Samantha led her father and uncle to the Snoddgrass house.
“I’ve already been here five times,” said Mr. Spinner. “I even rang the doorbell nineteen times.”
“This way,” Samantha said, directing them to the driveway. “Whenever Nipper comes over, he heads here.”
As soon as they turned away from the porch, Missy burst from the front door and waved to them.
“Good afternoon, George and Samantha,” she called.
Missy pointed in Uncle Paul’s direction.
“You too, weirdly dressed stranger whom I’ve never, ever seen before,” she said.
Uncle Paul smiled and nodded at her.
The girl who lived next door always seemed strange to Samantha. Now she was acting extra strange. Almost like she was nervous. She kept looking over at Uncle Paul.
“Samantha suggested we explore your driveway for signs of Nipper,” Mr. Spinner called.
“You can’t,” Missy snapped. “I mean…please wait until later. My pet parrot is taking a nap right now, and it would be rude to disturb her.”
“Sammy?” asked Samantha.
“Yes,” said Missy. “Sammy the parrot is my discomfort pet.”
“Discomfort pet?” asked Samantha. “We need to go down there and make sure—”
“Okay,” her father interrupted. “Let us know when it’s a good time to come back and investigate.”
“Hold on, Dad,” said Samantha, raising her hand and turning to face Missy. “If there are any clues about Nipper down there, we don’t want to wait just so your bird can nap.”
“Clues?” Missy replied.
She glared at Samantha for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, she stood up straight and called to Samantha’s father.
“I just remembered,” she said cheerfully. “My parents wanted to tell you something about young Jeremy.”
Before Samantha could say anything else, Missy scurried back into her house, letting the screen door swing shut behind her. There was the sound of footsteps going upstairs, followed by footsteps stomping back down.
“Hello again, Spinners,” Missy called.
A man and a woman stood behind Missy Snoddgrass, one on each side. They were framed perfectly by the screen. They were both very neatly dressed and wore big smiles on their faces.
Samantha was sure that she’d never seen them before. She definitely would have remembered these two. The man held up a coffee mug displaying the words World’s Greatest Dad, and the woman pointed to a blue ribbon pinned to her chest. The words PTA Mom of the Year sparkled in glittery letters.
“You know my parents, George,” said Missy.
“I don’t think so,” he replied, eyeing the people behind her. He looked just as confused as Samantha felt.
“Well, my mom and dad know all about you,” said Missy.
The woman winked at Samantha’s father. She flashed a smile at Samantha. Then, still smiling, she nodded several times at Uncle Paul.
Samantha wondered if those were really Missy’s parents. How many weird people lived in that house? She didn’t really want to find out.
“My parents told me they saw a boy heading to Volunteer Park an hour ago,” said Missy.
The couple behind her began to nod enthusiastically.
Samantha was already suspicious about Missy’s story. The two weird nodding adults only made her more so.
“How do you know it was Nipper?” she asked.
The couple stopped smiling and nodding. They turned to look at Missy, as if waiting to find out, too.
“He was very annoying,” said Missy. “And he was touching and poking at things and not paying attention. And he wouldn’t stop talking about the New York Yankees.”
The couple started smiling and nodding in agreement again.
“That sounds like Nipper,” said Samantha’s father.
Samantha looked over at Uncle Paul to see if he thought this whole scene was strange, too. He was busy tugging at his ears. The dog clogs must have been bothering him again.
“So,” Missy said, pointing to the park at the end of the block. “You really should head in that direction and see if anyone knows anything about anything.”
“We still need to check your driveway,” said Samantha.
“Samantha’s right,” Uncle Paul told Missy, dropping his hands to his sides. “We should have a look around just in case.”
“I already told you,” Missy snapped. “You can’t wake the bird!”
Samantha noticed that Missy’s hands were balled tightly into fists.
“Isn’t that right, Mother and Father?”
The people behind her started nodding again in unison.
“Have you searched your own driveway yet?” Missy asked.
“Not thoroughly,” Samantha’s father answered.
“Then you should thoroughly go away and leave us alone until you do!” she barked, and slammed the heavy inside door.
The Spinners stood on the Snoddgrass porch for a moment, stunned.
“Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!”
A high-pitched voice squawked from far off.
“Enough of this foolishness,” said Samantha, turning toward the side of the house.
“I don’t remember meeting those parents before,” said Samantha’s dad.
“And there’s something really familiar about that girl,” said Uncle Paul. “I just can’t remember where I’ve seen her before.”
Bzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzt!
Mr. Spinner’s shoes buzzed, much louder than before.
“Ugh,” said Uncle Paul, closing one eye and tilting his head.
Bzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzt!
“Quick, everyone,” Samantha’s father said excitedly. “Look at my heels!”
“You sound just like Buffy,” said Uncle Paul, pressing his hands over his ears.
Samantha watched her uncle. The sound really did bother him. She bent down and looked at her father’s dog clogs. The small video panels on each heel flashed the same word:
_S_P_O_O_N_