01 The Case of the Bothersome Brother

MEGAN McDONALD JUDY MOODY Girl Defective

The Case of the Bothersome Brother It was a dark and stormy night. Rain slashed the window. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Spooky shadows like giant teeth danced across the walls. Tick-tock, tick-tock went the old clock, thumping like a scary heartbeat. Quiet as a ghost, she climbed the dark, dark stairs. In her bare feet, she tiptoed down the dark, dark hallway to the dark, dark door. She tapped one, two, three times, signaling in Morse code. Just then, the door creaked open. Knock-knock.

"AAHHH!" screamed Judy from under the covers of her top bunk bed. She let go of the Mood Libs tablet she'd been writing in. It sailed through the air, bonking Stink on the noggin. "Ouch!" yelled Stink, rubbing his head. "Watch the brains! You're gonna give me an egg on my head." "You already are an egghead, Stink," Judy teased. "Well, you didn't have to throw the book at me." "At least it wasn't the encyclopedia. That's what you get for scaring the pants off me while I was writing a spooky Mood Libs story."

"Why are you under the covers? It's the

middle of the day." "Nancy Drew says a person should never be afraid of the dark. So I was practicing." "Why do you have a flashlight?" "A good detective always keeps a flashlight under her pillow." "Does Nancy Drew do that?" "Hel-lo! Haven't you read The Message in the Hollow Oak?" "I'm not a Nancy Drew cuckoo-head like some people!" "Can I help it if I'm trying to read all fifty-six original Nancy Drew classics?" Stink waved the Mood Libs book at her. "Does Nancy Drew throw stuff at her brother, too?" "Nancy Drew doesn't have a brother. But if

she did, I'm sure she'd throw stuff if he scared the jeepers out of her." "Jeepers?" "That's Nancy Drew talk, Stink. Get a clue." "Do Nancy Drew mysteries have any stuff that blows up? Good mysteries have stuff that blows up. Like boats or cakes or maybe exploding motorcycles?" "No, Stink. Nancy Drew mysteries have old clocks and hidden diaries and squeaky steps and stuff." "Oh," said Stink. He did not sound one teeny bit scared. He sounded a teeny bit bored. "But Nancy Drew mysteries do have stuff like exploding oranges and flaming rockets and spooky old mansions. Lots of mansions. And they are all haunted, and one time Nancy Drew