The Falcon Street Club

Chapter 1:

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat, Jordie ran a stick along the white picket fence that lined Drew's front yard. At the end of it stood a large oak tree. "Hey guys, ya up there?" Two heads popped out from the rickety treehouse. Even in his worn-out sneakers, Jordie was able to climb the makeshift ladder with ease. This was the first "official" secret meeting of the Falcon Street Club. "Did you bring the rules?" asked Drew. Jordie handed him a wadded-up paper from his back pocket. "Let's nail it up over here," said Tim, smoothing out the wrinkled page. They all stood at attention in front of the sacred writings. "Since I'm the president, I'll read 'em," announced Drew. He cleared his throat and began to read them one by one...

No fighting with other club members

Monthly dues are $2.50

Take turns bringing the snacks

No new members unless everyone agrees..."

When he got to the last rule, he looked at both boys sternly. "You are hereby sworn to secrecy regarding all matters of the club. No exceptions!" The boys all nodded in agreement and placed their hands, one on top of the other, in a sort of ceremonial pledge.

The club seemed to cement the bond between them all as the best of friends. Jordie and Drew grew up together in the small, idyllic town of Colby. Tim had moved to the area over the Summer. Drew's dad had given them several scraps of wood to build a treehouse (which now served as a clubhouse) and although he put the floorboards and side frames in, the boys pretty much finished the walls themselves. Not a bad accomplishment for the nine and ten-year-old's.

They weren't sure what they wanted to do in this club, but it was a welcome distraction from the boredom that gripped the little town. Most days were spent playing endless video games at each other's houses. There was the Tasty Creme ice cream shop at the end of Main Street and a bustling video store that offered new and used games of all sorts. Besides the small grocery store, there was the post office, filling station, and town hall.

If none of those eased their boredom, there was always the teeter-totter in the park. A small stream ran through the town but didn't hold much water, so it wasn't good for anything other than the occasional frog catching. The area didn't seem fit for the likes of these three young, adventurous lads; still, the unlikely trio seemed to relish the fact that they were members of the best club in town, even if it was the ONLY club in town.

Chapter 2:

When the last bell rang on Monday afternoon, the boys met at the back of the school to walk home together. "Whatcha guys wanna do?" asked Tim, as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Let's go out and watch the train," said Jordie. The coal train going east passed through their town every Monday at exactly 3:47 p.m. They all ran towards the end of town, hoping to get there before the train did. "Hey, wait, you guys! My shoe is falling apart!" They all laughed as Jordie's shoe flopped around on his foot like a dead fish. The rubber sole was separating from the canvas and made a "clopping" sound every time he took a step.

When they got to the tracks, they could just see the train coming around the bend. The light grew brighter as the train's whistle echoed out across the open field. Choo-Choo.

"Hey, let's see who can stand the longest before moving out of the way." "Where? On the tracks?" asked Tim, his eyes growing ever wider. "Yeah, c'mon," urged Drew, positioning himself directly in the center of the ballast. Jordie stood at the edge, balancing on one rail. Tim was hesitant. He skipped back and forth across the track as the train grew closer.

Choo-Choo it bellowed. The engineer could see them on the tracks and issued a series of warning whistles. The next one pierced the air so loudly it sent Tim scrambling for the grass. The train was about 200 feet from the boys now. It was so close they could see the sparks from the grinding steel flying off into the weeds, and a heavy rumble could be felt under their feet.

Choo-Choo, the train blasted again. Drew could see the look of terror on the engineer's face as the train drew nearer and nearer. His arm waved furiously out the window as he motioned for them to get off the tracks. Suddenly, Drew jumped off and rolled into the dirt. Jordie went to jump too, but the rubber in his shoe caught on one of the steel spikes. "Jump!" yelled Tim. The train was so loud, Jordie could only see the boys mouthing the words. He yanked his foot forward at the last second, completely coming out of his sneaker as he dove into the grass. The train rolled over the shoe, crushing it under its rusty, iron wheels"Oh, man, that was SO close! I thought you were dead!" shouted Drew. "I did too," cried Jordie in disbelief. They all sat on the ground in a daze , as the train continued chugging up the track. "That was too close!" Tim gasped, holding his hand to his chest. Jordie threw a clod of dirt at Drew's head. "I should have never listened to you!" he exclaimed, half laughing.

Chapter 3:

The walk back into town was slow since Jordie could only step lightly on his shoeless foot. As he hobbled over sharp rocks and glass, a police car turned down the frontage road towards them. As it drew nearer, the lights came on.

"Uh oh," muttered Tim. "Oh NO! RUN!" yelled Drew. In a panic, the boys took off in all directions. They scattered every which way and crouched amongst the tall weeds. The car picked up speed and zoomed right past them, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. They all sat silent for a moment, unable to move. "Hey guys, where are you?" Tim called. Drew stood up and dusted off his clothes and hair.

"You guys! Come 'ere, quick!" yelled Jordie, standing near an old wooden shed. The boys ran over and joined him. "What's that?" Jordie asked, pointing to a black bag stuffed between the walls. "Grab it," said Drew, giving Tim a slight nudge. Tim grabbed the strings and pulled the bag up, placing it on the ground. A flash of green caught their eyes. "Money!" Jordie cried as he grabbed a large stack of bills. "LOTS of money!" shouted Drew. The boys were ecstatic.

"Wait, what should we do with it?" asked Jordie. "We need to put it back," Tim said matter-of-factly. Drew and Jordie looked at each other. Tim was the youngest of the boys and the most cautious. Drew chimed in, "we don't know who it belongs to or anything. Maybe someone on the train forgot to take it with them, sohh that makes it, ya know, like finders-keepers!" "Why would they shove it between the walls, though?" asked Jordie. "Tell ya what," replied Drew, "let's take it back to the treehouse, and we can decide what to do with it there."

Once back at the treehouse, they mulled over their situation. Should they call the police, tell their parents, or keep it to themselves?

"Jordie, time to come home," Jordie's mother called from down the street. "Okay. Let's keep it up here, and we can decide tomorrow."

Drew took the bag and placed it in the corner. "No, wait, it's not safe here," protested Tim. "Maybe we should take it inside." Jordie didn't want to be responsible for all that cash, so he refused to take it. "No, let's keep it up here. It will be safe, but remember the rules of the club," warned Drew. "We are all sworn to secrecy! We're not to tell ANYBODY!"

The boys all agreed and stuck the bag in the corner. Drew leaned his skateboard against it to conceal their newfound secret.

Chapter 4:

That night Jordie lay in bed, unable to sleep. His mind began to race. What if someone came back looking for the bag? What if someone saw them take it? What if someone takes it from the treehouse? What fun was having all this money if it was just going to cause him a lot of worry? Jordie wasn't sure if finding it was now a blessing or a curse.

The next day at school, the boys met in the lunchroom. "So, what do you think we should do about the black bag thing?" chirped Tim. Drew grasped Tim by the back of the neck and whispered, "SHHH! Quiet! Remember, NOT A WORD!" "Sore-ree!" Tim said, stabbing his straw into his milk carton. Tim always thought of Drew as kind of a bully just because he was the smallest of the group. "Well, we better think of something quick," said Jordie. "I don't like this-feeling guilty stuff!" Drew smirked, "Why should we feel guilty? We didn't do anything wrong."

Nearly a week had passed, and the boys still had the bag of cash in the treehouse. They were afraid to tell their parents because they weren't even supposed to be near the train tracks, and now that so much time had passed, they were too frightened to contact the police. They would want to know why they had held onto the money for so long instead of returning it.

"I think we should either put it back where we found it and not say anything or turn it over to the police. They don't know how long we've had it. We could say we just found it," Jordie said. "Maybe we could just spend a little of it," Drew said with a wink, looking at the others for approval. Tim wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with the money. They all decided to meet after school and discuss it officially in the clubhouse.

The boys all sat around the pile of money, which was separated into stacks bound by thick, yellow paper bands. The number 500 was stamped in dark red ink on each stack, and there were 20 stacks in all.

Tim pulled a pencil and paper from his backpack and scribbled down the numbers. "Oh my gosh! There's ten thousand dollars here!"

None of them had ever seen that much money, let alone at one time. They all agreed to watch the papers and listen to the news. If anything was mentioned about the bag, they would turn it over to the police. If not, they would divide it amongst themselves and consider it 'found' money.

"Oh boy," said Jordie, rubbing his hands and staring at the mounds of bills covering the floor. "What are you gonna do with your share if-IF we get to keep it, that is?" Tim shook his head. "I don't want any of it. It's not ours to keep." "Well then, can I have YOUR share?" Drew chuckled as they all returned the cash to the bag.

Chapter 5:

Friday afternoon, Drew asked Jordie and Tim to come over and play his new video game. I got Phantom Jet Force!" "Wow! How did you get that? That's like a billion dollars!" said Tim. Drew just shrugged. They played video games and baseball for a while at the house, then they all ascended on the clubhouse for an official meeting. "I got a surprise for you guys," called Drew from the ground before climbing up to join them. "Wait right there. I'll go get it." Soon Drew returned with a box in his backpack. He opened it up and took out four brand new walkie-talkies. "Cool!" said Jordie. "I always wanted some of these!" "Where did you get THESE?" asked Tim as he inspected one. "I got 'em at the toy store," Drew replied. "Now we can keep in touch all the time!"

Jordie went to move the skateboard that concealed the bag of money and noticed that it was a brand new one. The board was sleek and shiny, with a bright orange stripe running down the middle and a series of spitfire red lightning bolts which wrapped around the sides and disappeared beneath the gleaming trucks. The wheels were red too. "Whoa! Whose is THIS?" asked Jordie as he spun one of the wheels in his hand. "It's mine," Drew said nonchalantly. "Gee, was it your birthday or somethin'?" quizzed Tim. "Nah, I just bought it for me."

As Jordie inspected the skateboard, Tim continued to look in the bag. He noticed that one of the bands on the stacks of money was torn off. "Heyyy," he said with concern, "what's this?" Jordie noticed it too. "Did you break into this stack of money, Drew?" asked Jordie. Drew smiled. "Well, how else was I supposed to get our walkie-talkies?" "That's not fair!" yelled Tim. "I thought we were going to return it - all of it." "How much have you spent, Drew?" asked Jordie. "Just a few hundred dollars," Drew responded as he fiddled with the knobs on the walkie-talkies. The boys glared at him in disgust. "Hey, you didn't seem to mind when I brought THESE out," shouted Drew, shoving a walkie-talkie in Jordie's face. "Well, if you can spend some, so can we," snapped Jordie. "Help yourself," said Drew, reaching in the bag and tossing a stack of money at their feet.

Jordie wasn't sure if he really wanted to take some money. "We haven't waited long enough to see if someone is going to claim it." He stood there, struggling with his conscience. He decided to take just one of the hundred-dollar bills. "I'm going to use maybe twenty dollars of this," he said. "That way, if we have to return it, it won't be so much to replace." "Suit yourself," said Drew.

Chapter 6:

The next day was Saturday. Jordie got up and took the hundred-dollar bill that he had hidden in his sock drawer. He wanted to go to the video store because there was a game he was dying to get but knew he couldn't afford it. At last, now he could.

As he headed downstairs for breakfast, his mom, dad, and sister were already at the kitchen table. His father was reading the Town Tattler, Colby's local newspaper. His mother stood over his shoulder, reading along. "That's awful!" she exclaimed. "What's awful?" asked Jordie's sister, Julie. "The little bank in Rusttown was robbed last week." "What?" said Julie with a look of surprise. Rusttown was just the next town over and even smaller than Colby. "They got away with around ten thousand," Jordie's father announced as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Suddenly, it hit Jordie. That's exactly how much was in the bag. "Do they know who did it?" asked Jordie. "Not yet, but I'm sure they'll get 'em." said his father with certainty. "How would they catch them?" asked Jordie, his voice trembling nervously. "Oh, if they try and spend any of that money, I'm sure they'll trace it back to whoever presented it. They have all the serial numbers, and everything-they can trace it that way."

Jordie began to feel ill. He had to get to Drew's house and quickly! He ran upstairs and got on the walkie-talkie. "Drew! DREW! Are you there? Pick up! Over."

Chapter 7:

Crackle, crackle, the walkie-talkie announced. "I'm here. What's up, Jordie?" said Drew on the other end. Jordie blurted out, "Emergency meeting at the clubhouse right NOW! Over."

"Okay. I'm here now," said Drew. I have someone I want you guys to meet. He wants to join our club. Over."

Jordie got dressed and hurried down the block to the clubhouse. He climbed up and found Drew talking to a little red-headed, freckled-faced boy about nine or ten. "Hey, this is Riley. He's new in town, and he wants to join our club," announced Drew. "Hi," said Jordie. "Where's Tim?" "He's on his way," replied Drew. Jordie needed to talk to Drew about the money but couldn't in front of Riley. "I need to talk to you about something," Jordie mumbled, his eyes shifting towards the money bag. "Oh, it's okay. Riley knows about the money. I figured we're going to swear him in as a club member anyway, right?" Drew said, smiling at Riley.

Jordie was fuming! "We need to wait for Tim to get here. Sorry, Riley, it's just the rules and all," he said, glaring at Drew. They heard Tim coming up the makeshift ladder.

"Hi guys," said Tim, giving a quick wave. Drew introduced Riley and explained that he'd already taken the liberty of accepting him into the club (even though the rules said they were not to do that without everyone agreeing first.) Tim looked puzzled. Jordie whispered in his ear, "Drew told him about the money too!" "So, what do ya say? Is he in, guys?" Drew pressed them for an answer.

The boys were hesitant to accept Riley based on Drew's recommendation alone, but Drew put them in an embarrassing spot. Jordie took the lead. "We'll need to vote on it first; then, we can let him know." "Well, why not vote right now?" said Drew persistently. Jordie shot a look at him again. Drew could tell by his gritted teeth and furrowed brow that Jordie didn't want to vote right then. "Okay, bud," said Drew, "why don't you go home, and we'll take a secret vote and let you know in a few days." Riley agreed and left.

Chapter 8:

Jordie walked over to the club rules and tapped his finger against the paper nailed to the board. "Do you see this?" YOU broke these rules!" "Ohhh, whaddya talkin' about?" Drew spouted. "You told him about the money!" Tim and Jordie said in unison. "Yeah," said Tim, "AND you wanted to invite him into the club without talking to us first!" Jordie and Drew began yelling and pointing fingers at each other. The argument intensified when Jordie brought up the fact that Drew had helped himself to the money.

Suddenly, a shoving match began. Tim tried to break it up, but the boys were too busy grabbing and punching each other. The fistfight came to an abrupt halt only because Jordie pushed Drew, and he nearly fell out of the treehouse.

Jordie took the hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and placed it back in the bag. "You're gonna be in big trouble for spending that money," he yelled at Drew. "Those bills are marked. They can trace them back to YOU!" "Hey, YOU'RE the one who found the bag in the first place! Nobody forced you to bring it here. You're gonna be in trouble, too," Drew shouted back as he fixed his messy hair.

"I'm goin' home,' yelled Tim. "The rules say NO FIGHTING EITHER!" He started down the ladder with Jordie right behind him. It seemed the club rules themselves were destroying its only members.

Chapter 9:

A few days had passed, and the boys were hardly speaking to each other. Tim tried to be the peacemaker. "Hey guys, do you wanna go frog huntin' today?" he asked as they sat at the lunchroom table. (Jordie wished they didn't have assigned seating at lunch.) He stared blankly at his sandwich while Drew made the other kids laugh by putting olives on each of his fingers. "Mr. Wasco, let's not play with our food,” the lunchroom attendant whined. The children laughed harder, and Jordie couldn't help but snicker a little himself. Drew Wasco was his quirky, funny friend, and even though they fought every now and then, he just couldn't stay mad at him for very long. By the end of the day, they were talking again.

"So, do you guys wanna have a club meeting today?" "Sure," said Jordie. "I can come over after school, but I have some chores to do first." When Jordie got home, he hurried to do his chores so he could get to the clubhouse. It seemed like it had been a long time, and he missed it. Just as he was about to leave, the phone rang...

"Hello?"

"Is this Jordie? the man's voice asked on the other end

"Yes"

"The Jordie who lives on Falcon Street?"

"Ye-ah, who is this?"

"You better give that money back if you know what's good for you"...

click... The phone went dead.

Jordie hung up the phone and stood frozen. Who was that, and how did they know about the money? He couldn't help but feel a bit frightened now.

He made his way to Drew's and climbed up to the clubhouse. Drew and Tim were already there, and there was a strange look on both of their faces. "What's wrong?" asked Jordie. "I got a phone call a little while ago, and so did Tim," said Drew in a low tone. "ME TOO!" said Jordie anxiously. "What did they say to you?" "They said we'd better give the money back." "That's what they said to me, too!" replied Jordie, "and whoever it was knows where I live!"

The boys were really scared now. "Who else knows about it?" asked Jordie. "I never told anybody." "Well, neither did I," snapped Drew. "Don't look at me," said Tim. "We gotta take this money and put it back where we found it." "Yeah, but we're still short three hundred dollars, remember?" Jordie said, trying not to look at Drew.

Chapter 10:

They decided to take the money back and stick the stack Drew had taken the bills from in the bottom of the bag. Maybe whoever it belonged to wouldn't notice right away. "I can't go, you guys," said Tim. "My mom's gonna wonder where I am."

He went home, and the two others hurried to the shed by the tracks. They stuffed the bag back into the walls just as they'd found it. As they walked back, they began to talk...

"Are you sure you didn't say anything to anyone?" Jordie quizzed Drew. "Maybe it was Tim." Jordie stopped dead on the road as Drew kept walking. "RILEY! Riley must have said something," Jordie shouted. Drew turned around with a look of surprise as he pondered the possibility. Maybe Riley was mad because they didn't vote him into the club yet, and he decided to 'rat them out.'

When Jordie got home, his sister Julie came in from the kitchen. "Where have you been?" she asked without waiting for an answer. Jordie stuck his tongue out at her as he walked past her. "Jordie, it's late! Where have you been?" his mother asked angrily. "We were at Drew's clubhouse." "No, you weren't. I got on your walkie-talkie, and nobody answered! You get to bed, and we'll talk about this more in the morning," his mother said as she left the room.

Ring, Ringgg... the phone began to ring. "I'll get it," said Jordie.

"Hello?"

"Jordie?" the voice said. (It sounded like the same man.)

"Yes?"

"You better not say a word to anyone about the money. NOT ONE WORD, do you understand me?"

"Yes," said Jordie, his voice shaking.

click...

Jordie was terrified now.

The next morning at breakfast, he hardly touched his cereal. His father was reading the paper as usual while his mother placed a plate of scrambled eggs on the table. His thoughts began to wander when he was jolted back to reality by the sound of the ringing phone...ring-ringgg.

"I'll get it!" shouted Jordie, nearly jumping out of his chair. "Oh no you don't. You sit there and finish that food, Mister. We're gonna talk about last night." His mother answered the phone...

Hello? Oh, hi, Francine. Yeah"...

Chapter 11:

Jordie breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. Julie spoke up, "Oh, did you guys hear the latest? Darcy's mom said that a few of those marked hundred-dollar bills showed up at the video store." Jordie felt his stomach drop. Everything was closing in on them now. They HAD to come clean, but he had been warned not to say a word to anyone.

As soon as he got to school, he tried looking for Drew and Tim before the first bell rang. They were in the same class. At lunch, Drew told Jordie that neither Tim nor Riley were at school.

"This is getting scary," Jordie said as he began to cry. He told Drew about them finding the money at the video store. "See! I told you the money could be traced. What can we do?" Drew tried to be brave, but he too began tearing up. "We've got to get to Riley and ask him about this," he said. As soon as school was over, the boys ran to Riley's house, a few blocks from their own.

Riley's mother let them in, and she looked as though she'd been crying. "Hi, boys," she said as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. "Riley will be right with you."

She went into the back room. The boys sat down and could hear her talking on the telephone but couldn't make out what she was saying. Soon, Riley came in from the kitchen, nibbling on a piece of chicken. "I gotta finish eating before I can play," he said. "Did you guys vote me into the club yet?" "Umm, no, not yet," said Drew, "but we will, I'm sure."

"What's wrong with your mom? She's crying," said Jordie. "She's upset," whispered Riley. My uncle got arrested this morning. "How come?" Drew asked. "I don't know. She won't tell me." "Well, we wanna know if you told anyone about -you-know-what."

"What?" asked Riley, looking confused. "The money," Jordie mouthed the words. Just then, Riley's mother appeared. "Riley can't go out now. He stayed home from school, sick." "Okay, well, 'talk to ya later, Riley." Drew gave him a sidelong look and whispered, "we need to talk about that money!"

They left Riley's house and ran into Tim on their way back to Falcon Street. "You guys, I got another phone call last night," said Tim. "I'm thinking we need to go to the police." Jordie reminded him that they couldn't say anything to anyone.

"Besides," Drew said, "we already returned the money. Now we just need to figure out how we're going to replace the last few hundred dollars." "WE?" Jordie spouted, raising his voice. "Maybe we can take some of the video games to sell," suggested Tim. The boys had tons between them. They all went to their houses and dug through their old games. By combining them all, they had enough to fill a large box.

Chapter 12:

They all carried the box to the video store. "Can I help you, boys?" the man asked as they hoisted the box onto the counter. "Um, yeah, we'd like to sell these," said Jordie. "Mmm-hmm. Well, let's see what you have here." The man began looking through the box and placing the games into two piles. When he was done, he placed his hand on the smaller pile and announced, "I can accept these ones." "How much can we get?" asked Tim. The man thought a moment and said, "I can give you-u say-y, thirty dollars for the stack." The boys looked at each other in disappointment.

The man began to stare at Drew. "Weren't you in here a few weeks ago?" he asked, pointing to him. Drew replied "Yeah. I bought-" Jordie elbowed him hard in the ribs, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Ow! Whaddya do that for?" cried Drew. Jordie tilted his head and opened his eyes wide as if to say remember the hundred-dollar bill?

"Excuse me a minute, I'll be right back," the man said. He slipped behind a curtain into the back room. Jordie whispered to Drew, "don't say anything about Phantom Jet Force! He may recognize you."

The boys began to look around at the different games. Jordie felt sad as he saw the one he had wanted to buy with some of the money. The man soon returned and told the boys they needed to fill out a sales form. "Name, address, and phone number here, please," he said as he placed the form and a pen on the counter. Jordie took the pen. "No, I'll need your information," the man emphasized as he took the pen from Jordie and handed it to Drew. That was strange, the boys thought. They had all brought the box in together. The man took the stack of games he wanted and handed the thirty dollars and the box back to them.

"Well, that didn't work out very well," said Tim. "We're still short about two hundred and seventy dollars." Jordie thought maybe his big sister Julie might loan him some. "I can ask," he said.

Chapter 13:

A few days had passed, and all of the boys were relieved because none of them had received any more frightening phone calls. As Jordie lay in his bed, the walkie-talkie began to buzz...

"Hey guy, it's me, Tim, over."

"Hi. What's up? Over"

"I made about ten dollars this weekend, mowing lawns. We can put it towards the money. Over."

Drew wasn't answering, so Tim and Jordie decided to go over to the clubhouse together. When they met on the corner, they looked down the street and saw a police car parked in front of Drew's house. "Oh no!" said Tim. "Why do you think the police are there?" They both stood watching for a few minutes, not knowing whether to go over or not. They decided to sit on the corner and wait it out until the police car left. Jordie had taken his walkie-talkie with him. "Drew. Drew, come in, over." The walkie-talkie crackled again.

"Hey, it's me. Over."

"What's going on at your house? Why are the police there? Over."

"Come down to the clubhouse, and I'll tell ya. Over-n-out."

The boys waited until the police car drove away, then ran to the clubhouse and climbed the ladder. They all sat down, cross-legged on the floor as Drew began...

"The guy at the video store recognized me from the time I bought Phantom Jet Force. I had paid him with one of those hundreds." "SEE! I TOLD you!" yelled Jordie. "That's why he had YOU fill out the form. He wanted your address and phone number."

Tim began to cry. "We're all gonna go to jail." "No, no, we won't," replied Jordie, giving him a quick hug. "We'll just tell them the truth; that we found the money, and we were afraid to tell them. After all, we were threatened, and we were..."

Drew put his hand up to stop Jordie from talking. "Hold it. We don't have to tell them. I already did," said Drew. "The police questioned me for an hour. They asked me where I got the money. I'm sorry, guys, I had to tell them." Jordie began to cry too. "We ARE going to jail, aren't we?"

Drew explained to them that the police said since they returned the money, they most likely wouldn't face any charges. After all, it wasn't them who stole it, to begin with. "He said that if I returned all the money I had used, I wouldn't be in trouble - with them at least. I still have my dad to deal with. The cops said that HE would be responsible for the money since I'm a minor."

The boys couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "But, what about the guy who called us," asked Jordie. "Did you tell the officer about our phone calls?" "Yes," said Drew, in a serious tone. "I did, but it's okay. They think they have the man who called us." Tim and Jordie's mouths dropped open. "Wow!" said Tim, drying his wet tears. "Who was it?" "The cop wouldn't say. He said they're still investigating."

The boys all hugged each other joyfully. Things were really going to be okay after all, and even though they weren't rich, they realized their friendships were worth far more than money.

Chapter 14:

It was the last day of school. The boys were excited to ride their bikes, run through the hose and take their skateboards up to the big hill at the other end of town. They decided it was time to reconvene the Falcon Street Club. They were going to decide if Riley was to become a member or not. They'd had to put his membership on hold until all the trouble with the money and police had blown over.

Drew and Jordie sat on their skateboards in the middle of the clubhouse when along came Tim with a plastic bag. "Look, guys! I got snacks," he announced, climbing up the ladder. "Cookies," he said, shaking the bag in their faces. "Yesss!" Drew hissed as he grabbed for the bag. "Gimme gimme!" They all sat around eating the treats, waiting for Riley.

Soon, they heard "Helloooh," as Riley called from the yard. "C'mon up," Drew hollered back. Riley climbed up and handed Jordie a newspaper clipping from the Town Tattler. "I thought you guys might want to see this." The headline read Local Man Arrested in Rusttown Bank Robbery. "Wow!" said Tim in amazement. "Is this him? Is this the guy who had called us?" Riley nodded. "That's him. That's my uncle."

"Your UNCLE?" they all said at once. "Yup. Remember the time you came over, and my mom was crying? He had been arrested that morning, and that's what it was for." Then Riley began to break down. "I'm the one who told him you guys had found the money. I didn't know he was the one who had stolen it and put it by the shed. I wasn't trying to start any trouble; I was just telling him how exciting it was for you." He was crying even harder now. "I didn't want you guys not to like me, and now you won't even want me in your club."

The boys all gathered around Riley. "It's okay, really it is. Don't cry, Riley." "Yeah, everything turned out okay," Jordie said, putting his hand on Riley's shoulder. "We helped catch a bad guy! Sorry, Riley," Jordie caught himself, feeling embarrassed. "I didn't mean your uncle was a bad guy, well, I mean, I dunno - maybe he was!" They all laughed, including Riley. "Geeze, I guess he was!" he said, wiping the tears from his cheeks. Drew handed him the last walkie-talkie. "Welcome to the Falcon Street Club," he said, patting him on the back.

"C'mon, you guys," said Tim. "Let's go to the grocery store and get some candy." "With what money?" asked Jordie sarcastically. "Don't worry," laughed Tim. "I made some more money doing yard work. I'll buy us all candy; then we can go skateboardin'." "Yay!" said all the boys together. They grabbed their boards and headed for Main Street.

Chapter 15:

The boys all entered the little Colby Grocery Store where the long aisle of candy seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. There were mounds of chocolates and caramels, jawbreakers, and giant ropes of flavored bubble gum. They grabbed handfuls of candy and gum and put them on the conveyer belt. "That'll be six dollars and eleven cents, please," said the woman at the register. She eyed the boys with a look of disapproval. "Be sure and brush your teeth after eating all this," she said, giving them a wink.

The boys took their candy and stuffed it in their pockets. As Riley unwrapped some gum, he went to throw the wrapper away and spied a few tickets lying near the trash can. "Oh, look! Lottery tickets," he exclaimed. He picked them up and skimmed through them. There were eight tickets in all - all connected together. "Looky there!" cried Drew. "That one hasn't been scratched."

Riley tore the other tickets away and stood staring at the unscratched one. "Does someone have a penny?" asked Drew. Tim reached into his pocket and pulled out a dime from his change. Riley began to scratch the ticket. "You have to match these numbers with this one," Drew instructed him. "I know how to do it," said Riley, pushing Drew's hand away.

He began to scratch the rows of numbers. The first was a two; the second, an eleven; the third, a thirteen. Three numbers left. The fourth number was twenty-seven; the fifth, three and the last number was seventeen.

"Scratch the box! The lucky number!" shouted Drew. The boys all stood, breathless, waiting in anticipation as Riley scratched off the lucky number. As the dime scratched away the gray coating, a one appeared. Jordie held his breath...

Scratch scratch scratch, the last scratch revealed a seven.

"Seventeen!" Drew hollered. "You won!" The whole group of boys jumped up and down, hugging each other. "Wait!" shouted Jordie. "How much did you win?" In the excitement, Riley had forgotten to scratch off the bottom part of the number, revealing the prize.

He once again scraped the dime across the gray coating... 1-0-0-0-0-.00 TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! Riley nearly jumped out of his skin.

"WE WON! WHOO, HOO!" Jordie took his baseball cap off and tossed it into the air. Tim and Drew fist-pumped, and Riley did a cartwheel right there on the sidewalk. "Now, THIS one we have to tell our parents about," Jordie shouted. "I know my dad will redeem it for us for sure," hollered Riley. "Hey," giggled Tim, "ten thousand dollars. We're right back where we started!"

The end~

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