Bicycle Mystery (5 page)

“
The Randalls?
”

“Well, he doesn’t belong to the family,” Mr. Martin said. “He belongs to Carl. His Uncle Eric gave the dog to him for his birthday. See, he wants you to come!”

Shadow ran a little way and looked back. The Aldens got on their bikes and followed him. Now at last Shadow did not whine.

Mr. Martin called after them, “You’ll find a happy family when they see that dog.”

As the Aldens knew, it was not far to the Randalls’ house. The little dog barked, and Benny ran up on the porch to knock at the door.

Mrs. Randall came to the door and took one look. “Oh, Smoky, Smoky!” she cried. She opened the door and the little dog jumped into her arms. He wiggled, squealing and whining and licking her hands.

The Aldens stood and watched. In a minute Mrs. Randall looked up with tears in her eyes. “Oh, thank you for bringing him back,” she said. “But how did you know whose dog he was?”

“We didn’t,” Jessie said. “It’s a long story. We have been trying to find out who owns Shadow ever since he came to us.”

“Do come in and sit down. You see my brother Eric gave this dog to Carl for his birthday. Smoky was all trained and ready to be entered in the dog show at Ashby. We had him only a week, but we grew to love him.”

“So did we,” said Violet.

They all sat down and watched the dog. He was running all over the house, smelling everything and coming back to Mrs. Randall.

“Your picture was in the paper this morning,” said Mrs. Randall. “I was sure it was Smoky standing with you. I was trying to think how to find you.”

“I know who took that picture,” said Benny. “A man and a woman followed us and tried to get Smoky away from us. They want people to think we stole the dog. What did it say under the picture?”

“Not very much,” said Mrs. Randall. “Just ‘Bicycle dog lost.’ Several people called me to tell me they were sure it was Carl’s dog.”

“There! You see,” said Benny, “that is why that couple took our picture. Just to make people think we stole the dog. And we think
they
are the ones who pick up dogs.”

Mrs. Randall said, “I still don’t know where you found Smoky.”

The Aldens told her about the old empty house and the rain and the little whining dog.

“He followed us to Aunt Jane’s and all the way back,” said Jessie. “But we still don’t understand how you lost him!”

“Well,” Mrs. Randall began. “You remember that Carl had gone to camp just the day before you came? After Carl had left on the bus, I had some special shopping to do that day. I put Smoky in the station wagon and drove to a shopping center. It was a big place about twenty-five miles in the other direction. I couldn’t take Smoky into the stores, so I left him in the car. I rolled down one of the windows to give him some air.”

The Aldens nodded.

“Yes, that was a mistake,” Mrs. Randall agreed. “Smoky wiggled out of that window somehow, although I don’t see how he could. Anyway, when I came out, he was gone!”

“Did anyone see him?” asked Violet.

“Nobody that I could ask,” said Mrs. Randall. “There were hundreds of cars. I called and called, but at last I had to drive home.”

“Poor Carl,” said Violet. “Did you have to tell him Smoky was missing?”

“No, I just hoped and hoped Smoky would come home. But he had been here such a short time, I didn’t think he would know how to get home. And I was afraid someone would find him and keep him.”

Jessie said, “And you had all this to worry about that day we came to help. We noticed you were upset about something. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I just couldn’t,” Mrs. Randall said. “I didn’t want to spoil everything, and we were having such a good time. And I knew I might break down and tell the company.”

“That was Mr. Evans,” Benny said. “He would always understand. You can tell Carl now.”

“Yes, he gets home tomorrow. What a lot of news I shall have to tell him! Smoky lost, and Smoky found. And we are moving to Boston right away.”

“Good,” said Jessie. Her eyes twinkled. “I’m glad Mr. Evans found out that you were a friendly person.”

“I’m going to telephone Eric. He will be so pleased. Now we can show Smoky in the Ashby dog show. I do hope you can go to that show. It will be exciting.”

“Yes,” said Benny. “We have four tickets.”

“You are lucky. They are hard to get. And Smoky is lucky that he found you instead of somebody else.”

“Well,” said Benny. “Now I know what a lucky dog is!”

The Aldens got up to go home. Mrs. Randall said, “I’ll remind you of the dog show a little later. I’ll call you up.”

As the Aldens rode home, Henry said, “There’s still a mystery to solve. What happened to Smoky between the time he was left in the Randall car in the parking lot and came to the old house in the rain?”

“Yes, I was thinking about that, too,” said Benny.

CHAPTER
11

Show Dog

T
he Aldens reached home safely. They found that their grandfather knew all about the dog. He had seen their picture in the paper. But Violet had to tell him all about the rainy night in the empty house. Jessie told him about the roadside stand and Roy Smith. Benny told him about Big Jeko.

At last Mr. Alden said, “Were you satisfied with all those adventures, Ben?”

“Well, almost,” Benny replied. “There’s just one thing about this mystery that we don’t know. How did Smoky get from the parking lot to the empty house where we spent the night?”

“I can’t help you there,” Mr. Alden said. “But I have no doubt you four will solve that, too.”

Later on, Jessie had a telephone call from Mrs. Randall.

She said, “The Ashby dog show begins tomorrow. We are going to show Smoky. Our little dog has a new name, but I promised not to tell you. Can you come?”

Jessie laughed. She said, “Yes, I don’t even need to ask the others. We’ll be delighted to drive over to the show.”

“Come to our house first,” said Mrs. Randall. “Then you can meet Carl. And we will all go in two cars.”

“We’ll be there,” Jessie said.

“Fine,” said Mrs. Randall. “I want you to see Eric show off the dog. It’s quite a sight.”

The next day, as Henry drove along, Benny said, “I give up about that new name for Smoky. I’m sure they wouldn’t call him Shadow just because we did.”

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Violet said.

When the Aldens reached the Randalls’ yard, Carl ran out. He was a freckled boy in a Camp Mohawk shirt.

“You must be the Alden kids!” he called. “I’m Carl.”

They all went into the house, and Carl’s Uncle Eric shook hands with the Aldens.

“Tell me,” said Uncle Eric, “how did the dog get to you after he left the parking lot?”

“We’d like to know that,” answered Jessie. “I wonder if we’ll ever know.”

“Oh, we’ll know sometime!” said Benny.

Carl said, “Wait until you see how fine Smoky looks. He’s been washed and brushed. His paws and toes are cleaned and shined.”

“I can’t wait to see him!” Violet said.

“What about his new name?” Benny asked.

“You have to wait for that,” Carl said with a wink. “It’s time to go now.”

Henry followed the Randall car to Ashby. He had a little trouble parking, so the Randalls went in first with Smoky.

The Ashby dog show was held in a big hall. When the Aldens went in, they saw the steward standing right by the door.

He said to the young people, “Come in. Your friends are right over there.” He pointed to a large sign that said “Class—Skye Terrier.” Under the sign were two cages.

“That steward seemed to know us,” said Benny. “That’s funny.”

“Look!” Violet said. “Read what it says on Smoky’s cage. There’s Smoky’s new name!”

A big sign was printed with the words, “Smoky, the Bicycle Dog.”

People were standing around Smoky’s cage.

Someone said, “That’s the dog that was stolen.”

Another said, “He wasn’t stolen.”

“Who stole the Bicycle Dog?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you read about it in the paper? Four children on bicycles found him.”

Mrs. Randall smiled at the Aldens. She said, “I guess you don’t know that everyone has seen the picture of you riding your bikes, with Smoky beside you. Tomorrow we will put another piece in the paper telling that you
found
the dog. Nobody stole him.”

Smoky was delighted to see the Aldens. He tried to get out of his cage, but he could not. He licked their hands through the wires.

“That cage makes me think of Big Jeko,” said Violet.

“It won’t be long now,” said Uncle Eric. “I am going to handle Smoky. But don’t forget, he is Carl’s dog. Next year he can handle him.”

“What do you mean, handle?” asked Benny. “I would think anyone could handle Smoky.”

“You’ll see,” Uncle Eric replied. “It means to show him off. The dog has to know what he is expected to do, too.”

The Aldens noticed there was one other dog in the same class with Smoky. It was a Skye terrier named Cinderella, for cinder, the color of ashes. It was a soft bluish-gray dog.

Then the show began. The four Aldens found places with the crowd behind the rope.

Everyone was excited. Everyone wanted his dog to get a first prize. Of course, everyone thought that Smoky, the Bicycle Dog, would win a first prize.

Dogs of all kinds were there. There were enormous dogs with soft white fur, and tiny dogs no bigger than a man’s hand. All of them were trained.

The first dog was a Great Dane. His master held his leash while the band played. The dog walked slowly. Then he stood still with his head up and his tail down.

Then came Cinderella. “My,” said Jessie, “hear the people clap!”

And then came Smoky. Uncle Eric knew exactly what to do, and so did Smoky. Henry said, “Now hear them clap! Even louder than for Cinderella.”

The judges for the dog show watched every dog closely. They noticed how the dogs looked and how they acted.

Later on, the judges went around putting ribbons on the cages. The crowd followed them to see which dogs were winners. Then what a surprise! Nobody could believe it. Smoky, the Bicycle Dog, had the second prize, a red ribbon, and the blue ribbon went to Cinderella!

Carl said, “Well, never mind. I like red better than blue anyway.”

“I don’t,” said Uncle Eric. “But I’m not surprised.”

“Aren’t
you
surprised?” Jessie asked Mrs. Randall.

“No. I’ll explain. Smoky’s trip didn’t do him any good. He wasn’t dried when he got wet in the rain. He wasn’t washed. A dog must be in perfect condition to win the blue ribbon in this show.”

“But wait till next year!” said Uncle Eric.

Suddenly Ben said, “Look—twins! Exactly alike.”

“One in pink and one in blue,” said Violet in a low voice.

Jessie said, “They are coming this way. I think they are looking for Smoky.”

A smiling woman and the two little girls came through the crowd.

“We want to see our dog,” said the twin in pink. “My name is Laurie.”

“Your dog?” asked Benny. “You mean the Bicycle Dog?”

“Well, he isn’t really ours. But we saw him twice, and we wanted him very much. My name is Joy.”

The lady said, “We are the Fullers. My girls just love that dog. They saw him in a parking lot in Essex.”

“Oh, yes,” said Laurie. “He was running around the parking lot.”

“Where were you?” asked Uncle Eric.

“We were in the back of the station wagon,” replied Joy. “We can see everything. We called him and called him, but he ran off. Then we saw the same dog at a vegetable stand way out in the country.”

“Well,” said Benny, “that settles that. Nobody stole him.”

“But they tried to, Ben,” Henry said. “Don’t forget that.”

“I’ll never forget that,” said Benny.

Then Uncle Eric said, “Did you girls see what happened to Smoky that day in the parking lot?”

“Oh, yes,” said Laurie.

“Oh, no,” said Joy. “All we know is that he ran out of the parking lot and right across the road.”

“And he wasn’t even run over,” Laurie added.

“No,” agreed Uncle Eric without a smile. “I should say he got across the road safely. You don’t know which way he went after that?”