The Stinky Sneakers Mystery (2 page)

“Why not?” Jason asked.

“Because there's no chance,” Eric replied. “No chance you'll get first place.”

Jason took off his glasses. He stared at them. “That's what
you
think!” he said and hung up the phone.

The next day was Tuesday. Eric was absent from school. He never missed!

Jason felt jumpy. He got that way when he didn't take his pills. Being an A.D.D. kid was hard. But the pills helped him think about his work.

Today was different. He'd taken his pills at breakfast, but he was still jumpy. Jason jittered. He twittered.

Something kept zipping around in his brain. He worried all through math and history. Through recess and lunch.

Eric Hagel was
never
sick. Why had he stayed home?

During afternoon recess, Dunkum shot baskets with Jason. “Stop worrying,”
Dunkum said. “Eric's probably just sick.”

“How do you know?” Jason asked.

Dunkum shrugged. “I don't.”

Jason told him about Eric's sneaky smile. Then he told him about Eric's phone call. “He's acting weird,” Jason said.

Dunkum only laughed. “Eric wouldn't stay home to do a science project. No way!”

Jason dribbled the ball. He aimed, shot, and missed. “Well, I think something's up.”

Dunkum's turn. He shot and made it. “You'll see. There's probably nothing to worry about.”

The bell rang.

Jason raced into the school building. Maybe Dunkum is right, he thought. Maybe there isn't anything to worry about.

He went to his desk and opened his
math book. But Jason couldn't get Eric's sly smile out of his mind.

“Jason,” Miss Hershey called, “please come to the board.”

Jason went. He tried not to look at Eric's empty desk.

Why had Eric stayed home?

What was
really
going on?

THREE

The last bell rang.

Jason didn't walk home with the Cul-de-sac Kids. He ran straight to Eric's house. Right up to his front porch.

Eric's grandpa sat in a wicker chair. “Hello, Jason,” Mr. Hagel said.

“How are you today?” Jason asked.

The old man chuckled. “Not too bad for my age.”

Jason wondered,
Should I ask about Eric?

Mr. Hagel peered over his newspaper.
“If you're looking for Eric, he's upstairs in bed.”

Jason remembered what Dunkum had said. “Is . . . is Eric too sick for company?” he asked.

“My goodness, no.” Mr. Hagel waved his hand. “Go wake him. He's sleeping the daylight away.”

Jason wondered about that. “What's wrong with Eric?”

“Ah, nothing a good night's sleep won't cure.”

“Sleep?” Jason said. “Eric's not sick?”

The old man shook his head. “My grandson is mighty busy these days. I think he was up half the night.”

“Busy with science?” Jason asked.

Mr. Hagel chuckled. “That's right.”

Jason opened the screen door and marched into Eric's house. Up the stairs and right into his friend's bedroom.

Eric was working at his desk. Still wearing pj's.

“Looks like you're not very sick,” Jason said.

Eric leaped out of his chair. He stood in front of his desk. “What . . . what are you doing here?”

Jason inched closer, but Eric didn't move.

“I said, what are you doing here?”

Jason pushed up his glasses. “Your grandpa told me to wake you.”

Eric shook his head. “I don't believe you.”

“Go and ask,” Jason said.

“It's a trick,” Eric said. “You just want to see my science project.”

“You're wrong, Eric.” Jason turned to go.

“You think you're so smart,” Eric kept talking. “But, Jason Birchall, you just wait!”

Jason wanted to bop his friend. He really wanted to. But he made a fist inside his pocket and punched it into his pants. Then he headed for the steps.

“No,
you
wait,” Jason muttered.

FOUR

It was Wednesday.

One more day till the science fair began.

Miss Hershey's class was ready. Especially Jason.

At recess he started bragging again. “
My
project will take first place.”

Eric sat on a swing. He pushed his foot into the sand. He was never like this. Too quiet.

Jason wondered why.

Dunkum and Shawn came over.
“What's up?” Dunkum asked.

Jason said, “Eric's not talking.”

Dunkum laughed. “Why not?”

Shawn spoke up. “Maybe still sick?”

Jason shouted, “He was never sick!”

Jason paced back and forth in the sand. He wondered why Eric was keeping his project a secret. It worried him.

Abby and Stacy came over. They wanted to swing.

Eric got off and went to play ball. Dunkum and Shawn left, too.

Jason started to leave. Then he heard Abby tell Stacy about her project.

“I can make it rain,” Abby said.

Stacy giggled. “Sounds drippy.”

Jason hung around. Abby's project sounded terrific.

Abby laughed with her best friend. “It's simple. All you need is an ice-cold soup dipper and a teapot.”

Jason couldn't believe his ears. Where did Abby get such a good idea?

Then Stacy told Abby about
her
project. Jason crept closer.

“My project is called A Tight Squeeze,” said Stacy. “I'm going to show how to make a giant hole out of paper.”

“Sounds easy.” Abby began to swing.

“Big enough to put over your head? Oh, and the paper can't rip while you do it,” Stacy explained.

Abby stopped swinging. “Now
that
sounds hard.”

“Sure does,” Jason said.

The girls looked up. “You were snooping!” Abby said.

Jason grinned.

“By the way, how are your super sprouts doing?” Abby asked.

Jason stood tall. He stuck out his chest. “My sprouts are super and they're sprouting. That's how they're doing.”

The girls giggled. “What a silly project,” Stacy said.

“Is not!” Jason replied.

They began to chant. “Jason's growing super sprouts . . . super sprouts . . . super sprouts.”

Then they started giggling again.

Jason couldn't stand it. He ran to the ball field.

The girls had no right to make fun of his sprouts.

Super or not.

FIVE

On the way home from school, Dunkum told about his science project. “I'm doing a taste test.”

“You're going to feed us?” Jason said.

Dunkum nodded. “Just some turnips, carrots, and an apple.”

“Sounds yucky,” Jason said.

“Bet you can't tell the difference between them,” Dunkum said.

“Bet I can,” Jason said. “Easy!”

Dunkum's eyebrows shot up. “We'll see.”

Shawn nodded. “Dunkum have super tongue.”

Dunkum chuckled.

But Eric was silent.

“What about
your
project?” Jason asked Shawn.

“I make you see sound,” he said. “I make sound dance on wall.”

“Are you joking?” Jason asked. “You can't do that!”

Shawn's dark eyes were shining. “You will see.”

“Tomorrow,” Dunkum said.

“Tomorrow!” Jason shouted. But he was thinking about
his
project. Not Shawn's.

Jason dashed home to check his sprouts.

His mother was waiting at the door. “Time for a snack.” She gave him a hug.

Jason took his afternoon pill with his snack. Then he ran to his room.

Sunshine poured onto the windowsill.

He hurried over to his super sprouts. Bright green.

Next he touched the long carpet square. Damp.

Jason grinned. He found his notebook and wrote down the steps.

1. Shallow box
   
2. Plastic trash bag lining
   
3. Scrap of carpet
   
4. Alfalfa seeds
   
5. Some sunshine
   
6. Water
   
7. And . . . super sprouts!
   

He signed his name to the science paper. Everything was ready.

Jason went outside to ride his bike.

Eric was across the street at Dunkum's house. He was carrying a folder. A large black one.

When Jason got back from his ride, Eric was coming out of Abby and Shawn's house. What was he doing?

Jason zipped down the street, pretending not to care. He rode to the school playground and hid behind a tree. He spied as Eric headed to Stacy's house.

Eric rang the doorbell, and Stacy let him in.

This is weird
, thought Jason.
Eric is up to something. Something very strange!