Water-Ski Wipeout Read online

  Sara stared at her feet. “I hid the other ski because I was hoping . . . ,” she said. “I don’t know. I was hoping someone would find it or something.”

  “At least we know what happened now,” Frank said.

  Chet was staring at the lake. The boat with the light was getting closer. He waved to his dad, who was steering it. “You’re back!” he called.

  Mr. Morton pulled into the dock. A few kids got out. Some of them were red from being in the sun all morning. Others had towels slung around their necks. “We missed you guys!” Ellie said as she stepped out of the boat. “It wasn’t the same without you.”

  “We have some good news and some bad news,” Mr. Morton said. “Which one do you want first?”

  Joe glanced sideways at his brother. “The good news?” he said, feeling suddenly nervous.

  “We found something of yours,” Mr. Morton said, and smiled. He held up the missing water ski.

  “My ski!” Joe cried. He took it from Mr. Morton’s hand. “This is amazing!”

  Mr. Morton continued, “But you haven’t heard the bad news yet. We only found one. It was floating out on the lake . . . all alone.”

  “He only needs one!” Frank laughed. He patted his brother on the back. Joe was practically jumping up and down, he was so excited.

  “What do you mean?” Mr. Morton asked. The rest of the group looked confused.

  Chet laughed. “It’s a long story,” he said. “We can tell it to you at lunch.”

  The boys started up the shore, Sara following close behind them. Joe kept looking at the water ski in his hand. He couldn’t believe he’d really gotten it back.

  “It’s your lucky day,” Frank whispered to him.

  Joe was smiling so much, his face hurt. “It really is,” he said.

  “WOOO-HOOOO!” Joe cried. “THIS IS AMAZING!!”

  The wind whipped through his hair. He zipped over the water, holding on tight to the handle. All the kids in the boat cheered.

  It was Sunday morning, and they had one whole day to be on the water. The boat was packed. Frank, Chet, Sara, and Tamara had all come along for the ride. Joe had let Tamara go first. She turned out to be a great water-skier. She didn’t fall once.

  Suddenly Joe found himself losing speed and let go of the handles. As the boat slowed down to come back and pick him up, he floated in the water. His life vest came up around his chin, and he bobbed in the cool lake. When the boat circled back to Joe, he grinned.

  “This has been one of the best days ever,” he declared.

  Frank reached down, helping his brother up the metal ladder. Joe grabbed a towel from the bench and sat beside him. “You bet it is. We found your skis, the sun is shining, and we have the whole rest of the day to hang out here before we have to go back home.”

  “Lake Poketoe is even better than I imagined,” Joe said.

  The boat picked up speed again. Mr. Morton turned the wheel left, directly into a small wave. All the kids cheered as they bumped up and down in their seats. Frank and Joe cheered the loudest, happy to finally be catching some sunshine.

  Chet came over and handed them some iced tea, then got some for himself. He held his glass in the air in a toast. “Good job, guys,” he said with a smile. He clinked it against theirs. “Another case solved!”

  Don’t miss the next

  HARDY BOYS

  Clue Book:

  #4 TALENT SHOW TRICKS

  Nine-year-old Frank Hardy sat in the school auditorium, going over a big checklist in a binder.

  “Hey, Frank!” Chet Morton, Frank’s best friend, waved from the stage. “Check this out!” Chet held up three microphones and pretended to juggle them. “Maybe I can be in the talent show too!”

  Frank laughed. He’d been chosen as a Bayport Backstage Buddy member for the school’s yearly talent show. That meant he was going to help with anything people needed during the show and make sure everything ran smoothly. He even had his own walkie-talkie to help in talking with everyone around the auditorium. Mrs. Castle, the music and arts teacher who directed the show, said she picked Frank to work with her because he was so organized and reliable. He didn’t want to let her or the students in the show down!

  The kids in the show, including his eight-year-old brother, Joe, were in the restrooms, changing into their costumes. Rehearsal would start in just a few minutes. It was Monday, and the show was at the end of the week, so they had a lot of work to do!

  Frank took a few moments to check in with the rest of the BBB crew. First he talked with Eli Ramsay through the walkie-talkie, who was helping to work the lights up in a booth above the stage, and made sure he was ready to go. Then he checked on Chet, who was at the back of the auditorium. Chet was going to help with the sound—making sure each act had the right music and making sure the microphones all worked.

  “Hey, Chet,” Frank called out. His friend was half hidden behind a huge panel with all sorts of buttons and levers. “You ready to go?”

  “You bet!” Chet said, flashing Frank a thumbs-up. “You know, this stuff is pretty cool. Maybe I’ll be a sound designer someday. Or a DJ!”

  Frank grinned. Chet was always picking up new hobbies. As he walked away from the sound booth, he grabbed the walkie-talkie that was clipped to his jeans.

  “Come in, Speedy,” he said.

  The walkie-talkie crackled, and the voice of his friend Cissy “Speedy” Zermeño squawked over the line. “I’m hearing you loud and clear, Frank!”

  “How are things looking back there?” he asked. Speedy was also helping backstage, making sure everyone was ready to go before their act.

  “We’re ready to go when you are!” Speedy said.

  Now that he’d checked in with the crew, Frank looked around the auditorium to see if the student director had arrived yet. Olivia Shapiro was an eighth-grade drama student from Bayport Middle School, which was just down the street. At that moment, Olivia and her seventh-grade assistant, Zoe, came sweeping into the auditorium. Olivia’s face was red and both girls were out of breath. It looked like they both ran from the middle school. Plus, although it was a warm day outside, Olivia always insisted on wearing a scarf wrapped dramatically around her neck. Frank had heard her tell Zoe in a rehearsal last week that all the great directors wore scarves.

  Olivia took her usual seat in the auditorium with Zoe beside her. Zoe handed her a bottle of water, a notebook, and a pen while Olivia fanned herself.

  Frank went up to Olivia. “Everyone’s ready to start.”

  “Thank you, Frank,” she said. “Can you call the cast to the stage, please? I want to talk with them before we begin.”

  “Sure,” Frank said. He got Speedy on the walkie-talkie and told her to send the cast out. Slowly, students started to trickle onto the stage. Most were dressed in colorful costumes or fancy clothes. Some held props, like Joe, who was clutching the half-dozen orange balls he juggled in his act. Others carried instruments, like the new kid at Bayport, Ezra Moore, who held his violin and bow.

  “Attention, everyone!” Olivia said, waving her hand to get the cast’s attention. “I have an announcement to make.”

  The students stopped their chattering and turned toward their student director.

  “I want to remind all of you to have your friends and family book their tickets for Friday’s show now,” Olivia said. “You don’t want them to end up without a seat, do you?”

  The cast shook their heads.

  “Please feel free to see me after today’s rehearsal for more tickets if you need them,” Mrs. Castle chimed in. She was watching from the back of the auditorium.

  “Okay, then. You’ll remind them tonight when you get home.” Olivia clapped her hands. “Places, please!” Frank saw a few kids roll their eyes. Olivia could be pretty bossy, and not everyone liked that!

  The students scattered into the wings at the sides of the stage. The first and last numbers of the evening were songs that Olivia had choreographed herself, and they featured ever
yone in the show. Frank took his usual place in a seat behind Olivia and Zoe and got out his walkie-talkie.

  “Eli,” he said. “Can you bring up the lights for the opening number?”

  “Roger, boss!” Eli radioed back. The lights in the auditorium dimmed, while those on the stage brightened.

  “Chet,” Frank asked, “is the music for the opening number ready to go?”

  “Whenever you are, Frank,” Chet replied.

  “Speedy,” Frank said, “is everyone in position backstage?”

  “We’re ready!” she said.

  Frank leaned forward to tell Olivia they were ready to start, but she was deep in conversation with Zoe.

  “. . . think it’s going to be okay,” Zoe was saying to Olivia. “I heard Mrs. Castle say that over half the tickets have already been sold.”

  “Okay isn’t good enough,” Olivia said. “I want to be a professional director someday, and this is my first chance to prove myself. This show has to sell out. What happens if they take the show away from me? Then what will I do next year?”

  “Um, Olivia?” Frank interrupted. “Everyone’s ready to start when you are.”

  “I’m ready,” Olivia said. “Let’s go.”

  “Chet,” Frank said into his walkie-talkie, “start the music. Eli, hit the lights. Here we go, everybody!”

  Franklin W. Dixon is the author of the ever-popular Hardy Boys series of books.

  Matt David is a part-time illustrator and full-time clue finder, and lives and works in San Francisco. He solves mysteries with his trusty pencil and the help of his wife, son, and clever cat.

  ALADDIN

  Simon & Schuster, New York

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  Don’t miss any of the cases in the Hardy Boys Clue Book series!

  #1: The Video Game Bandit

  #2: The Missing Playbook

  Coming Soon

  #4: Talent Show Tricks

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

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  This Aladdin hardcover edition August 2016

  Text copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Matt David

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  Book designed by Karina Granda

  The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2016942233

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5056-0 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5055-3 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5057-7 (eBook)