"I still can't believe Mrs. Smith left her glasses in her bird feeder," Henry said.
"I know." His cousin Maggie laughed. "She's lucky a bird didn't peck them."
"No, she's lucky that The Lemonade Detectives were around to track them down for her," said Henry's friend Cole.
The Lemonade Detectives had been in business all summer.
They'd solved lots of cases.
Some cases were pretty simple, like finding Mrs. Smith's lost glasses.
Other cases were trickier.
But so far The Lemonade Detectives had solved them all.
"Here come some customers."
Henry saw two teenage girls walking toward them.
"I wonder whether they want to buy lemonade or hire us to solve a mystery."
"It's a mystery to me!" Cole joked with a grin.
"Not to me," Maggie said, smiling.
"Ashley and Jill buy at least one cup of lemonade apiece almost every day!"
Sure enough the older girls ordered two lemonades.
While Maggie was pouring their drinks, Ashley took a piece of paper out of her pocket.
"Are you guys busy next Saturday?" She held out the paper.
"Because we're having a fundraiser for the Belltown High School soccer team."
"Ugh!" Cole groaned. "Don't talk about school! It's still summer, remember?"
"Only for a few more weeks," Henry said.
Ashley laughed. "I know. That's why we're holding the fundraiser."
Jill nodded.
"We're raising money before school starts so we can get new uniforms."
Henry looked at the paper. It said:
BELLTOWN HIGH SCHOOL FUNDRAISER
Enjoy the end of summer with a bike ride through beautiful Belltown Park
All profits used to support the girls' soccer team
$10 per person, snacks provided
Cole was reading over Henry's shoulder. "Wow. That sounds cool.
I love biking on those trails."
"You can keep the flyer," Ashley said.
"If you decide to come, just bring your bike, a helmet, and ten dollars."
Then she and Jill wandered off with their lemonade.
Cole was still looking at the flyer. "We're going, right?" he said.
"I'd like to do it," Henry said.
"It sounds like fun, and it's for a good cause."
"What about the lemonade stand?" Maggie asked.
"We probably won't have many customers that day anyway," Cole pointed out.
"Lots of kids will be at the park."
"Maybe you're right," Maggie said.
"Besides we made lots of money this week.
I guess we can donate some of it to a good cause."
It was the day of the fundraiser.
The Lemonade Detectives had just ridden their bikes into Belltown Park.
"Wow. There are tons of people here!" Cole exclaimed.
"It looks like we sign in over there."
Maggie pointed to a table draped with Belltown High School's colors, blue and white.
Ashley and Jill were sitting behind the table with some of their teammates.
Henry walked over. "Hi. We're here to ride."
"Great!" Jill smiled. "Ten dollars each, please."
Henry and his friends handed over their money.
In exchange, Jill handed each of them a ticket.
"Make sure you don't lose those," she said.
"Everyone who finishes the ride gets a T-shirt at the end."
"Really?" Maggie looked surprised. "How can you afford that?
I thought you were trying to raise money."
Ashley heard her and looked over.
"The T-shirts are being donated by Belltown Bikes," she said.
"They're our sponsor."
She pointed to a sign advertising the local bicycle shop.
Meanwhile Henry heard someone calling his name. It was his friend Nathan.
"Are you guys riding too?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah," Cole said. "Just like everybody else in town!"
"And some people from out of town too," Maggie added.
"Look! Isn't that a Valley High T-shirt?"
She pointed to a teenage boy wearing a red-and-gold Valley High shirt.
Valley High was the high school in a neighboring town.
Nathan pointed in a different direction.
"That dark-haired girl Tina goes to Valley High too," he said.
"She babysits my little sister sometimes."
"That's weird," Cole said.
"Why would people from Valley High want to raise money for Belltown?
They're our biggest rivals!"
"If you think that's weird, look at that guy."
Maggie was staring at a man standing by himself.
Most of the riders were kids or teenagers.
The adults were mostly teachers or coaches from Belltown High.
But Henry didn't recognize this man.
He was in his twenties, with very broad shoulders and dark sunglasses.
"Maybe he just likes bike riding," Henry said.
"He doesn't look very happy to be here," Cole said.
"He's not smiling or talking to anyone."
Just then someone shouted for attention.
It was Ms. Hernandez, the girls' soccer coach.
"Is everyone ready to have some fun?" she called.
That made Henry forget about everything else. The ride was about to start!