A Note

“Louie escaped again?” Mike asked.

“Yes!” Kate said. “My mom said that Manny called her looking for us. Louie disappeared, and Manny thought we might be able to help find him since Louie liked us so much. We’ve got to get back down to the groundskeepers’ area right away!”

Mike glanced at the field. The Cardinals were getting ready to bat. Red would be up soon. “Okay, let’s go!” he said. “But when we find Louie, let’s put him on a leash!”

Mike and Kate ran through the hallways of the stadium. They took an elevator to a lower level and ran down a long hallway. The security guards waved them through a checkpoint. Soon, Mike and Kate were back in the room where they had seen the team of horses.

But Manny and Tommy weren’t there!

The room was empty. There were no horses, no dog, no people. Just piles of dirt and grass seed for the field. At the far end of the room was a small workshop with tools and cabinets. A fan rattled overhead. A collection of lawn mowers and other machines lined one wall.

“Manny! Tommy!” Kate called.

“We’re in the loading area!” came a voice from outside.

Mike pointed to the open door that Louie had escaped through earlier. He and Kate walked into a large loading zone lit with streetlights. The lot was fenced off from the street. Highway traffic rumbled above them.

Manny and Tommy were standing next to a long tractor trailer with big pictures of the horses on its side.

“Mike! Kate!” Manny called out. “Over here!”

The cousins ran over. “What happened?” Kate asked.

Manny sighed. He pointed to the area that Mike and Kate had just come from. “After we finished parading around the stadium, we unhitched the horses in there,” he said. “Louie was lying on a mat next to the wagon. He always does that. He likes to rest after his ride.”

Tommy patted the side of the tractor trailer. “We opened our truck and led the horses in one by one, just like we always do,” he said. He pointed to another tractor trailer standing behind the first one. “Then we loaded the delivery wagon on that truck and secured it.”

“We were just about to leave when we realized we couldn’t find Louie. We searched everywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen,” Manny said. “He’s always ready to go when the truck is ready. He likes to ride up front with us.”

Mike and Kate looked around. There were lots of places for a dog to hide outside the stadium. But the loading area was fenced off, so there didn’t seem to be any way for Louie to escape into the city streets.

“Are you sure he’s not in one of the trucks?” Mike asked. “Or with the horses?”

“We checked twice. He’s not there. We also called for him,” Manny said. “But he didn’t come. That’s why we need your help. I thought maybe Louie would come if you called him.”

“We’ll help you look,” Kate said.

Mike and Kate began their search. “Louie! Louie! Louie!” they called out. Kate checked around the tractor trailer trucks. Mike examined the fences for any holes. They continued to call out and search for Louie, but there was no sign of the dog.

“We should look inside,” Mike said. “Maybe he ran up the hallway. We can ask the security guard if she’s seen him.”

“Good idea,” Manny said.

Tommy held up his hand. “You guys can look inside,” he said. Tommy glanced at Manny. “Louie is your responsibility. I need to take care of the horses.”

Tommy walked over to the horse truck and went inside. Manny shook his head. “Tommy’s great, but he can get a little bit grumpy,” he said. “Come on, let’s check with the security guard.”

Manny, Kate, and Mike went back to the groundskeepers’ area. Even though they couldn’t see the field from inside, they could hear the Cardinals fans in the stadium and the loudspeaker announcements. “Now batting: Red Gibson!” called the announcer.

“Aw, we’re going to miss Red’s hit!” Mike said.

Kate waved her hand. “He’ll be up again at least two more times,” she said. “It’s more important for us to find Louie.”

Kate pointed to the security guard at the end of the hall. “Mike and I will double-check this room,” she said. “You can talk with the security guard.”

Manny nodded. “Sounds good,” he said. He walked up the hallway to the guard, while Mike and Kate searched the room. They explored the area at the far end, near the lawn equipment. But Louie wasn’t there, either. As Kate searched the workshop filled with tools, Mike looked around where the wagon and Louie’s mat had been.

“Hey, there’s something here,” he said, leaning down. Kate rushed over. There was a light brown streak on the ground. Mike knelt and sniffed it, his face almost touching the floor.

“What in the world are you doing?” Kate asked.

Mike smiled. “Check this out! It’s peanut butter. Crunchy. My favorite!” He rubbed his belly. “That reminds me, I’m hungry!”

Just then, Manny came back. “No sign of Louie,” he said. “The guard has been there since before the game. She said there’s no chance Louie went up the hallway.”

“Maybe we should look outside again,” Mike said.

“He’s not out there,” Kate said. “We both looked all around.”

Mike shrugged. “Well, I’m going to double-check!” he said. He walked to the outside door and was just about to go through it when he spotted something on the floor against the wall.

“Hang on!” Mike said. He crouched down. “There’s a piece of paper here with tape on it.” Mike lifted it up from the floor and turned it over. There was a note on the other side. “Manny!” he shouted. “Come quick! Louie’s in trouble!”