"Happy Birthday, Mrs. Allison!" I grinned through the screen door at the grandmotherly woman and held up my pair of work gloves. "I'm here to rake your leaves as a birthday present."

"Why Jason McKinley! That's quite nice of you." She smiled, but not before I caught the frown in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Did I come too early or--"

"Oh, no. Your coming is a wonderful surprise. It's just that. . . ." Mrs. Allison sighed, and stepped out on the porch. "I guess I'm a little upset this morning, that's all.

"Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing really bad I guess. I just never thought anyone would take something from me without asking."

"Take something?"

She nodded. "Yes. Remember how I told you my grandkids were coming for my birthday, and that I was going to have them pick some apples off my tree for making caramel apples."

"Sure. That's a great idea."

"Just what I thought, too. But this morning I found a lot of the apples are missing."

"Missing?"

"Come around the side of the house with me and I'll show you." Mrs. Allison led me to a large tree, and pointed. "Those branches were loaded with apples last night, but now look. There's only a few apples left."

"Hmmm. Maybe someone really hungry took them."

Her face brightened a little. "I didn't think of that. If that's the case, I'm happy to share."

I bent over and studied the ground. A trail had been worn into the grass. "Looks like you get quite a few people walking through here."

"Yes. Some of the neighborhood kids use this as a shortcut on their way to and from school. But that's okay -- they don't hurt anything, and I like talking with them. Keeps me young."

"Hmmm. That's Miguel Garcia's house right behind you. And Jessica and Katie Lassiter live back there, too. They're all friends of mine. Why don't I talk with them? Maybe they saw someone carrying a big bag or something that could have held the apples."

"Oh, I don't know if that's necessary, Jason. Whoever took the apples obviously needed them more than I."

Maybe, but it won't take long." I didn't add that I also thought trying a little detective work would be great fun.

"I'll have some lemonade waiting for you when you return," Mrs. Allison called as I headed toward Miguel's.

I turned back, grinning. "That sounds super. Thanks."

I found Miguel sitting on a skateboard in his driveway, crunching on an apple.

"How's it going," I greeted.

"Oh, hi, Jason. Want to give my board a try?"

"Another time. Right now I'm on the trail of some missing apples."

"Missing apples?"

"Yep. Someone took some apples that didn't belong to them."

"Wow. Guess your mom must be pretty mad, huh?"

"My mom? Oh, no, they weren't our apples. They were Mrs. Allison's."

"Mrs. Allison's?" Miguel frowned. "She's a nice lady. I can't believe anyone would swipe something from her."

"I know. I can't either."

Miguel took another bite from his apple, stared at it, then looked at me sharply. "Hold on. You're not thinking that I. . . . No way! This apple is one my parents bought at the store."

"Relax," I said. "I don't suspect you. I was just hoping maybe you'd seen something."

"Oh." Miguel's eyes sparkled with sudden interest. "You mean like maybe I was a witness?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"When were the apples taken?"

"Either last night or early this morning."

"Last night or this morning. . . ." He shook his head. "Nope. Wish I could help, but I can't. I spent the night at my cousin's, and just got home half an hour ago. Still, if you need an assistant detective--" Miguel jumped up, hoofed it toward his front door, then swung back. "Wait while I tell my Mom, okay?"

I nodded.

A couple minutes later we were on our way to Jessica and Katie Lassiter's house. The twin sisters were sitting on their front porch swing, swaying to some music.

"Hi, Jason. . .Miguel." Katie greeted. "Did you come to listen to my new CD?"

"No," I said, "we--"

"Oh!" Jessica sprang to her feet. "The cakes! We better check to make sure they're not burning."

"Be right back," Katie told us. She followed her sister into the house.

I plopped myself next to the CD player. Great beat, I thought. I'd have to ask Katie who the group was.

A delicious smell wafted through the screen door.

"Smells good," Miguel called.

"Three apple-raisin cakes," Katie said, returning to the porch. "All freshly baked and on the cooling racks."

"It's our Mom's recipe," Jessica added, following behind her.

"Apple-raisin, eh?" I said. "I bet that takes quite a few apples."

"Four per cake," Jessica said.

"Or twelve in all," Miguel said. He looked at me. "How many were swiped from Mrs. Allison, Jason?"

"Swiped?" Katie stared.

"Someone took some of Mrs. Allison's apples," I said.

"Well it sure wasn't me," Jessica declared. "Or Katie." She looked at her sister. "Right?"

Katie hesitated, then nodded. "I'd be afraid of falling out of the tree."

I studied both girls for a moment, then heaved a big sigh. "Sorry, but I think one of you did take those apples."

Jessica glared at me. "Now just a minute, Jason--"

I held up a hand. "I wish I were wrong, but. . . . I'm not, am I, Katie?"

Katie flushed, then looked at the ground.

"You gave yourself away when you said you'd be afraid of afraid of falling out of the tree," I said. "Neither Miguel or I said anything about the apples being taken from Mrs. Allison's tree, just that some of her apples were missing."

"Katie!" Jessica stared. "You didn't."

"I. . . ." Katie looked up at us, tears in her eyes. "I know I shouldn't have taken them, but I didn't steal them. I'm giving them back -- in the cakes."

"In the cakes?" I asked.

"Yes, the cakes are a surprise birthday present for Mrs. Allison. Her grandchildren are coming for a visit tonight, and Jessica and I thought she could use the extra food. Jessica bought the flour and raisins, and I said I'd buy the apples. But I forgot I'd spent all my money on my new CD. Then I saw those apples on the tree, and I figured I could repay Mrs. Allison by doing some chores, never thought she'd notice so soon that they were gone. We wanted the cakes to be a happy surprise, but now. . . ."

"They'll still be a surprise," I said. "And I bet Mrs. Allison won't be angry a bit when you tell her the truth. But I think you oughta do it now." I got up. "Now, I've got to go back and rake her leaves. That's my birthday present to her."

"Can I help," Miguel asked. "I want to wish Mrs. Allison a Happy Birthday, too."

"Don't see why not," I said with a grin.

Katie and Jessica went inside, packed up the three warm apple-raisin cakes, and the four of us headed on over to Mrs. Allison's.

The End

Guy Belleranti writes short stories, puzzles, poetry, articles and humor for both adults and children. A few of the places his work has appeared include Jack and Jill, Boys' Quest, Hopscotch, Woman's World, Crimestalker Casebook, Futures Mysterious Anthology, and Wee Ones. His home page on the web is: http://www.authorsden.com/guybelleranti.

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