http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:21:00 -0500 Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:21:00 -0500 Other Stories by Alison: A Cat in the Bird Cage The Coming Storm to Bullhead City A Shoe's Point of View Meagan at Midnight Computer Calamity - Part One Computer Calamity - Part Two It Always Pays There is a Purpose The Birthday Surprise - Part One The Birthday Surprise - Part Two Professor Higgins and the Mystifying Digi-Tran http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/338169/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/338169/ Feedback Comments? Problems? Suggestions? This is the place to leave your feedback. Scroll down to see what others have said. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337949/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337949/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 When the burglar entered the Dunlap’s yard led by Officer Clayton, Mrs. Dunlap and the twins got to see his face for the first time. For a moment both of the twins only stared at the man. Then Emilie said, “Albert Green! What in the world were you thinking?” “What?” Officer Donnellson cried. “Do you know this man?” Emilie and Edward nodded their heads. “He’s one of the people in charge at the orphanage we used to live at,” Edward said. He was very surprised to see who the thief was, and at the same time he was also a little disappointed to find out that his suspicions had been wrong about the man at the Auto License Bureau. “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Officer Donnellson said slowly. Mrs. Dunlap explained, “These two children are orphans who used to live in The Blooming Desert Orphanage. My husband and I just adopted them and they came home to us just a few days ago.” “I see,” Officer Donnellson said. After a pause, he turned to Albert Green. “Perhaps you had better explain everything.” The burglar sighed. “You’re right. I did something wrong, and now the right thing to do is to confess. The twins are correct,” he continued. “I am one of the men in charge at The Blooming Desert Orphanage. In fact, I’m the man in charge of the finances. Really, I did not mean to break into these people’s house at first. Actually, I was on my way to do them good when… it happened. “I was in my car driving to their house to drop something off from the orphanage for the twins – something they forgot when they left, I guess – and when I drove up to the house, I saw a watch just lying there on the retaining wall. I noticed it because of how the sun was shining on it. Well, it looked really expensive, and I thought, I could come back later when I’m sure the family is not home or something, and take the watch. It’s probably worth a lot of money. You see, the orphanage is having financial troubles right now. I totally forgot about the errand I was on, I was so obsessed with the thought of the watch on the wall. I planned on a way to get it the rest of the day. Finally I came back. I sure hoped it was still there! Well, I came when I thought everyone would be asleep, and took the watch.” “You stole it, you mean!” Officer Clayton corrected. “Yes, I stole it.” The robber swallowed hard and looked down at the ground. “I watched you steal it,” Kate declared. “I saw the whole thing.” Albert Green looked surprised. “Well, then you already know that I crashed my car in the process. I certainly didn’t mean to! But I didn’t let that stop me from taking the watch. I was terribly disappointed with it. It was not the very expensive watch I thought it was. It was a good watch, that is true, but it was not worth a lot of money.” “I don’t understand,” Mr. Dunlap spoke up. “If the watch was not worth a ton of money and you were disappointed with it, why did you return to break into our house just now?” “I did not intend to,” Albert Green replied. “But then I happened to see your wife with the twins at the symphony orchestra last night. I recognized the twins. And I heard one of them address your wife as ‘Mom.’ So I knew who she was. And I knew where she lived. And… then I noticed the jewelry she was wearing…” “Go on,” Mrs. Dunlap said after a considerable pause. Albert Green took a deep breath. “There is not much left to say. I noticed the jewelry, and I figured it was worth another try. So I’ve been monitoring your house all day long. When I saw you all get in the car to go somewhere, I figured this was my chance. But then you all came right back without your car! I didn’t know you were back until you shouted at me. I quickly grabbed a bunch of jewelry and a few other things I thought might be valuable. That is all there is to tell.” No one said anything for a few moments. Then Mr. Dunlap said, “Well, thank you for telling us about it. Now I would like to tell you about something.” Albert Green looked like he was not sure what was coming, but he nodded in consent. “What I want to say,” Mr. Dunlap went on, “is that what you did is very wrong. It is very wrong to break into other people’s houses, to steal things, and it is even wrong to be covetous of other people’s things.” Mr. Dunlap paused, and Officer Donnellson jumped in. “What you said is right, Mr. Dunlap, except for one thing. It is against the law to burglarize people’s houses, and it is also against the law to steal. But you are wrong about the third thing. We do not have a law against wanting to have things that other people own.” He chuckled at the thought. “I was referring to God’s law,” Mr. Dunlap responded quietly, and immediately Officer Donnellson stopped laughing. To Albert Green, he continued, “As I was saying, what you did is wrong. You disobeyed God, and that did not please him.” No one said anything this time, so Mr. Dunlap continued talking. “God hates sin. With sin in your heart, you are on your way to hell. The Bible says that the wages, or the payment, of sin is death. And the Bible also says, ‘And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.’ Because of your sins, you will spend all of eternity in the lake of fire if you do not repent.” “Hold on,” Officer Donnellson interrupted Mr. Dunlap. “This is quite the time to preach a little sermon, isn’t it?” he said sarcastically. Mr. Dunlap was quiet for a minute, trying to think of how to respond correctly. Mrs. Dunlap, Edward, Emilie, and Kate were all standing by, listening to the conversation. They were all praying silently that the Lord would give Mr. Dunlap the right words to say. After a few moments Mr. Dunlap said, “I’m sorry if you do not like what I am saying. But may I please finish?” “Yes, I think you should let him finish,” Officer Clayton stated. He had been quiet the whole time, and Mr. Dunlap thought that he had not been paying attention. But was wrong. Officer Clayton had been listening closely. “All right, I suppose you may finish,” Officer Donnellson said reluctantly. Mr. Dunlap went on. “This gets better than what I just was saying,” he said. “God is not just a God of wrath. God is a God of love. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’” he quoted slowly. “Jesus, who never sinned, paid the penalty for us, so that we can be saved from our sins, and from the punishment of sin. There is nothing you can do but to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did in shedding his perfect, sinless blood on the cross. And you need to repent, or turn, from your sinful ways. The Bible says that God ‘commandeth all men every where to repent’.” “I’ve heard all of this before,” Albert Green said slowly, “but I’m just not sure. I’m not sure that I want to accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior right now. I’ll think about it.” “Well, it’s good to think about it,” Mr. Dunlap said, “but I wouldn’t put it off. You never know when God will say, ‘Your time is up,’ and then it will be too late. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,’” he said, emphasizing the word “now.” He sent Mrs. Dunlap up to the house to get three gospel tracts – one to give to each of the men. When Mr. Dunlap gave the gospel tracts to the men, Albert Green took one gladly, and Officer Clayton looked interested, too. He took one without hesitation. But Officer Donnellson was reluctant. Finally he gave in and took it, but stated that he was not interested. “Will you read it at least once?” Mr. Dunlap asked him. Seeing that Albert Green, Officer Clayton, and the entire Dunlap family was looking at him expectantly, Officer Donnellson felt under a little pressure and unenthusiastically promised to read it. “Oh, I just thought of something,” Edward said. Everyone turned to look at him. “Remember the wallet that we found?” he asked the others. “Should I go get it?” Mr. Dunlap said that would be a good idea, so Edward ran into the house and quickly returned with the wallet that he, Emilie, and Kate had found a few days ago. “Is this yours?” he asked Albert Green. “Why, yes, it is!” he replied. “How did you get it?” Edward explained how they had found the wallet on the ground beside the retaining wall while looking for clues to solve the mystery of the stolen watch. Albert Green nodded. “Yes, now I remember. I must have had it somewhere…” he paused, trying to think. “Well, anyway, it must have fallen out when I jumped out of the car.” “We figured as much,” Edward said. He handed the wallet to the man. “Thank you,” Albert Green said. “And now, I know the right thing for me to do would be for me to give back the watch that I stole. He took the watch off his own wrist and handed it over. “Well, I hate to break up the party,” Officer Donnellson said after a few moments, “but we really ought to go.” He turned to Albert Green and led him down the street to the police car. As Albert Green was leaving, Mr. Dunlap called out, “I hope you think about what I told you. Be sure to read that tract.” “I will,” the burglar called back. “And thank you.” “Yes, thank you,” Officer Clayton echoed. Officer Donnellson said nothing, pretending to ignore the other men. * * *   A few days later, after the mystery had been completely solved, the family was chatting together after supper. The conversation turned to the most recent excitement. Soon the topic of the thief’s capture was brought up. “I never knew you were so fast, Kate,” Mrs. Dunlap said, thinking about how Kate had beat Albert Green into the neighbor’s yard. “Yeah, watching you grab his bag away from him was really something,” Emilie chimed it. “Yes, it was,” Mr. Dunlap agreed, “but it was not exactly the smartest thing to do. You could have been seriously hurt, had he turned on you faster.” He was quiet for a minute, but seeing Kate’s troubled face, he reassured her, “But don’t worry about it now. It’s over and there’s nothing you can do about it. Besides, if it weren’t for you, Albert Green might have gotten away! I’m just saying… Well, just try to be sensible next time.” Kate agreed that she would try to use her brain the next time. Then she began to laugh as she thought of the conversation following the robber’s confession. “That was pretty clever, Dad,” she said. “Just think, after the confession, you were witnessing to Albert Green and he had no choice but to listen. Witnessing to a captive audience must be pretty easy!” Mr. Dunlap chuckled, too. “Well, I sure hope he thinks about what I said. He seemed interested. You never know just what the Lord is doing in his heart. You know, it would be a very good idea to pray for him!” “Yes, and the police officers, too,” commented Edward seriously. “I think Officer Clayton’s heart really might be tender to the word of God right now.” “We also need to pray for Officer Donnellson,” Mrs. Dunlap reminded them quietly. “Let’s pray that God will open his heart to the gospel, as well.” “There’s something we’ve totally forgotten,” Emilie exclaimed. “Remember, if we hadn’t gotten a flat tire when we did…” “We’d probably not have caught the thief,” Kate finished for her. “Exactly!” Emilie replied. “It’s so neat when things like that happen to show you that God really does care about us, and, even though it may look like something bad happens in our lives, he is using it for good!” “Wow, it sure was quite the adventure,” Edward remarked. “These last few days have been some of the most fun days of my life. I mean, it wasn’t all catching the thief that I liked. We had fun just playing together and spending time together as a family. Of course, the mystery was… well, I suppose the word for it is exciting. And, I admit, catching the thief was really exciting!” The whole family laughed. “You’re right,” Kate replied to her brother. “And do you know what? I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a lifetime adventure for all of us!” Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337947/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337947/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 5 The next evening everyone was in high spirits – it was the night of the symphony! “Do I look all right?” Edward asked Emilie before the family was about to walk out the door. Emilie giggled softly. It wasn’t like her brother to be concerned about how he looked. “You look splendid,” she reassured him. “And you look pretty good yourself,” replied Edward. “Dad? Mom? Isn’t it about time to go yet?” Mr. Dunlap checked his watch. “We’ll leave in about five minutes.” He was right; the Dunlaps were in the car in five minutes. On entering the auditorium they noticed that the place was packed. There were very few empty seats. Kate was glad that their family had made reservations; otherwise they might not have been able to find seats together! Once the family found their seats and were all situated, the children began discussing the different sections of instruments. Kate liked the strings best – especially the violins. Edward’s favorite was the brass section, but Emilie couldn’t decide between the strings or the woodwinds. Very soon the music began and the Dunlap family was wrapped up in watching and listening to all of the different instruments. Kate and the twins forgot all about the mystery of the stolen watch. They sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the music. All too soon it was time for intermission. “It’s already half over,” mourned Kate. “Look at the bright side,” her father advised cheerfully. “We still have half left!” Kate smiled. “You’re so right. May I go out to the restroom if I take Emilie with me?” “Why don’t we all go,” Mr. Dunlap suggested. “It will be good to stretch our legs. The rest of us might want to get a drink and use the restroom, too.” The family left their seats and headed for the side exit doors. Mrs. Dunlap and the twins went straight for the drinking fountain. Just then Mrs. Dunlap noticed a man glance in her direction. He looked at the twins, and then at her for a moment. Then he quickly turned around and walked the other way. What was that all about? she thought. Then she had the thought that maybe the man was someone that the twins knew. She got Edward’s attention to ask him about it. But by the time Edward turned to look, the man had disappeared into the crowd. “Oh, well,” he said. “Don’t worry about it, Mom. I’m sure that if he wanted to talk to us he would’ve come over. Besides, are you sure you aren’t imagining things?” Mrs. Dunlap was not sure. She let the matter drop, though, and soon the family was on their way back to the auditorium to listen to the rest of the concert. The last half was just as good as the first. Maybe even better, Emilie thought. Later she would be sure to thank her parents for taking them to the symphony!   * * *   The next day Mr. Dunlap got home from work early. After supper, he proposed that the family go together to their favorite place to buy ice cream, Get the Scoop! That went over well. The children piled into the car and waited while Mrs. Dunlap grabbed a few “Get the Scoop” coupons that she had received recently (Mrs. Dunlap was very good at getting a steal-of-a-deal price on anything – for example, the great discount on the tickets to the orchestra. Kate and Emilie planned on taking lessons from her before they got married and had homes of their own! In fact, they were learning already.) Mr. Dunlap had only driven the car a little ways from home before they heard, “thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.” Mr. Dunlap looked at his wife, and she looked at him. “Uh-oh,” they said at the same time. Mr. Dunlap pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. “Everyone, stay in here,” he commanded as he opened the door. “I’m just going to check the tires. I’ll be right back.” He stepped out of the car and walked all the way around it. Sure enough, the right front tire was flat, and it had a large nail protruding from it. When he told the rest of the family the news, Mrs. Dunlap let out a sigh of relief. “James!” she exclaimed, putting her hand on her husband’s arm. “Thank the Lord that we’re didn’t get far from home! Think of what could have happened if this had happened on a busy street! Thankfully we’re still in the neighborhood on slow, residential streets.” “You’re right, Jodi. Thank the Lord!” he repeated. “So, Dad, do you want all of us to get out so you can change the tire?” asked Kate. “Yes, please do. Let’s see, this shouldn’t take too long. All I have to do is take the damaged tire off and put the spare on instead.” Mr. Dunlap walked around to the trunk where the jack was kept. All of the sudden, the thought hit him. “Oh, I can’t believe it,” he cried. “Of all times for the tire to go flat!” “Why, what’s that matter?” Mrs. Dunlap asked. “Are you missing... the spare! It’s being used on one of the rear wheels right now!” “What?” all three of the children asked at the same time. Mr. Dunlap explained that he had gotten a flat on his way home from work the previous week and had not yet gotten a new tire. So the spare was still on the rear wheel and there was no other spare for the front! “What’re we going to do?” Emilie worried. “Everything will be okay,” Mr. Dunlap reassured her. “It’ll be easy to get home; we can walk back – it’s only a little ways!” he continued cheerfully. “I’ll have to call a tow-truck to bring the car home. And after that maybe we can take the other car to Get the Scoop! if it’s not too late by that time.” He closed the trunk and locked the car, and the Dunlap family began the four-block walk back to their house. They had just reached the foot of the driveway when Kate, who was looking up at the house, gasped in terror. “What’s the matter? Did something bite you?” Mrs. Dunlap questioned anxiously. “No! Quick, everyone! Duck behind these bushes before he sees you!” Kate said in a loud, urgent whisper as she followed her own advice. Kate’s parents could tell that something was wrong, but they did not know what it was. “Huh? What are you talking about?” Mr. Dunlap asked her. “Hurry! Get down behind the bushes and I’ll explain!” she replied in the same voice as before. This time the rest of the family ducked behind the bushes. Once everyone was hidden from view of the house, she said, “There is someone in our house.” “You’ve got to be imagining it!” Mrs. Dunlap said. But all the same, she remembered the last time Kate said there was a person sneaking around their house – and she had been right! “No, I’m not imagining it,” Kate stated quietly. “I saw that person through your bedroom window, Mom.” “Let me look,” Mr. Dunlap said. He took a quick peek around the bush before he said quietly, “Kate’s right. There’s a person in our bedroom.” He crouched behind the bushes again, quickly thinking of what he must do. “Look down the street!” Edward said with his eyes wide. He pointed it the right direction. Emilie gasped, “It’s a silver Toyota and the front of it is all beat up!” Kate whirled around to see it. “It’s the very same one,” she gasped. There was no need for an explanation. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap understood at once. “Okay, this is serious. I’m calling the police right now,” Mr. Dunlap decided. He dialed the emergency number on his cell phone. “I’m outside at my house at 223 Cherry Tree Lane,” he spoke into the phone in a low voice, “and there is a burglar inside…Yes, my family and I are well hidden from the view of the house… No, I don’t think he saw us… No, we weren’t here when he broke in; we were just returning to our house when my daughter detected him…” In just a couple of minutes the police arrived. They kept their lights and sirens off so the burglar would not hear them coming, and they parked about a block away. “I’m Officer Donnellson, and this is my partner, Officer Clayton,” one of the officers introduced himself as he and Officer Clayton walked up to the driveway and ducked behind the bushes. “Ah, yes! Officer Clayton! Nice to see you again,” Mr. Dunlap said, shaking the officer’s hand. “Oh, Mr. Dunlap, is it?” Officer Clayton was obviously glad to see Mr. Dunlap, also. “Good to see you, too.” To Officer Donnellson he explained that he recognized Mr. Dunlap as one of the men who worked at Pennington’s Computer Store, where he often went for his personal computer needs. “You guys did well to hide back here where he can’t see you,” Officer Donnellson said, directing the conversation towards catching the burglar. “It won’t do for him to notice anything now!” he continued. “Okay, your wife and kids need to stay back here for now. That guy may be dangerous. Mr. Dunlap, what we want you to do is to wait until Officer Clayton and I are in position up at the house, ready for you. We’ll give you a signal. Then walk up to your front door, open it a crack, and yell loudly to him that you know he’s there. We’ll be in place, waiting to arrest him as he comes out. Okay, here we go!” The officers walked quietly up the driveway and each went to guard one side of the house, not knowing where the burglar would come out. Then Officer Donnellson waved to Mr. Dunlap. He emerged from his hiding place behind the bushes and walked boldly up the driveway to the front door. After unlocked it and opening it just enough for him to poke his head in, he shouted, “You’re trapped! I know you’re in here. You had better give up now!” Then he closed the door and stepped away from the house about twenty feet. Then the excitement began. The robber exited out of a window on the side of the house opposite from Mr. Dunlap and Officer Donnellson. Officer Clayton was hot on his trail, but too far behind to grab him! From their hiding place behind the bushes in the front yard, the rest of the Dunlap family could see that the thief was heading toward the retaining wall. He was going to jump down and get away! He was going to escape! On perceiving that the thief was not carrying a weapon, Officer Clayton called out, “Everyone, after him! Stop him before he gets away!” At a nod of consent from their mother, Kate and the twins joined in the chase, too. Kate went around a different way and beat the thief down into the neighbors yard by a split second. He tried to run right past her, but Kate was quicker than he had anticipated. She spied the bag that he had used to collect the stolen items, and instantly she knew what she had to do. Quickly she yanked the bag right out of the robber’s hand! When the thief saw that Officer Clayton was still a little ways behind – too far away at the moment to catch him or rescue Kate, he turned to her. “You little brat!” he hissed. “If you don’t give that back this instant—” But Kate interrupted him, not waiting to hear his threat. “Emilie, Edward, catch!” She threw the bag towards them and jumped back, away from the burglar. “Got it!” Edward shouted. He an Emilie ran back to where Mrs. Dunlap was watching everything. Edward handed the bag over to her. Meanwhile, the thief looked back to see Officer Clayton, Officer Donnellson, and Mr. Dunlap very close behind him by this time. He made a last dash for freedom, but Officer Donnellson was too quick for him. “Oh, no, you don’t!” he exclaimed triumphantly as he caught the thief’s arm. Quick as a flash Officer Clayton snapped handcuffs on the man’s wrists. “Now you’re coming with me,” he said and he led the wrongdoer back up the street to the Dunlap’s yard. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337945/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337945/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 4 When the men finally got home it was almost time for lunch. “What took you so long?” Mrs. Dunlap asked as they walked in the door. “Well, we had to stand in line forever at the auto license bureau, and then we went back inside to ask the guy behind the counter a question,” Edward explained. “Then it took us a while at Target.” “You went to Target?” Kate asked. “Was it to get a new watch?” “What did you ask the man?” Emilie wanted to know. “Yes, it was to get a new watch,” Edward answered Kate, pointing to the new watch on his wrist. In answer to Emilie he said, “I’ll tell you later. I want to talk to you girls about it after lunch.” After lunch the children met in Edward’s bedroom. “So what is it you want to tell us?” Kate asked her brother. “I want to talk about the mystery,” Edward replied. “But I thought we already established the fact that we are not going to solve it,” Emilie said. “Yeah, but listen to what happened this morning!” And Edward told the girls the story of what had taken place in the auto license bureau. “I agree with Dad,” Kate said after Edward had recounted the entire story. “The man there is not the one who stole your watch.” “I don’t agree with Dad,” Edward said stubbornly. Then he said, almost pouting, “I thought you girls would agree with me.” “I do want to solve this mystery, though,” Kate said. “We certainly don’t have many clues,” Emilie giggled. “I think it is close to impossible!” “Let’s try anyway,” Edward said. “I have an idea. Why don’t we visit the scene of the crime?” “Okay,” Kate responded. “I think that’s a great idea. We should’ve thought of that a long time ago. Let’s ask Mom if we may walk to the road on the retaining wall.” They all ran down the stairs to find Mrs. Dunlap. She agreed, much to their delight, so in a flash Kate and the twins were outside and carefully walking down the hill to the wall. In no time they were to the end. “So what exactly are we looking for?” Emilie asked once they had jumped down to the side of the road. “Clues,” Edward replied. “Whatever it may be.” The children looked around carefully. Then Kate spotted something. She reached down to pick it up off the ground. “Hey, I think I’ve found something!” “What? What?” Edward exclaimed very excitedly. Kate picked it up. “It’s a wallet!” she said. “Hey,” Emilie said slowly. “It probably has identification in it! Do you think it belongs to the thief?” “Yes, he must have dropped it, and in his hurry didn’t notice that it had fallen out of the car,” Kate said. “It doesn’t look like it was left out in the rain from when we had that rainstorm. I don’t think anyone has walked by our house today, so no one else could have dropped it! Remember, Edward’s watch was stolen just last night.” She opened the wallet to see if there was identification inside. “Nothing’s here,” she remarked after a minute, “except a few dollar bills and an AT&T calling card. We wouldn’t be able to track him with that. And his name’s nowhere to be seen.” “Wait!” Edward said, taking the wallet out of Kate’s hands. “Look here! This must be the guy’s initials!” He pointed to the two letters “AG” which were monogrammed onto the outside flap of the wallet. “I think you’re right,” Emilie exclaimed. “But that’s really not going to help us catch the thief!” “Right. But there’s something strange here that I don’t understand,” Kate mused. “What’s that?” Edward asked her. “Well, how did the thief know that your watch was lying here?” Kate paused. “Let’s suppose he crashed his car on purpose to get the watch. How did he find out about it? Did he just drive by during the day, see it, and then plan on stealing it?” “Hmm, that’s an interesting question,” Emilie said to Kate. “But suppose the thief didn’t crash on purpose.” “That really doesn’t seem likely,” Edward said. “Think about it. If I had crashed into the wall, I don’t think I’d be looking around for things to steal. I don’t think I’d even look around at all! I should think I would be more concerned about what I had just done!” Emilie and Kate laughed. “Another interesting observation,” Emilie said. “So let’s say the driver did crash on purpose. Did anyone notice a silver Toyota drive by yesterday or the day before?” No one remembered seeing a new silver Toyota drive by. “Wait a minute,” Kate said after a moment. “There’s something here that doesn’t add up. We’ve been overlooking it this whole time! Why would someone want to steal Edward’s watch? I mean, he got it at Target! It’s not like it was really valuable! Neither one of the twins could think of an answer to that. “Well, I guess we really don’t have much to go by, do we?” Kate continued. “We found a wallet, but there’s no identification. But maybe if we looked in the phone book under the letter G…” “No,” Edward said, knowing what she was thinking of. “There is no way we are going to call all of the people in town whose last name starts with G and find the thief.” “Well, then, what about finger prints?” Emilie said. “Whoever ‘AG’ is, he must have left his finger prints on the wallet.” “Another bad idea,” Edward said. “We’ve just had our hands all over it. However, we may not need any fingerprints, anyway. I think the culprit is the man that works at the Auto License Bureau.” Kate sighed. “You know I don’t agree with you on that. But even if you’re right, what difference does it make? You already asked the guy where he got his watch. It’s not like he’s going to admit to stealing it – that is, if he stole it.” She paused, thinking. “Well, I don’t know what to do. I guess all we can do is to just let it rest. Maybe we’ll get more clues later. For now let’s go back inside and explore the attic.” The twins thought that was a great idea, so all three children went inside the house and up the stairs to the attic. On the way to the attic they stopped in Edward’s room to put the wallet on his dresser. They wanted to show it to Mr. Dunlap later. Then they scampered up the stairs. “Now, no more breaking vases,” Kate commanded, pretending to be stern with Edward and Emilie. She was remembering the night when the Dunlaps had found the twins hiding in the attic. The sound of breaking glass was one of the things that had given them away. “Don’t worry,” Emilie told her. “I think we broke them all the night that we hid in here.” Kate laughed. “I don’t think so,” she said. “There’s a huge box of them over there in the corner. You only broke two.” “Hey, I want to look at those,” Emile said. “Well, I don’t,” Edward stated. “I’m not really interested in vases. Kate, what would interest me?” “Over there in that corner is a chest which might,” Kate said after thinking for a moment. “What’s in it?” “Look and see.” Edward went over to the corner Kate had pointed out and opened the chest. “Oh, you’re right, Kate,” he exclaimed. “Military uniforms do interest me.” “They belonged to my great-grandfather. He was a U.S. Marine during World War II.” “Wow!” Edward exclaimed. “Look at this stuff!” He carefully examined each object in the chest. “You know,” Kate said, “this is totally off the topic, but I’ve been meaning to ask you what it was like in the orphanage. I mean, we visited you while you were there and I saw it, but what was it like to actually live there?” “Um, it was almost okay,” Emilie said. Edward said, “Well, it was terrible.” “What do you mean?” asked Kate. “Well, most of the kids were mean, and they definitely weren’t good friends with us. And the adults…” Emilie’s voice trailed off. “What did they do?” Kate wanted to know. “Well, most of them were pretty mean. There was one lady that was nice, but she worked in the kitchen most of the time so we didn’t get to see her very often. Then there was this one man in charge who was always concerned about the orphanage running out of money, so he would tell the cooks not to give us as much food.” “That’s terrible!” Kate said, shocked. “Did you get enough to eat?” “Most of the time we were fed enough. But about once a week they gave us hardly anything! Besides that, the food wasn’t the greatest.” “No wonder you ran away!” Kate said. “But tell me, didn’t any of the adults seem to want to care for you?” “Yes, now that I think of it, there were a few,” Emilie replied. “Once in a while they would sneak us cookies or an extra blanket or more food if we wanted it. But if they were caught they would be in big trouble.” “Who would get them in trouble?” “That guy that I told you about that was always concerned about the finances.” “That’s why we are so glad to live here,” Edward said warmly. Suddenly there were footsteps on the stairs. The attic door opened and Mrs. Dunlap came in. “Oh, I didn’t expect to see you here!” she exclaimed cheerfully. “I was just coming up here to look through my grandmother’s old jewelry.” “Can I look at it with you, Mom?” Kate requested. “I haven’t gotten to look at it in years!” “Sure, that’s fine, Kate.” Mrs. Dunlap smiled and then said to all three children, “Just in case you’re wondering, the reason I’m looking through this old jewelry is because we’re going to a concert at the symphony orchestra tomorrow night!” There were cries of “Really?!” from all of the children. “No way!” Kate exclaimed in delight. “Are you teasing?” “I’m serious. Dad and I are taking all three of you to the symphony. Partly it’s to celebrate the homecoming of the twins.” “Wow! I thought it cost too much money!” Kate replied to her mother. “Well, normally it does, but we got a real discount this time,” Mrs. Dunlap said. “I knew you would like it when I told you. Dad and I wanted to surprise all of you.” “You sure did!” Emilie cried. She was hardly less excited than her sister. “Actually, I was planning on keeping it a surprise until tonight at supper, but when I saw all of you up here I just couldn’t help telling you. I couldn’t wait until tonight, even thought it will be time for supper soon enough.” “Oh, I’m so happy!” Kate exclaimed. She jumped up and hugged her mother. Edward had not said anything the entire time. “Oh, how fun!” he said after a moment. “Thank you! You are so great! But… what will I wear?” Mrs. Dunlap chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. I know I can come up with something.” Mrs. Dunlap talked to her three children about the orchestra for a little while longer before they heard footsteps downstairs. “The thief has returned!” cried Emilie. “No, you silly, that’s not a thief – that’s Dad!” laughed Mrs. Dunlap. “At least I think it is. He’s home from the store.” Emilie giggled. “I was just teasing. Wow, I didn’t know he was even gone!” The children decided to go downstairs and show the wallet they had found to Mr. Dunlap. Mrs. Dunlap looked through the jewelry for a little while longer before selecting a few pieces. Then she went downstairs to start on supper. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337944/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337944/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 3 It was two-o-clock in the morning. Kate woke up feeling hot and thirsty. That was an unusual feeling, she thought, because she never was thirsty in the middle of the night. I hope I am not getting sick, she thought. This would be a terrible time to get sick – right after the twins get here! Nevertheless, she was thirsty, so she went to get a drink. She also thought that maybe a drink of water would help her to feel cooler. After coming back from the kitchen she was still warm, so she decided to open the bedroom window to get some fresh air. As she opened the window she noticed that it was not raining anymore. There was still water dripping off the roof, but the rain had stopped. Good, she thought. That way rain will not come in the window. She was about to turn to go back to bed, when she saw a car turn the corner onto the street where the Dunlaps lived. It was going way too fast, she noticed. Kate watched in horror as the car turned too late and smashed directly into the cement brick retaining wall that she, Emilie and Edward had walked on two days ago (the wall extended all the way out to the street). The front of the car was badly damaged, and Kate wondered if it would still run. She also worried that the person in the car was seriously injured. Kate was just about to go get her father when she saw something else that made her stop and stare. She could not believe what she was seeing! The driver of the car got out of the car quickly. He looked around carefully and then, quick as a flash, he grabbed Edward’s watch off the wall (his watch was at the end of the wall toward the street), jumped back into his car and got out of there as fast as he possibly could. Kate was surprised that the car still worked, but she was even more surprised that the man had stolen Edward’s watch! She decided that she needed to go tell her dad what she had seen. Kate tiptoed out of the room and down the hall to her parents’ bedroom. Though Emilie had not even stirred through the whole episode, Mr. Dunlap had awakened when he heard the smash and the squealing tires of the robber’s car as he got away. He was coming out of his bedroom to investigate and met Kate in the hall. “What’s the matter?” he whispered sleepily, noticing that Kate was upset. “Did you see it?” Kate gasped. “No, but I heard it,” her father replied. “What happened?” “Oh, it was terrible!” Kate exclaimed. “This car came around the corner and smashed into our wall. I was afraid the driver was hurt, but he jumped out of the car, grabbed Edward’s watch that he left on the wall yesterday, jumped back into his car, and sped off! The front off his car was all smashed up; I thought it was smashed far too badly to run anymore, but I was wrong. Now you can’t even tell he was here. At least not in the dark.” “You say he stole Edward’s watch?” Mr. Dunlap inquired, shocked. “Yes, I saw it clearly. He got out of the car and looked around like he didn’t want anyone to see him! Then he picked up Edward’s watch!” “Did you catch the license plate number?” Mr. Dunlap said, still flabbergasted. “No, I didn’t even think of it! Besides, it was too dark to have been able to see it anyway. I did notice that the car was a fairly new silver Toyota. The guy that jumped out was tall and thin. He had dark hair – black, I think, but that’s all I could see. He just looked like a normal man, I guess. Are you going to call the police?” “No, I’m not going to call the police just because Edward’s watch was stolen. We can definitely get him another watch!” Mr. Dunlap was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “Well, there is nothing we can do about it, especially in the middle of the night! Try to go back to sleep, and we can tell Edward in the morning. Did Emilie wake up?” “No,” Kate answered. “I guess she’s a sound sleeper. I don’t know how anyone could have slept through all that racket!” “Good. Let’s not wake her up, or anyone else tonight, then,” Mr. Dunlap replied. “We can tell them all about it in the morning.” “Okay. Good night again, Dad!” Kate tiptoed back to her room and climbed into bed. She didn’t go back to sleep right away, though. She was thinking about the robbery. Was the accident done on purpose to get close enough to the wall to steal the watch? And did the robber plan on taking the watch before this, or did he crash by accident and then notice the watch? Kate had no idea. She hoped that she would get some answers soon, but she also realized that she would probably never see the robber, or Edward’s watch, for that matter, again. Finally she went to sleep with questions still circling in her brain.   * * *   The next morning Kate did not say anything to Edward or Emilie about the accident. She waited until breakfast when Mr. Dunlap would be there, too. She didn’t want to be the one to break the news to Edward about his lost treasure. When the children got downstairs, Mr. Dunlap was already there, eating breakfast. “I wondered if I would see you before I left for the auto license bureau,” he said. “I need to get new license tags for the cars. Did you sleep late?” “Yes,” Emilie answered. “I think Kate, or maybe it was I, forgot to set the alarm clock last night when we went to bed. I don’t think we slept too late, though.” “No, you didn’t. Hey, I have something to tell you, Edward and Emilie, but Edward especially. Go get your cereal and sit down and I’ll tell you. The children obeyed. Emilie and Edward were extremely interested in what it could be that Mr. Dunlap had to say to them while Kate already knew what it was. Finally they had their cereal and were sitting down at the table. After praying, thanking the Lord for the food, they began eating. “I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Mr. Dunlap said to Edward. “I’m sorry to say that your watch was stolen last night.” “What?!” Edward cried. “How can that be? Did someone just come by the wall, pick up my watch and keep going?” “Well, yes, that’s pretty much what happened. Kate saw the whole thing.” “Yes, it was scary!” Kate responded. Then she told the twins what she had witnessed the night before. Emilie’s mouth dropped open in astonishment as Kate told the story. “So did someone plan the accident on purpose to steal Edward’s watch?” she asked, stunned. “I wondered the same thing myself,” Kate responded. “I guess we’ll never know, though.” The children and Mr. Dunlap talked about the theft for a little longer. Then Mr. Dunlap said, “Well, I’m off. I’ve got to go to the auto license bureau.” Edward said, “Can I go with you, please?” Mr. Dunlap smiled. “That would be fine. You girls want to go?” Kate spoke for them. “No, that’s okay. We’ll let you and Edward be together by yourselves.” “Okay, then.” Mr. Dunlap winked at Edward. “Let’s go get our shoes on and get ready to go,” he said.   * * *   It did not take long for Mr. Dunlap and Edward to drive over to the auto license bureau. When they got there the parking lot was packed. “Oh, great,” Mr. Dunlap groaned. “We are going to be standing in line forever!” He was right. They had to stand in line for a half and hour. Every five minutes the man behind the counter would say to all the people waiting in line, “I’ll be right with you.” Apparently he was having some problem with the customer he was serving. Finally, it was the Dunlaps’ turn. Business was transacted quickly, and soon Edward and his dad were back out in the parking lot. “Now, let’s run over to the store and get you a new watch like the one that was stolen last night,” Mr. Dunlap said after he and Edward were back in the car. “Wait,” Edward exclaimed. “Did you notice the man that worked behind the counter? He was tall and thin and was wearing a watch just like mine!” “Look, just because a man has the same watch as yours doesn’t mean it’s the one that was stolen,” Mr. Dunlap replied, knowing what Edward was thinking. “Probably lots of guys have that watch. In all probability, lots of tall, thin men have them, too!” “Well, couldn’t we just go back in there and ask where he got his watch?” Edward proposed. “It couldn’t hurt. And look – you can tell from here – the line is much shorter.” Mr. Dunlap knew that even if the man had stolen it, he wouldn’t admit it. But he felt like humoring his son, so he said yes. Besides, he thought, it won’t hurt. And maybe it will make Edward understand that a lot of men have the same kind of watch. Also, even though he wouldn’t have admitted it to Edward, he was a little bit curious himself whether the man behind the counter had stolen his son’s watch. He wanted to see if the man would act guilty when he was questioned. So Mr. Dunlap and Edward walked into the auto license bureau for the second time. This time they only had to wait in line for five minutes! Business had definitely slowed down. “Do we have a problem here, gentlemen?” the man behind the counter asked, recognizing the Dunlaps. “No, everything’s just fine,” Mr. Dunlap responded. “My son just wanted to know where you got your watch.” The man grinned. “Oh! My wife gave it to me. It’s not anything really expensive, but I really liked it. I said so to my wife once while we were at the store together, and she got it for me for our anniversary. I got her a watch, too. It was funny! Oh, well, sorry, I guess I didn’t tell you what store I got it from! I totally forgot. Well, it was Target.” “Thank you,” Mr. Dunlap said. “I’m sorry to bother you,” he added apologetically. “Oh, it’s nothing,” the man replied. “I’m just glad to answer your question and be of any help I can. Are you going planning on getting a watch like this?” he asked Edward. Edward nodded. “We’re thinking about it,” Mr. Dunlap said. “Well, it’s a good watch! It’s even waterproof. Tells the date and everything! Well, I better let you gentlemen go,” he said as the door opened and some people came in. “Thanks for your time,” Mr. Dunlap said. He and Edward went back outside to the car. “Whew!” Edward said. “He sure liked to talk! I was wondering if we would ever get out of there!” Mr. Dunlap chuckled. “That’s for sure.” He was totally convinced that the man behind the counter had not been the one to steal Edward’s watch. Edward, however, was not. What if he just made all that up? he thought. It would be easy to come up with that story! But on the other hand, why would he have talked so long and been so friendly about it if he was the thief? “What are you thinking about?” Mr. Dunlap’s voice cut into Edward’s thoughts. “Oh, I was just thinking about the guy we just talked to,” Edward replied. “So are you ready to go to Target now?” his father asked. “No, let’s not.” Mr. Dunlap was surprised. “Look,” he said after a pause. “There is no way you are going to get your watch back from whoever stole it. You may as well give up. If you are planning on solving the mystery you are bound to be disappointed!” “I know,” Edward said. “You’re right. Let’s go to Target.” Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337943/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337943/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 1 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 2 “I want to show Edward and Emilie our yard after breakfast, Mom,” Kate said. “I want them to see our cacti that are in bloom. May we?” The Dunlaps lived in Sunburst, Arizona, and, since it was April, most of their cacti were now blooming. Some of them had pink flowers, some had orange, and one of the cacti had yellow flowers. They were very pretty. “That’s fine,” Mrs. Dunlap said, “but please help to clear the table first.” “Well, I’m off to work,” Mr. Dunlap said. He pushed back his chair and stood up. “I’d love to stay here, but the best I can do is get two extra days off this week. I guess the company is really busy right now.” James Dunlap worked at Pennington’s Computer Store. It had a boring name, Kate thought, but the inside was anything but boring. Kate loved anything that had to do with computers, and she could spend all day in Pennington’s Computer Store if she were allowed to! She envied her father, who not only got to spend all day there, but work there as well. Kate could not think of any job that would be more fun. Mr. Dunlap said goodbye to his family and left for work. Kate, Emilie, and Edward had the table cleared very quickly, and soon the three of them had their shoes on and were ready to go outside. “Oh, Mom!” Kate exclaimed as an idea hit her. “Could we take the binoculars out with us, too?” Mrs. Dunlap considered it for a moment. Then she said, “All right, but just be very careful with them.” “We will,” Kate agreed, and Edward and Emilie nodded. “Be sure to wear the strap around your neck at all times,” Mrs. Dunlap reminded Kate. “Don’t worry, Mom, we’ll be careful.” The children thanked Mrs. Dunlap and headed outside. “Wow, those are pretty!” Emilie said when Kate pointed out the blooming cacti to the twins. “I especially like this one, though,” she continued, pointing to a tall, spindly cactus which was covered with leaves and just beginning to have flowers up top. “Yes, that’s one of my favorites, too,” Kate replied. “It’s called ocotillo.” Kate and the twins looked at all the new blooms on the cacti, and then decided to take turns looking through the binoculars for a while. When it was Edward’s turn, he looked at a cactus, which was a little distance away. “Oh, wow!” he exclaimed. “You can see so much detail with these.” “Hey, let me see!” Emilie said, moving towards her brother. “Just a minute,” Edward responded. He took one last long look at the beautiful cactus flowers through the binoculars before handing them to Emilie. “Wow,” Edward said again. “I guess I never knew how beautiful a cactus is!” “You’re right, Edward; they are beautiful,” Emilie replied. “Kate, what do you say about taking a few pictures of the flowers with your digital camera?” Kate thought for a second. “Okay, that’s fine,” she decided. “I’ll run in and get it.” She was back in a couple moments. “Emilie, since it was your idea, you can use it first,” she offered. “Thanks!” Emilie gave the binoculars back to Edward and took the camera out of Kate’s hand. She put the strap around her wrist and took a few pictures. Then she said, “Why don’t we go down and walk on the wall that separates our property from the neighbor’s down the hill? It would be a lot easier to get a good picture of the cacti. The angle from up here isn’t very good.” She took a step towards the retaining wall. “Wait,” Kate said. “Mom and Dad don’t usually let us go down there. We’ll have to ask Mom for permission.” “Okay,” Emilie said reluctantly. Then she proposed, “I’ll go with you.” “Me, too,” Edward added. “I just realized that I didn’t put my new watch on this morning. I don’t know how I could forget that!” So all three kids went back inside together. While Edward ran upstairs to get his watch and put it on, Emilie and Kate stayed downstairs to ask Mrs. Dunlap’s permission to walk on the wall. “I guess that’s okay,” Mrs. Dunlap said after Kate asked her, “though don’t expect me to say yes every time after this.” “Thank you, thank you!” Emilie exclaimed. Then she had a thought. “But won’t the neighbors see us and want us to get out of their yard?” “No,” Mrs. Dunlap answered. “The house is a vacation home and the people who own it generally only come up to visit on the weekends in the summer. It’s the middle of the week so you can be sure they won’t see you. Besides, I’m sure they wouldn’t care that much. They’re really nice people.” “Do you think we could jump down off the wall into their yard, Mom?” Kate asked. “It would be to get a picture from further away. Please?” Mrs. Dunlap looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, okay,” she said slowly, but be very careful in their yard. Don’t touch anything and don’t mess up anything. Are you sure you can jump off the wall without getting hurt? It’s pretty far off the ground!” “I think we’ll be okay,” Kate responded. “It’s not that high, and besides, I did it once before when I accidentally threw a ball into their yard.” “All righty, then, you may go.” Just then Edward came down the stairs wearing his watch. “Forgot this,” he explained to Mrs. Dunlap, pointing to his watch. Mrs. Dunlap laughed. “I understand,” she said. So Kate and the twins made their way outside again. This time they walked down to the wall. They had just all climbed down the hill onto the wall when Edward said, “I forgot the binoculars! I was going to look through them while you girls took pictures.” “How could you forget them? They were hanging on your neck!” Kate exclaimed. Edward looked sheepish. “I took them off when I got upstairs,” he admitted. “They were too heavy and were hurting my neck.” He ran back up the hill to the house to get them. By the time he got back the girls had finished taking pictures on the wall and were ready to jump down. Edward, who didn’t want to miss out on anything, decided to jump down, too, even though he had just gotten back with the binoculars. Before she jumped, Kate put her camera down so that she would not damage it. Edward noticed this and figured it would be a good idea for him to put the binoculars on the wall first, too. He observed Emilie, who had already jumped down, watching him, so he decided to make a show out of putting the binoculars on the wall. “I think I’ll take off my watch, and put it on the wall, too!” he said with a grin at his twin. “I don’t want it to get scratched when I jump.” He took his new treasure off and put it down beside the binoculars. Emilie knew he was joking. “Oh, you are such a goof!” she giggled. Edward pretended not to notice. He jumped down into the neighbor’s yard and then put the binoculars back around his neck where they belonged. He was just about to reach for his watch when Kate, who had not been paying attention to the twins, exclaimed, “Edward, look at this cactus right here! Don’t you think it is really pretty? I love this flower especially.” Edward immediately forgot about his watch, which was still sitting on the wall, and followed Kate to the cactus that she was talking about. “Yeah, it is pretty!” he agreed. “Em, come here and look at this flower! It has got to be the biggest one here!” The children spent several more minutes outside taking pictures of the cacti and admiring them before deciding to go inside for a bit. By the time they chose to go inside, they were all the way down the row of cacti. Edward’s watch never again entered his mind. The rest of the morning went by quickly. The afternoon was very cloudy and looked like it would probably rain, so the kids decided to stay inside for a while. They played several games, in which Kate won two times, Edward won five times, and Emilie won three times. “I guess you are pretty good,” Kate commented. Edward grinned. “Yes, I have special powers,” he teased. “You know what?” Emilie said. “I’m getting tired of just playing all day. Let’s go ask Mom if she has some work we could do. I think it would be fun for a change.” “Good idea!” Edward said. “I agree!” They found Mrs. Dunlap at the computer, e-mailing. “Mom, do you have some work we could do?” Emilie inquired. “We are getting tired of playing all day long.” Mrs. Dunlap grinned. “Okay,” she replied. I have some laundry you could fold.” “Anything sounds great,” Kate said. “Anything?” her mother responded. “I’ll take you up on that if you want. How would you like to organize all of the cupboards in the kitchen, and then wash all the dirty dishes? After that you can scrub the floor, and—” “Stop!” Kate said, laughing. “I guess I didn’t mean anything! But folding the laundry would be okay.” She and the twins scampered off to the living room where the unfolded laundry stood waiting. The afternoon passed quickly, too. That evening Mr. Dunlap did not get home from work till late; it was almost time for the children to go to bed. They were even already in their pajamas. It was just starting to rain when Mr. Dunlap drove into the driveway. “It looks like we are going to have a soaker,” he announced upon coming in the front door. “Good,” Kate exclaimed. “I’d love a soaker. We haven’t had much rain in a long time.” As if her words were a cue, just then the rain came pouring down. “Yay!” she cried. “I hope it rains hard all night.” “Me too,” Edward remarked. “Except—” Just then he remembered the watch that he had not thought about all day or the day before, “—when I have left my brand-new watch outside in the pouring rain!” Emilie gasped. “What do you mean, Eddie?” “Remember when you girls were taking pictures of the cacti from the wall? Remember how I took my watch off as a joke? I totally forgot about it and it’s still there! I’ve got to go get it before the rain ruins it!” He darted towards the door. “Now just hold on a minute,” Mr. Dunlap ordered. “One, you are in your pajamas. Two, it is pouring outside and you are going to be soaked. Three, it is about time for you to be getting in bed. In addition, your watch is waterproof. Also, if it were going to be ruined, it would be ruined by now anyway! It is raining very hard!” Edward stopped. “You’re right,” he said. “I had forgotten that it is waterproof. Am I ever glad you got me a waterproof watch! I’m just upset with myself for leaving it outside! I can’t believe I did that!” He sighed, and then added, “May I go get it in the morning?” “Yes,” Mr. Dunlap replied, “if it has stopped raining and the wall is not too slippery from being wet.” “Thank you!” Edward exclaimed. “I will.” Little did he know that he wouldn’t! Chapter 1 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337942/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:28:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337942/ The Stolen Watch Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 1 “Oh, Dad, Mom, it’s beautiful!” breathed Edward as he admired his new watch. “Thank you so much!” “You’re welcome, Son!” Mr. Dunlap replied. “We’re glad you like it! Your mom and Kate and I had a hard time figuring out what you would like best, and then when we decided to get you a watch we had a hard time knowing which watch you would like best.” Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap had successfully adopted the twelve-year-old orphaned twins, Edward and Emilie, after seven long months. Their daughter, Kate, who was also twelve years old, had helped to discover the twins one cold, windy night when they had hid in the Dunlap’s attic. After letting them spend the night there in their house and hearing why the children had gone into their attic in the first place, the Dunlaps decided to adopt them. In the mean time the orphanage had had custody of the twins. Now the twins were finally theirs, and the Dunlaps were having a homecoming celebration for them the same evening. “Emilie! Open yours!” Kate said with a sparkle in her eye. She knew what Emilie’s present was and was in a hurry for Emilie to find out, too! “Okay, Kate!” Emilie picked up her wrapped package from off the table and gave it a gentle shake to see if she could tell what was inside by rattling it. “Emilie!” “Okay, okay!” Emilie was enjoying teasing Kate. “All right, I’ll open it.” Carefully she tore the wrapping paper and pulled out a smaller box. It, too, was wrapped. Emilie giggled as she unwrapped the box. This time she did not have to unwrap anything else, and she pulled out a medium-sized, leather-bound journal with a pen to match. For a moment she could not say anything. “Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed a moment later. “This is such a lovely journal. Thank you so very much. I’ll be sure to write in it often.” “Well, we’re glad that you both like your presents,” Mrs. Dunlap said. “It’s not much, but it’s just a little “something” to welcome you into our family. We are so very glad to have both of you.” “And we’re glad to have you!” Edward cheered. He got up and walked around the table to where Mrs. Dunlap was sitting and gave his new mother a hug. “I want to write in my new journal right away,” Emilie decided. She got up from the table and motioned for Kate to follow her. “Is that okay, Mrs.…uh, Mom?” Mrs. Dunlap smiled at her daughter’s happy face. “That’s absolutely fine, Emilie,” she replied. Emilie put her arm around Kate and the two of them went up the stairs together. “It feels kind of weird to be calling your mom ‘Mom’,” Emilie remarked. “I guess I’ll get used to it, but I’ve been calling her ‘Mrs. Dunlap’ for so long that that’s what I say now without thinking about it.” Kate laughed. “Yes, I noticed that you called her ‘Mrs. Mom’ just now,” she teased in reply to her best friend and new sister. “But don’t worry about it. I think you’ll get used to her being ‘Mom’ in probably just a few days.” The girls reached Kate’s room, which now belonged to both Kate and Emilie. “Why don’t we both write in our journals?” Emilie suggested. “I saw yours on the bookshelf once. That’s how I know you have one.” “Good idea,” Kate said. “I guess I need to do that. I haven’t written in about a week. I used to have a hard time writing regularly, but ever since the night that you and Edward came here I’ve written almost every day.” Each girl stretched out on her own bed and began to write in her journal. Before long it was late and Mrs. Dunlap came upstairs to tell the girls that they needed to start getting ready for bed, as it was getting late. “Okay, Mom,” Kate replied. “I got a lot written in my journal! I think I must have written about ten pages!” “Me, too!” Emilie exclaimed. “I only wrote five pages, though.” Mrs. Dunlap smiled happily. “I’m very glad that you girls are enjoying your journals. I know the day will come when you will be glad to have all that recorded. Someday when you are older you may come back and read them, and laugh and laugh. I know I do with my journal that I had years ago.” “You had a journal?” Kate inquired excitedly. “How old were you when you wrote it?” “I think I was about your age. I’ll let you read it sometime. But for now it’s time to get moving towards bed.” Just then Edward came up the stairs. “Hey, girls, check this out!” He held up his arm, which was ornamented with his new watch. “My watch not only tells the time, it also tells the date, and it has a stop-watch, and it’s water proof!” “Wow, can I see?” Emilie said, reaching for her brother’s new treasure. “Sure, just be careful.” Finally, all three of the children were ready for bed and crawling in. Everyone was very tired out from all of the excitement of new family, and so all fell asleep quickly. Morning was there before they knew it. “Are we going to have devotions together, like we did the morning after Edward and I hid in your attic?” Emilie asked Kate the next morning when the girls had dressed and made their beds. “Sure!” Kate responded. “Why don’t we ask Edward to join us, too?” “Great idea,” Emilie replied. “I’ll go get him.” She ran off down the hall to Edward’s room and asked him if he would like to join Kate and her for morning devotions. He readily assented, and in a flash they were back in the girls’ room. “Where are we going to read?” he asked, once he, Kate, and Emilie were comfortable. “How about…” Kate paged through her Bible, looking for an encouraging chapter or section. “How about the first chapter of John? It’s a bit long, but it’s a really good chapter.” “Whatever you say,” Edward replied. “You know the Bible better than I do.” The three siblings took turns reading the verses aloud, and then all of them prayed together. “…And help Edward and Emilie to be happy in our home and help us all to get along and love each other for the rest of our lives,” Kate finished. “We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.” When Emilie looked up there were tears in her eyes. “I’m sure we will be very happy here,” she said, and put her arm around Kate. “Just about anything’s better than the orphanage that we left, but your home is better than anything we could have even hoped for!” “I couldn’t have wished for a better brother and sister than you two,” Kate responded. “I want you to know that I love you both and that I hope we will grow to be very close friends as the days go by.” She paused, and then, catching a whiff of something downstairs that smelled delicious, said, “Let’s go see what Mom’s making for breakfast!” “Hi, kids,” Mrs. Dunlap greeted Kate and the twins as they came into the kitchen. “Are you guys ready for some breakfast?” “Oooh, Mom, are those cinnamon rolls?” Kate said, spying the pan that her mother had just pulled out of the oven. “They sure are,” Mrs. Dunlap replied. “We don’t have them very often, but I thought that the twins’ first morning with us should be special.” “Really, it’s not our first morning here, though!” Emilie commented with a giggle. Our first morning was the morning after–” “—Kate found us in the attic,” Edward interrupted. “You guys!” Kate argued playfully. “I wasn’t the one responsible for finding you in the attic. Dad is the one who found you. You can be sure that there was no way I was going into the attic myself!” “Well, anyway, you know what we mean,” Emilie said. “The cinnamon rolls sure smell good!” Edward said, complimenting Mrs. Dunlap and getting the topic back to what was important at the moment. “They look good, too, so I bet they’ll taste even better.” Mrs. Dunlap laughed. “Well, if you’ll go get your father and tell him breakfast is ready, we can sit down and see if they’re as good as you think.” The cinnamon rolls were gone in a jiffy. “Those were even better than they looked!” Edward remarked, and everyone laughed. Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337939/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337939/ The Midnight Intuders Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 During the next few days, Kate had a chance to ask Edward why he had looked so surprised when he had found out that their last name was Dunlap. “Oh, that?” he said. “I was surprised because that was the last name of some of our relatives.” “Your relatives? Emilie said you didn’t have any!” “She didn’t know. But we do have some relatives with the last name Dunlap. Our parents never talked about them or to them at all, except I remember their last names being mentioned once or twice. I don’t even know where they live or even really who they are. And after our parents died, we never heard anything else. I think they’re second cousins, or something like that. I was just surprised to hear that last name.” Kate knew that Edward had not seen her mother’s surprised face when she heard the name “Powers.” Hmm, she thought to herself. I wonder… Later she had the chance to be alone with her mother and brought the subject up to her. “Mom, why did you look surprised when you heard that the twins’ last name was Powers?” Mrs. Dunlap thought for a moment, and then replied, “Well, I guess it was because I think your dad has far-off relatives by the last name of Powers. I haven’t even thought about them in years. When I heard Edward say that their last name was Powers it reminded me of Dad’s relatives, and I was surprised that the twins had the same last name. Why do you ask?” “Mom!” Kate shouted. “I think that the twins are the Powers that you know of!” “What in the world are you talking about?” Mrs. Dunlap exclaimed. “And lower your voice. We’re inside!” “Sorry,” Kate said quickly. “But Mom, don’t you see? Edward said that they had some relatives by the name of Dunlap, but they didn’t know much about them, and we have some relatives by the name of Powers and we don’t know much about them!” Mrs. Dunlap looked wide-eyed at her daughter. “Are you sure?” Kate nodded. “You can ask Edward if you want. He’ll tell you what he told me.” “If that’s true then I really need to talk to your father. Where is he? This is urgent.” Mrs. Dunlap seemed very excited, but Kate wasn’t sure whether or not it was because of who the twins were. “I think he’s outside,” Kate said. “Since it’s his day off work he wanted to get a little of the landscaping done in our front yard.” “Good. I need to talk to him alone, Kate. So please stay here. And also, please don’t tell Edward or Emilie about what you just told me. I don’t want them to know that they may be related to us.” Kate had been trained from an early age to just obey without asking questions, and she didn’t ask any questions now, either. She just said “Yes, Ma’am,” and obeyed cheerfully, even though she wanted to ask questions.   * * *   A week later (the orphanage was still “too busy” and “too full right now” to take the twins back, although they did say that they could probably take them back the next week), after supper was finished, Mr. Dunlap called Mrs. Dunlap and Kate into the parents’ bedroom for a “conference.” After his wife and daughter were comfortable, Mr. Dunlap said, “I have an announcement to make.” “Is it that the twins have to go back to the orphanage now?” Kate asked worriedly. She, Emilie and Edward had become great friends over the short stay the twins had had at the Dunlaps’ house, and she didn’t want them to leave quite yet. Honestly, she didn’t ever want them to leave, but she knew that would come someday soon. “Actually, no,” Mr. Dunlap said, surprising her. “Well, that’s not exactly true… but it may be soon enough.” He paused and smiled at Mrs. Dunlap, obviously enjoying the suspense he was creating. “Your mother and I have decided to do something very exciting,” he said to Kate, “but I need to ask you what you think first.” Kate was puzzled. “Why are you asking me?” she said. “I’m definitely not the one in charge here!” Mr. Dunlap laughed. “You’re right. Let me explain. I did some research and found that the twins are the children of my late great-aunt Hilda’s only daughter, who was killed in a car accident several years ago. I did not know she had any children, but the twins were hers. What we want to do will affect you, our home, and every aspect of our lives. And we don’t want this to make you miserable. So what I have to ask you is this: What would you think of having Edward and Emilie for your brother and sister?” For a moment Kate was too astonished to reply. Finally she said, “I would love that! I’m sure we wouldn’t always get along, and we would fight sometimes, but I think having them for siblings would be a good thing!” “I’m glad you think so,” Mrs. Dunlap said, “but we want you to be completely sure. You can’t change your mind after we’ve started the adoption process.” Kate nodded. “I know this is a big thing,” she said, “but I’m sure. I don’t think I’ll ever change my mind. I’ve often wished I could have a sister or brother, and now I’ll have both!” “Well, wait a minute,” Mr. Dunlap said. “It’s no where near final. We haven’t even asked the twins what they think. I think it would only be right to ask them, too, since we’ve gotten to know them so well lately. And then we have to go through the whole process. So don’t get your heart set on it.” Kate said that she understood and would try not to be too disappointed if it didn’t happen. Mr. Dunlap said, “Mom and I have wanted to adopt for a little while now, and when we found out who the twins actually were we were very excited. We prayed about it, and we are sure that it is the Lord’s will that we adopt the twins.” After they asked Kate, Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap had to ask the twins. They, too, were very excited with the idea when Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap asked them. So soon the adoption process was started. “I’m so glad that you snuck into our attic that night,” Kate remarked to Emilie and Edward a few days later. “Look at what’s happening!” “Yeah,” Edward said, “it’s like that Bible verse we read a couple of days ago. ‘All things together make good’… um, how did it go, Emilie?” Emilie smiled. “‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’” She sighed happily. “I’m glad too, Kate. These last few weeks have been so wonderful. And now your family is adopting us! It’s so exciting and I’m sure we’ve a fantastic adventure ahead of us!” Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337937/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:25:01 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337937/ The Midnight Intuders Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 4 In the morning the girls did not wake up until eight-o-clock. Kate made her bed, and Emilie folded up the blankets that she had slept on and got dressed. Then Kate explained to Emilie that she read the Bible and prayed every morning before leaving her room to go to breakfast, and she asked if Emilie would like to join her. Emilie said that she would really enjoy that, and so soon the girls were busy reading aloud to each other out of Kate’s Bible. When their devotions were over, they left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen. Edward was not down yet, so the girls decided to start breakfast without him. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap were there at the table eating. “Can I make you kids some breakfast?” Mrs. Dunlap offered. “Run upstairs, Emilie, and see if your brother is awake and about ready to come down.” Emilie did as she was told, and came back down with Edward right behind her. After a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, and biscuits, Edward and Emilie said that they wanted to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap and ask them a question. Emilie told their story to the Dunlaps, who listened intently. “It was a really bad idea to run away,” Emilie said after explaining their situation. “But now we can’t go back to the orphanage or we’ll be punished pretty badly. I guess we do deserve it, though,” she added almost humorously. “Edward and I have decided to do what you say is best. I know that your family can be trusted because of what Kate told me last night after we all went to bed.” “What was that?” Mr. Dunlap questioned, curious. Emilie said, “Last night Kate and I were talking. I told her our story like I just told you. Well, I asked her why you were all being so good to us. She explained that it was because you are Christians. She explained to me very clearly how to be saved, and – I trusted Christ to save me last night!” Before the surprised Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap could respond, Edward spoke up, “I was saved last night, too!” “What?!” Kate looked at Edward in astonishment. “How—” Edward and Emilie burst into laughter. “After you were asleep, Kate, Emilie came into my room to tell me about how Jesus saved her, and I wanted to be saved, too. Emilie told me how to be saved, like you told her, and I accepted Christ! Isn’t that fantastic?” “Praise the Lord!” Mr. Dunlap shouted. Everyone hugged each other and acted like old friends who had known each other for years, instead of just having met each other the night before. After all of the excitement had calmed down a bit, Edward returned to the previous topic. “So do you, Mr. or Mrs. Dunlap, have any ideas about what we should do? I mean, concerning the orphanage, of course.” No one said anything for a minute. Then Mr. Dunlap said, “I guess the right thing to do would be to go back to the orphanage. I know it will be really hard for you, but if you’d like, Mrs. Dunlap can call the orphanage first, to let them know what happened, and we’ll drive you back in our car.” “Okay,” Emilie said reluctantly. “I guess you’re right. That’s what we need to do. We’ll sure miss all of you, though! You’ll come visit us sometime, won’t you?” “Of course!” Mrs. Dunlap said. “I know this is going to be hard for you two, but remember that you are both children of the King. The Lord will be with you there in the orphanage, and you can trust Him to give you strength.” Edward nodded solemnly. “All right; I guess you had better make that phone call.” Emilie nodded in agreement. Edward continued. “Oh, if you’re going to call the orphanage, I think that you’d better know our last name. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before, but we just didn’t think of it!” He laughed. “Our last name is Powers.” Now it was Mrs. Dunlap’s turn to look a little surprised. Kate wondered what in the world was going on. First Edward is surprised to hear “Dunlap,” and now Mom is surprised to hear “Powers!” she thought. Oh, well, it’s probably just a coincidence. Mrs. Dunlap was on the phone for only a few minutes. When she hung up she turned and said to Kate and the twins, “Well, I have some news. It could be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. The man who answered the phone said that now is a very bad time to bring you two back to the orphanage. He said they’re really busy right now, have something big going on, or something like that. Anyway, he said that maybe in a few days it would work out better to bring you kids back.” “See what I mean?” Emilie exclaimed indignantly. “They don’t care about us at all! That orphanage is not a good place to be.” “Well, at least you’ll be staying with us for a few more days,” Mrs. Dunlap said with a smile. “I’ve only known you two for a few hours, but yet it seems like you’re old friends!” Then, to herself, she muttered, “I wonder if I’ve seen those twins somewhere before. They sure look familiar.” Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337935/ Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KateDunlap/337935/