Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Here are the facts," announced Sugar. She pointed to the diagram on the chicken-coop wall. "Barbara was attacked by a wild animal and barely managed to escape. She somehow captured the dangerous beast and has secured it in a top-secret maximum-security box. We are all in imminent danger." "Those are not facts," said Dirt. "A fact is something you know for sure. All of what you just said is pure speculation." "Listen, pal," said Sugar. "You don't know what I know, and I don't know what you know. Agreed?"

"These are the actual facts", continued Dirt. She said them out loud as she listed them on the wall: 1. There is a new box in the yard. 2. Barbara built it herself out of wood and wire. 3. It has a latch on it. 4. We don't know what's in it.

"Why don't we just go look?" suggested Sweetie. "Oh, kid," sighed Sugar. "You can't just walk up to a top-secret maximum-security box and peek in it! Something might jump out of it! You have to watch the creature—get a feel for how it lives and what it's thinking."

"You mean spy on it?" asked Sweetie. "Of course not!" said Sugar. "I mean hide ourselves at a safe distance and watch everything it does while making sure it never sees us. The technical term is surveillance, otherwise known as a 'stakeout.' A dangerous mission, for sure, but—" "Sounds like spying," interrupted Sweetie. "I prefer observing," said Dirt. "AS I was saying," continued Sugar, "surveillance is dangerous work. You'll be tired; you'll be hungry; and you'll see things a chicken should never see." She turned to her sister. "Dirt, walk us through...." Dirt stepped up to the wall. "Sugar and I," she began, "will be up here in the maple tree. It will give us good cover, and we'll have a clear view of the box."

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"Got it," said Sugar. "Sweetie, you're next. You'll be observing from the gutter that runs along the back edge of the house. It's a different angle, so you might be able to see things that we can't see." "Got it," said Sweetie. "Poppy," said Sugar. "You stay with the shoe. If the creature spots us, it might get angry and agitated. If I whistle, you run and get Mom or J. J. for backup. Got it?" "Got it," said Poppy.