Mini Mysteries. Rick Walton

of running myself, but I’ll just vote for you two instead. Then,

      when you win, you can make me Secretary of State or something.”

      “They’re joke posters,” said Rose. “Someone put Marie and

      Noelle’s heads on animals’ pictures. We’re trying to find out who

      made them.”

      Marie crossed her arms. “Maybe you should run, Hope. Every-

      one’s seen these posters, and they might have ruined our chances

      at winning. So it might as well be you. Then, when you win, you can

      make me ambassador to France.”

      “Oh, you’ll still win,” said Hope.

      Marie wasn’t as confident as Hope was that she and Noelle would

      win. “Let’s get back to the mystery,” she said. “Who would have put up

      those posters?”

      “Faith,” said Rose, “you’ve been really quiet. Where were you this

      morning?”

      “I was right behind you, walking to school. You saw me. And, no,

      I didn’t make the posters.”

      Hope leaned over to Sage. “I wish I could have seen the posters.

      Were they really funny? Who was on the hippo?”

      “Noelle was on the hippo,” answered Sage. “Marie was on the

      elephant.” And then Sage whispered, “And, yes, the posters were

      funny. I still think it was one of the boys.”

      “There’s a lot we can blame them for,” said Marie. “But not this.”

      She smiled at Noelle. “I know who made the posters, and she’s

      standing right here.”

       Who made the posters, and how did Marie know? Tap here to find out.

      Letters from

      an Admirer

      Someone really likes Noelle. But is it the person she thinks it is?

      “Did you get my cousin’s letter?” Ben asked Noelle. “He said he

      was going to write you as soon as he got home.”

      “Did I ever,” said Noelle. “So far he’s sent five letters.”

      “What’s this?” asked Marie. “You haven’t told me this. Come on,

      spill it.”

      “It’s nothing,” said Noelle, blushing. “It’s just . . . well . . . Ben

      introduced me to his cousin Joseph a little over a month ago when

      he was visiting. Joseph didn’t talk to me much. But I keep getting

      letters from him. I just opened this one.” She held up the letter.

      “Let me read it,” said Marie. She took the letter from Noelle’s

      hand and read it to herself:

      Marie looked at the envelope.

      The letter had been sent from

      Williamsburg two days ago. “I’d

      love to visit the east coast, too,”

      said Marie.

      “Joseph’s been sending me a

      letter every week,” Noelle said.

      “He’s so thoughtful.”

      “Wow,” said Marie. “He must

      really like you.”

      “I’m jealous,” said Ben. “He

      hasn’t sent me any letters—or called since he left. So, did you get the

      locket? What does it look like? Do you like it?”

      “I do,” said Noelle. “It has a raccoon on the front, and a photo of a

      raccoon inside. How did he know I like raccoons?”

      “How would he not?” said Ben. “You’re always drawing raccoons

      on your notebooks.”

      “Yeah, maybe,” said Noelle. “And I must have been wearing my

      raccoon T-shirt when we met.”

      Marie had a funny look on her face. She said, “The guy who sent

      you that locket, and the letters, must really like you. Maybe someday

      he’ll be brave enough to tell you.”

      “But he has,” said Noelle.

      “Joseph tells me he likes me

      in every one of his letters.”

      “No, I don’t think

      he does,” said Marie.

       What did Marie mean? For a letter-perfect answer, tap here.

      Taken for

      a Ride

      The girls love scary roller coasters, but could Sage’s

      little brother be the bravest of them all?

      “Am I tall enough for this ride?” asked Noelle. She stood next to

      the sign with the bear holding its paw at 48 inches, the minimum

      height for riders on all the scariest rides at Liberty Amusement Park.

      “Not quite,” joked Marie. “Maybe in ten or twenty years. You’d

      better stick with the baby boats.”

      Marie and her friends had volunteered to bring the younger Ivy

      Street kids to the park. Hailey chaperoned her younger sisters, Nicole

      and Emma. Sage had agreed to babysit her little brother, Joey. And

      Hope had asked to escort Caitlin, another of Hailey’s sisters, around

      the park. Kenny, Noelle’s little brother, preferred to wash the car with

      his dad, so Marie and Noelle were on their own.

      They’d all arrived early and spread out through the park grounds,