7. The Trade

Chapter 7 The Trade "Capture them?" Brian squeaked. "You mean to keep for pets?" Nate asked. "Cool!" "I'm not touching any aliens!" Brian said. "They could have space cooties!" "What do we do with them?" Bradley asked. Lucy closed the book. "We trade them for Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose," she said. "And Polly and Pal." The three boys stared at Lucy.

Brian's mouth fell open. Nate started to laugh. "I think it's a great idea!" Bradley said. Nate stopped laughing. "How do you catch an alien?" he asked. "We leave a trail of food, then trap them," Lucy said. "We have a skunk trap in the barn!" Bradley said. "The aliens are too big," Lucy said. Then she grinned. "But we could trap them in that closet!" "I think this is crazy!" Brian said. "Is this what kids do in California?" Lucy shook her head. "No, but I saw it in a TV movie," she said. "The kids doing it left some food out. The aliens followed the food right into a closet. Slam! They were caught!" "Then what happened?" Nate asked with wide eyes. "I don't know," Lucy said with a shrug. "My dad made me go to bed."

"Great," Brian said. "We trap some aliens in our closet. Then they breathe fire and burn the house down!" "They're not dragons," Nate said. "They're just cute little people from another planet." "Cute little monsters that eat kids and pets," mumbled Brian. "Let's go check the fridge for bait," Bradley said. "Any minute now I'm gonna wake up from this dream," Brian said. The kids followed Bradley to the kitchen. He pulled open the refrigerator door. "Let's see, milk, grapes, cheese, yogurt…" "How about that chocolate cake?" Nate asked. "No way!" Brian said. "That's for our dessert tonight. I'm not sharing it with any guys from Planet Nutso!" Lucy pulled out the bowl of green grapes. "Aliens like grapes?" Nate asked.

Lucy began making a grape trail on the floor. "I don't know," she said. "But maybe green aliens like green food." Bradley opened the door to the closet under the stairs. Lucy placed grapes so they led right into the dark space. She put the rest of the grapes inside. "Now we hide," she said. "If they go in, we lock the door." The kids hid behind the sofa in the living room. "Um, we forgot one thing," Bradley said. "What?" Nate asked. "We locked all the doors," Bradley said. "How are the aliens supposed to get in the house?" "Oops," Lucy said.

She dashed into the kitchen, opened the door, then ran back. "Come on, little guys. Come and get it," Bradley whispered. "I need to use the bathroom," Brian announced. "Shhh," Bradley said. "Aliens have excellent hearing." "Brad, I have to go!" Brian said. He scooted toward the bathroom. Lucy, Nate, and Bradley waited. And waited. The next thing they heard was quiet footsteps.