The Fashion Disaster Read online

  Paws on parade!

  River Heights is hosting its first fashion show—for dogs! Proceeds will go to the Rollover Rescue animal shelter. The Clue Crew is excited because not only will the day be filled with tons of cute pooches, but Nancy’s own puppy, Chocolate Chip, will be a model in the show! But of course, there are some bumps along this fashion show’s runway when someone steals a special basket of gourmet dog biscuits. They belong to doggy-diva Lola, a fancy poodle who’s the star of the show! Can the Clue Crew sniff out this doggy-biscuit burglar?

  TEST YOUR DETECTIVE SKILLS WITH THESE OTHER CLUE CREW CASES!

  See inside for a free activity!

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  A Ready-for-Chapters Book

  Cover designed by Lisa Vega

  Cover illustration copyright © 2007

  by Macky Pamintuan

  Ages 6-9

  www.SimonSaysKids.com

  0207

  Doggy Stage Fright!

  That must be Lola’s cue, Nancy thought.

  She saw Bess at the end of the runway, waving a biscuit high. Lola’s ears perked up. But instead of walking toward the biscuit, she just looked at it!

  The audience stared at Lola.

  “Come on, Lola!” Nancy whispered. “Work it!”

  Bess waved the biscuit faster and faster. George ran over to help. She snapped her fingers to get Lola to come. But Lola stood frozen, like a big white poodle statue!

  Nancy gulped.

  Something was wrong. Terribly wrong!

  Join the CLuE CREW

  & solve these other cases!

  #1 Sleepover Sleuths

  #2 Scream for Ice Cream

  #3 Pony Problems

  #4 The Cinderella Ballet Mystery

  #5 Case of the Sneaky Snowman

  #6 The Fashion Disaster

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Text copyright © 2007 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Macky Pamintuan

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS, NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW, and colophon are

  trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  NANCY DREW is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Designed by Lisa Vega

  The text of this book was set in ITC Stone Informal.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition February 2007

  Library of Congress Control Number 2006929352

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-3485-1

  ISBN-10: 1-4169-3485-5

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE: PAMPERED PUP

  CHAPTER TWO: DIVA DOG SHOCKER

  CHAPTER THREE: SNEAKY SWITCHEROO

  CHAPTER FOUR: TRAILER BARK

  CHAPTER FIVE: CLOTHES CALL

  CHAPTER SIX: PIECE BY PIECE

  CHAPTER SEVEN: BACKPACK ATTACK

  CHAPTER EIGHT: IT’S A MATCH!

  CHAPTER NINE: “NEWFIE . . . GOOFY!”

  CHAPTER TEN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER

  CHAPTER ONE

  Pampered Pup

  “It’s like a real, live fashion show!” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said to her two best friends.

  Bess Marvin and George Fayne smiled and looked down at a pug dog on a leash. He was dressed in striped overalls and matching doggy booties.

  “Except in this fashion show the models have four legs instead of two.” Bess giggled.

  It was Saturday, the day of the Cool Canines Fashion Show in River Heights Park. Mr. Drew had driven the girls to the park and agreed to meet them by the fashion show stage before showtime. Nancy was extra excited because her Labrador puppy, Chocolate Chip, was a model in the show.

  “Isn’t Chip totally stylin’ in her doggy denim outfit?” Nancy asked. “It’s from the Funky Fido Boutique.”

  George bent down to straighten Chip’s cap. “Chip looks totally fetching,” she said. “Fetch . . . dog . . . get it?”

  Bess rolled her blue eyes. “That’s the fifth dog joke today, George,” she said. “One more and I’ll start calling you Georgia!”

  “No, thank you!” George said, tossing her dark curls. She hated being called by her real name.

  As the girls walked through the park, Nancy couldn’t believe her eyes. The park looked so festive! Colorful balloons fluttered from a long runway built just for the fashion show.

  “Do you think dogs like wearing clothes?” George asked. She was more into booting up computers than picking out new boots. But her cousin Bess was the total opposite.

  “Who doesn’t like new clothes?” Bess asked. She twirled to show off her yellow jeans and daisy print top. “Check out my new spring outfit.”

  “It’s nice,” Nancy said. “But aren’t you afraid of getting dog hairs on it?”

  “Dog hairs? I laugh at dog hairs!” Bess said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hairbrush. It was wrapped with tape, sticky side up.

  “What is that?” George asked.

  “It’s my Hairy Fairy Wand!” Bess said. “I built it to pick up dog and cat hairs from clothes and furniture.”

  “Sweet!” Nancy said. She was proud of her two friends. Bess could build or fix anything. George was a computer whiz and proud of it. All three of them were great at solving mysteries. They had even started their own detective club called the Clue Crew. But today wouldn’t be about cracking cases. It would be about walking on the runway!

  “Look!” George said. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”

  Nancy turned to see where George was pointing. A bright-pink trailer was parked under a tree. Written on the side in fancy silver letters was the name LOLA.

  “Isn’t Lola that poodle who models for cards and calendars?” Bess asked. “The one they call the Diva Dog?”

  “That’s the one,” Nancy said. “I heard Lola’s the star of the fashion show today.”

  “That’s superstar!” a voice piped up.

  Nancy’s reddish blond hair whipped in the air as she spun around. She saw two girls standing there, and sitting on the ground between them was Lola—the famous Diva Dog!

  The big white poodle was dressed in a pink chiffon skirt and cape fastened with a pearl collar. She also wore a sparkly tiara on her furry head.

  “It’s Lola!” George exclaimed.

  “May I pet her?” Nancy asked.

  “Don’t even think of it,” said one of the girls, who had wavy blond hair. “Lola just had a raw egg shampoo!”

  “And a manicure!” the other, red-haired girl said. “Don’t forget about the manicure, Maya.”

  “Like, duh, Nicki!” Maya groaned. “I’m the one who picked out her cotton-candy pink nail polish, remember?”

  Nancy glanced down at Lola’s paws. The poodle really was wearing pink nail polish!

  “Lola is my dog,” Maya said. “My parents let me take her to fashion shows, photo shoots, pawtograph signings—”

  “Pawtograph?” Nancy asked.

  “Lola signs her pictures with her paw print,” Nicki explained. “You know, autographs . . . pawtographs.”

  Maya and Nicki introduced themselves. They were in the third grade, just like Nanc
y, Bess, and George. The girls lived in the next town, Valley View.

  “My name is Nancy,” Nancy said. She pointed to Bess and George. “And these are my friends—”

  BZZZZZZZ!

  The noise made Nancy jump. It came from Nicki’s watch.

  “Twelve fifteen,” Nicki said. “Time for Lola’s vitamin water break!”

  Nicki pulled a bottle of water from her purple backpack and put it to Lola’s mouth. She held it steady as Lola slurped loudly.

  “Nicki is Lola’s personal assistant,” Maya whispered. “She can’t have her own dog because her brother is allergic. So being around Lola is the next best thing.”

  Just then a gray, fuzzy-faced dog scampered over. He was wearing an orange vest that read “Adopt Me.” Nancy guessed the dog came from the Rollover Rescue Shelter. The shelter had set up a tent in the park for the day.

  Chip and the dog touched noses. But when the fuzzy-faced pup walked toward Lola, Maya screamed, “A shelter dog! Get him away from Lola! Get him away!”

  The little gray dog scooted in and out between Nancy, Bess, and George’s legs. The girls laughed and shrieked.

  “Percy! Sit! Stay! Heel! Cool your jets!” A boy wearing an orange T-shirt ran over. Nancy thought he looked about nine years old. The boy tried to catch Percy but with no luck.

  “We’ve got him!” a voice called.

  Two teenagers wearing the same orange shirts as the boy raced over. Nancy read their name tags. The teenagers were Tracey and Vincent. The younger boy’s name was Rusty.

  Tracey pointed her finger at Percy. Then, in a firm voice, she said, “Sit!”

  Percy stopped in his tracks and sat down, just like magic!

  “Good boy,” Vincent said.

  “Wow!” Nancy said. “You guys are great with dogs!”

  “That’s because we’re the Bow-Wow Brigade,” Vincent said with a smile. “We volunteer for the Rollover Rescue Shelter. We feed dogs, walk them, clean their cages—”

  “Ew!” Bess put in. “I hate cleaning out the hamster cage at school.”

  “I don’t mind,” Rusty said. “Before this, I volunteered at another pet shelter in Valley View.”

  “Valley View?” Maya said. “There is no pet shelter in my town. And no shelter dogs, either!”

  “Huh?” Rusty said, wrinkling his nose.

  “What’s wrong with shelter dogs?” Vincent asked.

  “The dogs we rescue are great,” Tracey said.

  “They’re okay, if you like mutts and junkyard dogs,” Maya said. “My Lola is a purebred standard poodle from the south of France!”

  “Yeah . . . and I’m Spider-Man,” Rusty muttered.

  The Bow-Wow Brigade and Percy walked away. Nancy could tell they didn’t like what Maya said about shelter dogs.

  “We’d better go too,” Nancy said. “Chip is in the fashion show later, and I’m walking her down the runway.”

  “Lola walks down the runway all by herself,” Maya bragged. “As long as Nicki waves her favorite dog biscuit.”

  “Chip has a favorite biscuit too,” Nancy said. “It’s called Lick My Chops.”

  “Shh!” Maya hissed. “Don’t mention those yucky biscuits in front of Lola. She hates them!”

  “Lola only eats Bone Appetit biscuits,” Nicki said. “They’re from a fancy pet bakery in New York City.”

  Nicki pulled a biscuit from her purple backpack. Nancy, Bess, and George jumped back. The biscuit smelled like stinky cheese!

  “Lola’s favorite flavor is blue cheese and onions,” Maya explained. “She can smell them a mile away!”

  George squeezed her nose and said, “So can we.”

  “Here. Give this to Lola,” Nicki said. She tossed a biscuit to Bess. “Then you can tell everyone you fed the famous Diva Dog!”

  Bess scrunched her nose as she caught the stinky biscuit. “That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t really have to—”

  “Arrf!” Lola jumped at the biscuit, her paws landing on Bess’s shoulders.

  “Lola—no!” Nicki said.

  Nancy gasped. Bess’s brand-new daisy top was covered with muddy paw prints!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Diva Dog Shocker

  “Oh, no!” Bess cried as Lola jumped down, crunching the biscuit. “My new daisy top!”

  “Are you lucky or what?” Maya said. “Now you’ll have Lola’s pawtograph all over your shirt!”

  Nancy couldn’t believe her ears! “Lucky?” she said. “Bess’s new shirt is ruined.”

  “And Lola has the worst dog breath I ever smelled in my life,” Bess muttered.

  “Lola didn’t mean it,” Maya said with a smile. “But I know how I can make it up to you.”

  “How?” Bess asked glumly.

  “Why don’t you wave Lola’s dog biscuit in the fashion show today?” Maya said.

  “But I thought that was Nicki’s job,” Bess said.

  “It is my job!” Nicki agreed.

  “Not today, Nicki,” Maya told her.

  Nicki’s face turned about as red as her hair.

  “Fine!” she snapped. “I am sick of being a maid to that diva dog, anyway. Whatever Lola wants—Lola gets!”

  Chip barked after Nicki as she stormed off.

  “Nicki said ‘diva’ like it was a bad thing,” Maya said with a shrug. She turned to Bess. “Well? Will you do it?”

  “I don’t know,” Bess said slowly.

  “Go for it, Bess!” George exclaimed.

  “You’ll get to be in the fashion show,” Nancy said. “Just like Chip and me.”

  Bess’s eyes lit up. Finally she smiled and said, “Okay. I’m in.”

  “Neat!” Maya said. “Lola’s Bon Appetit biscuits are in a basket inside her trailer. My mom and dad filled it with fresh ones about a half hour ago.”

  “Are your parents in the trailer?” Nancy asked.

  “No,” Maya said. “They’re at the mayor’s lunch party in the park rec hall right now.”

  “My mom is there too!” George said. “She’s a caterer. She cooked veggie lasagna and double-chocolate brownies for the party. I hope she brings home a doggy bag.”

  “Was that another dog joke?” Bess groaned.

  Maya waved good-bye as she walked off with Lola.

  Suddenly the loudspeaker crackled and an announcement blared. The fashion show would begin at one o’clock sharp.

  “It’s twelve thirty now,” Nancy said, glancing at her watch. “We’d better pick up those biscuits.”

  “What if I can’t find them?” Bess asked.

  “You will,” George said. “Just follow the smell!”

  On the way to Lola’s trailer, the girls saw kids from their school, River Heights Elementary. Ned Nickerson was walking his German shepherd, Max. Kevin Garcia was there with his beagle, Hudson. Andrea Wu was trying to stop her terrier, Angus, from chasing a squirrel.

  But when the girls saw Peter Patino they had to stop and stare. Peter was walking a gigantic dog with thick black fur. A string of drool hung from the dog’s mouth.

  “Is that your dog, Peter?” Nancy called.

  Peter stopped to give the dog a biscuit. “It’s Mayor Strong’s dog, Huey,” he called back. “I’m just walking him while the mayor has his lunch party—whoaaaaa!”

  The dog barked as he dragged Peter away.

  “It looks like Huey is walking Peter!” Nancy giggled.

  The girls stopped to watch a clown make balloon animals in the shape of poodles. Then they remembered the biscuits, and they raced to the pink trailer and filed inside.

  “Check out this place!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Pinned to the wall were fashion photos of Lola. A fancy brass dog bed stood against the wall. Racks and shelves were filled with canine clothes and accessories. There was even a frilly vanity table that held bottles of doggy perfume!

  “Now this is a doghouse!” George said.

  “There’s the basket!” said Bess. She ran to a brown basket that stood on a small t
able. Inside the basket were three dog biscuits. Nancy held Chip back as the puppy jumped at the treats.

  “They don’t smell so bad this time,” Bess said. “Must be a different flavor.”

  George pointed to a sticky-looking puddle on the floor right next to the table. “Don’t step in that,” she said.

  “Ew,” Bess said, looking down. “I guess even diva dogs can have accidents!”

  The girls left the trailer and ran straight to the fashion show runway. They checked in by the stage with Mr. Drew, and then Nancy and Chip lined up with the other owners and their dogs. Nancy saw a bulldog dressed as a cowboy, a dachshund wearing a leather jacket with silver studs, and even a Chihuahua in a hula skirt. But sitting like a princess at the front of the line was Lola the Diva Dog!

  “Don’t worry, Chip,” Nancy whispered. “You’ll always be top dog to me.”

  She was petting Chip when Mayor Strong and a woman walked by. Nancy recognized the woman with the dark hair and bright-red lipstick. Her name was Patsy Ray, and she owned the Funky Fido Boutique.

  “I still can’t believe Lola is wearing that outfit,” Patsy said in an angry voice. “I wanted her to wear one of my designs!”

  “And I already explained it to you, Patsy,” Mayor Strong said. “I promised Lola’s owners she could wear an outfit from her new calendar.”

  Patsy’s bone-shaped earrings swung back and forth as she shook her head. “Big mistake!” she said. “My clothes are so much cuter.”

  Then Patsy turned on her high heel and walked away.

  Wow, Nancy thought. And they call Lola a diva!

  Mayor Strong walked up the steps to the runway. The crowd cheered. Nancy’s tummy fluttered like a million butterflies. She saw her dad out in the audience. It was showtime!

  “I’m sure you’re all excited to see Lola strut her stuff,” Mayor Strong said with a smile. “But first let’s welcome another superstar, Broadway actress Lorette Waters!”

  Lorette waved as she joined the mayor on stage. “Thank you, Mayor Strong,” she said. “Thank you, River Heights!”