Rebekah--Girl Detective #3

  Contents

  Title Page

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Next Steps

  Now Available In Audio!

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  Other Titles

  Legal Notices

  Rebekah - Girl Detective #3

  Magellan Goes Missing

  By

  PJ Ryan

  Copyright © 2013 PJ Ryan

  Cover Illustration by Carolina Storni

  All rights reserved.

  PJRyanBooks.com

  “Rebekah - Girl Detective” is a short story series for children ages 9-12 with the remaining titles to be published on a regular basis. Each title can be read on its own.

  You can join Rebekah’s fun Facebook page for young detectives here:

  http://www.facebook.com/RebekahGirlDetective

  I’d really love to hear from you!

  I very much appreciate your reviews and comments so thank you in advance for taking a moment to leave one for “Magellan Goes Missing”.

  Sincerely,

  PJ Ryan

  Chapter 1

  “Oh yes I see,” she muttered in her best detective voice. She leaned her hands on the windowsill and stared out the window. It was an ordinary day in her ordinary neighborhood. She had been staring out of her window for quite some time, just hoping to spot something suspicious. She wanted to have an adventure, but she did not think anyone else did. Everyone seemed to have something to do, or something they were interested in. It was the beginning of summer and she was ready to have some fun. Sadly, she had a bit of a cold and could not go swimming just yet. So she decided to do her other favorite activity, detecting. Her mother called it spying. Her father called it being a little nosy. But she called it paying very close attention. She was paying very close attention to the older couple walking down the street with their tiny dog. She was certain that these people must not be as sweet and nice as they looked. She was just about to launch an investigation when her phone rang. She ran over to the stand beside her bed where she charged it.

  "Hello?" she said hoping it would be an adventure calling.

  "Oh ---- I am so glad you answered," Mouse gushed into the phone. Mouse was her best friend. He collected little mice as pets, so everyone called him Mouse. Actually, maybe she had been the one to start it, but either way, he was now known as Mouse.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "It's Magellan," he sighed. "He's gone."

  "Is that a mouse?" she asked.

  "Yes! My favorite mouse!" he cried out.

  "Really?" she frowned.

  "Alright, they're all my favorite," he said. "But Magellan is so tiny, I am so scared he's lost or hurt somewhere."

  "Have you checked all your pockets?" she asked. Mouse liked to carry his pets around with him in his pockets from time to time.

  "Yes, and all the usual hiding spots- under the bed, in the closet, in the hamper-"

  "In the hamper?" she gasped.

  "Yes," he answered.

  "Brave mouse," she giggled.

  "Listen!" he said, getting frustrated. "It's not funny, I have to find Magellan!"

  "I know you do," she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have teased. This sounds like an investigation," she said firmly. "I'll be over in ten minutes."

  "Please hurry," Mouse squeaked.

  When she hung up the phone her mind was already spinning with ideas. As she walked out of the house she spotted the older couple with their tiny dog. They smiled nicely at her. She smiled back, but she knew they were up to something.

  The walk to Mouse's house was not very far. It was only down the street. As she walked along she heard something moving in the brush beside the sidewalk.

  “Who's there?” she demanded as she turned to look inside the brush. There was no person small enough to hide in the bushes. Maybe just maybe it was the couple's dog, come back to spy on her. She peeked through the brush to see what was following after her.

  In the middle of the twigs and leaves was a small orange cat. It looked up at her with little blue eyes and seemed very sweet.

  “Aww, what a cute kitty,” she cooed.

  That cute kitty wasn't happy that he had been found. He reached out with his sharp little claws and swiped at the finger that she stretched out to pet him.

  “Hey!” she protested. “That's my finger!” she snatched it back before its sharp little nails could slice into her skin.

  Chapter 2

  The orange cat hissed and growled at her. He stood up on his four legs and raised its back as if it would attack.

  “Bad kitty!” she said sharply. “Very bad kitty!”

  With a scowl she stalked off the rest of the way to Mouse's house. When she knocked on the door he opened it fast.

  “I still can't find him!” he said.

  “Oh no,” she sighed and shook her head. “I'm sorry that you lost Magellan. I just got attacked by a fierce cat!”

  “A fierce cat, like a tiger?” Mouse asked with surprise.

  “No silly,” she said. “But it could have been, for as loud as it snarled, and how sharp its claws are. It almost got my finger!” she showed him her unmarked finger.

  “Oh, bad kitty,” he shook his head.

  “That's what I said,” she grinned. “Now let's take a look at what we can do about this missing mouse!”

  “Magellan,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, Magellan,” she said. She whipped out her small notebook. “When was the last time you saw your mouse?” she said.

  “This morning, after I let them out into their maze.” He replied. “He was in the castle with all of the other mice, but I couldn't find him when it was time to put them back in their cage.”

  “Is there any way out of the maze?” she asked curiously.

  “Here, I'll show you,” he said. “I just built a new one yesterday.”

  Mouse's room was loaded with all kinds of inventions he had created to keep his tiny mice happy. He had mice roller coasters, he had mice bicycles, and even a mouse swing set. He walked her over to his newest creation, a large mouse maze complete with castle turrets and a drawbridge. The mice had to eat the cheese to get the drawbridge to lower.

  “This is great!” she said with a smile. “I'd love to run through it.”

  “You'd have to be a bit smaller,” Mouse said thoughtfully. She could tell that he was already inventing some ideas in his head as to how to make a life size maze.

  “So all of the mice were in here?” she asked and peered closely. “Oh Mouse one of your mice has a big appetite,” she said.

  “Huh?” Mouse looked at the corner of the maze that she was pointing at. There was a tiny hole chewed through the cardboard of the box.

  “Maybe he thought it was cheese,” she said.

  “Oh no,” he smacked his forehead and groaned. “How could I not see that? He could be anywhere!”

  “As long as he didn't get out of the house, we can find him,” she assured him, “Let's just take a close look at where he might have gone.”

  “How can we do that?” Mouse asked. “He's so tiny there's no way to know which way he went.”

  “By being mice,” Rebekah said firmly and dropped down on to all fours beside the mouse maze. She began searching along the baseboards for anywhere that the mouse could have hidden. Mouse dropped down beside her and began searching too.

  Chapter 3

  What they soon discovered was that Mouse did not clean under his bed o
r desk very often. They did not find any loose mice.

  "Hm," Rebekah frowned as she sat back on her heels. "Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe it isn't that Magellan got out, maybe something else got in."

  "What could get in?" Mouse asked.

  All of the sudden Rebekah gasped. "I know! That feisty cat I saw in the bushes!"

  "How could a cat get in here?" Mouse shook his head with disbelief.

  Rebekah pointed to his window. The curtains were blowing in a light breeze. When they walked over to it, they could see the screen was hanging out.

  "How did that happen?" Mouse wondered.

  "Well, maybe that's how the cat got in," Rebekah said. She tapped her chin lightly and then looked closely at the curtains.

  "I don't see any claw marks," she said.

  "Me either," Mouse agreed.

  "There must have been a strong wind that pushed the screen out," Rebekah said. "Then the cat could climb in. He probably heard all the squeaking of the mice and-"

  "Oh no Rebekah, what are you saying?!" Mouse gasped. "Do you think the cat had Magellan for dinner?" he fell back on his bed with a sigh.

  "I hope not," Rebekah bit into her bottom lip. "That cat is a menace. I say we find it, and take it to the vet. She'll be able to tell if it got to Magellan."

  'What a horrible thought," Mouse sniffed. "Poor Magellan."

  "Don't worry," Rebekah said. "Maybe the cat just hid him away somewhere. Maybe we can still find him safe."

  "Maybe," Mouse nodded a little but he did not look very hopeful. "Let's catch that cat!" he said.

  They went to Mouse's kitchen and took out some supplies from the refrigerator. A little bit of turkey to tempt the cat with. A little bit of cheese in case they found Magellan and two bottles of water for them. It was going to be a long day of hunting cat.

  Chapter 4

  Once outside, Mouse looked everywhere for any sign of Magellan, while Rebekah looked everywhere for any sign of the cat. It was not too long before she heard the rustling again.

  "Oh little kitty," she sang out. She was carrying a small cage that Mouse kept to transport his mice in. It was large enough to fit the orange cat. If they could get the cat inside of it, that is.

  "Let's go this way," she said in a whisper when she heard the rustling again.

  The two crept slowly toward the sound. Expecting to find the orange cat, Rebekah had her cage open and ready to catch it. Instead of catching the cat she caught a bird in the cage! It had been getting ready to take off, and when she held the cage over the leaves, it flew right up inside of it.

  "Ah!" Rebekah cried out as its wings fluttered wildly.

  "Ah!" Mouse shrieked as she swung the cage toward him and the bird flew out of the open door. He could feel the wind from its wings as it flew quickly away.

  They both stared after the bird as it flew away, laughing and gasping for breath.

  "Wow that was wild," Mouse snickered and grabbed the cage from Rebekah's hand.

  "No cat in there," he said as he peeked inside the cage.

  "I know, I know," she said and shrugged. 'Maybe it found a home."

  Just then she saw something orange and fast streak across the street.

  "Look!" she pointed at the streak. "There it goes!"

  The two began to run swiftly after the cat. The cage dangled from Mouse's hand as he ran as fast as he could.

  "Oh we're going to get you cat," Rebekah yelled.

  The cat was very fast and could run through small spaces. It squeezed under a fence and ran off through a garden. Mouse stopped at the fence. Rebekah kept going, determined to get the cat. She did not realize she had trampled through the garden until she heard a holler from the window.

  "Rebekah! Get out of my garden!" Mrs. Beasley demanded when she saw the state of her garden. "You will be replanting that!"

  "Yes of course Mrs. Beasley, so sorry," she sighed. "You see there's this cat, and we think it ate Mouse's mouse."

  "Rebekah, I don't care," Mrs. Beasley shook her head. "I just want my garden back to normal.

  "I promise I will fix it," Rebekah said firmly and then began chasing after the cat once more.

  Mouse walked around the garden and smiled apologetically to Mrs. Beasley. When they reached the edge of the yard there was no sign of the cat.

  "Where did it go now?" Rebekah wondered. Then they heard a low growl from a pile of rocks beside them.

  "Oh there you are," Rebekah growled back. She crouched down and motioned for Mouse to give her back the cage. He handed it over and she was ready to catch the cat inside of it. She held out the piece of turkey.

  "Here kitty kitty," she called out sweetly. "Got a treat for you!" she said.

  The cat inched out from behind the rocks, his head low, his back arched.

  “Meow!" Mouse said, trying to talk like a cat would. Rebekah glanced over her shoulder at him with one raised eyebrow.

  'What?" he said. "It might work."

  Rebekah shook her head and looked back at the cat.

  "One, two, three," she whispered, and then lunged forward with the open door of the cage. The cat shrieked and started to bolt, but the cage was over him before he could.

  "Gotcha!" Rebekah grinned and did her best to close the cage. The cat was taking swipes with his sharp nails through the holes in the cage. He was growling long and low and hissing.

  "Aw, he's scared," Mouse said. "Don't worry little cat," he said sweetly. "It's not your fault you eat mice, all cats do!"

  "Don't talk to the prisoner!" Rebekah demanded. "This cat is in our custody now, and will need to stand trial."

  "Trial?" Mouse gulped.

  "Trial," Rebekah repeated. Then she held up the cage so she could look into the cat's little blue eyes.

  "Off to the vet with this one, so we can get some hard evidence."

  Chapter 5

  The entire walk to the vet, the cat growled and hissed.

  "What a mean cat," Rebekah shook her head.

  "He's not mean," Mouse said. "He just doesn't like being in that cage."

  Rebekah was swinging it back and forth mildly as she walked. She held it out far enough from her legs to keep its claws from shredding her shorts.

  "If you say so she said, but it sure seems pretty mean to me."

  "It has no home," Rebekah, Mouse said sadly. "I would not be very nice if I had no home, and I don't think you would be either."

  "Maybe but that does not excuse mouse devouring," she said firmly. When they reached the vets office she glanced down at the cat again.

  "This is it Mr. Kitty, the moment of truth. We will be able to find out from this vet if you did anything to Magellan," she paused and stared hard at the cat. "Want to make a confession now?"

  The cat hissed. "Ah, a tough one I see," she clucked her tongue and carried the cat into the vet's office.

  "Mouse!" the vet cried out when she saw the young boy. She knew him well as he often brought his mice in for check-ups and to see if they were eating properly.

  "How are you?" she asked with a bright smile. Dr. Winston had long black hair, and big brown eyes. She had a smile that seemed to make her face glow. She was one of the nicest people in the neighborhood, according to Rebekah.

  "Not so good," Mouse said as he walked up to her. "Magellan is missing."

  "Oh no!" Dr. Winston said. "Well you know mice are good escape artists," she said with a frown. "I bet he'll be back in no time."

  "Maybe not," Rebekah said as she plopped the yowling howling cage down on the front desk of the office.

  'Who is this?" Dr. Winston asked and peered inside the cage. "Isn't this cage a little small for this cat?"

  "It was all we had," Mouse said quickly.

  "This is the cat that took Magellan," Rebekah said sternly. "At least, that's what we suspect."

  "Oh?" Dr. Winston asked as she unlocked the cage and took the small cat out of it. She pet the orange fur soothingly and he began to settle down. He
did not even try to scratch or bite her.

  "Oh now you're nice," Rebekah scowled. "Don't believe it Dr. Winston this cat is just being nice so that you won't find any evidence."

  "Evidence?" Dr. Winston asked with surprise.

  "Yes, we are going to have a trial, and we need some hard evidence that Mr. Kitty here had something to do with Magellan's disappearance."

  Dr. Winston looked very confused for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Ah, I see, evidence," she tried to hide her smile. The cat was very thin, and she knew that it needed some help.

  "Let me just take a look," she said. "I will see if we can find any evidence of a mouse attack!" she whisked the cat away into the back room.

  Chapter 6

  Mouse sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting room and put his head in his hands. He sighed heavily.

  "Poor Magellan," he said and shook his head.

  "I'm sorry Mouse," Rebekah said and gave him a soft hug. "I know that you loved him very much."

  Mouse sniffled and nodded.

  "At least if we find out the truth we can make sure that cat gets a stiff sentence for his crime."

  "Oh Rebekah," Mouse shook his head. "I don't think it would be right to punish the cat for doing just what cats do. They are built to eat mice you know, and I’m sure the cat would not have done it if he had taken the time to get to know Magellan, but that’s the way animals are."

  "You're too nice Mouse," Rebekah frowned and crossed her arms. "We'll just make sure the cat is somewhere that he can't hurt any more mice, how's that?"

  "That's better," Mouse nodded. "Poor thing looks so sad being all alone."

  "That is true," Rebekah said in a whisper. She had noticed how sad the cat looked. She remembered what Mouse had said about not being very nice if he did not have a home. He was right. If Rebekah didn't have her home and her mother and father to look after and love her, she probably would not be very nice either.