by Janice Hanna
“It was right after we found Biscuit.” Sydney pointed. “See how scraggly he looks?”
“Oh yes. He does!” Kate looked a little closer. “And he has put on a few pounds since coming to live with us. I didn’t realize until now!”
Her life had changed so much since then. Still, as she stared into the faces of her friends—McKenzie, Alex, Bailey, Elizabeth, and Sydney, she had to smile. What fun they’d had solving that very first case.
Thinking about that first case got her to thinking about the second. And the third. And before long, she was bouncing up and down in her seat, ready to go. But how could she leave without eating cake? No way!
Her mother set a piece of birthday cake in front of her and she licked her lips. “This looks so good!” Kate jabbed her fork into the yummy cold cake. She took a big bite. Then another. Then another. After a few seconds, she grabbed her head. “Ow! Ow!”
“What’s wrong?” Her mother looked her way.
“Brain freeze,” she said.
“Ah. I get that all the time when I eat ice cream too fast,” Andrew said. “Just slow down, Kate.”
Slow down? Slow down? Who has time to slow down? She wanted to eat a second piece before going over to the Smiths’ house, and she had to do that in a hurry.
As soon as they finished the ice cream cake, Kate grabbed her presents and headed to the van. Her father drove them to the Smiths’ house in a hurry. When they arrived, the home was surrounded by police.
“Oh no!” As Kate climbed out of the van, her heart began to beat double-time as she imagined what had happened. She followed Andrew as he ran toward his parents.
“What’s going on?” he hollered as they drew near.
“Yes, what’s happened?” Kate echoed.
“Oh, it was terrible,” Mrs. Smith said, holding her hands to her heart. “We came home from the stadium to get a bite to eat and saw that the front door had been shoved in. The alarm was going off, so I knew the police were on their way, but I was scared to go inside. Your father was brave. He went in.”
“Was it James Kenner?” Kate asked, feeling jittery.
“We don’t know,” Mr. Smith said, shaking his head. “I went inside and checked out the place. Whoever it was tore up my office and stole some of my awards.”
“Oh no!” Kate gasped. Sydney looked as if she were going to throw up.
“There’s worse news.” Mr. Smith looked in Kate’s father’s direction. “They stole SWAT-bot, too.”
“Stole SWAT-bot?” Sydney groaned. “Oh no!”
“Don’t worry! Whoever took him won’t get away for long!” Kate’s dad reached for his cell phone and punched in a telephone number. Within seconds, the GPS tracking system inside of SWAT-bot gave him the robot’s exact location. “They’re at the corner of Cottonwood and Denning Streets,” he hollered. “We have to tell the police.”
Kate could hardly contain her excitement! “Oh, Dad! I’m so glad you invented SWAT-bot and gave him so many cool features! You’re brilliant!”
Seconds later, a policeman exited the house and listened to their excited tale. He ran for his patrol car and headed off with his sirens blaring. Kate knew he was on his way to the corner of Cottonwood and Denning. She jumped up and down. Oh, how she wanted to get into the patrol car and help the officer!
“Why, oh why, am I only twelve?” she asked, pacing up and down the front sidewalk. “I wanted to be the one to track him down!”
“Well, you did!” Sydney said. “It was your idea to bring SWAT-bot here, wasn’t it? And it was also your idea to observe the man at the stadium in the first place. You knew in your gut he was the right guy.”
“And I’d be willing to bet the man who stole SWAT-bot is named James Kenner,” Kate said with a sigh.
“Otherwise known as PhilliesFan29,” Sydney added.
“Some fan! He’s nothing but trouble!”
Several minutes later, Tony received a call from the police, telling him they had the man in custody.
“Wow, that was fast!” Kate grew more excited by the minute. “So what’s his name? Were we right? Did we figure it out?”
Tony gave her a wink. “What do you think?”
“James Kenner!” Kate, Sydney, and Andrew hollered together.
Tony nodded. “You’ve got it. Same guy! And that Kenner fellow has a lot of explaining to do.”
“Like why he caused so much trouble for you,” Mrs. Smith said, giving her husband a warm embrace.
“And why he broke into our house,” Mr. Smith added. “I wonder what he was looking for.”
“Maybe he wanted to sell your awards to make it look like you didn’t care about them,” Sydney suggested. “Probably on eBay or something like that.”
“That’s a good idea,” Tony said. “You’re a good guesser, Sydney.”
Her cheeks turned pink and she looked a little embarrassed, but she said a quiet “Thank you.”
“Kenner will never get the chance to sell or destroy any of your things now!” Kate’s father explained. “The police caught him right away.”
“Thanks to SWAT-bot!” everyone said in unison.
“And thanks to the Camp Club Girls!” Tony added with a twinkle in his eye.
“Maybe things will go back to normal now,” Mrs. Smith said with a nod. “That’s my prayer.”
“Yes, I hope so, too.” Tony’s face beamed with joy. “I love playing for the Phillies. In fact, I don’t know when I’ve loved the game of baseball more. And now that this episode is behind me, things are going to get even better.”
“Yes, as soon as the evening news breaks the story about James Kenner, your fans will realize that you never really wanted to leave in the first place,” Kate agreed. “Then life will be back to normal. Now that’s worth celebrating!”
At just that moment, a string of fireworks went Crack! Crack! Crack! in the distance.
“Oh, that’s right!” Sydney exclaimed. “It’s the Fourth of July! Yankee Doodle Dandy!”
Kate looked in the distance as she heard more cracks. “I love fireworks. Love them! They always make me so happy!”
“I still say they’re lighting fireworks just for you,” her mother said, reaching to hug her. “It’s a nationwide celebration for my girl!”
“Just like every year on your birthday,” her dad added.
“I wish I’d been born on the Fourth of July,” Sydney said with a sigh. “Must be nice to have such a huge deal made over your birthday.”
They all laughed.
“Well, if you’re in the mood for celebrating, it’s a good thing we don’t have a game tonight,” Mr. Smith said. “Would you all like to be my guests for a Fourth of July pool party here? And then front-row seats as I emcee for one of the largest fireworks displays in the nation?”
“You mean a Kate Oliver birthday party,” Kate said with a giggle.
“That, too,” Mrs. Smith said and winked.
“In that case, we’d love to!” Kate looked at her mother and father. “Is it okay? I only have a few more days before Sydney has to go back home, and I want to make the best of them. Please, please, please!”
“No begging necessary!” her father said. “I’d love to. I’ve been wanting to get to know our new friends better, anyway.”
The Olivers got their swimsuits from home and then the families spent the rest of the evening together, cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the outside grill and talking about how God had turned their situation around. Kate had a great time laughing and talking…and best of all, there were no bad guys to think about!
At the end of the evening, after all of the fireworks had lit up the skies, the Olivers climbed into the van to go home. As they drove, Kate asked her father a question. “What’s going to happen to SWAT-bot now, Dad? The police aren’t going to keep him, are they?”
“Only long enough to retrieve the information from his hard drive,” her father explained. “The photos and the audio/video recording should help them prove thei
r case against James Kenner. Well, that, and his fingerprints all over SWAT-bot.”
“I’m so proud of you, Dad,” Kate said, reaching to give him a hug. “If you hadn’t created that little robot, the police never would have caught the bad guy.”
“Aw, thanks, honey. But I was just thinking about how proud I am of you. You did a great job following all of the clues!”
“She’s certainly a chip off the old block,” Kate’s mother said.
Chip off the old block? Kate wanted to ask what that meant, but Sydney interrupted her.
“When we get back to your house, don’t you think we should e-mail the other Camp Club Girls and tell them what happened?”
“What time is it?” Kate asked.
“Ten fifteen,” her mother said. “And it’s okay to use the computer—but not for long, okay? I know how eager you girls are to share your news.”
“Thanks, Mom! I can’t wait to thank my friends for their help!” Kate said. “If they hadn’t worked so hard to get people to our blog site, we never would have figured out the whole PhilliesFan29 thing.”
When they arrived home, the girls signed onto the Internet and went straight to the Camp Club Girls chat room. They found Bailey and McKenzie already in the chat room. Kate quickly filled them in with information about James Kenner’s arrest.
Bailey: I’ll text the other CCG and tell them it’s solved, if that’s okay with you, Birthday Girl.
Kate: Of course! And I’ll e-mail them with details tomorrow.
When Kate dressed for bed, Sydney was already curled up under the covers, fast asleep. Kate slipped into the spot beside her and prayed, Thank You, Lord, for watching over us as we solved this case. I’m so grateful that You led me to James Kenner. Lord, I pray that You will help turn things around for Tony Smith and his family. Oh, and Lord…
Just then, her cell phone rang. Kate looked at the caller ID and whispered, “I’ll be right back, Lord. Better get that!”
She answered right away. “What’s up, Andrew?”
“I just thought you would want to know…James Kenner confessed to the police. He’s definitely the one who’s been framing my dad.”
“Did he say why?” Kate asked.
“Yes. Turns out, his younger brother is a shortstop who played college ball. He was supposed to get drafted to the pros this year. And he had his heart set on the Phillies.”
“But there aren’t any openings for that spot, right?”
Kate asked. “Is that it?”
“Yes. I guess this James Kenner guy thought he was doing his brother a favor. If he could get my dad to leave the team—drive him away with these ugly rumors—then the Phillies would need a new shortstop.”
“Oh, I see,” Kate said. “He thought they would pick his brother to play in your dad’s place.”
“I guess.” Andrew sighed. “It really makes me mad, Kate. I’m having a lot of trouble not being angry at James Kenner right now. I know I’m going to have to forgive him, but it might not be easy.”
“Oh, I understand. Trust me,” Kate said. “But just remember…the Bible says not to let the sun go down on your anger. It’s never good to carry a grudge. But don’t worry—Kenner will pay for this crime for a long time.”
“I know.” Andrew paused and then added, “Kate, thank you for all of your help. It’s because of you that—”
“No, not me!” Kate interrupted him. “God is the One who solved all of this. And He’s a far better supersleuth than I am. He’s the best, in fact!”
“You’re right!” Andrew agreed.
Kate looked over at Sydney, who slept soundly on the other side of the bed. “I guess I’d better go now, Andrew. I don’t want to wake up Sydney.”
“I’m awake,” Sydney said with a groan.
Kate giggled as she whispered into the phone, “I’ll talk to you later. Right now I’d better get some rest. I only have two more days with my friend, and I want to enjoy every minute!”
Words Have Power
On the morning after her birthday, Kate awoke before anyone else in the house. She spent several minutes lying in bed, praying silently. She didn’t want to wake Sydney, after all.
Slipping quietly out of bed, she tiptoed down the stairs. Biscuit followed her, whimpering.
“I know!” she whispered. “You need to go outside!”
After letting Biscuit out, she got on the computer, excited about a brand-new idea. She signed onto the Internet and immediately started composing an e-mail to send to the Camp Club Girls, filling them all in.
Kate lost all track of time, but when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, she glanced at the clock. Had she really been working more than an hour? Wow! The time had flown by!
Sydney sat down next to her, rubbing her eyes. “So what are you working on?” She yawned.
“Letting the CCG know what happened,” Kate explained.
Sydney nodded. “It mainly happened because of you, Inspector Gadget! You’re loaded with great ideas!”
Kate grabbed her necklace and held it between her fingertips with a smile. It felt good to have her friend’s love and support, but it felt even better to know she’d helped track down the man who was hurting Tony Smith with his words!
Minutes later, everyone in the house awoke and came downstairs for breakfast. As Kate took a bite of her cereal, the phone rang. Her mother answered it. After a few minutes of talking, she hung up and came over to the girls with a surprised look on her face.
“It’s Tony Smith,” she said. “He wants to come over to talk to you two. Better hurry up and get dressed for the day! I’ll tidy up the kitchen before he gets here.”
Kate and Sydney scrambled from their seats and raced up the stairs.
“What do you think he wants to tell us?” Sydney asked. “I’m so curious!”
“I don’t know.” Kate shook her head. “But remember…he said he was going to surprise us with something special if we solved the case. Maybe we’re about to find out what he meant by that! I can hardly wait!”
“Oh, that’s right. I wonder what he’s decided to do!” Sydney clasped her hands together. “It’s going to be great, whatever it is!”
Kate slipped into a pair of jean shorts and grabbed her new Phillies shirt.
“There’s another game tomorrow night,” Kate said. “I wonder if we’ll get to go.”
“Oh, maybe that’s the surprise!” Sydney said. “Maybe Tony Smith will give us tickets for one last game!”
The doorbell rang and they raced to answer the door. Mr. Smith stood there with Andrew. Kate invited them into the house. Tony greeted her parents and then turned to the girls with a broad smile.
“Remember I told you I had a special surprise for you if you solved the case?” he said.
“Of course!” Kate practically squealed.
Sydney looked at him with anticipation in her eyes.
“Please tell us!”
“Yes, please tell us!” Kate echoed.
“Well…” He smiled, obviously trying to tease them a little. “One of you will get to toss the first pitch at tomorrow night’s Phillies game.”
“W–what?” Kate asked. Did he really say what she thought he had said?
“N–no way!” Sydney stammered.
Tony nodded. “You get to choose! So who’s it gonna be?”
“Oh!” Kate could hardly breathe. The very idea of going onto that field in front of millions and zillions of people gave her the shivers. Why would anyone want to do such a scary thing? She’d rather solve a hundred thousand crimes before doing that!
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sydney. Her friend’s eyes were wide and she looked like she might cry.
“I…I…I…” Sydney stared at Tony, her mouth wide open.
Kate laughed, realizing what she needed to say. “Sydney, it has to be you. I wouldn’t begin to know how to throw a baseball. I’d be embarrassed to even try.”
“A–are you s–sure?” Sydney stammered. �
��Really? Me?”
“Really!” Kate, Andrew, and Mr. Smith said in unison.
“I get to toss the first ball?” Sydney began to squeal at the top of her lungs—so loud that Kate and everyone else put their fingers in their ears. “Oh, I don’t believe it!” she shouted. “I don’t! I’m going to put this on my résumé. My sports résumé, I mean. Can you believe it? Me! Sydney Lincoln—tossing the opening pitch at a Phillies game. Oh, Mr. Smith, how can I ever thank you? What can I ever do? Write more articles? Tell people what a great player you are? Start a fan club?”
He laughed. “No, Sydney. You’ve already done so much for me. Andrew told me about the Camp Club Girls. Between your work and your prayers, you guys saved my career. So you owe me nothing for this. I’m just happy that you’re happy.”
“Happy!” Sydney’s eyes filled with tears. “Next to being in the Junior Olympics, this is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
She kept talking about what a wonderful experience this was going to be, but Kate hardly heard a word. She was far too excited just watching Sydney’s face, and she could hardly wait to tell the other Camp Club Girls!
“Oh, speaking of great things…” Kate snapped her fingers as another of her brilliant beyond brilliant ideas occurred. “Mr. Smith…”
“Tony,” he said with a grin.
“Tony, can you stay a few more minutes? My dad and I have something in the basement we need to show you.”
She looked at her father for support, and he nodded as he said, “I think the timing is finally right.”
“Sounds like a mystery,” Tony said. “But I’m happy to take a look. I’m curious.” He followed as they all clambered down the stairs and into the basement. Kate turned on the light and Tony looked around in wonder. “You have a lot of really cool things down here,” he said.
“Thanks,” Kate and her dad said in unison.
“But there’s one thing we really have to show you,” Kate explained. She reached for the Robo-Brace. “It’s something my dad and I have been working on…together.”
Tony looked at it curiously. “What’s this, Kate?”
“Well, it’s for children with muscular dystrophy. To help them move their arms and hands. We call it Robo-Brace.”
