8. Surprise!

Chapter 8 Surprise! Killer barked like a maniac. His eyes and teeth shone in the moonlight. He reared up on his hind legs and slammed his giant front paws into Bradley's chest. My nightmare is coming true! Bradley thought as he landed on his back on the grass. One hundred pounds of hairy black dog piled on top of him. A huge pink tongue washed his face. Bradley was too scared to yell. "Daisy, get off!" a voice shouted.

Bradley looked up. He saw a boy tugging on the dog's collar. Then a girl was there, and she was tugging, too. They both had brown hair. They looked about ten years old. Finally, Daisy got off, and Bradley looked up. Brian, Nate, and Lucy were standing with Bradley's parents, who were wearing bathrobes. Josh was there, too, wearing sweatpants, a hoodie, and a silly grin. Suddenly Pal raced through the gate, into the crowd. He and Daisy sniffed each other, then began racing around the yard, playing doggy tag. "What're you guys doing here?" Bradley asked his family. "A better question," his dad said, "is what are you doing here?" Josh helped Bradley up off the ground. The two new kids were standing next to the neighbors. "These are our grandchildren from Florida," Mrs. Sargent said. "Charlie and Maddy." Everyone said hi. "It's cold out here," Mr. Sargent said. "Let's go inside."

Eleven people crowded into the neighbors' kitchen. "Find your seat, everyone," Mrs. Sargent said. "The hot chocolate is almost ready." Bradley blinked under a bright light. A long table was set with eleven places. There were eleven mugs, eleven napkins, eleven spoons. A plate of cookies sat in the middle of the table. The cookies were shaped like turkeys, with raisins for eyes. On each place mat was a cardboard-turkey name tag. Bradley found his name and sat down. Then he laughed. Standing next to his mug was his flashlight!

Next to him, Brian laughed, too. There was his jar of money. They knew we were coming! Bradley said to himself. Soon everyone began sipping from the mugs and munching on cookies. "How did you know about Operation Brian?" Brian asked.

"A little birdie told us," Mr. Sargent said. "So we knew you were curious about what was going on under our tarp." "The same little birdie told us your plan about sneaking over here tonight," Bradley's mother said. "What little birdie?" Bradley asked. Josh grinned and patted himself on the chest. "Tweet, tweet!" he said. "I heard you guys talking in your room. You should keep your door closed!" "We had fun sitting in the dark and watching you sneak into the yard," Mrs. Sargent said. "And I heard you creeping past my door," Josh said. "You were about as quiet as a herd of elephants!" "So I nearly broke my neck for nothing!" Brian said. "And I got attacked by a giant dog for nothing!" Bradley said. "Daisy wouldn't hurt a fly," Maddy said. "She just wanted to kiss you." "If you had asked, we would have told you," Mrs. Sargent said. "We're building a special Thanksgiving surprise for Charlie and Maddy."

"Granddad, what is it?" Charlie asked. "I can't wait till tomorrow!" Mr. Sargent stood up and looked at his watch. "Well, since it's almost one in the morning, it's officially Thanksgiving Day," he said. "Let's go take a look!" Charlie and Maddy raced out the door. Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy ran after them. Everyone gathered in front of the blue tarp. Mrs. Sargent tugged on a rope, and the tarp fell to the ground. The "surprise" was tall and silver and shiny. It gleamed in the moonlight. "It's a space shuttle!" Maddy shouted. "Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma!" "Charlie and Maddy live near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida," Mrs. Sargent explained. "They love to go there and see the launches. So we decided to build them their own shuttle in our backyard!" "But where's the tree?" Bradley asked. "It's inside," Mr. Sargent said. "We cut off most of the branches and used some of the wood inside