Pets on Parade Page 3

  “And nobody slobbers like Huey slobbers,” Bess added.

  “Not true!” Felipe declared. “Huey was trained the Felipe Way. He passed Drool School with flying colors!”

  “He didn’t seem trained yesterday,” Bess said. “We saw him jump on you. And piddle on your—”

  “Stoppp!” Felipe cut in. “All right, it’s true. Right before the Howl-a-ween Parade, Huey jumped on me again, ripping up and drooling all over my tie!”

  “Huey was just being a dog,” Nancy said.

  “I know, I know.” Felipe sighed. “But Mayor Strong wanted me to train Huey the Felipe Way. I couldn’t let him see Huey fail!”

  “So you hid the tie underneath the hay before the parade,” George figured. “Did you hide anything else that would upset Chip?”

  “Why would I do that?” Felipe asked.

  “Maybe you wanted to spoil Chip’s big moment,” Nancy suggested, “because you wanted Huey to lead the parade.”

  “I did nothing of the kind,” Felipe insisted. “Your puppy won the contest fair and square. Chip ruled . . . Huey drooled.”

  Nancy turned to Bess and George. “I don’t think the tie made Chip nutters. Even if she smelled Huey’s scent, she’s great with other dogs.”

  “You’re not going to show the tie to Mayor Strong,” Felipe piped up, “are you?”

  “We won’t, but you should,” George replied as she returned the tie to Felipe.

  “Honesty should be the Felipe Way too!” Bess added.

  Felipe paced back and forth, considering what Nancy suggested. He then stopped, smiled, and said, “Thank you, girls. I will tell Mayor Strong that Huey needs a bit more tutoring.”

  He pointed out the door to the petting zoo and said, “But first I’m going to train those goats the Felipe Way!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George left the barn. As they filed out of the petting zoo gate Felipe was already training a baby lamb to sit!

  “Our only other suspect is Deirdre Shannon,” Nancy said, crossing Felipe’s name off the suspect list. “But what could Deirdre have done to Chip?”

  Still thinking, Nancy, Bess, and George walked through the farm. They stopped to sit on a haystack to think more and listen to a fiddler dressed as scarecrow. The fiddler-scarecrow was in the middle of playing “Turkey in the Straw” for an audience of kids.

  “That straw man is awesome,” George said, pulling out her tablet. “I’m going to film him.”

  “Wait, George,” Bess said. “First show me what you filmed at the parade this morning.”

  “It couldn’t be much.” Nancy sighed. “We weren’t there very long.”

  George turned off the sound so it wouldn’t bother the fiddler. She then played the video from the parade. Nancy and Bess peered over George’s shoulders to watch.

  Nancy smiled at the screen. It showed kids and grown-ups lined up along Main Street. Their faces were eagerly turned toward the Howl-a-ween Pet Parade. Some wore their Halloween costumes.

  “If only Chip could have led the parade.” Nancy sighed. “It would have been so much fun.”

  As the girls watched, some kind of stick jutted out of the crowd only a few feet away from the wagon. It was a pink fishing pole—with something hanging from it!

  “What is that?” George asked.

  “It looks like a stuffed animal swinging back and forth,” Bess observed. “A stuffed animal with a bushy tail.”

  “A squirrel?” Nancy guessed. She wrinkled her brow in confusion. “What does a squirrel have to do with Halloween?”

  “Maybe it was a silly joke,” Bess said. “You can film the fiddler now, George—”

  “Wait!” Nancy interrupted.

  “Now what?” George asked.

  Nancy stared at the tablet and the stuffed squirrel. “Maybe it wasn’t a joke. Maybe it was meant to upset Chip!”

  SQUIRRELED AWAY

  “Chip does bark at squirrels,” Bess agreed. “Especially when they run up trees.”

  “Who would know that besides us?” George asked.

  “Deirdre Shannon,” Nancy replied. “She saw Chip bark at a squirrel in the park yesterday.”

  George’s eyes flashed as she remembered. “Deirdre wanted Princess Pom-Pom to lead the parade instead of Chip,” she said. “She could have used that squirrel to make Chip go bonkers!”

  “But Deirdre was behind the hay wagon before the parade,” Bess pointed out. “How could she be there and in the crowd at the same time?”

  “Unless Deirdre got someone else to do it,” Nancy said. “Like Princess Pom-Pom’s lady-in-waiting!”

  “Sage Tenowitz!” George shouted.

  The scarecrow looked up from his fiddle at the outburst.

  “Um, sorry!” George said quickly. “We were just going.”

  The Clue Crew left to find Mr. Drew. On the way, Nancy wrote Sage’s name next to Deirdre’s name in her Clue Book. Next to Sage’s name she doodled a little squirrel.

  “I just thought of something,” George said as she watched Nancy draw the squirrel. “Didn’t Sage say she had a lot of stuffed animals?”

  “Yes!” Bess remembered. “Maybe one of those stuffed animals is a squirrel!”

  “We should go to Sage’s house to look for a stuffed squirrel and a pink fishing pole,” Nancy suggested.

  George pointed to her tablet. “I’ll e-mail my mom and ask her where Sage lives. She once catered a bridal shower at the Tenowitz house.”

  “Should we ask your dad to drive us to Sage’s house right away, Nancy?” Bess asked.

  Nancy waved to her dad in the distance. He was waiting for them near a stand that sold cakes, pies, and doughnuts.

  “Not right away.” Nancy smiled. “Even detectives need a break once and awhile. A doughnut break!”

  “Are you sure this is the house, George?” Nancy asked after ringing the bell of a shiny yellow door.

  The girls waited on a porch decorated with pumpkin-shaped lanterns for Halloween.

  “My mom said this is the place.” George shrugged. “Fifty-two Cornflower Road.”

  “I hope someone opens the door soon!” Bess complained. “This thing must weigh a ton!”

  Bess shifted a painted pumpkin from one arm to the other. They had bought the pumpkin on their way out of Crunch Apple Farms for Sage.

  Nancy reached out to ring again when the door swung open.

  “Hello!” a woman greeted with a smile. “You must be Sage’s friends. I’m her mom.”

  “We know Sage from school,” Nancy explained politely. “Is she home?”

  “Or,” George said, raising an eyebrow, “is she out . . . fishing?”

  “Not today,” Mrs. Tenowitz said. “Sage is on her way home from tap-dance class. She’s going fishing with her brother tomorrow.”

  “Score!” George whispered.

  “We’d like to give Sage a pumpkin we got at the farm,” Nancy told Mrs. Tenowitz. “Since we can’t stay long, may we go upstairs and put it in her room?”

  “Please?” Bess begged. “My baby sister is lighter than this!”

  “Well, okay, then!” Mrs. Tenowitz laughed, stepping away from the door. “Sage’s room is upstairs. It’s the one with the stuffed animals on the bed.”

  The girls traded excited looks. Fishing? Stuffed animals? Double score!

  Nancy, Bess, and George hurried upstairs. There they found a closed door with a sign: SAGE’S ROOM.

  “Remember,” Nancy said, opening the door, “we’re only looking for a stuffed squirrel. That shouldn’t be hard.”

  But when they stepped into Sage’s room and looked around—

  “Cheese and crackers!” George exclaimed.

  Nancy’s mouth dropped open. All around Sage’s room were piles and piles of stuffed animals—on her bed! On her shelves! Even across her windowsill!

  “There are more animals in here than the Bronx Zoo!” George groaned.

  “Hundreds!” Bess confirmed as she placed the pumpkin on the floor. “Find
ing a stuffed squirrel in here will be like finding an eyelash in a sand castle!”

  “I know! I know,” Nancy agreed. “But we can’t give up!”

  Nancy’s eyes darted around Sage’s room. They suddenly landed on something in the corner. It wasn’t another stuffed animal—it was a pink fishing pole!

  “That’s got to be the fishing pole from the video!” Nancy said, pointing at the corner. “Now all we have to do is find that squirrel.”

  George studied the animals on Sage’s bed. “You know . . . there’s something creepy about all these fake eyes watching us.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly, George,” Bess scoffed as she approached the bed. “How can this stuffed fluffy kitty be scary?”

  Smiling, Bess reached out to touch the white cat when—

  “MEEEEOOOWWWWW!!!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George jumped back as a howling cat leaped from the stuffed-animal pile and off the bed.

  “Omigosh!!!” Bess cried. “It’s alive! It’s alive!”

  CREEPY CAPE-R

  The howling cat scooted under the bed when—

  Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap!

  “What’s that?” Nancy whispered. She, Bess, and George whirled around. Sage was walking toward them wearing tap shoes. The tapping stopped as Sage stepped on the carpet.

  “My mom said you were up here.” Sage scrunched her brow in confusion. “What are you doing?”

  Nancy pointed down at the painted pumpkin. “We came to give you that.”

  Sage raised an eyebrow.

  “And to look for a stuffed squirrel we saw swinging from a fishing pole in the parade,” George admitted. “Do you know where we can find one?”

  “Wh-why are you looking for it in my room?” Sage stammered.

  “See for yourself,” George said. She took out her tablet and then ran the recording, holding it up for Sage to see.

  “Deirdre wanted Pom-Pom to lead the Howl-a-ween Parade more than any of the dogs,” Nancy explained. “You said you would do anything for Deirdre so you could hang out with her.”

  “Like maybe make Chip bark at a stuffed squirrel on a fishing pole,” Bess added. She pointed to the corner. “A pink fishing pole!”

  Sage gulped loudly. “So I have a pink fishing pole, but I don’t have a stuffed squirrel.”

  Nancy saw Sage’s eyes dart to an open backpack on her desk. Sticking out of it was a bushy gray tail!

  “What’s in the bag, Sage?” Nancy asked.

  “Not a stuffed squirrel!” Sage insisted. As she reached for the backpack, it toppled off the chair. It hit the floor with a PLUNK and out spilled—

  “Squirrel!” George declared. “Bushy tail and all!”

  “It’s not the same squirrel from the parade!” Sage insisted. “Honest!”

  George pointed to the fishing pole. “Then how do you explain the gray fuzz stuck on the fishing hook? Hmmm?”

  “Um . . .” Sage hesitated. “Because some fish grow fur when it gets cold?”

  “Stop being so squirrelly, Sage,” George urged, “and tell us what really happened.”

  “Please?” Bess asked.

  Sighing, Sage squeezed between a giant stuffed gorilla and giraffe to sit on her bed. Her shoulders dropped as she began to explain. “Deirdre did ask me to wave the stuffed squirrel in front of the wagon, so I did, but that’s not what made Chip act weird.”

  “What do you mean?” Nancy asked.

  “Chip was already acting weird before I waved the squirrel,” Sage insisted. “I saw it myself, so it wasn’t my fault!”

  Nancy wondered if Sage was telling the truth. Did something else make Chip act weird? There had to be a way to find out.

  “Could you play the video of the parade again, George?” Nancy asked.

  “As soon as I turn the sound back on,” George answered. “I forgot to turn it on after we left the park.”

  The girls huddled around George’s tablet as they watched the parade, this time with sound.

  Sage’s squirrel had not yet appeared, but in the background, Chip’s barks and whines were loud and clear!

  “Hear that?” Sage said. “Deirdre thought my squirrel did the trick, but I know it didn’t.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Deirdre?” Bess asked.

  “I wanted Deirdre to think I did a good job.” Sage sighed. “So she’d let me hang out with her and her friends.”

  Nancy felt bad for Sage. She didn’t seem excited about being friends with Deirdre. Not at all!

  “Do you still want to be friends with Deirdre, Sage?” Nancy asked. “After you got to see what she’s really like?”

  “Not really,” Sage admitted. “Deirdre acts totally snooty and bosses everyone around. I’d rather hang out with you guys!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George smiled.

  “You can hang with us anytime, Sage,” Nancy said.

  “Sure!” George agreed. “Thanks for getting real about the stuffed squirrel.”

  The Clue Crew said good-bye to Sage. As they headed away from the Tenowitz house, Nancy pulled out her Clue Book.

  “Deirdre’s plan didn’t work on Chip,” Nancy said, crossing her name off the list. “So Deirdre and Sage are innocent.”

  “I guess the stuffed squirrel’s off the hook too,” George joked. “The fishing hook—get it?”

  “Ugh, George, please,” Bess groaned.

  Nancy Put away her Clue Book. “Halloween is in two days, but I can’t think about trick-or-treating. All I can think about is solving this mystery!”

  “There’s someone who’s getting an early start on Halloween,” George said, pointing up the block.

  Nancy saw Quincy, dressed as a medieval knight, walking toward them. Clutched in one hand was an orange bag.

  “Are you trick-or-treating already?” Nancy asked.

  Quincy was about to speak when the visor of his plastic helmet fell over his face. He didn’t seem to mind as he spoke through it. “One of the Ghost Grabbers had a Halloween party.” Quincy’s voice was muffled as he explained.

  “Any ghosts show up?” George teased.

  “No, but we would’ve known what to do if they did!” Quincy insisted before lifting his visor. “Have you decided to use Ghost Grabbers to find out what happened to Chip?”

  Nancy shook her head. “We’re solving this mystery on our own.”

  “And how is that working out for you?” Quincy grilled.

  Nancy, Bess, and George remained silent. With Deirdre and Sage innocent, they had no more suspects.

  “I thought so.” Quincy chuckled before—CLUNK—the visor fell again.

  “What a silly costume for a Halloween party,” Bess whispered as Quincy walked away. “Bobbing for apples would be an epic fail!”

  “What’s really silly is what Quincy and his Ghost Grabbers think,” Nancy said. “As if Murray the Monster Mutt is a ghost who wants his old cape back!”

  George reached deep into her backpack. “I just remembered something, Nancy. I picked up Chip’s cape after it fell at the parade.”

  The Murray the Monster Mutt cape brought back sad memories of the parade for Nancy, but she thanked George as she took it.

  “What next?” George asked. “Should we look for more clues on Main Street?

  “Let’s go home before it gets dark,” Nancy suggested. “We can work on the case tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow will be the day before Halloween!” Bess announced. “What are you wearing to go trick-or-treating on Monday?”

  “If we don’t solve this mystery tomorrow”—Nancy sighed—“I’ll be wearing a frown!”

  “Guess what show I ordered, Nancy?” Mr. Drew asked that evening after dinner.

  Nancy’s eyes brightened as she followed her dad into the den. “Something spooky for Halloween?” she asked. “Not too spooky, I hope, Daddy!”

  “More hokey than spooky.” Mr. Drew chuckled. “It’s the first three episodes of the Murray the Monster Mutt Show!”

  “Awesome, Dadd
y. Thanks!” Nancy declared. Finally, she would see what the show was all about. And see the real Murray! Nancy sat in her favorite beanbag chair with Chocolate Chip at her feet.

  “Hope it’s a howl!” Mr. Drew joked after setting up the first show. He then left the den to help Hannah in the kitchen.

  “It’s showtime, Chip!” Nancy told her dog.

  The opening credits filled the screen: “Murray the Monster Mutt starring as Murray the Monster Mutt.” The first scene showed a girl walking a tiny white poodle. Suddenly, she hears a loud “Woooooo!” Frantic, the girl picks up her dog and begins to run. Looking over her shoulder, the girl sees who’s chasing her. It’s Murray the Monster Mutt—his famous cape flapping in the night breeze!

  “Daddy was right, Chip.” Nancy giggled. “This show isn’t scary at all.”

  Suddenly, Nancy had an idea. She ran out of the den, returning with the Murray the Monster Mutt cape. “Now you can look just like Murray while we watch the show, Chip!”

  Nancy tied the cape around Chip’s neck. Chip’s tail wagged cheerily, but a few seconds later—“Woof, woof, whine, whine!”

  Surprised, Nancy stepped back as Chip barked, whined, and rolled just like she did on the hay wagon!

  “Woof, woof!” Roll, kick. “Whine, whine!” Roll, kick. “Woof!” Roll. “Whine!” Kick. “Woooooooo!!!”

  “Chip, you’re acting like a Monster Mutt!” Nancy declared. Monster? Nancy looked at Chip and then at Murray on the TV.

  “Omigosh—could Quincy be right?” Nancy wondered. “Could Chip’s cape be haunted by Murray the Monster Mutt?”

  Nancy decided to do a little experiment. She caught Chip and untied the cape. After taking away the cape, she watched Chip. It wasn’t long before her puppy calmed down!

  “Hmm,” Nancy said to herself. She wrote the results in her Clue Book: Cape off = Chip calm!

  But Nancy wasn’t done with the experiment yet. She tied the cape around Chip’s neck and then stepped back. After a few seconds—

  “Woof, woof!” Roll, kick. “Whine, whine!” Roll, kick. “Woof!” Roll. “Whine!” Kick. “Woooooooo!!!”