March Mischief Read Online Free Page B

of the barrel. “Can you really talk?” he said to the statues.
    Behind him, six kids burst into laughter.

The next day was St. Patrick’s Day. It was a cool, sunny morning. Bradley and Brian carried their leprechaun to the town hall lawn. Pal walked along next to them. Lucy and Nate were waiting.
    “There must be a million leprechauns here!” Nate said.
    The kids looked around. Leprechauns stood everywhere. They had all started out looking exactly the same. Now they were all different.
    The leprechauns were all dressed or decorated or painted. There were rock stars, sports figures, and nurses. Bradley saw a Mickey Mouse and an Elvis. He waved to Josephine and her fairy princess. He saw Officer Fallon holding the police leprechaun.
    Ben and Ralphie came over to say hi.
    “What’s yours supposed to be, anyway?” Ralphie asked. “A giant hamster?”
    “It’s our dog, Pal,” Bradley explained.
    “I wonder who will win first prize,” Ralphie said.
    Brian grinned. “Us,” he said. “We have the only talking leprechaun.”
    They all laughed. “At least Lucky and Officer Fallon were cool about getting busted like that,” Ralphie said. “They admitted how they tricked us.”
    “Which one of you guys did that funny voice yesterday?” Bradley asked.
    “Not me!” Ben and Ralphie said at the same time.
    “We had cookies in our mouths!” Ralphie said.
    “It wasn’t me, either,” Nate said. “I was trying not to sneeze.”
    “I certainly didn’t do it,” Lucy said. She looked at Bradley and Brian. “I thought it was one of you two.”
    Brian shook his head. “Not guilty,” he said. “And it wasn’t Bradley, either. He was squished right next to me.”
    “So who was it?” Nate asked. “We all heard somebody say, ‘Please let us out of the trash can,’ right?”
    “Gee, maybe it
was
your leprechaun,” Ben said. He put his hand on the leprechaun dressed as Pal.
    The six kids stared at the statue.
    Just then the mayor of Green Lawn stepped out of the town hall. The crowd cheered and the mayor waved. He walked among the leprechauns, chatting with people and patting kids on thehead. His assistant walked with him, taking notes on a clipboard.
    The mayor stopped in front of the leprechaun dressed as a dog.
    “And what have we here?” the mayor asked. “A dog leprechaun?”
    “Yes, sir,” Bradley said. “It’s a basset hound. It’s supposed to look like our dog, Pal.”
    Pal woofed at the mayor.
    “Oh, I see,” said the mayor. “Very cute. Very clever.” He whispered something to his assistant.
    She scribbled a note.
    The mayor walked away.
    Soon the mayor had examined all the leprechauns. He and his assistant walked up the town hall steps. A microphone was waiting for him.
    “Good morning, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!” the mayor said. “I’m happy to see that so many of you believein leprechauns! This is the biggest turnout I’ve ever seen!”
    More clapping and whistling.
    The mayor took the clipboard from his assistant. “It seems we have a tie this year!” he said. “We have two winners!”
    Everybody looked at one another’s leprechauns.
    “Our first winner is Fairy-Princess Leprechaun!” he yelled. “Will its owner please come up here?”
    Josephine O’Leary and her whole family ran up the steps and stood by the mayor. Ben and Ralphie carried the fairy-princess statue.
    The mayor placed a big green ribbon around the leprechaun’s neck.
    Everybody cheered. Lucky lifted Josephine up onto his shoulders.
    “And our second winner is Basset Hound Leprechaun!” the mayor went on. “Where are its owners?”
    Bradley grabbed the leprechaun. He led Brian, Nate, Lucy, and Pal up to join the mayor. The mayor dropped a ribbon around the leprechaun’s shoulders.
    Bradley grinned and hugged his leprechaun. The crowd cheered.
    Then Bradley heard a small voice in his ear. “Leprechauns rule!” it said.
    Bradley stared at the leprechaun.
    The leprechaun stared back.
    Maybe it was