Sly the Sleuth and the Food Mysteries (4 page)

I didn't think so. “Cats can't go to games.”

I opened the door.

Kate stood there. “Cheerleading is over,” she said.

“How can practice be over already?” said Melody. “We haven't started yet.”

“It's over.” Kate opened the tote bag on her shoulder. She handed out envelopes.

“What's this?” asked Melody.

“Recipes.”

“How come?” I asked.

“We're going to cook together.”

“I love cooking,” said Princess. She opened her envelope and took out the paper inside. “Oh, no.” Princess stared at her recipe.

“You're not supposed to say ‘Oh, no,'” said Kate. “You're supposed to say ‘Good.'”

“Spaghetti with oil and garlic,” read Melody from her own recipe. “Is that good?”

“Ask Princess,” said Kate.

“Why should she ask me?” said Princess.

“It's an Italian recipe.They all are. And you're Italian.”

“I'm American. My father's Italian.”

“Picky, picky,” said Kate.

“Since when do cheerleaders cook?” I asked.

“We're not cheerleaders,” said Kate. “Not anymore.”

“I like being on the squad,” said Princess.

“A minute ago you said you love to cook,” said Kate.

“I like being on the squad better,” said Princess.

“Don't make trouble, Princess,” said Kate. “I hurt my ankle, so there is no more squad.”

“You can't just do that,” said Melody.“We'll wait for your ankle to heal.”

“I hate waiting. Now we're a cooking club. We can be on TV.”

“TV?” I put my hand on Kate's forehead. “Are you delirious?”

Kate brushed my hand away. “Don't you know about the cooking channels?”

“But those aren't ordinary people,” I said.

“My cousin's on TV.” Kate put her hands on her hips. “And he's ordinary. He's totally ordinary.”

“Really?” asked Melody.

“Well, no. He's my second cousin. Removed once or twice. But he has a cooking show. So when I write to him about our club, we can be on his show.”

“Why do you even want to be on TV?” I asked.

“Everyone wants to be on TV.”

Brian pulled on Kate's shirt. “I'm still mascot, right?”

“Cooking clubs don't have mascots,” said Kate.

Brian shut his mouth. His chin trembled.

“Melody's right,” I said. “You can't just do that, Kate.”

“Yes I can. I started the squad. I can end it.”

“But Brian is mascot. And Taxi is mascat. Brian made her a T-shirt.”

“Mascat?” Kate gave a lopsided smile.“That's cute. Show me the shirt.”

“Taxi ran away,” said Brian.

“But it's a good-looking shirt,” I said.

“Okay,” said Kate. “Our cooking club can have a mascot and a mascat. The TV cameras will love that.”

“Can I keep my pom-poms?” asked Brian.

“Sure.”

“Yay!”

“We'll do everything just like with cheerleading,” said Kate. “On Monday we'll cook at my house. Tuesday will be off, because of Melody's ballet lessons. On Wednesday we'll cook at Melody's house. On Thursday we'll cook at Princess's house. And on Friday we'll cook at Sly's house. We'll share on buying ingredients. And the person whose house we're at has to make sure we have all the measuring cups and things. That way we can do it right.”

“Who said we even want to do it at all?” I asked.

Kate put her fists on her hips. “I know you like to cook, Sly.”

That was true.I like cooking.But it's important to stand up to Kate. I was about to say I didn't like my recipe.Then I looked at it. Linguine with pesto.That dish was yummy. I cleared my throat. “How come you get to pick the recipes?”

“It's my club.” Kate took off her jacket.“Let's start.”

“Whoa,” I said. “Nobody brought ingredients. And I don't have all this stuff.”

“We have ingredients at my house,” said Brian.

“I've heard about your mother,” said Kate. “You have only weird health food ingredients.”

That was a low blow. I put my arm around Brian's shoulders.

But he jumped away. He opened his backpack. “Here.” He took out cupcake packs. Four of them. “Let's make a party.”

“Brian!” Princess looked shocked. “Since when does your mom let you eat junk food?”

“They're good,” said Brian.

Melody and I exchanged glances. Oh, no. Brian was still trading at school. I had to talk to him about that. Later, in private.

“How about we eat cupcakes this time?” I said. “But after this, Brian's contribution will be cheering us on. And the club will cook only food that's good for you.”

“I make the rules,” said Kate. “But that's an okay one. There are only four packs, though. And there are five of us.”

“I have to go anyway,” said Princess.

“What?” said Kate. “We always stay for at least an hour.”

“I forgot I have to be somewhere.” Princess waved. “Bye.”

“Wait,” said Kate. “We have to figure out who's bringing what to my house on Monday. My recipe is rotini with meatballs. It's the hardest one because I'm in charge of the club.”

“I'll bring the rotini,” said Princess. “Bye.”

Kate scowled as she watched Princess go out the door. “You might have a case soon, Sly.”

I wanted to know more. But that scowl put me off. Kate was no fun when she was in a bad mood.

On Monday the cooking club met at Kate's house. That was because Kate's mother was the first parent to agree to this whole idea. Kate's mother agreed to just about anything. And she had persuaded the rest of our parents to give it a try.

Brian came with me. He was the club mascot, after all.

I brought ground beef. Melody brought canned tomatoes. Princess brought rotini. And Kate provided all the rest.

Except what Princess actually took out of her bag was not rotini. It was a sack of rice.

“Rice?” said Kate. “What can we do with rice?”

“Oops,” said Princess. “They both start with
R.
I got confused.”

“How could you get confused?” said Kate. “Your father is from Italy.”

“Oh, well. My mother says pasta dishes taste just as good with rice.”

“Your mother's wrong,” said Kate. “She's not from Italy.”

What had gotten into Kate? First Brian's mother, now Princess's mother. Mother insults were bad news. If Kate said anything mean about my mother, I'd quit the club. After the linguine-with-pesto day.

“Good cooks are flexible,” said Melody. “That's what my mother says.”

“We could even make the rice Chinese-style,” I said.

“I love Chinese food,” said Princess.

“You're ganging up on me,” said Kate. “All except Brian.”

“I like rice,” said Brian.

“Okay, okay,” said Kate. “We'll make rice and meatballs. But not Chinese-style. This is an Italian cooking club. Everybody smile. We have to practice for the TV cameras.”

Rice with meatballs wasn't half bad.

I was the last one out the door.

Kate stopped me. “Do you think Princess did it on purpose?”

“Did what?”

“Rice instead of rotini.”

“No.”

“Well, if she did, you've got a case.”

The cooking club skipped Tuesday because of Melody's ballet lesson. That was all right. My mother missed me at dinner on Monday, anyway. So she was glad on Tuesday.

On Wednesday we met at Melody's house. I brought olive oil. Kate brought garlic. Princess brought spaghetti. And Melody had everything else.

Before we got started, the doorbell rang.

“Are you expecting someone?” Kate asked Melody.

Melody shook her head.

“Well, whoever it is, make them go away,” said Kate. “This is cooking club time.”

We followed Melody to the door.

“Hi.” Jack stood with a soccer ball under his arm. Another guy stood behind him. He had a soccer ball too. “We came to be tasters,” said Jack.

Melody smiled big. She'd been smiling a lot at Jack lately.

“How did you find out about my cooking club?” asked Kate.

“Brian told me.”

Brian clapped. “We played shuffleboard yesterday. I brought the pucks.”

“Who's that?” asked Princess. She smiled at the other guy.

“My cousin Noah. He's staying with me for a while.”

“Oh,” said Kate.

“Well, come in,” said Melody.“We have plenty.”

“Hey, this is my club,” said Kate. “I decide.”

“It's my house,” said Melody.

Kate opened her mouth.Then shut it.Then opened it. Then shut it. She reminded me of Jack's fish. She turned to the boys. “Tasters are an okay addition. Come in, Jack. And Noah.”

We went back into the kitchen.

“What's that?” Kate pointed at the spaghetti box. “It's brown.”

The spaghetti showed through the cellophane window of the box. Kate was right. Brown spaghetti.

Melody read the label. “Brown rice spaghetti.”

“You brought rice again,” said Kate. “Are you trying to make trouble, Princess?”

“It's spaghetti,” said Princess. “It's just made from rice.”

“What is it, Chinese spaghetti?” Kate glared at Princess.

“It's an experiment,” said Princess.“It's good for you.”

Kate put her fists on her hips and stared at me.

I could feel a case coming on.

“We said we'd make food that's good for you,” said Melody.

Kate kept staring at me.

Yup, there was definitely a case coming on.

“I like rice,” said Brian.

“I like everything,” said Jack.

Noah didn't talk.

“Well, I guess we'll have to try it,” said Kate. Brown spaghetti turned out to taste better than it looked. But it didn't taste normal.

“Listen,” said Princess. “No one else has to bring anything tomorrow. I'll get all the ingredients, since I messed up.”

Kate brightened. “That's fair.”

It wasn't really fair. But Princess seemed to want to do it.

On Thursday we met at Princess's house. It felt funny coming empty-handed.

“We're going to have a treat today,” Princess announced. “Chocolate fondue.”

“What's that?” said Brian.

“Fruit dipped in melted chocolate.”

“That's not Italian,” said Kate. “You were supposed to make macaroni. All our recipes are pasta.”

“Pasta schmasta,” said Jack.

“I get it,” said Brian. “That means fruit's better than pasta, right?”

“Right,” said Princess.

“And anything chocolate is good,” said Melody.

“And anything fruit.” I grinned.

Noah didn't talk.

Princess had us wash strawberries and cut up bananas and apples. She made Jack and Noah set the table.

I cut the apples into wedges.

Jack ate the cores.