Free The Girls' Revenge by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Caroline wasn't anywhere near a light switch that I could see, and I had the binoculars,” said Jake.
    “They knew we were watching!” gasped Josh.
    “They had it all planned!” croaked Wally. “They must be in there laughing their heads off.”
    Chagrined, the three boys started back down the hill toward the bridge.
    “Listen,” said Jake. “We'll say we knew all the time. If they find out we made that call and start teasing us, we'll say the joke's on them. I'll bet Coach Malloy didn't think it was so funny. I'll bet he had plenty to say to Caroline.”
    “Yeah, we'll get off the first shot. We'll ask them whether or not they were grounded for a week.”
    The boys climbed up the bank from their end of the swinging bridge and started to cross the road. Suddenly, however, Wally grabbed Jake's arm withone hand, Josh's with the other, and pulled them to a stop.
    The police car with its red-and-blue lights flashing had circled around in the business district and was coming straight down the road toward them.
    Step by step, the boys moved back into the bushes until the squad car passed, but then they watched in shock as it slowed and turned into the Hatfords' driveway.
    “Oh, no!” wailed Wally.
    “How did they know we made the call? I never told them who I was!” said Josh.
    “We're dead meat! Roadkill!” moaned Jake. To make things worse, Dad was home.
    The two officers got out of the car and walked toward the Hatfords' front porch. When they rapped on the door, it sounded like a hammer pounding in Wally's ears.
    It was Mom who answered. In the light from the porch, Wally could see the alarm on her face, and he knew right away she suspected the worst—that he and Jake and Josh had drowned in the river or something.
    “Good evening, Ellen,” said one of the men. “Don't be alarmed. I just wondered if we could come in for a few minutes.”
    “Certainly,” said Mother. And then Wally heard her call, “Tom? Harry and Joe are here from the police department. I think you'd better come down.”
    The door closed.
    Outside, Wally, Josh, and Jake stared at each other.
    “You want to spend the night in the Bensons' garage?” asked Jake.
    “How about a one-way ticket to Texas?” moaned Josh.
    There had been times in Wally's life when he had thought about running away. Not that he really planned to, or even particularly wanted to. He had just heard now and then about kids actually doing it, and wondered what it would be like—how you knew where to run off to, and what you did after you got there. Now the subject hit him squarely in the face.
    The officers didn't stay at the Hatford house very long. It seemed only five minutes, in fact, before the front door was opening again, the men were saying good night to Mom and Dad, and then the squad car backed out of the driveway, without the flashing lights.
    Mother went back inside when the police had gone, but Dad did not. Instead he walked to the edge of the porch, cupped his hands over his mouth, and bellowed like a bull moose: “Wallace, Joshua, and Joseph! Get in here! Now !”
    “You want to spend the night in the woods?” Wally whispered to his brothers.
    “He'd just come looking for us,” said Josh.
    “Heck, we didn't do anything wrong!” said Jake. “Let's go in. All we did was report a crime. What looked like a crime, anyway. It's the girls who should be in trouble, not us.”
    They came out of the bushes as their father yelled again, crossed the road, and went up the steps to the porch, where Mr. Hatford held the door open forthem. Whenever Dad held the door open, Wally always felt like a prisoner going into his cell.
    “Sit down!” their father thundered.
    Peter came in from the other room, eating a Pop-Tart, and watched with wide eyes.
    “Okay,” said their father. “What happened?”
    “What do you mean?” asked Jake and Josh together. Wally decided not to speak unless he had to.
    “What was this ‘attack’ you reported to the