by Ronald Roy
The four kids huddled together and read what was on the receipt:
“An ax!” Brian said. “What’s that for?”
“And it’s real sharp!” Nate said. “I watched the salesman show Mr. Sargent. He shaved some hair off his own arm!”
Bradley studied the receipt. “And what’s with the rope ladder?” he asked. “I don’t get it.”
“They’re coming back!” Lucy said.
Mr. and Mrs. Sargent walked past the kids’ hiding spot. Now they weren’t carrying anything except the clipboard.
“They must have put the stuff in their car,” Bradley said.
“Where are they going now?” Nate asked.
“Let’s follow them,” Brian said.
The four kids fell in behind Mr. and Mrs. Sargent. The couple walked into the gas station, and the kids hid behind some bushes. They had a perfect view of their neighbors as they chatted with Mr. Holly, the owner.
They watched Mr. Holly pull something off a shelf and hand it to Mr. Sargent.
“What is it?” Brian whispered.
“I don’t know,” Lucy said.
“I’ll find out!” Nate said. He dashed up to a window. Nate was only six feet away from the Sargents and Mr. Holly.
A minute later, he came racing back. “It’s some kind of motor,” he said. “He’s telling them how it runs.”
“An ax and a rope ladder and a motor?” Bradley said. “Very weird!”
“Watch out. Here they come!” Lucy said.
The four spies ducked as the Sargents strolled past them. Mr. Sargent carried a box.
The kids followed, tiptoeing and silent.
Bradley tried to figure out what the Sargents could be building that needed a motor. A submarine? A car? An airplane?
The Sargents left the motor in their car, then walked up Bridge Lane to Bill’s Bikes. The kids heard a little bell jingle as the neighbors stepped inside Bill’s door.
“Maybe they’re buying a bike,” Nate said.
“They have a plan,” Bradley said. “We just don’t know what it is. But do you think they bought the ax to cut down that tree?”
“I don’t think they can cut down that huge tree with an ax,” Lucy said. “It would take them a year!”
“I hope you’re right,” Bradley said. Then the door of Bill’s Bikes opened with another jingle. Mr. and Mrs. Sargent came out, carrying two large bags. Once again, they headed for their car.
“I wonder what’s in those bags,” Brian whispered.
“I’ll find out!” Bradley said. He ran up to Bill’s and entered the shop. The jingling bell sounded again.
Bill smiled at Bradley. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
Bradley went over to the counter. Bill was squirting oil onto a bike chain. “You know that couple who were just in here?” he asked.
“Yep, Mr. and Mrs. Sargent. Real nice people,” Bill said. “They told me they just moved up here from Florida.”
“They bought the house next to ours,” Bradley informed Bill. “And they’re building something in the backyard. My friends and my brother and I are trying to figure out what it is.”
Bill raised his eyebrows. “Why do you want to know?” he asked.
“We’re playing detectives,” Bradley said. “It’s kind of a mystery and we’re looking for clues.”
Bill grinned. “They bought a bunch of bike parts: couple of seats, some chains, and half a dozen pedals,” he said.
“Do you think they’re building bikes?” Bradley asked.
Bill laughed. “That’s what I asked them,” he said. “They told me they were working on a secret project.”
Bradley thanked Bill and hurried out the door. He ran back to the other kids. “They bought bike parts,” he said. “For a secret project!”
“Weirder and weirder,” Brian said.
“There they go,” Nate said. They all watched the green car pull out of the parking lot.
The kids ran back to the twins’ house. Bradley peeked through the knothole in the fence. He didn’t see the neighbors or their car. But the big black dog was lying under the tree with his eyes closed.
“They’re not home yet,” Bradley said.
“Running makes me hungry. Let’s go in and get a snack,” Brian said.
They trooped into the house, where they found a bowl of apples on the kitchen table. They each took one and went back outside. Brian walked over to the knothole. “Monster Dog is still sleeping,” he told the other kids.
“I wonder what his name is,” Bradley said.
“Probably something like Killer,” Nate said.
Brian knocked on the fence. “Here, Killer,” he called. “Good Killer, come and say hello.”
Suddenly the giant dog leaped up and charged the fence. He stood on his hind legs, put his paws on the wood, and barked. His long pink tongue came through the knothole.
Bradley leaped backward. “It’s just like in my nightmare!” he said.
Brian jumped, too, dropping his apple. It rolled in the dirt. “Rats,” he said.
He held the dirty apple up to the knothole. “Do you like apples, Killer?” he asked the dog.
The tongue came through the knothole again. Brian let the dog lick the apple, and then he tossed it over the fence. They all heard the dog begin to chew.
“I guess Killer likes fruit,” Lucy said.
“This gives me an idea!” Brian said. “We can get him away from the tree with our apples! Then, when he’s busy eating, I can go over the fence and get my money and Bradley’s flashlight.”
Brian pointed at some bushes at the far end of the fence. “If we can get him to the other side of those bushes, he won’t be able to see me climb over,” he said.
“But he might smell you!” Lucy said.
“You’ll be his Brian burger!” Nate put in.
“Don’t do it,” Bradley said.
“But don’t you guys want to know what they’re doing behind that tarp?” Brian asked. He lowered his voice. “They could be burying a dead body! We could turn them in to Officer Fallon. We’d be heroes!”
“How will you get over the fence?” Nate asked. He reached up, and his hand didn’t quite touch the top of the fence. “It’s about five feet tall.”
“Why wouldn’t you just go through the gate where they bring their car in?” Lucy asked.
“Can’t,” Brian said. “It’s latched on the inside. But I can use Dad’s new ladder. Help me get it, Bradley!” He and Bradley ran toward the barn.
Josh, Bradley, and Brian had bought their dad a shiny new aluminum ladder for his birthday. The twins came back carrying the six-foot ladder. They leaned it against the fence. “I can jump down on the other side,” Brian said.
“But then how will you come back?” Lucy asked. “The ladder will be on our side of the fence.”
“I didn’t think about that,” Brian said.
“I know!” Nate said. “Lucy will go to the corner of the fence with our apples. The dog will smell them and follow her. Bradley and I will stay here with Brian. After he goes over, Bradley and I will lift the ladder over the fence. And that’s how Brian will get back into this yard.”
“Excellent plan!” Brian said. “Okay, Lucy, do your stuff!”
“One teensy problem,” Bradley said. “How will we get Dad’s ladder back on this side again?”
“We’ll figure that out later,” Brian said.
Bradley and Nate handed Lucy their partly eaten apples. Lucy ran toward Meadow Road, where the fence turned a corner. She made sure she was past the bushes. Then she banged on the fence. “Here, doggy! Here, Killer!” Lucy called. “Lucy has yummy apples for you!”
Brian, Bradley, and Nate were still at the knothole. “It worked!” Nate yelled. “Killer’s running toward Lucy!”
Bradley and Nate held the ladder while Brian scrambled up. At the top, he looked toward where he could hear Killer gobbling up the apples. Because of the bushes, the dog couldn’t see him.
&nbs
p; Brian jumped into the neighbors’ yard. “Send the ladder over!” he yelled through the fence.
Bradley and Nate hoisted the ladder up and shoved it. They heard it drop onto the neighbors’ lawn.
Bradley stuck his eye to the knothole. He saw Brian heading for the blue tarp at the same time that Lucy yelled, “The green car is coming!” She raced toward Bradley and Nate. “Your neighbors are back!”
Bradley put his mouth to the knothole and shouted, “Brian, the neighbors are coming! Escape, dude!”
They heard car doors slamming.
They heard Killer barking with happiness.
Just then, the top of the ladder appeared over the fence. Brian came next, practically flying over. He landed on the ground at Bradley’s feet.
Brian’s face was red, but he was grinning. “That was close!” he said. He rubbed his arm. “Skinned the heck out of my elbow!”
“But where’s your money jar?” Bradley asked his twin. “And my flashlight?”
Brian got up and brushed off his pants. “I didn’t have time to get to the tree,” he said. “Sorry, bro.”
Nate was looking through the knothole. “The car is inside the gate now!” he whispered.
The dog was barking like mad.
“Get Dad’s ladder!” Bradley said.
“How?” Brian said. “I can’t reach it!” He grabbed his brother’s arm and started to run.
The four kids raced into the barn. They flopped down on a pile of hay outside Polly’s stall. The pony looked over her stall door and made a funny noise with her lips.
Bradley reached into the stall and patted Polly on her nose. “Now the neighbors have your money, my flashlight, and Dad’s birthday ladder,” he said.
“They have something else,” Brian added. “I saw about twenty bags of cement piled up behind the blue tarp. And a bunch of long iron pipes.”
“Cement and iron?” Bradley said. “Maybe they’re building a cage for Killer.”
“But why would they buy a rope ladder and bike parts?” Lucy asked.
Brian opened his eyes wide and made a zombie face. “The Killer Dog Mystery!” he said in a spooky voice.
Bradley tossed some hay at his brother. “You won’t think it’s so funny when Dad comes out here looking for his new ladder,” he said.
Just then, they heard a loud buzzing sound.
“That’s coming from their yard!” Bradley said.
“What the heck is that?” Nate asked. “It sounds like an airplane!”
“It’s a chain saw,” Lucy said. “My dad has one. He uses it to cut down trees.”
“Oh no!” Brian said. “How will we get our things back if they cut the tree down?”
Five minutes later, the buzzing noise stopped. The kids ran back to the fence. Lucy got to the knothole first. “I can see the tarp and the dog,” she said. “No people. No chain saw.”
“We need a plan,” Brian said.
“We had a plan,” Bradley said.
“And it would have worked if the neighbors hadn’t come back so soon,” Brian said.
“And if their dog wasn’t a giant monster!” Bradley said.
“In the movies, the burglars feed the guard dogs sleeping pills,” Nate said. “When they fall asleep, the burglars walk right past them!”
Brian grinned. “We don’t have sleeping pills,” he said. “But you gave me an awesome idea, Nate. I can sneak over there when the Sargents and Killer are asleep!”
“How are you going to get over the fence?” Bradley asked. “Dad’s ladder is still on their side, remember? And the gate will be locked.”
“Easy,” Brian said. “You three will boost me over. Then I’ll unlatch the gate, and you guys can come in. We’ll grab Dad’s ladder and my money jar and run back home. Cinchy!”
“And my flashlight!” Bradley said.
“It will be in the papers tomorrow,” Nate said. He closed his eyes and said, “Killer Dog Eats Redheaded Boy.”
“Not to worry,” Brian said. “I can outrun that big old dog.”
“I like your plan,” Lucy said. “When can we do it?”
“How about Wednesday night?” Brian said. “Your families are all coming to our house. We’ll get permission for you guys to sleep over. At midnight, we’ll sneak out. It’ll be fun!”
Nate opened his eyes wide. “Creeping around in the dark with a killer dog on the loose doesn’t sound like fun!” he said.
Brian stood. “Operation Brian is a perfect plan,” he said. “Nothing will go wrong.”
Bradley laughed. “Gee, sneaking past Mom and Dad’s bedroom, climbing over a fence in the dark, fighting off a monster dog—what could possibly go wrong?”
Brian grinned. “Trust me,” he said.
During school recess the next day, the four kids talked about Operation Brian.
“We should all wear dark clothes,” Brian said. “Like ninjas.”
“I still think it’s crazy,” Nate said. “That dog is gigantic!”
“I sure hope Mom and Dad don’t wake up and catch us,” Bradley said.
The next day was Wednesday. Nate’s family came to Bradley’s house for dinner at six-thirty. Lucy and Dink’s family showed up a few minutes later. Nate and Lucy had permission to sleep over. They each brought a sleeping bag. Hidden inside the sleeping bags were their dark clothes.
Thirteen people sat down to eat supper. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were excited about Thanksgiving the next day.
Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy were excited about Operation Brian. It was only five hours away.
After supper, everyone played board games. The kids played Scrabble. Nate went first, and he made DOG as his word.
“Did you see our new neighbors’ dog?” Josh asked Dink and Ruth Rose. “He’s the biggest monster I’ve ever seen!”
Bradley poked Brian, Nate, and Lucy under the table. They all grinned.
At ten o’clock, the Duncans and Hathaways thanked the Pintos for supper and went home. Nate and Lucy followed the twins upstairs to their room and unrolled their sleeping bags under the window.
Next door, the tarp glowed from the light inside.
The kids saw shapes moving around behind the tarp.
They heard sanding noises and scraping noises and hammering noises and chain-saw noises.
They heard Mr. and Mrs. Sargent laughing.
“They’re working on their secret project,” Lucy said.
“What could it be?” Nate asked.
“We’ll know pretty soon,” Brian said.
“If your plan works,” Nate said.
“Operation Brian will totally work,” Brian declared. “In two hours, we’ll know what’s going on inside that blue tarp. And we’ll have Dad’s ladder, my money, and Bradley’s flashlight.”
Their dad’s voice came from downstairs: “Go to sleep! Not a peep! Or up the stairs I’ll creep!”
Lucy giggled. “Your dad is so funny!”
“Not if he catches us sneaking out,” Bradley said.
The four kids pulled on their dark clothes.
The twins got into their beds, and Nate and Lucy crawled into their sleeping bags.
Bradley shut off the light.
“How will we know when it’s midnight?” Nate asked.
“I’ll wake you,” Brian said. “I’ve got the clock in bed with me so Mom, Dad, and Josh won’t hear the alarm. I set it for twelve o’clock.”
“This will be so exciting!” Lucy said. “I’ve never snuck out in the middle of the night before!”
Bradley woke up to more strange noises. He turned to look at his clock. It was gone. Then he remembered that Brian had it in his bed.
Bradley heard car doors slamming. He heard people talking outside. It sounded like more than two people, and they were giggling. Who would be laughing outside in the dark? he wondered.
Then Bradley heard a dog barking. It was a big bark from a big dog. What’s Killer the dog doing outside in the middle of the night? Bradley wondered. If
Killer sleeps outdoors tonight, Brian’s plan is doomed!
That was Bradley’s last thought before he went back to sleep.
Suddenly he heard a soft ringing noise. Ten seconds later, something grabbed his arm. He lunged up and yelled, “AHHHH!”
“Quiet—you’ll wake Mom and Dad!” Brian whispered. “Come on. It’s time for OB.”
“What’s OB?” Nate asked from his sleeping bag.
“Operation Brian!” Brian whispered. “Get up.”
“Is it midnight already?” Lucy asked. She crawled out of her sleeping bag. Yawning, she pushed her long blond hair out of her eyes.
The kids tugged on their sneakers in the dark.
“Brian, I heard their dog barking,” Bradley whispered. “I think Killer is outside!”
Brian looked at Bradley. “When did you hear him?” he asked. “He’s not barking now.”
“A while ago,” Bradley said. “When I was sleeping, but I woke up, I think.”
Brian grinned. “You were having one of your famous nightmares,” he said. “You guys ready? Come on!”
With Brian leading, they tiptoed down the hall.
They went past Brian and Bradley’s parents’ room, then the bathroom. They passed Josh’s room. Bradley noticed light under his door. Why is Josh still awake? he wondered.
They went down the stairs.
Through the kitchen, where Brian grabbed another apple.
Out the door.
Operation Brian was working!
The kids crept across the backyard. The moon was nearly full, lighting the way to the fence. Their sneakers made no sounds on the soft grass.
Bradley put his eye to the knothole. “Nothing moving,” he reported.
“Can you see Killer?” Brian asked.
Bradley looked again. “Nope, just the big blue tarp,” he said. “But he could be out there somewhere.”
“That’s why I brought this,” Brian said. He tossed the apple over the fence, then put his eye to the knothole. “No noise, no dog. So now you guys can boost me up, like they do in the Boy Scouts.”
“I’m not a Boy Scout,” Lucy said.