Secret Admirer

by Ron Roy

  “Nothing,” Dink said.

  Josh grabbed the piece of cardboard. “Where does a buddy snore?” he read. He waved it at Dink. “Who’s Buddy?”

  Dink took the message and laid it next to the one asking where Abe Lincoln hung out. “The writing looks different,” he said, comparing the two.

  “Dude, who’s Buddy?” Josh asked again.

  “I don’t know anyone named Buddy,” Dink said. “Besides, it says a buddy, not Buddy. The B isn’t capitalized. Either way, I don’t know.”

  “My brother has a stuffed giraffe,” Ruth Rose said.

  “My brothers have stuffed tigers,” Josh said. “So…?”

  “Nate named his giraffe Gerard,” Ruth Rose continued, “but he calls it his buddy. When he was little, he never asked, ‘Where’s Gerard?’ He always said, ‘Where’s my buddy?’ ”

  “So you think your brother sent me these notes?” Dink asked. He grinned. “Little Nate Hathaway is my secret admirer?”

  “No, of course not,” Ruth Rose said. “I’m just saying he calls his giraffe a buddy, like in your note.”

  Dink and Josh stared at her.

  “Your first note asked you about Abe Lincoln, and you found this Valentine’s card under your jug of Lincoln pennies,” Ruth Rose went on. “So maybe we’ll find another card under Nate’s giraffe.”

  “You think a buddy in this note is your brother’s buddy, the giraffe named Gerard?” Dink asked.

  Ruth Rose shrugged. “I’m just saying,” she said.

  “We should go check it out,” Josh said.

  Dink put everything back into the envelope, folded it, and slipped it into his pocket.

  The kids pulled on their boots and coats and ran next door to Ruth Rose’s house. “MOM, I’M HOME!” she yelled.

  “Take off your boots and stop yelling!” her mother yelled from the living room.

  They pulled off their boots, and Ruth Rose led them up the stairs to Nate’s bedroom.

  “Looks like a bomb went off in here,” Josh commented. Clothes and toys and sneakers and games were everywhere. “It’s disgusting how messy some children are!”

  Dink and Ruth Rose laughed. “We’ve seen your room,” Dink said.

  On a shelf over Nate’s unmade bed, Dink saw a row of stuffed animals. In the middle of some pigs and bears and hippos sat a giraffe missing one eye. His long neck was bent, and his gangly legs hung over the edge of the shelf.

  “Is that Gerard?” Dink asked.

  “That’s him,” Ruth Rose said. “He sleeps on that shelf, with all of Nate’s other little stuffed buddies.”

  “Does anyone see a red envelope?” Dink asked.

  They searched Nate’s room. They found red pajamas, a red book, and a red ball, but no red Valentine’s Day card.

  Ruth Rose stood on her brother’s bed and removed all the stuffed animals from the shelf. She laid them on Nate’s pillow. “No card up here,” she said, sweeping her hand along the shelf.

  “I guess we got the wrong buddy,” Josh said.

  While Ruth Rose replaced Nate’s stuffed animals, Dink pulled the envelope from his pocket. He read the message on the two-inch cardboard again. Josh and Ruth Rose looked over Dink’s shoulder.

  “I wonder why buddy is underlined,” Dink said.

  “Well, we already know this secret admirer can’t spell secret,” Josh said. “So maybe buddy isn’t spelled right, either. What if whoever wrote it meant a body, not a buddy?”

  “What kind of body?” Dink asked.

  “A dead body!” Josh said.

  Ruth Rose let out a laugh.

  “Where does a body snore?” Josh whispered in a Halloween voice. “Hey, I know the answer! A dead body snores in a grave. We have to go to the cemetery and dig up a grave!”

  Ruth Rose poked Dink. “I think someone in this room is watching too much television!” she whispered loud enough for Josh to hear her.

  Ruth Rose grabbed Nate’s My First Dictionary from his desk. She turned pages until she got to the B’s. “Listen to this,” she said. “A buddy is a friend, a comrade, or a pal.”

  “Cool,” Josh said, “but that doesn’t help.”

  Something clicked in Dink’s brain. But he couldn’t see it yet.

  “We still have these letters,” Dink said. “Maybe they’ll help.” He spilled the six little letters onto the page of Nate’s dictionary.

  “They must spell something,” Ruth Rose said. She arranged the letters until they read E, L, P, S, E, S.

  Josh said, “What the heck are elpses?”

  Ruth Rose moved the letters again and got P, L, E, E, S, S. “It could be pleess,” she read. “Is that a word?”

  “If it’s supposed to be please, it isn’t spelled right,” Josh said.

  Dink held up the piece of cardboard. “Buddy is underlined, which must mean something,” he said. “And it says a buddy. So maybe the secret admirer wanted us to think of another word that means the same as a buddy.”

  He picked up the six letters from the dictionary page and slipped them back into the envelope. Halfway down the page, he saw the word buddy and its meaning: a friend, a comrade, or a pal. Something clicked in his brain again. This time he saw a brown-and-white dog with long, floppy ears.

  Dink glanced over at Josh. “We all know a dog named Pal, don’t we?” he asked.

  “Oh my gosh!” Josh said. “Maybe a buddy means a pal—my Pal!”

  Ruth Rose grinned at Josh. “Now we just have to find where Pal snores.”

  “Pal snores everywhere!” Josh said. “On my bed, on the couch, under the kitchen table, in the backyard….”

  “Well, let’s go check out some of them!” Ruth Rose said.

  Dink put the cardboard back into the envelope with the card and cutout letters, and returned the envelope to his pocket.

  The kids pulled on their snow gear and headed out.

  The snow came up to their ankles, and they left deep footprints as they hiked up Farm Lane from Woody Street. It was a cold, snowy Sunday, and they didn’t see any cars as they crossed Eagle Lane. They couldn’t even see Josh’s house until they were standing in front of it.

  When the kids spilled into Josh’s kitchen, they had runny noses and pink cheeks. They left their boots and jackets in the mudroom and walked into the kitchen in their socks.

  Josh looked around the kitchen. He didn’t see Pal, but he did see a note on the table. It said: DAD AND I TOOK THE BOYS SLEDDING.—MOM

  “Nate must be with them,” Ruth Rose said. “He told my mom he was going sledding today.”

  “Okay, now let’s check Pal’s favorite sleeping places,” Josh said.

  They looked under all the tables, the couch, Josh’s bed, and the twins’ beds, but they couldn’t find Pal. They didn’t see a Valentine’s card, either.

  They checked the coat closet. Pal liked to snooze there on top of the sneakers.

  They looked down the cellar stairs. Pal sometimes slept next to the furnace.

  The kids called, “Pal, where ARE you?” No answer.

  “Doesn’t he have his own special bed?” Dink asked.

  Josh laughed. “Yeah, I gave him an old sweater of mine to sleep on,” he said. “He drags it around the house like a toy.”

  Ruth Rose saw something sticking out from behind the sofa. “Is the sweater orange?” she asked Josh.

  “Yup. That’s why I gave it to Pal,” Josh said. “It was too orange. When I put it on, I looked like a pumpkin!”

  Ruth Rose looked behind the sofa. “Here he is,” she said. Pal was lying on a bright orange sweater, snoring away.

  When Josh got down on his knees, Pal opened his eyes. He licked Josh’s fingers, then yawned.

  Josh reached under the sweater. He pulled his hand out, holding a big red envelope. On the front, someone had written JOSH in gold glitter.

  “We found it!” Josh said. He ripped open the envelope and removed the card. In the middle was a huge red heart surrounded by little ones. The messag
e read: HAY, JOSH, QUIT STALLING AND BE MY VALENTINE! FROM YOUR SEKRET ADMIRER.

  “Two misspelled words,” Ruth Rose said, reading over Josh’s shoulder.

  “I only see one,” Dink said. “Sekret, like on my card.”

  “Hay is wrong,” Ruth Rose said. “Hay is what cows eat. It should be spelled H-E-Y, like when you’re calling someone.”

  Josh shook the envelope over the couch, and out fell a bunch of small letters and a two-inch piece of cardboard cut from a cereal box.

  “Just like mine,” Dink said. “This is getting interesting!”

  Josh grabbed the cardboard. He read out loud: “Where do jungle animals drink?”

  “Well, that one is easy,” Dink said. “Jungle animals drink in the jungle.”

  “This must be a clue, like the other two about where Lincoln hangs out and where a buddy snores,” Ruth Rose said. “Each clue asks where.”

  “Okay,” Dink said. “Jungle animals drink in zoos, too.”

  “And they drink in cartoons on TV,” Josh said.

  “I’m betting it’s closer to Green Lawn,” Ruth Rose said. “Like the penny jar and the orange sweater. These secret admirers are around here!”

  “But there are no jungle animals in Green Lawn,” Dink said.

  “I wish there were!” Josh said. “It would be cool to have elephants, monkeys, and lions walking down Main Street. People would totally freak out!”

  “Not lions,” Dink said. “Lions live on the African plains, not in the jungle.”

  “How about tigers?” Josh said. “Tigers prowl in the jungle.”

  Ruth Rose stared at Josh. “Yes, they do,” she said. “And I just happen to have a cat named Tiger.”

  Both boys looked at Ruth Rose.

  “Where does Tiger drink?” Josh asked her.

  “She has a special bowl,” Ruth Rose said. “It’s in the pantry by the back door.”

  “Then I say we go look there,” Dink said.

  “Outside again?” Josh moaned. “But it’s so nice and warm here!”

  “Come on, Josh,” Dink said. “Maybe your secret admirer has a big box of candy for you!”

  “Okay, but let’s look at my letters first,” Josh said. He picked the letters off the couch and laid them end-to-end on the coffee table. The letters were R, E, H, E, and W.

  Dink pulled out his own envelope and dumped his letters next to Josh’s. He put them in a long row. “So now we have E, L, P, S, E, S, R, E, H, E, and W,” he said.

  “We could try to make words,” Josh said.

  “But maybe there’ll be more letters,” Ruth Rose said. “Let’s wait until we have all of them.”

  “Good idea,” Dink said. He dropped his letters back into his envelope, and Josh did the same with his five. They put the envelopes in their pockets.

  Josh walked into the mudroom and got their stuff. “You’re right, Ruth Rose,” he said. “Plus, I have a feeling the next card we find is going to be for you!”

  Once again the kids trudged through the snow. They trekked down Farm Lane, kicking snow into the air.

  “I wonder who these secret admirers are,” Dink said.

  “I think it’s just one,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Why?” Dink asked.

  “Because of secret spelled wrong,” she said. “Most people know how to spell secret. I’ll bet the same person made those cards, cut out the little letters, and wrote those clues!”

  “The secret admirer is probably some scientist who wants to study my incredible brain!” Josh said.

  “Ha!” Dink barked. “Your incredible brain must be frozen. I think the secret admirer knows us. He knew about my penny jar and your sweater.”

  “And maybe Ruth Rose’s cat,” Josh added.

  “We don’t know for sure if Tiger is the real clue,” Ruth Rose said. “Remember, we were wrong about my brother’s giraffe.”

  “Hey, don’t giraffes live in the jungle, too?” Josh asked.

  “Nope,” Dink said. “They hang out on the plains with the lions.”

  Josh tossed some snow at Dink. “How come you’re so smart?”

  Dink lobbed a snowball at Josh. “My incredible brain,” he said.

  Ruth Rose opened her back door. “Take your boots off,” she told Dink and Josh. “WE’RE HOME, MOM!”

  No one answered. The kids kicked off their boots and hung up their jackets.

  “This place is quiet,” Josh said.

  “There’s a note, Ruth Rose,” Dink said, pointing to the bulletin board next to the pantry.

  OUT FOOD SHOPPING. HAVE A SNACK. WILL BE HOME SOON.—MOM

  “Who goes food shopping in a blizzard?” Josh asked.

  “Where’s Tiger’s dish?” Dink asked.

  Ruth Rose pointed toward the pantry. “In there,” she said. She walked into the pantry, with Dink and Josh right behind her.

  Ruth Rose’s cat lay on a small blanket. Her eyes were closed, and she was purring. Her whiskers twitched, and her tummy moved up and down as she breathed.

  “There’s her bowl,” Ruth Rose said.

  Tiger opened her eyes when Ruth Rose moved the water dish. Under it was a square red envelope.

  “You got a card!” Josh said.

  The three kids sat at the table, and Ruth Rose ripped open the envelope. She pulled out a card and a piece of a cereal box top. Then she spilled out five small pieces of paper that had been cut from a comic book.

  Dink picked up the piece of cardboard. “Listen, here’s the next clue,” he said. “Where do pigeons fly in and out?”

  “That’s easy,” Josh said. “Pigeons fly anywhere they want to!”

  Ruth Rose looked at her Valentine’s card. On the front were a big smiley face and her name, all written in glitter.

  She opened the card and showed Dink and Josh what was written inside. It read: RUTH ROSE, I’M NOT LION. I WANT TO BE YOUR VALENTION. FROM YOUR SEKRET ADMIRER.

  Josh grinned. “It’s a poem,” he said.

  “Lion should be lying, right?” Dink said. “And valentine is spelled wrong, too.”

  “They wrote valention so it rhymes with lion,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Right, and secret is spelled with a K again, just like in the other cards,” Dink said.

  “Let’s look at my little letters,” Ruth Rose said. They had landed on the table near a plate covered with a blue napkin.

  “All this thinking is making me hungry,” Josh said. He put his hand to his forehead, as if he were going to faint.

  Ruth Rose removed the napkin. The plate was stacked with cookies. “Go ahead,” she told Josh. “Mom left them here for us, anyway.”

  While Josh munched a cookie, Ruth Rose arranged the five letters in a row on the table: L, Y, L, P, O.

  “This is crazy,” Dink said, trying to make sense of the letters.

  Josh moved some of the letters with his other hand. He read, “Y, O, P, L, L,” spitting cookie crumbs onto the table.

  “Very nice table manners, Josh,” Dink teased.

  Ruth Rose sighed. “I’ll bet there are more cards and clues and letters,” she said. She scooped up her five letters and stuck them back in the envelope with the cardboard and her secret admirer card, and she put it all in her pocket.

  The kids ate cookies and thought about the pigeon clue.

  Ruth Rose gave Tiger a morsel, which the cat lapped out of her hand. Everyone at the table could hear Tiger’s purring.

  “Pigeons fly in the sky,” Josh said. “Hey, I made a poem!”

  “They fly to telephone wires,” Dink said.

  “Well, we probably won’t find a clue in the sky,” Ruth Rose said. She glanced toward the window. “Only billions of snowflakes.”

  “I sure hope our secret admirer didn’t put a note up on some telephone pole or electric wires,” Josh said.

  The kids sat and thought. Josh took another cookie. “What if our admirer isn’t talking about wild pigeons?” he asked. “What if he means tame pigeons, like pets?”
r />   “Yeah, like those pigeons that people train,” Dink said.

  “They’re called messenger pigeons or carrier pigeons,” Ruth Rose said. “They can carry messages to people.”

  “How do you know this stuff?” Josh asked.

  “My grandfather told me,” Ruth Rose said. “In the First and Second World Wars, people would tie a tiny tube to a messenger pigeon’s leg. They had put a message inside the tube, and the pigeon would fly it to where someone was waiting for the message. That person would take it out of the tube, then put in another message, and the pigeon would return to its coop.”

  “Why not just send a letter?” Dink asked. “Or call the other person on the telephone?”

  Ruth Rose nodded. “I asked my grandfather that,” she said. “He told me it was because in the wars, the mail either didn’t get through or took too long to get there. And enemies could listen in on phone calls. So they used these pigeons.”

  “Boy, that’s way cooler than email!” Josh said.

  “So wild pigeons fly anywhere they want to, and tame pigeons fly in and out of pigeon coops,” Dink offered after a minute. He looked out the window. “But I wonder if they do it in the snow.”

  “We don’t know anyone who owns pigeons or coops,” Josh said.

  “Yes, we do! Mrs. Wong has pigeons,” Ruth Rose said. “She sells them at Furry Feet. I saw a few there last week.”

  “You’re a genius!” Josh told Ruth Rose. “Whoever she sells them to must have a coop. Maybe that’s what this clue is trying to tell us. Let’s go see Mrs. Wong!”

  The kids bundled up for the cold and headed back outside. They turned west on Woody Street, then hiked around the elementary school.

  “Do you think Furry Feet is open on Sundays?” Josh said.

  “I’ll bet it’s open today,” Ruth Rose said. “Some people like to buy cute animals as Valentine’s Day presents.”

  Not only was Furry Feet open, but a lot of people were inside, shopping and looking at the animals and fish.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose saw Mrs. Wong’s nephew, Leonard. He was helping a boy and girl choose a goldfish. They were standing in front of a tank filled with fish.