Mailbox Mania (4 page)

“Abby!” yelled Dee Dee.

“Go ring Stacy's doorbell,” Abby called. “Maybe she'll talk to
you
.” Sadly, she headed home.

Abby could hardly eat.

Shawn and Jimmy sat across from each other at the table. They scowled.

Carly whined and refused to look at Abby. All through lunch.

Mother looked first at Abby, then the others. “What's going on with the four of you?”

Abby spoke up. “Everything's horrible. We're having a mailbox decorating contest. But nothing's working out.”

Carly smirked. “
My
mailbox is ready.”

Shawn shook his head. “We must make mailbox together. Four Hunter kids . . . together.”

“Remember our meeting?” Abby said. “Remember what Eric said about working
together? We're a family.”

Carly poked out her bottom lip. “I wish we weren't!”

Mother's eyebrows bounced up. “Carly Anne Hunter!”

“Well, it's true!” Carly wailed. And she got up and stomped off.

Mrs. Hunter excused herself and left the table.

Shawn's eyes got big. Jimmy's too.

Abby felt like a jitterbox.

TEN

It was the day before the Fourth.

And the day before Mailbox Mania.

Abby sat under a tree in the front yard. She stared at their mailbox. It was all red and white now. Like a flag.

All the Hunter kids had decorated the mailbox. Mother's talk with Carly had changed things. Everything!

Abby was glad.

Next door, Stacy's mailbox was on display, too. It was blue with perfect white and red stars. And an American flag for the mailbox flag!

Abby tried not to look at Stacy's beautiful mailbox. But her eyes weren't helping.

Then Shawn and Jimmy brought the dog over. Snow White was panting. “She is very hot,” Shawn said.

Jimmy just stood there. His eyes were blank.

Abby nodded. “I'm hot, too. But not from the heat.” She shot a mean look at Jimmy.

“You are mad, yes?” Shawn said.

“Jimmy doesn't like our mailbox,” Abby said. “I thought the fighting was over!”

When Jimmy heard that, he ran across the street. He sat on Eric's lawn and stared at them.

Abby wished she were an only child. Like Stacy and Eric. And all the other Cul-de-sac Kids.

When the mail came, Abby ran to get it. She reached for the letters. But there was something else inside.

A present. With a bright red bow.

“What's this?” she said.

Jimmy dashed over for a look. “Let me see.” He peered inside.

“It's a present.” Abby took it out.

Jimmy stood on tiptoes. “Is present for me?”

Abby looked at the card. “It's for you . . . and Carly, Shawn, and me.”

Jimmy jumped up and down. “Yippee!”

“Quick, let's find the others,” Abby said.

“Open it!” Jimmy shouted.

Abby dashed into the house. “Carly!” she called. “There's a present for all of us in the mail!”

That brought her running.

Soon, the four of them were tearing the paper off. Abby opened the lid.
Shawn, Jimmy, and Carly leaned closer.

Abby held up the gift. “It's a puzzle piece.”

“With words on it,” Carly said.

Jimmy's face wrinkled up. “That not present.”

Abby stared at the puzzle piece. “I can't see all the words. Something's missing.”

Shawn and Carly each took a turn looking at the puzzle piece. “Who sent us this?” Carly asked.

“I don't know,” Abby said. “It's a mystery.”

Shawn laughed. “A mystery in the mailbox!”

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Carly ran to get it.

It was Stacy. “Look what I got in the mail.” She held up a puzzle piece.

Abby studied it. “You got one, too?”

The doorbell rang again.

It was Eric and Jason this time.

“Someone put puzzle pieces in our mailboxes,” Eric said.

Jason danced around when he saw Abby's piece. And Stacy's. “Hey! Maybe they fit together!”

The kids knelt down on the floor. Stacy and Eric moved their pieces around. They didn't fit Jason's piece. So they switched.

“Wait. . .” Abby laughed as Stacy's piece snapped into hers. “This is double dabble good!”

Carly giggled. “Let's see if Dunkum and Dee Dee got puzzles, too.”

“Good idea,” the kids said. They picked up their puzzle pieces and dashed out the front door.

ELEVEN

The Cul-de-sac Kids met Dunkum coming up the street. He was waving his present in the air.

Right there on the sidewalk, they tried to put the puzzle together.

“Look at that!” Abby said. “We're missing one piece.”

Shawn tried to read the words. “It say something about us—the Cul-de-sac Kids!”

The kids leaned over the puzzle. Their heads almost touched.

“You're right,” Abby said. She smiled at Carly. “Why don't you go find Dee Dee?”

Carly leaped up. “Okay!” She ran down the street to Dee Dee's house.

Zippo!
Dee Dee flew out of her house. She checked her mailbox.

Abby and the others watched.

Dee Dee smiled when she spotted the present.

Carly was standing close by. She whispered in Dee Dee's ear and pointed to the other Cul-de-sac Kids.

Dee Dee let out a “Ya-hoo!” She scurried down Blossom Hill Lane. Toward them.

Abby and the rest of the kids circled around her.

Dee Dee looked at the unfinished puzzle and set her piece down. Right in the middle.

It fit!

“
Now
we can read it,” said Abby.

The kids read out loud. “The Cul-de-sac Kids stick together.”

They looked at one another.
Really
looked.

Abby smiled and gave Carly a hug. Then Jimmy came over and hugged Abby.

Soon everyone was hugging.

Except Jason. He was dancing! “We stick . . . stick . . . stick together,” he sang the words.

“
Now
we do!” Abby said.

The kids cheered.

“Who gave us these puzzle presents?” Dunkum asked.

“I don't know,” Dee Dee said.

“Me neither,” Carly said. The two girls giggled.

Abby called a meeting right there on the spot. “The meeting will now come to order,” she said. “Any old business?”

The kids grinned. “Forget the old stuff,” they shouted.

Eric raised his hand. “We have a mystery to solve.”

Stacy nodded. “We sure do!”

Abby called for a vote.

Nine hands flew up.

It was agreed—the Cul-de-sac Kids would play detectives.

“What about Mailbox Mania?” Dee Dee asked. “Aren't we having a contest?”

“That's tomorrow,” Carly told her. “
Today
we have something else to do!”

Abby gathered up the puzzle pieces and stuck them in her pocket. She fell in step with Stacy and Eric. The others were close behind.

They were off to solve a mystery.

TWELVE

“Where do we start?” Jason asked.

Abby had an idea. “Let's talk to Mr. Pete, the postman. He might be up the street.”

“Let's ride bikes and catch him!” Dunkum suggested.

The kids went home to get their bikes.

Mr. Pete was three streets up. He looked surprised when nine kids on nine bikes called and waved him down.

When he stopped, Dunkum and Abby
rode up to the mail truck.

“We need your help,” Abby said.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She explained about the presents.

“Why, yes, I delivered them today,” said Mr. Pete.

Dunkum frowned. “But there weren't any stamps on them.”

Mr. Pete nodded. “I noticed that, too.”

Abby watched his eyes. Something wasn't quite right. She watched his mouth. Mr. Pete was almost smiling.

“How can presents show up in mailboxes like that?” Abby asked.

Mr. Pete shook his head. “It's the strangest thing.”

“Come on,” Eric piped up. “
You know
how the post office works.”