Free Fabulous Five 006 - The Parent Game by Betsy Haynes Page B

with a smile on her face.
    When she reached them, she looked puzzled. "Where's
Monique?" she asked.
    "I've got some bad news, Taffy." Jana tried to
look serious, but it was all she could do to stifle a giggle. "Monique's
been bear-napped."
    "She's been what?" Taffy looked horrified.
    "Bear-napped. I brought her to school this morning and
set her and Rex down outside the girls' room while I went in, and when I came
out, she was gone."
    "What do you mean, gone ? How could she be
gone? Who would have taken her?"
    "She's just gone, as in a missing-person, or I should
say, a missing-bear."
    "Jana Morgan, what are you trying to pull?"
    "Pull? Why nothing, Taffy," said Jana in her
sweetest voice. "Friends don't pull things on each other, do they?"
Taffy gave her a suspicious look as she added, "Where did you say your
appointment was on Saturday? The Cinema-six?"
    Taffy's face fell.
    "Seen any good movies lately, Taffy?" Katie asked.
    Taffy turned from one member of The Fabulous Five to the
next with a look of horror on her face. Then the horror turned to anger, and
she whipped around and glared at Jana.
    "Jana Morgan, if you don't give Monique back right
away, I'll tell Randy. It's his project, too, you know. If I fail because the
bear's lost, he fails, also."
    "Gee, Taffy. What are you going to tell Randy? That you
tricked me into taking care of your bear so you could steal him from me? How
about your telling Laura that it was my idea for you to ask Randy to be
partners with you? Funny Hawthorne will vouch for that. I don't think Randy
would like to hear any of that, do you?"
    Taffy's face turned bright red and her lips tightened. She
was trapped—and she knew it.
    "Monique's got to be around somewhere," Jana said.
"We'll help you look for her, won't we, gang?" They all nodded
enthusiastically. "If we find her, we'll let you know."
    Taffy spun on her heel and stormed away.
    "Boy, is she mad," said Beth.
    Jana smiled gleefully at the way things were going so far. "It
serves her right. You know, I think she must have gotten the idea about asking
me to bear-sit when she saw that Shane and I were using Rex as a make-believe
baby. She knew I wouldn't be able to take him and Monique anywhere together.
They're just too big to cart around."
    "I agree," said Christie. "The first time she
asked was probably a setup to see if she could talk you into it."
    "Now," said Jana, "we've got to put the rest
of the plan into effect. It wouldn't make me feel too bad if Taffy got in
trouble because she had lost the bear, but I don't want Randy to get into
trouble."
    She raised her hand, and The Fabulous Five did a group
high-five. "Let's go team!" they shouted in unison.
    Taffy came into the cafeteria at lunchtime and glared
angrily at The Fabulous Five before sitting down with Stacy Holgrem and Gloria
Drexler.
    "She's really upset," said Melanie. "Her
Family Living class is tomorrow, and she's got to find the bear before that or
Mrs. Blankenship will know something is wrong. Oh, look. Randy's going over to
talk to her."
    "Oh, boy, I'd sure like to know what he's saying,"
said Katie. "He's probably asking her where Monique is."
    "Talk to him, Jana," urged Christie. "See
what you can find out."
    As Randy left Taffy's table, Jana waved to him, and he came
over.
    "Hi, I heard you had a great game on Saturday. I wish I
could have been there."
    He smiled. "I looked for you. What happened? Did you
get held up buying stuff for your mom's wedding?"
    "No," she said quickly. "I had a big
babysitting job. I hear you went to a movie later."
    Randy looked embarrassed. "Taffy and I did. She said
she wanted to see The Return of the Vampire real badly, and she was
afraid to go with just girls. She talked me into going. It was kind of dumb. It
wasn't a date, though," he added.
    "Did you have to buy a ticket for Monique?" Jana
asked, smiling up at him.
    "No. Taffy said she had a cousin who was visiting, and
she left the bear with her. That way she wouldn't break the rule