The Make-A-Pet Mystery Read online

  “Oh, yes . . . teething rings! You used to have one of those,” Carson said. “Let’s see . . . it was yellow and shaped like an apple.”

  Nancy grinned. “Really?”

  “Really. One day we couldn’t find it, and you were so upset that your mom had to go to the drug store and buy you another one right away,” Carson said.

  Nancy smiled. She liked hearing stories about her mother.

  Hanna took a sip of her iced tea. “I bet your thief has a little baby sister or brother,” she said to Nancy. “And for whatever reason, your thief happened to be carrying the teething ring around. Maybe it was in the thief’s pocket?”

  “Hannah, you should be a detective!” Carson complimented her.

  Nancy thought about Hannah’s idea. Does Antonio have a baby sister or brother? Or does Gaby? She didn’t think either one of them did, but she wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

  And then she remembered something—something important. When she, Bess, and George were at the mall on Saturday getting their Make-a-Pets, someone was carrying shopping bags from baby stores and complaining a lot.

  “I think I know who the thief might be,” Nancy said, jumping up from her chair. “I need to call Bess and George right away!”

  “So you really think Catherine might be the thief?” George said the next afternoon.

  “That would totally explain why she’s been acting so weird lately,” Bess added.

  Nancy, Bess, and George were standing in the hallway after school, waiting for Catherine to show up at her cubby. They had tried to talk to her earlier in the day, but she had somehow managed to avoid them, mumbling vaguely that she was “too busy.”

  “I’m not one hundred percent sure it’s her,” Nancy said in a low voice. She stepped aside to let a group of kids pass by. “But I am sure she has a baby brother. She said so. And she was in such a bad mood at the mall and at Deirdre’s house! She’s been acting like she doesn’t like Make-a-Pets. But maybe she does like them and she decided to steal Hoppity?”

  “She was drawing those cute little bunnies in her notebook,” Bess piped up. “She told us she was designing a new line. But maybe she was lying. Maybe she was designing outfits for Hoppity!”

  “If she wanted a Make-a-Pet bunny, why didn’t she just buy one?” George pointed out.

  Nancy shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s what we have to find out. Oh, hey, there she is!”

  Catherine was walking down the hall toward the cubbies, her head buried in a notebook. Nancy saw that it was the same notebook she’d been doodling in yesterday.

  “Hey, Catherine!” Nancy called out.

  Catherine glanced up and slammed the notebook shut. “Oh, hey. I’ve gotta go, my mom’s waiting for me outside—” she began.

  Nancy pulled the teething ring out of her pocket and held it out to Catherine. “This is yours, right?” she said. “I mean, it belongs to your baby brother, right?”

  Catherine stared in shock at the teething ring. “His name’s Cody,” she said after a moment. “How . . . I mean, where did you get that?”

  Bess frowned at Catherine. “You dropped it in Violet’s cubby when you stole her Make-a-Pet bunny!”

  Catherine’s eyes grew enormous. “I . . . didn’t steal it,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I was just looking at it. I didn’t mean to take it.”

  Yes! Nancy thought. They had found their thief. “So what happened?” she asked Catherine.

  Catherine sighed. “I was saving my allowance so I could buy a Make-a-Pet bunny,” she explained. “I finally had enough. But then last week I accidentally broke one of Cody’s stupid toy trucks. My parents made me spend my bunny money to replace it. So now I can’t buy a Make-a-Pet!”

  “So you just decided to steal somebody else’s?” George said incredulously.

  “No! I mean—that is—I saw Hoppity at Deirdre’s house on Sunday, and on Monday during show-and-tell,” Catherine explained.

  “She was so cute! So after lunch . . . I was walking down the hall with my bathroom pass. I noticed Hoppity just sitting there in Violet’s cubby. I stopped and picked her up, just for a second, just so I could see her up close.” She added, “I remember Cody’s stupid teething ring was in my pocket that day. He likes to hide stuff in weird places. It must have fallen out.”

  Nancy thought about Scott’s toy dinosaur, which he had hidden in George’s coat pocket.

  “Then the bell rang, and all of a sudden everyone was in the hallway,” Catherine continued. “Violet, too. I know I should have put Hoppity back. But I just kind of panicked and put Hoppity in my backpack. I was afraid Violet would see me with Hoppity and get supermad at me.”

  “Why didn’t you just put Hoppity back in Violet’s cubby, like, the next day or something?” George pointed out.

  “I was going to!” Catherine insisted. “But later that night I realized Hoppity wasn’t in my backpack anymore. I think Cody might have found her and hidden her someplace. I asked him about it, but he doesn’t know how to talk yet, so he couldn’t tell me. I looked all over the house too. But I couldn’t find Hoppity anywhere!” She looked as though she were about to burst into tears.

  Nancy thought for a moment. “Hey, Catherine? Do you have still have those bunny drawings in your notebook?”

  Catherine nodded. “Uh-huh. Why?”

  “I think I know how we can find Hoppity,” Nancy replied.

  In the Spanglers’ toy-filled living room, Catherine’s baby brother blinked at Nancy, Bess, George, and Catherine.

  “Hi, Cody. Can you help us find the bunny?” Nancy asked him in a friendly voice.

  Cody blinked again.

  “Catherine, what is this about?” Mrs. Spangler called out. She was in the dining room, setting the table for dinner.

  “Cody’s helping us with something. I’ll explain later,” Catherine replied.

  Nancy took Catherine’s notebook from her and flipped to one of the pages filled with bunny drawings. “Bunny,” Nancy repeated, showing the drawings to Cody. “Where is the bunny?”

  “Boppy!” Cody squealed excitedly.

  Catherine nodded eagerly. “That’s right. Boppy! Where did you put Catherine’s boppy?” She pointed to herself.

  “Boppy!” Cody squealed again. Then he began toddling in the direction of the hallway.

  “I’ve got him, Mom,” Catherine said as she, Nancy, Bess, and George followed Cody.

  “I wonder where he’s going?” George whispered.

  “I don’t know. But wherever it is, I hope Hoppity is there,” Bess whispered back.

  After a few minutes Cody paused in front of a tall terra-cotta umbrella stand. He put his chubby fingers on the rim of the stand and peered inside.

  Nancy peered inside too. She saw several rolled-up black umbrellas, a doll, a graham cracker, a baby rattle . . . and a scrunched-up Make-a-Pet bunny with peanut butter on one ear. It was Hoppity!

  “Here she is!” Nancy announced gleefully. She plucked Hoppity out of the umbrella stand and held her up.

  “Boppy!” Cody shouted.

  “That’s right—boppy!” Nancy said happily. “Thank you for helping us find her, Cody.”

  “Hoppity, you’re going home!” Bess told the bunny.

  A few nights later Nancy snuggled under the blankets in her bed and opened up her purple detective notebook. Mocha Chip was tucked in beside her, and Chocolate Chip was curled up on the floor, snoring softly.

  Nancy wrote:

  Well, the Clue Crew has wrapped up another case. The Case of the Missing Bunny!

  Violet was so happy to have Hoppity back. Catherine told her how sorry she was and explained everything.

  Plus, the Petopia contest is over. Gaby won. That wasn’t a big surprise. But it was a surprise when she said that she was going to use the prize money to take everyone out for ice cream at Double Dip. Yum! And she offered us all free Petopia lessons too. We had our first lesson this morning. I think I finally figured out a way to m
ake Natasha defeat that mean old fire-breathing dragon.

  Mystery solved!

  Nancy made a special bed for Mocha Chip to sleep in. You can make a cozy little bed for your favorite stuffed animal too!

  You will need:

  A shoe box big enough for your stuffed animal. You might need an extra-big shoe box made for adult-size boots. (You could also use a cardboard box with the flaps cut off.)

  Paper and/or other materials to cover the box. Think pretty tissue paper, tinfoil, fabric scraps, construction paper, brown grocery bags, old newspapers, magazine clippings, and computer printouts. Use your imagination!

  Glue or a glue stick

  Alphabet stickers or small, sparkly star or dot stickers

  Scissors (Have an adult help you use these!)

  A ruler or tape measure

  An old, soft blanket that your parents will let you cut up (You could also use old scarves or other clothing, or old towels.)

  Let’s get started!

  First cover the outside (and inside) of your box with tissue paper, tinfoil, magazine clippings, etc., using glue or a glue stick to secure the materials. The end result should look like a funky collage.

  Once all the surfaces are dry, put your stuffed animal’s name on the outside of the box using alphabet stickers. (You could also spell out its name with small, sparkly star or dot stickers.)

  With the scissors (and with an adult’s help!), cut up an old, soft blanket into two pieces. One piece should completely line the inside of your box. (A ruler or tape measure might help.) The other piece can be smaller, serving as a blankie for tucking in your stuffed animal at night. (Feel free to use old scarves, towels, or other comfy cloths.)

  Nighty night!

  A Fun Fact

  Bess says that Itty Bitty is always taking a catnap. But did you know that real kitties sleep about thirteen to eighteen hours a day? Yawwwn!