They looked strange too.
“That’s Rosamond,” Oliver said.
“And her four cats.”
Oliver walked away.
I walked up to the table.
“Hello,” I said. “I’m Olivia Sharp
and I’m forming a search team
to look in Deering Woods
for the famous turkey.
I would like you to join.”
Rosamond pointed to her cats.
“I am running a business here,” she said.
“I can’t leave.
In fact, I have even more pets to rent.
They are not here right now.
Meanwhile, would you like to rent
one of my cats?
Plain Hex, Little Hex, Big Hex,
or Super Hex?
Choose. They are all fine choices.”
“I’m a bird person,” I said.
“Birds?” Rosamond said.
“I’ll be renting birds.”
I started to fidget with my boa.
I had traveled hundreds of miles for this?
I had to rethink my situation.
Oliver didn’t want to join the team.
Rosamond didn’t want to join the team.
And right now I had no team to join.
“Can you tell me where Annie lives?”
I asked.
“You won’t have to go there,”
Rosamond said.
“I see her and her dog, Fang,
down the street.
Annie and Fang go everywhere together.”
I flicked my boa at Rosamond and left.
I walked up to Annie and Fang.
“Hello,” Annie said. “You must be
Nate the Great’s cousin from
San Francisco.”
“How did you know?”
“Well, he told me about the boa.
I haven’t seen any others around here.”
“Good observation. Olivia Sharp here.”
“I’m Annie, and this is my dog, Fang.”
I looked at Fang. He was big.
He had lots of soft fur
and his eyes were warm and friendly.
“What a pretty dog!” I said.
Suddenly Annie got excited.
“Oh, you really think so?
I always knew it, but nobody else
ever said it until now.”
Annie knelt down close to Fang.
“Thank Olivia and give her a big smile.”
Fang opened his mouth.
I immediately knew that he
was perfectly named.
I had never seen fangs like his before.
Awesome! Outstanding! Breathtaking!
And totally unfit for a turkey hunt.
I said, “I must be going. I see my limo
coming to pick me up.”
I patted Fang on his head.
A good three inches from his fangs.
Then I left and got into the limo.
“No turkey team,” I said to Willie.
“Drive on!”
I, Nate the Great, was eating more
pancakes.
I missed having Sludge sitting by me
eating a bone.
I had to think.
Sludge was off trying to help Claude
find a turkey.
Olivia was off trying to find the turkey too.
I, Nate the Great, was just sitting here.
Waiting. And waiting.
I do not like to wait.
But this wasn’t my case.
Still, I was curious.
What was going on with that turkey?
I finished eating
and turned on the radio.
There was no turkey news.
I turned on the television.
A reporter was speaking.
“Where is this wild, weird turkey?
Nobody knows. Could this be the turkey who
once ate the entire ant population and one
half of the corn supply of Portland, Maine?”
Hmmm. I, Nate the Great,
had never heard of a turkey
who fit that description.
But I kept watching the screen.
A picture of the turkey flashed on.
He was moving fast.
And now, so was I.
That turkey had given me a clue.
Now I knew I couldn’t sit and wait.
I had to find Olivia.
I wrote a note to my mother.
I rushed out.
I saw Oliver in front of his house.
“Have you seen my cousin Olivia?”
I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “She asked me to be
on her turkey team. But I can’t.
I showed her where Rosamond lives.
Then I went home.”
“I must go to Rosamond’s house,” I said.
“I must follow you,” Oliver said.
I saw Rosamond sitting behind
a table in her front yard.
There was a sign on the table:
RENT-A-PET
A NICKEL AN HOUR
Rosamond’s cats were crawling
all over the table.
I could see that Rosamond
was in business again.
I wanted to walk away.
But I walked up to her.
“You have a new business, I see.”
“Yes,” Rosamond said. “Pets need
a change now and then.
Sort of a vacation.
Just like the rest of us.
So I rent them out by the hour.”
“There is not much to choose from,” I said.
“Only your cats.”
Rosamond held up a piece of paper.
“Well, I’m also taking orders.
Here is a list of all
the creatures I can supply.”
I, Nate the Great, did not want
to read Rosamond’s list.
“What I want to know,” I said,
“is where I can find Olivia Sharp.”
“Oh, her,” Rosamond said. “She left
without renting even one of my Hexes.
Then I saw her talking to Annie and
Fang, and then she went off in a limo.”
This was not good news.
Olivia was cruising the streets
looking for the turkey.
I would never be able
to catch up
with her.
“Is there anything else you can tell me?”
I asked Rosamond.
“Well, she wanted me to be
on some kind of turkey team.
But I am busy here. Anyway, I already
have a turkey on my list.”
Rosamond pushed the piece of paper
into my hand.
“It’s in alphabetical order.”
I, Nate the Great, know that
sometimes detectives have to do
strange things.
This was one of those times.
I had to look down at Rosamond’s list.
It was alphabetical, all right.
I found turkey between scorpion
and vulture.
I, Nate the Great,
was getting nowhere.
“Are you telling me that you can
get these creatures?”
Rosamond sighed. “Well, the vulture
might be a problem.”
“Where would you get a turkey?
There are no turkey farms around here.”
Rosamond smiled. Her smiles are strange.
Everything about her is strange.
“Well, I asked Annie’s brother, Harry,
who asked Esmeralda,
who asked Finley,
who asked Pip,
who asked
a friend
who owns a turkey
that was given to her
by her uncle.”
“What does the turkey
look like?”
“He’s big and plump
and white and cheery.”
Rosamond grinned.
“I plan to charge ten cents
an hour for him.”
“So you’ve seen
this turkey?” I asked.
“Not exactly,”
Rosamond said.
“But Pip’s friend told Pip,
who told Finley, who told Esmeralda,
who told Harry, who told me that
that’s what the turkey looks like.”
“So where is this turkey?” I asked.
Rosamond shrugged. “He’s very late.
He should have been here by now.
The anteater is late too.”
“The anteater?”
“Top of the list,” Rosamond said.
“Do you know who owns this turkey?”
I asked.
“No. But I can ask Harry, who can ask—”
“Never mind,” I said. “Do you know
where this turkey lives?”
“Yes. Near Deering Woods,
in a house on Kenwood Street.
I don’t know which house.”
“Thank you for the information,” I said.
I walked away.
“Wait!” Rosamond called. “Is Sludge
available for rent?”
I walked faster.
I, Nate the Great, was now on a case,
whether I wanted to be or not.
I knew things.
But not enough.
I knew that Kenwood Street
was a long, long street.
I knew that I did not want to go
to every house on it.
I walked to Lowell’s Feed and
Pet Supply Store.
I went up to a man behind a counter.
“Do you sell turkey food
to a house on Kenwood Street?”
“Turkey food?” the man said.
“Everybody’s talking turkey today.”
“Right. But I’m asking about a
specific house.”
“Oh, that’s private information,”
the man said. “I can’t tell you that.”
I, Nate the Great, needed that
information.
How could I get it?
I smiled. “Your turkey food must be very
good,” I said. “Because that Kenwood
Street turkey is big and plump
and white and cheery.”
The man smiled. “Why, yes, you noticed!
We have wonderful food here.
Well, I guess it’s easy
to forget a street address
and hard to forget
what good food we sell.
My friend, the address
is Fifty-eight Kenwood Street.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Thank you!” the man said.
I walked out of the store.
Sometimes a detective can get
information just by giving information.
I hurried over to 58 Kenwood Street.
Should I go up and knock on the door?
No.
I walked around to the side of the house.
Would I get a surprise?
No.
I saw just what I thought I would see.
A large white turkey inside a wire fence.
And outside, looking very happy,
was Sludge.
I was so glad to be back in the limo.
Cool and comfortable.
Nobody following me,
no cats for rent,
and no fangs.
All in all, really, really cool.
But I had no search team.
And Willie had bad news.
Well, actually, Willie had no news.
Whoever said that no news is good news
didn’t know what he was talking about.
Willie looked glum.
“I drove around, Miss Olivia,” he said,
“but I didn’t see anything
that looked like a turkey.”
I leaned back in the soft leather seat.
“Not to worry, Willie,” I said.
“We don’t give up easily.”
“So, where to, Boss?”
“Into the woods on foot, Willie.
You and I will go up and down
every path.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Willie said.
Willie drove down a few streets
and around a corner and parked.
We went into Deering Woods.
There were paths.
And paths.
And paths.
So many choices!
Ugh!
“It would have been terrific
if my team plan had worked out,” I said.
Willie knocked some dirt off his shoes.
“Extremely terrific, Boss.”
I, Nate the Great, took a bone
out of my pocket.
“Good work, Sludge,” I said.
“You found the turkey.”
Sludge wagged his tail
and started to eat the bone.
I examined the wire fence.
It had a big patch in it.
The turkey must have escaped through
what had been a hole in the fence.
Then he came back.
I turned to Sludge.
“Where is Claude?” I asked.
Sludge got up and walked to a path.
I followed.
Sludge put his nose in the dirt.
“I see,” I said. “Turkey tracks
going away and coming back
and dog tracks coming.
You followed the turkey tracks here,
and you left dog tracks beside them.
Triple tracks for Claude to follow.
Very good work.
But why isn’t he with you?”
I, Nate the Great, didn’t have to
ask that question.
I already knew the answer.
Claude had lost Sludge.
And Sludge knew that if he went back
to look for Claude,
he would mess up the tracks.
If he took another path,
he would leave dog tracks
going away from this place.
Not a good idea.
So he was waiting here.
Sludge started to bark. And bark.
Sludge was still on the case.
“Of course!” I said. “You are trying
to tell Claude where you are.”
Sludge wagged his tail again.
Hmmm.
I, Nate the Great, had an idea.
“Sludge, you bark and
then I’ll call Claude’s name.
That will make two loud sounds.”
“Ready, set, go!”
Sludge barked and I called, “Claude!”
“Now we have to go hide
behind some trees,” I said.
Sludge and I ran into the woods.
“Watch for Claude,” I said.
We peered out from behind the trees.
Nothing was happening.
We waited.
Then Sludge’s ears perked up.
We peered out again.
Nothing.
Suddenly we saw Claude.
Claude saw the turkey.
Claude jumped into the air.
“I found you, I found you!” he yelled.
I, Nate the Great, smiled.
Claude was no longer a loser.
At least for today.
Sludge’s ears perked up again.
We heard voices.
Olivia, with her boa dr
agging in the dirt,
and Willie, huffing and puffing,
staggered out of the woods.
Olivia walked up to Claude.
Claude was yelling, “I found the turkey!”
Olivia looked at the turkey.
“You found that turkey?” she asked.
“Yes, I did,” Claude said.
“You even saw me do it.”
“Yes, I did,” Olivia said.
“And so did Willie here.”
Willie nodded.
Olivia wiped her face with her boa.
“You must be Claude,” she said.
“And that turkey in the yard
looks like a fine turkey.
Nice-looking, and he probably
has very good manners,
and is, all in all,
a very wonderful turkey.”
Then Olivia stamped her foot
and raised her voice.
“But he’s not the turkey
I’ve been looking for!”
Sludge and I stepped out of the woods.
“Congratulations, Claude,” I said.
I turned to Olivia.
“I’ve been trying to find you.
I have something important to tell you.”
“Which is?”
“I found out that there were
two missing turkeys.
And Claude’s is not the one
you were looking for.
I didn’t find out until
I turned on the television
and saw the famous turkey.
Its feathers are dark green
and dark red and other colors.
Claude had shown Sludge
a feather from the turkey he found.
It was white.”
Olivia picked up her boa.
“Just a little setback,” she said.
“But that won’t stop Olivia Sharp.
See you later.”
Olivia turned to go.
Willie followed her.
Then he turned around.
“Good to see you and Sludge again,
Mr. Great,” he said.
Olivia tugged at his sleeve,
and they were gone.
“Time for us to go,” I said to Claude.