by Ronald Roy
The three boys jumped up. They peered out into the dark backyard at the barn.
“Nah, it’s just a reflection from the lights in the house,” Bradley said.
Brian ran around and shut off all the lights. The light in the barn was still glowing.
“The light is moving!” he said.
“Oh my gosh, it is the thieves!” Nate said. “Run for cover!”
“We’re not running anywhere!” Bradley announced. “This is our house and that’s our barn!”
They huddled in front of the window, all eyes on the barn.
“Why would the crooks be in our barn?” Bradley asked. “There’s nothing out there but Polly and a bunch of junk.”
“Polly!” Brian yelped. “Maybe they got bored with stealing laptops, and now they’re after ponies!”
“The light is moving again!” Nate said.
A small glow passed from window to window in the barn.
“Someone is walking around out there!” Brian said. “Maybe they are taking Polly!”
“Grab your coats!” Bradley yelled, jumping up. “Nobody steals the Pinto pony!”
The kids scrambled into their coats and boots. “But what are we supposed to do?” Nate asked. “Those two thieves are big, and we’re just little kids!”
“We can at least look through the windows,” Bradley said. “If we see them in there, we call Officer Fallon. I don’t care if it is New Year’s Eve!”
Bradley opened the back door. “Walk like mice on ice!” he whispered.
The four kids tiptoed single file across the backyard. The moon shone down, creating shadows on the snow.
“Look at these big footprints!” Bradley whispered. “They all lead straight to the barn!”
The kids studied the footprints, then crept toward the barn door.
“Guys, what’s that?” Lucy asked, pointing. A dark lump sat on the snow a few feet from the closed barn door.
Bradley peered at the object. “Everything else is covered with snow,” he whispered.
Lucy took a few steps closer.
“Don’t touch it!” Nate cried. “It could be a skunk! They come out at night!”
“It doesn’t have a white stripe, and it’s not moving,” Lucy said. She walked over and picked up the object.
“It’s a ski mask,” Lucy whispered. “It’s the one that woman thief was wearing. She must have dropped it here!”
“So that must be them in the barn,” Bradley whispered. “Let’s go.”
The kids ran quietly to the side of the barn. Brian and Bradley dragged a bench under one of the windows. All four kids climbed onto the bench and peeked into the barn.
Their breath fogged the glass, and Bradley wiped it away. “Do you see anyone?” he asked, barely whispering.
“Dad’s lantern is lit on the workbench,” Brian said. “But no thieves.”
“I see Polly, but she’s not in her stall,” Lucy said. “She’s just standing in the middle of the barn, eating hay.”
“Josh must have let her out of her stall,” Bradley said. “Let’s try a different window.” They carried the bench to the next window and climbed up for another look.
“The same,” Nate said. “Nothing.”
They moved the bench again, this time around the corner to the back of the barn. But when they stood on the bench and peered through the glass, they couldn’t see anything. Something tall and pink was blocking their view.
“What the heck is that?” Brian asked. “We don’t have anything tall and pink.”
“It’s standing right in front of the window,” Nate said.
“There’s a ribbon on it,” Lucy said. “Maybe it’s a big Christmas present for you guys.”
“Christmas was last week,” Bradley said. He jumped off the bench. “Come on. We’re going in,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Nate asked. “What if we went back to your house and played Scrabble instead?”
Brian clapped Nate on the shoulder. “What’s the matter—don’t you like surprises?” he asked.
“Not like this,” Nate said. “It could be anything. Like a pink monster that eats children!”
“So while it’s chewing on you, we’ll run to our house and eat all the cupcakes,” Brian cracked.
“Very funny,” Nate said.
Brian, Nate, and Lucy followed Bradley around to the front of the barn. The solid wooden door was big and heavy.
“It slides to the side,” Bradley whispered. “Let’s all pull it open on three. One, two, three!”
The door slid open, making a creaking noise. A pigeon flapped its wings above their heads. Polly let out a soft whinny.
“Is anybody h-here?” Bradley asked the dark, empty space.
Nobody answered.
“Look,” Nate said. He was pointing toward the other end of the barn. The pink object was a box at least six feet tall.
“A giant box,” Bradley said.
“With a ribbon on it,” Lucy said. “And a big bow on top.”
“I’ve never seen such a giant present,” Bradley said. “Should we open it?”
“No way!” Nate said. “It could be filled with rats or snakes or a million bloodsucking spiders!”
“It could be filled with a million pieces of candy,” Brian said. He headed for the pink present, and the others followed him.
But the kids never made it. As they passed Polly’s stall, the door flew open. A bunch of people burst out of the stall, yelling, “SURPRISE!” Pal was suddenly there, running in circles and barking like mad.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose began throwing streamers and confetti all over Lucy. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY!” everyone yelled. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
Bradley’s mouth fell open.
Brian’s mouth fell open.
Nate’s mouth fell open.
Lucy began to cry.
Everyone gathered around Lucy, giving her birthday hugs. Officer Fallon was there, and Mr. Linkletter. Even he was smiling at Lucy. Ellie was there, and Mrs. Wong, with her tall nephew, Leonard. Josh was grinning like a monkey, standing with Dink and Ruth Rose.
Bradley looked at his parents and Dink’s and Nate’s parents. “You tricked us!” he said.
“Yes, we did,” his mother said. “And it was fun!”
“I thought this was supposed to be a New Year’s Eve party,” Brian said.
“It is, but it’s also for Lucy’s birthday!” her aunt said. “We’re celebrating both.”
“Cool!” Nate said. “So why is she crying?”
“I know why,” Ruth Rose said. “She misses her parents. Right, Lucy?”
Lucy nodded. She tried to smile, but the tears kept coming.
“Well, she’ll feel better when she opens her present,” Bradley’s mother said, pointing at the tall pink box. “Here are some scissors. Cut the paper, Lucy.”
Lucy took the scissors and walked up to the pink present. It was three feet taller than she was. “Where should I cut?” she asked. “It’s so big!”
“Let me help you,” Josh said. He stepped over and made a big rip right in the middle. Then Dink and Ruth Rose came over. They began ripping all the paper. Underneath was cardboard, and they tore that off, too.
Then Lucy screamed.
Out of the ripped box stepped a tall man in a cowboy hat. The woman with him no longer wore the ski mask. “Mommy! Daddy!” Lucy yelled. “You came!”
Everyone in the barn began whistling and laughing and yelling, “Happy birthday, Lucy!”
“Of course we came!” Lucy’s mother said. “We would never miss your birthday!”
Lucy’s father scooped Lucy up and gave her a big hug. “I guess I can stop limping now,” he said.
“Well, I’ll be a kangaroo’s cousin,” Nate said. “It was them all the time!”
“We had fun leading you kids all over town,” Lucy’s mother said.
“And everybody knew?” Bradley asked.
“We certainly knew,” Mr. Linkletter said
. “But we love keeping secrets in Green Lawn!”
“The only ones who were clueless were you four!” Josh said. “Dink and Ruth Rose and I knew all week!”
“We got to go to the airport yesterday to pick up your parents,” Ruth Rose told Lucy.
“But … but … so there was never a burglar at all?” Nate said. He looked at Mrs. Wong. “No one stole your laptop?”
“Oh, someone took it all right,” Mrs. Wong said. “My big, sweet nephew took my laptop to be cleaned, as my Christmas present. But he never told me!”
Leonard blushed. “Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise for Aunt Mary,” he said.
“So everyone was looking for a burglar who didn’t exist,” Officer Fallon said.
“But why were you guys peeking in places and taking pictures?” Nate asked Lucy’s parents.
“We’re going to make a scrapbook for Lucy,” her mother said. “So we took pictures and made notes about Green Lawn.”
“We decided to have some fun with you,” Lucy’s dad said, giving Lucy a squeeze. “So we acted like mysterious strangers doing weird things. But we didn’t know you’d mistake us for burglars!”
“Daddy stuck on the ponytail and made up the limp so you wouldn’t recognize him,” Lucy’s mother said.
“Yeah, but he changed legs!” Brian said.
Lucy’s father laughed. “You noticed that?” he asked.
“But what about when you changed your disguises?” Bradley asked. “You dressed as old people with white hair, and we followed you to the hotel! We saw you go up in an elevator!”
Lucy’s father and mother looked confused. “What old people?”
Mr. Linkletter made a small cough. “I told you that was Mr. and Mrs. Gronts,” he said. “They would be amused to know that you suspected them of being New Year’s Eve thieves!”
“So who’s hungry?” Bradley’s dad asked. “There’s a huge cake inside with Lucy’s name on it!”
Everyone cheered. They all trooped out of the barn toward the house.
Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy walked together at the back of the group.
“So how do you feel now, Lucy?” Nate asked.
“Awesome!” Lucy said. “I never in a million years thought my parents were hiding in that box!”
“Me either,” Nate said. “I was hoping for the candy.”
