Free Lost and Found by Laura Dower Page B

her skates. She’ll be here in a sec.”
    “Snowball fight, eh?” Roger said, chuckling. “Someone’s going to get beaned. You better get in the car.”
    Madison climbed in just in time to see a snowball narrowly miss Aimee’s head. She stood up, indignant, and made her own snowball, whirling it toward Drew and Egg.
    Within moments, a snowball war had broken out. Chet hurled snow at Aimee, who hurled snow at Lance, who hurled snow at Susie, who tried to hide behind one of the benches.
    Drew got socked on the shoulder and yelled at some kid because he feared his new camera would get wet.
    At the same time, Ivy, Hart, and Rose were coming off the ice. Madison couldn’t believe the way Hart was following Ivy around like a puppy dog. They weren’t paying much attention to the snowball fight that had gotten under way, at least not at first. Ivy was talking and tossing her red hair like she always did.
    But then Chet sent a snowball flying in their direction. It narrowly missed all three of them.
    “Whoa!” Hart yelped. He ducked down so he wouldn’t get beaned.
    Ivy, on the other hand, didn’t duck fast enough.
    Sploooch!
    A superslick snowball landed right on the side of her head. Her beautiful red hair turned into a wet mess.
    “Oh-em-gee!” Aimee cried from behind the bench. Susie clapped.
    Ivy stood there for a moment without moving.
    “Are you okay?” Hart said, trying to help her get the ice off her face and shoulder.
    “What are you smiling at?” Ivy cried. “Someone intentionally threw that snowball, and you know who you are!”
    Hart giggled. “Well, it is just a snowball, Ivy.”
    Rose giggled at that, too.
    “What are you laughing at?” Ivy snapped at Rose. “This hurts. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
    “It’s just a little red,” Rose said. “You’ll be okay.”
    Sploooch!
    Another snowball whizzed past and landed on the ice.
    “STOP THAT!” Ivy screeched.
    By now Aimee noticed Roger’s minivan. She said good-bye to Susie and dashed over to the car.
    “Hey, Blossom!” Aimee cried, getting into the front seat. Roger backed up and headed out of the Lake Wannalotta parking lot.
    “Maddie, did you see that snowball fight?” Aimee asked. “Ivy almost got hit twice!”
    “You’ll notice I got into the car when the snow started to fly,” Madison said.
    “Yeah, well, I think that is the funniest thing I have ever seen. Chet was aiming for Hart, and he hit Ivy! Serves her right! She looked soooo mad!”
    Aimee and Madison howled with laughter. Blossom joined in.
    Madison was readier than ready to leave behind this long day of skating. Not only had she crashed, bottom down, on the ice, but after everything that happened, she had never shown Ivy the sealed letter. She wasn’t able to find five minutes alone to share the letter with Ivy. Should she hide the letter in the attic again and try to forget she’d ever found it?
    But she couldn’t forget.
    As they drove onward, Madison got more excited about getting home to her warm clothes, good eats, and most of all—to her own doggie.
    She wanted to give Phinnie a giant pug hug before taking him out for his post-blizzard walk. She’d figure out what to do with the letter…
    Later.

Chapter 10
    “M OM!” MADISON CRIED AS she walked into the house. “Mom? I’m home from skating.” She removed her hat and gloves and headed over to the kitchen for a warm drink.
    “Oh, Maddie!” Mom wailed. She came running out from the kitchen, carrying the portable phone. “Oh, Maddie!”
    “What?” Madison cried. In a split second all the worst-possible things that could ever happen raced through her mind.
    “Oh, Maddie!” Mom kept saying the same thing over and over.
    “Is it Dad? Is it Gramma?” Madison asked. “What’s wrong?”
    “Phinnie!” Mom cried again. “I took him out for a long walk, and when we came back, I must have left the door open a crack because the next thing I knew, he was gone. He’s gone !”
    Madison fell