West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Berry Burglars
CHAPTER 1 Hajrah was missing I scanned the school playground It was 8 33 on Wednesday morning The schoolyard at West Meadows Elementary was already crowded with kids But Hajrah wasn’t there She’s my best friend We meet at the school doors every day at 8 30 a m I checked my watch again 8 34 She was four minutes late Hajrah always tells me if she’s going to be late Today she didn’t and that set my brain buzzing 7
I took a deep breath Going to school without my best friend wasn’t a big deal It’s just that I don’t like surprises They can ruin my whole day And Hajrah not coming to school today would be a surprise Just then someone called my name from the other side of the schoolyard It was Hajrah She waved her arms and jumped up and down Myron she called Come here The buzzing in my brain went quiet Hajrah was here The surprise was over but it was replaced by a new question Why does she want me to leave the school doors Hajrah knew I didn’t like changes to my routine Running across the playground a minute before the entry bell rang was a big change Myron Come here she called again 8
Hajrah isn’t just my best friend She’s also my detective partner We solve mysteries in our neighborhood She calls us the West Meadows Detectives One thing I do know about my detective partner I can trust her I put the evidence together Hajrah knows I don’t like leaving the school doors but she is asking me to do this anyway And she’s not giving up That can mean only one thing I ran across the playground Have you found a new mystery Hajrah’s eyes went big It’s a messy one I don’t like messes I said You’ll like this one She led me to the far side of the yard We stopped near the big chain-link fence that runs around the school I got here about ten minutes ago I walked by the school garden and this is what I saw 9
