Mystery of the Midnight Dog Read Online Free Page A

Sage said.
    “I’m glad,” Jessie replied politely.
    Dr. Sage gave a short laugh. “Just don’t mess with anything around our dig. It may look untidy, but we can tell when someone’s been here who shouldn’t have been. People on the tour groups have actually tried to pick up artifacts to take home!”
    Jessie and Henry both were about to protest that they knew better than to touch historic ruins uninvited, but Dr. Sage stopped them by raising her voice and shouting, “Brad! You’ve got company!”
    “Coming,” a voice called from the edge of the nearby trees. A few seconds later a tall, lanky young man with long hair pulled back in a short ponytail came ambling out of the woods. Although it didn’t seem possible, he was covered with even more smudges of dirt than Dr. Sage.
    “Lainey’s here to say hello to you,” Dr. Sage said.
    “And to introduce some volunteers,” Lainey said quickly. Henry noticed that Lainey was blushing. When he looked over at Brad, he thought Brad’s cheeks were red, too, but it might have been sunburn.
    Brad smiled and shook hands with the Aldens. “Hi, I’m Brad Thompson.”
    “Are you finding anything interesting?” Henry asked Brad after they’d been introduced.
    “As a matter of fact, I’ve found some very interesting pottery fragments,” Brad said. “It leads me to believe that I’m on the right track to the town dump.”
    “Dump?” ask Jessie, thinking of all the garbage and litter they’d just picked up along the trail.
    Brad nodded eagerly. “Yes! Isn’t it great news?”
    Seeing their puzzled looks, Dr. Sage explained, “If we study what people of earlier times threw away, it can tell us quite a lot.”
    Jessie laughed. “Wait until we tell Benny that the scientists here are studying garbage, especially after we cleaned it up all day.”
    Lainey shook her head and smiled. “I guess we should go and let you get back to work.”
    “Good idea,” Henry agreed.
    They all said good-bye to Dr. Sage and Brad. Brad looked up and said, “ ’Bye, Lainey, and, uh ... everyone.”
    Dr. Sage didn’t even notice that they were leaving.
    “Are they always like that?” Henry asked.
    “Worse,” said Lainey with a little sigh. “Brad and Dr. Sage would work all day and all night if they could. They’d be happy if we closed this park to everyone but scientists and historians.”
    “But you’re practically a historian, aren’t you?” Jessie asked.
    “I’ll be a historian when I finish college. Right now I’m just a history student,” Lainey said, with one last glance back at Brad.
    “Look,” said Jessie. “There’s Violet outside the visitors’ center.”
    “And Benny, too,” Henry said.
    Violet had a map in her hand and was pointing to it while she talked to an attractive woman with sleek black hair. The woman had on tiny square-framed sunglasses and bright red lipstick.
    Violet then gave the map to the pretty tourist, who stuffed it into a pocket and walked away.
    Benny and Violet hurried over to join Henry, Jessie, and Lainey.
    “We’ve given out about a million maps,” Benny said.
    No one got a chance to answer because just then an angry voice shouted, “Hey! Stay on the paths, like you’re supposed to!”
    A tall, strongly built man in work pants, work boots, and a long-sleeved shirt that said ELBOW BEND STAFF stomped up to them. He had a rake in one hand, which he waved. “Can’t you read?” he demanded. “What does that sign say?” He gestured toward a small green-and-white sign at the base of a tree.
    “ ‘Please stay on the ... trails’ ” Benny read aloud.
    “And where are you standing?” the man growled.
    Benny looked down at his feet. He looked over at Violet. “I guess we kind of took a shortcut between the trails,” he said.
    “Huh,” said the man. “First you walk right through the leaves I’ve raked up. Then you go and knock over all my garbage cans. Tourists!”
    “We work here,” Violet said, finding her