CHAPTER 7

Stakeout

That night, we gathered our spy equipment to monitor Gramma’s strange activities.

“Okay,” said Grampa. “We’ll communicate with these walkie-talkies. If I say ‘The hen has flown the coop,’ that means ‘Gramma has left the building.’ If I say ‘Code blue,’ that means ‘We’ve got trouble.’ And if I say ‘The rooster needs a yellow melted,’ that means ‘Please bring me a grilled cheese sandwich, pronto!’”

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Jubal and I used the doghouse as our base of operations. We watched the house for hours, but nothing was happening. Then we got a call from Grampa.

“The hen has flown the coop!” said Grampa.

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Sure enough, Gramma was leaving the house, and she was carrying an armful of cookbooks.

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We followed Gramma into town and realized, to our surprise, all of the old ladies of Gingham County were marching into the Star Curls beauty parlor.

“They’re all carrying cookbooks,” said Jubal. “Must be some sort of midnight bake-off.”