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Chapter 5: Time to Get Serious

The next day, Miss Finster had recovered from the pepper incident, and the kids hoped that she wouldn't put them through horrible torture. The gang, along with the dogs, found out that Miss Finster had planned to steal everyone's presents (except for Randall's and Principal Prickly's) on Christmas Eve as "the new Grinch." They began their journey in downtown Birdwell, where the new skyscrapers were built.
"Guys," T.J. announced, "our first clue has been found." He took off his red baseball cap to show a folded-up piece of paper, then he put the cap back on his head.
"It says: 'I am making copies on the 27th floor of the Bank of America building.'"
"We wouldn't want to disrupt the businessmen, though," Cleo said hesitantly.
"It might not sound right, but it's our only hope of finding Finster and halting her plan to steal Christmas," T.J. replied. "Let's get moving."
The bunch entered the main lobby of the tallest building on Birdwell Island (which had 31 floors), which was decorated with a Christmas tree, wreaths, and boughs of holly. The smell of peppermint candy canes lingered in the cool A/C. Business people were carrying loads of paperwork and copies, cups of coffee, and even Christmas gifts for their loved ones. The gang of fourteen went into the elevator and Gretchen pushed the button for the 27th floor. As the elevator ascended, the famous instrumental version of "Sleigh Ride" was quietly playing on its radio. Mikey, Mac, and Cleo sang along to the music. When the elevator reached the 27th floor and the door opened, there was a sign posted to the wall straight ahead that read:

TURN LEFT

~M. Finster

The gang followed the signs to the copy room, but there was no Finster. The room was empty except for the copy machines. There were arrows that were drawn toward one of the copy machines, which had a piece of paper sticking out of it. Emily Elizabeth took it.
"It says, 'Ha! Fooled you! Now down at Mr. Kibble's.'"
"Heavens!" Gus exclaimed. "Is Miss Finster trying to trick us?"
"I haven't seen a yellow dress with pink diamonds anywhere in here," Vaz said.
"The garment of bad luck to the Birdwell Birds," Charley, who was the best player on his soccer team, added.
"There's gotta be something worse than the Finster Grinch in our lives," Vince said. "I just don't have a clue what it is."
"Dying?" Mac asked.
"Well, yeah, but..." Vince began.
"Okay, we've got no time to kill!" T.J. said suddenly. "Let's go!"

The group took a bus to Birdwell Island's historic district, where they seemed to come upon Mr. Kibble's Dog Grooming Parlor. They went inside with the sound of a bell on the door.
"Excuse me, is there a Miss Muriel Finster here?" Jetta asked.
Mr. Kibble did not glance up from his Apple laptop computer.
"Sure, why?" he asked.
"I dunno, just asking," Jetta replied.
"Well, she left this little tidbit of info here." Mr. Kibble stood up from his swivel chair and gave a piece of paper to Gretchen.
"According to my highly powerful cerebrum," Gretchen said, "this note says: 'Sorry! Camping under the boardwalk.'"
"Gettin' there," T.J. said enthusiastically.
"Ah, well, that's fairly simple." Mr. Kibble then fixed his eyes on Cleo.
"Oh, Cleo, how about a nice, refreshing grooming?" he asked, holding a bottle of shampoo. He took Cleo by the arm and pulled the pink bow out of her hair.
"HEY!" Cleo shouted. "I took a shower this morning! LET GO!"
"Hey, Mr. Kibble!" Spinelli said. Mr. Kibble quickly turned around, only to see a realistic toy spider right in his face. Spinelli was holding it and going, "Booga booga booga booga booga booga booga booga!"
"Aaaaayyyyy!" Mr. Kibble yelled. He ran so fast to the already-frosting glass door that he bumped into it, fell over, and said, "Ouchie!"
The whole gang laughed. Cleo grabbed her bow and put it back in her hair.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, huh?" she said. "I smell much better than when I was non-morphic." The past morning, when Cleo came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her torso and had blowdried her hair, a scent of high-quality shampoo lingered around the bathroom.
"Move it or lose it, freaks!" Spinelli said impatiently. "We've got a case to crack!"

As the gang walked by the Diller residence, they spotted Mrs. Diller shoveling snow off her light blue 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 coupe. Cleo's Lancia was not in the driveway because it was parked by the ship-shaped house that used to be the library. The gang still had one mile to get to the boardwalk.
When they got there, the shop awnings had icicles of all sizes hanging from them. There wasn't as much snow on the beach as there was on the rest of the island. They walked to the supports holding the boardwalk.
No Finster.
"Not only might she be a grinch who'll steal this Christmas, but also an evil phantom from a child's or a dog's nightmare!" Mikey cried.
"Don't worry, Mikey," Clifford said. "We'll find her eventually and put an end to this."
"Yeah, Mikester," Cleo added. "This'll be the best Christmas yet."
Just then, T.J. found a path of seashells along the coast. "We might as well follow these shells to our next clue," he said.
The gang followed the path along the coast for two miles to a cave. Mikey saw another slip of paper in the rocks.
"Hey, another clue to read!" he said, smiling. He then bent down to pick it up, but there was a loud ripping sound. He had ripped his pants.
"I'M DOOMED!" he said, shaking.
"Oh, come on now," Gretchen reassured. "It's easily remedial. And I have just the material!"
The rest of the gang gasped as a shiny silver pair of pants was revealed.
"Another pair of space pants?" T.J. asked.
"Precisely," Gretchen answered. "I metabolized this pair and tested it for rips."
"I don't think it's supposed to rip," Emily Elizabeth said. "It would break the laws of physics."
"Okay, lemme read this clue," Vince said, snatching the paper from Mikey. "It says: 'Evil henchmen await you. Scared? Tough beans!'"
"Hide me, hide me!" Mikey cried, clinging onto Cleo.
"There's gotta be a way to lure those henchmen away, and quickly!" T.J. said to the gang. "Whatever you do, do NOT cause a stir."
"I'll be right back," Cleo said. "Let's go, Mikey, before it's too late! The rest of you stay put." She went with Mikey all the way to the back of the cave.

Minutes later, T.J, Clifford, Emily Elizabeth, Spinelli, Vince, T-Bone, Mac, Gretchen, Gus, Charley, Vaz, and Jetta were still waiting outside. They heard everything that Mikey and Cleo said in the cave.
"What's taking them so long?" Mac asked impatiently.
"Shhh! Listen!" Gus whispered. The gang obeyed him and listened to the inside of the cave.
"My new pants fit perfectly!" Mikey exclaimed. "And they don't even rip when I bend over!"
"Time to get down and bring sexy back!" Cleo said.
Silence.
"OH, HUBBA HUBBA HUBBA! OOOOOO YOWZA!" Mikey hooted.
"Tell me I'm not hearing this!" Spinelli said.
Mikey came back out in his new space pants. "Well, guys, get a load of her!" he said, falling over and drooling.
"Hi guys!" Cleo called. "What do you think?"
The gang turned around and were struck speechless. Cleo had just come out in a hot pink bikini, giving a toothy smile, wagging her tail, and wiggling her toes in the sand. The rest of the guys (not the girls) fainted.
"I wasn't expecting THAT to happen," Spinelli said.
"The same reaction that different people get when they read swimsuit magazines," Jetta added.
"According to many health and fitness sources," Gretchen stated, "male teens have a high infatuation with romance."
Everyone watched as Cleo proceeded down the path, climbed some rocks, and approached Finster's henchmen. The gang started to follow her, but there was no pathway anymore.
"How are we gonna get past this?" Gus asked.
"I'll show you guys," Cleo said. "Follow me!" She shimmied along the rock wall, hopped over some rocks, found a bridge to cross a gulch, and led the gang to a maze-like cave. Was this going to be a trap for visitors?
Spinelli took a path to the middle of the cave, but it led a few yards underground instead. It took her forever to look for another clue in this part of the cave because the path was very long. A ghostly figure of an arm was pointing to a certain path in yet another fork.
"Yeah, Theophile Paddington Jr., ain't you the most helpful?" Spinelli snorted.
After walking some more, she literally had to crawl under a tight spot to a small room with a light and writing on one of the walls:

Below this room lies Captain Walter Birdwell, who founded the island in 1774, shortly before the Revolution. He is remembered in our hearts.

After reading this, she turned around, only to be startled by T.J. and Mac. How had they discovered this tiny room?
"Spinelli, it took forever to find you!" T.J. said. "Why so isolated?"
"It's the first path I've taken in this cave, so there," Spinelli replied.
"Let's go before you start to become the next Lara Croft!" Mac coaxed.
"But I haven't even opened this clue yet!" Spinelli spat, picking up the clue she had found in one of the wall cracks.
"It says: 'The henchmen might appear out of nowhere. Your eyes will become two pools of flat root beer. Heh heh!'"
"Where are we supposed to go?" Mac asked.

The bunch of fourteen proceeded on to a historic battlefield site occupied by Miss Finster's henchmen. When Cleo went up there, she lured them toward her because of her being in a bikini. They were wowed by her nice build, her smooth legs, the cute look on her face, her wagging tail, her warm hands, and her beautiful feet. One of the henchmen was going, "Ooooooooooo! She's a smokin' hot one!"
Meanwhile, at the lighthouse, Miss Finster was watching the waves and the seagulls while Randall was planning their stealing locations.
"I'm telling you, Randall, there'll be an end of Christmas spirit soon," Miss Finster said.
"Hmmm..." Randall was browsing a map of Birdwell Island. "First stop, the historic district. Then the boardwalk, then the houses - - - "
"NOW HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a voice shouted into Randall's ear. Randall jumped and turned around, only to be face to face with Cleo, who had put her regular clothes back on.
"I was...uh...j-j-just...reading the map..." Randall stuttered. He could not handle Cleo's anger at all.
"Don't you freakin' lie to me, snitch!" Cleo yelled. "My friends and I heard all about this! If Miss Finster left clues for us to find you, tough luck! We knew you were at the lighthouse! I don't give a flip if no one else knows about this! STOP THIS NOW!"
"Uh, whatever you say," Randall said, cracking a small smile.
"Randall," Cleo said through clenched teeth, grabbing Randall by the shirt. "I'm gonna give you three seconds to wipe that grin off your face, or so help me I'll punch you upside the head! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Randall could smell the blueberry-flavored candy canes Cleo must have recently eaten. He passed out from being stunned by Cleo's yelling.
"YOU!" Cleo screamed, pointing at Miss Finster. "The partner in crime! Is that really a way to treat us Birdwell Islanders?"
"But...but..." Miss Finster began.
"BUT WHAT?" Cleo raged. "This kleptomania stops as of NOW!"

As the rest of the gang watched Miss Finster, Randall, and the henchmen being led away by a group of police officers, they cheered. Cleo came back, jumping giddily.
"Hopefully Finster learned her lesson from those cops," T-Bone said.
"Tender!" T.J. said.
"I hope this never happens again for years!" Spinelli said happily, high-fiving Mac.
"Way to go, Cleo," Gus said.
"Gus, you'll always be our Safety Man," Cleo replied.
"Mission accomplished, friends," a familiar voice said. The gang turned to find Dr. Dihn, the island's veterinarian, walking towards them. "By the way, the ship-shaped building is becoming the library again. As a reward, your new accommodation will be at 642 Harvey Lane. It's a palatial colonial home, and I'm sure you all are gonna love it."
"I appreciate it, Dr. Dihn," Clifford said, shaking her hand.
Our gang of fourteen - - - Clifford, T.J, Spinelli, T-Bone, Cleo, Emily Elizabeth, Vince, Mac, Mikey, Gretchen, Gus, Jetta, Charley, and Vaz - - - looked forward to tomorrow.

To be continued...