The Lemonade Raid Read online

  The Lemonade Raid

  “I don’t know who took your lemons,” Ned told Nancy. “And stop bothering me!”

  “We didn’t do anything to you!” Nancy shouted.

  Ned spun around. “Remember the dogs I was walking this morning?” he asked. “They were so wet and muddy from jumping in the lake after your puppy that the owner fired me. Now I’m losing a dollar a day because of you!”

  “That’s terrible,” Bess said. “But it wasn’t our fault.”

  Ned quickly walked along the street with the four little poodles. Halfway down the block, he bent down to untangle the dogs’ leashes. When he straightened up, Nancy gasped. A bunch of lemon slices had fallen right out of his shirt pocket.

  “He’s got our lemons!” George cried. “Let’s get him!”

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Lemonade and Bugs

  Chapter 2: Looking for Lemons

  Chapter 3: Doggy Trouble

  Chapter 4: Fresh-Squeezed Lie

  Chapter 5: Ned Tells the Truth

  Chapter 6: Supreme Suspect

  Chapter 7: A Smelly Clue

  Chapter 8: Grosser than Gross

  1

  Lemonade and Bugs

  Let’s open it!” eight-year-old Nancy Drew said as the deliveryman plunked a big brown box on the porch.

  Hannah Gruen, the Drews’ housekeeper, signed for the mysterious package. It was addressed to “The Drew Family.”

  “Hurry up,” George Fayne said, helping Nancy remove the tape.

  Bess Marvin knelt beside her cousin George. She watched as Nancy pulled off the lid of the box.

  The three best friends looked inside and frowned. “Lemons?” they all said at once.

  George sat back on her heels. “I thought it was going to be something good.”

  “Why would someone send us all these lemons?” Nancy asked Hannah.

  “Well, my little sourpuss,” Hannah teased, “they’re from your father’s friend Frank Wilson, who lives in California. Here’s a note saying they come from the lemon trees in his backyard. I guess he didn’t know what to do with all of them.” Hannah looked down at the lemons. “I can make a few pies, but I don’t know what to do with the rest, either.”

  “We could make lemonade,” Nancy said.

  Bess licked her lips. “That sounds yummy.”

  “Yeah,” George agreed. “It’s really hot today. Hey, I know,” she said after a moment. “We can set up a lemonade stand in the park. It’ll be fun!”

  That night Nancy’s father gave Nancy permission to use the lemons Hannah didn’t need. The next morning Bess and George came over to Nancy’s house early to make the lemonade and a small sign for their stand.

  “Phew.” Bess brushed her blond bangs away from her face after they’d been working for a while. “I didn’t think making lemonade would be such hard work.”

  “We must have squeezed a zillion lemons,” George said, “and we only have a little bit of juice.” She looked at the pitcher. “I wonder what it tastes like.”

  “I’ll bet it’s really sour,” Nancy said, puckering her lips. “We haven’t added the water or sugar yet.”

  “I want to try it anyway.” George poured herself a small cup. She drank some of the juice and grinned at Bess. “I kind of like it.”

  Bess grabbed another lemon and cut it in half to squeeze. “That figures.”

  After the girls had finished making the lemonade, they piled everything they needed for the stand into Nancy’s old red wagon—a small card table and a pink tablecloth, the juicer and extra sugar, paper cups and a big green pitcher.

  “Don’t forget the lemons,” George said, carefully putting the box on top of everything else.

  Then Nancy’s puppy, Chocolate Chip, raced out of the garage. She was holding her leash in her mouth and wagging her shiny brown tail.

  “Come on, Chip.” Nancy snapped on her dog’s leash. “You can help us sell lemonade.”

  The girls and Chip walked along, pulling the wagon behind them. It was a hot summer morning, perfect for selling lemonade. But when they reached the park, they got a horrible surprise.

  Brenda Carlton and Alison Wegman were headed their way. And it looked as if they were going to set up a lemonade stand, too. Even worse, Alison was carrying a much bigger sign than theirs. It said Fresh Squeezed Lemonade and had bright yellow lemons and butterfly stickers all around the edges.

  “This stinks,” Bess grumbled as Nancy and George picked a spot near the water fountain and opened up the folding table.

  Then Brenda and Alison marched over.

  “Copycats!” Brenda said in a loud, nasty voice.

  “We are not!” Bess shouted.

  “Are, too!” Alison shouted back. “We were here first!”

  “Were not,” George said.

  Brenda gave Nancy a long, hard look. “Why don’t you go somewhere else?” she said.

  “We can sell lemonade here, too, if we want.” Nancy turned away from her and put the final touches on the stand.

  “Who cares about them anyway?” Brenda said to Alison. “We have a much better stand, and better lemonade, too.”

  “That’s what you think,” George said.

  Nancy turned around. “I bet we’ll sell tons more than you do.”

  “No way,” Alison huffed.

  “Yes way,” Bess said back.

  “Oh, yeah? Let’s have a contest,” Brenda said. “We’ll sell each cup for twenty-five cents. Whoever sells the most lemonade by tomorrow at five o’clock wins.”

  “And the loser has to do anything the winner says,” Nancy added.

  “Good idea.” Brenda laughed. “We’ll probably make you all eat bugs when we win!”

  “Or maybe something even worse,” Alison said.

  “Why don’t you both make like a tree and leave!” George yelled.

  With that, Alison and Brenda went back to their stand, and Nancy, Bess, and George sat down on the ground to wait for their first customer.

  “Hey, girls.” Bobby Alden came over to their stand with a big smile. “I have to buy some lemonade from my favorite ice-cream nuts.” Bobby was fourteen and worked part-time with his grandfather, Sid Alden, at the Double Dip. It was Nancy’s favorite ice-cream shop.

  Soon Nancy, Bess, and George were pouring lemonade for a long line of people.

  Rebecca Ramirez stopped by and bought some. She said it tasted great.

  Mike Minelli, David Berger, and Jason Hutchings each bought a glass after their baseball game. Then the rest of their team came over. When things slowed down, George started to call people over to their table.

  “Want to buy some more lemonade, Bobby?” George asked when Bobby Alden passed their stand again. This time his hair was wet from swimming in the lake.

  “Gotta get to work,” he said, rushing away.

  Then Nancy saw Ned Nickerson. He was walking three big dogs that were barking and pulling him in all different directions.

  “Want a cup of our lemonade?” George called out.

  “Sure,” Ned said, dragging the dogs over to the stand.

  Nancy carefully poured a cup. Bess giggled as Ned’s dogs stuck their noses in the box and began pulling lemons out with their teeth.

  “Look! Your dogs think our lemons are toys,” Bess said, trying to take the lemons away. But the harder she tried, the harder the dogs tugged. One dog chomped on a lemon and squirted juice all over Bess’s T-shirt.

  “Yechh!” Bess shouted.

  “Hey, we need those,” George scolded the dogs, pulling the box away from them. But the dogs followed the box and stuck their faces into it again. George sighed and looked at Ned. “Why do you have so many dogs, anyway?”

  Ned tried to wrestle a lemon aw
ay from a golden retriever. “I’m walking dogs for the summer. People pay me to do it,” he said, finally getting the lemon out of the dog’s mouth. He tossed it on the ground.

  The golden retriever grabbed another lemon and put his front paws on the table.

  “Down,” Ned said. But the dog didn’t budge.

  Nancy giggled. “It looks like the dogs are walking you.”

  “They know who’s boss,” Ned insisted, pulling the retriever down from the table. Then the three dogs bolted toward the lake, dragging Ned with them.

  “Sure they do,” George called after him.

  The three girls couldn’t stop laughing.

  But then Chip broke loose from the table and ran after Ned and his dogs.

  “Come back!” Nancy shouted. She tried to catch up, but her puppy was too fast. Then Ned’s dogs got away from him and started running after Chip.

  “Help!” Bess screamed as the big dogs raced toward Nancy’s puppy.

  Then the three dogs’ leashes got snarled around a big oak tree.

  “Quick! Get them!” Ned yelled, but he was too late.

  The dogs got loose again and chased Chip over to the lake. Nancy almost caught Chip just as her puppy jumped into the water. The three other dogs followed.

  Ned waded in and grabbed his dogs’ leashes. His pants were sopping wet.

  “Your pooch is a real pest!” Ned yelled. He pulled his dogs out of the lake and stomped off with them.

  “Boy, Ned’s pretty mad,” George said when she and Bess caught up with Nancy and Chip. The chocolate Labrador retriever had wandered out of the lake and stopped to drink water from a puddle.

  “I know.” Nancy scooped up her panting puppy. “You are a very naughty doggy!” she scolded Chocolate Chip.

  Nancy carried Chip back to the lemonade stand and tied her leash to the table leg. She watched Chip sniff the squished lemon Ned had thrown on the ground earlier.

  That was when Nancy noticed something.

  “Oh, no!” she cried. “We’re going to have to eat bugs!”

  2

  Looking for Lemons

  What are you talking about, Nancy?” George asked.

  “Our box of lemons is gone,” Nancy said, looking at the spot where the box had been. “We can’t make lemonade without them. And you know what that means.”

  “Bugs!” Bess flopped down on the grass. “Brenda and Alison are going to win the contest.”

  “We have to find that box, or else,” Nancy said.

  But the box was nowhere to be found. They looked everyplace. They even asked some people in the park, but no one had seen it.

  “I didn’t even get to drink any of our lemonade,” Nancy grumbled. She looked over at Brenda and Alison. Lots of kids were standing around their table, sipping lemonade. Brenda had a jar full of quarters.

  Nancy, Bess, and George started taking down their stand.

  “I bet they took them,” Bess said with a nod at Brenda and Alison’s table.

  “Why are you guys leaving?” Brenda called from her table. “Giving up already?”

  “Like you don’t know our lemons were stolen,” George called back.

  “Why would we want your lemons?” Alison said. “You touched them. Now they all have cooties.”

  Brenda and Alison started laughing.

  George clenched her fists. “Ooooh, they make me so mad.”

  “Come on, George,” Nancy said sadly. “Let’s get out of here.”

  With Chip trotting beside them, the girls pulled their packed wagon back to Nancy’s house and put it in the garage. Then they took the lemonade pitcher into the kitchen and went up to Nancy’s room.

  Nancy flopped onto her bed and sighed. “I need ice cream,” she said to her two best friends.

  “Me, too,” Bess agreed.

  “I guess it couldn’t hurt,” George added.

  A short while later they were standing under the red, white, and green striped awning of the Double Dip. They went inside and sat down at a small wooden table near the window.

  “I always think better when I’m at the Double Dip,” Nancy said as she pulled out a small notebook and pen from her shorts pocket. Her father had given her the notebook to help her solve mysteries. “We have to find those lemons so we can finish the contest.”

  “But Brenda’s probably sold a million cups by now,” Bess said. “And we’re going to have to…” Bess’s voice trailed off.

  “But, Bess,” George said, smiling. “You might like the taste.” She leaned back and pretended to dangle a creepy, crawly bug above her mouth. Then she dropped it in and made fake crunching noises as she slowly chewed.

  Nancy laughed.

  “Gross!” Bess said. “This is the worst thing that could ever happen!”

  “Bess is right.” Nancy opened her notebook to a new page. “There’s no way I’m going to let Brenda and Alison win the contest. We’re going to find those lemons.”

  First she wrote, “The Missing Lemons Mystery.” On the next line she added the word “Suspects.”

  George sighed. “We already know who stole our lemons—Brenda and Alison.”

  “You’re right, George.” Nancy snapped her notebook shut. “They want to win the contest, and Brenda’s mean enough to steal our lemons.” She looked at the shiny blue cover of her notebook. “But…”

  “But what?” Bess asked.

  “But my father always says to keep a cool head and not to jump to conclusions.”

  Nancy opened her notebook again and wrote down Brenda’s and Alison’s names. “There were a lot of people in that park. Anybody could have done it.”

  “Like who?” George asked.

  “Maybe Ned’s dogs did it,” Bess said after a moment. “They really liked playing with our lemons.”

  Nancy wrote the word “Dogs” on her list and thought for a minute. “But how could they?” she asked. “Dogs can’t pick up a whole box.” Nancy scratched the dogs off her list. “I think we’re looking for people suspects, not dog suspects.”

  “What about Ned?” George said.

  Nancy put Ned’s name on her list. “He was really mad at me.”

  “But Ned’s so nice,” Bess said. “Um, for a boy, I mean.”

  “That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it,” Nancy said.

  “But even if we figure out who took our lemons, how are we going to get them back?” George asked.

  “And in time to win the contest?” Bess added.

  Nancy closed her eyes for a minute and thought about the icky bug she was going to have to eat if they didn’t win.

  “Why so gloomy, ladies?”

  Nancy opened her eyes and saw Sid Alden standing by their table. He smiled at them. Nancy thought he looked just like Santa Claus, but without a beard.

  “It’s such a pretty day,” Sid said.

  Nancy heaved a big sigh, which was quickly followed by bigger sighs from Bess and George.

  “Oh, this sounds pretty bad,” Sid said. “Wait, I have a surprise for you girls.”

  “A surprise!” Nancy said excitedly.

  “Yes,” Sid said. “But you have to close your eyes and promise not to open them until I tell you to.”

  “We promise!” Nancy, Bess, and George closed their eyes right away.

  “I love surprises!” Bess giggled.

  “Shh,” George said.

  A minute later Nancy heard the plop, plop, plop of three cups being set down on the table.

  “Okay!” Sid said. “Open!”

  The girls opened their eyes to find they each had a scoop of creamy yellow ice cream in front of them.

  “On the house,” Sid said, beaming. “I thought a free sample of my special flavor of the week would cheer you right up.”

  Nancy thought Sid was the nicest man on earth—and probably the best ice-cream maker ever.

  “Thanks, Sid!” all three girls said together.

  As Sid went back to the counter to wait on a customer, Nancy, Bess, and George ea
ch took a mouthful.

  “You know what?” George said. “This tastes just like…”

  “I know!” Nancy gasped.

  “You don’t think…” Bess said.

  Then Nancy looked over at Sid, who was standing by the cash register. Above him was a sign:

  Special Flavor of the Week

  Lemonade Supreme

  3

  Doggy Trouble

  This is a clue!” George exclaimed. “I’ll bet Sid Alden took our lemons.”

  “Not Sid Alden,” Nancy whispered.

  “He must have needed a ton of them to make lemonade supreme ice cream,” Bess said.

  “But why would he take ours?” Nancy asked.

  “Maybe he was afraid people would buy our lemonade instead of his ice cream,” Bess said.

  Hmm, Nancy thought. Everyone who had tasted their lemonade had said it was great. She wrote Sid’s name on her list of suspects. Then she looked up.

  “But what if lemonade supreme isn’t made with real lemons?” Nancy said hopefully. She didn’t want to believe that Sid could be a suspect.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” George whispered. “Ask Sid.”

  Nancy waited until Sid wasn’t busy. Then she walked up to the counter.

  “This is one of your best ice-cream flavors,” she said cheerfully to Sid. “It almost beats fudge ripple.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Sid said with a smile. “I’ve been selling a lot of it. Everyone loves the taste of lemonade in the summer.”

  “Did you use real lemons to make it?” Nancy asked, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong.

  “Lots of them!” Sid said proudly. “I use only nature’s best.”

  It looks as if Sid is a suspect, Nancy thought. She just had to ask him one more question to be sure. “Were you in the park earlier today?”

  “No.” Sid chuckled. “I’ve been here all day. Making fresh ice cream takes a long time.” Then he gave Nancy a big grin.

  “Just checking.” Nancy said, and skipped back to the table. “Sid couldn’t have taken our lemons,” she said to her friends. “He’s been at the Double Dip all day.”