Us and Uncle Fraud by Lois Lowry Read Free Book Online

plucked a bright blue egg from the porcelain dish on the mantel and dropped it into his basket.
    Then he said, "Stephie, do you want this blue one?"
    She took it, placed it carefully in her basket with the others, and pranced off again.
    "Is there more coffee, Hallie?" Father called from the kitchen.
    "Coming," she called back and then turned to look at Marcus and me. "What's the matter?" she asked.
    I set my empty basket down. "Uncle Claude hid something special for Marcus and me," I explained. "So we don't need the eggs. Stephie can have them."
    "Where is Claude?" Marcus asked. "Isn't he up yet?"
    "Hallie!" Father called again. "Is there any more coffee?"
    She went to the kitchen. "Claude's gone," she called to Marcus and me. "He said he had to catch the early morning train."
    "One, two, three, four, six." Stephie was counting her eggs with glee.
    "You forgot five," I told her automatically. "One, two, three, four,
five.
"
    "
Gone
?" Marcus headed after Mother. I followed him. "What do you mean, Claude is gone?"
    She poured more coffee into Father's cup. "Look
at this, you two," Father said, pointing proudly to the first page of the newspaper. "Now that is some photograph."
    We looked dutifully at the large photograph reproduced on the page: a silhouette of a tree branch with a few tiny sprigs and buds; behind it, the sun was rising beyond the hills to the east of town. The caption said, "He is risen. He is risen indeed."
    "Now normally," Father said, "I don't go for any religious connotations in headlines or captions. But I make an exception at Christmas and at Easter. The subscribers expect it."
    "Yellow!" Stephie exclaimed. "I found a yellow one! One, two, three, four—"
    "Why did he
leave
?" I asked Mother angrily. "Why didn't he tell us he was leaving? That's not fair! He hid something for us. What if we can't find it?"
    Mother sighed and tucked a strand of loose hair back behind her ear. "You'll find it," she said. "You kids are the world's experts at finding things—that's why I always keep the Christmas presents at your father's office until Christmas Eve."
    Marcus grinned. It was true. For years we had found and peeked at every Christmas present long before Christmas morning, until she had stopped trying to hide them at home.
    "And as for why he left on the seven A.M. train—who knows? I thought he was leaving tonight. But when I got up this morning, he was gone.
Claude is completely unpredictable—you know that. He
did
leave you two a note, though. Matt, what did I do with that note that Claude left on the table?"
    "Another green!" Stephie shouted happily.
    Father looked up and glanced around as if he were searching for the note. "I don't know," he said and went back to the paper.
    "Find it," I pleaded. "It might have clues."
    Mother shuffled through the stack of papers on the table. "Let me think," she said. "He left one for me, too. It just said, 'Catching the Sunrise Express. Thanks for hospitality. Love, Claude.' I put mine with yours, and then I put them both—" She stood there with her head tilted, trying to remember.
    "Here!" she announced triumphantly. "In my apron pocket." She reached in and took out two pieces of paper. One was open and crumpled, and the other neatly folded. She handed the folded one to me.
    "Don't hog it, Louise," Marcus said, peering over my shoulder as I unfolded it. "It's for both of us."
    "Right," I said. "It says at the top : 'Louisamanda and Marcus the Newbold.'"
    Mother chuckled. "He always called himself 'Claude the Newbold' when he was a little boy," she said.
    I read the note aloud. "'I have other ports of call so must make a dawn retreet.'" I looked up at Mother, a little embarrassed. "He spelled 'retreat' wrong," I said.
    "That's not all it says," Marcus said impatiently. "Here. Let me read the rest." He grabbed the paper and went on. "'They are well hidden. All treshures are well hidden, of course. Search hard, my comrades. Uncle Claude.'" He looked up