Sophie got home just before her mother. Mrs. Mouse had worked a long, busy Saturday at her bakery in Pine Needle Grove.
Mr. Mouse had dinner ready—a thick potato-parsnip-pumpkin stew. Sophie’s little brother, Winston, had set the table.
Soon they were sitting down to dinner. They took turns sharing the events of their day. “Did you have fun with Owen and Hattie?” Mr. Mouse asked when it was Sophie’s turn to share.
Sophie nodded. “We played hide-and-seek at Butterfly Brook.”
Before she could mention the cave, Winston interrupted. “Aw! How come I couldn’t go too?”
Mr. Mouse reminded Winston he got to go apple picking with James Rabbit and his family. But Winston was still jealous. He always complained that Sophie’s adventures were more exciting than his.
After dinner, Winston cleared the table and Sophie washed dishes. Then she went up to her room. She propped up a blank canvas on her easel.
She wanted to paint what she remembered of the cave.
She mixed up a special shade of gray for the rock walls. For the shadows, she pulled out a black paint she made from black-eyed Susan seeds. And I’ll need hyacinth purple for the mysterious glowing light, Sophie decided.
Ready to paint, Sophie opened her box of brushes. It was empty.
Sophie remembered: She’d brought them to an art workshop at the library the other day. She’d packed them in her travel pouch.
But where was the travel pouch?
Sophie looked all over her room—on her desk, shelves, and nightstand. She checked under her bed, inside her satchel, and on top of her dresser. No luck.
Sophie heard her mom’s voice in her head. Go to the last place you remember having it. Then retrace your steps. That’s what she always said when Sophie or Winston couldn’t find something.
So Sophie went down to the front door. She knew she’d had the pouch on her walk home from the library. She remembered putting it down somewhere to take off her shoes. Sophie looked around the entryway.
The pouch was nowhere to be seen.
Sophie remembered she’d been hungry. She’d gone to the kitchen for a snack.
Sophie checked the kitchen counter. No pouch.
She had taken a snack plate down from the dish cabinet. So she checked the cabinet. The pouch wasn’t there, either.
Then Sophie had opened the bread box to look for muffins. Now she peeked inside again.
“Aha!” she cried.
The pouch was there, behind the scones.
Sophie smiled. Her mom’s trick was a good trick! It almost always worked for finding things.
Halfway back up the stairs, Sophie stopped in her tracks.
Could it work for finding the cave?
