The millennium blues, p.23
Rickshaw to Horror, page 23
Welcome to ALADDIN QUIX!
If you are looking for fast, fun-to-read stories with colorful characters, lots of kid-friendly humor, easy-to-follow action, entertaining story lines, and lively illustrations, then ALADDIN QUIX is for you!
But wait, there’s more!
If you’re also looking for stories with tables of contents; word lists; about-the-book questions; 64, 80, or 96 pages; short chapters; short paragraphs; and large fonts, then ALADDIN QUIX is definitely for you!
ALADDIN QUIX: The next step between ready to reads and longer, more challenging chapter books, for readers five to eight years old.
For Piet
Cast of Characters
Miss Mallard: World-famous ducktective
Lee Duck: Rickshaw driver
Marshall Gadwall: Retired navy captain
Officer Pintail: Police officer in Hong Kong
Harold: Valet to Marshall and Melissa Gadwall
Melissa Gadwall: Married to Marshall Gadwall
What’s in Miss Mallard’s Bag?
Miss Mallard has many detective tools she brings with her on her adventures around the world.
In her knitting bag she usually has:
Newspaper clippings
Knitting needles and yarn
A magnifying glass
A flashlight
A mirror
A travel guide
Chocolates for her nephew
1 Dragon Festival
All of Hong Kong was celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival. Boat-racing teams had come from every corner, all over the world.
It was a sight to see!
On one street, a Dragon Dance went weaving back and forth through the crowd. Suddenly, a rickshaw raced ahead of the dragon.
“Lee Duck!” cried Miss Mallard, the world-famous ducktective. “Please slow down! You’re going much too fast! How can I see the sights of Hong Kong at this speed?”
“Sorry,” said Lee Duck.
Lee Duck quickly turned a corner onto a quieter street. At the same moment, someone stepped off the sidewalk and was knocked down by the rickshaw.
“Horrors!” cried Miss Mallard. “We hit someone!”
Lee Duck stopped the rickshaw. Miss Mallard jumped out and looked under it as a police officer came running over.
“Are you all right under there?” called Miss Mallard. “I’m Margery Mallard. I’ve seen you before. We’re staying at the same hotel. I’m terribly sorry about this.”
“Marshall Gadwall, retired navy captain, here,” quacked a feeble voice. “I’m fine. Just a bit dizzy from hitting my head.”
Gadwall crawled out from under the rickshaw. He looked dazed.
“Perhaps you should see a doctor,” said the police officer.
“No, no,” said Gadwall. “I am quite all right. Besides, this is Sunday, and it is nearly eleven o’clock. I must be off to an important appointment.”
“But today is Saturday,” said Miss Mallard.
“No, Sunday,” said Gadwall. “Don’t you remember? At this same hour yesterday—Saturday—someone raised a typhoon warning flag at the ferry terminal. All the ferries stopped running, and everyone rushed for shelter.”
The police officer said, “I’ll prove to you that today is Saturday.”
He called someone on his walkie-talkie. When he finished, he looked at Gadwall.
“Great Dragons!” he said. “Someone did raise a false warning flag at the terminal just now. The crowd is in a panic, and the police are trying to sort things out. But how could you predict it? It must be a coincidence. You had better go to your hotel now. I’m Officer Pintail, if you should need me again.”
“I’ll take Captain Gadwall to the hotel,” said Miss Mallard. “It’s just around the corner.”
2 Teatime
As they were walking to the hotel, Gadwall decided to have some tea. He asked Miss Mallard to join him.
“I never could turn down a cup of tea,” said Miss Mallard.
“Good!” said Gadwall. “I’ll meet you in the lounge. I must send my valet, Harold, on an errand. My wife, Melissa, is shopping and should return soon. I’d like you two to meet.”
Miss Mallard went into the lounge, and sat at a table by the window facing the lobby.
She took a travel guidebook from her knitting bag and began to read. The book said that a million-dollar jade necklace was on display at the Duckworth Museum.
I’d like to see that, she thought.
Miss Mallard looked up and saw Gadwall talking to Harold, who was wearing a gray valet’s jacket. Then Harold left, and Mrs. Gadwall came into the hotel. Gadwall brought his wife into the lounge.
“I’m pleased to meet you,” said Melissa Gadwall. “Are you here for the Dragon Boat Festival?”
“Yes,” said Miss Mallard. “Are you?”
“I prefer shopping,” said Melissa Gadwall. “Especially for jade.”
Marshall Gadwall cleared his throat and changed the subject. He told his wife about the accident.
“And the strangest thing, dear!” Gadwall said. “When I was hit on the head, I could predict things.”
“Like what?” asked his wife.
Suddenly Gadwall turned very silent. He looked at his watch. Then he looked at Miss Mallard.
“What’s wrong?” asked Miss Mallard.
“In exactly five minutes,” said Gadwall, “it will be twelve o’clock. That’s when someone will cut the ropes of the famous Peeking Duck Floating Restaurant and set it adrift in the harbor.”
Miss Mallard gasped!
She quickly got up from the table.
“What is this about?” pleaded Melissa Gadwall.
“It is another of your husband’s predictions!” said Miss Mallard. “Wait here. I’ll notify the police!”
3 Peeking Duck
Miss Mallard ran outside. She saw Lee Duck and waved to him. He rushed over with his rickshaw, and Miss Mallard climbed in.
“Take me to Officer Pintail!” said Miss Mallard. “And Lee, this time you can hurry!”
They found Officer Pintail on a side street. Miss Mallard told him about the new prediction.
“I’ll check it out,” said Officer Pintail. “The restaurant is only a few blocks away.”
They all rushed to the waterfront. When they got there, the Peeking Duck Floating Restaurant had been cut loose from its ropes. It was drifting out to sea. Everyone on board was quacking loudly to be rescued. Office Pintail called for help on his walkie-talkie.
In a flash, fire trucks and police cars came racing to the waterfront. At the same time, out in the harbor, rescue boats were at work, pushing the restaurant back to shore.
When the floating restaurant was safe, Office Pintail filled out a report. The restaurant manager said he did not know who had cut the ropes. He asked who had sounded the alarm.
“I did,” said Miss Mallard.
“Thank you,” said the manager. “Please be our guest for dinner anytime.”
“Actually,” said Miss Mallard, “someone at my hotel, Marshall Gadwall, warned me that you were in danger.”
“Really? Please invite him to dinner too,” said the manager.
Then Miss Mallard went looking for Lee Duck. On the way, she saw a gray thread dangling from one of the cut ropes of the floating restaurant.
She looked at the thread with her magnifying glass.
“Hmmmm,” she said.
Then she put it between the pages of her travel guidebook and put the book back in her knitting bag. Afterward, she found Lee Duck and rode away in his rickshaw.
4 Another Prediction
As the rickshaw sped through the streets, Miss Mallard couldn’t stop thinking about the gray thread she had discovered.
When they arrived at the hotel, she thanked Lee Duck and ran inside. She found Gadwall alone in the lounge.
He said that Mrs. Gadwall had gone shopping again. Miss Mallard told him how his second prediction had come true. Someone had cut the ropes to the floating restaurant.
She also told him about the manager’s dinner invitation.
“That was nice of him,” said Gadwell. “But I won’t be able to go. Floating restaurants make me seasick.”
Just then, Officer Pintail arrived. He needed some information for his report on the restaurant. He asked Gadwall how he was able to predict bad events.
“I have no idea,” said Gadwall. “Ever since the rickshaw accident, pictures just seem to pop into my head.”
Suddenly he stopped talking and looked at his watch.
“What is it?” asked Miss Mallard.
Gadwall answered, “In five minutes, it will be exactly three o’clock. That’s when someone will let the air out of the tires of all the tour buses at the Victoria Bazaar. There will be a major traffic jam.”
Officer Pintail was alarmed.
“Wait here!” he said to Gadwall as he ran from the hotel.
Miss Mallard ran too. She hired Lee Duck to take her to the bazaar. When she got there, she saw all the flat tires and the major traffic jam that Gadwall had described. Ducks were quacking their heads off. Just as before, the police could not find out who had done it.
It was hours before the tires were fixed and the police unsnarled the traffic. All the while, Miss Mallard kept looking for clues. But she found nothing.
Finally Lee Duck took her back to the hotel. When she got there, she saw many reporters crowding around the front entrance.
“Horrors!” Miss Mallard said aloud. “The news is out about Gad
wall’s predictions.”
5 Zounds!
Miss Mallard squeezed past the reporters and went into the hotel. She saw Officer Pintail and the police chief questioning Gadwall in the lounge.
“I know what I know,” Gadwall was saying. “Tomorrow morning at exactly ten o’clock, during the boat races, some of the boats will be destroyed. A riot will break out, and the Dragon Boat Festival will end in disaster.”
“We must prevent that from happening,” said Officer Pintail.
“I’ll send a large police force to the races in the morning,” said the chief.
Miss Mallard was puzzled. Why did all of Gadwall’s predictions involve the police? She excused herself and went to her room. It had been an exhausting day, and she needed to be alone so she could think.
She ordered supper in her room. All evening she went over and over the events of the day.
Miss Mallard thought about her only clue, the gray thread, which she had placed in her travel guidebook.
But no matter how much she thought, she was still as puzzled as ever.
At bedtime, she opened the book and saw the thread was still there. She closed the book again and stared at it. Then she put it away and went to sleep.
When Miss Mallard awoke the next morning, it was already nine o’clock. And Gadwall’s prediction was set for ten!
Miss Mallard bounded out of bed. And suddenly everything was clear to her! She grabbed her knitting bag. She reached inside and gave her travel guidebook a pat.
Then she dug through her clipping file for a particular news item.
“Zounds!” she said when she found it.
Quickly she got dressed and ran to the front desk. She asked where she could find the Gadwalls.
“Sorry,” said the clerk. “They checked out this morning.”
“I thought so!” said Miss Mallard.
She rushed outside.
“Quick!” she cried to Lee Duck. “Take me to Officer Pintail.”
When they found Officer Pintail, Miss Mallard said, “It’s about the Gadwalls! They left the hotel! At this very moment, I believe they are stealing the million-dollar jade necklace on display at the Duckworth Museum! The accident and predictions were faked! The Gadwalls planned to keep the police busy so the museum would be less protected against robbery!”
“Great Dragons!” said Officer Pintail. “I’ll send a police car to the museum right away!”
6 Jade-Handed
Lee Duck sped with Miss Mallard to the museum. Officer Pintail and the other police were already there. They were crowded around the museum’s side entrance.
Miss Mallard went over. She saw Marshall Gadwall, Melissa Gadwall, and Harold, all in handcuffs.
“Well, you were right, Miss Mallard,” said Officer Pintail. “We caught them in the act, just as they were coming out the door with the necklace.”
“How did you know we would be here?” grumbled Marshall Gadwall.
“Thanks to my travel guidebook,” said Miss Mallard. “I saw a picture of the jade necklace in it, and I remembered that your wife said she was ‘shopping’ for jade. I also remembered that you said you were a retired navy captain. Since when do navy captains get seasick on floating restaurants? Then all it took was a look in my clipping file to find out your true identity—‘Slippery’ Gadwall, the well-known thief and swindler.”
Miss Mallard paused and reached into her knitting bag. She pulled out the gray thread.
“Here is a thread that I found at the floating restaurant,” said Miss Mallard. “As you can see, it matches Harold’s jacket. Not only that—you claimed that your wife had gone shopping yesterday morning. And yet she returned to the hotel empty-handed. I believe that you sent your wife and Harold out to cause the events that you ‘predicted.’ And you followed me to fake the rickshaw accident, knowing that I would get the police involved. It was all a scheme to fool the police, so the museum would be less protected while you robbed it.”
“Take them away,” said Officer Pintail to the squad. “I’ll tell the chief that there will be no trouble at the Dragon Boat races.”
Then Officer Pintail turned to Miss Mallard and said, “Good job!”
“Well, I’m glad we saved the necklace,” said Miss Mallard. “The Gadwalls had me fooled for a while.”
Lee Duck said, “How about seeing the sights of Hong Kong now—very slowly?”
“Why, Lee!” said Miss Mallard. “What a good idea!”
Word List
adrift (uh·DRIFT): Floating or moving without being steered
alarmed (uh·LAHRMD): Very worried or surprised
bazaar (buh·ZAHR): An outdoor street market where people buy and sell goods
bounded (BOWN·did): Leaped up
coincidence (co·IN·sih·dens): The chance of two things happening at the same time
crowding (CRAHW·ding): Packing tightly in a small space
display (diss·PLAY): Being shown in public
exhausting (egg·ZAW·sting): Tiring
faked (FAYKD): Not real or genuine
feeble (FEE·bull): Weak, not strong
grumbled (GRUM·buld): Made deep, angry sounds
particular (pahr·TICK·yoo·luhr): Chosen for a special reason
pleaded (PLEE·did): Asked for something in a sincere way
predict (pree·DICT): To tell when something in the future will happen
prevent (pree·VENT): Stop from happening
puzzled (PUH·zuld): Confused
questioning (KWES·chun·ing): Asking lots of questions
rickshaw (RIK·shaw): A two-wheeled cart that carries one or two passengers and is pulled by a person
riot (RYE·ut): Public disorder that is often violent
scheme (SKEEM): A crafty plan
seasick (SEE·sick): Feeling nauseous from being on the water
terminal (TUHR·min·ull): A station for buses, ships, or airplanes
typhoon (tie·FOON): A hurricane storm that occurs in the western Pacific Ocean
unsnarled (uhn·SNARLD): Untangled or put back into order
valet (VALL·ay): Someone who is hired to help run personal errands
Questions
1. What color was the thread Miss Mallard found? Where did she find it?
2. What did Melissa Gadwall like shopping for?
3. Marshall Gadwall retired from doing what?
4. Why was Miss Mallard telling Lee Duck to slow down in the rickshaw? Did anything happen when he raced through the streets?
5. Why did Gadwall say he couldn’t go to the Peeking Duck Floating Restaurant?
More from this Series
Goes For Gold
Flamenco to Mischief
The Giants' Farm
Buttons's Talent Show
Happy Santa Day!
Rainbow Surprise
About the Author
ROBERT QUACKENBUSH (1929–2021) was the author and illustrator of more than two hundred books for young readers. He was awarded honors and prizes for his work, including a gold medal from the Holland Society of New York for distinction in art and literature. His art is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution. It is also on display in the gallery/studio he owned in New York City, where he created books, painted, and taught writing and illustrating to children and adults.
Mr. Quackenbush, who was a native of Arizona, lived in New York City with his wife, Margery. Their son, Piet (rhymes with “neat”), was the inspiration for many of the author’s books when he was growing up. Then Aidan and Emma, the children of Piet and his wife, Teresa, were the inspirations.
