Who Stole Halloween? by Martha Freeman Read Free Book Online Page B

soon as I hungup. I sat down at the table in the kitchen and poured myself a glass of milk. Luau sauntered in and glanced at his food dish in the corner. No luck there, so he decided to check out my food dish—my dinner plate, I mean. He jumped into an empty chair and peeked over the edge of the table. He was hoping for fish sticks or tuna casserole, but we were having macaroni-and-cheese from a box with a side of sliced apple.
    Luau swished his tail a couple of times and looked at me, which meant,
I never cease to be amazed at the strange foods you humans eat
. Then he stepped into my lap, circled, and curled up for a nap.
    Dad had just served his own plate when we heard the whir and squeak of the garage door opening. “Glory be.” Dad looked at his watch. “Mom’s home early.”
    Two sticky bites later, she walked into the kitchen looking tired.
    â€œAnother bad day?” Dad asked her.
    Mom nodded and sank into a chair. Dad popped up and got her a plate of food. Momthanked him, but didn’t eat. Instead, she rested her head on her hand and stared at her macaroni.
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked her.
    She didn’t look up. “Two more missing cats.”
    â€œReally?” I shifted my legs, which woke Luau. “Then I’d better call Yasmeen.”
    Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “Detecting can wait, Alex. It’s rare that we’re all together.”
    Mom insisted she wasn’t hungry, but Dad folded his arms across his chest and said, “Noreen, I want you to eat that macaroni—every bite!”
    Mom sampled a single elbow, then two, then finally a regular forkful. Soon her macaroni was gone, and Dad brought her a second serving.
    â€œI guess I forgot to eat today—after my doughnut breakfast, that is,” Mom said.
    â€œWell, no wonder you’re a basket case.” Dad put her plate back in front of her. “And eat your apple, too, honey. It’s good for you.”
    â€œI don’t like apples,” Mom said.
    â€œOh, for heaven’s sake,” Dad said, “
everybody
likes apples.”
    I thought of something—not about apples, about cats. “Were these cats taken from ‘negligent’ owners, too?”
    Mom nodded. “Pretty bad.”
    â€œDid the owners see the thieves?”
    â€œOne was asleep. The other thought she saw . . .” Mom shook her head.
    â€œSaw what?” I asked.
    â€œThought she saw a ghost. Honestly, some of the people in this town. They are
so
superstitious.”
    â€œBut, Mom,” I said, “that’s what Kyle said, too. I don’t know. Maybe . . . ?”
    Mom looked at me. “Sweetheart, I have enough to worry about putting bad
people
in jail. If I have to worry about bad ghosts, too, well . . . I’ll be seeking a new line of work.”
    Mom sounded so exhausted that I didn’t want to ask her anything else. “Yasmeen and I are going to get the whole ghost story from Mr. Stone tomorrow,” I said.
    â€œThat’s good, honey,” Mom said. “If this is all a Halloween prank, maybe it will shed somelight. So far, though, I don’t see a connection to the Harvey house.”
    â€œSpeaking of the Harvey house,” Dad said, and he told Mom about buying the pumpkin and the lights going out. I noticed he didn’t say anything about his new pills, so I didn’t say anything either.
    Full of macaroni, Mom cheered up some and asked if there was anything new with Yasmeen’s and my detecting. If I told her we were annoyed with Officer Krichels for not listening to Kyle’s little sister, she would think I was dissing a fellow police officer. So instead, I stuck to what Kyle said in the cafeteria and how Bub thought maybe Kyle had received a ransom note.
    â€œRansom note?” she said. “Hmmmm. Then I guess maybe tomorrow I should go on over to Kyle’s house myself. Fred