Chapter 6: The Chan Clan
Six years passed. The Chan family lived a fine life in the state of California. One day, inside of a tree of Redwood Tree Park in the middle of the afternoon, Henry and Stanley, now in their late teens, sat on a branch.
On the two brothers' wrists were new, handmade communicators. "Unit 1 to Unit 2," Henry said into his communicator. "Come in, Unit 2. Report your position."
Elsewhere, near a construction site, the teenaged Suzie, Alan, Anne, and Tom, were watching the construction workers. Anne, now with shorter hair, wearing her orange baseball cap, and no longer wearing her bracelet, responded to Henry with her communicator, "This is Unit 2. At the construction site on Tallahassee Avenue, watching them build the new bank."
"Roger," said Henry. "Unit 1 to Unit 3. Report your position."
Back at the family's house, the preteens, Flip, Nancy, Mimi, and Scooter along with their now older dog, Chu-Chu, were on the roof, looking through binoculars.
Flip, now wearing a pork pie hat, said into his communicator, "Unit 3 here. We're home, scoping out the neighborhood. All is quiet."
"Yeah," Scooter repeated, "all is quiet."
"Scooter Chan," Mimi scolded, "didn't I tell you to stay off of here? You're much too young to be climbing roofs."
"Boy," her little brother complained, "I just turned six yesterday and you're still telling me what to do."
"Will you two knock it off?" Flip demanded. "Jeez, ever since you started talking, you two have done nothing but argue."
A siren was suddenly heard.
"What was that?" a startled Nancy panicked. "An ambulance?"
"Nah," Scooter pointed next to him. "It was just Chu-Chu."
It was indeed their little Pekingese, whom was now wearing a collar, making the sound of a police siren to alert his young owners.
"Boy, I still can't get over it," Nancy shook her head. "A dog that can make sound effects."
"Yeah," Flip snickered. "Anyway, what's up, Chu-Chu?"
Chu-Chu pointed to his far right. The children looked through their binoculars in the said direction and saw their father driving on his way back home.
"Oh, boy!" Flip quickly spoke into his communicator. "Come in, Unit 1. Come in, Unit 2. Pop is on his way home. He's at least ten minutes away."
"Roger," Henry replied. "I'll get the others and head back."
Back at the park, Henry and Stanley leapt out of their tree and raced towards a large van they now owned. Once inside the vehicle, they drove off to the construction site to pick up their four middle siblings.
While enjoying the ride home, Anne admired her communicator. "First you make the Chan Van, now these…uh…uh…" She looked at Alan, whom was now wearing pink sunglasses to match his '70s outfit. "What do you call them again?"
"Chan Coms," her brother answered.
"Yeah, that," Anne continued. "Pretty neat, bro."
"Indeed," Tom agreed. "These devices are most exemplary as well as very commendable."
"They're what?" his eldest sister asked.
"He said they're good, Suzie," Alan translated.
"Yeah, and we're home," Henry told his siblings. He quickly parked in the driveway and the six children met up with their four youngest siblings and Chu-Chu on the lawn.
"Just in time," Nancy smiled.
"I'll say," Stanley pointed. "Here comes Pop now."
At that moment, Charlie Chan pulled into the driveway behind the Chan Van. The second he was out of his car, he was greeted by his ten children.
"Hi, Pop," Suzie welcomed. "So, how was that diamond smuggling case in San Jose?"
"It was complicated, but a success," Charlie sighed. "The diamond smugglers have been apprehended."
"Wow!" marveled Nancy. "You actually caught them?"
"Why are you surprised?" a proud Scooter praised. "Pop's the greatest detective in the world."
Charlie turned his head towards the Chan Van. "And how was your drive around town?" he grinned.
"Hey, how did you know we went out?" Stanley asked.
"Well," the keen-eyed detective deduced, "I'm pretty certain those wet tire tracks from the Chan Van weren't here when I left earlier."
Henry face palmed, "Ugh! I knew I shouldn't have drove through that puddle of water."
"Aw, come on, Pop," appealed Alan. "We were just giving my new Chan Coms a test run."
"Yeah," Stanley added, "they work great. They should come in handy when we go on our first case."
"Now, Stanley," his father forbade, "we've been over this. Detective work is much too dangerous. None of you are to be involved in it."
"Oh, come on, Pop," Flip objected. "We can handle it. We're old enough to come along and help with a caper."
"Yeah," Mimi said before looking at Scooter. "Well, some of us are old enough to go. One of us is one year too young."
As Scooter blew a raspberry at his older sister, Charlie walked towards their house and concluded, "Sorry, children. Case closed. Now I suggest you worry about more important things, like your sister's birthday."
As their father entered the house, Mimi remembered, "Oh, that's right! Anne's birthday is coming. What do you want for your birthday, Anne?"
"The same thing I wanted last year, Mimi," Anne murmured as she walked to the front door. "Absolutely nothing."
Once their sister was inside, Scooter wondered, "Boy, she's like this every year. What's Anne's big deal with birthdays anyway?"
"You can't really blame her, Scooter," Suzie lamented. "Mom's funeral was held on her birthday. So it reminds her it was the last time she saw her."
Chu-Chu whimpered in despair upon hearing this. "Oh," Scooter frowned, "but she can't hate her birthday forever, right?"
"I hope not, Scooter," Suzie sadly sighed.
"Well, hey," Henry spoke up, "it's getting late. It's time for the Chan Clan to start practicing. That'll liven things up."
"I'm hip with that," smiled Alan.
"Me too," Suzie nodded.
"We all are," Stanley grinned.
Everyone headed inside the house. Before he walked in, Flip stopped and cringed in disgust, "'Chan Clan'. Yech! What a name."