I put my walkie talkie on standby and used Jake's binoculars to check the status of the Hansen sisters' house. I hadn't seen either one of them outside their house all morning. Their truck was sitting in front of their house, so I knew they had to be home since it was the only transportation that they had. I had been told by my contact, known only as Number One, that the two sisters were suspected of smuggling arms to the enemy. I was hidden up high in the trees where no one would see me and I would be able to see anyone coming near me from miles around.

"Kevin Rooney, what are you doing up there?" Amy's voice from below startled me out of my concentration.

"Amy," I shouted down in exasperation, "I am in my secret hideaway. Would you please keep your voice down? No one is supposed to know where I am. Not even you. Now leave me alone. This is a very dangerous mission and you may get hurt. Now go."

"Kevin," Amy was not impressed, "You are in a old abandoned treehouse next to our property. You are armed with binoculars, a water pistol and a walkie talkie that doesn't work and you are trying to tell me that I'm in danger? I think you're in danger of losing your mind."

I sighed. Sisters have no imagination. I wouldn't let Amy ruin this for me, though, "Amy, I am spying on the Hansen sisters. We think they might be dangerous criminals. Now leave me alone."

"What do you mean you're spying on the Hansen sisters? Those two old ladies who live alone across the woods from us? I know they give me the creeps sometimes but this is ridiculous. You are the one who will be in trouble if they see you spying on them."

She just wasn't going to leave me alone.

"I think I heard Mom calling you, Amy," I cupped my hand to my ear, "Yes, I definitely heard her. You'd better see what she wants."

It was Amy's turn to sigh, "That's why I'm here, Kevin, Mom sent me to tell you that she had to go to the store but she'll be back in time for us to go to the dog pound so don't get dirty."

That sounded just like Mom. She was always worrying about how I looked even if I was going to a dog pound.

Amy shivered and pulled her jacket closer to her, "Aren't you cold up there? It is the middle of January after all."

I ignored her. Spies didn't get cold when they had a mission. We knew only that we had a job to do. If it snowed up here I would not leave my post, if it hailed golf balls I would not leave my post, if it--"

"Mom made some chocolate chip cookies before she left," Were Amy's last parting words before she walked back into the woods and headed home.

Chocolate chip cookes! Boy, they really knew a spy's weakness. Should I abandon my position and take a chance on letting the enemy get away with their dangerous smuggling? What would a spy do? Even spies had to eat, I decided. I started climbing down the treehouse's ladder when I heard a voice from below.

"Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in my treehouse?"

I stopped and looked down past my feet at the ground. Jason Harris was standing below me.

"Jason?" I yelled down, "What are you doing here?"

"Kevin?" He looked up at me, puzzled, "What are you doing here? I asked you first."

I continued climbing down the steps and jumped to the ground in front of Jason.

"I live a little ways over there," I nodded my head toward our house, "Now why are you here?"

"I live over there," He raised his hand and pointed in the opposite direction of our house, "Not very far from here. This is my treehouse."

"Is it on your property?" I asked.

"Well," Jason hesitated, "Not exactly. But this is my treehouse."

"Did you build it?"

"Not exactly, but I found it first."

"I've been here a lot since we moved here and I haven't seen you playing here at all."

Jason walked over to the treehouse ladder and climbed up saying, "Just because I haven't played here in a while doesn't mean it's not mine."

I followed him up the steps.

"What's all this stuff for?" He asked, picking up my walkie talkie and binoculars off the floor of the treehouse.

I took the walkie talkie out of his hand and held it up, "This is important if I need to make contact with Number One, my boss. He needs to be updated if I have any information on the smugglers."

"Smugglers?" Now Jason was really confused, "What smugglers?"

"Look through the binoculars and tell me what you see," I handed them to Jason.

Jason raised the binoculars and I pointed them in the direction of the Hansen sisters' house.

"Well, it looks like my dog, George, needs to wipe his rear off after he just used the bathroom."

I raised the binoculars up higher, "Now tell me what you see."

"It's the Hansen sisters' house, so what?"

"Number One has given me this mission. He says that the sisters may be dangerous smugglers. We don't have the proof yet, but my orders are to watch them and let Number One know if I see any suspicious activity. You are the only one besides me who is aware of what I just told you. Can you keep this secret? If not, I will have to kill you," I hadn't meant to say that last part, it just sort of fell out of my mouth when I was talking.

"Kill me? I don't think so. You and what army?" Jason was becoming defensive as he lowered the binoculars and turned and faced me menacingly.

"Jason," I said excitedly, " I just had an idea. You can become my assistant spy. You can help me keep an eye on these dangerous criminals."

"What can I do?" Jason was starting to look interested.

"Well, for one thing you have to constantly monitor the Hansen's sisters' house. Yesterday I saw them carrying strange-looking boxes out of their house and putting them in the back of their truck."

Jason was getting excited too, "Yeah, I know what that was all about, the church is having a bazaar this weekend. The Hansen sisters are in charge of it."

"Jason," I sighed, "You just don't understand, do you?"

Jason saw the exasperated look on my face and picked up the walkie talkie, "Number One this is," He covered the walkie talkie so Number One wouldn't hear him and whispered to me, "What is your code name?"

"Yellow Bird."

"Number One this is Yellow Bird's assistant, Red Bird, I will be helping him with this dangerous mission. What?" Jason lowered his head closer to the walkie talkie so that he could hear better, "Oh, okay. Red Bird out."

"What did Number One say to you?" I asked, curious.

"Number One said that if we saw Brian Davis anywhere near here to go ahead and shoot on sight. He said that he had just escaped from a Federal Prison."

Jason and I laughed. That was another thing that we had in common--we both disliked Brian the bully a lot. Luckily for Jason his father is a policeman so Brian leaves him alone. The only thing I had going for me was the fact that I hang around John Laughlin a lot. Brian leaves John alone and when I'm around John, Brian leaves me alone also.

"Did you see him give Mrs. Webber the bird yesterday?" Jason asked, "That kid sure does have a lot of nerve."

"John told me that Brian smokes behind the school in the afternoons. What an idiot!" I made a face like I was choking.

"What a jerk!"

"What an imbecile!"

"What a--a--"

"Moron!" We said at the same time, laughing.

"Well, I guess I'd better check on our smugglers," I picked up the binoculars and looked through them, "Uh oh, this is not good."

"What? What?" Jason tried to grab the binoculars from me, "What did you see?"

"Well, Jason," I sighed, lowering the binoculars, "While we were talking about Brian the sisters left in their truck. Number One is not going to be very happy about this. I may lose my job, or my head."

"What are you going to do about this?" asked Jason, "These are, after all, internationally-known smugglers that may cause World War Three if they are not apprehended."

I climbed down from the treehouse and announced, "I'm going home to get a chocolate chip cookie. Do you want one?"

"Sure!" said Jason, "Sounds good to me!", Hurriedly climbing down and joining me.

"This is my brother, Jake's room," I opened the bedroom door carefully. Jake was laying on his bed, watching TV and munching on a stack of chocolate chip cookies next to him.

"Get out of here, you little jerk," Jake threw a pillow at us.

We laughed and went into the playroom which was the center of the upstairs, all of our bedrooms opened into it. Jason and I each had a fistful of cookies in our hands as we walked into it. My mom made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.

"I don't have any brothers," Jason said with a sigh, "I just have three big sisters."

"Well, you can have my brother if you want," I generously offered, "And I'll throw my sister in with the deal."

"What did I just hear?" Amy came out of her room and walked manacingly toward me with her fist raised, "I'll--"

I pulled Jason into my room and locked the door. The floor was covered with lots of Legos. Small Legos, thin Legos, long Legos.

"How do you keep from stepping on them?" asked Jason, looking down around him.

"See this little path? I just walk along it," I showed Jason.

"Do your parents ever step on them?"

"Only once. My dad stepped on one in the playroom once and I have kept them all in my room ever since. I also learned a new word that day. What else do you want to see here?"

"Well, let's go bck down to the kitchen and get some milk, I'm thirsty."

"Okay, but we need to be very careful."

I opened the door cautiously. No sign of Amy. Quietly, Jason and I stepped out into the playroom.

"I'm gonna get you you little--" Amy shouted from inside her room and Jason and I leaped down the stairs taking them three at a time.

"This is a neat kitchen," Jason was looking up at the skylights as I poured both of us a tall glass of milk.

"Thanks," I said I liked the kitchen also. It was big and had lots of space. There was a counter in the center of the room where we ate breakfst in the mornings and against the far wall was a TV sitting on Mom's desk. At least it was supposed to be Mom's desk. Besides having the TV on it, it was piled high with our school work, phone books, important papers we would need sooner or later and all sorts of odds and ends that had gotten thrown on it. Mom didn't spend much time at her desk, anyway. Usually when she wasn't cooking or taking us back and forth to school and running errands she was working in her art studio near the kitchen.

Jason and I walked out on the back deck where I kept my hockey stick and puck. It was still winter and the trees in the woods behind and around our house looked drab in their greys and browns. Even the sky looked grey. In the summer the woods around us would be full of green leaves, singing birds and the skies above us would be blue. I couldn't wait for summer, it was my favorite time of the year.

"Your play hockey?" Jason asked, picking up my hockey stick.

"Sure," I said, "Mom calls it deck hockey."

I had a lounge chair propped up against one end of the deck that I used for my goal and I showed Jason how I would hit the puck into it using the hockey stick.

"Usually I have my rollerblades on, though."

"That looks like fun, can I try it?"

I quickly ran back up to my bedroom and got my rollerblades. Jason and I took turns wearing my skates and wacking the hockey puck into the lounge chair until Mom came home.

When Mom came out the back deck door, she smiled at my new friend and said she'd met his mom at the grocery store a couple of days ago.

Jason and I played hockey a little longer on the deck until we got tired. Jason said he was definitely going to have to get his own hockey stick and puck so we could play hockey together. We walked through the house and were almost to the front door when Jason asked, "Where does that door lead to?"

"This door?" I asked, pointing to a door next to me near the stairs, "It goes to the basement. I think it may be haunted."

"Haunted? Why?"

"Well, sometimes if you are near the door you can hear strange noises," My voice lowered to a whisper.

"What kind of noises?" Jason's eyes became bigger and his voice lowered the same as mine had.

"It sort of sounds like--"

A tremendous thundering sound came from above us, followed by a loud, bellowing voice, "KEVIN, WHERE ARE MY BINOCULARS?"

Jason and I jumped. We must have cleared the floor by three feet. The whole house shook when Jake started thundering down the stairs. He was taking them two at a time, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, KEVIN, YOU'VE BEEN IN MY ROOM AGAIN!"

We raced out the door and ran into the woods. We were breathless from running and we had laughed all the way back to the treehouse.

"Why didn't you tell me in school that you lived near me?" Jason asked as we climbed back into the treehouse.

We sat down on the rough, wooden floor and I pulled my squirt gun out from under my shirt and was shooting apple juice into my mouth, "Well, why didn't you tell me that you lived near me? I guess it's because neither of us knew we lived near each other."

"Let's plan to meet here every day after school, okay?" Jason said excitedly.

"Sounds good to me," I smiled. Jason's excitement was contagious. We shook hands to seal the pact.

"Kevin! We're leaving," Mom's voice came from the direction of the house.

"I gotta go," I told Jason, "We're going to pick out a dog at the dog pound."

"Really? That's great," Jason and I climbed back down the ladder, "That's where I got George. He's my best friend. At least he was until I met you," Jason smiled and we both leaned down to pet the dog who had just joined us. Jason waved goodbye as he and his dog walked toward their house.

I returned his wave and walked home with a smile on my face also. I think maybe I'm going to like living here.

Go back to Chapter 1
Go to Chapter 3
Go to Chapter 4
Go to Chapter 5
Go to Chapter 6
Go to Chapter 7
Go to Chapter 8
Go to Chapter 9
Go to Chapter 10
Go to Chapter 11
Go to Chapter 12
Go to Chapter 13
Go to Chapter 14
Go to Chapter 15