Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 The kids hurried to Josh's house. His parents were waiting. "We'll be back in about an hour," Josh's mom told him as she climbed into the family car. Josh's dad waved and pulled out of their driveway. "I wanna ride the pony!" Brian yelled, tugging at Josh's arm.

"No! I wanna catch turtles in the river!" Brian's twin brother, Bradley, bellowed, yanking the other arm. "You can't do either one without Mom and Dad's permission," Josh said. "Then we get candy!" Brian said. "No, we get ice cream!" Bradley argued, bolting for the house. Josh sighed and followed his brothers. Dink and Ruth Rose laughed, trailing after Josh. Inside, Josh poured five glasses of orange juice. Brian jumped off his chair and ran from the room. He was back in a flash with a flat cardboard box. "Let me help!" Bradley said. "No, it's my puzzle!" Brian yelled. "Josh!"

"You guys do the puzzle together or not at all," Josh said, "and don't get your sticky little fingers all over the pieces." "What's the puzzle, Bradley?" Ruth Rose asked. "Gwizzly bears!" Bradley answered, dumping the pieces onto the table. The picture on the box top showed a mama grizzly bear and her cub. The puzzle pieces were large, just right for fouryear- old fingers. Brian and Bradley had done this puzzle before. Their hands flew over the pieces, jamming them into place. A few minutes later, the puzzle was complete, except for one piece. The baby grizzly bear's face was missing. "You took it!" Brian yelled at Bradley. "Did not. You did!" Bradley yelled right back. "Don't argue, guys," Josh said. He dropped down to the floor and looked under the table. "Not here. Maybe it's in your room."

The twins flew out of the kitchen and thundered toward their bedroom. Twenty seconds later, they charged back into the kitchen. Bradley held the missing piece in his little hand. He lurched back onto his chair and fitted the piece into place. "Where'd you find it?" Josh asked. "Under my bed," Bradley said, grinning. "I wish finding a missing panda bear was that easy," Dink said. Ruth Rose sat up. "That's it!" she said. "Maybe we should be looking for Winnie, not the guy who took her." "But where?" Dink asked. "He could've stuck her anywhere." "If I kidnapped a panda bear," Ruth Rose said, "where would I hide it?" Josh took a bowl of apples out of the refrigerator and gave one to Brian and one to Bradley. "You can feed the cores to the pony," he told them. The twins shot out the back door, racing each other to the barn. Pal waddled after them. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose took their apples outside. They sat on the back steps and watched

the twins pet Polly through the corral rails. "Baby panda bears aren't house-broken like regular pets," Josh said, munching his apple. "You couldn't really hide one in your house." "And I bet Winnie misses her mom," Ruth Rose said. "She'd probably cry a lot. People would hear her." "Right," said Josh. "So the kidnapper probably hid her where it's already noisy." Dink watched Polly the pony chomp Brian's apple core. "The kidnapper has to feed Winnie, so he'd keep her nearby." "I know a place," Ruth Rose said. "It's noisy and smelly, and not far away from the petting zoo." Josh grinned at Ruth Rose. "I do, too. The fitness center, right?" Ruth Rose nodded. "If Flip stole Winnie, that would be a perfect place to hide her." "Should we go back and have a look?" Dink asked.

"But what do we do about Flip?" Josh asked. "If he really is the kidnapper, won't he be suspicious when we show up again?" Dink reached into his pocket and brought out the passes. "Kids get in free today," he said. "Excellent!" Ruth Rose said. "We can go over for a swim and a snoop!"