Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The kids marched next door to Ruth Rose's house. They found Nate in the living room watching a video. His fingers and mouth were stained purple. "Natie, did you take Dink's letters?" Ruth Rose asked. Nate looked at his sister with big blue eyes. He shook his head. "Nope." Ruth Rose glanced at Dink and Josh. She rolled her eyes. "Okay then who took them? We found your jammy fingerprints." Nate hid his hands under his T-shirt. "Steggy did," he said softly.

Dink knelt down next to Nate. "Where did Steggy put the envelopes?" he asked. Nate shrugged, watching two dancing dinosaurs on TV. "Who the heck is Steggy?" Josh asked. "His favorite dinosaur," Ruth Rose said. She turned off the TV. "Natie, Dink really needs his letters. Can you show us where Steggy put them?" Nate let out a big sigh. He got up and walked into the kitchen. The kids followed. Nate pulled open the refrigerator door. A stuffed stegosaur sat on a shelf next to a bowl of strawberry Jell-O. Steggy had five blue envelopes in his mouth. Josh laughed. "Yo, Nate, don't you know dinosaurs hate the cold?" Nate pulled Steggy off the shelf and shut the door. "Steggy's playing mailman. It's hot outside," he said.

Ruth Rose handed the envelopes to Dink. "It's not nice to take things without asking," she told her brother. "It's okay, Natie," Dink said, examining the envelopes for purple smudges. He wanted the letters to look perfect for Doris Duncan. Dink found a few splotches of grape jam and wiped them off on his pants. When he looked for more purple stains, he noticed the return address again. "This is weird," he said.

Dink showed the return address to Josh and Ruth Rose. "Doris Duncan's mother's name is Bessie Duncan. So why are the letters from O. Bird?" "Maybe O. Bird mailed the notes for her after she died," Josh said. Dink laid the envelopes in a row on the kitchen table. He pulled out the notes and placed them next to their envelopes. "But what about this?" Dink said. "The letters are all dated last week. But Doris Duncan told me her mom died last month!" "Mind if I get us all some milk?" Josh asked. "Go ahead," Ruth Rose said, picking up the empty envelope. "And why would anyone send her own daughter an envelope with nothing in it?" Dink nodded. "It doesn't make any sense," he said, "unless these letters aren't really from her mother." "But why would Doris tell us a story like that?" Ruth Rose wondered. Josh picked up one of the letters. He read it quickly. Then he carefully spilled a small puddle of milk on the writing.

"What're you doing!" Dink yelled. "Doris Duncan will kill me!" "Wait a sec." Josh smeared the milk around with his finger. "I read in a spy comic that if you pour milk on invisible ink, you can read it," he said. "Maybe there's a secret message!" They all hunched over the letter. No hidden writing appeared. But now there was a wet, milky blotch over some of the words. "Thanks a lot, Josh," Dink said. "Wait till Doris Duncan sees this!" Ruth Rose blotted the letter with a paper napkin. "Don't worry, it'll dry," she said. She waved the letter in the air, then held it up to the sunny window. "It'd better," Dink said, giving Josh an "or you'll be sorry!" look. "Guys, look at this!" Ruth Rose said. "There are two pinholes in the paper. The holes go right through the letters H and D!" Josh grabbed another letter. He held it next to Ruth Rose's at the window. "This one has a hole too!" he said. "There's a tiny one right through the letter J!"

Dink jumped up and looked at the pinholes. Then he stared at his friends. "Maybe there really is a secret message!" he said.