The Fine-Feathered Mystery Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather

  Chapter 2: Creepy Crawlies

  Chapter 3: Follow That Bird!

  Chapter 4: Deep Blue Clue

  Chapter 5: A Perfect Trap

  Chapter 6: Treetop Terror

  Chapter 7: Katie’s Secret

  Chapter 8: Home Tweet Home

  1

  Birds of a Feather

  Don’t worry, Bess,” eight-year-old Nancy Drew told her best friend. “We’re going into the birdhouse, not the bughouse.”

  “Are you sure?” Bess Marvin asked nervously. She twisted a strand of her long blond hair around one finger.

  Nancy’s other best friend, George Fayne, rolled her dark eyes. “Give me a break, Bess,” she told her cousin. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen a bug before.”

  “I have,” Bess said. “That’s the problem!”

  It was summer vacation, and the first day of Park Pals. For two weeks Nancy, Bess, and George would meet every day at the River Heights park. They would learn about birds, trees, and even bugs.

  The girls had already met their leader, Ranger Lynn. They also met the other kids in their group, Joey Fusco, Andrea Singh, and Todd Steckler.

  “Isn’t the name of our group cool?” George asked. She began to hop on one foot. “The Grasshoppers.”

  Nancy nodded. “And the best part is, we’re all in third grade.”

  Todd Steckler stepped in front of the girls. “I want to be a Bullfrog,” he said.

  “So?” George said with a shrug. “Jump up and down and croak.”

  “Du-uh!” Todd said. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I meant I want to be in the Bullfrog group.”

  “The Bullfrogs are for fifth graders,” Nancy told Todd. “Aren’t you in the third grade like us?”

  “So what?” Todd said. “I know more about nature than anybody here. I’m going to be a park ranger some day.”

  Nancy giggled. Todd was already dressed like a park ranger. He wore a dark green shirt and matching shorts. His ranger hat was just like Lynn’s, and he carried a red backpack over one shoulder.

  Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm. She pointed to three plastic bug pins on Todd’s shirt.

  “Eew!” Bess cried. “They look real.”

  “I wish they were,” Todd said. He patted his spider pin. “Bugs are excellent. Except for grasshoppers. They’re dumb.”

  Nancy frowned. She knew Todd was talking about them.

  “Why don’t you be like your pins,” George snapped, “and bug off?”

  “Very funny,” Todd snapped back. He turned around and walked over to Joey.

  “I wish he was in the Bullfrogs,” Bess said. “Then he wouldn’t be in our group.”

  Ranger Lynn clapped her hands for attention.

  “Are you all ready to visit the aviary?” Lynn asked. She pointed to a small brick building behind them.

  “Aviary?” Andrea said. “I thought we were going into the birdhouse.”

  Todd sighed. “An aviary is a birdhouse. Bird brain.”

  “Todd is right,” Lynn said. “An aviary is where we keep birds. But that was a very good question, Andrea.”

  Andrea stuck her tongue out at Todd. Then they followed Lynn into the aviary.

  “Wow!” Nancy said.

  There were three big cages filled with all kinds of colorful birds. They sat on perches and made loud, squawking sounds.

  “Awesome,” George gasped.

  “They’re so pretty,” Bess said.

  Nancy covered her ears and giggled. “And noisy,” she said.

  Lynn led the group to a tall cage. It was filled with brightly colored birds.

  “Here are the tropical birds,” she said. “Have any of you ever seen a parrot before?”

  Nancy, Bess, and George looked at each other and smiled.

  “Our friend Katie has a parrot named Lester,” Nancy said. “She takes him everywhere she goes.”

  “So you girls probably know a lot about parrots,” Lynn said.

  “I know even more,” Todd said. He stuck out his chin. “I know that parrots have pointy beaks so they can crack nuts. I know that parrots are the best climbers of all birds. I know that parrots can talk—”

  “Not as much as you do,” Joey interrupted.

  Nancy and the Grasshoppers laughed.

  “Very funny,” Todd grumbled.

  The group turned back to the cage. Nancy saw a big blue parrot sitting alone on a perch. It was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen.

  “Bess, George, look!” Nancy said.

  George gave a whistle. “I never saw a parrot that color before.”

  “It’s almost violet,” Bess said.

  “That’s Carmen,” Lynn said. “She’s a hyacinth macaw. A macaw is a kind of parrot.”

  “Isn’t a hyacinth a flower?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes,” Lynn said. “Very good, Nancy.”

  “I knew that,” Todd mumbled.

  “Nancy,” Bess whispered. “That parrot is the same color as something else.”

  “It is?” Nancy asked. “What?”

  “Your detective notebook,” Bess said.

  “You’re right, Bess,” Nancy said.

  Nancy’s detective notebook was bright blue. She wrote her clues in it whenever she worked on a new mystery. She also carried it wherever she went.

  “Shall we get a closer look at Carmen?” Lynn asked.

  The Grasshoppers nodded as Lynn unlocked the cage and reached in.

  “Arrk!” Carmen squawked as she jumped from the perch onto Lynn’s arm.

  “Where do hyacinth macaws come from?” Andrea asked.

  “South America,” Lynn said. “But there aren’t many left. That’s why they have to be protected.”

  “Are they endangered?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes,” Lynn said. “But as long as we keep Carmen here, she might have babies. Then there’ll be more hyacinth macaws.”

  “Rrraaaaa!” Carmen squawked.

  “Polly wanna cracker?” Joey joked.

  “Parrots like crackers,” Lynn said. “They also eat fruit, nuts, and small bugs.”

  “Bugs?” Bess shrieked. “That’s the grossest thing I ever heard.”

  “Bugs are not gross,” Todd insisted.

  Nancy watched Todd reach into his backpack. He yanked out a glass jar filled with big fat beetles.

  “These guys showed up when we turned on the porch lights,” Todd said. “Are they neat or what?”

  Oh, great, Nancy thought. Todd is holding the jar in front of Bess’s face.

  “Quit it, Todd!” Nancy scolded.

  But it was too late. Bess let out the loudest scream that Nancy had ever heard.

  “Eeeeek!” Bess cried.

  “Squaaaaawk!” Carmen screeched.

  The blue parrot hopped off Lynn’s arm. She flapped her wings and flew toward the open door.

  “Carmen!” Lynn called. She waved her arms in the air. “Come back!”

  Everyone stared as Carmen flew out of the door and into the park.

  “Oh, no,” Nancy groaned. “Carmen has flown the coop!”

  2

  Creepy Crawlies

  Let’s go, Grasshoppers!” Lynn called. She waved her hand toward the door. “Maybe Carmen is right outside.”

  Nancy and the Grasshoppers followed Lynn out the door. They looked around.

  “Carmen!” Nancy called.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” George called.

  But Carmen was gone.

  Todd pointed his finger at Bess. “It’s all her fault. She screamed and scared Carmen away.”

  Nancy looked at Bess. Bess looked as if she
was about to cry.

  “Bess wouldn’t have screamed if you hadn’t put those bugs right in her face,” Nancy told Todd.

  “Yeah,” George said. “You and your stupid bugs.”

  Todd hugged the jar to his chest. “They’re not stupid,” he said.

  Just then Nancy saw a tall man in a ranger’s uniform walking toward them.

  “Who’s that?” Nancy asked.

  “That’s Ranger Roy, the head ranger at the park,” Todd said. “He’s my hero!”

  “Good morning, Grasshoppers,” Ranger Roy said.

  Todd gave a little salute. “Good morning, Ranger Roy, sir!” he barked.

  “Oh, brother,” George mumbled.

  “And what did you all do this morning, Grasshoppers?” Ranger Roy asked.

  The Grasshoppers looked at one another nervously. But Todd saluted again.

  “We lost an endangered bird—sir!” he snapped.

  “An endangered bird?” Ranger Roy said. He looked at Lynn. “Is this true?”

  Lynn nodded sadly. “Carmen got frightened and flew out of the aviary.”

  “Carmen is our hyacinth macaw,” Ranger Roy said. “This is serious. Very serious.”

  Todd leaned over to Bess. “And it’s all your fault!” he whispered.

  • • •

  Ranger Roy called an emergency meeting in the main house. All of the Park Pals were there.

  “Butterflies, Caterpillars, Grasshoppers, Sparrows, Bullfrogs,” Ranger Roy said. “We have a big problem.”

  Nancy and her friends sat on the floor with the other groups. They watched Ranger Roy pace back and forth.

  “Carmen the parrot is missing,” Ranger Roy said. He held up a picture of a hyacinth macaw. “She’s bright blue, weighs three pounds, and is three feet long.”

  Todd jumped up. “A hyacinth macaw is the biggest kind of parrot there is!”

  “Thank you, Todd,” Ranger Roy said.

  Todd smiled and sat back down. A Butterfly girl raised her hand.

  “My cat always comes home when she’s hungry,” she said. “Maybe Carmen will, too.”

  Todd jumped up again.

  “No way,” he said. “There are plenty of berries and bugs all over River Heights. She can pig out.”

  Nancy tried to ignore Todd. She raised her hand.

  “Yes?” Ranger Roy asked.

  “Maybe Carmen will come back if she misses her friends,” Nancy suggested.

  Todd let out a big sigh. “Hel-lo? Carmen can always make new friends. Birds of a feather flock together, you know.”

  George grabbed Todd’s arm and pulled him down. “Sit down, will you?”

  Ranger Rick looked at the kids seriously. “I’m going to spread the word about Carmen right away. But I want the search to begin right here.”

  “Here?” a Bullfrog boy asked. “You want us to look for Carmen?”

  “You bet,” Ranger Roy said. “And this might help.”

  Nancy and her friends watched Ranger Roy pop a cassette into a tape recorder. He pressed a button. Soon the sound of a parrot’s singing voice filled the room:

  “I’m a happy camper!

  That’s what I like to do!

  Why don’t you come and join me?

  And be a camper too?

  La, la, laaaa!”

  Ranger Roy clicked off the tape recorder and sighed.

  “That was Carmen singing her favorite song,” he said. “Learn it. Remember it. And listen for it wherever you go.”

  The room was silent until Bess raised her hand.

  “How do we catch Carmen?” she asked.

  “The best way to catch a bird is to lead a trail of bird seed into a cage,” Ranger Roy said. “I’ll gather some ingredients today. We’ll whip up a batch of my special seed salad tomorrow.”

  Todd jumped up. “Will there be a prize for the kid who finds Carmen?” he asked.

  Ranger Roy nodded. “The person who finds Carmen will be made an official Junior Park Ranger.”

  Todd’s eyes lit up. “You mean with a uniform? And a badge?”

  “You betcha,” Ranger Roy said.

  Todd pumped his fist in the air. “Ye-es! A park ranger—at last!”

  “What a pest,” Bess whispered.

  “I wish he were endangered,” George hissed.

  “So good luck, Park Pals,” Ranger Roy said. “And let’s bring our bird home.”

  The kids gave each other high-fives. Then they stood up to leave.

  “It would be fun being a park ranger just like Lynn,” Nancy said.

  “Well, forget it,” Todd said meanly. “You girls don’t have a chance.”

  “What do you mean?” Bess asked.

  “I’m going to find Carmen,” Todd said. “Even if I have to climb every tree in River Heights.”

  Bess planted her hands on her hips.

  “George is the best tree climber in River Heights,” she said. “But if anyone is going to find Carmen, it’s Nancy.”

  “Nancy?” Todd asked.

  “Me?” Nancy asked.

  “Nancy is a great detective,” Bess said proudly. “She even carries a blue detective notebook in her pocket.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Todd said. He pointed to Nancy’s pants pocket. “Let me see it.”

  Nancy grabbed her pocket. “No way!”

  “Well, so what?” Todd sneered. “I’m still going to find Carmen. And when I do I’ll be an official Junior Park Ranger.”

  The girls watched as Todd smiled slowly. “Hey . . . maybe they’ll even name a bug after me,” he said.

  “They already have,” George snapped. “The worm.”

  Todd frowned. “That was so funny I forgot to laugh.”

  “It doesn’t matter who finds Carmen,” Nancy said. “The most important thing is to bring her home.”

  “Nancy’s right,” Bess said. She turned to her friends. “Let’s go.”

  Todd flashed a wicked smile. “See ya.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George turned away from Todd. They began to walk toward Lynn and the other Grasshoppers.

  “Todd thinks he knows everything about birds and bugs,” Bess said.

  “Well, he’s starting to bug me!” George said.

  The girls giggled. Suddenly George stopped walking.

  “Um . . . Nancy?” she asked slowly.

  “What is it, George?” Nancy asked.

  “Speaking of bugs,” George said. “What’s that thing on your shoulder?”

  “Thing?” Nancy gulped.

  She looked down and screamed. Crawling up her shoulder was a fat black beetle.

  “Yuck!” Nancy cried. She jumped up and down until the bug dropped to the floor.

  Nancy was still shaking when she looked up. She saw Todd laughing and shaking his bug jar.

  “You should have seen your face,” Todd laughed. “And you didn’t even know I put it on your shoulder! Ha! Ha!”

  Nancy turned to her friends.

  “Remember what I said about not caring who finds Carmen?” she asked.

  George and Bess nodded.

  “Well, I’ve changed my mind,” Nancy said. She folded her hands across her chest. “This means war!”

  3

  Follow That Bird!

  How are you going to find Carmen, Nancy?” Bess asked later that afternoon.

  The girls were having milk and cookies in the Drews’ kitchen.

  “I’m going to solve this the way I solve any other mystery,” Nancy said.

  She opened her blue detective notebook on the table. On a fresh page she wrote, “Where’s Carmen?”

  “Okay,” Nancy said. She twirled her pencil in her hand. “What are some important things we know about Carmen?”

  Bess took a bite of a cookie. “She’s a parrot.”

  George gave Bess a smirk. “She’s a bright blue hyacinth macaw,” she said.

  Nancy bit into a cookie and studied the page. “We know that Carmen likes to sing the happy camper song.”

&n
bsp; “And her voice is a lot higher than Lester’s,” George said.

  “Yeah,” Bess said. “Lester goes squawk, and Carmen goes arrrk!”

  George shook her head. “It’s more like a krraaaak!”

  “Isn’t it more of a rrrraaaah?” Nancy asked with a giggle.

  The girls began to laugh and make parrot sounds. The Drews’ housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, walked into the kitchen.

  “It sounds like a pet store in here,” Hannah said, covering her ears.

  “It’s my new mystery, Hannah,” Nancy said. “We’re looking for a missing parrot.”

  “Did you say ‘parrot’?” Hannah asked. Her eyes lit up. “As in…bird?”

  “Yes,” Nancy said. “Why?”

  Hannah reached for something on the counter. It was a bright yellow T-shirt.

  “Ta-daaaa!” she said, holding it up.

  Nancy looked at the T-shirt. It said, River Heights Bird’s-eye Brigade.

  “I’ve joined a bird-watching club,” Hannah explained. “We meet every Tuesday morning on Hazel Hill.”

  “What kind of birds do you see?” Bess asked.

  “All kinds,” Hannah said. “Our leader, Walt Whipperwill, says, if there’s a special bird in River Heights, we’ll see it.”

  Just then Nancy had an idea.

  “Bess, George,” she said. “Maybe the Bird’s-eye Brigade will spot Carmen!”

  “Who’s Carmen?” Hannah asked.

  “The parrot we’re looking for,” Nancy explained. “Tomorrow’s Tuesday, Hannah. Can we bird-watch with you?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Hannah said. “But we start very early in the morning.”

  “How early?” George asked. She took a sip of her milk.

  “Five-thirty in the morning,” Hannah said cheerfully.

  George sputtered the milk she was drinking. “Five-thirty?”

  Bess groaned. “I can’t even wake up for school. And that’s at seven-thirty.”

  “Oh, it’ll be worth it,” Hannah said. “Just last week I spotted a yellow-bellied sapsucker up in a chestnut tree.”

  “How did you know it was there?” Nancy asked.

  Hannah winked. “A little birdy told me,” she said.

  • • •

  That night after dinner, Nancy told her dad all about the missing parrot. Carson Drew was a lawyer and often helped Nancy with her cases.

  “Going on the bird-watch is a good idea, Pudding Pie,” Mr. Drew said.