!”

  The other four kids came running. They wiped off all the windows and tiptoed to peek inside.

  “I don’t see her in there,” KC said. “NATASHA, ANSWER ME, GIRL!”

  Excited barking came from inside the van.

  “She’s in there!” Dink said. “Try the doors, guys.”

  Both front doors were locked. But when the kids tried the van’s double rear doors, they opened.

  Dink expected Natasha to leap out, but she didn’t. The kids stared into the van’s rear compartment. Three sides were lined with shelves holding florist supplies. Dink saw spools of ribbon and wire, tools, some plastic fruit,
and a bunch of fake Christmas flowers. On the left near the doors, a spare tire stood, clamped to the wall.

  Straight ahead of them, backed up against the driver’s compartment, sat a large wooden crate. Someone had printed white house wreaths on the wood with a black marker. Several folded packing quilts were stacked on top of the crate.

  “She’s not here!” KC said.

  “But we all heard her!” Marshall said. “She has to be!”

  Then Natasha began barking again.

  “She’s in that crate!” Ruth Rose said.

  They all scrambled into the back of the van, leaving the doors open a crack behind them. There were no windows, but a little light came through the rear doors.

  Dink felt carpeting under his knees. His fingers felt pine needles, and the air smelled of them.

  Suddenly a tiny light went on.

  “What’s that?” Josh asked.

  “It’s me,” Ruth Rose said. “I have a light on my key chain.”

  Using the small glow, the kids examined the crate. They heard Natasha’s nails scratching at the wood inside.

  “I’m here, Natasha!” KC said into the crate.

  “How the heck did she get in there, anyway?” Josh asked.

  Dink and Josh swept the blankets off the top. KC tried to lift the lid.

  “It’s stuck!” she said.

  “No, it’s wired shut,” Marshall said. “Someone put her in here on purpose!”

  He and Dink worked together to untwist the wire. Then the crate lid was up and Natasha leaped out. Her red sweater was covered with pine needles.

  KC wrapped her arms around Natasha while the dog licked her face and trembled. “Girl, what happened to you?” she asked.

  Just then they heard the doors behind them slam shut. Except for Ruth Rose’s tiny light, they were in total darkness.

  “Who closed the doors?” Marshall whispered.

  Before any of them could answer, the engine roared to life. Natasha began barking.

  The kids were knocked off balance as the van suddenly backed up. Then there was a sharp turn, and they fell again as the van lurched forward.