Free The Box and the Bone by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Page A

stop. Not even Bucky.
    After Laura disappeared inside her house Carlos and Eddy crowded around Bucky and stared at the box. It was the same one, there was no doubt about that. But what happened to all the old? … Carlos clamped his lips shut tightly and looked over at Eddy. Eddy nodded.
    Then Bucky said, “Come on. Let’s go to my house. We can talk there—about what we’re going to do to get our treasure back.”
    Eddy and Carlos said okay and they started across the cul-de-sac. All the way across, Bucky went on raving about what they were going to do. “We’ve got to work up a plan of attack. About how we’re going to get our treasure away from that Grant dude. If that sneaky female thinks she’s going to get away with stealing our gold nuggets, she’s going to find out …”
    They were passing the planter area in the middle of the cul-de-sac’s circular drive when Carlos heard something. A kind of rustling noise that seemed to be coming from under some big ferns. And out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something too. But when he looked again it was gone. He could still hear the rustling sound. It sounded too big to be a bird or a squirrel, but Bucky was making so much noise it was hard to be sure.

Chapter 18
    W HEN THE THREE PROS disappeared into the Brockhursts’ house there were more rustling noises in the planter area. Then a voice whispered, “Ouch. You dumb klutz. You crawled on my hand.” The voice was Muffy Brockhurst’s.
    “I couldn’t help it,” Susie Garcia whispered back. “They were going to see me. I had to move or they would have.”
    Muffy crawled out from under a fern. “Ugh,” she said. The ground in the planter area was muddy from yesterday’s rain, and now Muffy was too. She stood up and wiped her hands on Susie’s back. Susie crawled out of reach and stood up too. “They went in your house,” she said.
    “I know,” Muffy said. “Did you hear what they were saying? I heard part of it.”
    Susie nodded uncertainly. “A little. I heard just a little. Bucky was saying something about making plans. And gold nuggets. I’m sure I heard him say ‘Our gold nuggets.’”
    “Yeah, I heard ‘gold nuggets’ too. That must be what’s in the treasure chest. Come on. Let’s go to my house. Maybe we can spy on them some more there.”
    As they were crossing the drive Susie said, “Did you see them talking to Laura Grant? I wonder why they were talking to her? And then it looked like Nijinsky almost bit Bucky.”
    “Really,” Muffy sounded delighted. She stopped and stared at Susie. “Wow! I wish he had.”
    “Yeah,” Susie said. “It sure looked like it. It’s funny though. I didn’t think Nijinsky would ever bite anyone.”
    Muffy made a snorting noise. “Not anyone except my brother, I guess,” she said. “Nijinsky’s a smart dog.”
    They’d reached the entryway of the Brockhursts’ house by then and Muffy stopped to wipe her feet on the doormat. “Hey, wipe your feet,” she said. “My mom will strangle you if you mess up her white rugs.”
    As Susie wiped her feet she was thinking that Muffy was probably exaggerating again. But knowing the Brockhursts, she wasn’t too sure. As soon as she’d wiped her feet very carefully, Muffy opened the door quietly and they went on in.
    They went through the downstairs first, peeking into each room before they went in. No one was on the first floor except Muffy’s mother, who was in her office talking on the telephone. Muffy’s mom, who sold houses and subdivisions, had a little office right next to the kitchen.
    “They must have gone up to Ducky’s room,” Muffy whispered. “Come on. Be very quiet.”
    Muffy led the way up the stairs then and down the hall. When they were tiptoeing past Bucky’s room she stopped for a minute and put her ear against the door. But then she shook her head and led the way to her own room, which was right next to Ducky’s. Opening the door she jerked Susie inside.
    “Hurry