Rebekah--Girl Detective #5, Page 2

  “Why are they taking our bike racks?” she wondered. Her eyes lowered to the pamphlet in her hand. It described a community called West Wood. All of the glossy pictures were filled with bright green grass, and perfect little homes. In bold text beneath one of the pictures it said, West Wood is an Adults Only community, and children are not permitted.

  “Oh no!” she cried out and covered her mouth. “I knew it! I was right! But now I know why I was right! I know why they are taking our bike racks!”

  “Why?” Mouse asked, still very confused.

  “Because they want to turn our town into an adult only community!” Rebekah wailed as she looked around at the adults hurrying off in all directions, all doing their best to avoid Rebekah and Mouse.

  “Rebekah,” Mouse smacked his forehead lightly. “That is absolutely impossible.”

  “Maybe,” Rebekah replied, and then pointed to the bold text on the pamphlet. “But why else would they be handing out these pamphlets? Why else would they be taking our bike racks, and making sure they are too busy to talk to us?”

  Mouse had a hard time thinking of another reason, even though her explanation was so odd to him.

  “Our parents would never allow it,” Mouse reminded her firmly. “Besides, there are way too many kids in town for us all to be forced out.”

  “Maybe,” Rebekah bit into her bottom lip. “But I for one am going to find out for sure.”

  Just as she spoke, she saw an entire line of children being led down one of the side streets. “Look,” Rebekah said. “They won't even let those kids walk on the main street,” she turned to look at Mouse, but it was not Mouse she saw.

  “Rebekah, you need to go on home now,” the Mayor of their small town said. Mr. Jackson was one of the most well known people in town. He had been to their school on a few occasions to speak sternly about safety, the rules of the town, and how important it was to volunteer. Rebekah had always found him to be a bit stiff, but he was the mayor after all.

  “Mr. Jackson, we were just going to the library,” Rebekah said nervously. Mouse stepped closer to her.

  “The library is closed,” Mr. Jackson said ominously. “As is the ice cream shop, and all of the stores. We are doing some special deep cleaning of the main street, so we ask that everyone stay off of it.”

  “Everyone but the adults?” Rebekah inquired boldly.

  Mr. Jackson's eyes glimmered with a strange look, but Rebekah could not tell what it meant. “Rebekah, there is no mystery here for you to solve, go on home and enjoy your day.”

  Rebekah stared after him as he walked away.

  “Oh dear,” she said and crossed her arms. “If the mayor is saying there is no mystery, then we are all in trouble!”

  “This is very strange,” Mouse had to admit. He glanced over at the line of children walking down the side street.

  “I wonder how they will get rid of us?” Rebekah said quietly as they began to walk back toward their neighborhood. “Maybe they will put us all on buses. Maybe they will fly us to another country!”

  Mouse sighed as he shook his head. “I don't know how, but I think I know when.”

  He pointed at a small sign on the light post they passed as they left main street.

  “7PM, Bring your children!”

  Nothing else. No reason why, no fancy decorations, just a simple black and white sign.

  “It's going to happen tonight,” Rebekah said darkly. “I can't believe this is happening.”

  “Me either,” Mouse agreed. He had never heard of such a strange thing occurring.

  “We have to find a way to stop it,” Rebekah said bravely. “They can't just get rid of all the children. This is our town too!”

  They agreed to meet back in town around 6:30. Until then they would have to think of a plan. How could two kids save all the kids in the entire town?

  Chapter 9

  That night when they met up in town Rebekah was armed with a few ideas, but she was certain none of them would work.

  “What do you think we can do?” Mouse wondered.

  “I think the only thing we can do, is try to talk them out of it,” Rebekah sighed. “Maybe if we volunteered more, cleaned up the streets, and behaved a little better, none of this would have happened.”

  “No,” Mouse said firmly. “This is not our fault.”

  They stuck to the side streets to get into town, not wanting anyone to notice them. As they walked, they heard a strange sound coming from just outside of town. It sounded like weird music, followed by very loud sounds, like stomping.

  “What in the world?” Mouse asked as he looked down the street. He could not see anything yet, but it was clear whatever it was, was coming in their direction.

  “Maybe that's how they plan to get all the kids out of their houses,” Rebekah said with a glare. “By playing music like the ice cream man.”

  “Rebekah, I really don't think our parents would do this to us,” Mouse said firmly.

  “Maybe not, but my parents were talking about how they had to keep it secret from me, so why would they need to keep anything a secret?” she demanded. She didn't want to think it was true either. Usually she could come up with a pretty rational explanation, but this one she could not think of any other answer for. As she noticed some adults approaching she pulled mouse into an alley between two shops.

  “No matter what, we have to stick together,” she said sternly to him.

  “Of course,” he replied with a sharp nod.

  The music was getting closer. The loud thumping was getting closer too. Rebekah was stunned by this, as she was sure that there was nothing that could explain it. What kind of car could have a radio so loud? Mouse was huddled close to her as they both tried to figure out what was happening.

  All of the sudden all of the shops on the street turned on their lights. It was late afternoon and nearly closing time for most of them. What were they doing lighting up the street?

  “Oh no, something is definitely happening,” Rebekah said as she saw the adults beginning to flood the streets. They all had their children in tow.

  “It's happening!” Rebekah squealed and grabbed Mouse's hand. “We have to hide, we have to find a place where no one will see us!”

  Mouse was very confused. He was sure that Rebekah was wrong on this one. Why would their parents turn them over? But all of the children in town were being led out to the sidewalks. They all looked as confused as Mouse felt. His own parents arrived not long after, looking for him.

  “Mouse?” they called out through the crowd.

  “Don't answer,” Rebekah commanded. “If they find us, we'll be toast!”

  Mouse stayed quiet and sniffled.

  “Rebekah!” she heard her father call out over the noise of the people gathered on the street.

  “Dad?” Rebekah whispered quietly. She did not want to believe that her parents would want to give her away either. What was so wrong with having kids in a town? They kept everyone smiling. They always made sure grass was mowed and leaves were raked. They were a lot of fun to have around.

  The music that was approaching was very lively. It did not sound like the kind of music you would expect from something arriving to take all of the children in town away. Rebekah was curious when she began to hear the other children cheer.

  "What is happening?" Mouse wondered as he peered around the edge of the alley.

  "I'm not sure," Rebekah replied and also tried to see around the corner. She did not want to be tricked, but that music sounded like a lot of fun. Just as she was peering around the corner she heard the roar of a lion!

  "Ah!" she cried out and ducked back into the shadows. "They brought lions!" she squealed.

  "Lions?" Mouse had to see. He stepped out of the alley and gasped with surprise.

  "Rebekah, come look," he said quickly,. "Come see, hurry!"

  With all the cheering, and even Mouse seeming very excited, Rebekah decided to take a look. She didn't see anything at first, until the fi
rst big elephant came pounding through!

  "An elephant?" she said with surprise.

  "They're not here to take us away," Mouse laughed. "It's a circus!"

  “A circus?” Rebekah was shocked. “How, why?” she sputtered. Her mother stepped up beside her.

  “Rebekah our whole town is so proud of all of our kids, we just wanted to plan a special surprise for them.”

  “A surprise?” Rebekah laughed. “Why didn't you just tell me?”

  Rebekah's parents exchanged a long glance. “Well Rebekah, we weren't sure you would play along and keep it a secret, like Beverly.”

  “Beverly knew?” Mouse asked with a frown.

  “Of course she did,” Rebekah laughed and threw her hands up in the air. “Beverly knows everything!”

  Chapter 10

  They all followed along, watching the parade as it marched down Main. It was a beautiful sight to see, from the wild animals, the dancing clowns, and the flipping acrobats. The musicians were filling the entire town with music. The children were happily running along beside the circus. Rebekah had to admit that she had certainly been wrong about this one. She was happy to be wrong.

  When the circus pulled into the fairgrounds, it did a slow circle before stopping. The Ringmaster, the man who Rebekah had seen talking to the mayor, stepped forward. Mr. Jackson soon joined him.

  “When your Mayor told me what wonderful kids he had in his town, we knew we had to put on a special show just for you!” he waved his hand and the acrobats tumbled around in front of him. “So before we open tomorrow, all the children of the town get a front row free show!”

  All of the children cheered with excitement. Rebekah was jumping up and down along with Mouse. Before they went in to see the show, Rebekah's father pulled her gently aside.

  “What were you thinking we were planning?” her father asked as he looked closely at Rebekah. He knew that she had suspected something bad.

  “Maybe that everyone decided that the town would be better off without kids,” Rebekah cringed.

  “Oh Rebekah,” her father laughed. “You have some imagination,” he hugged her tightly.

  “You sure do,” her mother grinned and hugged her. “Don't you know how important you are to us? How important all of the kids here are to the town?”

  “I do now,” Rebekah giggled and blushed over how wrong she had been.

  Chapter 11

  That night she learned two important things. One, her parents would never ever try to send her away. Two, sometimes it was a very good thing to be wrong.

  She settled in beside Mouse, to watch the show. As the lights of the tent dimmed and the animals began to call out, she noticed Mouse squirming.

  'What's wrong?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “Sit still!”

  “I can't,” he squeaked, or at least she thought he squeaked. Until she saw all the little pink noses poke up out of his pockets.

  “Mouse!” she said with surprise. “How many do you have with you?” Mouse had a huge collection of mice, and he usually had one or two tagging along, but never this many.

  “Well, I didn't know what would happen,” he frowned. “I didn't want to leave them behind.”

  “Oh Mouse,” Rebekah giggled as he tried to keep all of the mice from squirming out of his pockets.

  “At least they get to see the show too,” she said with a bright smile.

  “Yes, pay attention mice,” Mouse said. “Because next, we're going to figure out how to put on a mouse circus!”

  Next Steps

  This book is part of the children’s series, “Rebekah - Girl Detective”.

  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 “Grown-Ups Out To Get Us?!”

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

  http://www.facebook.com/RebekahGirlDetective

  Sincerely,

  PJ Ryan

  Now Available in Audio

  Rebekah - Girl Detective #5: Grown-Ups Out To Get Us?! is now available as an audiobook!

  You can listen to a free sample here:

  http://pjryanbooks.com/books/grown-ups-out-to-get-us/

  More audio versions coming soon!

  Visit the author website at:

  PJRyanBooks.com

  Please enjoy the following preview for #6 The Missing Gems

  Chapter 1

  Rebekah was headed off to a very special field trip. She and her best friend Mouse, who was not a mouse at all, but a boy who liked to keep mice as pets, were going to visit the history museum in the city. Rebekah's teacher Mrs. Morris was in charge of their group, which made Rebekah even happier. Mrs. Morris was one of the nicest teachers she knew. Rebekah’s normally loose and curly red hair was braided tightly, and she was wearing her very best attempt at an archaeologist’s uniform which included khaki pants and a button down khaki top. She topped it off with a hat from her old dress up kit.

  “You do know we're just going to visit, right?” Mouse asked her as he sat beside her on the bus.

  “What do you mean?” Rebekah asked innocently.

  “I mean, you can't actually do any digging at the museum, you can only look at what has already been found,” he pointed out. As one of the teachers walked down the row counting off the students, he covered up his shirt pocket, where one of his mice was hidden. Mouse always had one of his pets with him. Today he had brought along Arthur, who of course was named after the famous archaeologist Arthur Evans.

  “Oh Mouse,” Rebekah sighed and wiggled one of her hands through the air. “There is always something new to be discovered!”

  “Oh no,” Mouse groaned as he sank down in his seat. Rebekah was their town's best detective, at least she liked to think so. She was always investigating something. Usually those investigations involved Mouse getting into some kind of hot water. But Rebekah always solved her mystery!

  Rebekah scooted forward in her seat and smiled over the next seat at the kids that were sitting in front of her.

  “Isn't it amazing to think that once there were no cars on this road?” she asked with a smile.

  “What's even more amazing is the invention of seat belts,” Mrs. Morris said as she pointed to the belt that Rebekah had neglected to fasten.

  “Sorry,” she blushed and clicked her seat belt shut. “I'm just really excited about the museum.”

  “Me too,” Mrs. Morris winked and then returned to her seat. The bus ride was a long one, and the teachers kept the kids busy singing songs and telling round robin stories. Each student had a turn to add their own spin to the story that was being passed around the bus. When it came to Rebekah's turn, everyone quieted down and listened closely to what she would add. So far the story was about a brown robin who got lost in the jungle and barely made it through a patch of marshmallow goo before climbing on to a rocket ship and being shot off to the moon, which the rabbit soon discovered was made out of lettuce, not cheese!

  “So the brown rabbit munched a hole right through the lettuce moon and in the middle it found-” Rebekah started to say.

  “The museum!” some of the other students started to cheer. As much as the kids liked to hear Rebekah's ideas, they were too excited by arriving at the museum to hear the end of the story.

  “I'm listening,” Mouse grinned at Rebekah. “What did the rabbit find?”

  Rebekah smirked and winked one green eye. “The museum of course!”

  Chapter 2

  As the students piled off the bus, the teachers did their best to keep them in an orderly line. Mouse had shifted Arthur to his book bag front pocket so that he would not be spotted.

  "Don't scratch my camera," he warned as he added a crumble of cheese to keep Arthur quiet. When they made it into the museum they were divided into groups. Rebekah hoped they would get to stay with Mrs. Morris, but instead they had to join a group led by Mrs. Konti. She was the strictest math te
acher that Rebekah had ever had! When Rebekah wore sandals to school and tried to make a joke of counting her fingers and toes, Mrs. Konti warned her that she would get detention if she kept it up. She took math very seriously. It seemed to Rebekah that Mrs. Konti took everything very seriously.

  "Now children," she said sternly. "I don't want any of you running off. We must stay together as a group, and do not touch anything!" she stamped one foot to make that last point clear.

  Rebekah sighed, and Mouse patted the front of his book bag. "That means you Rebekah," Mrs. Konti said with a nod of her head.

  "Yes Ma'am," Rebekah replied and frowned. She did not like to be singled out. But Mrs. Konti had a point, since she had been the one to leave fingerprints all over the computer screens in their new computer lab. Rebekah found it to be very interesting and thought she could use the screens as a way to record fingerprints. She had spent an entire afternoon wiping the screens clean while being lectured about the cost of the flat screen monitors.

  Chapter 3

  The tour guide that would lead them through the museum stepped up. He was a tall and thin man wearing tiny little glasses that perched on the end of his narrow nose. He looked a bit miffed to be leading the group in the first place.

  "Hello children," he said and offered a small smile. "Our tour begins with-" as he began to speak about the first display, Rebekah's attention wandered. She had learned that being a good detective meant paying attention to what no one else noticed. So when everyone was looking in one direction, she tended to look in another. There in the window, not far from where they stood, was an empty pedestal. She narrowed her eyes so that she could read the description from a distance. It was supposed to be a collection of gems. But the gems were missing! Rebekah tugged at Mouse's sleeve, but he waved her away. He was trying to hear the speech about the dinosaur bone on display in the window right in front of them.