The Snow Queen's Surprise

  “Done!” George said after she listed all of Rebecca’s spells.

  The girls decided not to sign their names. George folded the letter and sealed it inside the envelope.

  “Let’s go straight to the drama school,” George said, “and slip this letter under the door.”

  “Then let’s get our sleds and go to the park,” Bess said excitedly.

  The girls left the pizza parlor. They walked down Main Street until they reached the Twinkling Stars Drama School.

  “Who’s going to slip it under the door?” Nancy asked.

  “Bess will,” George said.

  “Why me?” Bess cried.

  “Because you’re the shortest,” George said. “And the closest to the ground.”

  “Whatever.” Bess sighed. She took the envelope and began to kneel.

  “Yoo-hoo!” a voice piped in.

  Nancy and her friends whirled around. Rebecca was walking toward them!

  “Some snow last night, huh?” Rebecca said proudly. “What are you doing here?”

  “Um,” Bess said. She stood up and shoved the letter behind her back.

  “We wanted to wish you luck,” Nancy said quickly.

  “For rehearsals?” Rebecca asked.

  Another voice broke in. “Hi, guys!”

  This time Nancy saw their friend Katie Zaleski. She was walking out of the pet store. She was holding a cage with her parrot, Lester, inside.

  “Lester just picked out a new toy,” Katie said. “It is so neat!”

  Rebecca leaned over to the cage and smiled. “Polly wanna cracker?” she cooed.

  Lester blinked at Rebecca. Then he opened his beak and squawked, “Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!”

  Rebecca’s eyes flew open. “Did he just call me a ding-a-ling?” she demanded.

  “No, silly,” Katie said. “Lester was talking about his new toy bell.”

  Rebecca glared at Lester and raised her wand in the air. “Birds of a feather flock together!” she shouted. “They turn to ice in frosty weather!”

  “Oh, no!” Bess cried. “Not another snow queen spell!”

  “He asked for it,” Rebecca said with a smile. She opened the door to Twinkling Stars and walked inside.

  “What was that all about?” Katie asked, confused.

  “Rebecca thinks she’s a snow queen,” Nancy said. “And that she can turn anything into ice.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. “That’s the silliest thing I ever—”

  “Raaak!” Lester squawked. He kicked the door to his cage open and flew out.

  “Oh, no!” Katie cried as Lester flew down the street. “Lester has escaped!”

  The four girls chased Lester as he flew down Main Street. He made a sharp turn into the River Heights Art Gallery.

  “Follow him!” Nancy ordered.

  Nancy, Bess, George, and Katie ran into the art gallery. A fancy party was being held. There were long tables filled with food and punch. Grown-ups stood near the paintings, talking softly.

  Nancy was about to look for Lester when Katie let out a big shriek.

  Nancy, Bess, and George ran over to Katie. Her hand trembled as she pointed to a table. On it was a bird made of ice!

  “Lester!” Katie wailed. “What has she done to you?”

  Nancy stepped back slowly. Had Rebecca really turned Lester into ice?

  7

  A New Leaf

  Lester will never play with his new toy now,” Katie wailed. “Never!”

  The party guests turned to stare. A man in a black suit hurried over.

  “Careful, children,” he said. “Don’t touch the bird of paradise ice sculpture.”

  “Sculpture?” Nancy repeated. “You mean someone made this?”

  “Yes,” the man said. His mustache twitched as he grinned. “This bird was made by a very talented artist in River Heights. She sculpts lots of animals.”

  “Then it’s not Lester.” Katie sighed with relief.

  “Lester?” the man asked. “Who’s Lester?”

  But Nancy was wondering about the animals. Could the sculptor have made the snow dog in the park, too?

  “What’s the sculptor’s name?” Nancy asked the man.

  “Her name?” the man asked. “It’s—”

  “Arrrk!”

  Everyone spun around. Lester was on a nearby table munching from a platter of salmon-spread crackers.

  “Lester wanna cracker!” Lester squawked. “Rraaak!”

  “Lester!” Katie cried happily.

  The man in the black suit wasn’t so happy. He pointed to the door and in a loud voice said, “Get that bird out of here!”

  While Katie swooped up Lester, Nancy glanced at the ice bird. She saw something carved into the bird’s wing. It was the same leaf that was on the ice dog.

  Nancy felt George tug her arm. Then the friends ran out of the art gallery.

  “I’m taking Lester straight home,” Katie said, lifting his cage. “He’s had enough excitement for one day.”

  “And enough crackers,” George said.

  “Ooooh boy!” Lester screeched.

  Nancy watched Katie walk away. Then she turned excitedly to Bess and George.

  “A leaf was carved on the bird’s wing,” Nancy said. “The same leaf that was on the snow dog. Isn’t that a great clue?”

  “Sure, Nancy,” George said. “But it’s already Wednesday.”

  Nancy wanted to scream. Why did she promise to solve the case by Wednesday? Why not Thursday? Or even Friday?

  “Look,” Bess said. She held up a cracker and giggled. “I grabbed this on the way out. Tuna fish salad on an onion cracker.”

  “Woof!”

  Nancy jumped as a big dog bounded over. Without stopping, he snatched the cracker from Bess’s hand with his teeth!

  “Hey!” Bess shouted as the dog charged away. “That dog took my cracker!”

  Nancy stared at the dog. It was butterscotch colored with long, floppy ears—just like Grubby.

  “I think that’s the dog from the park!” Nancy cried. “Let’s follow him!”

  The girls chased the dog down Main Street. The sidewalks were slushy and slippery so they had to be careful.

  “Stop, cracker thief!” Bess shouted.

  The dog made a turn at the next corner. The girls turned the corner, too.

  Nancy saw the dog race toward a yellow house with green shutters.

  “Woof!” the dog barked as he ran around the side of the house.

  “Now he’s in the backyard,” George groaned. “We can’t follow him there.”

  “I wonder who that dog belongs to,” Bess said, out of breath.

  Nancy glanced around. In front of the house was a snow-covered mailbox.

  “There’s one way to find out,” Nancy said. She dusted powdery snow off the cream-colored mailbox. On the side a name was painted in green.

  “‘B. Greenleaf,’” Nancy read out loud. She brushed off more snow. Then her eyes opened wide. Painted next to the name was a leaf. A very familiar leaf!

  “There it is!” Nancy said excitedly. She tapped her hand on the painted leaf. “It’s that leaf again!”

  “So?” Bess asked.

  “So the person who lives in this house might have made the ice bird,” Nancy said. “And the snow dog in the park.”

  “Are you sure the dog we just chased was Mr. Grubby Paws?” Bess asked.

  “No,” Nancy admitted. She waved her hand in the direction of the house. “But I’m going to find out.”

  The girls’ boots made crunching noises as they walked around the house.

  When they reached the backyard they stood perfectly still. The yard was filled with the most beautiful statues made of snow.

  “Animals! A castle! Gnomes!” Bess cried. “It’s like a fairy tale!”

  The girls walked around the snow statues. They were like nothing Nancy had ever seen before.

  “And look!” Nancy said. “They all have the leaf design carved
into them.”

  Nancy was about to point to a polar bear statue when the butterscotch-colored dog jumped out from behind it.

  “Oh!” Nancy gasped. The dog nuzzled his nose in Nancy’s mitten. He was Grubby all right.

  “There you are, Bingo!” a woman’s voice boomed.

  Nancy saw a woman walking into the backyard. She was wearing a blue parka, gray pants, and dark blue rubber boots. Her green eyes sparkled under her striped wool hat.

  “Your dog’s name is Bingo?” Nancy asked. It was a lot nicer than Mr. Grubby Paws.

  “Yes,” the woman answered. “And I’m Betty Greenleaf. Did you come to see my snow sculptures?”

  “Sort of,” Nancy said. “Did you also make the ice bird at the art gallery?”

  “You bet! “Betty said.

  Nancy couldn’t wait to ask her next question. “And what about the snow dog in the park?” she asked.

  Betty nodded. “I made that sculpture of Bingo on Monday morning,” she said.

  “Yes!” Nancy chéered under her breath. Her father was right. The leaf was the most important clue of all!

  “Except Bingo wasn’t a very good model,” Betty went on. “He kept running off somewhere.”

  “We know.” Bess giggled.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to see if my phone works,” Betty said. “Some telephone lines in town were damaged from the snow last night.”

  Nancy thought back to the boys’ phones. No wonder they didn’t ring!

  The girls thanked Betty Greenleaf. After petting Bingo, they left the yard.

  “You see?” Nancy asked. “Rebecca never turned a dog into ice. She is not and never will be a snow queen!”

  “High five!” George exclaimed.

  The three friends slapped their gloves and mittens together. Then they walked away from Betty’s house.

  “It’s a good thing we never gave Stella Logan that letter,” George said.

  “That’s for sure,” Nancy said.

  Bess stopped walking. Her face became pale.

  “Bess?” Nancy asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “The letter,” Bess gulped. “I slipped it under the Twinkling Stars door.”

  “You what?” George cried. “When?”

  “Right before we ran after Lester!” Bess cried. “We were going to, anyway!”

  Nancy hit her own forehead with the back of her hand. “Oh, noooo!” she cried.

  8

  Rebecca Takes a Bow

  I’m sorry!” Bess said. “But we weren’t supposed to solve the case today!”

  Nancy took a deep breath. “It’s okay, Bess,” she said. “Let’s just get that letter before Ms. Logan reads it!”

  The girls walked quickly to Main Street. When they reached the drama school they went inside. The front hall was decorated with posters and pictures of past plays.

  Nancy didn’t see Rebecca, but she could hear her voice.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rebecca was saying.

  Nancy, Bess, and George followed the sound of Rebecca’s voice to a small auditorium.

  “There she is!” George whispered.

  Rebecca was standing on the stage. She was surrounded by six kids wearing costumes and headpieces.

  “We found this by the door,” a boy wearing reindeer antlers said. He waved George’s envelope in the air.

  “So?” Rebecca asked.

  “So what’s this about you being a real snow queen?” the reindeer boy asked.

  “Come clean, Rebecca,” a girl dressed as a chicken said. “Did you really turn a dog into snow?”

  “And turn hot chocolate cold?” another girl wearing a snowflake garland asked. “No wonder the marshmallows in my cocoa wouldn’t melt!”

  A tall woman with bright red hair marched in. She clutched a flowered shawl over her black pants and sweater.

  Nancy guessed she was Stella Logan.

  “Children, children!” she cried. “What is going on here? You know we have to rehearse the dance of the woodchucks.”

  “Excuse me, Ms. Logan,” Nancy blurted. “I can explain everything.”

  All eyes turned to Nancy.

  “You see, Ms. Logan,” Nancy began, “Rebecca pretended to have special snow queen powers. And we believed her.”

  “We even wrote a note telling on her,” George said. “We didn’t want her to cast any more spells.”

  “But now we know it’s not true,” Nancy added. “Rebecca isn’t a real snow queen. Just a real girl.”

  Nancy expected Ms. Logan to be angry. But instead she smiled.

  “Bravo, Rebecca! Bravo!” Ms. Logan said, clapping her hands.

  “Huh?” Nancy asked.

  “Rebecca may not be a snow queen,” Ms. Logan explained. “But look how many people believed her. That is acting!”

  Ms. Logan applauded again. The other students began applauding, too. Rebecca smiled and took a deep bow.

  “Wait a minute,” George piped up. “Rebecca scared a lot of people with her make-believe spells.”

  “Even me,” Bess said.

  Rebecca straightened up. Nancy could see she was blushing.

  “Is that true, Rebecca?” Ms. Logan asked. “You know I want all my twinkling stars to shine.”

  “It’s true.” Rebecca sighed.

  Ms. Logan walked up to Rebecca. She put her arm around her shoulder.

  “Rebecca, a good actor knows the difference between real and make-believe,” Ms. Logan said. “She saves her magic for the stage.”

  “Yes, Ms. Logan,” Rebecca said. She turned to Nancy, Bess, and George. “I’m sorry I scared you. I guess I got carried away.”

  “I guess,” Nancy said, smiling.

  “Who wants to be a real snow queen anyway?” Rebecca said, waving her hand. “I like summer camp too much. And the beach. And lemonade slushies!”

  Nancy was glad Rebecca had apologized. Now they could all be friends again.

  “One more thing,” Ms. Logan said. She turned to Nancy, Bess, and George. “Now that you’ve met the cast, why don’t you come to see our play in two weeks?”

  “The Snow Queen?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes,” Ms. Logan said. “IΓ11 give Rebecca three extra tickets just for you.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George thanked Ms. Logan. They waved goodbye to the cast and left the drama school.

  “We did it!” Nancy cried on Main Street. “We proved that Rebecca was not a snow queen!”

  “But what about all the other weird things that happened?” George asked.

  “Yeah,” Bess said. “Like cold hot chocolate. And Jason, David, and Mike—”

  “Did someone say our names?” a voice sneered.

  Nancy gasped. A shower of wet snowballs fell over her and her friends.

  Nancy wiped snow from her eyes and stared at the boys. They were not wearing their wool hats.

  “The Chill Commando strikes again!” Jason cheered.

  Bess put her hands on her hips. “We thought you were turned into snowmen,” she said.

  Jason, David, and Mike gave one another high-fives.

  “They fell for it!” Jason laughed. “I knew those snow dudes looked like us.”

  “Especially with those straws up their noses!” David said. He scrunched his nose and gave a walrus snort.

  “You made those snowmen?” Nancy asked. “The ones behind the fort?”

  Jason nodded. “Weren’t they way cool?” he asked.

  “You also fell for our hot chocolate trick at the Double Dip,” Mike said.

  “Yeah!” Jason snickered. “When you ran to the door we slipped ice cubes from our sodas into your cups.”

  Ice cubes! Nancy thought. So that explains it!

  “You should have seen your faces.” David guffawed. “You were so surprised!”

  Nancy saw George scoop up snow.

  “You mean like this?” George asked the boys. She reached back her arm and hurled a snowball at Jason.

  N
ancy and Bess joined in the action. They threw snowballs as fast as they could make them.

  “Hey!” Jason complained.

  “No fair!” Mike exclaimed.

  “We’re not wearing hats!” David cried. He covered his red ears with his hands. “Those things are cold!”

  “Surrender, Chill Commando!” Nancy shouted to the boys. “Or risk another attack—by the Snowflake Sisters!”

  George threw another snowball. It landed on Mike’s head.

  “Um,” Mike gulped. A chunk of snow fell on his nose. “Let’s get some pizza.”

  “Good idea,” David said.

  The girls cheered as the boys escaped into the pizza parlor.

  “Victory!” George shouted.

  “I think I like snowball fights now!” Bess giggled.

  Nancy was so happy she wanted to shout. She had solved a case and won a snowball fight. All in one day!

  “Let’s celebrate with some hot chocolate,” Nancy suggested. “Some hot hot chocolate.”

  “And then go sledding,” Bess said, her blue eyes shining. “Once and for all!”

  The girls made their way to the Double Dip. They ordered three hot chocolates with extra marshmallows.

  This time while Nancy waited for her cup to cool she took out her notebook. She began to write.

  Good news! Not only did I prove that Rebecca isn’t a real snow queen, I proved she’s a great actress, too.

  I also learned that I do believe in magic. No, not the magic of snow queens. The magic of a sculptor right here in River Heights. And she didn’t even use a wand—just her own two hands.

  Now, that is magic!

  Case closed.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition February 2002

  Copyright © 2002 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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