Mr. Scary, the hotel manager, greeted us when we got off the bus.
"Mr. Scary looks scary," I whispered to Molly.
Molly nodded. "He sure looks mysterious," she whispered back.
"Welcome to Shadow Lake Lodge," said Mr. Scary in a deep voice.
"You will be staying in suite 303."
When we got to our suite, Bunch immediately started barking.
"It's the red curtains," said Josh.
"Bunch hates the color red."
"But dogs are color-blind," I said.
"To Bunch, everything looks gray."
"Bunch can see colors," Josh insisted.
"Ruff!" barked Bunch again and again at the curtains.
"See, Iggy? Bunch doesn't like the red curtains," said Josh.
I shrugged. Maybe Josh was right.
Our suite didn't have gold curtains or diamond tables.
But it was pretty cool, with a large living room and three bedrooms.
We unpacked and then headed back downstairs.
In the Lake Lounge room a table was loaded with fresh vegetables.
A sign read: "Vegetable Parade for Families Today!
Help Mr. Scary March Your Favorite Vegetables Right into The Soup Pot!"
"Yuck!" said Caswell. "Vegetables!"
I made a face too.
After my last invention, I was pretty sick of vegetables myself.
"Dad, can we hike up to the lookout tower?" asked Josh.
"Sure," said Mr. Chen.
"We'll go right after lunch."
But after lunch Caswell fell sound asleep in the Lake Lounge.
"You kids can walk up to the tower," said Mr. Chen.
"I'll stay here with Caswell.
But first I'd better go find a blanket for him."
"Wait until you see my new invention," I said when we got outside.
"What is it?" asked Jenny.
I grinned. "It's something called rainbow trail pellets.
I invented the pellets in case we get lost on the trail.
After all, we're not in the city anymore.
We're deep in the wilderness."
I reached into my pocket and took out four bags.
Each one was filled with brightly colored pellets.
Josh peered at the bag.
"Hey! Those are Sparky's hamster pellets.
But they're all different colors."
"I dyed them with food coloring," I said proudly.
"That way they'll work better."
"How does this invention work exactly?" asked Molly.
"First you open the bag," I explained.
"Then you put the bag in your pocket.
The pellets will dribble out as we walk."
"I get it," said Josh.
"If we take the wrong trail and get stranded, people can just follow the pellets!"
"Right!" I said.
The four of us started up one of the trails to the lookout tower.
When we reached the top, we were amazed by the view.
"You can see for miles up here!" said Jenny.
"Hey." Josh reached around to check his back pocket.
"My bag of pellets is empty."
"Mine is too," said Molly and Jenny.
I felt in my pocket.
My bag was also empty.
"The pellets worked perfectly!" I declared.
"If we were stranded, people would be able to find us."
"It's another one of Iggy's brilliant inventions!" said Josh.
"I'm glad we're not really stranded though," said Jenny.
We explored the lookout tower for a while and then headed back to the hotel.
When we arrived back at the Lake Lounge room, Caswell was wide-awake.
He was playing checkers with Mr. Chen.
Nearby Mr. Scary, the hotel manager, was wringing his hands.
"A disaster has happened!" he cried.
"All my vegetables have disappeared!
My vegetable parade is ruined!"
Mr. Scary was right.
The vegetables for the parade had vanished.
"I will find the thief who stole my vegetables," cried Mr. Scary.
"And I will punish him!"