Mini Mysteries. Rick Walton

rang again. Marie answered it. “Ha-ha-ha! Very

       funny,” she said into the phone.

      “Marie?” It was Noelle Dee, Marie’s best friend and

       next-door neighbor. “I’ve been trying to call you for

       fifteen minutes, but your line was busy.”

      “Oh hi, Noelle. I just got a prank call. I thought it was the same

      person trying to call me again.”

      “The governor?”

      “The governor,” said Marie. “She called you, too? I waited for

      fifteen minutes before hanging up.”

      “I waited twenty minutes. Beat you,” said Noelle. “Who do you think it was?”

      “She disguised her voice, but now that I think about it, it sounded

      like Megan.”

      “I think we need to plan a little revenge. I’ll be right over.”

      The girls discussed options, then headed over to Megan Brown’s house.

      It had been snowing all morning, and when Marie and Noelle

      reached Megan’s, a blanket of snow covered the lawn, the sidewalk,

      everything. The girls walked up the sidewalk, making footprints in

      the spotless snow.

      Marie whispered to Noelle. Noelle nodded. Then they went to

      work. Quietly they rolled snow into large balls. Together they pushed

      and heaved the balls up onto Megan’s porch and built a large snow-

      man, right in front of the door.

      Then they rang the doorbell and ran to hide behind the neighbor’s bushes.

      Megan opened the door. “What’s this?” she asked. She tried to

      push the screen door open. It moved just a few inches, but then it hit

      the snowman and would go no farther.

      A few minutes later Megan emerged from behind the house.

      She stomped onto the porch and began to dismantle the snowman.

      “Hi, Megan!” said Noelle. She and Marie walked up Megan’s

      sidewalk as though they had just arrived. “Why are you building a

      snowman on your porch? Aren’t you afraid it will block your door?”

      “Very funny,” said Megan. “I owe you one.”

      “No, we’re even,” said Marie. “So, how’s the governor?”

      “The governor? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      Marie told her about the prank calls.

      “You think I made them?” asked Megan. “I wish. But I didn’t.

      I walked over to the library this morning to work on my research

      report on Peru. I just got back ten minutes ago. Help me get this

      snowman off the porch, and we can go inside and get some hot cocoa.”

      Marie and Noelle helped Megan roll the rest of the snowman away from the door. Then the girls went in, sipped hot cocoa, and talked.

      After a while, Marie stood up. “I’d better get going,” she said.

      Noelle stood, too.

      The girls started to leave. Then Marie turned back and said,

      “So tell me, Megan, who else did you call? Just us?”

      “I told you, I didn’t call you,” said Megan.

      “Oh, I think you did,” said Marie. “You didn’t go to the library

      today. I think you were here all morning being the governor’s

      secretary.”

       How did Marie know that Megan hadn’t gone to the library? Tap here for the answer.

      Light

      Housekeeping

      A dragon banister and a creaking door—have Marie

      and Noelle’s moneymaking plans gone too far?

      “We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii!” Marie told Noelle,

      a huge smile on her face.

      “What a lucky family! I wish I could go,” said Noelle.

      “No,” Marie said. “The ‘we’ is you and me! We are going to Hawaii.

      My aunt Kristine has offered to take us with her to Hawaii!”

      Noelle stared in shock at Marie for a second and then screamed,

      “No way!”

      “But there’s a catch,” Marie said. “Aunt Kristine wants us to earn

       half the cost of our expenses. She’ll pay the rest.”

      “How much will we need to earn?” Noelle asked. After Marie told

      her, Noelle whistled. “That’s a lot of

      money. Do you think we can do it?”

      “I think so,” said Marie. “I’ve

      already brainstormed ideas with my

      parents. They know people who will

      hire us for small jobs—starting with

      Mrs. Peterson, the caretaker of that

      huge historic house on Maple Street

      that’s open for tours.”

      The next day, Noelle and Marie went to Maple Street. Mrs.

      Peterson agreed to hire them to help clean the mansion before the

      tours began. The instant the friends stepped into the foyer of the

      elegant home, they realized what a big job cleaning it would be.

      “Welcome, girls!” hailed Mrs. Peterson as she tap-tap-tapped

      across the glossy floor. “While I’m checking for cleaning materials,

      I’ve asked Gwen to show you around. She’s training to be a tour guide

      and would like the practice.”

      “Hi! I’m Gwen,” the older teen said. She stepped forward and

      changed to her tour-guide voice: “Let’s start in the Great Hall,

      shall we?”

      Gwen opened a door and flipped a switch. Electric lightbulbs on

      the chandelier lit up a thousand teardrop-shaped crystals, filling the

      room with light. Large chairs, sofas, ornamental tables, and statues

      furnished every corner.

      “The