Saturday morning:

Celia, knocking on their bedroom doors, awakened the Bob-Whites, plus April. They didn't know it, but they all responded the same way, by groaning softly and cursing themselves for staying up so late. Celia called out, "Breakfast is almost ready. It will be on the table in five minutes!"

The call of breakfast made Mart immediately jump up and get dressed. Because everyone knew Mart and his appetite, they rushed around to get ready too.

Diana, of course, was the last one down. She smiled at April, who had made her a plate and kept it safe from Mart. Strange, thought Diana. The girl whose butt I totally wanted to kick is turning into a really sweet friend.

The Bob-Whites talked and joked throughout breakfast, their conversation focusing on the power outage at the dance. They concluded that it must have been just a prankster playing a joke. They hoped the prankster wouldn't get into too much trouble; after all, the whole thing was funny overall. When everyone was finished eating, Diana and April packed their things so they could go to Diana's house. Earlier that morning, Diana had invited April to ride Goldenrod, the new palomino that Diana's parents had recently bought, around the Lynch estate. Diana would ride Sunny. Dan had to go help Mr. Maypenny.

Everyone walked out of the front door, and they suddenly stopped and stared in horror. There, right in front of the steps, was a large pile of sugar. Crawling all over the sugar were some of the biggest fire ants any of them had ever seen.

"Someone must have dropped a bag of sugar and forgot about it," Trixie commented, almost dismissing it from her mind.

"Well, let's wait on the horses and run to town for some fire ant killer," Jim said.

April and Diana decided to stay for a while longer. They all managed to squeeze into the wagon, only to discover that the car wouldn"t start. Jim and Brian sighed and exited the car. They opened the hood and peered inside. There was a copperhead lying curled up on the engine; it was obviously seeking the heat. Brian looked around for a long stick. When he had found one, he told Jim to stand back. As soon as Jim complied, Brian worked the stick under the snake and slung it towards the woods quickly. The snake glared at Brian before slithering away, preferring not to battle with this particular human. Jim noticed that the distributor cap was unscrewed and lying on the ground near the car. He picked it up, vaguely wondering how that happened, and then he replaced it, making sure to tighten it.

Finally, they were on their way downtown. They went to the hardware store and bought the strongest ant killer available. Within twenty minutes, they were back at Manor House taking care of the ants. After all the ants they could see had quit moving, Dan went to find the hose at Trixie's request. After a quick spray, the sugar was no longer visible. Mart sprayed more ant killer around the water trail just in case.

Dan left to go to Mr. Maypenny's cabin and April and Diana went to Diana's house. The rest of the Bob-Whites went to the stables, laughing at their sudden bad luck.

"Well," said Trixie, remembering when she and Honey had first met Jim, "Bad things come in threes, so what's next?" she asked, counting the two car problems as one.

Honey laughed. "As long as I don't get thrown by one of the horses, I'm not sure I care right now."

But Honey wasn't the one thrown. Not five minutes after Jim had mounted Jupiter, he was on his back, gazing dazedly at the canopy of leaves above him. Jupe was wildly galloping into the woods, brushing against the trees. Brian and Starlight went after Jupe while Trixie and Honey made sure Jim was okay. Mart was holding the reins of Lady, Strawberry, and Susie. Jim was, fortunately, okay, except for having had the wind knocked out of him. Just as he was breathing normally, Brian came back with Jupe, who was still acting strangely and was trying to rub his left side against anything he could come in contact with. Jim shrugged and led Jupiter to the stable.

Once in the stable, Jim was rubbing Jupe's nose. "What's wrong, big guy?" Jim asked quietly. Jupiter persisted in rubbing his side, this time against the stall gate. Jim finally got the hint and unsaddled Jupiter. Stuck to the horse's side was a huge burr. Jim scratched his head, wondering where that had come from. He shrugged and yelled for Regan.

Regan and Lindsay came running from the direction of Regan's apartment. Jim averted his eyes from Lindsay, barely refraining from blushing. He hoped that she would soon realize that her shirt was on inside-out and backwards. Luckily, she did and stepped into the tack room, closing the door behind her. She was back very soon.

"What's wrong, Jim? Are you okay?" Regan asked, noticing how dirty Jim was.

"Jupe brushed me off," Jim replied sourly. "I want to know who was in the stable between the times that you were and we came in."

"No one that I know of," Regan answered. "How did Jupe manage to brush you off?"

"About three trees did it," Jim said.

"Since when does Jupe try to rid himself from you?" Regan asked.

"Ever since he somehow got a burr under the saddle, biting into his side, I guess," Jim replied.

"He had what?" Regan yelled, not really asking a question. "How the hell did that happen?"

Jim told him about Jupiter's actions as everyone else entered the stable and started to groom their horses.

A couple of hours later, April and Diana came back. Dan was right behind them. April noticed that Jim was upset and asked him to go for a walk.

Once they were in the woods, April asked Jim what was wrong. Jim filled her in quickly.

April shook her head. "This is so weird. There were how many things? The lights at the gym, the sugar and ants, the snake and distributor cap, and now a burr under Jupe's saddle, that's four strange things."

Jim laughed. "You'll get used to it. Strange things always happen around the Bob-Whites."

April, having stopped in a clearing, twirled her hair around her finger, looking at the ground. She glanced at Jim from the corner of her eye. It was now or never, and she didn't want to lose her nerve. "Jim," she almost whispered. "There's something I need to do"

Jim smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. "What is it you need to do?"

April went red in the face. All of a sudden, she stood on her tiptoes and brushed his lips with a kiss. Then she turned and fled.

Jim was so stunned that he could only watch her run away.

At the Stable:

Trixie had watched Jim and April walk away together. Dan noticed the small smile on Trixie's face and asked about it.

"I just want them to be happy," Trixie answered. "I think they could be."

"Together?" Dan asked her. He was all for Jim and April being happy together, especially considering that he was still a little insecure about Jim and Trixie's relationship, not that he would ever tell anyone.

Trixie smiled. "Together would be nice for them," she said, letting Dan know she knew where his thoughts were.

Back in the preserve:

Jim shook his head as if to clear the fogginess that suddenly overwhelmed his brain. He could barely see April now. He was grateful that his legs were longer than hers were. He ran as fast as he could to catch up with her. He was about five feet behind her when he tackled her. They hit the ground together and he immediately rolled over and sat up, allowing April to do the same.

"Why did you run?" Jim asked her quietly, taking notice of her blushing-red face.

"I was afraid."

"You were afraid of what?" Jim asked her softly.

"I don't exactly make a habit of kissing guys," April retorted, her embarrassment making her sarcastic.

"Can I give you some advice about that?"

"What?" April asked in a small voice.

Jim smiled. "Don't kiss a guy unless you're going to give him a chance to kiss you back."

April was surprised. "You wanted to kiss me?"

Jim laughed. "I wanted to kiss you during the dance and after it."

April blushed, but with pleasure this time. "Well, what's stopping you?"

Jim laughed. "Not a thing." He leaned over and began kissing her thoroughly, glad that this time they were both participating, not noticing anything but each other.

Dan and Trixie were walking along in their own little world, talking softly. Their only excuse was that they were only paying attention to each other and nothing else when they literally tripped over the couple making out while sitting on the ground.

Dan burst out laughing while Trixie, April, and Jim blushed. Dan decided to see how much redder everyone could get. He decided to make a comment. "Hey, if only Honey and Brian and Diana and Mart were here, we could have us a bone fide make-out party," he said in a goofy voice, slyly glancing at the three faces surrounding. Yes, they could get redder. What do you know? He chuckled to himself.

Jim cleared his throat. "I think it's about time we all went back to Manor House. I don't think we should be talking anymore about, ahem, make out parties." Jim blushed just saying the words.

At Manor House:

Brian met the group as they exited the woods. "Moms has called. She wants all the Bob-Whites at Crabapple Farm, right now."

April stammered. "I need to be getting home anyway."

Brian shook his head. "April, you may as well come. You've been with us the whole time; you may as well be here for this."

Trixie was feeling afraid. "Brian, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," her normally stable brother sounded anything but stable right now. "Moms just said something about a prank."

Dan's face lost all expression, telling Trixie he wasn't eager to find out what the latest happening was. Dan only used his blank expression when he was afraid of feeling so much that he might show too much without realizing it.

The somber group of seven Bob-Whites and April slowly made their way to Crabapple Farm, dreading every step they took.

At Crabapple Farm:

Mrs. Belden met them at the door and motioned for them to go ahead of her into the living room, absent-mindedly grabbing a plate of cookies to take with her. When everyone was sitting down, Trixie looked around at everyone's faces. Dan was still expressionless, April, Brian, Jim, and Mart looked apprehensive, and Diana and Honey were terrified. Trixie knew the look on her face matched Diana's and Honey's faces.

Brian took the initiative. "Moms, what happened? Is Bobby all right? Is something wrong with Dad?"

Mrs. Belden shook her head. "Bobby's at the Lynch's place, and your father's still at work. I wanted you all for something else."

Trixie couldn't contain herself. "Moms, I'll just die if you don't tell us. Please, tell us what's going on."

Mrs. Belden took a deep breath. "Something has happened." Then she called for Reddy. Nothing happened, so she went over behind the recliner and dragged Reddy out from behind it.

The whole room gasped. The poor dog's fur had been cut so short that Reddy was practically shaved. He whined pitifully in the back of his throat as he felt everyone staring at him.

Trixie was the first to get over her shock. "Who would have done this to him?"

Mrs. Belden shook her head. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"When did it happen?" Honey asked quietly.

"I let him out this morning. He ran straight into the preserve. He came home right before I called the Manor House to ask you all to come," Mrs. Belden replied.

Mart had gotten up from the couch to move to the floor. He was petting Reddy and murmuring in the now shorthaired dog's ear. Diana had sat down on the floor, one hand on Mart's shoulder and the other petting Reddy, reassuring him that he was still loved.

Honey started crying, so Brian moved over to her and put his arm around her in a gesture of comfort. Honey turned her face into Brian's shoulder, hugging him as she cried. Brian's eyes were moist as well.

Trixie was so angry that she was shaking. Dan put both his arms around her, holding her in a tight hug. Dan knew Trixie well enough that she was wanting to get out of there, find the fur that was cut off of the dog and strangle whoever did it. The hairs weren't long enough to wind around someone's neck, but Dan had no doubt that Trixie would find a way to make a rope from it.

April had gone still, barely breathing, when she saw Reddy. She was starting to feel light-headed and dizzy from lack of oxygen when she noticed Jim shaking her. "Breathe!" he commanded. April didn't much like his tone, but was touched that he had noticed something was wrong with her, especially when she herself hadn't noticed.

A few minutes later, Trixie broke away from Dan with the excuse she had to get outside the house for a few minutes. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream reverberated through the house. There was a traffic jam as everyone tried to leave the room at once.

When everyone had sorted themselves out and got outside, they found Trixie staring at a stuffed toy Irish setter dog that had been ripped open. Stuffing was everywhere. Dan reached for Trixie's hand. He found the note she held. Dan silently read the note.

At that moment, the phone rang. Diana was closest to the door, so she went to answer it. She was back in a minute. "Trixie, it's for you," she announced.

"Thanks, Di," Trixie automatically said as she went inside to the phone. "Hello?" she said, picking up the phone, hoping for a clue. She got what she wanted. The question in her mind was, Am I lucky I got a clue?

Author's Notes: Thanks to Chelsea, El, and Kaye for editing, and to April and Lindsay for lending themselves to me and giving their approval. These characters are the property of Random House. No money is being made off them. Review if you want. As far as I'm concerned, reviews are just icing on the cake of writing.