When Abbie visits her former partner, Becca, in Memphis, the girls stumble across a mystery at the Peabody Hotel.  The famous ducks have been stolen.

Join the super sleuths as the they try to decipher puzzles, chase down clues and journey across downtown Memphis to find the ducknappers.

Chapter One

What do you mean, “no”?

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand young lady?” her mother asked. Abbie folded her arms and tried to fight back the tears.

“It’s my money! I just don’t see why I can’t spend it the way I want to!” Abbie protested.

“It’s more complicated than that, Abbie, and watch that tone with me young lady,” her mother scolded.

“Sorry,” Abbie apologized.

“First of all, it’s our family vacation to Destin and--”

“Which has been ruined by the fact that my best friend is not going to be there!” Abbie interrupted.

Abbie’s mother glared at her. Abbie could tell that she was reloading her ammunition for another round. “I think I just stated that this was our ‘family’ vacation. Becca is not a part of our family.”

“How can you say that? She has been a part of my life since I was two years old! She’s the sister I’ve never had and never will have,” Abbie replied. “I just want to go and visit her. I don’t care anything about the beach. Besides, the time alone will do you and Dad some good.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” her mother snapped.

“Nothing,” Abbie answered.

“No. You were implying something. I want to know what you meant by that.” Her mother’s eyes looked sad and the tone of her voice changed. She realized that Abbie must know their marriage was not exactly perfect. Again she asked, but this time in an almost whisper voice. “What do you mean?”

Abbie knew she had to choose her words carefully. She wanted to say the right thing. There were so many thoughts she had on this subject. She had tried writing them down in her journal. She had talked to Becca and her grandmother about it, but she never dreamed she would be having this conversation with her own mother.

Wishing she had just kept her big mouth shut, Abbie tried to find the right words to say. “It’s just that you and Dad fight a lot and I thought that if the two of you spent some time alone together, it might help things – you know?” Abbie crossed her arms and looked down at the floor the whole time she was talking. She was scared to look at her mother. She couldn’t take it if her mother broke into tears, especially if it was over something she had said.

Her mother looked away from her and replied, “I’ll talk it over with your father.” Abbie was relieved that this response was not followed by a sniffle. She was also a little excited because now there was some hope of going to Memphis and spending time with her best friend in life.

Her mother didn’t move and Abbie suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She had hit on a touchy subject and she knew the best thing for her to do right now was to retreat.

Abbie went straight up to her room. Her dad would be home in less than an hour, so she left the door to her room cracked. This way she would know when he got home.

Then it would be truth time - Memphis or Destin. She did like Destin. There would be lots of families who had kids her own age there this time of the year. If worse came to worse, and she had to go with her parents to the beach, it would not be unbearable.

Abbie decided to check her e-mail while she waited. Just as she was powering up her computer, the doorbell rang. It startled Abbie a little because she wasn’t expecting anyone. It could be a door-to-door salesman. It could be a neighbor coming over to borrow some sort of yard tool. It could even be Kirk. No, it couldn’t be Kirk, Abbie thought. Kirk’s on his way to his grandparent’s house for a week.

“Abbie?” her mother’s voice called.

“Yes, ma’am?” she replied.

“Sarah’s here to see you. Do you want me to send her up, or do you want to come down?” her mother questioned.

Sarah? What in the world was Sarah doing here? It had been just over a week since the incident at the pool. Abbie called back down to her mother. “Send her up, okay?”

There was no response, so Abbie figured that Sarah was climbing the stairs. In just a matter of seconds she would be face to face with the girl she had told off in the locker room at the pool. Was she here to beat her up? Was she here to apologize? Or, was she here to confront Abbie about the things she had said to her?

The whole pool incident was still crystal clear in Abbie’s mind. Sarah was always pretending to act older than her years. It was really no surprise to Abbie when Sarah came prancing through the gates of the pool sporting a bikini that had been stuffed on top. Abbie smelled trouble from the beginning, but never dreamed that Sarah would jump off the top diving board and end up topless in the pool. Acting on impulse, Abbie had jumped in with a towel for Sarah and saved her from total humiliation.

It seemed to take forever for Sarah to reach her door. Abbie sat on the edge of her bed and waited and waited. The door creaked a little as it opened wider and Sarah slowly entered. As she walked into Abbie’s bedroom, she pulled her hair out of her face and pushed it back over her ears.

“Hi,” Sarah said, breaking the heavy silence, “I brought back your t-shirt.” Sarah set it down on the edge of Abbie’s bed.

“Thanks,” Abbie replied. Boy, this was awkward. Sarah was staring at Abbie and then looking down at the floor. Abbie was trying to avoid looking at Sarah and it went that way it went for what seemed like forever.

“Look, I just wanted to come over and tell you…thank you,” Sarah started.

Abbie let out a small sigh of relief.

“For what?” Abbie replied. It was all she could think of to say back to her. She wanted to say things like, “You should be!” and “The whole disaster served you right.”

“You know. You saved me in the pool last week,” Sarah explained. “If you hadn’t come in after me, I would have…would have…died! Can you imagine having to walk out of the pool half naked?”

Abbie felt relieved. Maybe her outburst in the locker room had done some good. Sarah was starting to see the light about what a stupid thing she had done.

“Here it comes,” Abbie thought to herself. “She’s about to spill her guts.”

“You were right about me,” Sarah began. “It was really dumb of me to do what I did. I don’t know why I did it. It’s just that…well, I’m so plain. And, I guess I thought that if the boys had something else to look at besides my face, then they might think I was…well, you know...attractive.”

“Sarah. You’re not plain. You’re pretty,” Abbie complimented. Sarah was pretty. She had a beautiful face. Abbie was trying to figure out why Sarah couldn’t see that. If anyone around here was plain, it was Abbie.

“Thank you,” Sarah replied.

“Can I ask you a question?” Abbie posed.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Sarah agreed.

“Why do you want those boys to notice you so much? It’s not like you’re an old maid or anything. I mean, we’re only eleven years old. We’re not even teenagers yet! We’re not going to miss out on anything by waiting until we’re at least fourteen or fifteen.”

“Well, I watch my older sister with her boyfriend and her other guy friends and I guess I just get a little jealous,” Sarah explained. “She’s so beautiful and she has like this perfect body and all of the boys make a fuss over her.”

The picture was crystal clear now. Why hadn’t Abbie thought of this sooner? Abbie scooted a little closer to Sarah and put her arm around her. Sarah laid her head on Abbie’s shoulder.

“Look. Your sister is seventeen years old. She’s supposed to have boyfriends and look like that. We’re eleven and we’re suppose to be enjoying being eleven and looking like this.” Abbie comforted Sarah.

“I know that. But Abbie, don’t you ever wonder what it’s going to be like to have a boyfriend? Don’t you ever wonder what it’s going to be like to have a boy kiss you? Don’t you--”

“Stop. Let’s not go there, okay?” Abbie responded.

“What?” Sarah asked. “Abbie Walker? Are you embarrassed to talk about boys?” “No,” Abbie quickly injected. “I mean, no, but let’s just say I’m not…well, I don’t…yes,” Abbie admitted.

Becca and Abbie had spent many a night talking about boyfriends and all that, but truthfully Becca had done most of the talking.

“It’s okay, Abbie. There’s no need to be embarrassed. It’s just a little girl talk.”

“Look. I’m just not ready for that, yet,” Abbie confessed. “Do you think I’m horrible?”

“No. I wish I were like you,” Sarah admitted.

“You do?” Abbie was shocked. That was the last thing she had expected Sarah to say to her.

“I mean, my big sister is always having these little talks with me about all that stuff and I guess I sort of feel kind of pushed into thinking about it – thinking about it all the time!”

“Sarah, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my dad, it’s not to let anyone talk you into doing something you don’t want to do. The next time your big sister pulls you aside for ‘a talk,’ just tell her you’re in a hurry. Tell her you’ve got to come to my house.”

“It’s okay, Sarah. You would have done the same for me,” Abbie replied.

“Well, I wanted to thank you for what you did for me and for what you said to me in the locker room afterwards,” Sarah continued.

“Really?” Sarah asked.

“Really. Come over here whenever you want, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah replied. “But, I’m not going to make any promises here about not thinking about boys or anything like that.”

“Of course not!” Abbie smiled. She reached out and hugged Sarah. “So, since you’re a storehouse full of information on all of that stuff, I guess you’ll fill me in – when I’m ready, of course.”

“Sure. I’ll tell you what I know,” Sarah replied as she hopped up off of Abbie’s bed and headed for the door. “But I can’t promise you that everything my sister has told me is true. With her you can never tell!”

Abbie and Sarah both laughed at the thought. As Sarah was about to leave, she paused and looked back at her. “You know, you’re the only ‘real’ friend I’ve got.”

Without either girl exchanging another word, Sarah left and closed the door behind her.

Abbie fell back against her pillows and stared at the ceiling. She knew that Sarah would never be the kind of friend that Becca was, but she would definitely be a good friend and good friends were hard to come by. Abbie had to e-mail Becca with all of this information.

Dear Becca007,

Well, it looks like our plans for me to visit Memphis are down the tubes. The parents have this family vacation thing planned and I have to go since I am their kid. If they get a sudden dose of human kindness and sympathy for their child, I’ll let you know.

Oh, by the way, you will never guess who came to visit me today! Sarah brought back my t-shirt a few minutes ago. She wanted to thank me for saving her at the pool and tell me what a good friend I am. I know what you’re thinking. You think that Sarah is talking out of both sides of her mouth. You may be right, but for the time being I am going to safely assume that she’s telling me the truth.

You know, I actually feel sorry for her. I also know that you would have probably pushed her into the pool the other day. Lucky for her she didn’t need your help, right?

Please write soon. I miss you, Becca. You just can’t imagine how horrible things are around here without you. I feel like a part of me has moved away too.

Be good and of course if you can’t be good, at least have fun!

Your best friend,

Abbie a.k.a. AGS003