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xxxxxxxI grew up in a small town, one mile in both length and width. There were a couple of large towns nearby, so the schools I attended were flooded with people. Out of all those kids, only three mattered to me: Danny, Billy, and Jack. Our parents were long-time friends, so we were destined to be friends for life as well. Back then, during those carefree junior high afternoons, we liked to ride our bikes four hours and hours, sometimes ending up at the mountain near the last of the houses. Mondays we had dinner at Danny’s, Tuesdays at my house, Wednesdays at Billy’s, and Thursdays at Jack’s. Fridays we ate anywhere, but always headed to the five-and-dime at four o’clock.
xxxxxxxIt was a Monday and we rode idly through the park, complaining about a certain teacher and how much homework she assigned.
xxxxxxxDanny, fluorescent orange hair standing up from its roots, like he conducted electricity or something, gave us a sombre look. “New topic,” he announced, looking at me expectantly.
xxxxxxx“Oh!” I exclaimed, having remembered something important. “Alan and his friends challenged us to a scavenger hunt, on Friday. The winner gets,” I paused for emphasis. “Two hundred dollars.”
xxxxxxxThey gasped collectively. Jack, ever the intellectual, regained his composure quickly. “That means we’d each get fifty dollars,” he explained, trying to act calm. Jack had poker-straight blond hair that he wore in a neat bowl cut, and would take out a comb every now and then if a strand of it were misplaced.
xxxxxxx“Well, then,” said Danny. “We should start training for it. After we get to my house—” He stopped and put one leg on the ground. We mimicked his movements and looked where he was staring, with his mouth hung open.
xxxxxxxRight by his dad’s lawnmower, a police car was parked. The policeman wasn’t from our town, and we just stood there, completely dumbfounded.
xxxxxxx“Do any of you boys live here?” asked the policeman. Danny nodded. “Do you know when your father will be home?”
xxxxxxx“Um,” Danny said. “He’s been gone for about a week now, to ––shire. He’s supposed to be back on Wednesday.”
xxxxxxx“You don’t know of his exact whereabouts? He didn’t mention a city, or…?”
xxxxxxx“No, sir. Just what I told you.”
xxxxxxx“Very well. And your mother?”
xxxxxxx“She should be inside, sir.”
xxxxxxxThe policeman knocked on the door. “You’d best run along, now. How’s about you go get a couple of candy bars?” He handed us a dollar.
xxxxxxx“Thank you, sir,” grinned Billy, the perpetual optimist. His eyes were usually bright green, but they shone a bit blue that day. We stuck around, waiting for the door to open.
xxxxxxx“Go on, get away,” said the policeman.
xxxxxxx“Let’s go,” Danny said. We followed him to our usual hangout.
xxxxxxx“What do you think has happened?” I asked.
xxxxxxx“Dunno. It’s not likely a good thing.”
xxxxxxx“Perhaps your dad’s won the lottery,” suggested Billy. I threw a crisp at him.
xxxxxxx“Oh, that’s brilliant, Sherlock,” I said.
xxxxxxx“Quiet down,” cut in Jack. “Logic, we’ve got to be logical. Now, then—”
xxxxxxx“Shut up! The lot of you!” Danny stood up and glared at us. “What, do you think this is a sort of game? ‘Let’s solve the mystery,’ is that it? In case you’ve not noticed, my dad could be in trouble. He might go to jail, or… just, shut up, got it?”
xxxxxxxHe sat down and the rest of us exchanged worried looks. I took a deep breath. “Danny? Are you okay?”
xxxxxxx“I’m splendid, what d’you think?”
xxxxxxx“You know, it’s gonna be alright. Um, we can have dinner at my house today, if you like. I bet my mum’ll give us some change for the arcade, and then we can practice for the scavenger hunt.”
xxxxxxx“That’s precisely what I want to do, go off and play games while my family’s getting arrested. You hit the nail on that one, buddy.” Danny got his bike and rode down the hill.
xxxxxxx“Where’s he headed?”