by Ron Roy
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stepped closer and listened.
“Martin Fleece, you are under arrest for theft,” they heard Officer Fallon say.
One hour later, the kids were sitting in Officer Fallon’s office. Martin Fleece was in jail.
“How did you know where to find him?” Dink asked Officer Fallon.
“The jeep’s registration was in the glove compartment,” Officer Fallon said. “His name and address were on it. One phone call told me he worked in the supermarket.”
“How come he didn’t get caught in the quicksand like I did?” Josh asked.
Officer Fallon shrugged. “Most likely, when the jeep got stuck, he realized he was in some kind of deep mud. He must have leapt clear, or swum till he could walk out of the river.”
“Did the firefighters open the bank yet?” Ruth Rose asked.
Officer Fallon stood up. He opened his drawer and took out the cookie tin and his jar of money. “Why don’t we go find out?” he asked.
Three weeks later, the duck bridge was completed. The high school kids had done a great job. The bridge was wooden and looked like a regular bridge, only it was much narrower than most. A small sign said DUCKS WELCOME.
One end of the bridge was on the riverbank, and it curved gracefully over River Road. Cars would be able to pass under it, and the ducks would be safe.
The town decided to have a grand opening the day after the bridge was finished. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose packed a picnic lunch. With Pal, the twins, and Ruth Rose’s brother, Nate, they headed to the new duck bridge.
Officer Fallon was there with his grandson, Jimmy. Jake and Lenny both showed up, and Dink noticed Mr. Pocket and Randolph.
While Nate, Brian, and Bradley kept Pal off the bridge, Ruth Rose unfolded a blanket. She looked for a flat place to spread it.
“Can you hurry it up, Ruth Rose?” Josh said. “Those sandwiches are calling me!”
“You could help out, Josh,” Dink said. He grabbed one end of the blanket from Ruth Rose and helped her spread it. Then he opened the picnic basket.
Pal and the three little kids came running when they saw the sandwiches, cookies, and watermelon slices.
As the kids ate their lunch, the girl who had first suggested the bridge sprinkled cracked corn all along it. Everybody waited.
Some little kids began running around, playing tag. People started to chat with each other. Someone turned on a radio, and two big kids with a Frisbee tossed it back and forth.
“Too much noise,” Josh muttered. “It’s like a party. A duck would have to be crazy to cross that bridge.”
Gradually everyone else got tired of waiting and went home.
“Where are the ducks?” Nate asked Ruth Rose.
“Maybe now that it’s quieter, we’ll see them,” she whispered.
“Okay, we’ll be real quiet!” Brian said. “Be quiet, Bradley!”
“I’m not talking!” Bradley argued. “You be quiet!”
Josh pulled his two brothers close to him. “If you want to see the ducks, you have to be as quiet as Pal,” he whispered.
Pal was lying on the blanket, sound asleep. Nate, Brian, and Bradley flopped down on both sides of the dog. They cuddled up to him like puppies.
“Good move,” Ruth Rose told Josh.
“Think the ducks will really come?” Dink whispered.
“They better,” Josh mumbled. “After I nearly drowned for them!”
The six kids waited all afternoon. The little ones fell asleep. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose played Monopoly. Pal snored peacefully between the twins.
Josh was just about to land on Dink’s hotel when Ruth Rose whispered, “Look!”
A duck stood at the very top of the curved bridge. She turned her head in all directions, as if looking for danger. Seeing none, she quacked quietly. Five little yellow ducks waddled up to her.
Dink leaned over and woke Nate, Brian, and Bradley. Then they all sat like statues and watched the ducks cross safely over River Road.
A to Z Mysteries
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed reading The Quicksand Question. When I visit schools, many of you ask I this question: “Where do you get your ideas for your books?”
Story ideas come from many places, but mostly from just my daily life. When I read a book or a newspaper, I look for ideas. When I watch TV or listen to the radio, I keep alert for something that would make a good mystery. When I travel, I keep my eyes and ears open! And of course, many of you have sent me your ideas, which I love receiving.
For The Quicksand Question, I went back to when I was ten years old. I lived in a small town on a street between a movie theater and a library. I spent a lot of time in both! In those days, my brother and I each paid ten cents for popcorn and a quarter to get into the theater. And we saw more than one movie for the price. Our favorites were the Tarzan movies. We loved it when Tarzan swung from vines, wrestled alligators, and pulled people out of quicksand.
As kids, we thought that quicksand was a slimy mud that could suck you down. Actually, quicksand is only sand and water mixed. If you step in it, you can get out by lying flat and floating.
Here’s a great picture of six-year-old Anastasia L., who can’t wait to learn to read A to Z Mysteries® all by herself.
Happy reading!
Sincerely,
Collect clues with Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose
in their next exciting adventure,
THE RUNAWAY RACEHORSE
Just then the door burst open. A blond woman in jeans and riding boots rushed into the kitchen.
“Hi, Sunny,” Forest said. “Say hello to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. They’re here to watch you and Whirlaway win tomorrow.”
“He’s run away!” Sunny said, trying to catch her breath.
“Who’s run away?”
“Whirlaway!” she said. “I found his stall door open—and he’s gone!”
A STEPPING STONE BOOK™
Great stories by great authors …
for fantastic first reading experiences!
Grades 1-3
FICTION
Duz Shedd series
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
Magic Tree House® series
by Mary Pope Osborne
Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar
Mole and Shrew books
by Jackie French Koller
Tooter Tales books by Jerry Spinelli
The Chalk Box Kid
by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Paint Brush Kid
by Clyde Robert Bulla
White Bird by Clyde Robert Bulla
NONFICTION
Magic Tree House® Research Guides
by Will Osborne and
Mary Pope Osborne
Grades 2-4
A to Z Mysteries® series by Ron Roy
Aliens for … books
by Stephanie Spinner & Jonathan Etra
Julian books by Ann Cameron
The Katie Lynn Cookie Company series
by G. E. Stanley
The Case of the Elevator Duck
by Polly Berrien Berends
Hannah by Gloria Whelan
Little Swan by Adèle Geras
The Minstrel in the Tower
by Gloria Skurzynski
Next Spring an Oriole
by Gloria Whelan
Night of the Full Moon
by Gloria Whelan
Silver by Gloria Whelan
Smasher by Dick King-Smith
CLASSICS
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
retold by Stephanie Spinner
Dracula retold by Stephanie Spinner
Frankenstein retold by Larry Weinberg
Grades 3-5
FICTION
The Magic Elements Quartet
by Mallory Loehr
Spider Kane Mysteries
by Mary Pope Osborne
NONFICTION
Ba
lto and the Great Race
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
The Titanic Sinks!
by Thomas Conklin
Text copyright © 2002 by Ron Roy
Illustrations copyright © 2002 by John Steven Gurney
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.randomhouse.com/kids
www.ronroy.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roy, Ron.
The quicksand question / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.
p. cm. — (A to Z mysteries) “A Stepping Stone book.”
Summary: When someone steals the money the town has been collecting to help the ducks, Josh and his friends try to find the thief.
eISBN: 978-0-307-54349-3
[1. Robbers and outlaws—Fiction. 2. Ducks—Fiction. 3. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Gurney, John, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.R8139 Qu 2002 [Fic]—dc21 2002017827
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon and A TO Z MYSTERIES are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon and the A to Z Mysteries colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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