The Case of the Missing Family Read Free

taking this stuff to my old family?” I ask.
    Mouse sighs. “IF YOUR OLD FAMILY WAS STILL ALIVE—”
    “They are still alive!” I say.
    Mouse talks right over me. “IF YOUR OLD FAMILY WAS STILL ALIVE, WHY WOULDN’T THEY COME AND GET THEIR STUFF? WHY WOULD THEY SEND UNCLE MARTY?”
    I don’t like Mouse’s questions. “I DON’T KNOW!” I yell at him.
    Then I feel bad for yelling. Because Mouse is my friend, and you should never yell at your friends.
    You also shouldn’t yell when you’re trying to hide.
    “Don’t you think it’s odd that Uncle Marty is taking my old family’s stuff in the middle of the night?” I say in a friendly, but quiet voice. “Doesn’t that seem just a little suspicious?”
    “MAYBE A LITTLE,” Mouse says softly.
    “The only way to find out what Uncle Marty is up to is to hide in the back of the van,” I say.
    Mouse drops to his belly. “WELL,” he says, “I DON’T WANT TO GET IN A VAN THAT MAY BE LEAVING FOUR LAKES.”
    I can’t blame Mouse for that. But I have to go. I have to find out what happened to my old family.
    “I understand,” I tell Mouse. “This is probably something I should do by myself, anyway.”
    I keep my eyes on Uncle Marty and Raina. It takes them a while to pack all that stuff in the van and onto the back of the trailer. But finally the last box is loaded. I watch as Uncle Marty and Raina tie everything to the trailer with a big rope. Then they head back up the front walk.
    Finally!
    As soon as they’re in the house, I zoom across the front lawn. Mouse is right on my heels.
    “ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS, BUDDY?” Mouse asks as I skid to a stop in front of the open van door.
    There’s a lot of stuff back here. Boxes, suitcases, even the kitchen table and chairs. But it’s all my old family’s stuff. It smells just like them.
    “I’m sure,” I say. I climb into the van and crawl around the boxes and suitcases until I come to a chair that is wedged up against the front seat. There’s just enough room for me to hide underneath.
    “GOOD LUCK,” Mouse says. “I HOPE YOU FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR.”
    I hope I find what I’m looking for, too.

    “Ah-choo!” Raina sneezes. “Ah-choo! Ah-choo!” She’s been sneezing since we left Kayla’s house.
    Raina sniffs. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear there was a dog in here,” she tells Uncle Marty. “I only ... ah-choo! ... sneeze like this when I’m around dogs.”
    I scoot a little farther under the chair.
    “It must be that dog my niece had,” Uncle Marty says. “His hair is probably all over their stuff. Why don’t we open the windows for a little bit? See if that helps.”
    I hear the windows go down. All kinds of night smells fill the van. Crickets. Owls. Wet grass. Mmm. I LOVE crickets, owls, and wet grass. Night smells are my favorite smells!
    “Did you ... ah-ah-choo! ... ever think about keeping Kayla’s dog?” Raina asks Uncle Marty.
    “Me?” Uncle Marty says. “No. I didn’t want that dog.”
    “Why not? It sounds like he was a nice dog. And his family sure loved him.”
    I don’t like the way Raina says that. She makes it sound like Kayla, Dad, Mom and I are all ... that word . And we’re not. None of us are.

    “I’m not a dog person,” Uncle Marty says. “And even if I was, dogs aren’t allowed in my apartment.”
    “Well, I’d have a dog if I wasn’t allergic to them,” Raina says. “A big one who would go for long walks with me and play fetch. Ah-choo! ”
    I think I like Raina. It’s too bad she’s allergic to dogs.
    “So what did you do with Kayla’s dog?” Raina asks.
    “I ... took him to the pound,” Uncle Marty says.
    Raina gasps. “You what? ”
    “I didn’t know what else to do,” Uncle Marty says. “My brother’s neighbor picked the dog up from the kennel, but he and his wife travel a lot so they couldn’t keep him. I didn’t know anyone else who wanted a dog. What else could I have done?”
    He could have taken me to