July Jitters Read online

“Not so fast!” a voice said from the barn door. It was Josh, the twins’ older brother. He was still in pajamas. “Mom and Dad said I have to go to the parade with you guys.”

  “We don’t need a babysitter!” Brian squawked.

  “No one’s talking about a babysitter,” Josh said. “I’ll just be there in case anything goes wrong.”

  “Nothing is going to go wrong,” Bradley said. “It’s a parade!”

  “Don’t argue,” Josh said. “I’m only doing what Mom and Dad told me. I’m meeting Dink and Ruth Rose there, anyway.”

  Nate giggled. “In your jammies?” he asked.

  “Duh,” Josh said. “I need to grab some breakfast and change.”

  “We have to go now!” Bradley said. “We can’t be late for the pet parade!”

  Josh thought for a minute. “Okay, go ahead,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you on the trail!” He turned and sped across the backyard.

  “What’s the trail?” Lucy asked.

  “Come on, we’ll show you,” Brian said.

  They cut through the meadow that surrounded the twins’ house. Grasshoppers and butterflies flew into the air as their feet disturbed the tall grasses. Bradley held Polly’s harness lead, and Brian held Pal’s leash. Nate and Lucy carried the wig, hat, buckles, and Declaration of Independence.

  They crossed Woody Street and walked between two thick posts on the other side.

  “This is the trail,” Brian said. They were standing in a clearing. Years of hikers walking there had worn the ground smooth. A path led south. They could see the high school buildings.

  “Our dad looked it up,” Bradley said. “The Mohegans used to walk here!”

  “That’s a Native American tribe, right?” Lucy asked.

  “Yup,” Nate said. “Mr. Vooray told us they had farms near here. They fished in the river!”

  The kids followed the smooth trail through the high school grounds and past Crystal Pond. A sign by the pond said DUCK CROSSING. The trail ended next to the veterinarian’s office on East Green Street.

  They saw Dr. Henry hurry down his front steps. He was wearing a straw hat and a red, white, and blue bow tie.

  “Hi, Dr. Henry,” Brian said. “Are you going to the parade?”

  “I have to miss it this year,” Dr. Henry said. “The petting zoo is having a Fourth of July party for all its animals, and they asked me to help out.” He looked at Polly and Pal. “I’ll bet you’re entering the mayor’s contest.”

  “Yes, and we’re gonna win!” Brian crowed. “We want to be mayor for a day!”

  “Well, good luck to you,” the vet said.

  They all walked to the town baseball field, where the parade would begin. Dr. Henry waved good-bye and crossed Main Street toward the petting zoo.

  Most of the people in Green Lawn were already there. The baseball field was packed! Pal barked at a bunch of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts standing on a float. Some firefighters were polishing one of their fire engines. The high school band members were making a lot of noise with their instruments.

  Suddenly the mayor began yelling through a bullhorn, telling everyone to line up with their pets. His assistant, Mr. Grimaldi, stood next to him, holding a sign that said PET CONTEST HERE.

  “Let’s go,” Bradley said. They led Polly and Pal toward the mayor.

  About twenty people with their pets were already there. The kids saw dogs, cats, birds, and even a turtle. Each pet had on a hat or little costume of some sort.

  “Ours are going to be better,” Nate whispered.

  “Look, there’s your sister and Dink,” Brian said. The kids waved at Ruth Rose and Dink, and they waved back.

  Ruth Rose carried her cat, Tiger, in her arms. Tiger was wearing a strange hat, and she kept chewing on the string.

  Dink held his guinea pig, Loretta. She had on a tiny mask, making her look like a raccoon.

  Josh ran up, all out of breath.

  Just then, the mayor announced that the pet contest would begin in three minutes. “ALL PETS AND THEIR OWNERS MUST LINE UP NOW!” he yelled through his bullhorn.

  Lucy and Brian tied the three-cornered hat to the wig. Bradley set the wig on Polly’s head and tied it on. Then he and Lucy taped the tinfoil buckles on to Polly’s front hooves.

  Nate and Bradley laid the Declaration of Independence on Pal’s back like a cape. They tied it to his collar and tail.

  “They look awesome!” Bradley said.

  “I sure hope the mayor thinks so,” Nate said.

  “ONE MORE MINUTE!” the mayor cried.

  Everyone turned to look at him.

  And that was when Polly and Pal took off running.

  “Stop, Polly!” Bradley yelled. He watched as his two pets hurried away. They crossed Main Street and disappeared behind the Shangri-la Hotel.

  “Bad pets!” Brian yelled after the fleeing animals. “No treats tonight!”

  “Come on!” Bradley yelled. “We have to catch them!” He sprinted through the crowd. The other kids followed him.

  On the other side of Main Street, they ran behind the hotel. They saw the senior center, the library, and the town hall. But they didn’t see Polly or Pal. “Check in all the bushes!” Bradley yelled.

  The kids scattered and began poking through the shrubbery. They scared out a few birds and one rabbit, but no pony or dog.

  Bradley studied the ground. He knelt down for a closer look. “These are hoofprints!” he shouted. “Polly ran this way!”

  The kids stood in the hot sun and looked around.

  “Maybe she and Pal went into the hotel and got a room,” Nate said. “Maybe they called room service and got cookies and lemonade!”

  “Don’t say lemonade,” Brian complained. “I’m thirsty, and it’s about a million degrees out here!”

  “Polly and Pal must be thirsty, too!” Bradley said. “Maybe they went to the river!”

  The kids raced past the library and crossed the bike path to reach the edge of the river. They looked up and down the river. A few ducks sped away, but Polly and Pal weren’t there.

  “Where could they get to so fast?” Lucy asked. “It’s like they disappeared!”

  “This is bumming me out,” Brian said. “I was already planning my mayor’s speech!”

  “Guys, we won’t win unless we find Polly and Pal!” Nate reminded them.

  Bradley looked to the right, shielding his eyes against the sun. Then he peered to the left. “The sun is hot,” he said. “Maybe they headed for the woods, where it’s shady.”

  The kids hurried north along the bike path. They kept their eyes moving, checking both sides of the path and the river on their left. They stopped in the woods. They were all out of breath.

  They peered through the trees on both sides of the bike path. “Check for hoofprints,” Bradley said. But they saw no prints and no runaway pony.

  “I’m still thirsty,” Brian said. “When I’m one-fourth mayor, I’ll have soda pop every day!”

  “One-fifth, you mean,” Bradley said. “Josh says he has to be one-fifth of the mayor, because he’s part owner of Polly and Pal.”

  “No fair!” Brian yelped. “He didn’t even us help make the costumes!”

  “Guys, let’s not argue!” Lucy said. “We have to keep looking!”

  Bradley held up a finger. “Wait,” he said. He stood still, closed his eyes, and sniffed the air.

  The others looked at him.

  “I smell horse manure,” Bradley said. His eyes snapped open. “The horseback-riding place is up there!” He pointed along the bike path. “Maybe Polly and Pal went to visit the other horses!”

  “Let’s go check it out,” Brian said.

  The kids started jogging up the path.

  It was hot, and they were sweating.

  “I need a chocolate milk shake, and I need it right now!” Nate said.

  “We’re almost there,” Bradley said, pointing to a sign on the side of the trail. It said: RIDING TRAIL. WATCH FOR FAST HORSES!
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br />   “Watch for manure, too,” Brian said.

  Nate heard the noise first. “I hear drums,” he said.

  “Or thunder,” Brian said. “Great, it’s gonna rain!”

  “No, I think it’s horse hoofbeats,” Lucy told him.

  “You’re right,” Bradley said. “Look!”

  Three horses with riders came galloping along the trail. The riders said, “Whoa!” and pulled up their mounts.

  Two of the riders were men wearing cowboy hats. The third was a woman with red hair tied in pigtails.

  “Hey, kids,” the woman said with a smile. “Going riding?”

  “No, we’re looking for our pony,” Bradley said. “And our dog. They ran away. Have you seen them?”

  “What do they look like?” one of the men asked.

  “They’re both brown with white markings,” Brian said.

  “There are some brown ponies back at the stables,” the other man said.

  “Our pony’s name is Polly,” Nate said. He grinned. “She was wearing a white wig and a hat.”

  “What?” the second man said. “Your pony wears a wig?”

  “Um, they were dressed for a Fourth of July contest,” Bradley said. “Polly was supposed to be Thomas Jefferson. Pal—he’s our dog—had a big Declaration of Independence on his back.”

  “This sounds more like an April Fools’ Day trick,” the woman said. But she was smiling. “Try the stables next to the barn. Ask for Bucky, the stable manager.”

  “I hope you find them,” the first man said. “Giddyup!” he told his horse.

  The three horses trotted away.

  The kids hurried up the horse trail. Soon they saw a red barn with a stable off to one side. Horse heads and necks stretched out over some of the stall doors. The stable yard was busy with workers and people who had come to ride the horses.

  “I wonder which one is Bucky,” Brian said.

  Bradley stopped a guy who was carrying a bale of hay toward the stables. “Excuse me, are you Bucky?” Bradley asked.

  The man laughed. “Not hardly,” he said. He pointed with his chin. “That’s her in the pink shirt.”

  “Bucky is a girl?” Brian said.

  The man let out a loud laugh. “Don’t let her hear you calling her a girl!” he said.

  The kids walked over to the woman in the pink shirt. She was old enough to be a grandmother. Her skin was tanned and her arms looked strong. She was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses.

  “Can I help you kids?” the woman asked.

  “We’re looking for a pony,” Bradley said.

  “I got plenty of ponies,” Bucky said. She gave the kids a once-over. “You’re not old enough to ride alone. Where are your parents?”

  “We didn’t come to ride,” Lucy said. “Our pony and dog ran away and we wonder if they came here.”

  “Polly’s wearing a hat and wig,” Nate said.

  “Who’s Polly?” Bucky asked.

  “Our pony,” Brian said. “We dressed her for a contest. If we win, we get to be mayor for the day!”

  Bucky stared at Brian. “You kidding me?” she asked.

  “It was for the July Fourth parade,” Bradley explained. “But Polly and our dog took off before it even started. Have you seen them?”

  Bucky shook her head. “Nope. But stroll over to the stables,” she said. “I s’pose your pony might’ve snuck in there when I wasn’t looking.”

  Bucky walked away, shaking her head. The kids raced for the stables. The stalls on the right held tall horses. But there were five ponies on the left.

  One was white. One was black. Three were brown. None of them looked anything like Polly.

  “She’s not here,” Bradley muttered.

  Nate gazed at the other ponies. “They look like they know something,” he said.

  “Yeah, they know someone else is gonna be mayor for a day,” Brian said. “The contest must be over by now.”

  The kids left the stable yard and took the bike path back to Bridge Lane. They kept their eyes open for any sign of Polly and Pal.

  “How can a pony and dog just disappear?” Bradley asked.

  “They didn’t disappear,” Lucy said. “They have to be somewhere we haven’t looked.”

  “Right,” Nate said, “like up in a tree or down a rabbit hole.”

  “No,” Brian said. “We haven’t looked in the most logical place yet.”

  “And where is that, brother?” Bradley asked.

  “Home,” Brian said. “Maybe Polly just went home. She could have run back to our house while we were searching everywhere else.”

  “Brilliant!” Nate said.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Brian said, taking a little bow.

  Bradley poked his brother. “I hope you’re right!” he said.

  “I’m always right!” Brian crowed.

  “You’re never right!” Nate said.

  The kids took off running.

  By the time they reached Bradley and Brian’s house on Farm Lane, they were all panting and dying of thirst. Brian turned on the outside faucet and they took noisy drinks.

  Then the kids ran to the barn. It was quiet and cool and empty.

  “I don’t see her,” Lucy said.

  “What about the pasture?” Brian asked.

  The kids dashed through the door and around to the back of the barn.

  They bumped into Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose.

  The three older kids did not look happy.

  “Where have you been?” Ruth Rose asked, glaring at Nate. “We’ve looked for you kids all over town!”

  “You had us worried,” Dink said, giving his cousin a look.

  “You were supposed to stay with us,” Josh said.

  “But we were looking for Polly and Pal,” Bradley said. “We searched all over town, but we can’t find them!”

  “We’ve been looking, too,” Josh said.

  “Um, do you know who won the mayor’s contest?” Brian asked his older brother.

  Josh grinned. “Your teacher, Mr. Vooray,” he said. “He dressed his parrot like King George.”

  “Rats!” Nate said.

  Bradley headed for the house. “We have to call Officer Fallon,” he said over his shoulder. “I don’t care about the contest anymore. My pony and dog are missing!”

  All seven kids crowded into the kitchen. Josh poured glasses of water for everyone while Bradley looked up the number and dialed.

  When he heard Officer Fallon’s voice, Bradley explained what had happened to Polly and Pal. He told him how they had dressed them for the contest.

  “No, I’m not joking,” Bradley said.

  Bradley listened, then hung up. “No one has called in about Polly or Pal,” he said. “But Officer Fallon said we should put up a bunch of signs around town. He said if we bring him pictures of Polly and Pal, he’ll make a bunch of copies for us.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Ruth Rose said. “That way, everyone in town will know they’re missing and start looking.”

  “Okay, you kids go see Officer Fallon,” Josh said. “Dink and Ruth Rose and I will go knocking on doors.”

  Ten minutes later, Bradley and Brian, Nate, and Lucy climbed the steps to the police station. Bradley had found a nice picture of Polly and Pal together. It showed them near the barn.

  The kids found Officer Fallon sitting at his desk, sipping from a glass of lemonade. A plate of cookies sat on a pile of papers.

  “Come on in, gang!” the police chief said. “Grab a cookie and park yourselves over there.” He pointed to a long sofa. “So you’ve misplaced your pets, eh?”

  The kids each took a cookie and sat on the couch.

  “They ran away,” Bradley said. “We were getting them dressed for the mayor’s contest, and they just took off.”

  Officer Fallon grinned and tugged on his mustache. “Maybe they didn’t like their outfits.”

  Bradley stood and showed him the picture of Polly and Pal near the barn. “Is this good en
ough to make copies?” he asked.

  Officer Fallon reached across his desk and took the picture. “It’s perfect,” he said. “Give me a few minutes.” He got up and left the room, then stuck his head back in the door. “And don’t steal my cookies, or I’ll have to put you in jail!”

  Nate giggled. After Officer Fallon left, he whispered, “I wonder if he counted them.”

  “Don’t even think about taking another one,” Bradley said.

  “Where should we bring the pictures?” Lucy asked.

  “All up and down Main Street,” Brian said.

  Nate was wandering around the police chief’s office.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Bradley whispered.

  “I’m not,” Nate said. He stopped in front of a row of pictures of wanted criminals from around the state and the country. “Look at these guys. I’m glad none of them live in Green Lawn!”

  Brian ran over to look. “Murderers and robbers and kidnappers,” he said, shivering.

  “Guys, you don’t suppose someone kidnapped Polly and Pal, do you?” Lucy asked.

  Three pairs of big eyes stared at her.

  “But I saw them running away,” Bradley said. “Besides, who’d kidnap a pony and a big, fat basset hound?”

  “This guy would!” Nate said. He tapped one of the wanted pictures. “He’s big enough to pick up both of them and carry them away!”

  “But you’re forgetting one thing,” Brian said. “That guy’s not in Green Lawn.”

  “How do you know he’s not?” Nate whispered. “He could be hiding in your basement! He could be waiting for you to go to sleep so he can creep up—”

  Just then Officer Fallon walked back into the room.

  All four kids jumped.

  “What’s the matter?” Officer Fallon asked. “You look like you’ve seen a monster.”

  “We have,” Bradley said, grinning at Nate.

  “Here’s a bunch of pictures,” Officer Fallon said, handing the pile to Bradley. “I added some stuff on the bottom.”

  Bradley read from the top photo: “Polly the pony and Pal the pooch are LOST! If you see them, call the police chief for a reward. 860-555-1007.”