Keep Your Plants On!

Five minutes later, my mom dropped us at the library. We rushed in to take out books about horses, but Mrs. Bookman said most of them were already checked out.

“By guess who?” said Kelly, staring straight across the street at Petals and Buds.

“Joey’s not going to tell us much,” I said when we gathered on the sidewalk. “He thinks we’re gooballs.”

“And he’s probably still hungry because we didn’t let him finish that carrot stick three years ago,” Brian said. “That would make anyone mad.”

“There’s only one way to find out what we need to find out,” Kelly said. “Our specialty.”

Mara winked through her glasses. “Disguises!”

Carefully, the four of us snuck into the alley behind the shop. We found a big garbage can overflowing with leafy branches and broken blossoms.

“It smells good for garbage,” Mara said.

“Just like Thunder’s stable,” Brian said.

“Joey is so guilty,” said Kelly. “Come on.”

Kelly and Mara began stuffing leaves and flowers into their belts and socks and sleeves.

Brian and I joined them. A minute later, there were four Goofball plants in the alley.

“I want to be a hedge when I grow up,” Brian said with a chuckle.

“We’ll have to stick close,” said Mara.

“Just keep your tulips closed and let’s go inside,” Kelly said.

“Okay, but don’t leaf me here!” I said.

On my signal, all four Goofball plants shuffled into the back of the shop as quietly as we could. We saw Joey and Billy watering plants with a garden hose.

Brian nudged my branch. “Joey’s mom has a customer. Let’s listen.”

At the counter there was a woman holding a bunch of thin green stems without flowers.

I recognized her as our neighbor Mrs. Wilson.

“I ordered three dozen red tulips to be delivered this morning,” Mrs. Wilson said. “But instead, look what I got!”

Joey’s mother studied the stems without flowers. “I can’t explain it. I’m very sorry.”

Then she turned to Joey and Billy. “When you boys dropped off the flowers from the truck this morning, were they like this?”

“No,” said Joey. “They were nice.”

“Really nice,” said Billy. “All flowery.”

Mrs. Myers shook her head. “Well, did you notice anything strange?”

Joey looked at Billy.

Billy looked at Joey.

“He left the truck door open!” they both said, pointing at each other.

“What do you mean?” asked Mrs. Myers.

Joey grumbled. “When we stopped at Mrs. Wilson’s house—”

“The back of the truck was open,” Billy said. “Because somebody forgot to close it at that rich kid’s house.”

Randall Crandall’s house, I thought. Aha!

“Joey forgot,” Billy said.

“Billy forgot!” Joey said.

“It was raining so hard,” Billy said, “we just jumped right back in the truck to stay dry.”

“It was sunny by the time we got to Mrs. Wilson’s house,” Joey said. “That’s when we noticed the truck door was still open.”

Mrs. Myers turned back to Mrs. Wilson and sighed. “I’m terribly sorry the flowers got destroyed. We’ll replace them, of course.”

“Thank you,” said Mrs. Wilson.

“As for you boys,” Joey’s mother said, “please continue watering while Mrs. Wilson and I choose new flowers. Those four big plants in the back seem very dry.”

Four big plants? What four—

Uh-oh.

Mrs. Myers was pointing right at us!

Joey was pointing right at us, too.

With the garden hose!

Sploosh! Water spurted out like a tidal wave!

We got soaked from stems to blossoms!

I didn’t have a butler to do my sneezing, so I had to do my own.

“Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah—” I started.

“That plant!” said Joey, backing far away from my shaking branches. “It’s—it’s—”

“—CHOO!” I exploded. It was the loudest sneeze in the history of sneezes.

“Whaaa—” Joey flew back right into Billy. The hose went wild and sprayed Billy from head to foot.

The last thing I saw as we raced out the back door was Billy swatting Joey with Mrs. Wilson’s chewed-up flower stalks!