“Ah, a challenge,” said Mrs. Stevens, rubbing her hands. “Wonderful.” She started to walk the aisles, and the four of us trailed along. “Dracula?” she murmured to herself. “Roy Rogers? Let’s see …” She paused by the art supply area. “Well, here are the paints for you, Erick,” she said. “And Ryan, you might find a toy guitar down aisle five. Timmy, why don’t you come with me?”
I stayed with Ryan and Erick, while Mrs. Stevens led Timmy down another aisle. I heard her asking him, “Do you have some old pajamas at home? Green ones would be best.”
“I think so,” Timmy said. “Why? What am I going to be?” He sounded eager.
I couldn’t hear Mrs. Stevens’ answer. And a few minutes later, when we were all standing by the checkout counter, Timmy made Erick and Ryan go first. “I want my stuff to be a surprise,” he said. We all stood aside as he passed his precious three dollars to Mrs. Stevens and received a bulky plastic bag in exchange. “Thanks,” he told her. “Thanks a lot.”
“My pleasure,” she said. “I know you’ll have a wonderful time at your party.” She winked at me as I waved good-bye.
Back at the DeWitts’, we went upstairs to Erick’s room, except for Timmy, who ducked into the bathroom. “I’ll be right out,” he said. “I won’t be able to show you my whole costume, since my green pajamas are at home, but I think you’ll get the idea.”
While we waited, Erick started painting his Life Saver costume. He’d bought a real roll of Life Savers for a model, and he checked the colors carefully to make sure they were in the right order.
Ryan combed his hair into a pompadour again, using some special hair goo Mrs. Stevens had found for him. Then he picked up the plastic guitar he’d bought and struck a pose in front of the mirror. “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog,” he sang in a silly low voice.
“Where did you learn that song?” I asked.
“My dad taught me,” said Ryan. “He loves Elvis. That’s why I thought of this costume.”
Just then, Timmy burst into the room. “Greetings, Earthlings,” he said. “I come in peace.”
The three of us just gaped at him. Finally, I said, “You look terrific!” He did, too. He had these two shiny metallic antennas sticking up from his head, and his face was green, with purple dots and yellow lips. His hands were bright red.
“Mrs. Stevens helped me find the antennas, and she showed me how to do the makeup,” said Timmy. “She said I would look just like a space alien she once met, back when she was my age.”
I had to hand it to her. Mrs. Stevens definitely knew what she was doing when it came to making costumes. And she was great with kids.
“I bet you’ll win a prize at the party,” said Erick.
“Do you think so?” asked Timmy. “I —” he broke off in mid-sentence and dashed to Erick’s front window. “My dad’s home!” he said. “I thought I heard his motorcycle.”
I looked out the window. Sure enough, a motorcycle had pulled up in the driveway of the house across the street, and the man standing next to it was taking off his helmet. I realized I’d never seen a car at the Fords’ house, and guessed that it must have been because they couldn’t afford one. Timmy opened the window. “Hi, Dad!” he yelled. “I’ll be right over.” Mr. Ford waved and smiled. He looked like a nice man.
Or at least, that’s what I thought at first. Then I saw something that made me wonder. As Mr. Ford headed up the driveway toward his house, he spotted a neighbor’s dog digging in his backyard. “Get out of there, you dumb mutt!” he yelled, taking a few threatening steps toward the dog. He sounded really angry, a lot more angry than I thought he needed to be about a dog in his yard.
Fortunately, Timmy hadn’t seen the incident, since he was busy gathering his things together. “I can’t wait to tell my dad about my costume!” he said, grinning up at me. “Thanks a lot, Dawn.” Then he said good-bye to Erick and Ryan, and dashed down the stairs and out the front door.
I watched through the window as he zipped across the street and joined his father on the steps of their house. Timmy might have been going through a hard time, but it was obvious that he loved his father. And he was definitely looking forward to Halloween now that he had his costume.
The thought of Halloween reminded me of the robber in the clown mask. If only my friends and I could catch him, maybe Timmy — and Erick and Ryan and all the kids — would be able to wear their costumes trick-or-treating, instead of just to the party. I knew that would keep a smile on Timmy’s face.
Mallory’s letter went on to explain more about what she’d discovered during her sitting job at the Barretts’. I called her the night I got the letter, to ask for more details, and she filled me in on what had happened that day.
Mal, as I’ve mentioned, has seven brothers and sisters, and all of them are still young enough to be completely captivated by Halloween. “They’ve been bouncing off the walls for over two weeks now,” is how Mal put it when we talked. “It’s, like, total insanity. Halloween is all they talk about: their costumes, the candy they’ll get, what time they’ll go out, which neighborhood to hit first. It’s driving me nuts.”
For that reason, Mal was glad to escape her house on Thursday and head for the Barretts’, where she had an after-school job sitting for Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie. (Mrs. Barrett was going out with a friend to look at wedding dresses!)
“Hi, Mallory,” said Mrs. Barrett, when Mal arrived. “The kids will be glad to see you. They’re upstairs, working on their costumes, and they may need help.”
Mal noticed that Mrs. Barrett wasn’t her usual sparkly self. She seemed preoccupied. “Is everything okay?” Mal asked.
“Oh, everything’s fine,” said Mrs. Barrett (unconvincingly, Mal thought). “I’m sure you’ve heard that we found this lovely house to move into, which means Mr. DeWitt and I can start planning our wedding. Soon we’ll be settled. It’ll be wonderful.”
Mal nodded. Mrs. Barrett’s words sounded good, but the way she said them left Mal wondering what was wrong. Mrs. Barrett spoke in a toneless voice and stared at the floor as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “Well, have fun looking for wedding dresses,” said Mal, trying to keep her own voice bright in an effort to cheer up Mrs. Barrett.
Once Mrs. Barrett had left, Mal headed upstairs to Buddy’s room, where she found the three kids hard at work on their costumes. Well, Marnie wasn’t exactly hard at work. But she was busy trying on the hat that went with her pumpkin costume. It looked like the top part of a jack-o’-lantern, the part with the stem. “Oh, how cute,” Mal said, patting Marnie on the head. “She’s going to look adorable,” she said to Buddy and Suzi.
“So am I,” said Suzi. “I’m going to be Princess Jasmine.” She held up some pink, gauzy material to show Mal.
“Wonderful,” said Mal. “What about you, Buddy?”
“I’m going to be Hamilton the Magnificent,” said Buddy, brandishing a magic wand. “The best magician in the world.”
Mal told me later that it took her a second to remember that Hamilton is Buddy’s real name. Hamilton Jr., to be exact. He’s named after his dad. “Sounds great,” said Mal. “You guys should be a real hit on Halloween.”
“I guess,” said Buddy, unenthusiastically. “First we have to finish making our costumes, though.”
“I need help with my princess headband,” said Suzi.
“And I have to figure out how to paint this wand silver,” said Buddy.
“Pupkin!” cried Marnie, sticking a finger through the “nose” of her pumpkin outfit.
“Okay,” said Mal, wondering why the kids seemed so much less excited about Halloween than her brothers and sisters were. “How about if I help you?” She set up Buddy with the silver paint and a little brush and helped him lay out newspapers to protect the floor. Then she turned to Suzi, who was holding out a band of purple material that was supposed to go around her head.
“I want to put jewels on it,” said Suzi. “How can we make them stick?”
r /> “Let’s try some of this glue,” said Mal, who had rummaged through Buddy’s art supply box. “I bet it’ll do the job.”
The kids began to work intently on their projects, while Marnie kept herself amused by climbing into and out of her pumpkin costume. Mal was curious: something seemed wrong with the kids, just as it had with Mrs. Barrett. But she didn’t want to pry, so she just worked quietly with them, hoping they’d talk about it if they needed to.
Instead, they talked about Halloweens of the past. “Remember that time we dressed up Pow to look like a donkey?” Buddy asked.
“He looked so, so funny,” said Suzi. But she didn’t crack a smile.
Mal raised her eyebrows. Was that it? Were the kids missing Pow again? Pow is a basset hound, a big galumphy guy with sad eyes and plenty of patience. He used to belong to the Barretts, but they had to give him away when they discovered that Marnie was allergic to dogs. Fortunately, Mal’s own family had been the ones to give Pow a new home. The Pikes live right down the street from the Barretts, so Buddy and Suzi could visit him anytime they liked. It was an arrangement that had worked out very, very well. Or, at least that’s what Mal had thought.
“Pow’s going to be Underdog this year,” she reported, hoping to get the kids to crack a smile.
Buddy just nodded. Then he continued with his reminiscing. “Remember how the Arnolds gave out Rice Krispies Treats one year?” he said. “Those were the best.”
“What about the candy apples Mrs. Perkins used to make?” asked Suzi.
“Excellent.” Buddy nodded.
Suddenly, Suzi put down her princess headband and began to sob.
“Suzi!” said Mal, alarmed. “What’s the matter?” She reached over to give Suzi a hug, but Suzi just squirmed away and cried even harder.
“This year —” she said, between sobs “— last time!”
Buddy looked upset. “It’s okay, Suz,” he said. “Don’t cry.”
“It’s not okay,” she said, sniffling now. “And you know it. We’ll never trick-or-treat at the Perkinses again, and we’ll never see Pow anymore, either.”
“I know,” said Buddy, looking as if he might start crying, too. “I wonder if they even go trick-or-treating in dumb old Greenvale.”
Suddenly, the light dawned for Mallory. So that’s what it was all about. The Barrett kids weren’t happy about moving to Greenvale. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but somehow it was. Jessi hadn’t mentioned a word about it, and she’d been with them when they saw their new house. “Suzi, Buddy,” said Mal. “Are you upset about moving to Greenvale?”
“Yes!” said Suzi, her sobs starting up again. “I don’t want to go to a new school. I like my school.”
“We like our friends here, too,” Buddy added quietly. “And Suzi’s right. If we move we’ll never see Pow anymore.”
Mal digested this. “What about Franklin’s kids?” she asked. “Do they want to move?”
“No way,” said Buddy. “They like Stoneybrook, too.”
Suzi sobbed quietly. Marnie looked from Suzi to Buddy, as if she were wondering what was wrong with her big sister and brother.
Mal nodded. “I see,” she said. “Well, let me ask you this. Have you talked to your mom about how you feel? And have the DeWitts talked to their dad?”
Buddy shook his head miserably. “We can’t do that,” he said. “Mom is so happy about finding a house we can afford.”
“And she loves the house,” Suzi added, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “She thinks it’s perfect.”
“It is a nice house,” said Buddy. “If only it was in Stoneybrook, it would be perfect.”
Of course the Barrett kids would want to stay in Stoneybrook, Mal thought, where they’d lived all their lives. Then she thought back to what Jessi had told her about the day the kids had first seen the house. As far as she could remember, Mrs. Barrett and Franklin had made an offer on the house, but they hadn’t finalized the purchase yet. She had a feeling the parents would want to know how their kids were feeling before they took such a big step as buying a house.
“I really think you should talk to your mom,” she said gently. “She wouldn’t want you guys to be unhappy in the new house. I can’t promise you it will change anything, but at least you should tell her what you’ve told me.”
“But how can we tell her?” asked Buddy.
“Well, let’s talk about that,” said Mal. “Maybe you can talk to her after she comes home, while I’m still here. I can help you out a little.” She felt a knot in her stomach. Was she doing the right thing, poking her nose into her clients’ business? She thought it over and decided she was. After all, Mrs. Barrett was very preoccupied lately, what with the wedding plans. She might not have noticed that her kids were upset, although it did seem as though something was bothering Mrs. Barrett. Maybe she was worried about the kids. Anyway, Mal thought, it was important that she hear what Buddy and Suzi had to say.
For the rest of the afternoon, Marnie napped while Mal helped the kids work on their Halloween costumes as they talked about their plans for approaching Mrs. Barrett. Mal asked Buddy and Suzi to make up lists of why they would rather not leave Stoneybrook. She told them to pretend she was their mom, and practice looking her in the eye while they discussed their feelings. And she told Buddy to call Lindsey DeWitt to tell her what they were doing and urge her to talk to her dad at the same time.
By the time Mrs. Barrett returned, Suzi’s eyes weren’t red anymore and Buddy was confident about what he had to say. The kids didn’t need much help from Mal after all, but she stuck around for a few minutes just to see what would happen.
Without wasting any time, Buddy launched into his list of reasons for staying in Stoneybrook. Suzi joined in, and Mrs. Barrett sat down and pulled them onto her lap. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked.
“We didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” said Suzi. “Because of how great you think the house is and everything.”
“Oh, my babies,” said Mrs. Barrett, hugging them closer. Buddy looked a little embarrassed.
“I’m not a baby,” he insisted.
“No, you certainly aren’t,” said Mrs. Barrett. “You’re a big boy who knows how to share what he’s feeling, and I’m proud of you.” She squeezed him again. “I don’t know if we can get out of buying that house,” she said. “But I’m going to call Franklin right now and find out. Listening to the two of you has made me realize that I don’t want to leave Stoneybrook, either. It’s our home.”
As Mal left (after huge hugs from Buddy and Suzi), Mrs. Barrett was reaching for the phone. “I don’t now what’s going to happen,” Mal told me when we spoke. “So far, I haven’t heard a thing. But I do know this: sometimes it’s best to let your feelings be known. And I think Buddy and Suzi learned that lesson, at least.”
“Well, we’ve narrowed it down to two boys,” said Maggie. She plucked a hot-pink blossom from the bougainvillea and tucked it behind her ear.
My friends and I were in the school courtyard again, eating lunch and talking about the sleuthing we’d been doing. It was Wednesday: there were only a few more days until Halloween. We had to step up our detective work if we were even going to have a shot at catching the robber in time for the kids to go trick-or-treating. The day before, since Sunny and I had both had sitting jobs, Maggie and Jill had gone to Palo City High to watch track practice and try to figure out which of the team members was the one who had bought a Jolly Roger clown mask at the Halloween Shoppe. They’d spotted two who fit the clerk’s description.
“I think it’s the cute one,” said Jill. “The one who wins all the races.”
“They’re both cute,” said Maggie with a sigh. “Too bad they’d never look at us middle-school girls twice.”
“Don’t forget,” I warned her. “Cute or not, one of them may be a hold-up man.”
“Right,” said Maggie. “Somehow it seems unlikely, but I guess we have to follow all the leads.”
&n
bsp; “I definitely want to keep working on the case,” said Sunny. “Especially after being with Clover and Daffodil yesterday.” Clover and Daffodil are two little girls we often sit for. They live next door to me. “They kept talking about how they wished they could go trick-or-treating. I told them about the party, and they liked the idea, but they said it just wasn’t the same.”
“It’s not,” I agreed. “So I’ll go to track practice today. Anybody want to join me?”
Maggie and Jill were busy after school, but Sunny said she’d come along. The four of us agreed to meet later at Sunny’s, to work some more on plans for the party.
“Just look for the two guys with long brown hair,” said Jill, as we split up. “You can’t miss them.”
* * *
Later that afternoon, Sunny and I climbed the bleachers at the high-school track and found a spot to settle in. “This is perfect,” said Sunny, taking a seat. She gazed out onto the green field. “Wow!” she murmured. “Maggie and Jill made it sound like there were only two cute boys here, but I see at least a dozen.” Sunny can be just a little bit boy-crazy sometimes.
But you know what? She was right. “How about that guy with the black hair?” I said. “I love his ponytail.”
“I like the blond one better,” said Sunny. “The one who’s stretching?”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “Let’s get serious here. We’re supposed to be looking for suspects, remember?”
“Oh, right,” said Sunny, tearing her gaze away from the blond guy. “So, where are the two guys with brown hair?”
“I see one,” I said, pointing. “He’s lined up for that race over by the soccer goal.”
“Oh! The other one’s there, too,” said Sunny. “See him? He was behind the one you like, with the black hair.”
“Okay, good,” I said. “Now all we have to do is keep an eye on them and see if we can figure out anything about them.”