12. Aliens Appear

Chapter 12 Aliens Appear Everyone crowded into the kitchen. "Who wants to tell us what's going on?" the boys' father asked. Brian pointed at his brother. "Him. He started it all!" "I did not!" Bradley said. "I know what we saw last night!" "And what did you see, hon?" his mother asked. "Lights from a spaceship," Bradley said. "I think."

"And then what happened?" Bradley's father asked. Bradley and the other kids told the whole story. They tried not to leave anything out. They told about: the circle in the snow and the footprints and the printout from Josh's computer and the faces in the window and the noises in the attic and the phone calls from space and the rubber hot dog on the bed and the ripped-up note. When the story was over, the boys' parents and the officers had their mouths open. Finally, Mrs. Pinto stood up. "Officer Fallon, will you please go into my attic and get those aliens?" she asked. "Yes, ma'am!" Officer Fallon said. "You're backup, Officer Keene." "Yes, sir!" Officer Keene said.

"What should we do?" Bradley asked. "Just sit and wait," his mother said. "This should be very interesting." "You might think about your punishment if this is all a prank," his father said. "But, Dad, we all saw the aliens!" Bradley said. Just then Officer Fallon entered the room. He was carrying a green alien in his two large hands. Only it wasn't a real alien. It was a green sweater stuffed with newspapers. Painted toilet paper tubes were the arms and legs. Macaroni was glued on to look like teeth. A long string dangled from around its neck. Officer Keene was right behind, holding the yellow alien. "Hey, that's my very favorite golf sweater!" Bradley's father said. "We found something else up there," Officer Fallon said. He stepped aside. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stood behind him. Their faces were red. Pal sat at

Josh's feet, smiling at all the people. "Hey, you're supposed to be in a spaceship!" Nate yelled. "No, you're supposed to be in charge of the younger kids," the boys' father said. He gave Josh a stern look.

"We were in charge," Josh said. "Sort of. I mean, we were in the attic." "You were up there the whole time?" Bradley said. "We can explain," Josh said. "I can hardly wait," his father said. He crossed his arms. "Excuse me, but I think we'll leave you folks now," Officer Fallon said. "I'll tell the firefighters to take off, too." "Right behind you," Officer Keene said. "Thank you both," the boys' mother told the officers. She turned to the older kids again. "We're listening." "It all started when Nate sent those postcards to Dink, Josh, and me," Ruth Rose said. "What postcards?" Mr. Pinto asked. "It was just a joke," Nate said. "The cards said they had won a million dollars in a contest." "I decided to get back at him," Josh said. "We all did," Dink said.

"I read Bradley's book about UFOs," Josh continued. "That's where I got the idea to pretend we were abducted by aliens." "It was my idea to get Lucky O'Leary to help," Dink added. "He drove his snowmobile over last night to make the circle in the snow." "I knew I saw moving lights!" Bradley said, beaming. "Dink and Ruth Rose hid in the barn," Josh said. "They dangled those make-believe aliens out the window. I lit them up with a spotlight from the attic. Then I pounded on the floor to wake up the twins." "And hiding Polly in our garage was my idea," Ruth Rose said. "We carved potatoes to make those little footprints in the snow," Dink added. "What about that paper we read from your computer?" Brian asked. Josh grinned. "I wrote it myself." "We knew all the parents were meeting for breakfast, so we planned it for today," Ruth Rose