The kid held up his palm so Jasper could give him a high-five. Then he strolled away.
As soon as he was gone, Jasper slid off the box and opened the lid. Ori blinked up at the light.
“Did you hear what he said?” Jasper asked. “You can still borrow it!”
Ori stood up in the box. “I never want to see that game again!”
Chapter 13
Just before Jasper and Dad left to pick up Uncle Tom from the airport, a new message came from Marcel Mouse. Mom called for Jasper to read it.
Look at me, Jasper! This is fun! I’m going to stay here for a while! I’ll write soon!
The picture showed Marcel in the pouch of a kangaroo.
In the car Dad said to Jasper, “It sounds like Marcel Mouse won’t be coming home with Uncle Tom. That’s too bad. But it’s great he’s having a lot of fun.”
Jasper said, “The most fun he has is when I make him swing at the end of the so so long string around my neck.”
Dad turned to look at Jasper in the backseat. “I’m sorry about Marcel, Jasper. I really am.”
“Me, too,” Jasper said, and sniffed.
Marcel wasn’t ever coming back.
At the airport, they had to wait a long time for Uncle Tom to come through the sliding glass door. Jasper recognized him first. He looked a lot like Dad except his hair was lighter and he had a little beard. When he saw Jasper jumping up and down and waving beside Dad, Uncle Tom let go of his suitcase and ran for them. He hugged Jasper and lifted him in the air.
“He’s my little boy!” Uncle Tom told Dad. Then he started to run away with Jasper in his arms.
Dad chased after them, calling, “No, he’s mine! Give him back!”
Everybody stared. Jasper laughed and laughed.
Finally, Uncle Tom stopped, still holding Jasper tight.
“What will you give me for him?”
“My dessert tonight,” Dad said.
Uncle Tom looked at Jasper, trying to decide if it was a fair trade. “Nope,” he told Dad. “I’m keeping him!”
That was when a scary security guard marched over. Uncle Tom set Jasper back on the ground and hurried to get his suitcase. In an airport, you’re not allowed to leave your suitcase even for a minute. And you’re not allowed to steal other people’s kids.
The whole way home in the car, Jasper kept crowing, “You almost went to jail, Uncle Tom! You almost went to jail!”
At home, Jasper sat on the bed in the spare room watching Uncle Tom unpack his suitcase. The suitcase was half full of presents, mostly for Nan. But one small present was for Jasper. It fit in the palm of his hand.
Jasper looked at the package. It was just about the size of a little orange mouse with big ears and big feet. His mouth fell open for a second. He jumped up and gave Uncle Tom a hug.
Jasper tore off the paper.
Inside was a furry little koala bear.
“Check this out, Jasper.” Uncle Tom showed him how squeezing the koala’s shoulders would make its arms open. That way the koala could clip on to his clothes.
“Thank you,” Jasper said. He hoped Uncle Tom couldn’t see how watery he felt.
After Uncle Tom had finished unpacking, supper was ready. Jasper brought the little koala to the table and showed Mom and Dad how he clipped on to things. He left him clipped to his shirtsleeve.
“That’s great,” Dad said. “Let’s hope he doesn’t unclip and fall you-know-where.”
“Don’t you fall in the toilet like Marcel Mouse,” Jasper told the koala.
Uncle Tom sat up straight in his chair. “Marcel Mouse?” He sprang to his feet. “Marcel Mouse! Marcel Mouse! A mouse who’s lots of fun! Marcel Mouse! Marcel Mouse! He’s a tricky one!” He waved his hands high. He waved them low.
Dad got up and joined him, turning in a circle and waving his hands and singing. So did Jasper. Mom stayed at the table, watching them and laughing.
“He was my mouse! Mine!”
“I traded for him,” Dad shouted back.
“You took him!” Uncle Tom shouted at Dad. “Now you have to give me this little boy!” Uncle Tom snatched up Jasper again.
That’s how Jasper could tell they were just pretending to be mad at each other. That, and everybody was laughing.
When they were all sitting back down at the table, Tom said, “What about Marcel Mouse?”
Mom said, “Jasper? Do you want to tell Uncle Tom what happened?”
Jasper did. He told Uncle Tom how Nan had found the box of toys in her storage room and given it to Jasper. How, as soon as Jasper saw Marcel, he never took him off except at school and in bed. “Because it’s Very Dangerous to wear a so so long string around your neck when you’re asleep. You could strangle.”
Uncle Tom nodded.
Jasper told him how the lid of the toilet fell and snapped the string.
“No!” Uncle Tom said.
Jasper told him about the sewage treatment plant and how no matter how much water you pour in the toilet, the water level stays the same.
“Really?” Uncle Tom said.
And he told about the emails Marcel was sending and how he was in Australia now.
“Now?” Uncle Tom said.
Jasper nodded.
“I’ll tell you what, Jasper. When I get back to Australia, I’m going to do my best to find him. In the meantime, I hope that koala makes you feel a little bit better.”
The koala did make him feel a little better, and so did talking about Marcel. Jasper smiled at everybody around the table and patted Koala, who was hanging on to his shirtsleeve.
Chapter 14
The next day, the day of the surprise party, was so so so so busy. Jasper helped clean the house and put up the decorations. He blew up so many balloons he thought his head would blow off.
Dad cooked and Mom cooked. Uncle Tom took a long nap because in Australia it was already tomorrow, which Jasper didn’t understand. Nan phoned and asked Mom if she wanted to go shopping, and Mom told a Big Lie while Jasper rolled around on the floor trying not to laugh.
“David will pick you up at the same time for dinner,” Mom said. “I made a cake for your birthday.”
“Why did you tell her about the cake?” Jasper asked after she hung up.
“She knows we’d never forget her birthday. But she’ll be so surprised to find the house full of friends.”
“She’ll be so so so surprised to see Uncle Tom!” Jasper said.
“That’s the idea,” Mom said.
After Uncle Tom woke up from his nap, Mom and Dad made him get out of the house. “You’re just in the way now. Go for a walk with Jasper.”
So Jasper and Uncle Tom set out walking. Koala went, too, hanging on to Jasper’s sleeve.
“This is my favorite thing to do when I’m in a new place, Jasper.”
“What?” Jasper asked.
“Walking around until I get lost.”
Jasper said, “If you want to get lost, I know a good place. I got lost there a few days ago with Ori.”
They walked and turned corners and crossed streets. All the way, Uncle Tom entertained Jasper with stories about the terrible things Dad had done to him when they were kids.
“He painted my toy soldiers with nail polish!” Tom said.
“I know,” Jasper said. “They were in the box of toys Nan found.”
“Really?” Uncle Tom said. “I’d like them back.”
“Oh,” Jasper said. “I don’t have them anymore. I …”
Before Jasper could explain what had happened to the soldiers, Uncle Tom pointed to a sign on a post: GIANT YARD SALE.
“That’s another thing I love. Other people’s junk.”
Jasper and Uncle Tom followed the arrow on the sign. In the next block, tables were set out on the front lawns of all
the houses. One of them was the house with the tree swing.
“Are you lost yet?” Jasper asked.
Uncle Tom laughed. He bought Jasper lemonade from the kids at the lemonade stand using Australian money. Jasper tried the tree swing. Then they wandered off to look at the things for sale. Tom looked at the books. Jasper looked at the electronic things. And there on the table was something he knew so so well — a game that bleeped!
He turned it on. It worked!
“Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!” went the game.
Uncle Tom came up while Jasper was playing AstroBunny. “Do you want it? I’ll buy it for you.”
“No thanks.” Jasper set it back down.
They walked over to the next table, which was covered with toys — stuffed animals, board games, a tea set. And a box full of little toys. Lots and lots of little toys.
“Look,” Jasper told Uncle Tom. “Soldiers.”
Uncle Tom picked one out of the box. “We could probably get our hands on some nail polish. Then we could paint them and put them somewhere for your dad to find. Does he take his lunch to work?”
“Yes!”
“He’d be so mad if he opened his lunch box and found —”
“Pink soldiers!” Jasper laughed.
“Help me,” Uncle Tom said, and he and Jasper began to pick through the jumble of toys for the soldiers.
Uncle Tom reached in and plucked out something else.
Something orange and made of plastic.
Something with big ears and big feet.
Jasper looked at Uncle Tom and Uncle Tom looked at Jasper.
“Marcel Mouse!” they both yelled.
All the guests arrived for Nan’s party. The house was full of friends. There were old friends with gray hair and new friends from her apartment building. Jasper got to carry a tray with all the fancy snacks that Mom had made.
Dad kept shaking his head and telling Jasper, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe Marcel found his way back.”
Finally, Jasper had to say, “Dad? It’s not the real Marcel. That’s impossible. But I love this Marcel, too.”
Dad left to get Nan. Ten minutes later the phone rang, and Mom called over all the voices, “They’ll be here in five minutes!”
Everybody stopped talking and sat in silence. Jasper tiptoed around with the tray.
A few minutes later, they heard the car pull up outside. Jasper set down the tray. Two car doors slammed, then footsteps came up the stairs to the porch. Jasper put both hands over his mouth so he wouldn’t shout too early.
The door opened and Nan stepped inside. She looked around the room with so so wide eyes. When she saw Uncle Tom, she put her hand on her heart and took a step back.
Then Jasper, standing to the side so he had enough room, made the orange mouse hanging from the so so long string around his neck swing. Wheee!
“Marcel Mouse!” Nan cried. “You came back for my birthday!”
And everybody shouted out, “SURPRISE!”
Praise for the Jasper John Dooley series
Jasper John Dooley: Star of the Week
Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street Children’s Book Committee
“Well-written, funny, and engaging … Share with kids looking for a boy version of Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine series or with fans of Lenore Look’s Alvin Ho books.” — Booklist
Jasper John Dooley: Left Behind
Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013
“So aptly, charmingly and amusingly depicted that it’s impossible not to be both captivated and compelled.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Jasper John Dooley: NOT in Love
Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014
“Adderson perfectly captures the trials of early childhood, and with brief text and a simple vocabulary, she breathes full life into her cast of characters.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Jasper John Dooley: You’re in Trouble
“Another highly entertaining and enthusiastic outing in a series that’s perfect for readers new to chapter books and as a captivating read-aloud.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Jasper John Dooley, Lost and Found Page 5
