“How do you explain that, Detective Drew?” Katie asked, folding her arms across her chest.
“Yeah,” Bess said. “And how are you going to solve this mystery?”
Nancy knew she would have to work fast. “Let’s meet at the Double Dip at four,” she suggested. “I always think better over ice cream.”
• • •
The four girls ran home to get permission to ride their bikes to Main Street. Twenty minutes later they parked their bicycles in front of the Double Dip, their favorite ice-cream parlor.
After getting their cones, they sat around a small wooden table. Nancy held a chocolate mint ice-cream cone in one hand, and a pencil in the other. Her notebook with the shiny blue cover was opened to a fresh page.
Katie, Bess, and George watched as Nancy wrote “The Alien Mystery” at the top of the page.
“I’ll start by making a list of all the reasons Ms. Zagon can’t be an alien,” Nancy said.
“What if you find clues that Ms. Zagon is an alien?” Katie asked.
Nancy tapped her pencil against the table. Then her eyes lit up. “I know!”
She drew a line down the page. At the top of one column she wrote “Alien.” At the top of the other she wrote “Human.”
“What are you doing?” Katie asked.
“I’m going to make a checklist,” Nancy explained.
“You think of everything, Nancy,” George said.
Nancy licked her ice-cream cone and thought for a moment. “I wish I could find out where Ms. Zagon lives. Then I could prove that she lives in a house and not in a spaceship.”
George shook her dark curls. “Aliens don’t live in their spaceship when they come to Earth. They park it somewhere until they’re ready to return to their planet.”
Bess shivered. “That’s creepy!”
Katie pointed to Nancy’s notebook. “Write on your Alien list that Ms. Zagon has eyes in the back of her head.”
“And X-ray vision,” George added.
Nancy wrote the words in her notebook. “I’m also going to write that Ms. Zagon is nice and drives a car. I’ll put that on the Human side.”
“But she’s got weird license plates,” George said.
Nancy added that information to the Alien side.
Just then Katie shrieked. “Look out the window, everyone. Quick!”
Two figures in shiny silver space suits were walking by. Their heads were large and pointed at the top.
“They look like visitors from another planet!” George gasped.
They sure do, Nancy thought.
“I’ll bet they’re headed for Ms. Zagon’s spaceship,” Katie said. “We have to follow them.”
“But what if they see us?” Bess asked.
“We’ll offer them our ice-cream cones,” George suggested.
Nancy wasn’t sure if the creatures were really aliens. But she knew there was only one way to find out.
“Okay, let’s follow them,” she said.
The girls took their cones outside and began to walk down the street.
“We have to stick close together,” Nancy said firmly. Then she stopped. Bess bumped into Nancy.
“Not that close,” Nancy said.
Katie pulled Nancy’s arm. “The aliens are turning the corner. Let’s hurry!”
Still holding their ice-cream cones, the girls marched down Main Street. When they reached the corner, they slowed down.
“They’re going into that yellow house with the green shutters,” Katie whispered.
The four girls watched the creatures walk through the door. Their silver space suits glowed brightly in the late afternoon sun.
When the creatures were inside the house, the girls tiptoed quietly up the driveway.
“Wait,” Nancy whispered. “I think I hear a noise.”
“What is it?” George whispered.
Nancy listened carefully. Suddenly she heard a loud creaking sound.
“The garage door is opening,” Katie said, stepping back.
Nancy froze. She gripped her icecream cone so hard it almost cracked.
“W-w-what’s happening?” Bess stammered.
The door lifted and a powerful beam of light shot out. Nancy covered her eyes with one hand. Bess, George, and Katie did the same.
“It’s the spaceship!” Katie screamed. “Don’t let the aliens take us!”
4
2 Earth 2 Soon
Leave us alone!” Nancy shouted toward the blinding light.
“Yeah!” George yelled. “Pick on someone from your own planet!”
The light began to fade. Nancy uncovered her eyes. But instead of looking straight at space aliens, she was staring at—
“The boys!” Bess groaned.
Mike, Jason, David Berger, and two other boys were standing inside the garage, wearing the silver space suits. They held blue plastic space guns. David was holding a large, high-beam flashlight.
David stepped forward. “We caught you spying on our new club,” he said in a fake alien voice. “This means war!”
“Club?” Nancy asked. “What club?”
“Our Moleheads from Mars fan club,” Mike said proudly.
Jason pumped his fist in the air. “Moleheads rule!” he shouted.
“Give me a break,” George said.
David tilted his head. “You thought we were real aliens, didn’t you?” he asked.
Nancy made herself laugh loudly. “Real aliens? You? No way.”
A boy with red hair and freckles scowled at the girls. “Did so. I saw you and you were scared.”
Katie made a face. “Why would we be scared by you when we happen to know a real-life alien right here in River Heights?”
“A real alien?” Mike cried.
“Who? Where?” Jason demanded.
Bess stuck out her chin. “We’re not telling. It’s a secret!”
David raised his plastic space gun. “Tell us everything or we’ll fire.”
“There are no aliens in River Heights,” Nancy said.
George pointed to the boys. “Just a bunch of jerks in aluminum foil suits.”
The girls giggled as they licked their melting ice-cream cones.
Then a boy with blond hair and glasses raised his space gun. “Attack!” he shouted.
Nancy and her friends screamed as sticky string spurted from the boys’ plastic space guns. The colorful string tangled in their hair and around their arms and legs.
“Gross!” Nancy yelled as the sticky string whipped around her ice-cream cone.
“Creeps!” Katie shouted.
The boys just laughed.
“Let’s get out of here,” Nancy said to her friends.
As the girls walked away from the house, Nancy heard Jason shout something at them.
“If there’s an alien in River Heights, we’re going to catch it, not you!” he called.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Nancy said as they hurried back to Main Street. “Finding aliens or those boys.”
“Moleheads.” George laughed. She pulled a piece of yellow string from one of her curls. “Meatheads is more like it.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever eat strawberry fudge ripple ever again,” Bess said, wiping ice cream from her face.
As the girls walked over to their bikes, Nancy spotted Ms. Zagon’s red car parked a few feet away. It had the strange license plate that read 2 EARTH.
“There’s Ms. Zagon’s car,” Nancy said. “I want to look inside.”
“Why?” George asked.
“Because I still want to prove that Ms. Zagon drives a normal car, that’s why,” Nancy explained.
Nancy, George, Katie, and Bess surrounded the car. They pressed their noses against the windows.
“Just as I thought!” Katie cried.
“What is it?” Nancy asked.
“Ms. Zagon has a bag of marshmallows on her backseat,” Katie answered.
Nancy stared at Katie. “What’s wrong with marshmallows?” she
asked.
“Marshmallow has the word Mars in it,” Katie said. “Maybe it’s not a bag of marshmallows but a secret alien potion to put us under her power.”
“Katie, I think you’re getting carried away,” Nancy said with a laugh.
“This car looks okay to me,” Bess said.
“You see?” Nancy said, looking through the window again. “Ms. Zagon drives an ordinary car just like—”
Nancy stopped talking when she saw it. On the front seat was a picture of four saucer-eyed aliens with huge heads and stringy fingers. Over one of the aliens was an arrow and the word me.
“Check it out,” Nancy said, pointing to the picture.
“If those aren’t aliens,” Katie said, “I’ll eat Lester’s birdseed!”
“But Ms. Zagon doesn’t look like that,” Bess said. “Those creatures have green skin.”
Katie jammed her finger against the window. “That’s what she really looks like—when she doesn’t have her Earth makeup on.”
Nancy looked at the picture. Could Ms. Zagon be an alien after all? she wondered.
Suddenly Nancy felt as though someone was watching her. She held her breath and turned around very slowly.
Then Nancy saw her.
“Hello, girls.”
Nancy felt her heart pound in her chest.
Standing in front of her was Ms. Zagon!
5
Lester the Spy
I see you found my car,” Ms. Zagon said with a smile. “Want a marshmallow?”
The girls didn’t answer. They ran to their bikes and rode off, screaming all the way home.
Before dinner Nancy sat on her bed. She opened her blue notebook and wrote “weird picture” on her Alien list.
“Phooey!” Nancy said to herself. “The Alien list is much longer than the Human list.”
“Nancy! Dinner!” Hannah Gruen called from the dining room. Hannah was the Drews’ housekeeper.
Nancy shut her notebook and hurried downstairs. She sat down at the table and stared at her plate.
“The macaroni,” Nancy said slowly. “It’s shaped like flying saucers.”
“Yes,” Hannah said. “I saw it at the supermarket and thought it was cute.”
Nancy put down her fork and sighed.
“Aren’t you hungry, Pudding Pie?” Carson Drew asked.
“Yes, Daddy,” Nancy said. “But first I have a question.”
Carson winked. “Shoot.”
“What if you’re trying to prove that you’re right, and you start finding out that you might be wrong?”
Carson took a sip of water. “There’s nothing wrong with being wrong. As long as you can admit it.”
Nancy thought for a moment. “I’m not wrong yet. But I feel as if I’m not getting anywhere with my new mystery.”
“Don’t give up, Pudding Pie,” Carson said. “You might be a lot closer than you think.”
Nancy smiled and ate a forkful of macaroni. It tasted good—for flying saucers.
I have one more day to solve this case, Nancy told herself after dinner. Then she thought about how she could prove that Ms. Zagon was not an alien. If only I could find out where she lives, she thought.
With her puppy, Chocolate Chip, at her heels, Nancy went into the den. She dragged the heavy phone book from her father’s desk and opened it to the Z’s.
“‘Zafowitz . . . Zager . . . Zagon,’ ” Nancy read out loud. “‘Diana Lynn Zagon.’ That must be her.”
She wrote Ms. Zagon’s name, telephone number, and address under the Human column in her notebook.
Nancy smiled down at her dog. “Now we’re getting somewhere, Chip.”
• • •
On Tuesday morning Nancy and her friends headed to their classroom.
“Are you sure the name in the phone book was Ms. Zagon’s?” George asked Nancy.
“I’m almost positive,” Nancy said firmly. She looked at Katie. “And aliens are not listed in the phone book.”
Katie put her hands on her hips. “I’ll bet aliens can make their names appear in the phone book if they want to.”
“Aliens can do anything,” Bess said.
“That does it,” Nancy said. “We’re all going to go to Ms. Zagon’s address right after school. Then we can see her house.”
“I wish we could find out what’s going on inside her house,” George said.
“Good idea,” Nancy said. “Maybe we’ll be able to.”
“But how?” Katie asked. “And what if Ms. Zagon catches us?”
“Yeah,” Bess said. “What if Ms. Zagon catches us?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “I just said that, Bess. You’re beginning to sound like Lester.”
Nancy snapped her fingers. “That’s it. We can use Lester!”
The girls formed a huddle in front of their classroom.
“Lester repeats everything he hears, right?” Nancy whispered.
“Of course,” Katie said. “He’s a parrot.”
“So why don’t we fly him into Ms. Zagon’s house and then listen to what he says when he comes out?” Nancy asked.
“No way,” Katie said. “Lester’s not a spy. He’s my pet.”
George grabbed Katie’s shoulders. “And now he can be a hero.”
Katie stared at George. “A hero?”
“Sure,” George said with a smile. “If Lester winds up saving the whole planet, he’ll be more famous than Lassie.”
“More famous than Lassie . . .” Katie leaned against the wall and whistled low. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Nancy smiled. “Good. We’ll make a plan during lunch.”
As they walked into the classroom, Nancy asked, “Are you still coming to my house for dinner?”
George and Bess nodded. They had gotten permission the night before.
“I can’t,” Katie said. “I’ll have to bring Lester right home.”
“That’s okay,” Nancy said. “I’ll ask Hannah to save you some dessert.”
Once in the classroom Nancy saw a group of kids surrounding the hamster cage.
“What’s going on?” Nancy asked Emily Reeves.
Emily pointed to one of the class hamsters. “Look at Peaches. All of a sudden she’s so big and fat.”
Nancy stared at the chubby hamster. She remembered the movie in which the alien made animals grow bigger and bigger.
“Add that to your Alien list, Nancy,” Katie whispered.
• • •
Ms. Zagon spent the day teaching math, social studies, and talking about more planets. After school the girls picked up Lester. Then they walked to Ms. Zagon’s house.
“What time is it?” George asked.
“It’s three forty-five,” Nancy said, looking at her purple watch.
Katie held Lester’s cage tightly. “Let’s get this over with,” she said nervously.
“Over with! Over with!” Lester squawked.
“For a spy, he’s sure got a big mouth,” Bess complained.
The girls tiptoed across the lawn and right up to the house. They peeked through one of the windows.
“I see Ms. Zagon,” Nancy whispered. “She’s talking on the telephone.”
“She’s probably reporting to her leader,” Katie whispered.
Nancy and her friends gathered behind a clump of bushes and went over their plans.
“First, we’ll let Lester fly through an open window. After about ten minutes we’ll ring Ms. Zagon’s bell.”
George continued. “Then we’ll ask Ms. Zagon if she found a lost parrot.”
“After we get Lester back,” Katie went on, “we’ll listen to what he says.”
The girls found an open window on the side of the house.
“Slip Lester inside the house here,” Nancy told Katie.
Katie lifted Lester out of his cage and placed him on the window ledge. Then she gently pushed him inside the house.
“AAAARK!” Lester squawked.
Nancy watched through the window.
“He’s making his way through the house,” Nancy said, giving the thumbs-up sign. “Now all we have to do is wait.”
The girls sat on the ground under the window. After a few minutes Nancy heard a loud fluttering sound above her head. She stood up and saw Lester flapping his wings against the window.
“Lester’s back!” Nancy cried.
“He looks scared,” Bess said.
Katie reached into the window and helped her pet out of the house. “You’d be scared too if you came face-to-face with an alien.”
“Lester,” Nancy said. “What’s new?”
Lester stared at Nancy and blinked.
“He’s not talking,” George said, concerned.
Katie shook her parrot gently. “Lester. Say something. Anything!”
Lester stretched his neck. Then he opened his beak wide.
“VEEGATESDEERGROSSMUDDER!” he screeched.
“What did he say?” Nancy asked.
“VEEGATESDEERGROSSMUDDER!”
“What a strange word!” Bess said.
Katie looked as if she was about to cry. “What did Ms. Zagon do to my parrot?”
“Don’t worry,” Nancy said. “He’s probably just repeating what Ms. Zagon said on the phone.”
“If that’s true,” Katie said, her green eyes flashing, “then Lester is speaking the secret language of planet Zagon!”
6
X Marks the Spot
It can’t be a secret language,” Nancy insisted.
“What else could it be?” George asked. “Lester only repeats what he hears.”
Lester stretched his neck. “VEEGATESDEERGROSSMUDDER!”
“Write that down in your notebook, Nancy,” Katie said.
“Write it?” Nancy cried. “I can’t even say it!”
“I don’t like this,” Bess said, her voice sounding shaky.
Katie rested her cheek on Lester’s feathers. “Lester will never be the same again. I’ve lost him forever.”
Nancy noticed a rolled-up paper in Lester’s claw. “What could that be?” she asked.
“Oh, Lester is always grabbing things.” Katie sighed. “Once he flew off with my homework.”
Nancy tried to tug the paper from Lester’s claw, but he wouldn’t let go.
“See?” Katie said. “He’s even acting strange.”