1

It started as soon as I sat down at my desk and pulled out my sixth-grade science book.

“Put your books away,” our teacher, Ms. Bentley, said as the bell rang. She wore a huge smile on her face. “We won’t be needing any books today. I have a surprise for you.”

My heart thumped. There are two things you need to know about me. First, I hate surprises.

Ms. Bentley beamed at us. “Every single one of you got a B or higher on the mid-term math test,” she said. “As a reward, we are going on a field trip.”

The whole classroom erupted into excited chatter. Everyone was happy but me.

“Where are we going?” my friend Theo asked.

“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise!” Ms. Bentley answered. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

I stuck my hand up in the air. “But . . . don’t we need permission slips from our parents?”

“Great question, Josh!” she said. She waved a pack of envelopes in her hand. “I have all the slips right here.”

“What about our permission?” I continued. “Don’t you need permission from us too? What if we don’t want to go?”

All the kids stopped talking at once and turned to glare at me. “Shut it, Kapoor,” hissed Trevor, the class bully.

“Trevor McBain, that’s not how we talk in class,” said Ms. Bentley with a frown on her face. “Line up, everyone!”

I shut my mouth and reluctantly got in line. We filed out of our classroom to the bus that was taking us to our unknown destination.

Kids were laughing and speculating about where we were going as we climbed onto the bus. I took a seat at the back behind my friends Sienna and Theo. As the bus pulled out of the school parking lot, my stomach twisted. I didn’t like not knowing where we were going.

Sienna leaned over the back of her seat. Her cheeks were pink and flushed. “Did you hear the news?” she asked.

I shook my head. “What news?”

She stuck her tablet in my face. “Read this!” she said.

A news story was pulled up on the screen, with school pictures of three different children. I frowned.

“What is it?” Theo asked.

I read the story aloud. “The search is still on for three missing children, Zac Perry, age twelve, Felicia Johnson, age nine, and Bethany Quam, age five. The children went missing late last week. Zac was last spotted at the Ritchfield school playground, Felicia was last seen on the swing set at Riverside Park, and Bethany went missing from her front yard. The children disappeared without a trace, except for one key clue. In each location, police found a deflated balloon.”

I gulped. “That’s terrible,” I muttered.

“Whoa . . .” Theo said.

“Keep reading!” Sienna hissed.

I read on.

“Detectives believe someone dressed as a clown lured the children away with balloons, toys, candy, or other food or treats. Police also believe the suspect had a helper, perhaps another child.”

Remember I said there are two things you need to know about me? Here’s the second thing—I’m terrified of clowns.

I swallowed and kept reading.

“A person of interest was taken in for questioning late Wednesday night. The suspect remains in police custody.”

“Creepy, huh?” Sienna said, reaching for her tablet. The tablet nearly slipped from my sweaty fingers as I handed it back to her.

“It’s like something from a horror movie!” Theo popped his head over the seat, grinning. He looked almost excited. “Can you believe something like that would happen around here?”

“It’s not really around here,” Sienna corrected. “Ritchfield is almost a hundred miles away.”

“Someone should tell Ms. Bentley!” I said. “We really shouldn’t be going on a field trip when kids are getting nabbed by some creep.”

Sienna stared at me, her lips pressed together, and Theo gave me an outright frown. “Didn’t you read that article?” he said. “The guy’s behind bars.”

“Nothing to worry about, Josh,” Sienna said. “Relax.”

My friends were always telling me to relax. Of us three, I was the cautious one, always overthinking everything. Maybe I should just relax, I told myself.

I slumped down in my seat and stared out the window at the bright sunshine. Even though the clown was locked up, the story made me shiver. When I closed my eyes, I imagined what those kids must have seen. A clown, hiding behind face paint and balloons, waiting to strike. At least it wasn’t me, I told myself.