"Kenyon, Kate - Junior High 14 - Junior High Private Eyes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kenyon Kate)

Lucy stood up, too, and looked affectionately at her two friends. In a lot of ways, Nora and Jen were complete opposites. Nora was calm and organized, Jen was more emotional-and unpredictable, but they both were a hundred percent loyal, and they were always there
when you needed them. Lucy threw an arm around their shoulders as they all walked to the front door. "You know something, I've got the feeling that these bank robbers don't know what they're up against."
The next day, Jen was so busy double-checking the list for the strategy meeting that she didn't see Nora and Lucy until lunchtime. She was pleased that they were holding a {dace for her at the big center table in the cafeteria, a table that traditionally belonged to the eighth-graders.
She plunked her tray down next to blonde, pretty, spacy Tracy Douglas, who greeted her with a squeal of delight "I thought you'd never get here! I thought I'd die if I had to wait a minute longer!"
"What's up?" Jen asked, puzzled. She glanced at her watch and started to tackle her large vegetable salad.
"Don't play games with me. You know what's up," Tracy said, waving a finger at her playfully. "In fact, everyone knows what's up Ч everyone but me," she added, pretending to pout. "Nora and Lucy have invited me to this party at your house tonight, but they won't give me any more details." She paused, her face
a tragic mask. "If I don't know the theme of the party, how will I know what to wear?"
'The theme?" Jen asked.
"Oh, I hope it's Hawaiian," Tracy rushed on in her wispy voice. "I've got this fabulous halter top and skirt my mom brought back from Maui last year: But if it's Fifties, that's okay, too, because I've got a poodle skirt that I'm dying to wear. I just hope it's not punk," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I don't have anything in leather." She glanced down the table at Mia Stevens, Cedar Groves' resident punker. "Unless Mia will loan me something, of course."
"Maybe shell loan you a brain," Susan Hil-lard cut in nastily. Susan, a thin girl with brown hair, never missed a chance to put anyone down.
Tracys beautiful face creased in a frown, but she brightened when Mia called out cheerfully, "Relax, Tracy. Anything IVe got is yours." Mia was a friendly girl whose strange punk clothes drew curious stares both in and out of school. Today she was wearing a short black leather skirt with a heavy metal belt, a suede crop top with fake fur trim, and a pair of funny little pointy shoes that were right out of The Wizard o/Oz. She had teased her orange hair to frightening heights, and a few of the spiky tendrils
had already collapsed over her forehead.
Tracy," Jen said between mouthful, "I don't want to throw you into a wardrobe crisis or anything, but there isn't any theme to tonight's . .. uh, get-together."
"A party without a theme? But that's like.. .."
"A day without sunshine?" Susan snorted.
"It's not a party," Nora said firmly. "And I wasn't trying to be secretive when I didn't tell you any details, Tracy." She glanced around the table. "I just think we should wait until tonight to go over everything, when all the kids are there."
Susan said loudly, "I think it sounds boring."
"Well, you don't have to come, you know." Lucy's voice was curt. She hadn't been thrilled at the idea of inviting Susan, but after talking it over with Jen and Nora, she'd decided that it would be rude to exclude her.
"And you can't even give us a hint?" Denise Hendrix asked. Denise was a lovely blonde who had caused a sensation when she'd transferred to Cedar Groves from Switzerland. The daughter of a famous American cosmetics tycoon, Denise was a year older and a lot more sophisticated than the rest of her classmates.
"Afhik} not. It wouldn't be fair," Nora said.
She examined the ham in her sandwich, made a face, and then carefully picked it out with her fork.
"Oh, yuck," Tracy said, watching the whole procedure with interest. That doesn't even look like ham," she said, her china-blue eyes widening. "Ohmigosh! Remember that little pig we dissected in bio? Do you think -- "
'Tracy, please!" Everyone turned and stared at Steve Crowley, who was sitting at the foot of the table. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell," he said, looking embarrassed. "But you know I've got a weak stomach."
'That's funny," Tracy went on innocently. "So did the pig. I remember the stomach lining just shredded like tissue paper when I touched it with the probe Ч "
A loud groan went up from the table and Nora pretended to throttle Tracy. "You guys!" Tracy protested, "You're all so... squeamish."
"Can we change the subject?" Steve pleaded. Steve was a good-looking boy, with dark bristle-cut hair and a great smile, who had been friends with Nora and Jen since kindergarten. During the past few months, his friendship with Jennifer had deepened, and now the two of them were dating.
"Okay," Jen said agreeably. "What do you
want to talk about?" She grinned, wishing she had managed to grab the seat next to him, instead of being miles away at the other end of the table.
"Tonight." Steve's tone was blunt. "You know what Nora said before about it being a great opportunity and the chance of a lifetime?"
"Did you really say that?" Jen asked, raising her eyebrows. t
Nora shrugged. "I had to give them a little pep talk to get them to agree to come."
Steve looked sheepish. "Well, that's what makes me nervous. The last time I went to a party that was supposed to be the chance of a lifetime, I had to sit through a demonstration of home-cleaning products."
"Oh, no," Nora laughed. -You never told us about that."
"I was embarrassed, I guess," Steve confessed. "I couldn't figure out a way to politely leave, and I ended up buying a year's supply of foamy bathroom cleaner."
"I can set your mind at ease," Jen said seriously. "This get-together tonight has nothing to do with home-cleaning products."
"It's not another letter-writing campaign for one of your save-the-goldfish groups, is it?" Susan demanded.
"No, it's not!" Nora said, coming to her friend's defense. "Look, you'll just have to take our word for it. Tonight's important, and youll be sorry if you miss it."
"I have no intention of missing it," a voice hooted behind them. A freckle-faced boy screeched to a stop on his skateboard just inches away from Mia's chair. He had bright red hair, a devilish grin, and the kind of face that belonged on the cover of Mad magazine. "Seven o'clock, right?"
"Did we invite him?" Nora groaned.
"I'm afraid so," Jen whispered. "I just didn't see how we could leave him out. Besides, knowing Jason, he'd find out about it anyway."
Jason Anthony patted the fake-fur trim on Mia's sweater and she swatted him. "Get away from me, you creep!"
"Oh, sorry," Jason said, unrepentant. "I thought you had brought your pet hamster to school." He glanced around the table. "What's everybody eating? Anything good?" Jason rarely bought lunch, preferring to swipe desserts and drinks from unwary students.
'There's nothing here for you to steal, so just bug off," Susan Hillard said pointedly.
"Steal? Mot?" Jason asked, making a grotesque face. "Why would I want to steal when
I have everything I need right here in my trusty knapsack?" He peeled open the top of a bulging canvas bag to reveal a mountain of candy bars, apples, and bananas. "Oops, looks like I'm a bit overloaded," he said, stuffing the items back with one hand. With the other hand, he reached down and deftly lifted Susan's gelatin dessert high in the air, and then dropped it gleefully into the open knapsack. "Hey, give that back!" she sputtered, "You know what they say," he said, flashing an evfl grin before he scooted away, 'there's always room for Jell-O!"
S9
Chapter 4
"How are we going to handle this?" Jen asked nervously that evening. She was greeting kids as they piled into her cheerful blue-and-white kitchen, showing them where to hang up their coats, and then directing them to the large family room in the basement.
"Just the way we planned," Nora said patiently. She couldn't understand why Jen was feeling so jittery. "We'll each give a brief presentation and then divide up into crews to gather evidence." She saw the worried look in Jen's expressive hazel eyes and squeezed her arm reassuringly. "Once they hear what we have to say, they're going to be as excited about all this as we are. After all, how often do you get to investigate a real crime?"
"You're right," Jen said, forcing a weak