6. Brian Sees Broccoli

Chapter 6 Brian Sees Broccoli The kids watched Ms. Tery cross Main Street. "She's headed for Bridge Lane," Nate remarked. "Let's go before we lose her!" Brian said. "We can't lose her," Nate sniggered. "She's too tall to lose." "She's going into the supermarket!" Lucy said.

Ms. Tery disappeared inside the store. The kids waited for a WALK signal, then hurried across Main Street. "I'll go in to see what she's doing," Brian said. "The rest of you stay out here." Brian slipped through the supermarket door. "I wonder if Ms. Tery plans to steal something from the store," Bradley said, "and leave a sneaker behind." "How cool would it be to have a teacher who goes to jail for shoplifting!" Nate said. "Maybe we'd get a vacation!" Two minutes later Brian came running through the door. "Did she see you?" Bradley asked. Brian shook his head. "Nope. She's in the checkout line," he said. "And guess what she bought?" "Candy?" Nate guessed. "Nope," Brian said. "Hamster food?" Lucy offered. "Nope." "Brian, tell us right now!" Bradley said.

"She got a bunch of carrots and some broccoli!" Brian said, his eyes all excited. The others just looked at him. "Don't you get it?" Brian said. "She bought orange and green stuff, like all the sneakers!" "Like her orange skirt and green shirt," Lucy added. "And look what I found!" Brian whipped a paper from his pocket. He showed it to the others. The printing on the paper said: SWEET FEET COMING SOON!!!!! Below the words was a picture of green-and-orange sneakers. "There was a pile of these flyers inside the door," Brian said. "What does sweet feet mean?" Nate asked. No one had an answer. "Yikes, she's coming out!" Nate hissed. The kids raced behind a row of shopping carts. Ms. Tery strolled outside and took a right, heading up Bridge Lane. Her shopping bag was fat. Bradley wondered what was in there besides

carrots and broccoli. Bobby Arnold's basketball? Mr. Vooray's tennis racket? A hamster named Goldi? The kids ran behind Bill's Bikes. They watched Ms. Tery walk past Pheasant Lane and Owl Road. She turned left onto Thrush Court. The four kids crept from behind the bike shop. They darted toward some hedges on the corner of Bridge Lane and Thrush Court. Now they had a perfect view of their teacher marching up the street. Ms. Tery turned in at a small yellow house. She walked up the steps, unlocked the front door, and disappeared inside. "Now what?" Nate asked. "Want to peek in her windows?"

"No, that would be trespassing," Bradley said. "Let's just walk past her house. If she sees us, we can always say we're going to visit someone." The kids ambled past the yellow house, looking straight ahead. Bradley stole a peek into the yard. He saw some bushes. He saw a garage with a basketball hoop nailed over the door. "Look," Nate whispered. He jerked his head toward the front porch. They all saw a basketball on a small bench by the door. "I wonder if that's Bobby Arnold's," Brian said. "Don't stop and gawk!" Bradley said. "Let's go back!" The kids turned around and walked away. They stopped under a giant tree that grew on the corner of Thrush Court and Bridge Lane. The thick limbs spread all the way to the other side of Bridge Lane. "If we climbed this tree, we could see right into Ms. Tery's backyard," Brian said. The others gazed up into the tree. "Oh no!" Bradley yelled. "There's another one!"

Hanging from a limb ten feet over their heads was a pair of sneakers. "Green-and-orange sneakers," Nate said. "Looks like the sneaker maniac is following us!"