Gem was locking a display case at Gem's Jewelry. An old woman approached the case. She wore a black cape and a pointy black hat. She carried a large sack.
Gem smiled. "Can I show you some jewelry?"
"No, thanks. I'm just looking around," the old woman said. She reached into her sack. "Would you like some candy?"
"Sure." Gem took a small chocolate. "Thank you."
Gem put away her key. She turned around when she heard the bell over the door jingle.
When she turned back, the old woman was gone. Gem stared in horror at the display case. All of the precious jewelry inside was gone too. In its place were pieces of candy!
Gem ran outside. "Stop, thief!"
The witch dashed around the corner and hid. She opened her sack. Now it was full of jewelry.
The witch cackled loudly. "Soon I'll be rich—and much more powerful!"
"I read five books this month," Terrell said. He put five tickets in a pile on the table.
"Me too," Mara said. "We have ten tickets now."
Roxy and her friends were in the school library. The school was having a reading marathon this month. Students earned a ticket for each book they read.
Jack added his tickets to the pile. "I read two books."
"Sorry, guys." Roxy added one ticket to the pile. "I love reading. But I was super busy this month. Whenever I wanted to read, something pulled me away."
"No problem, Roxy," Terrell said quickly. "We've got 13 tickets. That's enough for us to get a pretty good prize."
The friends looked at the list of prizes.
"Let's get the pirate hats," Jack said.
"We only have enough tickets for one hat," Roxy said.
"What about the spooky stickers?" Mara said.
"There are ghosts and monsters," Jack said.
"We could share them," Terrell said. "What do you think, Roxy?"
"Um . . ." Just then Roxy's watch beeped. "Oh, I, uh, just remembered something! There's a book I want to read on that shelf!"
Roxy darted behind a bookcase. "Hello, Mayor Bloom," she whispered.
"Why are you whispering, Rocket Girl?" the mayor asked.
"I'm in the library. What's wrong?"
"A thief just stole some precious jewelry from Gem's," Mayor Bloom said. "And it's a strange situation. She stole the jewelry without opening the display case. We have no idea how she did it!"
"Don't worry, Mayor," Roxy whispered. "I'm on my way!"