The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken Read online

  Sugar made an observation.

  Weird blue chicken is lying.

  Dirt and Sugar watched the little bird fly away.

  “Weird Blue Chicken is lying,” said Sugar.

  “Should we follow her?” asked Dirt.

  “Nope,” answered Sugar. “She’s scared. She’ll be back.”

  “We should go,” said Dirt. “Right now.”

  “What’s your hurry?” said Sugar.

  “The sprinkler is—”

  Dirt pulled out a pink, polka-dotted umbrella from behind her back. She held it over their heads as the water came down.

  “—coming back,” said Dirt.

  “How do you do that?” asked Sugar.

  “No idea,” said Dirt.

  “Impressive,” said Sugar.

  Chapter 8

  “We have to find the little blue bird,” said Dirt. She was pacing back and forth in the chicken coop.

  “We don’t have her scent,” said Sugar. “She refused the Q-tips. At least now we know why.”

  “Why?” asked Dirt.

  “The same reason anyone refuses the Q-tips,” said Sugar. “She has something to hide.”

  “We need J. J. on this,” said Dirt.

  “I just told you we don’t have her scent. J. J. won’t be able to find her without it,” said Sugar.

  “I might be able to help,” said Sweetie.

  “You helped us already, Sweetie,” said Dirt. “You did a great job watching the shoe.”

  “No, really,” said Sweetie. “I think I can help.”

  “That would be great, Sweetie,” said Sugar. She patted her sister on the head. “Now, why don’t you go back in the shoe and keep an eye out?”

  “But . . .,” said Sweetie.

  “Back in the shoe, please,” said Sugar. “We need you there.”

  Sweetie shrugged and hopped into the shoe.

  “I knew that weird blue chicken was bad news,” said Sugar. “Maybe we can set a trap for her. . . .”

  “What kind of trap?” asked Dirt.

  “I’m not sure,” said Sugar. “Let me think about it.”

  “I’ll tell you what I think,” said Sweetie from inside the shoe. “I think you better go find Grumpy Squirrel.”

  “Why in the world would you think that?” asked Sugar.

  Sweetie stuck her hand out of the shoe. She held a note:

  Dear Chicken Squad,

  Someone has been stealing my acorns.

  I’d Like to borrow a hammer.

  Signed,

  Grumpy Squirrel

  “We’ve got a crime spree on our hands!” cried Sugar. “First a stolen birdhouse, and now Grumpy Squirrel’s acorns! Something tells me they’re connected. Let’s go talk to Grumpy Squirrel.”

  “Nice work, Sweetie,” said Dirt.

  “I knew the shoe was the right place for you,” said Sugar.

  Chapter 9

  “Which tree is the Grumpy Squirrel tree?” asked Dirt.

  “We’ll find it,” said Sugar. “Give me that note.”

  Sugar closed her eyes and sniffed the note.

  “As I suspected,” she announced. “It smells like squirrel.”

  “Now what?” asked Dirt.

  “Now we follow the trail,” said Sugar.

  Sugar, Dirt, and Sweetie made four left turns around the chicken coop to make sure they weren’t being followed. Sugar stopped every few feet and sniffed. She was hot on the squirrel’s trail. Her eyes were squinty. Her face was serious. Her head was down.

  Sugar walked across the yard, hopped over the sprinkler, and then circled the bottom of a giant maple tree.

  “This is it,” she said. “The trail ends here. This must be where Grumpy Squirrel lives.”

  Dirt and Sugar looked up. Grumpy Squirrel was looking down at them.

  “Wow,” said Dirt. “You did it! You tracked Grumpy Squirrel!”

  “Of course I did,” asked Sugar. “The wet earth from the sprinkler really helps to raise the scent.”

  “There’s also this obvious trail of squirrel footprints in the mud,” said Sweetie.

  “I thought we left you in the shoe,” said Sugar.

  “How are we going to get up there?” asked Dirt.

  “We’re not,” said Sugar. “He’ll come down.”

  The three chicks waited at the base of the tree.

  “Fancy meeting you here!” Grumpy Squirrel yelled down.

  “We got your note,” said Dirt.

  “Did you bring the hammer?” asked Grumpy Squirrel.

  Sweetie held a hammer up for Grumpy Squirrel to see.

  “Good work,” said Grumpy Squirrel. He climbed down the trunk of the tree and took the hammer from Sweetie.

  “Whoa!” said Sugar. She grabbed the hammer back. “Wait just a second there, Grumpy Squirrel. First, you’re going to tell me exactly what kind of plans you have that require a hammer. It’s a little odd for a tree rodent to need one, don’t you think?”

  “I’m just going to crack open some acorns,” answered Grumpy Squirrel.

  “But I thought all your acorns had been stolen,” said Dirt.

  “I have some . . . emergency acorns,” answered Grumpy Squirrel. “But they are old and a little stale. I, um, need the hammer to get them open.”

  Grumpy Squirrel grabbed the hammer from Sugar and darted up the tree. Dirt jumped on his tail. Sugar jumped on Dirt. Sweetie jumped on Sugar.

  “Hang on!” yelled Dirt.

  Grumpy Squirrel ran full speed up the trunk of the tree and then made a sharp left turn. He ran to the end of a branch and then leaped off it, flying through the air and aiming for a branch of the neighboring tree.

  He missed.

  “AAAAAHHHH!” yelled Grumpy Squirrel.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!” yelled Sugar.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” yelled Dirt.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” yelled Sweetie.

  Chapter 10

  Dirt, Sugar, Sweetie, and Grumpy Squirrel hung like a vine, swaying back and forth, back and forth.

  “HELP!” screamed Sweetie. She held on tight to Sugar’s scrawny chicken foot as Sugar held on tight to Dirt’s scrawny chicken foot, and Dirt held on tight to the pink, polka-dotted umbrella that had hooked onto Grumpy Squirrel’s hammer, which was stuck on something in the leaves.

  “You’re only nine feet off the ground! Stop screaming and just let go!” yelled the little blue bird as she ran out of the bushes nearby.

  “Nine feet!” yelled Sweetie. “HELP!”

  “She means inches!” yelled Dirt. “You’re only nine inches off the ground. Just let go of Sugar before you pull us all down!”

  “HEEEELLLLLPP!” screamed Sweetie.

  The branch bobbed up and down from the extra weight of three chickens, an umbrella, a squirrel, and a hammer.

  Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

  Up and—

  Crack.

  Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

  Wait for it.

  THUD.

  Chapter 11

  “Look out below!” came a voice from above.

  Sugar, Dirt, Sweetie, and Grumpy Squirrel looked up just in time to see a little red house with a green slanted roof falling from the tree. Sticking out of the hole in the middle were two funky orange feathers, attached to the lumpy, egg head of their brother.

  “Poppy!!” yelled Dirt and Sugar.

  THUD!!

  The house landed with a crash, and split open. Dozens and dozens of acorns scattered across the ground.

  “I guess I won’t need the hammer anymore,” said Grumpy Squirrel. He scurried along the ground, picking up as many acorns as he could.

  Sugar, Dirt, and Sweetie rushed over to their brother and helped him get up onto his feet.

  “Are you okay?” asked Sweetie.

  “I’m fine,” answered Poppy. “I’m just glad to be out of that tree!”

 
“What were you doing up there?” asked Sugar.

  “It smells better than the shoe,” said Poppy.

  “Can’t argue with that,” said Sweetie.

  “I got stuck,” answered Poppy. “That hole in the front was not built for a well-fed chicken. Grumpy Squirrel found me, and then he moved the whole house!”

  “Look what you’ve done to my birdhouse!” cried the little blue bird.

  “Tough break, Weird Blue Chicken,” said Sugar. “But that’s the price you pay for stealing acorns.”

  “I am not a Weird Blue Chicken!” said the little blue bird. “Why can’t you just call me by my real name?”

  “Simple,” said Sugar. “You never told me your name.”

  “My name is Winnie,” she said. “I’m a blue jay.”

  “Not from around here, are you, Winnie?” asked Sugar.

  “How did you know?” asked Winnie.

  “We have rules in the yard,” said Sugar. “Acorns belong to the finder.”

  “Well, it’s not fair!” cried Winnie. “Grumpy Squirrel hogs all the acorns! They are supposed to be for everybody!”

  “She has a point, Grumpy Squirrel,” said Dirt. “Seems like there should be enough acorns to go around.”

  “I need all the acorns,” explained Grumpy Squirrel. “They’re the only things I eat.”

  “That might explain why you are so grumpy,” said Sugar.

  “Here,” said Dirt. She held out a strawberry. “Try this.”

  Grumpy Squirrel sniffed the fruit for a second and then took a teeny, tiny bite.

  “Not bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.”

  “Okay, picnic’s over,” said Sugar. “Grumpy Squirrel needs to try new foods, and Winnie here needs to follow the rules. Everybody clear?”

  “I’m sorry about the acorns,” said Winnie.

  “It’s okay, kid,” said Sugar. “Just don’t do it again.”

  “I won’t. I promise,” said Winnie.

  “One more thing, kid,” said Sugar.

  “What is it?” asked Winnie.

  “See that big house over there? Well, there’s a lady in the house. Her name is Barbara. She feeds us, she feeds the dog, and she’ll feed you, too. That funny-looking thing hanging by the back door is a bird feeder. All you can eat. No charge.”

  “Thanks, Sugar,” said Winnie.

  “Anytime, kid,” said Sugar. “Now, stay out of trouble.”

  Winnie started to hop away.

  “One more thing, kid,” said Sugar.

  “Yes?”

  “You owe me a cotton-swabbed armpit,” said Sugar.

  “I still think that’s weird,” said Winnie.

  “The world is weird, kid,” said Sugar. “Get used to it.”

  Epilogue

  So there you have it. The Chicken Squad saves the day. Sugar was right all along. Never trust a weird blue chicken. Plus eat some fruit. Those are just my observations. You’re welcome. You can make your own.

  Doreen Cronin is the author of many New York Times bestselling books, including the Caldecott Honor Book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type; Click, Clack, Boo!; and the first Chicken Squad mystery. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she lurks in the shadows and solves imaginary crimes.

  Kevin Cornell draws from his intergalactic command base located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some of his most successful Earth missions include illustrating Mustache! by Mac Barnett and the first Chicken Squad mystery.

  Meet the author, watch videos and get extras at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Doreen-Cronin

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Kevin-Cornell

  Atheneum Books for Young Readers • Simon & Schuster • New York

  Also by Doreen Cronin

  Bounce

  The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure

  Click, Clack, Boo!

  Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

  Click, Clack, Peep!

  Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack

  Click, Clack, Splish, Splash

  Dooby Dooby Moo

  Duck for President

  Giggle, Giggle, Quack

  M.O.M. (Mom Operating Manual)

  Stretch

  Thump, Quack, Moo

  Wiggle

  ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2014 by Doreen Cronin

  Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Kevin Cornell

  Case design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

  Case illustrations copyright © 2014 by Kevin Cornell

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Book design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian

  The text for this book is set in Garth Graphic and Barron.

  The illustrations for this book are rendered in graphite, watercolor, and digital.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Cronin, Doreen.

  The case of the weird blue chicken: the next misadventure / Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Kevin Cornell. — 1st ed.

  p. cm. — (The Chicken Squad)

  Summary: When a weird blue chicken comes to Chicken Squad headquarters for help, siblings Dirt, Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie help find her missing house.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-9679-8 (chapter book : alk paper)

  ISBN 978-1- 4424-9681-1 (eBook)

  [1. Chickens—Fiction. 2. Blue jay—Fiction. 3. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 4. Humorous stories. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Cornell, Kevin, illustrator.

  II. Title. III. Title: The case of the weird blue chicken.

  PZ7.C88135Cas 2014

  [E]—dc23 2013032099