CHAPTER 4: THE TRUE CULPRITS

Everyone was wondering who was responsible for all the petty crimes going on in Sparkyville. No one seemed to have leads in the case. Not the Spiders, not the Serpents, not even the police. Everyone was beginning to wonder if these criminals would ever be caught until later that evening, outside of Silas Brown's barber shop, a ruckus was heard.

Silas came out of his shop in the back alleyway to see where the noise was coming from. Charlie Brown just so happened to be with his father that night after working for a little while sweeping up hair and doing some odd jobs around the shop after his date with Frieda. Both of them looked and saw what looked like two younger boys breaking into the next business over, which was a delicatessen owned by an elderly couple, who, by coincidence, was the grandparents of Rerun's friend Jonah Horowitz. Silas immediately called the police and kept watch of the situation. Charlie Brown waited outside of the alleyway for the cops to show up. When the boys came out of the deli, Silas stopped them in their tracks.

"So you're the two knuckleheads causing so much trouble around town, eh?" he said to the two budding criminals. He immediately grabbed them by their arms. "Charlie, has the police arrived yet?"

"They just pulled up, dad," said Charlie Brown. And one uniformed police officer walked up to Silas and the two boys he was holding.

"Officer, I just caught these two boys breaking into Hiram and Julia's deli over here," Silas said to the officers. "I believe these are the criminals that have been terrorizing the town." The officer looked at their bags of loot.

"Well, let's take a look at what they took," said the officer. Inside they saw the bags were filled with money and some sandwiches.

"The money I get," said the officer, looking everything over, "but why take the sandwiches?"

"Please, officer, don't do anything bad to us!" pleaded the older boy. "We're sorry for causing so much trouble. We are poor and have nothing." Everyone looked at their clothes and saw that they were pretty ragged and had holes in them.

"My brother and I were abandoned by our parents," the kid continued. "We were just looking for some money and food to get back to our old town."

"What town are you from?" asked the officer.

"We're from Samville, a ways away from here," said the younger boy.

"What are your names?"

"My name is Jason, and my brother is Justin," said Jason, the older brother. "Our last name is Lewis. Our parents are Jason, Sr. and Tawnee."

"Why would they leave you here in Sparkyville?" asked a concerned Charlie Brown.

"We don't know," said Jason, starting to cry. "They just left us at an abandoned house on the west side of this town. We don't even know where we are, aside from where our parents left us!"

"Dad, I don't think they're trying to cause any mischief," Charlie Brown observed. "I think two boys who were left abandoned by their parents were just trying to get some food and to get home."

"I agree, son," said Silas. "Officer, what will you do with these boys?"

"Given the circumstances, we will talk to the businesses they hit, and let them know what the situation is," said the officer. 'Plus we will get child protective services involved and try to find their parents. This is reckless child endangerment, as well as child abandonment." And Silas and Charlie Brown watched as the police escorted the boys to an awaiting patrol car to take them back to the station. They wondered what would happen to the two boys.

NEXT CHAPTER: AN UNEXPECTED REUNION