8. More Sneakers

Chapter 8 More Sneakers "You did?" Bradley cried. "Who?" Josh handed the sneakers to Bradley. "A kid named Will. He plays basketball, and he's in the Junior Inventors club I joined." Bradley's mind was going a hundred miles an hour. Did this Will kid steal Goldi? Was he leaving little sneakers all over town?

"What's the Junior Inventors club?" Nate asked. "Just a bunch of kids who like inventing things," Josh said. He waved his notebook and grinned. "Someday this invention is going to change the world!" Josh headed for the barn. Nate, Brian, and Lucy sat at the picnic table with the cookies between them. Bradley stood next to the table with the green sneakers in his hand. Bradley felt a tug. Pal yanked the sneakers out of his hand and dropped them on the ground. His big, wet nose traveled all over the sneakers, inside and out. Then he threw his head back and let out a howl. Pal flopped down on his belly and tossed one of the sneakers into the air. It landed on his head. Pal whimpered and looked at the kids with big brown eyes. "He used to look just like that when he was playing with Goldi," Lucy said. "He must miss her." When he heard Goldi, Pal barked. Then he stuck his snout inside one of the sneakers.

Bradley thought about Pal's sense of smell. He dropped down and clipped the leash on to Pal's collar. "Come on, Pal, let's go to the high school!" he said. "Why do you want to go there?" Nate asked. "To find this Will kid Josh mentioned," Bradley said. "He has sneakers like these. If we can find Will, I'll bet we can find out everything else!" They headed down Farm Lane. Nate was carrying the sneakers, looped around his neck. They cut through a field to get to the high school. The outdoor basketball court was next to the gym. Three tall kids were shooting hoops. None of them was wearing green-and-orange sneakers. The four kids and Pal walked over to the players.

Bradley took the sneakers from Nate. When one of the big kids looked at him, Bradley held them

up. "Do you know who these belong to?" he asked. All three players walked over. "No, but I've seen a few guys wearing sneakers just like them," one of the boys said. "They're way cool!" "A few guys?" Brian asked. "Like who?" "Will Taylor and Buddy Plotsky," the tallest boy said. "And I think Hunter Tery has a pair." "Hunter Tery?" Bradley asked. "Our teacher is Ms. Tery." The tall boy grinned. "Yup. Hunter's her kid. Those guys hang out together all the time." The three boys continued their game. Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy looked at each other. Finally they walked over to a bench and sat. "Ms. Tery has a kid who owns sneakers like these?" Nate asked. "I guess a bunch of his friends do, too," Bradley said. "So how do we know which one owns these?" Nate asked. Brian pulled out the flyer he'd taken from the supermarket. "And what's up with this?" he asked.

He read from the flyer: "'Sweet feet coming soon!!!!!'" "Maybe feet means sneakers," Nate suggested. "A lot of sneakers have been showing up around here!" "You're right, Nate," Bradley said. "I wonder if there's a pattern to where the little sneakers have been found. That man on Owl Road found one on his porch. And his friend on Pheasant Lane found one." "And Bobby Arnold, who lives on Blue Jay Way, got one," Nate said. "Zack lives on Wren Drive," Brian said. "He found a little sneaker, too." "And Mr. Vooray did," Lucy added. "Where does he live?" "On Eagle Lane," Brian said. "Not too far from our house." Bradley jumped up. "All those places are pretty near Thrush Court," he said. "Where Ms. Tery lives with her son, Hunter. And Hunter owns green-and-orange sneakers, too!" "Sneakers that Pal thinks smell like Goldi!" Lucy said.