Thumb When was the last time the police set foot in our village Last year Yeah Because two policemen on vacation were fishing offshore and needed a place to stay when a storm came up But they were here I mean when was the last time a policeman came here to look for evidence of some crime I will tell you Never But don’t you see That’s what would make New Auckland such a great hiding place We don’t even get television so we can’t watch the news and compare pictures of wanted criminals with new people in our village Thumb almost everyone in our village was born here Some people weren’t born here Like Mr Entwhistle A world-famous writer of children’s books can’t really hide you know What about your dad He’s only been here about four years You’re right I said excitedly Maybe I’m the son of a bad guy and when I discover the secret of Dad’s hidden past I will have to fight an inner struggle between loyalty to family and knowledge of my father’s past cruelty Susan stopped and looked at me She rolled her eyes
Wasn’t that the plot of a movie we saw last month Susan I just think that maybe we should make sure our village really is safe from evil Us Why not Because nothing ever happens here Thumb I know But wouldn’t our lives be a little less boring if we spent just a little time looking for a bad guy Sure we know that nothing ever happens during the daytime But what about at night Night Most criminals work at night right I asked excitedly So if anybody here is doing bad-guy stuff then they probably work at night I stopped and thought for a moment and then whispered We need to stake out the village Stake out this village Nobody even jaywalks here That’s because there aren’t any streets Well nobody would jaywalk if there were streets We know everybody here We know their favorite colors and their hobbies and what books they have on their shelves There are no bad guys living in New Auckland Thumb
I smiled Maybe not I said But even the possible existence of one single bad guy could be a little exciting right We could stay out late and watch the village for a couple of nights couldn’t we We could be sneaky but in a good way since we’d be crime fighters We’d have a secret that nobody else would know A secret asked Susan I knew she liked secrets Our secret I said softly making sure that nobody else could hear Our secret said Susan more to herself than to me Tomorrow night Ten o’clock Why wait Tonight is a school night I’ll meet you by the fire truck said Susan her eyes glancing around to make sure nobody else could hear At dusk
2 STAKEOUT IT’S HARD TO SNEAK OUT of a house that only has four rooms two bedrooms a living room kitchen and a bathroom It’s even harder when only the bathroom has walls that go all the way to the ceiling It’s harder still when you share the house with your dad and he’s the principal of the school so he stays up most nights grading papers and filling out reports I knew I could fit through my bedroom window but I also knew that trying to sneak out the window would make a lot of noise It would be easier on a Friday night Dad didn’t grade papers on Fridays because Mayor Semanov usually came over to talk politics Mayor Semanov was our mayor when we needed one He was mayor mostly because he had a loud voice We held all village meetings in the school gym There was a microphone and an amplifier up at the school but it hissed and popped and tended to amplify almost every sound except for voices It was easier to make Big Charlie
