Henry hurried toward Nora, who was huddled against the tree. "What are you doing over there?" he asked.
"None of your business!" Nora cried, looking upset.
"Do you guys hear something?" Maggie asked.
A high-pitched sound was coming from the tree trunk. At first Henry thought it was an insect or a frog. Then he heard it again.
"It sounds like—," he began.
"Kittens!" Maggie cried. "Look, there's a mother cat and a bunch of adorable kittens!"
Nora burst into tears. "Please don't tell anyone!" She sobbed. "If Mom and Dad find out, they'll take Patches and her babies to the shelter! They said I couldn't have any pets!"
Henry glanced at his friends. He remembered what Nathan had told them about Nora wanting a pet. She must have found this cat and her kittens and decided to take care of them in secret.
"It's okay, Nora," Maggie said. "We'll make sure nothing bad happens to Patches and her kittens. I promise."
"Really?" Nora wiped her eyes.
"Really." Maggie reached in and tickled a kitten under its chin. "Aw, they're so cute!"
"Come on, Nora," Henry said. "We'd better get you home."
The next day Henry met Cole at the lemonade stand.
"Where's Maggie?" Cole asked. "I was hoping for some lemonade."
"She'll be here soon," Henry said. "She offered to walk over to Nathan's house to pick up our five-dollar fee."
"Cool! I already know how I'm going to spend my share." Cole grinned. "I want glow-in-the-dark laces for my soccer shoes."
"We definitely earned our fee this time," Henry said. "That was a tricky case! At least now we know why Nora sneaked out mostly at night. She didn't want anyone to see her carrying cans of tuna into the woods."
Cole nodded. "I feel sorry for her. She seemed really upset about losing her new pets."
"Actually she's not losing them," Henry said. "I talked to Nathan this morning. He said his parents aren't against having a pet after all."
"Really?" Cole looked surprised. "But Nathan said they told Nora she couldn't have one!"
"That was a year ago," Henry reminded him. "They didn't think she was ready to take care of a pet then. But she's older now. They said if she promised to be good from now on, she could keep Patches. And Patches' kittens can stay until someone adopts them."
"Awesome!" Cole said. Then he pointed down the street. "Here comes Maggie with our money. That's even more awesome!"
Maggie hurried over, carrying a plate covered in foil.
"Hi, guys," she said. "Ready to sell more lemonade? I'll run inside and get the pitchers."
"First things first," Cole said. "Did you get our fee from Nathan?"
Maggie hesitated. "Um, sort of."
"What do you mean, sort of?" Henry said.
Maggie smiled sheepishly. "Did you notice how adorable those kittens were?"
"Yeah, they were cute," Cole said impatiently. "But where's my money? Did Nathan pay you or not?"
"He paid me," Maggie said. "But not with money. I, um, told him I'd take two kittens instead of the five dollars."
"What?" Cole shrieked. "Are you kidding?"
"Sorry," Maggie said quickly. "I know I should have checked with you guys first. But the kittens are so cute, and they need homes . . . I just couldn't resist, even if it means waiting longer to start riding lessons."
Cole looked annoyed. "Okay, you got two kittens for solving the case," he complained. "What do Henry and I get?"
"You can split our next detective fee, just the two of you," Maggie said. "I promise."
Henry smiled. It hadn't been fair for Maggie to give away their fee without asking. But if she was willing to give up her share of the next one, she must really want those kittens.
"It's a deal," he said before Cole could respond.
"Great!" Maggie seemed relieved. "And look, Nathan's mom gave us these to thank us!"
She uncovered the plate. It was full of chocolate chip cookies.
"Yum." That made Cole a little happier. "Just ask next time, Maggie, okay?"
Maggie nodded. "Sorry."
Meanwhile Henry had spotted Gail and her older sister walking toward them.
"Uh-oh," he said. "I think our first customers of the day are coming. We'd better get some lemonade."
"Be right back." Maggie dashed into the house and returned a few seconds later carrying two pitchers of lemonade.
By then the girls had reached the lemonade stand. "Two lemonades please," Gail's sister said.
"We heard you solved another case," Gail added.
"You heard about that already?" Cole looked excited.
The three friends grinned at each other. Henry was glad that word was spreading about The Lemonade Detectives. That would bring them more cases. He couldn't wait to find out what the next one would be!