The Bike Race Ruckus by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

6

Photo Finish

Iola wants to wreck the jamboree?” Chet exclaimed. “I don’t believe it!”

Joe and Frank were with Chet in his front yard. They had ridden to his house, looking for Iola. She wasn’t home. Chet thought she was out bird-watching.

Joe felt bad. He liked Iola. “We’ve got proof,” he said. He showed Chet the photo of Iola switching the arrow.

Chet studied the picture. He seemed to hope it wasn’t really his sister. It was.

“Maybe she’s putting the sign back the way it should be?” Chet suggested. “No, I guess not.”

Chet pulled on his blue bike helmet. “We’d better find her, fast. Who knows what she’s up to now?”

They rode to the park. Some grown-ups were busy setting up the judges’ stand for that afternoon. The first event was due to start at two o’clock. A bunch of kids were hanging around, watching. Joe and Frank asked them if they’d seen Iola.

“I did,” a third grader said. “In the woods, near the picnic area. She was looking at birds.”

The Hardys, along with Chet, hurried to the picnic area. No Iola.

Joe peered at the dirt path. “Look, footprints!” he said. “They go that way.”

Frank laughed. “I see footprints, too,” he announced. “But they go the other way.”

“Shh-h-h!” someone hissed.

They all jumped with surprise. Joe looked around. Iola was sitting in the crook of a nearby tree. She was at least six feet up. The tree’s leaves hid her.

“Quiet! You’ll scare the birds away,” she whispered.

“Get down from there,” Chet whispered back. He cleared his throat. In a normal voice, he said, “We have to talk to you.”

“Can’t you wait?” Iola asked. “This is important. I saw a cardinal. I think it’ll comeback.”

“This is important, Iola,” Frank said. “It’s about the way you tried to mess up the cross-country course.”

Iola’s eyes grew wide. “Oh,” she said softly. “Okay. Here I come.”

She scrambled down the tree and came over to them. Joe thought she looked scared.

“Why’d you do it, Sis?” Chet demanded.

“It was the nest,” Iola said. “I watched the people marking the course. It went right next to a bush with a nest in it. Frank, you remember the other day? When you crashed into a bush?”

“I sure do,” Frank said. He rubbed the scratches on his arm.

“I got worried,” Iola said. “What if that happened again, but near the nest? The baby birds might get hurt. So I changed the arrow.”

Joe grinned. “And sent Zack and Brett right into the turtle pond,” he said. “I hope they didn’t poison the turtles!”

“How did you catch me?” Iola wondered.

Frank showed her the pictures and explained.

“I knew I heard something,” Iola said. “But I was in a big hurry. I couldn’t go look. What if it was a bear?”

“What I don’t get,” Chet said, “is why you put the gum on Brett’s brake the other day. That was a dirty trick.”

Iola’s jaw dropped. “I never!” she wailed. “I wasn’t even there!”

“Hey, that’s right,” Joe said. “She wasn’t. And you didn’t monkey with my bike seat after school yesterday?”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Iola replied.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.