Duck Derby Debacle Read online

  “Henderson, we want speed, not accuracy!” George said. “I’ll have one scoop of rocky road in a sugar cone, please.”

  “I’ll have a butter pecan ice-cream cone with chocolate sprinkles,” Nancy said before quickly adding, “Please.”

  “Chocolate sprinkles?” Henderson said. “We have chocolate-mint sprinkles, chocolate cookie sprinkles—”

  When he noticed the girls rolling their eyes, he said, “Plain chocolate sprinkles. Got it.”

  As Henderson scooped ice cream with his dad, the girls heard a sound louder than the Mr. Drippy tune.

  They looked up the street just as a bus turned the corner. Unlike the other buses in River Heights, this one was splashed with bright colors and was honking an old-timey horn!

  “Check out that cool bus!” George exclaimed.

  “It’s the color of rainbow sherbet!” Nancy said.

  “Sherbet,” Henderson called. “We have lemon, lime…”

  Once the girls finally got their ice cream, they thanked Henderson and headed back to Nancy’s house to get started on their job.

  Between licks, Nancy said, “Right after our ice cream break, let’s get to work on the rubber ducks.”

  “Uh… what ducks, Nancy?” George asked.

  “What do you mean what ducks?” Nancy asked. “You know what I’m talking about, George.”

  “You mean the ducks that were on your doorstep?” George asked.

  “Were?” Nancy repeated. She looked to see where George was pointing and her jaw dropped. The doorstep was empty! “The box!” Nancy cried. “Bess, George—where’s the box of rubber duckies?”

  Chapter 3

  QUACKING THE CASE

  Nancy, Bess, and George stared down at the empty doorstep. Then they ran around the outside of the house looking for the box, but the duckies were nowhere to be found.

  “Where is it?” Bess cried.

  “It couldn’t have just disappeared,” George insisted.

  Nancy took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “Maybe Hannah saw the box and brought it inside.”

  Still clutching their ice-cream cones, the girls charged into the house. They found Hannah wheeling a vacuum cleaner into the hall closet. Hannah was the Drews’ housekeeper, but had been more like a mother to Nancy since she was three years old.

  “Hannah, did you see a big cardboard box outside on the doorstep about fifteen minutes ago?” Nancy asked.

  Chip, Nancy’s puppy, scrambled around the girls’ feet as they waited for Hannah’s answer.

  “The only box I know about is that one,” Hannah said, pointing.

  Nancy turned to see a cardboard box sitting near the door. “What’s inside?” she asked.

  “Old clothes I’m donating to the March of Time thrift shop,” Hannah explained. “The box has been sitting there since this morning.”

  “Did you hear anything outside, Hannah?” George asked.

  “Or someone?” Bess added.

  “I did, actually. When I turned off the vacuum cleaner, I heard a car pulling out of the driveway.”

  “You did?” Nancy asked. “Do you know whose car it was?”

  “I didn’t look out the window to see,” Hannah replied. “I figured it was just making a U-turn. Cars do that around here all the time.” Hannah raised an eyebrow. “What’s so important about this box?”

  Nancy, Bess, and George traded worried looks. If they told Hannah, she might want them to tell Mayor Strong—and they weren’t ready to do that.

  “We’ll let you know, as soon as we find it,” Nancy said, forcing a smile.

  “Okay,” Hannah said. “In the meantime, Chip is finding something yummy on my just-cleaned floor.”

  Nancy glanced down to see Chip ready to lap at three puddles of melted ice cream!

  “Oops!” Nancy said.

  “Ice-cream meltdown!” George shouted.

  The girls hurried to the kitchen to drop their soggy ice-cream cones in the sink. After wiping up the puddles, they raced to Nancy’s room, trying to control their growing panic.

  Nancy groaned. “Hannah said she didn’t bring the box inside. Now we know it really is gone.”

  “We just had to run for the ice-cream truck!” Bess wailed. “What were we thinking?”

  “We? We?” George shot her cousin a dirty look. “You were the one who wanted ice cream the most!”

  “Yes,” Bess said, “but who knew Henderson would take so long telling us the million flavors—”

  “You guys,” Nancy cut in. “What matters most is that we find the rubber duckies.”

  Bess sighed. “I know, but how could we lose three hundred and thirty-five of them?”

  George plopped down on Nancy’s bed. “Hannah said she heard a car pulling out of the driveway. If you ask me, those ducks were plucked.”

  “You mean stolen?” Nancy asked.

  “If that’s the case, we should tell Mayor Strong!” Bess said.

  “Not yet, Bess.” Nancy was pacing the room. “We promised the mayor we’d take good care of the rubber ducks.”

  “And we goofed.” George flopped onto her back. “So what do we do?”

  Nancy stopped, placed her hands on her hips, and said, “Let’s make our own promise, Clue Crew. We’re going to do our best to find the missing ducks!”

  “Pinky promise.” Bess said, holding up her smallest finger.

  “I don’t do pinkies,” George said, standing up from the bed. “But I do promise.”

  “I do too,” Nancy said. She went to her desk and picked up a pen and their most important tool of all—the Clue Crew’s clue book! Then with a smile, she said, “Let’s get to work!”

  All three girls sat on the floor, leaning against Nancy’s bed. Nancy opened the notebook to a clean page and wrote down:

  Who Plucked the Ducks?

  “Let’s start with when the box was taken,” she said.

  “It had to have happened a few minutes before three o’clock,” Bess said. “I know because while Henderson was taking forever with our ice cream, I looked at my watch.”

  Nancy drew a little clock on the page. The hands were pointed close to three o’clock. “We know when the box was taken,” she said. “But who took the box from the doorstep?”

  “Someone who wanted the ducks really badly,” George replied. “And knew exactly where to find them.”

  “Dorothy Danner needed a ton of rubber duckies for Mrs. MacDuff’s baby shower tomorrow,” Bess said.

  “Dorothy drives a catering van,” George said. “That could be what Hannah heard pulling out of your driveway.”

  “Dorothy might have seen us leave the festival with the rubber duckies and followed us all the way here,” Bess suggested.

  “We know she would do anything for a perfect party,” George said. “And now she’s the perfect suspect.”

  “Our first suspect.” Nancy started her suspect list and added Dorothy Danner to the top of it. “Who else would want a whole box of rubber duckies?”

  Bess grabbed a stuffed unicorn from Nancy’s bed and bounced it on her lap. “Antonio said George stole his duck joke. Maybe he and his campmates stole the box to get even.”

  “We heard Antonio say the ducky derby was going down,” George said. “And if we don’t find those ducks, he’ll be right.”

  Nancy was about to add Antonio’s name to the list when she remembered the wagon in the yard. “The box of rubber ducks was taken, but the wagon we wheeled it in was left in my yard.”

  “So?” George asked.

  “So the box was heavy,” Nancy explained. “Antonio and the campers would have needed the wagon to wheel it back to camp.”

  “Unless their camp isn’t very far,” Bess said. “Where is Professor Chuckle’s Comedy and Clown Camp, anyway?”

  “I’ll look it up,” George said, happy to have an excuse to use Nancy’s computer.

  Nancy and Bess watched over George’s shoulders as she opened up the camp website. The colorful page showe
d kids wearing clown noses and big smiles. In one image, a girl stood onstage behind a mike. In another picture, a boy wearing a funny hat juggled rubber chickens.

  “It says the camp is held every summer inside Giggles Comedy Club on Blossom Street,” George pointed out.

  “I think Blossom Street is around the corner from Main Street,” Nancy said. “See if there’s a map.”

  George scrolled down the page. There was map—and something else!

  “You guys,” George said slowly. “Do you see what I see?”

  Nancy leaned over George’s shoulder to stare at the screen. “I sure do!” she said excitedly. “It looks like Antonio’s camp has their own bus!”

  “A rainbow-sherbet-colored bus,” Bess added, “with an old-timey horn!”

  Chapter 4

  HIDE-AND-SQUEAK

  “That’s the one!” George said, pointing to the screen. “That’s the bus that drove past the ice-cream truck!”

  “It sure looks like it,” Bess agreed. “But what does it have to do with the missing ducks?”

  “The bus was probably taking the campers back to camp from the celebration at the mayor’s mansion,” Nancy said.

  George turned around to face the others. “And remember, the bus came from around the corner, which means it drove past your house, Nancy.”

  Nancy had an excited gleam in her eye. “If Antonio was on the bus, he might have seen the box from the window. Maybe he asked the driver to stop so he could get off and take it!”

  “Would the bus driver have done that?” Bess asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Nancy said. “But I am sure of something else.”

  “What?” George asked.

  Nancy grinned at her friends. “We have to go duck-hunting at Professor Chuckle’s Comedy and Clowning Camp!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George raced down the stairs, said goodbye to Hannah, and headed toward Main Street.

  They’d all agreed to the same rule with their parents: they could walk anywhere without an adult as long as it was within five blocks of home and they were together. Together was more fun anyway!

  The girls were about to turn the corner onto Blossom Street when—

  “Oh, Nancy, Bess, George!” a voice called.

  The girls froze. Mayor Strong! He was waving as he walked over.

  “Oh no!” Bess whispered. “What if Mayor Strong asks us about the rubber ducks?”

  “We duck the question, that’s what!” George hissed.

  “Uh… hi, Mayor Strong!” Nancy blurted out.

  “Just the girls I want to see!” Mayor Strong said. “I’d like to send a photographer to your house tomorrow, Nancy.”

  “A photographer?” Nancy asked. “To do what, Mayor Strong?”

  “To take pictures of you girls numbering the rubber ducks, of course!” He smiled. “I’d like to post the pictures on the ducky derby website before the race on Sunday.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George were too stunned to speak. What if they couldn’t find the ducks before tomorrow morning? What would they tell Mayor Strong?

  “Wouldn’t that be fun?” Mayor Strong asked. “I’ll have someone from my office contact your parents for permission—”

  “Parents?” Nancy cut in. She didn’t want her dad to find out about the missing ducks either. At least, not until they were all found!

  “Is that okay with you?” Mayor Strong asked.

  “No!” George shouted.

  “Why not?” Mayor Strong asked, taking a step back.

  “Because… because Bess is totally camera shy!” George said. “She hates having her picture taken.”

  “George!” Bess whispered. “I love having my picture taken—”

  “Also, umm…” Nancy said. “The way we number our ducks is top secret.”

  “Top secret?” Mayor Strong asked, sounding surprised.

  “We’re detectives,” Nancy explained. “Everything the Clue Crew does is top secret.”

  Nancy and her friends stood frozen, waiting for the mayor to reply.

  “All right then,” he finally said. “Why don’t you girls think about it and let me know?”

  He began to walk away, but glanced back over his shoulder, looking confused.

  “He can tell something’s wrong,” Bess whispered.

  “But he doesn’t know what yet,” George hissed back.

  Nancy took a deep breath. They didn’t have time to argue. “Let’s find those rubber duckies before anyone finds out!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George hurried up Blossom Street to an old brick building with a sign in the window that read GIGGLES COMEDY CLUB. The only vehicle in the small parking lot was the rainbow-sherbet-colored bus.

  “Could the box be inside the bus?” Bess asked.

  Nancy shook her head. “If Antonio and his friends did take the box, they probably carried it inside.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” George said. “Let’s go inside too!”

  The girls stepped up to the front door. George twisted the doorknob and it swung open.

  “It’s not locked,” George said, “Are we lucky or what?”

  “Lucky ducks!” Bess giggled.

  Nancy, Bess, and George filed through the door into the comedy club. The lobby was quiet and empty. All four walls were painted dark red and covered with autographed pictures. A ticket counter stood against one wall.

  “What are the people in the pictures famous for?” Bess asked.

  “Probably for being funny,” George said. “But where are the campers?”

  “Shh,” Nancy whispered. She nodded at a gold-colored curtain next to the counter. “I hear voices behind there.”

  The girls peeked through the curtain’s panels into a room filled with small tables and chairs.

  “That must be the comedy club,” Nancy whispered.

  George grinned. “And in the back, that must be the comedy camp!”

  Nancy looked past the tables and chairs. Antonio and his campmates were standing on a stage. Some wore red clown noses. Some wore funny hats. All of them were around a table, holding cans.

  “What are they doing?” George whispered.

  “They’re squirting something into pans,” Nancy whispered. “It looks like whipped cream.”

  “Comedy, clowning, and cooking?” Bess whispered. “This camp has everything!”

  A man wearing a red clown nose and giant bow tie around his neck stood near the campers, giving them instructions.

  “That’s Professor Chuckle,” George whispered. “I saw his picture on the website.”

  Nancy leaned forward a little more. “I’m glad he’s keeping the campers busy so we can look for the missing box.”

  “Look where?” Bess asked.

  Nancy didn’t know where to start. But then she spotted something a few feet away.

  “Over there! A cardboard box!” Nancy pointed through the curtain. “It’s the same size as the box the duckies were in!”

  “I see it too!” Bess whispered.

  “We have to look inside,” George added. “See if it’s filled with rubber ducks.”

  “Yeah, but how do we do that without the campers or Professor Chuckle seeing us?” Nancy asked.

  “No problem,” George whispered. “If we crawl across the floor, the tables and chairs will hide us from view.”

  “But we’ll get our knees all dirty,” Bess whispered.

  George glared at her.

  “Oh, okay.”

  The Clue Crew dropped to their hands and knees. With George leading the way, they crawled toward the box.

  “It’s taped shut,” Bess whispered. “If we pull the tape off, it’ll make a loud noise. The campers will hear us.”

  “There’s a narrow space between the flaps,” Nancy said. “One of us can squeeze our hand in and feel for rubber ducks.”

  “Bess, your hands are the smallest,” George whispered. “Go for it!”

  Bess slipped her hand through the crack. After digging around, she s
aid, “I feel something… but it doesn’t feel like a rubber ducky.”

  “Well, what does it feel like?” Nancy whispered.

  “Like something round. And—”

  SQUEEEEEAK!

  The girls froze. They hoped the campers hadn’t heard.

  Their hopes were dashed when Antonio’s voice sneered, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  “Great,” George grumbled.

  The girls slowly stood. The campers and Professor Chuckle were staring straight at them.

  “Uh… hi!” Nancy said with a small wave.

  No one said hi back. Instead, Antonio and the other campers lifted their pie pans and charged toward Nancy, Bess, and George!

  “Ready?” Antonio shouted. “Aim… hurl!”

  Chapter 5

  YELL PHONE

  The Clue Crew covered their faces as they braced for a shower of pie cream. Instead, a deep voice shouted, “STOP!”

  Peeking between her fingers, Nancy saw Professor Chuckle shaking his head as he made his way toward the campers. “Wrong, kids. Wrong! That’s not the way clowns and comedians use cream pies.”

  The kids lowered their pies.

  “A pie in the face is supposed to be funny,” Professor Chuckle explained. “Not scary.”

  “And that was not funny!” Bess scolded.

  Antonio turned to Professor Chuckle. “Sorry. It’s just that those girls are spying on our camp.”

  “What makes you think they’re spying?” Professor Chuckle asked.

  “They go to our school,” a girl wearing a camp T-shirt said. “They’re detectives, so they’re always spying on someone.”

  A boy wearing a clown nose added, “I think they call themselves the Clue Zoo.”

  “That’s Clue Crew!” George said.

  “And we are detectives, Professor Chuckle,” Nancy said. “Except we weren’t spying.”

  “We were looking for something,” Bess explained.

  George was still glaring at the campers. “Something snatched from Nancy’s doorstep.”

  Professor Chuckle adjusted his bow tie. “Unless you tell us what you’re looking for, we can’t help you find it.”