Butterfly Blues

  CHAPTER ONE: GOTCHA!

  CHAPTER TWO: NEWS FLASH

  CHAPTER THREE: ‘M’ MARKS THE SPOT

  CHAPTER FOUR: CLUE-IN-THE-BOX

  CHAPTER FIVE: CATERPILLAR CHILLER

  CHAPTER SIX: TAKE THE CAKE

  CHAPTER SEVEN: PEST QUEST

  CHAPTER EIGHT: ABRACANABRA!

  CHAPTER NINE: FRUITY FACTOID

  CHAPTER TEN: SPY A BUTTERFLY!

  Gotcha!

  “This class trip is going to be awesome!” eight-year-old Nancy Drew exclaimed.

  “Super awesome!” Bess Marvin agreed.

  “Totally super awesome!” George Fayne added.

  The three best friends were very excited to visit Flutter House, the cool new butterfly exhibit in their town. Thanks to their third-grade teacher, Mrs. Ramirez, their wish was about to come true!

  “I heard there are hundreds of butterflies inside Flutter House!” Quincy Taylor said as the class followed Mrs. Ramirez to the Flutter House building.

  “How do you think they got hundreds of butterflies in one place?” Nancy wondered as she brushed her reddish-blond bangs aside.

  “Hundreds of butterfly nets!” Quincy joked.

  Mrs. Ramirez stopped the class in front of the main entrance. The building was shaped like a caterpillar with a glass dome as its head!

  “Today’s a special day,” Mrs. Ramirez said as they waited for their guide. “Does anyone know what it is?”

  A few hands went up, but Antonio Elefano shouted, “It’s Friday!”

  Nancy rolled her eyes. Antonio was the class pest. He was always shouting before raising his hand.

  “It’s not just Friday!” Deirdre Shannon piped up. “Today is the first day of spring. Right, Mrs. Ramirez?”

  “Correct, Deirdre,” Mrs. Ramirez said with a smile.

  But Antonio wasn’t smiling.

  “First day of spring!” Antonio mimicked meanly. “Is that why you’re wearing that goofy hat?”

  Deirdre glared at Antonio under the brim of her big flowered hat.

  “For your information,” Deirdre snapped, “it’s to remind everyone about my Mad Hatter Tea Party this Sunday.”

  Deirdre then turned to Nancy, Bess, and George and added, “Those who were invited!”

  “Deirdre,” Mrs. Ramirez warned. “Be nice.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George knew they weren’t invited to Deirdre’s party. Deirdre was always mad at the girls for something. This time she was mad at Nancy for getting the class job she wanted—watering the plants. Instead Deirdre got the worst job of all—cleaning the stinky turtle tank.

  “Too bad we’re not invited, Deirdre,” George said. “I would have worn my favorite hat, too.”

  “You have a favorite hat?” Deirdre said, looking George up and down. George was wearing her usual faded jeans and a sweatshirt.

  “Sure!” George said. She pointed to her dark curly-haired head. “My lucky ball cap with the mustard stain!”

  “George!” Bess groaned, rolling her eyes.

  Nancy giggled. She had been friends with Bess and George since kindergarten and still couldn’t believe they were cousins. Bess was totally fashion forward. George was fashion backward and proud of it. Bess loved building gadgets. George loved gadgets too, as long as they were electronic. She loved her mom’s minitablet, and she even was allowed to borrow it today!

  Deirdre turned her nose up at the girls. She shifted her big tote bag on her shoulder, then walked over to her best friend, Madison Foley.

  “I don’t like tea anyway,” Bess whispered, flipping her long blond hair.

  “Hey, boys and girls!” a voice called out.

  Everyone turned. A man not much older than college-age was walking over. He wore a Flutter House polo shirt and a big smile.

  “I’m Josh, your butterfly guide!” Josh said. “But before we check out some awesome butterflies—everyone must learn the butterfly wave!”

  Nancy and her classmates copied the move Josh was doing. They pressed their hands together and waved their fingers like butterfly wings.

  “Mrs. Ramirez, your class gets an A,” Josh said. “Now, who’s ready for a butterfly safari?”

  “Me, me, me!” Harper shouted. She raised her hand high in the air while hopping up and down.

  Nancy liked Harper, the new girl in class who loved butterflies. She wore a denim jacket with butterfly patches. And a different color butterfly barrette every day!

  “I guess you like butterflies!” Josh said to Harper.

  “I’m hatching some in my room, but they’re not butterflies yet,” Harper said. Her eyes lit up. “Can I take some butterflies home? I’m sick of watching caterpillars!”

  Josh shook his head. “You can’t take any,” he said. “But we have some toys and games in our gift shop.”

  “Like this?” George said. She pulled out the minitablet. “Check out this cool app I downloaded last night. It’s called Butterfly Spy!”

  Nancy smiled at the word “spy.” She, Bess, and George weren’t really spies, but they were detectives. They loved solving mysteries in their town of River Heights. They even had their own detective headquarters in Nancy’s room.

  “How does it work?” Josh asked.

  “You just hold the tablet over a butterfly, click, and boom,” George explained, “the name of the butterfly pops up on the screen.”

  “Neat!” Tommy Maron exclaimed.

  “It is neat,” Josh admitted. “But no electronics are allowed near the butterflies.”

  Josh then pointed to Antonio eating a big red apple left over from lunch.

  “And no food, either,” Josh said.

  “Okay, okay,” Antonio muttered. “I’ll throw it away.”

  Everyone lined up while Josh opened the door. Nancy saw Antonio slip right behind Deirdre. She then saw something that made her frown. Antonio had dropped his half-eaten apple core into Deirdre’s bag!

  “I saw you put that apple in Deirdre’s bag, Antonio!” Nancy said. “Take it out or I’ll tell Mrs. Ramirez!”

  “You better not!” Antonio warned before pushing his way to the front of the line.

  “That apple is going to turn all brown and mushy in Deirdre’s bag,” Bess said, wrinkling her nose.

  “Yeah,” George said with a smile.

  The girls forgot about Antonio as they filed into Flutter House. They followed Josh down a long hallway decorated with butterfly posters and mobiles. Also in the hall was the gift shop. Nancy could see fun butterfly toys and colorful butterfly-shaped pillows through the glass window.

  “Cool!” Nancy exclaimed.

  At the end of the hall was a room. When they were all inside, the kids looked around. Where were the butterflies?

  “This room keeps the butterflies from flying outside the building,” Josh explained.

  “You mean escaping?” Tommy asked, wide-eyed.

  “Don’t worry,” Josh said proudly. “No butterfly has ever escaped Flutter House!”

  Josh walked to the back wall and lifted a curtain. “See for yourselves,” he said.

  Mrs. Ramirez’s class filed through the curtain into another room. It was shaped like a dome and filled with—

  “Butterflies!” Bess swooned.

  Everyone started oohing and ahhing as dozens of colorful butterflies soared over their heads or rested on plants and flowers.

  “It feels like summer in here!” Nancy said.

  “Butterflies love warm weather,” Josh explained. “That’s why you see so many in the summer.”

  “What do butterflies eat, Josh?” Mrs. Ramirez asked.

  “Most butterflies drink the nectar from flowers or fruit,” Josh said.

  “I knew that!” Harper declared.

  A yellow-and-oran
ge butterfly landed gently on Nancy’s shoulder.

  “Quick, Nancy!” Bess said. “Make a wish.”

  “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “There’s a saying that if you make a wish on a butterfly, it will come true!” Bess said excitedly.

  “I didn’t know that!” Harper admitted.

  Nancy thought of some wishes but picked just one. She squeezed her eyes shut, then made her secret wish.

  When Nancy opened her eyes, everyone was pointing to Josh. An even bigger butterfly had landed on his shoulder—a big blue butterfly!

  “Wow!” Marcy Rubin said. “What kind of butterfly is that?”

  “Meet our only blue morpho butterfly,” Josh said.

  “Morpho?” Peter Patino repeated. “Sounds like a superhero!”

  “He’s super, all right!” Josh smiled. “In fact, the morpho comes to us all the way from South America!”

  “And now he’s coming with me!” a woman’s voice demanded. Then—

  SNAP!

  Nancy’s eyes popped wide open as a sheer white butterfly net dropped over Josh’s head and shoulders.

  “Oh no!” Nancy gasped. “Who did that?”

  News Flash

  “Cheese and crackers!” Josh cried as he struggled to tear the net off his head. The blue morpho flitted around Josh’s surprised face.

  By now, everyone saw who was holding the net: a woman wearing a tan pantsuit and matching shoes.

  “Who’s she?” Bess whispered.

  “It’s Dorothy Danner the wedding planner!” George groaned quietly. “My mom catered some of her weddings, and she’s bad news.”

  “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “Whatever Dorothy wants, Dorothy gets!” George said.

  “Looks like she wants that butterfly,” Bess said.

  Dorothy introduced herself to Josh and Mrs. Ramirez. She then pointed at the morpho.

  “I’ll take that butterfly, please,” Dorothy said cheerily. “The bride and groom at my next wedding are planning a butterfly release after they say ‘I do.’ ”

  “Well, we don’t give away our butterflies,” Josh said, when he was finally freed from the net.

  “But the bride needs something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue,” Dorothy explained.

  Kendra Jackson stuck out her foot and said, “She can borrow my blue sneakers!”

  Dorothy ignored her.

  “I must have the butterfly,” Dorothy told Josh. “It’s my first outdoor wedding of the year!”

  “Sorry,” Josh said firmly.

  “It’s in the park . . . this Saturday . . . at three o’clock!” Dorothy went on.

  “Good-bye, Ms. Danner,” Josh said.

  Dorothy frowned. She turned toward the curtain, but not before giving the morpho one last look.

  “Uh-oh,” Nancy whispered. “Something tells me she hasn’t given up.”

  Everyone turned back to the butterflies. Excited chatter filled the dome, until Deirdre let out a big shriek.

  “Help!” Deirdre cried as a flock of butterflies swarmed around her. “I’m being attacked!”

  “They probably like the flowers on your hat,” Josh pointed out.

  “The flowers aren’t real!” Deirdre said, waving her hands to swat away the butterflies. “They don’t even smell like flowers!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Josh said. “Butterflies are attracted to the bright colors of flowers too.”

  “Well, we certainly learned a lot about butterflies,” Mrs. Ramirez said. She smiled as she looked at her watch. “But it’s two thirty and time to leave.”

  “Awww!” the kids groaned.

  Nancy, Bess, and George didn’t want to leave either.

  “Good-bye, butterflies!” Bess said as the class followed Josh through the curtain.

  “See you later, Morpho!” Harper called.

  Later? Nancy glanced back at Harper. Was she planning to come back?

  Her thoughts were interrupted as a smiling woman greeted them. In her hand was a feather duster.

  “This is Carmen,” Josh said. “She’s going to dust you all off.”

  “Are we that dirty?” Quincy asked.

  “It’s not for dust, dear,” Carmen said as she began dusting off Quincy. “It’s to make sure butterflies haven’t landed on your shoulders or heads.”

  “So they don’t escape?” Marcy asked.

  Carmen narrowed her eyes and said jokingly, “No butterflies escape Flutter House. Not on my watch!”

  Dusted head to toe, Mrs. Ramirez’s class boarded the big yellow school bus outside. Nancy, Bess, and George found empty seats.

  “We were right, you guys,” Nancy said. “This was an awesome trip.”

  “Super awesome!” Bess giggled.

  Mrs. Ramirez began a head count. She stopped and said, “Why isn’t Peter on the bus? Has anyone seen Peter Patino?”

  “Here he comes!” Kendra said.

  Nancy glanced out the window. Peter was running toward the bus. Clutched tightly in his hands was a paper bag.

  “Peter, where were you?” Mrs. Ramirez scolded.

  “Um—I had to get something,” Peter blurted out. He slipped into the seat across from Nancy, Bess, and George. “Sorry, Mrs. Ramirez.”

  The bus began its trip back to River Heights Elementary School. Nancy glanced across the aisle at Peter. Her classmate smiled slyly as he peeked inside the bag.

  “What’s in the bag, Peter?” Nancy asked.

  Peter glanced up from the bag. “Nothing!” he said quickly. “Zero, zip, zilch!”

  Nancy shrugged at her friends. What was that all about?

  “Boys!” Bess sighed.

  * * *

  “What do you get after you eat caterpillars?” Hannah Gruen joked in the kitchen later. Before Nancy could answer, she said, “Butterflies in your stomach!”

  Nancy groaned even though the joke made her giggle. Hannah had been making Nancy giggle since she was three years old. That’s how long Hannah had been the Drews’ housekeeper and almost like a mother to Nancy.

  “Good one, Hannah!” Mr. Drew chuckled as he turned on the small kitchen TV. “As long as caterpillars aren’t for dinner tonight.”

  Nancy was setting the kitchen table. But all she wanted to do was talk about her awesome class trip.

  “We saw the prettiest butterflies at Flutter House today, Daddy!” Nancy said. “There was an orange one that landed on my shoulder, and this big blue one called—”

  Nancy stopped midsentence as she glanced up. There on TV was Josh. Standing next to him was Carmen!

  “Daddy, Hannah, look!” Nancy said, pointing to the TV. “The people from Flutter House are on the local news!”

  Nancy listened closely . . .

  “Flutter House is worried about our missing butterfly,” Josh was telling the reporter, “especially since he’s our only blue morpho.”

  Nancy almost dropped the dish she was holding. Did she just hear what she thought she heard?

  “Morpho is missing?” Nancy said slowly. “No way!”

  ‘M’ Marks the Spot

  Nancy moved closer to the TV to hear more.

  “Do you think the blue morpho butterfly flew out of the building?” the reporter asked Josh.

  “Never,” Josh said, shaking his head. “Butterflies never escape Flutter House!”

  “Not on my watch!” Carmen added.

  “Then what happened to it?” the reporter asked.

  “It’s a mystery!” Josh said with a shrug. “The last visitors we had today were a third-grade class.”

  “We were the last ones there,” Nancy said, “but not the only ones.”

  “Who else was there?” Mr. Drew asked.

  “A wedding planner named Dorothy Danner,” Nancy answered. Her eyes lit up. “She wanted the blue morpho for a wedding she is planning.”

  “I think I know what you’re thinking, Nancy,” Hannah said. “That Dorothy Danner might have stolen the butterfly?�
��

  “She did have a butterfly net!” Nancy remembered.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Mr. Drew agreed.

  “Could someone please drive me to Flutter House?” Nancy asked. “So I can tell Josh it was Dorothy who took Morpho?”

  “Whoa!” Mr. Drew said with a smile. “You know a good detective needs clues before blaming anyone.”

  Nancy knew her father was right. He wasn’t a detective, but he was a lawyer. And lawyers knew a thing or two about mysteries and cases.

  “And who knows?” Mr. Drew went on. “While you look for clues, you might find more suspects.”

  “True, Daddy,” Nancy agreed. “But I’m pretty sure the butterfly thief was Dorothy Danner.”

  As Nancy went back to setting the table, she said, “I’m also sure of something else.”

  “What?” Mr. Drew asked.

  “That this is a case for the Clue Crew!” Nancy declared.

  * * *

  The next day was Saturday. The Clue Crew gathered that morning in Nancy’s room to work on the case. Before they could start, Bess wanted to demonstrate her latest invention . . .

  “It’s a foldable butterfly net!” Bess said proudly. “If we find Morpho, I just pull it out of my pocket, unfold it, and gotcha!”

  “You mean when we find Morpho, Bess,” Nancy said. “You know the Clue Crew never gives up.”

  “Then let’s get to work!” George said. She sat down at Nancy’s computer to open a new case file. “What do we know so far?”

  Nancy paced back and forth across her shaggy rug. She always thought best that way.

  “We know that Morpho went missing yesterday afternoon,” Nancy said. “And he probably didn’t fly out on his own.”

  “How could anybody take a butterfly out of Flutter House?” Bess asked.

  “Especially with Carmen dusting us off like we had cooties!” George added.

  “Unless,” Nancy said slowly, “someone came back later to take Morpho—when Carmen and Josh were busy or weren’t looking.”

  “Okay, but who?” Bess wondered.

  “Dorothy might have come back,” Nancy said. “She did look at Morpho funny before she left.”

  George began their suspect list with Dorothy Danner. When she was finished typing, she asked, “Who else could have taken Morpho?”