April Adventure

by Ron Roy

  “Did you get stung?” Lucy asked.

  “No, we ran too fast!” Brian said.

  “Did you find any eggs?” Bradley asked.

  Nate grinned. “Yeah, we found two on the baseball field,” he said. He and Brian each pulled a plastic egg from their pockets. “They were on the pitcher’s mound and home plate.”

  “And they had candy kisses inside,” Brian said, rubbing his belly.

  “So we’ve got ten eggs so far,” Lucy said. “But we haven’t found a real egg yet.”

  Nate and Brian put their eggs into the basket with the others.

  “Where haven’t we looked?” Bradley asked.

  “How about over there?” Lucy asked. Not far from the playhouse were some wooden farm animals. There were ducks and chickens, cows, sheep, goats, and ponies. The animals had been painted to look real.

  The four kids ran over to the make-believe farm. They looked behind the wooden animals and in the grass where they stood.

  “Nothing!” Brian said.

  “Wait, I see something!” Bradley yelled. He looked inside a goat’s mouth and there was a plastic egg. “This is number eleven!” Bradley found a cookie inside the egg and ate it.

  Lucy soon found another egg. It was under the hen, in its make-believe nest. Inside was a tiny plastic mirror.

  The kids put the eggs in Lucy’s basket. “We have all twelve plastic eggs,” she said. “But we still don’t have the real ones.”

  “I don’t know where else to look,” Bradley said.

  “Maybe the eggs hatched,” Nate said, “and the little chickens ran away!”

  “Talking about eggs is making me hungry,” Brian said. “Let’s go home and eat breakfast.”

  The kids hiked up Eagle Lane toward Bradley and Brian’s house. The sun over the trees made them squint their eyes.

  They clumped up the back steps and walked into the kitchen. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were there making breakfast. A bowl of pancake batter sat on the counter. Pal sat near Josh’s feet, watching him.

  “Pancakes, yum, yum!” Brian said. “I’m starving!”

  Josh put his finger on his lips. “Shhh, Mom and Dad are still sleeping,” he said.

  The four kids pulled off their sneakers as quietly as they could.

  “Where have you guys been?” Josh went on. He looked upset.

  “Searching for these!” Lucy said. She set the egg basket on the table.

  “Plastic eggs?” Dink asked. “Where’d you get those?”

  “You know where we found them because you hid them,” Nate said. “You left notes on our pillows!”

  “Notes on your pillows?” Ruth Rose asked. “What do you mean?”

  “Inside plastic eggs!” Lucy added.

  “Why would we do that?” Josh asked.

  “Because you three are the Shadow!” Bradley cried. He pulled out his note. “This is printed off your computer, Josh!”

  Josh laughed. “Okay, we’re busted,” he said. “We did it. So how many eggs did you find?”

  “All of them,” Nate said.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose looked in the basket. “I only count twelve,” Dink said.

  “We couldn’t find the four real ones,” Lucy said.

  “Do we still get the treasure?” Brian asked.

  “No way,” Josh said. “Wash your hands and let’s eat.”

  The four younger kids washed up, then pulled chairs to the table.

  Soon all seven were gobbling up pancakes and drinking juice.

  “So where did you hide the real eggs?” Bradley asked.

  “Should we tell them?” Josh asked Dink and Ruth Rose.

  The other two nodded.

  “You know that sign telling people not to feed the swans?” Josh asked.

  The four younger kids nodded.

  “Well, the real eggs were on the ground, next to the sign,” Dink said. “You didn’t see them?”

  “Nope,” Bradley said. “And I would have, because I was standing right next to the sign.”

  “That’s funny,” Dink said. “I put them in the grass by the sign.”

  “Maybe somebody stole them!” Brian said.

  Ruth Rose grinned. “The mystery of the Green Lawn egg thief!” she said.

  “How eggs-citing!” Josh cracked.

  “Anyone want any eggs-tra syrup?” Dink asked.

  “There was someone else in the park,” Lucy said. “That man with the little dog.”

  “Yeah, Mr. Pocket,” Nate said. “I saw him pick up something!”

  “I don’t think he’d steal Easter eggs from kids,” Bradley said.

  “But maybe he just saw the eggs and picked them up,” Brian said. “What did they look like, Josh?”

  “We hard-boiled them, then painted them gold,” Josh said.

  The seven kids looked at each other.

  “Golden eggs,” Lucy said. “Anyone would grab one!”

  “Hurry up,” Bradley said. “I know where Mr. Pocket lives.”

  It took only a few minutes to walk to Indian Way Road, where Mr. Pocket lived. Bradley brought Pal. Pal liked to play with Randolph, Mr. Pocket’s dog.

  The kids climbed up Mr. Pocket’s porch. Bradley rang the bell. They heard barking from inside. A man’s voice said, “Hush, Randolph!”

  Then Pal barked, too. His big tail swung back and forth.

  The door opened, and Mr. Pocket smiled at the kids. “Well, hello,” he said. He was holding a fluffy dog in his arms. “Look, Randolph, we have company!”

  Randolph wriggled to get down to play with Pal. Pal tugged on his leash to reach Randolph.

  “Hi, Mr. Pocket,” Bradley said. “We were wondering if we could ask you some questions.”

  Mr. Pocket raised his bushy white eyebrows. “Questions about what?” he asked.

  “About missing Easter eggs!” Nate said.

  “Oooh, a mystery!” Mr. Pocket said. “Come right in!”

  The four kids and Pal trooped into Mr. Pocket’s living room.

  Mr. Pocket set Randolph on the floor. “You can let Pal off his leash,” he told Bradley. Bradley did, and the two dogs began to wrestle.

  “Please, come in the kitchen,” Mr. Pocket said. “I have something on the stove.”

  Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy followed Mr. Pocket. He walked over to the stove and stirred something in a pot. “Do you kids like spinach?” he asked.

  “No!” shouted Nate and Brian.

  “Yes!” shouted Bradley and Lucy.

  Mr. Pocket laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you eat any,” he said. “Actually, I’m boiling dandelion greens. They taste even better than spinach.”

  “You eat dandelions?” Nate asked. “My parents pull them up and throw them away. Aren’t dandelions just weeds?”

  “Yes, they are weeds,” Mr. Pocket said. “But if you pick the leaves before the yellow blossoms open, they make a delicious meal. I just boil them for a few minutes, then add a little butter, salt, and pepper. Yum!”

  Mr. Pocket set down his mixing spoon. “Now, what about this egg mystery?” he asked.

  The kids told him how Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose hid some plastic eggs for them to find. “But they also hid four real eggs,” Bradley went on. “They painted them gold. They said that if we found them, we would get a treasure!”

  Mr. Pocket smiled. “And did you find the eggs?” he asked.

  “No. They told us where they hid the eggs, but they disappeared!” Nate said.

  “We remembered seeing you in the park,” Lucy added. “We wondered if you saw them.”

  “No, I only saw the swans and a lot of dandelions,” Mr. Pocket said.

  Randolph and Pal raced into the kitchen.

  “I wonder if Randolph ate the eggs!” Brian said.

  Mr. Pocket laughed. “My little dog doesn’t like eggs,” he said.

  “Well, we’d better keep looking,” Bradley said. “Thanks a lot, Mr. Pocket. Sorry we disturbed you.”

  “You didn’t
disturb me at all,” Mr. Pocket said. “Randolph and I love visitors.”

  He walked the kids to the door. “I hope you solve your mystery,” he said.

  The four kids walked out onto Mr. Pocket’s porch.

  “You know, I just thought of something,” Mr. Pocket said. He was looking through his screen door. “Raccoons often steal birds’ eggs to eat. I saw a family of raccoons this morning. I wonder if they took your eggs.”

  “We saw them, too,” Brian said. “That’s a good idea, Mr. Pocket!”

  The kids said good-bye, and Bradley put Pal back on his leash. “Let’s cut through the park and check one more time,” he said.

  “Maybe we’ll see those raccoons again,” Lucy said.

  “They’d better not be having eggs for breakfast!” Nate said.

  “What will we do if the raccoons have the eggs?” Brian asked.

  They were waiting for a light to change so they could cross Main Street.

  Bradley grinned. “Ask them to give them back,” he said.

  “What if the eggs are already in their stomachs?” Nate asked.

  “Then we’ll let them keep them,” Bradley said. The kids crossed the street and headed for Center Park.

  “I saw the raccoons walk into those trees,” Lucy said. She pointed to the trees near the high school playing fields.

  “Maybe they have a home there,” Bradley said.

  Pal tugged on his leash and led the kids to the trees. He sniffed the ground and whimpered.

  “Pal, if I let you off your leash, will you lead us to the raccoons?” Bradley asked the dog.

  Pal said, “Woof!”

  Bradley unsnapped the leash, and Pal took off, barking. He raced to a tall tree and put his front paws on the trunk.

  The kids ran over to the tree. They looked up into the branches. “What does a raccoon nest look like?” Nate asked.

  “I think they sleep inside the trunk,” Bradley said.

  Pal let out another loud bark. He tried to climb the tree.

  “Oh my gosh, look!” Lucy said. About six feet above their heads, a raccoon face peered out of a hole in the tree trunk. The raccoon made a little coughing noise at Pal.

  “Now what?” Nate asked, looking up. “We found the nest, but we still don’t know if they have our eggs.”

  “And I’m not climbing up there to look in the nest,” Brian added. “Momma Raccoon doesn’t look happy to see us.”

  “I don’t think the raccoons took them,” Lucy said.

  “Why not?” Bradley asked.

  “Guys, remember when we saw the raccoons in the park?” Lucy asked. “They walked right past us.”

  “Yeah, the mom was leading the three babies,” Brian said.

  “Well, none of them had an egg in its mouth,” Lucy said. “And they weren’t carrying an egg in their paws, either.”

  “You’re right,” Bradley said. “They were probably just going home to sleep. Raccoons hunt for food at night.”

  “Maybe they ate the eggs before we saw them,” Nate suggested.

  “They could have,” Bradley said. “But they’d leave the eggshells on the ground. Let’s go look!”

  The kids ran toward the pond. “Let’s split up,” Bradley said. “Look everywhere on the ground.”

  “What if the raccoons ate the eggshells, too?” Brian asked.

  Bradley shook his head. “Yuck, I don’t think painted eggshells would taste very good!”

  The kids walked around the pond. Right away Pal started barking at the swans. They were on the water, flapping their wings.

  “Chill out, Mr. and Mrs. Swan,” Nate said. “No one is going to hurt you. We’re just looking for eggshells.”

  “Maybe they have a nest somewhere,” Lucy said. “They think we’re going to bother it.”

  The kids walked quietly and carefully through the tall grass. Bradley led the way, with Pal in front on his leash. Out on the pond, the two swans kept watch.

  “Careful,” Bradley whispered over his shoulder. “There may be snakes.”

  “Who’s afraid of snakes?” Brian said.

  “I am!” Nate answered.

  Suddenly Pal barked and tugged on his leash. Bradley saw the hair on Pal’s neck stand up.

  “What is it, Pal?” Bradley asked. He looked at the ground in front of Pal.

  Then he saw what had made Pal bark. A black snake was curled up in a patch of sunlight.

  The snake raised its head and poked its tongue into the air.

  Nate came up behind Bradley. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Bradley pointed at the snake. “Don’t move!” he whispered.

  Nate took one look and gasped.

  “I couldn’t move if I t-tried!” he stammered.

  “What’re you guys looking at?” Brian asked. He and Lucy were standing behind Nate.

  “S-snake!” Nate said, pointing. “It’s a giant, man-eating python!”

  “No it isn’t,” Bradley said. “It’s just a big water snake.”

  “Very big!” Brian said.

  “Snakes are shy,” Lucy said. “I bet it’s more afraid of us than we are of it.”

  “It couldn’t be more afraid than I am!” Nate insisted.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Lucy said. “Look how shiny its scales are.”

  Pal lowered his nose to sniff the snake. The snake uncurled its long body and started to crawl away.

  “What’s the matter with its belly?” Brian asked. “It’s got a big bump!”

  “I think it just ate something,” Bradley said.

  The kids watched as the snake disappeared in the tall weeds.

  “What if it ate one of our eggs?” Nate said. “That bump in its belly looks like an egg!”

  “I saw a snake on TV that swallowed an egg whole,” Lucy told the boys.

  “How do they crack them open?” Brian asked.

  “I think their stomach muscles crack the egg once it’s inside,” Lucy said.

  “Oooh, gross!” Nate said.

  “Guys, we don’t know if that snake ate our egg,” Bradley said. “That lump in its belly could be a frog or something.”

  “And we don’t know if the raccoons did, either,” Brian said. “So what do we do?”

  “Keep looking for the eggshells,” Lucy suggested. “If we find them, at least we’ll know something ate our eggs!”

  “If we bring the eggshells home, maybe we can still get the prize,” Nate said.

  When the snake was gone, the kids kept walking.

  Pal was still tugging on the leash. His nose was on the ground, sniffing everything.

  Suddenly the two swans swam closer to the kids. They began hissing and flapping the water with their wings.

  “Guys, I don’t think they want us here,” Nate said.

  “I wonder why,” Brian said.

  “I know why they’re mad at us,” Bradley said. “Look.” He bent down and parted the grass next to the water’s edge. “It’s their nest.”

  The nest was as big around as a tire. It was made of three layers. The bottom layer was twigs and small branches. On top of the branches was a thick layer of grass. The grass was lined with soft swan feathers.

  “Oh my goodness!” Lucy said, pointing at the nest.

  In the middle of the feathers lay four golden eggs.

  “We found them!” Nate said. “We get the treasure!”

  “Well, the swans really found them first,” Bradley said.

  “Guys, let’s move away from the pond,” Lucy said. “The swans think we’re going to steal the eggs.”

  The kids and Pal walked over to the band shell and sat. Pal flopped on the ground with his head on his front paws.

  “So what should we do?” asked Brian. “I want the prize!”

  “I feel sorry for the swans,” Lucy said.

  “Why?” asked Nate.

  “Because I think something stole their eggs,” Lucy said. “Maybe it was the raccoons or that snake. But now they don’t have a
ny eggs to hatch. That must be why they took ours.”

  “Yeah, the swans think the eggs will hatch,” Bradley said. “But they won’t because they’re hard-boiled.”

  “That’s a bummer,” Nate said. “The swans will keep waiting and waiting, but nothing will happen.”

  “I have an idea!” Bradley said. “Let’s get them another swan egg. One that will hatch!”

  “Where do we get one?” Brian asked.

  Bradley stood up and Pal jumped to his feet. “There are swans at the petting zoo,” Bradley said. “Maybe they have eggs!”

  “Cool!” Nate said. “And we know someone who works there!”

  Five minutes later, the kids and Pal walked through the petting zoo gate. They stopped to pet a baby goat. Then they found the office and went inside.

  “Well, hi, gang,” said a smiling man with gray hair. He was sitting at a desk, typing on a computer. It was Mr. Neater, who used to be the janitor at their school. The kids had helped him find a home for his pet rabbit at the petting zoo.

  “Hi, Mr. Neater!” Bradley said. “How’s Douglas?”

  “Ask him yourself,” Mr. Neater said. “He’s here, on my lap.”

  The kids walked closer. A large rabbit was sound asleep on Mr. Neater’s knees.

  Pal whimpered and tried to lick Douglas. Bradley held the leash tightly.

  “Can I pet him?” Lucy asked.

  Mr. Neater smiled. “Douglas will be sad if you don’t!” he said.

  Lucy patted the rabbit’s soft head. Douglas twitched his ears and wiggled his tail.

  “What brings you kids here?” Mr. Neater asked.

  Bradley told Mr. Neater about the golden eggs in the swans’ nest.

  “My goodness, that is a problem,” Mr. Neater said. “It’s a sad thing, but a lot of wild birds lose their eggs to other animals who want to eat them.”

  “We were wondering if the petting zoo still has swans,” Bradley said.

  “Why, yes, we have a pair out in the barn,” Mr. Neater said. Then he grinned. “Say, I’ll bet I know what you’re thinking. You want one of their eggs, right?”

  “Do they have any eggs, Mr. Neater?” Nate asked.

  Mr. Neater nodded. “You bet. I think they have a bunch this season.”

  “Wow! Could we get one?” Bradley asked.