The Mudhole Mystery (2 page)

Click
. Someone was opening Mr. Tressler's yard gate.

Dunkum looked up. There stood Jason Birchall. He was carrying his bullfrog, Croaker.

“Who needs a shovel?” Jason asked.

Stacy spoke up. “Dunkum thinks he found a dinosaur bone. Over there.”

Jason pushed up his glasses. “Croaker doesn't see any dinosaur bones. Do you, old buddy?”

Stacy giggled. “Since when do frogs understand English?”

“Croaker does,” Jason said. He knelt beside Dunkum in the mud. “Where's the bone? Is it a T-Rex T-bone?”

Dunkum shook his head. “I don't know yet. But whatever it is, it's big. Very big.”

Stacy stared into the sloppy mudhole. “Icksville,” she said.

Suddenly, Dunkum saw a flash of gold. His eyes bugged out. “Hey, did you see that?”

Jason spotted it, too. “It's definitely gold!”

Stacy stepped closer. Her eyes were round as quarters.

“Here, hold my frog,” Jason said to Stacy.

Stacy held her hands up. “No . . . uh, not today.”

“He's
not
slimy, and he doesn't bite,” Jason joked.

“I know that,” Stacy said.

“Here, just take him. You'll be fine,” Jason said. And he handed Croaker to Stacy.

Stacy took the bullfrog. She held him far away from her body. Croaker's skin felt smooth and thin, like a balloon filled with air. She felt his lungs moving. In and out. Out and in.

Stacy shivered. She thought she was going to drop Croaker. His body felt so weird.

Then she glanced at the muddy mess. The mudhole.

Dunkum was covered with muck. Jason dived into the mudhole. Hands first.

Stacy looked at the bullfrog. Croaker's round eyes blinked back at her.

She smiled. “Frog-sitting is much better than mess-making!”

Squooshy squish
, the mudhole blubbered.

Out of the spurting muddy custard came something shiny. It really
was
gold.

“Hey, we're rich!” Jason shouted.

“We aren't rich,” Dunkum said. “Our treasure is stuck in the mud.”

Stacy looked at the shiny gold. “Looks like a lock.”

Dunkum nodded. “It's connected to something much bigger. But I don't know what.”

Stacy inched closer for a better look.

Croaker blinked his froggy eyes. His
lungs breathed in and out.

Dunkum and Jason kept working. They pulled and tugged. They grunted and groaned.

“It's in there for keeps,” Dunkum said. “I can't lug it out.”

Jason began scooping handfuls of mud out of the hole.

When more mud was removed, the boys tried again. They jerked and yanked. They fussed and yelped.

But the mudhole wouldn't let go.

Jason was tired. He stood up all muddy.

“Well,
I'm
not quitting,” Dunkum announced.

Stacy headed for the gate. “I'll get the rest of the Cul-de-sac Kids. Maybe
all
of us can pull the mystery out.”

“Hurry!” Dunkum said, looking at the mudhole. “I think our gold is sinking!”

THREE

Something huge was in the mudhole!

Dunkum wondered,
Can it be a mummy?

He went back to digging.

After several minutes, Jason said, “It's no use. We can't get it out.” And he let go.

“Please, don't quit,” Dunkum pleaded. “My fingers are slipping. I need your help.”

Jason leaped back toward the hole. He grabbed on to the giant lump. He held it with all his might.

“You're pushing it down!” shouted Dunkum.

Jason crawled away. His face was caked with mud. Even his nose. He tried to brush it off. It smeared.

“Just pretend it's beef gravy,” Dunkum laughed.

Jason pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. He blew his nose. Now the handkerchief was yucky brown.

“Gross,” Dunkum said.

Jason was wound up. He licked his muddy fingers. “Yummy chocolate pudding.” Then he spit out the dirt.

Dunkum glared at him. “Excuse me,” he said. He was still hanging on to the muddy lump. “Do you have a shovel?”

“I'll go home and check,” Jason said. He stood up. Thick mud stuck to his arms and legs. It was in his hair. Splashes of mud spotted his glasses.

Dunkum scolded. “Wait till your mom sees you!”

“I'll be right back,” Jason called. He ran down the street.

Dunkum was determined. He wanted the lumpy bump out of the mudhole. The lump with the gleaming
gold
object!

For a moment, he relaxed his grip and stood up. It felt good to stretch his legs. But he wasn't happy. He frowned at the mudhole.

Dunkum knew one thing for sure. He wasn't going home till the mudhole let go!

Soon, the rest of the Cul-de-sac Kids showed up.

Abby Hunter took one look at Dunkum. She shook her head. “Yuck, what a mess,” she said.

“I told you it was icksville,” Stacy said. She was still holding Croaker.

Abby and her little sister, Carly, stared at Dunkum. And at the mudhole.

“Does Mr. Tressler know you're
digging in his yard?” Carly asked.

Dunkum turned around. He glanced at Mr. Tressler's back porch. “I've been digging here for years.”

“Well, you ought to ask first,” Carly said. Her blond curls danced.

“Don't be bossy,” Abby scolded.

Shawn and Jimmy Hunter ran over to the mudhole.

“We help, yes?” Shawn said. He and Jimmy were still learning English. It was hard because they were born in Korea. They were Abby and Carly's adopted brothers.

Dunkum shook his head. “I could use some serious help here. Anyone have a rope?”

“I not,” Jimmy Hunter said.

Abby had an idea. “Let's make a human chain.”

Eric Hagel chuckled. “Where's my camera?”

The kids laughed.

Stacy looked around. “Where'd Jason go?”

“I'm coming!” he shouted. Jason was dragging a big shovel.

“All right!” Dunkum said. “Now maybe we can solve the mudhole mystery.”

FOUR

Jason came running. He plopped the shovel down and pushed it into the mudhole.

Dunkum and Shawn clawed at the dirt with their hands. Eric and Jimmy pushed piles of mud away.

Dee Dee Winters watched as she held her cat. “Mister Whiskers wants to help, too,” she said.

Suddenly, Dee Dee's cat laid eyes on Croaker. Mister Whiskers meowed and spit at the bullfrog.

“Aw, kitty, that's not nice,” Dee Dee scolded.

Stacy hid Croaker under her jacket. “I guess cats and frogs don't mix,” she said.

Dee Dee finally got her cat settled down. She stood beside Abby and Carly and watched the boys dig. They were making an even bigger mess.

“Wow! Look at that!” Carly shouted.

Something big was coming out of the mudhole. It was half in, half out. The mystery lump was a square box.

“What can it be?” Abby said.

“We're gonna find out!” Jason hollered.

Dunkum and Jason were still kneeling in the mudhole.

“It's almost out,” Jason said.

“Let's pull the box out together,” Dunkum suggested.

Abby and Carly grabbed Dunkum's arms.

“I'm ready!” Carly shouted.

“Me too,” Abby said, grinning.

Stacy and Dee Dee decided not to help. They were trying to end a frog and cat war. Besides, they didn't want to get dirty.

Mister Whiskers kept hissing at Croaker.

Dee Dee tried to make her cat behave. She even promised him a new litter box. “Just be nice, OK?”

Mister Whiskers played dumb.

“I'll make it a
blue
litter box,” Dee Dee said. “How's that?”

Meow
.

Mister Whiskers was spoiled rotten.

“Show time!” Dunkum called to his friends.

Eric held on to Dunkum's belt loops.

Shawn gripped Jason's T-shirt.

Little Jimmy latched on to Shawn's back pocket.

“On the count of three, we'll lift it out,” Dunkum said.

The boys hollered, “One . . . two . . . three!”

FIVE

The boys pushed and pulled. They forced and twisted.

With a mighty heave, the mudhole sneezed.

AH-AH-AAARGA-CHOOO!

Out flew a square box.

The kids fell backward. Then they saw the old chest.

“Wow!” said Abby. She crept close to the muddy chest. “There's a gold latch and lock on it.”

“That's the gold we saw,” Dunkum said.
He was a little disappointed because he was hoping for the real thing.

Jason rubbed his muddy hands together. “Could it be a secret treasure?”

“Let's have a look,” Dunkum said.

Stacy's eyes grew big. “Can't you clean it off first?”

“Who cares about a little dirt?” Jason said. He hopped around like a rabbit.

Dunkum smeared his arm across the top of the box. “There. Now it's not so bad.”

Carly shook her head. “It's still yucky.”

“Maybe for you,” Jason said. “Not for me.” And he stood in the mud beside Dunkum, Eric, Shawn, and Jimmy.